Popverse's top stories

• Critical Role star Sam Riegel didn't know FCG's fate before the moment happened - but he did know it was "a good way to go"
• Avengers and Doctor Who star Karen Gillan is on her way to New York Comic Con 2025 - and Popverse Superfans will have an early chance to connect
• Look out One Piece - the biggest manga of 2026 might be Captain Underpants (and I don't think that's a bad thing) [Future Fest]

And everything happening this week for Future Fest!

We’re in the closing months of 2025, which means that it is the perfect time to cast our gaze forward to 2026. It has been an incredible year for anime, with some big surprises as old favorites returned and iconic shows got their epic conclusion. But what does the future hold? That’s the question bouncing around all our brains during Future Fest this year.

The truth is that the future is unknowable; we don’t know what will steal our hearts and blow our minds in the coming year, but we can make some guesses. As this year winds down, we peek into the crystal ball and ask ourselves what the big anime of 2026 will be. We’ve only included shows that have confirmed 2026 release dates, so don’t expect shows like Solo Leveling to show up here.

Biggest Anime 2026: Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End season 2

We all loved the first season of Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. It made us laugh. It made us cry. It made a young man help save someone’s life. Now, after more than two years of waiting, we’re finally getting season two, and we can’t wait. The melancholy world and the journey for a nigh-immortal elf to understand the fragility of friendships have made Frieren one of the most popular shows in recent years, so we have to think this season will be no different.

Biggest Anime 2026: Jujutsu Kaisen season 3

We don’t need to sell you on Jujutsu Kaisen. If you’re an anime fan, chances are you’re already well aware of it and looking forward to the show’s return in January 2026. With the Shibuya Incident wrapped up in season two, we’re onto the Culling Game Arc, which brings the events of Jujutsu Kaisen 0 back into the mix for the main anime. If you haven’t seen that film, you’re missing out on some great animation and some important plot points for the new season of Jujutsu Kaisen.

Biggest Anime 2026: The Ghost in the Shell

You might think that there is nothing new that anyone could do with Ghost in the Shell anymore. After all, it is one of the most iconic anime of all time, but there are a few things that make this adaptation so exciting for fans. First, they are going back to the original manga as the source material and focusing on this new anime as close to that aesthetic as possible. Second, Science Saru is the studio behind the 2026 The Ghost in the Shell anime, and they are a group absolutely at the top of their game. Their work on Dan Da Dan is enough to get me excited for what they bring to this iconic story. I don’t expect Ghost in the Shell to surpass the original, but it might just be original enough to be its equal.

Biggest Anime 2026: Akane-banashi

Who doesn’t love a good joke? The world of Akane-banashi is built on them. It follows a young woman who becomes a rakugoka (a traditional Japanese storyteller/comedian) both to entertain and to avenge her father, who was driven from the profession years earlier. It is a great coming-of-age story fueled by spite and with some really clever imagery around the rakugo setting.

Biggest Anime 2026: Oshi no Ko Season 3

It says something about the anime industry that this is the third big show that is returning in January 2026. Oshi no Ko is one of the few anime with the hype to stand up to Frieren and Jujutsu Kaisen. The slow-burning murder mystery, coupled with a stark insight into the pressures of idol culture in Japan and the sometimes weird reincarnation plot, is the perfect trio of hooks for fans to get sunk into this series.

Biggest Anime 2026: Trigun Stargaze

This one is personal to me because the original Trigun anime is still one of my all-time favorite shows. Despite being very different from both the original manga and the iconic anime, Trigun Stampede was very good. Studio Orange is the best in the world at making 3D animation. They know its strengths and limitations and how to make both work for them, so I can’t wait to see where their new take on Trigun takes us.

Each week, Popverse's resident anime expert Trent Cannon runs down the latest and, dare we say "greatest," in anime and manga in Popverse Jump. Some recent columns have included... 

• Aggretsuko vs Chainsaw Man: Two Wildly different anine with the same anti-capitalist message
• The Summer Anime season return of Kaiju No. 8, Sakamoto Days, & Dan Da Dan are forcing me to break my vow of watching less anime
• From Tomo-Chan to Oshi No Ko: How some of your favorite manga creators got their start in hentai
• Piracy is baked into anime's past, but, like Crunchyroll, we should move on from it
• Flying whales, mechs, and Miyazaki vibes: Inside Netflix's Leviathan anime with the people who made it
• How AI translations of manga continues the 'enshitification' of the medium, and why Japanese publishers are "less precious" about it
• I never wanted a Cyberpunk Edgerunners sequel, but God help me I'm going to watch it
• The Summer Hikaru Died delivers its cosmic horror at an agonizingly slow pace
• The one thing that Dan Da Dan does better than Demon Slayer ever did
• Studio Ghibli movies have never been as cozy as you think they are and that's what makes them magic