Image via Netflix
Published Nov 2, 2026, 4:05 PM EST
Lucas Kloberdanz-Dyck is a writer for Collider. He grew up creating lists, stories, and worlds, which led to his love of anime and video games. He attended Sheridan College where he earned an Honours Bachelor of Game Design. Lucas and his group won 1st place for technical innovation at LevelUp Toronto 2023, and he was also an intern for the Oakville Film Festival of Arts.
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Anime is a beautiful medium that is home to some of the greatest shows of all time, such as Dragon Ball Z and The Apothecary Diaries. While the medium is home to plenty of genres with experimental styles, heartwarming romances, and thrilling dramas, the most popular genre is action. Anime is known for its fights, boasting a sense of speed and exhilaration unlike anything else.
While this year has been ripe with incredible action anime, there is even more to look forward to. That is why this list will rank the eight most anticipated anime based on hype, alongside aspects such as previous seasons, animation studio, anticipated sequels, fan opinion, critical acclaim, and overall reception. Indeed, these are the most anticipated action anime that everyone should watch next year.
8 ‘Mashle: Magic and Muscles Season 3’ (2027)
Image via Crunchyroll2027 is a fantastic year for returning anime, with plenty of sequel seasons gracing fans, and one of the most anticipated action follow-ups is Mashle: Magic and Muscles. The titular character isn’t so great at magic, but he makes up for that with his sheer physical strength, which he uses to take on the many magical foes he has to face. With his truth out in the open, he must be selected as a Divine Visionary or face execution, and this arc will follow the final part of the exam, ramping up the action and excitement.
Mashle has an unmistakable vibe that blends One Punch Man with Harry Potter to create one of the funniest and most entertaining action anime series of the decade. The second season was better than the first, meaning this third season should be even better, especially because it is leading to larger events with bigger stakes. Mashle Season 3 comes out in January 2027, and since it is so soon, plenty of viewers are already counting the days to revisit its muscle vs. magic fights that everyone fell in love with.
7 ‘Sakamoto Days Season 2’ (2027)
Manga adaptations of anticipated anime aren’t usually perfect, and one of the biggest disappointments was Sakamoto Days. However, the second part corrected the course, getting viewers excited for Season 2. The titular character used to be the best assassin in the world, but years after retiring and starting a family, he is out of shape but hasn’t lost a step. This helps when he is pulled back into danger, with the evil organization getting closer to Sakamoto and his family.
Even though it may not be as good as fans hoped, Sakamoto Days is still a stylish action anime that features some of the best modern fights. Creative, funny, and badass, it mixes these aspects to maintain its place as one of the best modern action anime. It is hailed for its sense of style and consistency, with the future arcs adapting some of the best content yet. Fans won’t have to wait long, because this hyped action anime is coming out in January.
6 ‘Gachiakuta Season 2’ (TBA)
Image via Kei Urana, Hideyoshi Andou, and KODANSHA “GACHIAKUTA” Production Committee2025 was one of the best years for anime in a long time, and it was spearheaded by a remarkably unique battle shounen, Gachiakuta. After Rudo is thrown into the trash world below the floating city, he aims to crawl his way back up and get revenge on the person who framed him. However, he has bigger things to deal with at the moment, because his special gloves seem to be part of a series that the villains want their hands on. Not to mention the plot twist revealed the fate of Amo and the ones responsible.
Gachiakuta was one of the biggest surprises of 2025, leaving fans with a solid 24 episodes of distinct punk aesthetic mixed with typical battle shounen fun. The power system is fresh and original, and the characters are all compelling. Bones continues to impress with each new show they release, and Gachiakuta is no different, especially because the plot twist sets up plenty of interesting developments. There is no confirmed release date for Gachiakuta Season 2, but fans at least know it is on the way, ready to wow them with new arcs.
5 ‘Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Season 3’ (2027)
Image via MadhouseIt is hard for modern anime to be better than the classics, but one series that did the impossible was Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. With the goal of reaching the land of the dead to meet with fallen comrades, Frieren, Fern, and Stark continue to move north, battling hunger and demons along the way. Season 3 will take them to the city of gold, with plenty of adventures, dangers, and unexpected moments awaiting them.
Frieren might not be loved for its action, but it is still an action anime, not to mention that when the animation gets going, the fight scenes go viral. It will be around a year until it comes out in October 2027, but since it adapts what is arguably the best arc in the franchise, it is already one of the most hyped seasons for 2027. While still far away, the excitement of the City of Gold is enough to make the second season of Frieren one of the most anticipated shows of 2027, furthering its status as one of the best anime shows ever.
Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes What Fantasy World Do You Belong To? Middle-earth · Grand Line · The Continent · Camp Half-Blood
Pick your magic, your crew, where you want to wake up and who you would rather be fighting, and we will tell you which world you actually belong in. Four are open to you: an ancient kingdom living through its last good age, an endless sea full of pirates, a continent that pays people to kill monsters, and a summer camp where the Greek gods are extremely real and mostly a nuisance.
💍Middle-earth(Rings of Power)
👒Grand Line(One Piece)
🐺The Continent(The Witcher)
🔱Camp Half-Blood(Percy Jackson)
FIND YOUR WORLD →
01
What kind of power do you want? Every one of these worlds runs on a completely different sort of magic.
ASomething ancient and half forgotten that came down through my family. BSomething completely ridiculous that works in a fight and gets a laugh. CNo magic at all, just training, potions and a very sharp sword. DSomething I inherited from a parent I have barely met.
NEXT QUESTION →
02
Who is travelling with you? Nobody gets through any of these stories entirely on their own.
AA fellowship drawn from every corner of the world who barely trust each other. BA crew I picked up one at a time, all of whom would die for me. CTwo or three people I would never describe out loud as friends. DTwo mates from school who are exactly as out of their depth as I am.
NEXT QUESTION →
03
Where do you want to wake up tomorrow? The best fantasy is usually just somewhere you would genuinely like to live.
AA high city of white stone with the sea somewhere far below. BA ship under sail, with an island ahead that nobody has mapped. CA rented room over a tavern, in a town I am leaving in the morning. DA cabin at a summer camp with everybody else already awake outside.
NEXT QUESTION →
04
How are you making a living out there? Even in fantasy somebody has to pay for the horse.
AI am not, because somebody far older than me decided this was my duty. BTreasure, and I am not always careful about whose it used to be. CI take contracts, since people will pay well for what they will not touch. DI am fifteen and this is all technically a school trip.
NEXT QUESTION →
05
There is something in the woods. What do you do about it? All four of these worlds keep something unpleasant out there in the dark.
ASend word to somebody who has seen this before, then hold the line. BWalk straight in, because it is interesting and possibly edible. CAsk what it has been eating and what the village is willing to pay. DWork out which myth it escaped from, then improvise very badly.
NEXT QUESTION →
06
Who is the villain of your story? The enemy tells you far more about a world than the hero ever does.
AAn ancient evil that has been patient for several thousand years. BA government that has spent a long time calling itself the good guys. CA man who turns out to be far worse than anything I hunt for money. DA god, or possibly my own family, and quite likely both at once.
NEXT QUESTION →
07
What do you actually believe in out there? Every world hands its heroes one rule and asks them to hold onto it.
ASome things are worth defending even when the odds are hopeless. BNobody gets to tell me where I can go or what I am allowed to want. CPick the lesser evil, and never pretend afterwards that it was not evil. DMy friends come before anything a prophecy has to say about it.
NEXT QUESTION →
08
A thousand years from now, how are you remembered? Eight questions in, this is the one that decides your world.
AIn a song, in a language hardly anybody still speaks. BAs the one who got there first and proved the whole thing was possible. CBarely, and mostly wrongly, in ballads I would absolutely hate. DOn a plaque at a camp, read by kids about to do the same thing.
REVEAL MY WORLD →
The Map Is Drawn Your World Is…
Four worlds and four completely different ideas of what a good life looks like. This is where you belong, what it would ask of you, and what you would get back in return.
Middle-earth
You belong somewhere old enough that the mountains have names and somebody can still tell you who gave them. Middle-earth is for people who think the right thing is worth doing even when it will not be finished in their lifetime.
- This is the only world on the list where doing good is understood as a very long defeat, fought anyway, by people who will never see how it ends.
- You are drawn to grandeur, to white cities and deep forges and the sense that almost everything you touch is older than your entire family line.
- The Rings of Power is set in the last good age before it all goes wrong, which gives every quiet scene in it a slightly unbearable weight.
- You would take the hard road, and you would take it on foot.
The Grand Line
You want the sea, a crew, and absolutely nobody telling you where you are allowed to go. The Grand Line is the world for people whose main ambition in life is finding out what is over there.
- One Piece has run for decades on one very simple engine, which is a group of people who each want something impossible and have decided to go and get it together.
- You collect people. Your ideal crew is a set of misfits who were each written off somewhere else before you turned up and offered them a better idea.
- The world is enormous and deliberately ridiculous, and the emotional gut punches land harder because of that rather than in spite of it.
- You would set sail knowing the map runs out, which is more or less the entire point of it.
The Continent
You would rather be feared and useful than liked and useless. The Continent is a world where the monsters are the straightforward part of the job and the people are where it all gets complicated.
- Witchers get paid to do what nobody else will and resented for existing at all, which is a trade most people would refuse and you would probably accept.
- You have no real illusions about which side is the good one, largely because on the Continent that question tends to have a disappointing answer.
- The best of these stories are not about the fighting. They are about somebody with a rigid code being repeatedly cornered into caring about people.
- You would take the coin, finish the job properly, and be out of town before the story got told wrong.
Camp Half-Blood
You want the myths to be real and loose in the actual world, and you want to find out at about thirteen that you were never anywhere near as ordinary as everybody kept telling you.
- Percy Jackson takes the oldest stories we have and drops them into car parks and diners, which makes the gods considerably funnier and a great deal worse.
- You would be the kid every school gave up on, who turns out to have been built for something nobody thought to test for.
- The series is genuinely about friendship rather than destiny, and it says so out loud every time a prophecy tries to get in the way.
- Camp Half-Blood is the real fantasy here: a place where the thing that made you difficult everywhere else is the thing that makes you belong.
↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ
4 ‘Chainsaw Man: Assassins Arc’ (TBA)
Image via MAPPA/Chainsaw Man Project/Tatsuki Fujimoto/SHUEISHAIt seems that every year introduces a new hit anime, and in 2022, it was Chainsaw Man, but fans have been waiting a while for Season 2. When Denji fuses with his pet devil, he becomes the titular fiend who possesses a special ability, which is why so many people and demons are after his heart. Luckily, he is with the Devil Hunting Agency. After the film, Denji is heartbroken and ready to be burned again, with the next season adapting the Assassins Arc.
The first season was a worldwide success, but Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc was a whole new level of exhilaration, featuring world-class animation, a gorgeous story, and an experience unlike any other. That has got fans even more hyped for the next season, which will be adapting an even better arc. It may be a slow output of content, but something is better than nothing, and considering the quality MAPPA is producing, fans won’t mind waiting a bit longer for the next phenomenal season of Chainsaw Man.
3 ‘The One Piece’ (2027)
Image via NetflixOne Piece is arguably the biggest anime of all time, but it has over one thousand episodes, meaning many fans are hesitant to give it a shot. However, now is the perfect chance to experience this world with the upcoming remake, The One Piece. Monkey D. Luffy wants to become the King of the Pirates, but to do so, he first needs to build a crew and make a name for himself. He sets off on an adventure around islands doing what he wants, which is usually beating up other pirates and corrupt Marines.
One Piece is one of the greatest anime of all time, and now, fans will get to experience it with a fresh coat of paint. The main criticisms of the original anime are its pacing and animation, and this remake will solve both of those issues. It will streamline the story and polish the visuals, potentially making The One Piece the definitive way to watch Luffy's story. These fixes will help it become even better, which has put fans in a frenzy of hype. Early One Piece doesn’t have the best fights, but the action isn’t lacking, and with better animation, it will easily be one of the best action anime of 2027.
2 ‘Jujutsu Kaisen: The Culling Game Part 2’ (TBA)
Image via CrunchyrollGachiakuta and Chainsaw Man aren’t the only hyped anime without release dates, because Jujutsu Kaisen joins them with a TBA timeline. The Culling Game got chaotic and epic last season as sorcerers competed in a Battle Royale. However, things are only getting started, with the Culling Game part two adding more characters, chaos, and fights.
Even though Jujutsu Kaisen doesn’t have a confirmed release date, fans believe it's coming out in 2027, which has them excited to see more engaging fight scenes. The franchise is known for its standout battles with creative premises and stunning animation, and this next season promises even more of that. Fans never know what to expect with Jujutsu Kaisen, only that they are in for a wild ride. It is perhaps the most hyped up anime of all time, and with its whole forte being action, it is obviously one of the most anticipated yet to come.
1 ‘Kagurabachi’ (2027)
Image via Shonen JumpAlmost every single anime on this list is a sequel season, which is natural since it is easier to get excited about something that is already loved. But the one original anime on this list is Kagurabachi. When his father is killed and all his blades stolen, Chihiro wields a hidden blade and the last of his father's work. Armed with this legendary weapon, he goes down a bloody path of revenge, killing everyone associated with the murder of his father.
When the manga first came out, Kagurabachi was treated as a meme because of its simple premise. However, it proved the haters wrong and instantly became the biggest modern manga series. The panelling is among the best in the medium, the style is badass, and the fight scenes are absolutely intense. Kagurabachi is an absolute action masterclass in creative and riveting battles, helping it become a thrilling anime series that is bound to be the next big thing when it comes out in spring 2027. It will be the must-watch anime event of next year, guaranteed.
