Guide
The anime highlights of the summer
by Cassie Mammone
Anime highlights this autumn
8.10.2025
Translation: Elicia Payne
October has arrived, the autumn weather is here and with it a whole range of fresh anime. Here you can find out which series highlights are running on popular streaming services in the next few months.
Heatwaves are long gone. Rain showers and grey skies have well and truly welcomed autumn. There’s simply no better time to curl up on the couch or snuggle up in bed, and enjoy the latest anime.
After an interesting summer packed with new additions, this year’s autumn will be dominated by sequels. So that you know which anime await you in the coming months, I’d like to share my personal highlights from autumn.
Sanda
Sanda’s set in Japan in the near future. The birth rate’s fallen so much that children are treated like saints and strictly monitored. Santa, a.k.a. Santa Claus, has been banished because he was cursed. There’s no trace of him until one fateful Christmas day when his descendant develops inexplicable powers.
Middle school student Kazushige Sanda is attacked with a knife by a girl in his class because she fears his family’s cursed with «Santa». Yet, she also wants him to help her look for her lost friend. The knife attack triggers Sanda’s transformation into Santa Claus, and he decides to help his classmate despite everything.
From then on, the young Sanda sets out to support his fellow human beings and help Christmas regain acceptance in society.
This anime’s an adaptation of the complete manga by author Paru Itagaki. She was the creator behind «Beastars» – the final anime season is being adapted for Netflix. There, she demonstrated how skilled and empathetic she is at writing about social issues. For that reason alone, Sanda is an absolute must-see for me.
Start: October 3, then probably on a weekly basis in Simulcast
Where?: Prime Video
Language: Japanese original language with subtitles, German dubbing to follow
My Hero Academia, Season 8
My Hero Academia Final Season concludes the story of aspiring superhero Izuku Midoriya aka Deku. In the Final War Arc and the Epilogue Arc, the heroes face off against the villains. Once the battle for the fate of the world’s over, it gives an insight into life in society after the big event.
If you’ve watched all seven previous seasons, you’ll finally be rewarded with the closure. Or, perhaps the last season release will be the motivation you need to start the anime series. After all, the end is now in sight and you don’t have to wait between seasons. This anime’s been running for nine years now.
My Hero Academia combines action-packed Shonen-elements with heart-warming stories from the everyday school life of the aspiring heroes and heroines. But the final season’s likely to focus on action.
Start: 4 October, then probably on a weekly basis in simulcast
Where?: Crunchyroll
Language: Japanese original language with subtitles, German dubbing to follow
Ranma ½, Season 2
Ranma ½ is the remake of a classic anime that first aired on Japanese television in 1989. It’s a rom-com that comes with a good dose of fighting action.
The unfortunate protagonists Ranma and Akane are forcibly betrothed by their fathers so that Akane’s dad’s fighting school can continue to exist. After an awkward introduction, the two can’t stand each other and fight at every opportunity. Because the two fiancés are extremely talented in martial arts, fighting was inevitable.
Ranma also has to contend with an influx of mysterious sources from China: every time he comes into contact with cold water, he becomes a woman. To become a man again, he has to douse himself with hot water. This makes for the strangest moments.
As if that wasn’t enough, both Ranma and Akane have a ton of admirers who also happen to be martial arts luminaries. The second season of Studio Mappa’s Netflix remake adds some potential lovers to the mix. There’s no stopping the chaos now.
Start: 4 October, then probably on a weekly basis in simulcast
Where?: Netflix
Language: Japanese original language with subtitles, German dubbing (simultaneously, if like season 1)
Spy x Family, Season 3
In the beginning, Spy x Family seems like a crazy thriller. Agent Twilight must obtain information about a high-ranking politician. However, there’s only one way to get anywhere near him because Agent Twilight’s target only ever shows up at her son’s private school.
It’s crystal clear what agent Twilight’s mission is: he has to put a family together, consisting of a wife and a schoolchild. His «wife» just happens to be an assassin and his «daughter» is a telepath who can read the thoughts of those around her. Apart from the telepathically gifted Anya, the «family» knows nothing about the peculiarities of its members.
The bizarre initial situation offers less material for a crime thriller and more for a heart-warming comedy – and finally we get to find out more.
Start: 4 October, then probably on a weekly basis in simulcast
Where?: Crunchyroll
Language: Japanese original language with subtitles, German dubbing to follow
To Your Eternity, Season 3
It’s best to have a pack of tissues ready when you watch To Your Eternity. This anime tells the story of an immortal creature that forms bonds with living beings and takes on their form when they die.
As a result, immortal Fushi experiences numerous heartbreaking stories while being hunted by the magical Nokker creatures. Along the way, he learns a lot from the people he encounters – be it their languages and customs or the deeper meaning of life.
After the second season, Fushi spends several centuries rooted in a tree – until he wakes up in the present. His adventure in the modern age presents him with new challenges and mysteries to unravel.
Start: 4 October, then probably on a weekly basis in simulcast
Where?: Crunchyroll
Language: Japanese original language with subtitles, German dubbing to follow
Digimon Beatbreak
Digimon fans are in for a treat this autumn 2025. On 3 October, promising role-playing game Digimon Story: Time Stranger will be released and two days later a new anime will start on Japanese television.
With its proximity to the digital world, the new Digimon anime picks up on the highly topical subject of AI. Digimon are created from Sapotamas, AI devices. As soon as they commit crimes, a bounty is placed on their heads and «Cleaners» are deployed. They’re a group of humans and their Digimon partners who act as bounty hunters.
Protagonist Tomoro Tenma and his partner Digimon Gekkomon join the «Cleaners» – partly because it’s the only way to get rid of their own bounty. In doing so, they challenge the familiar system and – hopefully – fight epic monster battles.
Start: 5 October, then probably on a weekly basis
Where?: Crunchyroll
Language: Japanese original language with subtitles
Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill, Season 2
No anime season is complete without Isekai – these are works in which the heroes and heroines suddenly find themselves in a different world. The genre has been so popular in Japan and internationally for years that new works are regularly published.
Many protagonists suddenly see themselves reborn from a disappointing life in our world as superhumans. For a change, Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill revolves around a talented character who’s equipped with an «ordinary» skill: Tsuyoshi Mukoda is a gifted cook in our world.
When he’s summoned to a magical world, he has only one ability: the «online supermarket». This allows him to order food that arrives directly to his home. What would be practical for us after work is of little help to Mukoda in the fight against monsters. This is why the summoners release Mukoda from his duties. From then on, he sets off on his own path – along with new companions and the strange effects his food has.
Start: 7 October, then on a weekly basis in simulcast
Where?: Crunchyroll
Language: Japanese original language with subtitles, German dubbing to follow
Gnosia
A number of people are stranded in a spaceship in space. Among them is a «Gnosia» – a malicious, extraterrestrial being. And it wants to wipe out the crew and ideally the rest of humanity. To do this, it uses a trick that already worked in the famous The Thing" franchise: it pretends to be one of the humans on the spaceship.
Start: 11 October, then on a weekly basis in simulcast
Where?: Crunchyroll
Language: Japanese original language with subtitles
One Punch Man, Season 3
Back to the anime: after his training, Saitama is able to defeat his opponents with just one blow. Hence the title. In the third season, we finally get to see the continuation of Monster Association Arc. As usual, overpowered villains await Saitama, and the heroes’ association is slowly but surely reaching its limits.
The only pain point for One Punch Man fans is currently to do with the anime’s production studio, J. C. Staff. After the popular studio Madhouse handed the anime over to J. C. Staff after the first season, many fans criticised the drop in, what was usually, high production quality. So let’s hope that One Punch Man gets its act together in the third season.
Start: 12 October, then on a weekly basis in simulcast
Where?: Crunchyroll
Language: Japanese original language with subtitles, German dubbing to follow
Movie recommendation: Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc
Three years ago, the Chainsaw Man anime saw the light of day during autumn and hit like a bomb (pun intended). The story revolves around the devil hunter Denji. When he finds himself in a hopeless situation and on the verge of death, he takes in his best friend, the chainsaw devil. From then on, he must work for the state by destroying devils and to not be eliminated as a devil himself.
The film picks up where the anime left off and focuses on Denji’s emotional life. Although he’s been madly in love with his boss Makima since the first episode, an unknown girl arouses his interest. Reze makes advances to Denji that the hormone-ridden teenager simply can’t ignore.
If you’re expecting a teen love drama, I’m sorry to disappoint (or, perhaps, reassure you): nothing good ever happens to Denji, which is why this film’s seriously going out with a bang. If the animations by the notorious Studio Mappa remain as elaborate as in the anime adaptation, we can expect some incredible and bizarre action.
Release: 23 October
Where?: Cinema
Language: Japanese original language with subtitles, German dubbing
Cassie Mammone
Freelance Editor
cassie.mammone.freelance@gmail.comI wrote my first text about video games when I was eight years old. I haven't been able to stop since. The rest of my time is spent on my love for 2D husbandos, monsters, my cats and sport.
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