Anime has captivated the hearts of billions, hooking various people, including myself and my peers, into their well-written plots, music and exquisite character designs. The entirety of the anime community has dealt with the same issue: will there be another part to this series? This has led to the same pages: newspapers, Reddit Posts and Youtube announcements. After doing a huge amount of searching online as well as following certain publishing companies and some of my personal favorite series, I’ve finally found some information about releasing dates this year. Here is a short list that I’d keep an eye out for during this year, not in order.

“Demon Slayer”

For all of the Gonpachiro-Squad lovers and for everyone who is a fan and already knows, the Entertainment District Arc of “Kimetsu no Yaiba”, “Demon Slayer”, is currently being released to Funimation, Netflix, and Hulu as well as various other websites. This series is a personal favorite of mine, starting from the character design and storyline. Fans have been waiting what felt like a million years for the release of this animated manga ever since “The Mugen Train” was released. Continue the story of Tanjiro and Nezuko as they fight for Nezuko’s cure against the demons throughout this arc. For all anime-only fans, the manga is currently finished so if you would like to get spoiled and end up crying that would be the best course of action.

In general, Demon Slayer emphasizes the importance of family and friendship. This series has a lot of mortality, losing friends and loved ones. The series is mostly saying “if you have family and friends you’re willing to fight for, you can do anything you put your mind to”. I admire a lot of the characters in this anime just for their personalities and their development over the course of the story. I would recommend this for sure.

“Bluelock”

For those who don’t know, Bluelock is about soccer (or football, whichever you prefer) which follows the story of Yoichi Isagai and his journey to win a spot on Japan’s National Team for the 2022 World Cup. Most likely, from the research I’ve conducted through hours of going on Reddit, Instagram and news platforms, it will be appearing sometime during June of this year and would most likely be released on Crunchyroll and Netflix. None of the details are set in stone, as the animators have not given the community much to work with excluding the release date. While waiting, viewers could read the manga, which has won numerous awards in the shounen category, and  can be found on various anime stores online. It is still ongoing as of 2022, and expect more chapters to be released soon. You can read the manga here.

“Jujutsu Kaisen”

Jujutsu Kaisen is an extremely popular anime, starring protagonist, Yuji Itadori, who becomes the vessel of the King of Curses, Sukuna, in his battle against the cursed world for the wellbeing of humans. This anime is extremely well done, becoming one of the most popular anime in the world just from the huge fanbase, music, funny moments, and plot twists. The movie, Jujutsu Kaisen 0, will be airing on March 18, but fans can pre-order tickets starting on Feb. 25, so grab them as soon as possible. You can find tickets and movie times here. The film will be aired in Canadian and American theaters, and the movie will be in the English Dub and have English subtitles. However, rather than focusing on Itadori, it will be focusing on Yuta Okkotsu, a high schooler who enrolls in Tokyo’s Jujutsu Kaisen School under the guidance of teacher Satoru Gojo, a fan favorite might I add, who was previously haunted by the curse of his best friend. This is definitely a must-see, so add it to your list and make sure you buy the tickets.

“Chainsaw Man”

This series is an absolute must if you enjoy watching anime or reading manga. Chainsaw Man Part 2 is expected to release during Summer 2022 as revealed at the Jump Festa ‘22 event, and both anime and manga will be released during that time. No concrete timeslots are given, however expect this absolute banger of an anime to completely destroy the charts and take the number one place. It is such an amazing series, having amazing character design and an overall amazing development of the story. Ever since the manga was released, I’ve read it and thoroughly enjoyed it, and I highly recommend keeping an eye out for its release.

“Attack on Titan”

Fans are already seeing this anime being released, as it has been released weekly since the beginning of this year. However, the Final Season Part 2 is currently airing as of Feb. 6 2022 and will continue to do so throughout the first months of the new year and the English Dub will be released starting on Feb. 13. This anime stars the male protagonist, Eren Yeager, in his mission to defend his home from titans and uncover the truth of where those monsters come from and how they were created. A twisted tale full of drama, angst, plot twists and amazing soundtracks is definitely something I look forward to as well. Shinzou wo sasageyo! What does that mean?

“My Hero Academia”

As season five of this popular series comes to a close, fans are wondering when season six will be released. And the animators are delivering, as this year in June Boku No Hero Academia will be airing its sixth season on Hulu, Funimation and Crunchyroll. Personally, My Hero Acadamia is a little underrated, and it gets a bad reputation due to the darker-side of its fanbase. However, fans who read the manga as well as binge the anime for endless amounts of time would completely understand the hype that is Season 6’s release. 

“Fruits Basket Prelude”

Fruits Basket is a highly rated anime, and I’ve been recommended it so many times so I’ll be watching this one myself. The Prelude is going to be released sometime during this February, so keep an eye out for this anime. It was confirmed on Twitter by the creators during a thank you video that they posted. Hopefully it will be released soon, as I’m also quite excited to watch this series. From what I  heard about this anime, it’s a very emotional anime that has a lot of hidden messages woven throughout. The heart-throbs were the main reason my colleagues who are all well-rounded anime-bingers recommended it to me. There’s not much I can say about this anime series, as I haven’t seen this one myself.  

“Tanya the Evil”

Tanya is the reincarnation of a stubborn Japanese salesman, being born as a cruel young woman who fights in an alternate version of World War II. The character designs and the plot design is something so intriguing to watch, and the characters’ development is definitely something to keep an eye out for. Tanya the Evil came out with a Season 2 in January, so most fans probably already know about this but if you have not, I highly recommend this series and it’s for sure something I’ll be binging as well.

There are so many anime series airing this spring and summer, and there are far too many to list out and review in the same article. However, the ones I included are the ones I’d recommend or were recommended to be included by my peers. 2022 will definitely be an entertaining year with how many fun and binge-able series and movies that are coming out. 

If you’re new to watching anime and are interested in watching, I’d recommend these series as they are some of the most well-done and entertaining series. Not only that, they convey meanings and messages that can be applied in daily life, as well as highlighting major world issues.