Fall 2026 Anime Impressions

Gems, Surprises, and Duds

ByJ. Davis MalloryPublished about an hour ago•13 min read

A couple of months ago, I broke down the 8 anime I was looking forward to. Today, I will share my impressions of those 8 as well as other anime that I have started watching this fall. 

8 Anime That I Anticipated For The Fall

The Apothecary Diaries Season 3

Maomao has left the palace and has returned to her old life as an apothecary in the pleasure district.

Impression: I am kind of still feeling around for this one. This season is a big swing from the previous seasons since Maomao has gone back to the pleasure district and is not working in the palace anymore. However, I am impressed with how her mind works, with her current goal being to warn everyone that a famine is on the horizon. So far, I am still intrigued, and I hope that Maomao will at least interact a lot more with Jinshi, even though she doesn’t realize that Jinshi has a thing for her, which is still hilarious to watch since season 1. 

The Seven Knights of the Marronnier Kingdom

Seven brothers are dispatched to seven different nations. They will face different trials and tribulations. However, they all have the same goal: to rescue a princess in a savvy way.

Impression:  It is a cute premise, but I have found it boring so far. I think that it is cool that you have a clear distinction between the seven brothers and their personalities. I think I was just expecting more from each of them at this point. Hopefully, I will be proven wrong by the end of the season. 

Uncle’s Obsession with Cute Things

A middle-aged man tries to hide from his co-workers that he likes cute things. 

Impression:As a lover of cute things, I was hoping to relate to the main character. However, most of the episodes are the character’s inner dialogue, which has been boring. Still, hoping that he will embrace his love for cute things and be willing to share it with those around him. I mean, the guy got a divorce because his wife thought he was cheating because he was so evasive, but it was really him trying to hide his love for cute things. If you can’t share those things with your wife, that is a suffocating existence to live in. 

So What’s Wrong with Getting Reborn as a Goblin?

An office worker, Akira, is reincarnated into a goblin (a species that only lives seven days). He is determined to live past the normal lifespan and become the greatest goblin ever. 

Impression:This is one of my favorites this season. Goblins are usually a menace to society, but in this story, they are a peaceful society trying to live their seven days of life to the fullest. I also found it fascinating that Akira took it upon himself to improve the lives of the goblins and establish positive relationships between goblins and humans. Akira is very clever, and I am curious to see what antics he and the other goblins get into next. 

The World‘s Strongest Witch

Lorna finds out her magic skill of “Internet” is more powerful than anyone realized. 

Impression: I had to force myself to get past the first episode because it was pretty weak. I gave the show another chance, and I am happy that I did. Is it the best anime? No. But it is definitely one of the funniest that I have seen in a while. As the episodes go on, you realize that Lorna is a character in an RPG game that has access to the internet. She has been using the search feature to figure out quests and other events in her world. What’s funny is that she thinks that the internet forums are the gods talking to her, but are really actually gamers. It does make me question what the ultimate goal of this anime is. Will it be only about silly antics by Lorna and those around her, or will the internet lead Lorna to a hidden purpose or agenda? I am curious to see how that goes. 

Firefly Wedding

In desperation after almost being killed by her kidnappers, a noblewoman, Satoko, proposes marriage to an assassin, Shinpei, in hopes he will protect her. 

Impression: I am very skeptical about this anime and am debating whether to keep watching. Shinpei seems like a sociopath and scary as hell. Personally, I am impressed that Satoko is able to keep calm during her encounters with him because I would be a crying mess. I am hoping some of the dynamics change between the characters in the upcoming episodes. 

Full Clearing Another World under a Goddess with Zero Believers

A gamer, Makoto, finds himself in another world with terrible skills and stats. However, a run-in with a goddess may turn his life around. 

Impression: This is one of my favorites this season for several reasons. Despite Makoto having terrible skills, he knows how to utilize them enough for his benefit and to rescue others, mostly because of his skills as a gamer. Also, he was very smart when it came to the goddess who wants to recruit him. She has no followers and wants Makoto to be her first. Instead of jumping at the chance for power, Makoto is cautious and questions the goddess’s favor toward him. The anime also presents a mystery that I am curious if the show will circle back to. Makoto and the majority of his classmates died in a bus crash and were reincarnated in another world. However, some of the classmates were either not reincarnated or haven’t been discovered. It makes me wonder if it means that those classmates who are missing survived the crash or if this new world has another role for them that hasn’t been revealed yet. I am eager to find out. 

The Cold Sato-san is Only Sweet to Me

A boy realizes that the ice queen at his school is much more than she appears to be.

Impression:Lost interest after a couple of episodes. The characters aren’t bad, but the chemistry they had with each other wasn’t enough to make me move forward. 

Anime That Surprised Me (In a Good Way)

A Tale of the Secret Saint

A reincarnated saint. Fia has dreams of becoming a knight.

Impression: This is one of the anime that surprised me this season. Fia was a saint in her previous life and was left to die by her siblings because they were jealous of her. In her current life, she still has her saint powers, but is afraid to use them because of what happened to her in her previous life. It is tragic in a way because the saints in her current time period are way less advanced in magic, and the cooperation between saints and the knights is pretty weak. Despite that, Fia tends to use her healing powers when no one is around. It is interesting to see a protagonist with PTSD from her previous life, but also to wonder how she can be of the best service to her country without meeting a tragic end. I am curious to see how Fia weaves through those obstacles in future episodes. 

Tank Chair

Nagi is the world’s greatest assassin. However, he took a bullet in the head, which caused him to be paralyzed and comatose. However, his younger sister, Shizuka, figured out that Nagi comes out of a coma when his fight-or-flight senses are activated for a brief period of time. 

Impression:This is the show that took the biggest swing this season. The protagonist is disabled and can only fight or respond when he is in danger. It is a very interesting topic. It does raise an interesting question, though: How far are you willing to go to bring the person you love back from a devastating illness or injury? I think if you ask a lot of people, they would say they are willing to do everything. However, it makes you question that notion when Shizuka keeps putting her brother in extremely dangerous situations in order to just talk to him again. She refers to it as rehab, but it makes you wonder how ethical her thought process is. Don’t get me wrong. I understand her logic since imminent death seems to be the only way Nagi responds. I just wonder if there is a better way for both of them to handle this. I am curious to see that in upcoming episodes. 

Sasaki and Peeps

Sasaki, a businessman, decides to get a pet bird, Peeps. Sasaki finds out that Peeps was reincarnated from a magical world. He and Peeps travel back and forth between the magical and modern worlds on many magical adventures. However, the magic Sasaki learns gains the attention of beings in his world: psychics, magical girls, angels, and demons. 

Impression: I was surprised by this one only for the fact that I didn’t know it was coming out with a second season. The first season left me with several questions, mainly about Sasaki’s high school next-door neighbor, Otonari. I didn’t understand why she was shown, and I was wondering why Sasaki didn’t really help more, because there were signs of abuse there with Otonari. Her mother was verbally and physically abusive and forced Otonari to stay outside for hours when she had company. However, this season we find out that Sasaki did try to help in the background. Seems that he called child protective services several times, but Otonari’s mom would put on a front for the agency, and eventually child protective stopped coming around. Sasaki was the only one who showed Otonari any kindness by making sure she was okay and bringing her food. Unfortunately, her bad home life led her to join forces with the demons and the death game that they have with the angels. It makes you realize how important it is for children to have positive influences around and how easily they can get with the wrong crowd if not careful.

#I’m Looking for Zombie

In a world where 90% of humanity has become zombies, Aki and her friends escape the village in search of Aki’s father.

Impression: A very different take on the zombie genre. They are still a threat, but are mostly background characters. The show is more of a showcase of humanity after an apocalypse. However, Aki and her friends are very optimistic about surviving in the outside world where the zombies roam around. Despite their optimism, they know how to be realistic since all of them are extremely skilled at killing zombies. The optimism makes me hope along with them that they succeed in their purpose of finding Aki’s father, whether he is alive or dead. 

Similar Premise

For the first time in a while, shows are airing where their premise begins very similarly: The Laid-Off Cheat-Granting Mage Enjoys a Second Lease on Life and Magic Repo Man. Both have main male leads where either their guild or party abandons them and declares them weak without realizing their true value, providing support in battle with either MP or enchantments for weapons and armor. Both main characters respond the same: they take away their powers from the people they thought were their friends, which causes people to get mad and come after them. After that point, this is where the stories diverge. 

The Laid-Off Cheat-Granting Mage Enjoys a Second Lease is much more comedic. The main character, Rein, is kind of an airhead and very naive when it comes to being an adventurer. Despite all of that, he fights to protect those whom he cares about, even if it puts him at a disadvantage. 

Magic Repo Man is more drama-based. The one thing I liked about this show is that Lent is heavily advised by a fairy, Empee, who prevents him from being taken advantage of by people anymore, but also gets payback on Lent’s past party members who have little MP to fight with. I also liked how they showed how people treat his party members now that Lent is gone. It seems everyone outside of Lent’s party realized how gifted Lent was with his powers and how much of an asset he could be. He was also the only reason his party was viewed favorably because he was nice to everyone he interacted with. It is nice to see Lent’s former party struggle without him.  

Despite both anime being similar, I found them to be very enjoyable. If you want a laugh, I would definitely check out The Laid-Off Cheat-Granting Mage Enjoys a Second Lease. However, if you want something with more drama and imparts lessons along the way, then Magic Repo Man is the one to see first. 

Confused?

Romelia War Chronicles

After Prince Henri and Countess Romelia’s party defeated the demon lord, Henri breaks off his engagement to Romelia and kicks her out of the party. All of the party members found her useless.

Impression:After Romelia is kicked out of her party, she doesn’t seem angry about it at all. She collected enough loot to get her family out of debt. She then decides to create her own army to fight off the remnants of demon soldiers surrounding her father’s land. She is an excellent leader and knows how to bring out the best in her soldiers. The part that gets confusing is: if she was a great leader, why was her engagement ended and she was kicked out of the party? It is more confusing when we see flashbacks with her party. Romelia in the past was revered by the prince and her party members. I don’t understand why it soured. I am intrigued enough with the show to watch to the end, but I feel that there were a lot of pieces missing for her that I hope they explain in future episodes. 

Hello, I’m a Witch Whose Crush Requested a Love Potion

A witch, Rose, is requested by her secret crush to make him a love potion. She has him help her find ingredients for the potion so they can spend more time together. 

Impression: This is definitely a slow-burn romance because of silly misunderstandings. I have a feeling that full confessions won’t come until the end of the season. Not the worst romance building, but not the greatest either. I am intrigued enough to see how the series goes. 

Even Though I’m a Super Timid Noble Girl, I Accepted the Bet From My Cunning Fiancé

A woman, Pia, is reincarnated into the villainess of an otome game. To avoid the villainess route, she breaks her engagement to the Prime Minister’s son. However, will he let her go so easily?

Impression:It is kind of in the middle for me when it comes to anime where the person is reincarnated into an otome game. You have Pia, who is scared of what will happen to her because she was reborn as a villainess. The one thing that I do give it credit for is that Pia does have an escape plan if things go wrong and is working on the final touches on that. Also, as of the last episode that aired, the heroine is introduced and doing not-so-heroic things: poisoning the food of potential love interests in order to win the game. So we know that the heroine is someone who is reincarnated as well. With that reveal, I am curious to see if the anime will rise to the occasion and utilize Pia and the heroine well before the season ends, or if it will drop off. I am intrigued to keep going to find out. 

From Far Away

Girl gets sent to a fantasy land

Impression: Didn’t really find the heroine appealing, so I stopped watching after the first episode. 

Vertex Force

A young boy and girl find out that their father was an alien and that the people intent on killing him have moved their sights to his family to annihilate them. 

Impression: I tried, but mecha isn’t really my favorite genre. I have only liked two, which were Mobile Suit Gundam Wing and Full Metal Panic. That said, if you like mecha, you may be more interested in Vertex Force than I am. 

Super Psychic Policeman Chojo

Rookie Police officer Ippongi is transferred to the West Chinjuku Police Station, which is known for having an officer there who deals with psychic cases: Chojo.

Impression: After a couple of episodes, I really didn’t find Chojo likable, so I stopped watching. 

Nia Liston: The Merciless Maiden

An undefeated hero is reincarnated into the body of a frail little girl.

Impression: Tried to connect with the main character, but couldn’t and stopped watching.

Possibility for a Retry

Horror Collector

A boy finding creatures from horror stories

Impression: This aired when I was trying to read only horror books for October, which didn’t do well for my mental health. I ended up dropping this show because of that. It seems to have some promise, so I will try again next month. 

Psyren

Several high school students discover the urban legend of Psyren is real and won’t let go of them that easily. 

Impression:Same reason as Horror Collector. Psyren dealt with horror, and I was already consuming too much when this came out. Will give it a try again next month. 

TETSURYO! meet with Tetsudou Musume

Four university students in the Railway Travel Club travel across Japan and encounter characters inspired by real railway jobs.

Impression: This is mostly about travel, which is not my thing, but I may come back to give it another go next month. 

That’s all I have seen this fall. I think there are some pretty good gems here. Let me know what you guys think. What fall shows do you like this year?

About the Creator

J. Davis Mallory

Writer of personal essays about living with muscular dystrophy and reviews of anime and books. Currently writing a memoir. Follow along as I escape into good books and anime while navigating my journey. I am also onSubstack and Bluesky.

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