The anime drops are already in full swing this year with strong entries like Trigun Stampede and Vinland Saga’s second season, but there are still an impressive number of series and films slated for 2023 (and beyond) that we’re waiting for with bated breath. So, get all aboard the hype train as we recap 10 anime you need to put on your radar in 2023.
Record of Ragnarok Season 2 (January 2023)
After over a year off, the clash between Gods and mankind resumes with the second season of Record of Ragnarok coming to Netflix on Jan. 26. The first season, not without its critical qualms, served up a faithful adaptation of the source manga, replete with battles unfolding with epic scale and a catalog of iconic characters that we couldn’t wait to see step into the ring.
When the Gods’ most recent meeting concludes in a unanimous vote to end the human race, a pair of sympathetic demigods step in and suggest allowing mankind to fight the Gods in one-on-one combat for their right to survive. What unfolds is a series of vicious duels pitting Earth’s mightiest fighters against the Gods themselves.
Season 1 left audiences spiked with anticipation as Jack the Ripper stepped into the ring to fight Heracles for round 4 of the battles. Season 2 picks up right where we left off and promises even more incredible matchups, with Shiva, Buddha, and Hades himself set to enter the ring as the fighting continues to unfold.
Blue Giant Movie (February 2023)
Blue Giant’s manga, created by Shinichi Ishikuza, has been showered with critical praise following its initial release in 2014 and garnered numerous award nominations, including a win at the 62nd Shogakukan Manga Awards. Now, the highly lauded series is making its big screen debut with a film adaptation set to release on Feb. 17, 2023.
The series centers around Dai Miyamoto, a rudderless high schooler whose direction is revealed to him when he connects with jazz music and yearns to learn the saxophone. Ishikuza’s musical narrative is a slower-paced story that pumps the brakes on the pacing and themes of a typical manga series, opting for a slow-burning narrative that lets its emotional and melodic resonance wash over the reader like the groovy jazz stylings its premise revolves around.
The already stellar source material is in the hands of an industry veteran in director Yuzuru Tachikawa (best known for Mob Psycho 100), and the very capable animation studio, NUT. The project has all the fixings to become one of the best anime features of 2023 and is well worth keeping an ear out for.
Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King (March 2023)
As the Black Clover manga series rests on a hiatus to prepare for the final arc, fans of the series are being treated with a feature-length anime adaptation to coincide with the franchise’s paperback swan song. Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King, a non-canonical anime original, is set to release on March 31, 2023, for streaming on Netflix.
The anime 4-season (so far) anime series and its source manga tell the tale of Asta, an orphan born without the ability to harness mana for its magical powers, and his journey to find his place among his powerful peers as he is surrounded by evil forces lurking in the shadows and fueled by his dream to become the Wizard King.
Sword of the Wizard King, which will detail Asta battling a cluster of resurrected, former Wizard Kings, comes as a more than welcome franchise entry as we await more information trickles in about a season 5 release.
Attack on Titan The Final Season Part 3 (March 2023)
It is hard to be too upset by Attack on Titan’s final season’s glacially paced release, given how undeniably influential and stellar the anime series has been up to this point. Yet, after almost three years, the third and final installment of season 4 is at our doorsteps and set to kick down the door for a March 4, 2023 release.
The anime, based on the manga of the same name, revolves around Eren Yeager and his vow to exterminate the colossal, man-eating Titans responsible for his home’s destruction and his mother’s death. Over the course of its run, the series has given fans some of the most compelling action sequences and engrossing character arcs in recent memory, taking its premise to deeper and darker corners with every passing season.