TheSpring 2025 animeseason has arrived, bringing forth a plethora of fresh and returning names that will attempt to keep viewers hooked for roughly three months. While perhaps not as stacked with established heavy hitters as Fall 2024 or Winter 2025, the current quarter still has an impressiveselection of sequels, withFire Force,Black Butler, andWind Breakerall airing new episodes. The season even has two notable spin-offs/prequels inMy Hero Academia: VigilantesandUma Musume: Cinderella Gray.
Spring 2025 is not lacking in exciting new anime either, and they cover a fairly wide spectrum of genres, themes, and tones. With roughly 40 shows airing more than 400 episodes during the season, keeping up with everything can be extremely difficult. Consequently, let’s highlight thebest anime of Spring 2025to provide some guidance.
Updated on July 20, 2025, by Mark Sammut:Another one of thebest Spring 2025 animehas been added, and this series is for people craving comedy and music.
Here are a few important details and criteria:
Over the last few years,anime about girl bandshave become surprisingly commonplace, with seemingly every other season producing a new story. For the most part, they have been great.Bocchi the Rockis this theme’s biggest recent success story, butGirls Band CryandBanG Dream! Ave Mujicaare also fantastic. While not quite reaching the same level as those shows,Rock Is a Lady’s Modestyis nevertheless entertaining. Due to prioritizing humor above everything else, thisSpring 2025 animeis a better alternative forBocchifans than the other two series, and it also has awesome rock music.
To avoid embarrassing her mother, Lilisa puts on a persona at her new elite school, all in an attempt to seem like a highbrow and perfect student. Towards this end, she has decided to turn her back on the guitar and rock music in general, a resolve that is tested when she meets Otoha. Despite being the school’s idol, Otoha does not conform to standard protocol, and she spends her free time rocking out on a set of drums. Long story short, they form a band and, gradually, welcome a few new members.
Although a bit repetitive since a few characters rely on one or two jokes,Rock Is a Lady’s Modestyoffers a fine mix of comedy, sincerity, and music. Otoha is the star of the show, while Lilisa works well as a reaction machine.
A rare modern seasonal show by Shaft that has nothing todo withMonogatari,A Ninja and an Assassin Under One Roofis a wildly different beast from the studio’s famous work. As the title suggests, the story revolves around a ninja and an assassin who end up living together, creating an odd couple scenario that just screams “anime.” While the ninja, Satoko, is optimistic and easily influenced by other people, the assassin, Konoha, is stoic, cynical, and manipulative.
Although unsurprisingly comedic,A Ninja and an Assassin Under One Roofworks well as a slice of life, albeit one revolving around two people with unorthodox daily routines. While plenty of absurd things happen throughout the episode, they are largely presented as ordinary situations, at least by the characters’ standards. A lot of the humor derives from Konoha and Satoko’s indifference to death.
Due to being directed by Shinichirou Watanabe, the mind behindCowboy BebopandSamurai Champloo,Lazaruscame pre-installed with extremely high expectations, especially since it marks a return to sci-fi action for the filmmaker. The premise is also intriguing. Set in the semi-distant future,Lazarusrefers to a special squad tasked with finding Doctor Skinner, who went into hiding after announcing that his super-popular legal drug has a built-in mutation that will kill all of its users three years following its ingestion. With only a month left before bodies start to drop, the task force has absolutely no time to waste.
Right out of the gate,Lazarusshowcases the director’s trademarks through its crisp animation, jazz-infused soundtrack, and slippery protagonist, Axel, who has a fighting style that is fairly similar toCowboy Bebop’s Spike. While primarily impressive from a technical perspective, theSpring 2025 animedid a good job of setting up the story’s hook and introducing the team’s areas of expertise early on, only to lose quite a bit of momentum as the season progressed.Lazarusis, for the most part, fine, but it has not amounted to anything more than just that by this point.
Gundamis one of the most recognizable names in anime history, but it is also pretty niche. If someone is not into mecha, they are unlikely to give one of these releases a try, especially since it can be intimidating to jump into a new show in a franchise that has been around for decades. The thing is, mostGundamseries are just about standalone enough to be watchable without any other context, even if some stuff might be lost in the process.
GQuuuuuuXis not, on paper, the most accessible entry. Set in analternate reality based on the original 1979 anime, this story wonders what would have happened if Zeon won the war.GQuuuuuuXmainly focuses on a group of teenagers who end up with mechas, and they take part in competitive battles and interact with something akin to a rebel group. The world-building and narrative backdrop are quite complicated and fairly overwhelming, at least if somebody is not familiar withMobile Suit Gundam; however, the core story is relatively straightforward, as it mostly just focuses on three characters.
The animation and action are arguably the best part ofGQuuuuuuX. While the writing is decent, it has yet to achieve greatness.
My Hero Academiais slowly approaching its end, with season 8 expected to launch in October 2025. However, the franchise still has plenty of stories to tell, now that theVigilantesspin-off is finally receiving an adaptation. Set a few years before the main manga/anime, this series follows a trio of characters who have the drive to make a difference but not the Quirks to become traditional Pro Heroes. Consequently, they stick to the shadows, alleys, and underground.
The anime has only gotten started so far, but it has done a decent job of introducing the coreVigilantescharacters: Koichi, Kazuho, and Iwao. While nothing too special, the protagonists are likable and have pretty instant chemistry, with each one fulfilling a natural role in the team.
A modern adaptation of Gosho Aoyama’s classic shonen manga,Yaiba: Samurai Legendhas arguably the best animation of Spring 2025’s action offerings, especially if ONAs likeTo Be Hero Xare not taken into account. Wit Studio has outdone itself, crafting lively visuals that are picture-perfect for both smooth action sequences and slapstick comedy.
The story is not half-bad either, and it very much has that Saturday Morning cartoon feel that defined so many shows during the ’90s and early 2000s. Growing up in the jungle and trained relentlessly by his father, Yaiba is not well-equipped to handle urban life, which makes him a real handful for pretty much everyone he meets in the city. Admittedly, the eponymous character can be a bit exhausting at times, but his chaotic energy is fun.
An unexpectedly awesome debut,Sword of the Demon Hunter: Kijin Gentoshocould prove to be Spring 2025’s stealth hit, assuming it remains consistent moving forward. Wisely starting with a long episode, Yokohama Animation Laboratory’s anime takes viewers back to Japan’s Edo period, albeit one that includes demons.
The story primarily revolves around Jinta, a human, and Suzune, a demon. These two have been together since they were children, and the latter is very clearly in love with the former. Even when Jinta fell for Shirayuki, Suzune did her best to stay out of their way, hurting herself for their happiness. Unfortunately, she is manipulated by a demon into killing Shirayuki, turning herself into a full-blown villain who wants to destroy the world and Jinta into a revenge-obsessed warrior who wants to destroy her.
While not showcasing production value comparable to thebest action anime,Sword of the Demon Hunter’s fight sequences have been captivating largely thanks to emphasizing swift and vicious moments. Crucially, Jinta’s actions, reactions, and motivations are very easy to understand and believe.
The current season is not lacking in comedies, butWitch Watchis shaping up to be comfortably Spring 2025’s funniest show. From the same mind responsible forSket Dance, this series revolves aroundNico, a witch, and Morihito, her ogre familiar. As her bodyguard, the latter’s purpose is to keep Nico safe, which is easier said than done due to her habit of acting on impulse. Nico also has a very obvious crush on Morihito, and she hopes to use their present situation to catch the eye of her childhood friend.
Although sprinkling in some romantic elements,Witch Watchfocuses almost exclusively on comedy. The episodes are divided into short sketches, most of which find Nico using some type of spell to try and impress Morihito. The premise is pretty simple but effortlessly effective, and the two leads are delightful and equally hilarious. The show has only started to introduce important secondary characters, but they have left a decent first impression.
Spring 2025 has quite a few romances, and most of them are set in high school. However, there are a couple of exceptions that shake things up.The Too-Perfect Saintis a decent fantasy option, but the season’s best romance anime so far has beenKowloon Generic Romance. Do not be fooled by the title, as this show is shaping up to be anything but generic.
While set in the distant future, the anime takes place in Kowloon, a city designed around Hong Kong of old and fueled by nostalgia. Reiko and Hajime work together, and they have a cute but still professional dynamic. However, Reiko discovers an image that suggests they were a couple, which she has no memories of. In fact, she has no memories at all.
Kowloon Generic Romanceblends romance, mystery, and slice of life pretty well, at least so far. The main duo has an interesting rapport, with their interactions being often playful and occasionally sad.
Anne of Green Gablesis an all-time beloved novel series that has quite a strong connection to anime. The source material was adapted into a highly-regarded 1979 series (and a manga), and a prequel was even created in 2009. Therefore,Anne Shirleyis both an adaptation of the novel AND a remake/reboot of the original anime. For the uninitiated, the story revolves around Anne, an imaginative, energetic, and slightly hard-headed girl who is adopted by the Cuthberts. She sees the world differently from most other people, especially in the small town of Avonlea.
Anne Shirleyhas arguably the most impressive visual presentation of any Spring 2025 series. The Answer Studio pulled off all the stops to bring this story to life using a vibrant aesthetic that pops off the screen. Along with being extremely pleasant on the eye, the anime delivers a timeless tale spearheaded by an endearing character who, in lesser hands, could have been annoying.
