2025 is already bursting at the seams with exciting new anime to watch. From highly anticipated premieres like Cowboy Bebop director Shinichirō Watanabe’s sci-fi thriller Lazarus and FLCL director Kazuya Tsurumaki’s Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX, anime fans new and old are absolutely feasting.With so much to watch this year, how do you go about finding the best of the best? If you’re looking for a helpful list to navigate 2025’s best anime season by season, you’re in luck. Each season, we’ll be collecting our favorite anime to air this year and where you can watch them. New additions are ordered by premiere date, from most recent to least. Sakamoto Days Where to watch: Netflix Legendary hitman Sakamoto left his life of crime behind to get married and start a family — but after taking in Shin, a wayward young assassin, Sakamoto unfortunately gets pulled right back into the fray. Instead of navigating the hijinks of a double life, though, Sakamoto Days refreshingly gets the entire family in on the action. And in addition to Sakamoto and his wife and kid, that includes the aforementioned Shin; Lu, the sole heir of a Chinese mafia family; and gullible sniper Heisuke (and his pet parrot). It’s a whole wacky world where being a hitman comes with a lot of bureaucracy and certifications. —Petrana Radulovic The Apothecary Diaries season 2 Where to watch: Crunchyroll The Apothecary Diaries continues to be the absolute perfect blend of medical mystery, court intrigue, and slow-burn romance. Apothecary turned court taster (and unofficial medical investigator) Maomao just wants to experiment with medications and poisons. But because she’s so dang smart, she keeps getting pulled into increasingly complicated mysteries by palace administrator Jinshi. And some of these cases — which involve the Emperor and his family history — are definitely above her pay grade. Throw in a mysterious envoy from the west, a shocking revelation about Jinshi, and a continually frustrating (in the best way) romance, and this season is one heck of a ride. —PR Zenshu Where to watch: Crunchyroll Too many anime are a bit too single-minded. Zenshu is different. This original anime from MAPPA follows overworked anime director Natsuko, who died and went to heaven — or the next best thing: the world of her favorite childhood anime. It could’ve skated by on the usual isekai charms, but Zenshu constantly pushes itself forward, building a more complicated story out of Natsuko’s adventures. It’s fun to watch her charge through the world she knows so well, and it’s neat to see how she changes it — and how it changes her. In the end, Zenshu delicately unpacks burnout and art, making it (in just 12 episodes) an anime for the ages. —Zosha Millman Orb: On the Movements of the Earth Where to watch: Netflix Knowledge is the sum total of generations. No anime better exemplifies this fundamental principle than Orb: On the Movements of the Earth. Told across several lifetimes, the series centers on an ensemble of characters who give their lives to the pursuit of proving heliocentrism in a time where such a belief is considered profoundly heretical and dangerous. Over the course of 25 episodes, Madhouse’s adaptation of Uoto’s historical manga of the same name brilliantly brings its source material to life, weaving a moving saga about the quest for truth in the face of tyrannical, life-threatening opposition. —Toussaint Egan