2025 is around the corner…and *sigh* Look, I’m not excited about what turns this country will take in the coming months into this new year but I do know anime won’t let me down! We’re anticipating several returns for anime series with second seasons and a plethora of new series to fill our streaming plates as we start off the year. From more helpings of fan faves Maomao and Jinwoo to new outings with salarymen, animators, and spooky vibes, here’s a quick sampling of what to expect from the highly anticipated series making their way to our television screens this month!
Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow-
Studio: A-1 Pictures (Lycoris Recoil; NieR: Automata Ver1.1a; Mashle: Magic and Muscles)
Premiere Date: January 2025 (Date TBA) on Crunchyroll
Premise: Jinwoo has become a formidable necromancer with an army of loyal shadows at his command. But he must master these abilities while keeping them hidden from other hunters, all while racing against the clock to save his mother. As he faces humanity’s toughest foes, Jinwoo pushes his body and mind to the limit, and the full extent of his newfound power is revealed.
What to Expect: One of the most anticipated series coming back for 2025, the hype for Solo Leveling continues! Back in November, we received Solo Leveling -ReAwakening film. Now next moth, we’re finally in reach of the second season and the brilliant turn of Jinwoo’s quest to level up and become the hero he needs to be. Also damn, y’all wanna talk about this banger of a opening song?!
Recommended for lovers of:The first season, more Korean manhwa getting animated, and more action adventure genre that gets us all pumped
Watch Solo Leveling Season 1 on Crunchyroll (12 Episodes), Read the webcomic, Episodes 1-32, for free via tapas
ZENSHU
Studio: MAPPA (Attack on Titan Final Season; JUJUTSU KAISEN; Chainsaw Man; Lazarus)
Premiere Date: January 5, 2025 on Crunchyroll
Premise: After high school, Natsuko Hirose starts her career as an animator and quickly rises to director. Her first anime is a huge hit, earning her recognition as an up-and-coming genius director. But her next project isn’t going as well. It’s a romantic comedy, but she’s never been in love before! Struggling to grasp the concept, Natsuko can’t create the storyboard, bringing production to a standstill.
What to Expect: ZENSHU looks marvelous: this trailer showing glimpses of a fully realized world in a fantasy setting with Natsuko being familiar with the heroes, baddies, and the kingdom that is set to fall. She’s thrust into a world that captivated her as a child and is destined for doom and death, yet she wonders if she can make a difference and change the storyline for good. We MAY be getting the hero story for another perceptive with a fresh coat of paint with incredible visuals we only know to expect from such a studio.
Recommended for lovers of: MAPPA, unique stories about unique heroes in unique times, and fantasy settings
The Apothecary Diaries Season 2
Studio: TOHO animation STUDIO and OLM
Premiere Date: January 10th, 2025 on Crunchyroll
Premise: When a favored concubine becomes pregnant, Maomao is put to the test as her food taster. She must keep her wits sharp, not only to protect the concubine but also against rising dangers in the palace. A new concubine with powerful ties, an unsolved attempt at Jinshi’s life, and a foreign envoy with impossible demands hint at a grand conspiracy poised to engulf the empire.
What to Expect: MAOMAO BACK. I SAID MAOAMO BACK! Back to the rear palace and Maomao is back being booked and busy. After saving Jinshi’s life last season, and making many connections, our favorite (cat eared) apothecary turned detective back this season with new and emerging dangers sliding into the palace and new allies.
Recommended for lovers of: The Maomao fan base, the joked about MaoMao “(female)harem”, more intrigue, deception, and sleuthing
Medaka Kuroiwa Is Impervious to My Charms
Studio: SynergySP (Mr. Villain’s Day Off)
Premiere Date: January 6, 2025 on Crunchyroll
Premise: Gorgeous from head to toe! The perfect figure! To Kawai Mona, winning hearts comes as naturally as breathing…but the arrival of Kuroiwa Medaka, a new transfer student who won’t even give her a second look, turns her school life upside-down! She’s lived her whole life being fawned over, so why is he any different? Mona tries everything she can think of to win Medaka over, even getting a bit extreme at times! This new rom-com starring a queen bee and a celibate boy is about to burst onto the scene!
What to Expect: Gag anime + rom com + school life vibes = Medaka Kuroiwa Is Impervious to My Charms
Recommended for lovers of: The romance and comedy genres in anime, Shonen manga, and opposites attract
Anyway, I’m Falling in Love with You
Studio: Typhoon Graphics (Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke’s Mansion)
Premiere Date: January 9, 2025 on Crunchyroll
Premise: It’s the year 2020, and Mizuha is having the worst 17th birthday ever. Her parents forgot it’s her birthday, she still can’t seem to get close to the senior she likes, and all her school trips and tournaments are canceled thanks to a new disease going around. She’s convinced she’ll never have the kind of youth she’s always dreamt of…until her childhood friend, Mizuki, suddenly asks her out.
What to Expect: Shojo romance via a crushing pandemic. Originally set during when the COVID-19, I remember reading the start of the manga series the anime was adapted from and really loving it. This is first of the few Shojo titles that I see in Crunchyroll’s lineup for the Winter 2025, I’m hoping we can get more Shojo and more if it past the usual twelve episode series we’ve been getting. Give us 24-50 episode Shojo anime series, you cowards!
Recommended for lovers of: the eternally magnificent genre of SHOJO, unrequited loves, coming of age tales, and more
Read the Manga, Chapters 1-4, for Free via Kodansha
Toilet bound Hanako-kun Season 2
Premiere Date: January 12, 2025 on Crunchyroll
Studio: Lerche (Classroom of the Elite; Given; Assassination Classroom)
Premise: There’s a rumor going around about the Seven Wonders of Kamome Academy. Nene Yashiro and her classmate, Kou Minamoto, work with Hanako-san to expose a traitor among the ranks of the Seven Wonders. After breaking No. 2, the Misaki Stairs, and No. 5, the 4 O’clock Library, only five remain. Can they uncover the perpetrator before it’s too late?
What to Expect: When did we get season one of Toilet bound Hanako-kun? Oh wow, four years ago?! I’m so ready! I’m goign to rewatch the first season as I just loved it so much–I love these these kids and the weird little adventures that they’ve gone on. I’m ready to see the Mokke spirits, I’m ready to learn more on WHY Nene–a extra regular school girl–can see spirits and I’m ready to see more of Hanako’s backstory (Omg! Did his brother have a cameo?! TIME FOR A REWATCH!)
Recommended for lovers of: Occult-loving stories, the silly and wondrous trio of Nene, Hanako and Kou, and getting back to Seven Wonders of Kamome Academy
Ameku M.D.: Doctor Detective
Studio: Typhoon Graphics (Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke’s Mansion)
Premiere Date: January 1 2025 on Crunchyroll
Premise: Ten’ikai General Hospital’s Supervisory Department of Diagnostic Pathology handles cases other physicians deem too difficult to treat. It’s also where bizarre mysteries surface, from unexplained illnesses to strange murders even the police can’t solve. At the center of it all is Takao Ameku, a brilliant doctor determined to reveal the shocking truth behind these anomalies.
What to Expect: As fellow staff writer Mikkel said of this trailer: “The algorithm is getting too specific. Detective doctor anime? Just for me” As we all told them: “JUST FOR YOU.” Yes, I’ll tune in. Yes, I watch it. Yes, I will be chatting up Mikkel in the BNP Discord once this airs.
Recommended for lovers of: detective work, intriguing characters, complex co-worker dynamics in the workplace, and medical dramas
Dragon Ball DAIMA | DUB
Studio: Toei Animation (Dragon Ball related titles and series, DUH!)
Premiere Date: The Dragon Ball DAIMA dub is coming to Crunchyroll January 10th! Watch Dragon Ball DAIMA on Crunchyroll!
Premise: Goku and company were living peaceful lives when they suddenly turned small due to a conspiracy! When they discover that the reason for this may lie in a world known as the “Demon Realm,” a mysterious young Majin named Glorio appears before them.
What to Expect: Dragon Ball but make it SMOL. Another hotly–globally anticipated series hitting the scene next is based on a new story and characters designs from creator Akira Toriyama. This original anime series from the Dragon Ball franchise commemorates the 40th anniversary of the manga’s serialization.
Recommended for lovers of: All things Dragon Ball and chibi characters on theme
Honey Lemon Soda
Studio: (J.C.STAFF (Azumanga Daioh, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Toradora!)
Premiere Date: January 1 2025 on Crunchyroll
Premise: After middle school, with its bullying and nicknames, Uka Ishimori is excited for a fresh start at Hachimitsu High School. Kai Miura, a cool and uninhibited boy, sits next to her in class. Uka remembers she met Kai in middle school and with a single word, he had convinced her to attend Hachimitsu. Though he’s popular, Kai supports Uka in her efforts to fit in with her new classmates.
What to Expect: Can’t lie this was a shojo manga that I did NOT finish reading past volume one but I’m here for shojo anime so I will tune in for episode one at least. I wasn’t a fan of the male lead yet I did like the female lead endeavoring to cast off the shadows of her past and reinvent herself. (This jerk threw soda at her?!) Let me fight him! (In the meanwhile, I’ll go back and pick up the manga and see if I’ll change my mind)
Recommended for lovers of: Anime adaptations of long manga series, the Shojo anime machine, and brave and strong-minded girl Shojo protagonists
Headhunted to Another World: From Salaryman to Big Four!
Studio: Typhoon Graphics (Geek Toys, CompTown)
Premiere Date: January 1, 2025 on Crunchyroll
Premise: The Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King’s army reign over a certain alternate world, and the one chosen as the fourth of them…is none other than an ordinary salaryman, Uchimura Dennosuke! After being headhunted by the Demon King’s army, Uchimura is welcomed into a director-level position… but business in the Demon King’s army is one life-or-death mission after another! Since Uchimura has no particular powers, he must tackle every challenge he faces in this new world using the experience and knowledge of a salaryman! This career change isekai tale is for all the working folks out there!
What to Expect: ISEKAI WILL NEVER DIE WHEN I’M HYPED TO WATCH STUFF LIKE THIS! I really do have eyeballs for the Isekai that falls into this ‘just weird’ category. Uchimura may not have muscles or magic, but he does have an office worker’s skills and savvy–how this translate into skills to keep him alive in this new world? I don’t know but I will tune in.
Recommended for lovers of: Sword and sorcery shenanigans, the action-adventure genre mash up, and loads of comedic spots via Isekai.
SERIES CONTINUING FROM FALL 2024:
- A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School! (SATELIGHT) – New episodes on Tuesdays
- Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister (Drive) – New episodes on Tuesdays
- TRILLION GAME (MADHOUSE) – New episodes on Thursdays
- One Piece Log: Fish-Man Island Saga (Toei Animation) – New episodes on Saturdays
- Case Closed (Detective Conan) (TMS Entertainment) – New episodes on Saturdays
- Blue Miburo (MAHO FILM) – New episodes on Saturdays
- Wonderful Precure! (Toei Animation) – New episodes on Saturdays
- Shangri-La Frontier Season 2 (C2C) – New episodes on Sundays
About Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll is the global anime brand that fuels fans’ love of anime. With the ambition to make anime an even bigger part of pop culture, Crunchyroll offers fans the ultimate anime experience and destination centered around a premium streaming service. Crunchyroll has the largest dedicated anime library, an immersive world of events, exciting theatrical releases, unique games, must-have merchandise, timely news, and more. Anime is for everyone and is accessible to stream across territories through Crunchyroll—whether on the go on mobile, through gaming consoles and big-screen devices at home, or on desktops anywhere.
Crunchyroll, LLC is an independently operated joint venture between U.S.-based Sony Pictures Entertainment and Japan’s Aniplex, a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc., both subsidiaries of Tokyo-based Sony Group.
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