The best anime to watch in winter 2023 and when they premiere (January) - Polygon

From Trigun Stampede and Vinland Saga to Tokyo Revengers and beyond

Happy caller year! 2023 is yet upon us, and there’s an embarrassment of riches erstwhile it comes to caller anime to beryllium excited for — from the highly anticipated premieres of bid similar Attack connected Titan Final Season Part 3, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu nary Yaiba Swordsmith Village Arc, and Jujutsu Kaisen play 2 to breathtaking debuts including Witch Hat Atelier, Science Saru’s Scott Pilgrim adaptation, Heavenly Delusion, Kaiju No. 8, and more!

For now, though, let’s absorption our attraction connected what’s coming retired this season. Winter 2023 is starting the twelvemonth disconnected beardown with a robust enactment of caller titles, similar Trigun Stampede, Nier: Automata Ver. 1.1a, and Junji Nishimura (Ranma ½) and Mamoru Oshii’s (Ghost successful the Shell) Hikari nary Ō (“The Fire Hunter”), arsenic good arsenic the long-awaited instrumentality of beloved bid similar Tsurune, Vinland Saga, Tokyo Revengers, and Bungo Stray Dogs!

We’ll proceed to update this database arsenic we get a clearer representation of everything the upcoming play has to offer, but successful the meantime, present are immoderate of the astir breathtaking anime airing this wintertime that you should look guardant to.

Tsurune: The Linking Shot

Tsurune, the beloved 2018 anime from Kyoto Animation (K-On!, Violet Evergarden) based connected writer Kotoko Ayano and illustrator Chinatsu Morimoto’s airy caller series, yet returns to tv with a caller season. Titled Tsurune: The Linking Shot, this play volition prime up aft the events of the erstwhile play and travel Minato Narumiya and co.’s attempts to navigate the challenges of adolescence portion honing their mastery of the creation of archery. Takuya Yamamura, who directed the archetypal season, is confirmed arsenic the manager of Tsurune: The Linking Shot.

Tsurune: The Linking Shot premieres Jan. 4 and volition watercourse connected HIDIVE.

Bungo Stray Dogs play 4

Studio Bones’ (Eureka Seven, My Hero Academia) fashionable anime adaptation of Bungo Stray Dogs returns this wintertime with a caller season. The Armed Detective Agency, including protagonist Atsushi Nakajima, are implicated successful a crippled orchestrated by a violent enactment called Decay of the Angel. In bid to wide their names, Nakajima and co. indispensable thwart the terrorists’ program to plunge the satellite into peril, each portion staying 1 measurement up of the Hunting Dogs, an elite task unit hellbent connected bringing the Armed Detective Agency into custody… by immoderate means necessary.

Bungo Stray Dogs play 4 premieres Jan. 4 and volition watercourse connected Crunchyroll.

Onimai: I’m Now Your Sister!

This slice-of-life drama anime follows the communicative of Mahiro Oyama, a NEET (“Not successful Education, Employment, oregon Training”) otaku surviving with his idiosyncratic younger sister who, aft taking portion successful 1 of her experiments, awakens the adjacent greeting to observe he’s transformed into a girl. Holy Ranma ½!

Adapted from Nekotofu’s manga bid of the aforesaid name, Onimai: I’m Now Your Sister! is being directed by Shingo Fujii and produced by Studio Bind (Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation). The bid volition besides diagnostic scripts written by Michiko Yokote (Shirobako, Tsurune).

Onimai: I’m Now Your Sister! premieres Jan. 5 and volition watercourse connected Crunchyroll.

Revenger

Japanese movie distributor Shochiku, video crippled institution Nitroplus, and animation workplace Ajiado (Ascendance of a Bookworm)’s caller archetypal anime centers connected Kurima Raizo, a subordinate of the once-powerful Satsuma samurai clan. After helium is betrayed and near for dormant by idiosyncratic helium erstwhile trusted, Raizo is recruited by Revenger — an enactment of vigilante assassins who enactment connected behalf of those incapable to question justness themselves.

Revenger premieres Jan. 5 and volition watercourse connected Crunchyroll.

Buddy Daddies

Miss Spy x Family already? Not to worry: Buddy Daddies, the caller archetypal anime from workplace P.A. Works (Ya Boy Kongming!, Shirobako) mightiness beryllium conscionable the happening to fulfill your newfound hunger for home enactment hijinks. The bid follows Kazuki Kurusu and Rei Suwa, 2 nonrecreational assassins and roommates who accidentally extremity up caring for Miri Unasaka, the 4-year-old girl of a notorious mob boss.

The preview trailer surely looks snazzy enough, boasting a question comic-style presumption reminiscent of Masashi Ishihama’s enactment connected the archetypal opening for Spy x Family, arsenic good arsenic a jazzy large set score. Yoshiyuki Asai (Fate/Apocrypha) volition beryllium directing the series, Vio Shimokura (Tokyo 24th Ward) is successful complaint of penning the story, and Katsumi Enami (Baccano!) is liable for quality designs.

Buddy Daddies premieres Jan. 6 and volition watercourse connected Crunchyroll.

Tokyo Revengers: Christmas Showdown (season 2)

Tokyo Revengers, the time-hopping pack thriller series, returns this January with an all-new season. The anime centers connected Takemichi Hanagaki, a 26-year-old layabout who, successful a twist of fate, is pushed successful beforehand of a moving bid and transported 12 years into the past.

Jumping backmost and distant successful clip to avert catastrophes successful the present, Hanagaki is forced to contend with ruthless pack members and seedy killers successful bid to prevention not lone his ain life, but the lives of his friends and loved ones. If that statement weren’t enticing enough, the archetypal play conscionable truthful happened to beryllium 1 of our favorite anime of 2021.

Tokyo Revengers: Christmas Showdown premieres Jan. 7.

Trigun Stampede

The Humanoid Typhoon returns successful an all-new anime produced by the workplace Orange (Beastars, Land of the Lustrous). Trigun Stampede follows the communicative of Vash the Stampede, a pacifist gunslinger scouring the acold reaches of a godforsaken satellite connected a idiosyncratic ngo to find his duplicate brother, Knives Millions.

While acceptable successful a abstracted continuity from Yasuhiro Nightow’s archetypal manga and the 1998 anime, which was produced by workplace Madhouse and directed by Satoshi Nishimura, those acquainted with either 1 should beryllium capable to surmise what the probable decision of this play (and the imaginable whereabouts of 1 peculiar fan-favorite character) mightiness be, fixed the sanction of the metropolis mentioned concisely successful the supra trailer.

Trigun Stampede premieres Jan. 7 and volition watercourse connected Crunchyroll.

Nier: Automata Ver. 1.1a

Nier: Automata is yet getting an anime! Directed by Ryouji Masuyama (Gurren Lagann Parallel Works, Panty & Stocking With Garterbelt), Nier: Automata Ver. 1.1a volition beryllium a retelling of the communicative of 2B and 9S, 2 android soldiers successful warfare to support humanity from an service of alien robots successful a postapocalyptic future, albeit with immoderate notable divergences from the game.

What benignant of divergences, you mightiness ask? Well, you’ll person to ticker the bid successful bid to find out! Yoko Taro, the manager of Nier: Automata, volition beryllium consulting connected the anime, with workplace A-1 Pictures (Sword Art Online) producing the adaptation successful concern with Aniplex.

Nier: Automata Ver. 1.1a premieres successful Jan. 7 and volition watercourse connected Crunchyroll.

Vinland Saga play 2

After astir 4 years, Vinland Saga makes its triumphant instrumentality to television. Set a twelvemonth aft the decision of the archetypal season, Thorfinn present works arsenic a enslaved connected a workplace successful Denmark aft King Canute the Great spared his life. Befriending a chap enslaved named Einar, Thorfinn faces the uncertainty of uncovering a caller crushed to unrecorded pursuing the decease of his nemesis turned surrogate begetter figure, Askeladd, and each the portion Canute continues his ngo to recognize a paradise connected Earth. Shuhei Yabuta, who directed the archetypal play of Vinland Saga, volition instrumentality to nonstop the 2nd play alongside the aforesaid unit of animators.

Vinland Saga play 2 premieres Jan. 9 and volition watercourse connected Crunchyroll and Netflix.

Kaina of the Great Snow Sea

Polygon Pictures, the anime workplace down Blame! and Knights of Sidonia, reunites erstwhile again with manga writer Tsutomu Nihei for a caller archetypal anime, Kaina of the Great Snow Sea. Described arsenic “boy-meets-girl precocious fantasy,” the bid is acceptable successful a postapocalyptic satellite wherever the Earth is dilatory being consumed by a oversea of snowfall and humanity ekes retired a beingness successful the canopies of elephantine “Orbital Trees” that scope up precocious into the sky. Kaina, a lad surviving successful the Orbital Trees, meets Liliha, the princess of a tiny state located successful the snowfall sea, and unneurotic the 2 embark connected a travel to uncover the mysteries of the past successful hunt of humanity’s future.

Hiroaki Ando (Ajin, Listeners) is directing Kaina of the Great Snow Sea, portion Sadayuki Murai (Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters) and Tetsuya Yamada (Knights of Sidonia) are co-writing the series’ scripts.

Kaina of the Great Snow Sea premieres Jan. 11 and volition watercourse connected Crunchyroll.

The Fire Hunter

Based connected a bid of phantasy novels by writer Rieko Hinata and illustrator Akihiro Yamada, The Fire Hunter takes spot successful a postapocalyptic satellite covered successful a monolithic wood teeming with otherworldly creatures called flamelings. The premise of the bid itself, which concerns 2 children named Tōko and Kōshi whose lives are brought unneurotic by a twist of fate, sounds incredibly promising, but it’s the endowment attached to the accumulation that’s the real cause for excitement.

Junji Nishimura (Ranma ½) and Mamoru Oshii (Ghost successful the Shell, Blood: The Last Vampire) person teamed up again to enactment connected the project, with the erstwhile directing and the second penning and overseeing the scripts. Several different past Oshii collaborators volition beryllium moving connected the accumulation arsenic well, including Kazuchika Kise (Ghost successful the Shell 2: Innocence) arsenic 1 of the series’ main animation directors and Kenji Kawai (Ghost successful the Shell, Avalon), who volition beryllium composing the music. The quality designs by Takuya Saito (Outlaw Star, Macross Zero) unsocial look fantastic and astir reminiscent of Ayumi Kurashima’s enactment connected Devilman Crybaby oregon Naoya Wada’s enactment connected Japan Sinks: 2020.

The Fire Hunter volition premiere Jan. 14 and volition watercourse connected Crunchyroll.

Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre

This caller animated fearfulness anthology adapts 20 stories by acclaimed fearfulness manga writer Junji Ito, galore for the archetypal time. Adaptations see include Tomie, Souichi’s Convenient Curse, and The Hanging Balloons. Both Tomie and Souichi were antecedently adapted successful the 2018 anthology anime bid Junji Ito Collection, but look — I volition not beryllium accused of looking a acquisition equine successful the rima and kick that it needs braces.

Shinobu Tagashira, who directed the aforementioned Junji Ito Collection anthology, is directing this caller anthology bid with Studio Deen, which besides produced Junji Ito Collection.

Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre premieres Jan. 19 and volition watercourse connected Netflix.