Pre-season anticipation polls for Summer 2026 anime are in, with Saga of Tanya the Evil II edging out Mushoku Tensei Season 3 and Bleach in a historically tight global vote.
With the Summer 2026 anime season kicking off in the first week of July, global anticipation polls have delivered their final verdict on which premieres fans are most excited about. Saga of Tanya the Evil II claimed the top spot, but the margins are razor-thin across the board.
Thousands of voters participated in pre-season community polls, and the results paint a picture of a summer season with no runaway frontrunner. Saga of Tanya the Evil II secured first place with 6.55 percent of the total vote, narrowly leading Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 3 at 5.53 percent and Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War - The Calamity at 5.07 percent.
The gap between the first-place and sixth-place entries is less than two percentage points, a remarkably compressed spread that underscores just how stacked the summer lineup is. You and I Are Polar Opposites Season 2 landed fourth at 4.94 percent, while Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You and Though I Am an Inept Villainess rounded out the top six at 4.73 and 4.61 percent respectively.
The top three positions are all occupied by returning franchises, a trend that has defined seasonal anticipation charts for years. Saga of Tanya the Evil II arrives after a long hiatus since the original 2017 season and its 2019 film, making it one of the most waited-for continuations in recent memory. Mushoku Tensei Season 3 carries enormous momentum from its critically acclaimed second season, while Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War continues its arc-by-arc adaptation of the manga's final saga.
Still, the rankings are not exclusively a sequel affair. Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You, a romance adaptation that has generated significant buzz on social media, broke into the top five as a new property. The full poll encompassed 62 titles in total, with vote shares trailing down to 0.16 percent at the bottom of the chart, illustrating the sheer volume of new anime competing for attention this summer.
Anticipation rankings are not predictive of weekly episode quality polls, but they do set the initial viewership trajectory. Series that debut with high anticipation tend to draw larger first-episode audiences, which in turn influences streaming platform algorithms and community discourse in the critical opening weeks.
The compressed vote distribution also suggests that Summer 2026 may lack the single dominant conversation-driver that previous seasons had. Spring 2026 saw Re:ZERO – Starting Life in Another World Season 4 hold the top weekly anime spot for multiple consecutive weeks, creating a clear hierarchy. This summer, the field appears wide open for any of the top six contenders to seize the weekly crown once episodes begin airing.
Beyond the top six, the summer schedule features several titles that could outperform their anticipation rankings once episodes land. The full 62-title field includes continuations of established action franchises alongside new romance, fantasy, and isekai entries. Crunchyroll, Netflix, and other major streaming platforms have already confirmed simulcast pickups for many of the season's marquee titles, ensuring global audiences can follow along from premiere day.
As the first episodes roll out in early July, weekly episode rankings will begin to reshape the landscape. History shows that anticipation polls and actual weekly performance can diverge significantly, and with margins this tight at the top, Summer 2026 is poised for one of the most competitive seasonal races in recent years.
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