Summer 2026's Biggest Anime Sequels to Watch

Summer 2026 anime belonged to the sequels. Between July and September, Bleach started the last stretch of its Thousand-Year Blood War, Mushoku Tensei returned after two years away, Saga of Tanya the Evil finally delivered the second season fans had chased since 2017, and Re:Zero came back from a mid-season break. The season is over, so this is no longer a preview: it is our verdict on what each sequel delivered, which are worth a binge now, and which continue into late 2026 and 2027. Every date was checked against official announcements as of October 2026.

Summer 2026's biggest sequels at a glance

#	Sequel	Studio	Aired	Episodes	Status (October 2026)
1	Bleach: TYBW Part 4 (The Calamity)	Pierrot Films	From 25 Jul	10	Last two episodes on 19 and 26 Oct
2	Mushoku Tensei Season 3, part 1	Studio Bind	Jul to Sep	14	Part 2 in 2027
3	Saga of Tanya the Evil Season 2	NUT	Jul to Sep	12	Finished, no Season 3 yet
4	Re:Zero Season 4, Recapture Arc	White Fox	Aug to Sep	8 (19 in the season)	Finished
5	Reincarnated as a Slime Season 4, part 2	Eight Bit	Jul to Sep	12 (24 so far)	Part 3 in July 2027
6	The Elusive Samurai Season 2	CloverWorks	Jul to early Oct	12	Finished
7	Grand Blue Dreaming Season 3	Zero-G, Saber Works	Jul to Sep	12	Season 4 announced
8	From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman Season 2	Passione, Hayabusa Film	Jul to Sep	12	Finished

1. Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 4 (The Calamity)

This was the season's centre of gravity. The Calamity is the fourth and final part of the Thousand-Year Blood War revival, Pierrot's adaptation of Tite Kubo's last manga arc (credited to its Pierrot Films arm since Part 3), following cours in autumn 2022, summer 2023 and autumn 2024. It is also the shortest part, at 10 episodes (41-50 of the revival) against 13, 13 and 14 before it, so the pacing is brisk. US fans got a head start when Fathom Entertainment and Viz Media screened the first three episodes in cinemas in late June. The one wrinkle: after episode 48 aired on 12 September, the staff paused to polish the climax, and episodes 49 and 50 moved to 19 and 26 October in Japan's late-night slot, so as of mid-October 2026 the finale is days away. Hulu streams it in the US, Disney+ in select regions outside Asia.

Spoiler warning: the next paragraph names fights from episodes 41-46.

The payoffs are the ones manga readers waited a decade to see animated: Kisuke Urahara revealing his Bankai against Askin, Kenpachi Zaraki finally awakening his own Bankai against Gerard Valkyrie, Uryū Ishida's duel with Haschwalth, and Ichigo Kurosaki charging Yhwach head-on. New to Bleach? Our Bleach watch order shows which parts of the original 366-episode series to skip.

2. Mushoku Tensei Season 3: Eris first, then Turning Point 4

Mushoku Tensei came back with a bold structural choice: Rudeus Greyrat barely appears in the opening double bill. Studio Bind's third season premiered on 4 July 2026 with two episodes back to back, both centred on Eris Boreas Greyrat, who reaches the Sword Sanctum with Ghislaine, trains under Sword God Gal Farion until his students call her "Mad Dog", and gains a jealous rival in his daughter Nina. Both of Anime News Network's preview reviewers praised the premiere, singling out the sword choreography. Episodes 3-7 then return to Rudeus's family life in Sharia: Roxy turning up as his homeroom teacher, Cliff and Elinalise's wedding, Linia and Pursena settling their rivalry with a brawl. From episode 8 in mid-August the Chaos Breaker arc takes over, with Perugius's flying fortress, Nanahoshi's mana sickness and a run-in with the Immortal Demon King Atoferatofe. The season ran 14 episodes to 28 September, and Crunchyroll streams it with an English dub.

Spoiler warning: the next sentence covers the final episodes. The last stretch adapts Turning Point 4, in which an old man claiming to be Rudeus from fifty years ahead arrives with a diary of everything that went wrong, the bleakest material the anime has attempted, and it explains why the finale ends with Rudeus writing to Eris. The second cour airs in 2027, month unannounced. Starting cold means 48 episodes first, counting Season 2's Episode 0; our Mushoku Tensei watch order lays them out.

3. Saga of Tanya the Evil Season 2: the long-awaited return

Saga of Tanya the Evil Season 2 finally premiered on 8 July 2026 and ran 12 episodes to 23 September, nine years after the first season ended in March 2017 and five years after the June 2021 announcement. It ranks third because, unlike Re:Zero and Slime, this was a complete season that started and finished inside the summer. NUT stayed on, and although Takayuki Yamamoto replaced Yutaka Uemura as director, scriptwriter Kenta Ihara and character designer Yuji Hosogoe returned, so the look and cynical narration feel continuous. Tanya Degurechaff now commands the Salamander Kampfgruppe, a combined-arms battle group, on the eastern front against the Federation, and the camera spends far more time with Generals Zettour and Rudersdorf as the Empire's war becomes a slow strategic crisis. The set piece is Operation Andromeda in episodes 5-7, where Zettour offers Salamander up as a decoy; the back half shifts to the Kingdom of Ildoa, a well-fed, nominal ally whose comfort unnerves Tanya. One trap: watch Saga of Tanya the Evil: The Movie (2019) before Season 2. It is a direct sequel to the first season, and Season 2 assumes you know it. MYTH & ROID returned for the opening, "Why? RED induction", while Aoi Yūki sings the ending, "Weiter! Weiter!", in character as Tanya. No Season 3 has been announced.

4. Re:Zero Season 4: the Recapture Arc

Only half of Re:Zero's season aired in summer. White Fox split Season 4 into two named halves: the Loss Arc ran 11 episodes from April to June, then the Recapture Arc returned on 12 August for eight more, closing on 30 September with an extended finale of about 45 minutes. Together they adapt the light novel's sixth arc, the trek across the Auguria Dunes to the Pleiades Watchtower, where Subaru Natsuki's group hopes the Sage Shaula can restore the victims of the Gluttony and Lust archbishops, including Julius, whose name nobody but Subaru remembers. The tower is a puzzle box built for Return by Death: a riddle only someone from Earth could solve, and a duel with the Stick Swinger, the first Sword Saint Reid Astrea, who flattens Julius. Konomi Suzuki and Ashnikko share the opening, "Recollect". Crunchyroll streams it. Do not start at the Recapture Arc, which continues directly from the Loss Arc; our Re:Zero watch order also settles the Director's Cut question. We could not find an official Season 5 announcement as of mid-October 2026.

5. That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 4, part 2

The second half of Slime's long fourth season ran from 3 July to 25 September, bringing it to 24 episodes. Part 1 opened with Rimuru Tempest polishing his nation: the dungeon, the Magitrain, Hinata's classroom. Part 2 turned outward, and its episode titles tell the story: "Gran, the Hero of Dawn", "Lubelius, the Point of Convergence" and the two-part "Chronoa the Hero" shift the focus to the Holy Empire of Lubelius and its Heroes. Daoko's "TACTIC" took over as opening theme. Eight Bit has planned five cours for this season: the third arrives in July 2027, with the spinoff Clayman's Revenge in April 2027. Crunchyroll streams it. Best for viewers who prefer the nation-building to the fights.

6. The Elusive Samurai Season 2

The season's most visually inventive sequel, and the one most likely to have slipped past you. It adapts Yūsei Matsui's Weekly Shonen Jump manga (he also created Assassination Classroom), which finished in February 2026 at 27 volumes, following Hojo Tokiyuki, heir to the fallen Kamakura shogunate, who survives by running rather than fighting. CloverWorks and director Yuta Yamazaki returned for 12 episodes on Fuji TV's Noitamina block from 17 July to 2 October. The premiere opened with a live-action recap and rendered Ashikaga Takauji's monstrous side with puppetry-style practical effects amid very fluid hand-drawn action. The season moves Tokiyuki's band from the Suwa rebellion to Kyoto, where they meet Kusunoki Masashige and come face to face with Takauji, then sets up the march to retake Kamakura. Start with the 2024 first season, which Crunchyroll streamed with an English dub.

7. Grand Blue Dreaming Season 3

The comedy pick. The third season (12 episodes, 6 July to 21 September) took Iori, Kohei and Chisa outside Japan for the first time, to a Palau branch of the Dolphin dive shop. The humour is the same alcohol-soaked, barely clothed chaos, but the island gives the diving scenes their best backdrops yet. A fourth season was announced in September 2026, and Season 2 aired only in summer 2025, so catching up takes a weekend.

8. From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman Season 2

A spring 2025 favourite that earned a second run of 12 episodes from 8 July, made by Passione and Hayabusa Film under director Akio Kazumi. Beryl Gardinant, a rural sword instructor whose former students have become elite fighters, keeps training the knights of the Liberion Order while insisting he is nobody special. It is the gentlest action show here, opening with rock band Unicorn's "Kurenai no Ha". Like the first season, it streams on Amazon Prime Video.

The rest of the Summer 2026 sequel line-up

Also back between July and September were Bungo Stray Dogs Wan! 2 (the chibi spinoff), Clevatess Season 2, Hell Mode Season 2, Skeleton Knight in Another World Season 2, Trapped in a Dating Sim Season 2, The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You Season 3, Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc. Season 2, You and I Are Polar Opposites Season 2 and Hana-Kimi Season 2. Note the pattern at the top: four of our eight are isekai. For the season before, see our best anime of Spring 2026.

What did not air in Summer 2026

Early previews, including the first version of this page, listed Jujutsu Kaisen as a summer sequel. It was not one. Season 3, The Culling Game Part 1, aired from January to March 2026 (12 episodes), and MAPPA's Part 2 teaser in June 2026 came with no release window, still the case as of October 2026. Re:Zero and Slime count as summer shows only for their second halves, since both began in April. For the confirmed 2027 slate, including Mushoku Tensei part 2 and the next Slime cour, see our most anticipated anime of 2027.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the biggest anime sequel of Summer 2026?

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 4, The Calamity, was the biggest sequel of Summer 2026. It premiered on 25 July 2026 as the 10-episode final part of the anime, finishing the adaptation of Tite Kubo's Bleach manga.

Is Bleach ending?

Yes. The Calamity is the final part of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, and it covers the rest of the manga through its final chapter. Its last two episodes were delayed to improve quality and air in Japan on 19 and 26 October 2026. As of October 2026, no further Bleach anime, such as an adaptation of the 2021 one-shot No Breaths From Hell, has been announced.

When does Mushoku Tensei Season 3 come out?

Mushoku Tensei Season 3 premiered in Japan on 4 July 2026 with two episodes back to back and ran 14 episodes until late September, streaming on Crunchyroll. Its second cour airs in 2027; no month had been announced as of October 2026.

Is there a Saga of Tanya the Evil Season 2?

Yes. Saga of Tanya the Evil Season 2 aired 12 episodes from 8 July to 23 September 2026, again made by studio NUT. It follows the 2019 film, so watch Season 1 and the movie first. No third season had been announced as of October 2026.

Which Summer 2026 sequels continue into Fall 2026?

Among the summer sequels, only Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 4 is still airing new episodes, with its final two on 19 and 26 October 2026. Mushoku Tensei Season 3 part 2 and the third cour of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 4 are both scheduled for 2027.

Did Jujutsu Kaisen air in Summer 2026?

No. Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3, The Culling Game Part 1, aired from January to March 2026. MAPPA has shown a teaser for Season 4, The Culling Game Part 2, but as of October 2026 it has no release date or season window.