My Top 2 Anime from the Fall 2026 Lineup

Autumn has finally arrived. A season full of cozy sweaters, delicious soups, cinnamon rolls,  Halloween and warm drinks.  A new Season means a New Anime lineup.  Fall Anime 2026 is filled with some amazing series. Black Clover, The Ramparts of Ice and Ao no Hako (Blue Box) are returning for their second seasons. The Apothecary Diaries  Season 3 is being split into two parts.  Part 1 will air from October 2026 and Part 2 will air in April 2027. An original The Apothecary Diaries movie is also in the works and will be released in December of 2026. Tokyo Revengers is finally back for its fourth season titled Santen Sensou-hen (War of the Three Titans Arc). Some new adaptations include Hotaru no Yomeiri (Firefly Wedding) and Kanata Kara ( From Far Away). The last second episode of Bleach: Thousand- Year Blood War  will be released on October 20th and the release date for the  final episode is yet to be announced. Bleach officially aired from 2004 and will be coming to an end this year,  finally bringing an end to a masterpiece that I have watched since I was a teenager. I am particularly excited to watch The Ramparts of Ice and The Apothecary Diaries this Fall.

The Ramparts of Ice ( Koori no Jouheki) based on the manga of the same name by Kocha Agasawa is all set to air its second season from 1st October.  The anime follows Koyuki Himekawa, a first year high school student who appears cold and always has her guard up around other students. She prefers to spend her time alone without any disturbances. Koyuki however finds it hard to converse with students and make friends because of an incident that occurred back in middle school, leading her to build ice walls around her so that she can protect herself.  Her childhood friend Miki is the only exception. Miki is boisterous and cool but maintains a social persona at school and Koyuki is the only one who she shows her real self to.

Koyuki's encounter with Yota and Minato changes everything. She slowly starts coming  out of her shell and attempts to talk and understand  before making assumptions about them and others, this allows her to finally connect with both Yota and Minato.  The friendship between the four characters blooms. Season 1 ended with Koyuki realizing her feelings for Minato and Yota finally confessing to Miki who he had loved for years and eventually gets rejected.

Season 2 focuses on Koyuki, Miki, Minato and Yota now in their second year of high school, navigating their love lives and also grappling and working on their traumas and insecurities in order to not be held back by them forever. 

While Koyuki finds it hard to keep her feelings for Minato hidden she doesn't realize that Minato likes her too. Koyuki is finally coming out of her shell and taking small steps to bond with her friends and classmates, however she does not act on her feelings for Minato yet because these feelings of love are still new to her. Minato who has fallen in love for the first time pursues Koyuki, however he also starts questioning whether Koyuki likes him too and whether he is being a nuisance to her after speaking with Momoka.

Kuriki Momoka, a first year student who has a crush on Minato becomes a catalyst for the story. She is popular, pretty and socializes well. She acts on her feelings for Minato and causes misunderstandings between Minato and Koyuki. While Koyuki and Minato find it difficult to confess their feelings to each other due to their insecurities, Momoka is upfront about her intentions.

Miki on the other hand is overwhelmed with guilt after rejecting Yota. She knows that they cannot go back to how things were. She knows she is not obligated to return his feelings but it still hurts her. While Yota loves Miki dearly, he also understands that she only sees him as a friend and never pushes his feelings onto her. He is selfless, kind and always there for Miki.Even though being rejected is breaking him, he still wishes to be her friend so that he can be by her side at least as a friend. 

The Ramparts of Ice is an accurate portrayal of teenagers navigating school, relationships and most importantly their insecurities and how they react to certain situations due to their past which has shaped them. The characters are complex and well written. They actually feel like real people and not just characters on a screen. Their struggles feel relatable and tug at our heartstrings. The plot is well crafted and really brings out how real humans are. I am looking forward to Season 2 and how these characters further develop and what choices they make.

The Apothecary Diaries (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto) is a historical mystery anime adapted from the light novel of the same name. The light novel was written by Hyuganatsu and illustrated by Touko Shino. 

The anime is set in a fictional country inspired by Imperial China. Maomao, the protagonist, is a girl trained in medicine by her adoptive father who is an apothecary. While living her life in the Pleasure District, one day Maomao is abducted and sold into the Emperor's palace. Maomao wants to live her life peacefully by completing her two year servitude and to leave without any issues. When the Emperor's child and Concubine are severely ill she starts using her medical expertise to solve this mystery.  Women having knowledge about medicine is illegal therefore she makes sure to always be careful while investigating. Her curiosity pushes her to solve these mysteries. She however, catches the eye of Jinshi, a high ranking eunuch.  Under his radar, she starts helping him with solving mysteries  and conspiracies concerning the Imperial palace.

The second season completed with an end to the Shi Clan's rebellion against the Emperor. Jinshi leads the army to rescue Maomao whom he loves, inevitably revealing that he was the Imperial Brother. His true identity as the Emperor's brother was kept a secret until now. Shisui i.e consort Loulan, a close friend of Maomao also succumbs to her death but later at the end of the episode she is revealed to be alive.

Season 3 Part  1 of The Apothecary Diaries is set to air from October 3rd. With peace returning to the nation after the fall of the Shi Clan, Maomao has left the Rear palace and has gone back to being a pharmacist at the Verdigris house in the Pleasure District. Jinshi, now revealed to be the Imperial Brother, is facing more responsibilities and pressure due to his royal status. Jinshi is also troubled by the last message left by Loulan about a terrible tragedy which will soon strike the nation.

Maomao finds herself intrigued by rumors of a famine in connection with the locusts which are being sold in the nation.  With a looming threat brewing outside the nation and rumors of an immortal maiden, the stage for Season 3 shifts from the Li Nation to the West. Jinshi and Maomao travel to the Western lands in order to uncover the mystery and prevent a calamity which may soon hit the nation.

The Apothecary Diaries does a very good job at showing the suffering of women, both the royals and the maid servants at the palace. Issues such as sexual assault and the endless suffering of the victims at the hands of men has been depicted with care. The Apothecary Diaries has been upfront with depicting complex and intelligent women trying to survive the Palace life. While the current Emperor does seem to be a good man, the system is rigid with rules and customs, something that even the Emperor and his people have to follow.

As a huge fan of works that actually delve into complex characters and an interesting and well structured plot, I am looking forward to the new seasons of The Apothecary Diaries and The Ramparts of Ice where the stakes are now higher. Both series were written by Women and it is evident in the way the plots are handled without sexualizing any female characters and by not making them one dimensional but actually taking time to create and develop such well written fan favorite characters.

Written by, Rhea Nayanika Dasari