Closet WeebAlready talked about the worst, and I feel like talking about the Best Of for Winter 2026 is kind of a foregone conclusion: the top 3 are Oshi no Ko, Frieren, and Medalist, and this outcome was pretty much obvious before the season even started. So, excluding those, what are my picks for the best shows? (Caveat: I did not watch Journal with Witch, though I have noted the buzz around it)
Top 3: Champignon Witch, Omagoto (Roll Over and Die), and, surprisingly, The Darwin Incident (which hasn't yet had its last ep but pretty much everything else I'm watching has)
Champignon Witch has a real fairy tale feel to it, complete with the dark, tragic undertones that characterize most classic fairy tales and which only get darker the closer you get to the original telling. I've watched a lot of anime, and I consider this one to be a fairly unique and standout example of anime storytelling.
Omagoto/Roll Over and Die: How could I not love this one, with its yuri, its cute girls, its yuri, its sweet action scenes, and its yuri. At first I thought it was going to be a mildly yuri-scented revenge-porn, but far from it. I'm gonna write another post specifically about this one later.
The Darwin Incident: Previously, I waffled on just what this show was trying to be. My first impression turned out to be quite wrong, although I do still think it was pretty ham-fisted in a lot of ways, and some of the depictions of small town life are laughable, there's still a lot to unpack here and the show's main characters are all well-developed. The main antagonist exudes appropriately creepy, and sometimes terrifying, vibes. Props to the voice actor. Whatever message the show was actually trying to tell got lost in the sauce, but the story remained compelling at least in my opinion. Certainly a dark horse!
Honorable Mentions go to Jigokuraku Season 2, which sure is a shonen battle anime, but I really dig its eastern mysticism-infused aesthetic, Gabimaru's personal growth, and the interplay of the criminals and the executioners as they are forced to work together to survive the island; and also to Kaya-chan Isn't Scary, which had one hell of a final act.
And a Dishonorable Mention for Sentenced to be a Hero, which IMO, is completely let down by two things: Teoritta's unstoppable macguffin which basically kills any stakes in what should be the most desperate battles, and the animation in those same desperate battles turning into an unreadable mush. Just...kills any interest. I will give the show props for tying everything neatly together in the end with a certain character's fate, befitting its name, "Sentenced to be a Hero".
#anime #ChampignonWitch #Omagoto #RollOverAndDie #TheDarwinIncident #SentencedToBeAHero
Umika 
WoAni.me
Pan The Maid☕🍞🐼
