The Spring 2026 season is wrapping up the anime it has been releasing weekly, and preparations for the Summer 2026 season have already begun. The upcoming season is looking incredibly interesting, as it will deliver both brand-new anime with fresh premises and returning favorites with new seasons. At the same time, Summer 2026 is shaping up to be a rather unusual season as well, with several anime featuring more mature premises than one might normally expect. There is little doubt that the season will be one of the year’s best.
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With so many new anime set to premiere, it is only natural that the industry’s go-to platform, Crunchyroll, will feature several of these titles. However, the giant streaming service still has its rivals. While Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have emerged as major platforms by hosting many anime, the only true competitor dedicated solely to anime is HIDIVE. The platform made its name by securing exclusive titles and establishing itself as the only other major anime streaming service. However, it has recently lost some of its appeal, especially after losing many of its exclusives. That said, HIDIVE is set to stream The World Is Dancing, arguably the anime with the best-looking animation of the season, further elevated by its intriguing premise. This series could help HIDIVE slowly regain its sense of exclusivity.
HIDIVE Will Stream Summer 2026’s Most Gorgeous Anime
The World Is Dancing, based on the manga of the same name, is being produced by Cypic Anime Studio, which is known for creating gorgeous-looking anime, including the recent The Summer Hikaru Died. One of the studio’s most ambitious upcoming projects also includes Shonen Jump’s next anime sensation, Kagurabachi. The trailers for The World Is Dancing have already revealed that the anime is set to feature some of the crispest and most gorgeous animation of the Summer 2026 season. However, what is truly set to elevate the series is its incredible premise, which is rarely depicted in the anime medium. The World Is Dancing‘s main premise revolves around the traditional Japanese theatrical art of Noh.
Noh is an incredibly niche Japanese traditional art form that employs its own nuances to tell stories and has been heavily influenced by the culture of the 14th century, when the art itself took shape. The World Is Dancing also embraces this historical setting, following an aspiring boy who seeks to find his voice while following in his father’s footsteps in the industry. The cultural nuances and narrative rooted in such a different era are among the anime’s greatest strengths, and the series is expected to find success considering how the currently airing Akane-banashi, which features a somewhat similar premise centered on a niche form of storytelling, has been well received.
There is no denying that what makes this anime stand out is the way it broadens the scope of anime storytelling. In a landscape filled with an abundance of supernatural series, anime with more grounded narratives are becoming an emerging trend, as evidenced by the strong reception of Smoking Behind the Supermarket With You, which depicts the grounded realities of adult working life. Thus, The World Is Dancing is set to be another step in that direction, and with the series airing exclusively on HIDIVE, it could also give Crunchyroll’s rival a boost in attracting viewers and help it regain some of its lost charm as an anime streaming platform.
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