Summer 2025’s Biggest Anime Is a Sequel (& It’s Not What You Think)

We’re now halfway through the new run of anime for the Spring 2025 anime schedule, and that means it’s the perfect time to look ahead to what’s coming next in the Summer 2025 anime schedule. The year has been particularly strong thus far for great anime releases as a number of them have reached huge milestones. Not only have there already some big hits through the year, but this coming Summer seems to be one of the biggest seasons of the year yet. Especially when considering all of the new anime releases coming our way, and many of them are returning franchises on top of it all.

The Summer 2025 anime schedule is still coming together as each series has still yet to announce their release dates or streaming platforms as of the time of this publication, but there’s one that is already grabbing lots of attention. There are a few franchises returning for new episodes this Summer that have varying levels of anticipation and hype from fans, but My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 is going to sneakily be the biggest comeback of the Summer.

What Sequels Are Coming this Summer?

The Summer 2025 anime schedule has a lot of high profile sequels that will be competing for fans’ attention. These include Kaiju No. 8 Season 2, DAN DA DAN Season 2, Call of the Night Season 2, The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 4, Sakamoto Days Part 2, Grand Blue Dreaming Season 2, Dr. Stone: Science Future Part 2, Rent-a-Girlfriend Season 4, A Couple of Cuckoos Season 2, Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus and more. That’s just scratching the surface of the returning franchises on offer too. But there’s still one big return that’s standing above the others because it’s about to take over in an unexpected way even with so much competition around it.

My Dress-Up Darling is secretly the biggest of the returns, however. While it might not have the blockbuster level of exposure that shows like Kaiju No. 8 and DAN DA DAN will get this Summer (especially when compared to just how many trailers DAN DA DAN has released for Season 2 by this point), but My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 is likely going to get the biggest response from fans this Summer. A lot of that is due to the strength of its romantic pairing at the center of it all, Marin Kitagawa and Wakana Gojo. If you weren’t around during the first season, then you’re likely going to be surprise at just how loved of a show this really is.

My Dress-Up Darling first made its anime debut back in 2022, and was such a hit that Shinichi Fukuda’s original manga series reached huge sales milestones pretty much after every single episode hit. Marin Kitagawa appeals to a huge variety of fans thanks to her interests in the series, and the fact that she loves cosplay made her both an anime icon and someone fans wanted to revisit each week. She’s basically got the drawing power of a juggernaut franchise on her own, and that’s something that really shouldn’t be ignored when factoring in what’s going to truly blow up this Summer.

RELATED: My Dress-Up Darling Drama Sparks Debate Over Its Controversial Censorship

What to Know for My Dress-Up Darling Season 2

Initially announced a sequel anime before confirming that it was returning for a full second season, My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 is going to feature a returning staff and cast from its debut season. The animation production is one of the biggest reasons the anime was such a hit with fans initially, and that’s going to be yet another reason it’s going to stand out when it returns this Summer. Keisuke Shinohara will once again be directing the anime for CloverWorks.

Yoriko Tomita will be returning to oversee the scripts for the anime, and Kazumasa Ishida will be providing the character designs. Takeshi Nakatsuka will also be composing the music, and Spira Spica will be returning for the new opening theme, “Ao to Kirameki.” As for the voice cast, the main duo of Hina Suguta and Shoya Ishige will be returning for the new season as Marin Kitagawa and Wakana Gojo respectively. Other returning cast members include Atsumi Tanezaki as Sajuna Inui, Hina Yomiya as Shinju Inu, and Atsushi Ono as Kaoru Gojo.

My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 will be premiering some time this July as part of the Summer 2025 anime schedule in Japan, but has yet to announce an international streaming release platform as of the time of this publication. That information will be revealed the closer we get to the Summer 2025 schedule start in July, so it’s just a little bit longer that we wait to wait to find out. You can currently catch the first season now streaming with Crunchyroll in the meantime.