5 New Anime Series Which Made It Big In 2016

Each year, a slew of new anime“>anime series are brought to the small screen thanks to some seriously talented studios. Companies like Bones and Sunrise continue to roll out engaging anime projects for both casual and hardcore fans to enjoy, and 2016 was no different. This year, anime lovers have been gifted with more than a dozen highly anticipated shows, and now it’s time to celebrate the best of 2016.

Here at ComicBook.com, we are looking back at this year’s list of brand-new anime series and counting down five which will make you sad to see 2016 go.

March Comes In Like A Lion

Created by Honey and Clover‘s Chica Umino, March Comes In Like A Lion is one of the most popular seinen series around. The story was finally adapted into an anime series in October and will continue on into the next year. The slice-of-life sports anime follows a young boy named Rei. The high schooler is a quiet student who moonlights as a professional shōgi player. Estranged from his friends and family, Rei lives a lonely life until he is drawn into the loving Kawamoto family.

Mob Psycho 100

If Mob Psycho 100 looks somewhat familiar to you, then you may be a fan of One-Punch Man. The creator of the latter series is the very same one who brought Saitama to life in all his yellow spandex glory. In July 2016, Bones turned the webcomic into a popular anime series that focuses on a middle school student named Shigeo Kageyama. The boy may not seem like much, but Shigeo is actually a powerful psychic known as an Esper. Aware of his gifts, Shiegeo tries to suppress his powers at all costs – and his restraint winds up being the very thing that may destroy the world.
 

Orange

Thanks to Telecom Animation, Ichigo Takano’s Orange made its way to televisions in July 2016. The critically acclaimed manga stands as one of the most popular romances in Japan, and Orange’s anime brings characters like Naho Takamiya and Kakeru Naruse to life with poignant ease. The anime follows a high school girl named Naho after she receives letters from her future self. Future Naho asks her younger self to avoid making one of her biggest regrets, and the heroine learns the event has to do with a new transfer student named Kakeru. Armed with knowledge of the future, Naho must decide whether she trusts herself enough to change the future and wonders if she even can.

My Hero Academia

Superhero fans, rejoice! If you like action-packed anime series, then you have surely heard of My Hero Academia. The acclaimed franchise kicked off in 2014 thanks to creator Kōhei Horikoshi, but it only got the full anime treatment back in April 2016. My Hero Academia follows a middle school student named Izuku Midoriya as he lives in a world where most people have super-powers. In the show, mankind is sorted into Heroes and Villains, and Izuku wants to be the greatest hero ever. There’s just one problem: he has no powers. However, when Izuku finds himself gifted with a rare type of power, the hero decides he will make his own heroes proud and attends a training school with other powerful peers.
 

Yuri On Ice!!!

Before Yuri on Ice!!! was adapted into an anime, some anime fans may have wondered what would happen when a sports series met LGTBQ rom-com tropes. Apparently, everything goes very well. In October 2016, Yuri on Ice made its debut to international fanfare. The anime tells the story of Yuri Katsuki, a prodigal ice skater whose self-doubt keeps him from being a lauded professional athlete. When his idol and fellow skater Victor Nikiforov chooses to train Yuri for his upcoming season, the Japanese figure skater must come to terms with his own past, his own demons, and his own feelings for Victor.