Best anime to watch now from Crunchyroll to Netflix – Winter 2025
We lay out all the anime that's incoming in the next few months!
New year, new anime season! As always, January brings a whole host of new and returning anime series, from romantic comedies to epic action and sci-fi.
It's a busy month for anime, with numerous shows premiering within the same couple of weeks. Fortunately, we're here to help you choose which ones to watch!
Here's our list of recommendations for new anime arriving in the winter 2025 period, all streaming on major services like Netflix an Crunchyroll.
Read on to discover them all!
Solo Leveling Season 2 – out now
Titled "Solo Leveling: Arise from the Shadow," season 2 of this hit fantasy series continues to adapt the original South Korean webnovel by Chugong.
Set in a fantasy world where human warriors battle terrifying monsters, protagonist Sung Jin-woo starts out as one of the weakest monster hunters in the story. But by the beginning of season 2, he's developed into a powerful necromancer.
His next task is to train his powers while hiding them from other human warriors, facing new enemies while attempting to save his mother.
How to watch: Crunchyroll
Zenshu – out now
Produced by the anime studio MAPPA, this new drama tells the story of Natsuko Hirose, a young animation prodigy whose debut TV series becomes a colossal hit, propelling her to celebrity status. However she finds herself struggling to find inspiration for her next project, a romantic comedy.
While grappling with writer's block, Natsuko gets transported into the world of an anime series she loved as a child. Here, she decides to rewrite the story from within, creating a better ending.
The rest of Zenshu's plot is still under wraps (it's a new, original show after all!), but it sounds like it will combine personal drama with an isekai fantasy storyline, exploring how anime as a medium can have an impact on people's lives.
How to watch: Crunchyroll
Honey Lemon Soda – out now
Adapted from a long-running manga series, this show sounds like an ideal choice for fans of highschool drama and romance.
Previously adapted into a live-action movie, Honey Lemon Soda follows the life of a shy teenage girl named Uka Ishimori. Shortly before she starts high school, she meets a popular yellow-haired boy named Kai (the inspiration behind Honey Lemon Soda's title), and they form a relationship that slowly changes her outlook on life.
Described in Crunchyroll's trailer as a "monumental young love story," Honey Lemon Soda is a coming-of-age tale about a girl learning to come out of her shell and make new friends.
How to watch: Crunchyroll
Dr Stone: Science Future – premieres 9th January
Concluding the epic sci-fi Dr Stone series, this fourth season takes Dr Stone and his allies to North America, facing new foes and startlingly advanced new technology.
If you haven't heard of this show before, the premise may sound pretty wild. Dr Stone takes place 3,700 years in the future, after a bizarre apocalyptic event petrified all of humankind into a kind of longterm stasis. The story begins with a teenage genius named Senku Ishigami waking up in the future, and embarking on an ambitious plan to rebuild human civilisation.
Last season Senku's mission included launching a space program, and the trailer for season 4 (aka Dr Stone Science Future) promises some seriously epic confrontations between the show's warring factions.
How to watch: Crunchyroll
The Apothecary Diaries season 2 – premieres 1oth January
The Apothecary Diaries' blend of mystery storytelling and historical drama attracted plenty of fans in season 1, and it looks like season 2 will up the ante.
Set in the Tang dynasty China, it stars a girl who initially trained to become an apothecary, but winds up working in the Imperial palace. Guided by an enigmatic eunuch who wields a lot of power in the royal court, she uses her apothecary skills to solve mysteries involving poisons and food allergies.
Season 2 will see The Apothecary Diaries' protagonist Maomao become the food taster for a pregnant concubine, tasked with protecting her life amid conspiracies that threaten to shake the balance of power in the empire.
How to watch: Crunchyroll
Sakamoto Days – premieres 11th January
Like the John Wick franchise, Sakamoto Days focuses on a hitman who retired from the criminal underworld to live a civilian life. After abandoning his old career as a world-class assassin, Taro Sakamoto becomes a family man, working as a convenience store owner to support his wife and kids.
But then, of course, some enemies from his old life come back to haunt him.
Based on a popular manga series, this new action-comedy promises badass fight scenes alongside goofy hijinks, as Sakamoto tries to balance the two halves of his identity.
How to watch: Netflix
Check out more of our Fantasy coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what’s on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Authors
Gavia Baker-Whitelaw is a freelance critic and entertainment journalist specialising in geek culture, TV and film. She has written for numerous outlets including Empire, TV Guide, Wired and Vulture, and hosts the film podcast Overinvested.
