Each anime season is an exciting blend of brand-new titles, new seasons of returning shows, and even anime movies and other features. While no anime season has yet reached the incredible heights of the Fall 2022 anime season, the Summer 2023 anime season did well for itself and offered a remarkable variety of shows for fans to enjoy inside with the air conditioning on.
A few titles in the Summer 2023 season seemed promising but fell flat after they began airing, such as the game-based Liar, Liar and the fun but forgettable My Tiny Senpai. By contrast, the Summer 2023 season also featured some heavy-hitting titles that proved summer isn't always the weakest anime season of the year. With these titles, Summer 2023 easily matched or even surpassed the Winter and Spring seasons from earier this year.
10 Undead Girl Murder Farce
Undead Girl Murder Farce is a supernatural fantasy anime that might remind fans of the likes of Jujutsu Kaisen and Demon Slayer. It's set in the 19th century where monsters like oni and vampires are real, including the experimental half-oni protagonist, Tsugaru. Then he meets Aya Rindo, who only exists as a talking severed head.
The two of them, along with Aya's assistant Shizuku, will embark on a trip from Japan to Europe, where they'll seek out the one responsible for each of their fates. Along the way, Tsugaru and Aya will fight more supernatural beings, all while Aya's severed head remains in a birdcage, an odd sight to see.
9 Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2
The first season of Jujutsu Kaisen blew anime fans away and helped the series become an instant classic. Already, JJK is part of the beloved "dark trio," and when summer rolled around, fans were ready for more. JJK dominated the Summer 2023 anime season, and best of all, it continues through the Fall season as well.
Season 2 of Jujutsu Kaisen started with an intriguing flashback arc starring the teenage Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto, back when they were still friends. Then, in the present day, fans reunited with the show's main trio as they embarked on a brutal new mission to Shibuya, where Mahito's team is launching a sinister new plot.
8 The Gene of AI
The Gene of AI was an intriguing science fiction anime that explored some deeply humanistic themes in a high-tech future setting where man and machine are more blended than ever. It's not quite Ghost in the Shell material, but it's enough for sci-fi fans or anime fans who need a break from fantasy isekai.
The Gene of AI mainly focuses on the young doctor Hikaru Sudo, who runs a clinic with his cheerful assistant Risa Higuchi. They will meet a wide variety of patients who struggle with transhumanism one way or another, such as wondering if resetting their cybernetic memories to an earlier state changes who they are, or whether robots can truly love.
7 Horimiya Pieces
Horimiya: Pieces wasn't actually a Season 2 for the Horimiya anime. Instead, as per the title, this anime was a collection of the missing pieces from the original manga that didn't make it into the story-focused Season 1. In a way, Horimiya: Pieces was like a B-reel or a massive "special features" anime.
The Horimiya: Pieces anime hopped around from one character and plot to another in true slice-of-life fashion, from Izumi Miyamura's visits to the Hori household to a sports festival. It was more of the same for existing Horimiya fans, and it may have convinced new fans to try the original Horimiya anime, too.
6 The Masterful Cat Is Depressed Again Today
One of the best comedies in the Summer 2023 anime season and a great show for cat lovers was The Masterful Cat is Depressed Again Today. Despite its title, there's nothing depressing or saddening about this show. It's actually a toned-down Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid, starring a 20-something worker and her highly unusual maid.
Protagonist Saku Fukuzawa is a frazzled, messy, and forgetful office worker who relies heavily on her intelligent, bear-sized cat Yukichi to keep her modest household running. That fuels plenty of comedy, but the story also has emotional weight concerning the backstory of how Saku and Yukichi met and accepted one another.
5 Dark Gathering
Dark Gathering was a fine anime to air alongside other supernatural shonen titles like Jujutsu Kaisen and Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War in the 2023 anime season. The story stars Keitaro Gentouga, a boy who suffered a close encounter with the paranormal and shut himself away for some time.
Now Keitaro is slowly easing back into society, tutoring his friend's cousin Yayoi Houzuki. With the cousins Eiko and Yayoi by his side, Keitero will find himself dragged into a quest deeper into the realm of the supernatural, all so the cousins can find the spirit who killed Yayoi's beloved mother.
4 Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War
Back in the Fall 2022 anime season, shonen fans were treated to the long-awaited return of Bleach. The Thousand-Year Blood War anime launched the franchise's final and most brutal arc, and the story continued in the Summer 2023 season with the second cour.
The second cour resumed the war between Soul Reapers and the Quincy empire, the Wandenreich. The strongest warriors from both sides tore into each other in this season, and many stunning power-ups and revelations unfolded to reward fans' patience. The second cour ended on a cliffhanger concerning King Yhwach and the Schutzstaffel, and in cour 3, their fate may be revealed.
3 Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead
Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead came out of nowhere as a stellar shonen anime series that turned the zombie apocalypse genre on its head. Protagonist Akira Tendo felt like the living dead with his exploitative office job, but when a zombie breakout unfolded, Akira realized he was free from his job and miserable daily life.
While everyone else dies, Akira feels more alive than ever, and he will enjoy himself as he crosses off items from his personal bucket list. Along the way, Akira will befriend a few more survivors and meet up with his old pal Kencho, and their squad will search for the new meaning of their lives as the world comes to an end.
2 Bungou Stray Dogs Season 5
The Bungou Stray Dogs franchise is popular and intriguing, a seinen anime starring the hero Atsushi Nakajima. Atsushi is an orphan with supernatural abilities, and after he met Osamu Dazai, he will join the Agency and take on new cases relating to people with supernatural abilities.
In Season 5 of Bungou Stray Dogs, Atsushi and Ranpo must somehow get amnesty from the Hunting Dogs and their leader, Ouchi Fukuchi. Fukuchi has a connection to the Agency's own president, but whether Atsushi can use that fact as leverage remains to be seen.
1 BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!!
The BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!! anime, which aired in Summer 2023, is part of the larger BanG Dream! music media franchise. It has three separate seasons and one OVA for fans to enjoy. The first two seasons starred Kasumi Toyama and her band, named Poppin'Party.
In Season 3, meanwhile, the musical tournament BanG Dream! Girls Band Challenge is taking place. Protagonist Anon Chihaya is ready to dive right in, seeking to form a group with herself as the lead singer. One of her new recruits, Tomori, belonged to a broken-up band called CRYCHIC, so she may not be fully ready to join another band and possibly get hurt again. Still, Anon is determined to form a group, and despite all the drama, her musical band just might take off.