The Best Anime Of The Winter 2025 Season (And Where You Can Stream It)

(Welcome to I Didn't Know What Seasonal Anime to Watch, So I Asked /Film for Help and They Gave Me a List, a regular column dedicated to helping our readers choose what anime shows to watch each season.)

The winter anime season tends to be a rather underrated one. More often than not, the big profile shows are released either in the fall or in the spring, with the longer series carrying over to the winter and summer (overshadowing new releases in the process).

And yet, there are plenty of great anime shows that either premiere or return every winter. 2025 is no exception, with its offerings including a leftover from last season that also deserves to be in the conversation. Why? Because it's simply an unsung masterpiece that everyone should watch.

Overall, the Winter 2025 anime lineup included dozens of new isekai, anticipated follow ups to favorites from years past, big-budget adaptations of popular manga, and more. We also got a continuation of one of the strangest recent anime trends: the "Super Sentai" (or "Power Rangers") genre mash-up parody. There was something for everyone this winter, whether you prefer comedy, action, romance, mystery, or even poignant dramas about religion and science. 

Let's get right down to it: Here are the best anime shows the Winter 2025 season had to offer.

Even if it technically started last year, there is no way around it: "Orb: On the Movements of the Earth" is a stone-cold masterpiece and currently the best anime of 2025. Set in 15th century Europe in a country modeled after Poland, the show follows several protagonists as they're exposed to a basic yet radical idea that forever changes the course of their lives: What if the Earth isn't the center of the universe, but moves around the Sun?

"Orb: On the Movements of the Earth" is a gripping drama about the price of knowledge, the sacrifices made in the pursuit of progress, and the countless nameless people forgotten by history who helped move the needle just a little bit further. Rather than focusing on a single central lead, the anime centers on the idea of heliocentrism and how it impacts everyone it touches, showing the power and resilience of human curiosity in the face of oppression. No matter how much the series' characters try to deny their curiosity, stick to the dogma, and avoid persecution (along with, possibly, torture and execution), they simply cannot resist learning more about this concept. 

In addition to the breathtakingly beautiful animated shots of the night sky crafted by Madhouse, "Orb: On the Movements of the Earth" features dialogue that feels like it was lifted straight out of a Mike Flanagan joint (complete with compelling monologues about faith, knowledge, and science that are equal parts moving and thought-provoking). It's also more than a little reminiscent of "Pluto," especially the way it combines high-concept anime storytelling with captivating and poignant drama. There are few anime series like "Orb: On the Movements of the Earth," and that makes it all the more special.

"Orb: On the Movements of the Earth" is streaming on Netflix.

"Zenshu" was probably the biggest surprise of the winter 2025 season. An entirely original anime, it's one of the best shows about making art since "Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!" The series focuses specifically on the difficulties of making animation, both the practical — overworked animators and tight timelines — as well as the creative, like burn-out or not having enough life experience to translate to the screen. Oh yeah, it's also a show about how difficult it is to make an anime when, y'know, you die from food poisoning and wake up in your favorite childhood anime. That's exactly what happens to once-rising star Natsuko Hirose, who ends up in "A Tale of Perishing" (a movie with a rather bleak third act wherein every character dies a brutal death ... unless Natsuko can stop it).

As a whole, "Zenshu" makes for a gorgeously animated love letter to fandom and anime. Natsuko herself has the ability to draw and animate anything she can think of and make it come to life, be it a giant robot or masked wrestler/superhero. There are direct homages to movies like "Nausicaä" and shows like "Gundam," "Sailor Moon," and even "Tiger Mask," with "Zenshu" bringing back animators from those titles to work on these tributes. As a result, these sequences are not just visually stunning, but they're also quite moving in what they say about the impact they had on Natsuko and general audiences alike.

Thanks to moments like these, "Zenshu" succeeds as a touching look at the power anime has to change lives (even commercial and critical flops). In a way, it's kind of like an anime version of "The NeverEnding Story," only with a horny and chaotic unicorn sidekick. The English dub deserves a special shout-out as well, seeing as the English-language cast does a phenomenal job of leaning just as hard into the absurdity and wild fun of the story as they do the tragedy.

"Zenshu" is streaming on Crunchyroll.

What if John Wick, after retiring as the Baba Yaga and getting married, became a simple corner store owner, had a kid, and gained weight? Animated all that while also removing the dead wife and murdered dog, and you basically get "Sakamoto Days," the highly anticipated adaptation of Yuto Suzuki's manga of the same name. Much like "John Wick," the show features stunning action sequences wherein a retired assassin fights off wave after wave of hitmen coming to assassinate him — with the addition of assassins featuring superpowers like the ability to read minds — as well as an interesting world of secret assassin societies with their own codes and lore.

But what truly makes "Sakamoto Days" special is the refreshing way it approaches the "double-life" trope. The titular Sakamoto is not Bob Odenkirk's character from "Nobody" (who tries his best to keep his two lives separate), nor is he about to abandon his family and return to his old ways. Instead, it's made clear from the start that Sakamoto's wife, Aoi, is well aware of his life as an assassin; even when other assassins start coming after her husband, he doesn't hide it from her. Aoi is also the reason most of the jokes in "Sakamoto Days" work thanks to how nonchalant she is about the whole murdering business (and how much of a bother it is to her that people are trying to kill her and her family). As with "Spy x Family," "Sakamoto Days" works just as well as a sitcom as it does an action thriller.

"Sakamoto Days" is streaming on Netflix.

"The Apothecary Diaries" was already a great mystery anime in its first season thanks to its fantastic blend of episodic and serialized storytelling. The second season doesn't change the show's formula very much, although it continues to give us compelling drama and intriguing mystery. The series follows Maomao, a sharp-witted apothecary-turned-food-taster for a favored consort in the imperial palace. As she digs into palace intrigue, Maomao is forced to navigate different agendas and politics to solve small mysteries that give rise to bigger plots.

The thing that makes the second season so great, aside from just seeing more of our poison-obsessed protagonist getting into shenanigans (like taking care of a cat), is the deepening of the royal family mystery. The small mysteries at the start of the season all converge to tell a poignant story about abuse of power, in the process finally answering some of the big questions around the imperial palace. Most importantly, season 2 brings the romantic relationship between Maomao and the eunuch (or is he?) Jinshi to a boil, telling the best love story of the season while still cracking plenty of jokes about Maomao loving poison.

"Apothecary Diaries season 2" is streaming on Crunchyroll.

The past couple of years have seen plenty of shows inspired by tokusatsu like "Super Sentai," be they rom-coms like "Love After World Domination" or revenge comedies like last spring's "Go Go Loser Ranger!" From the get go, however, "The Red Ranger Becomes an Adventurer in Another World" stands apart from the rest thanks to its original premise, a willingness to embrace every trope of the genre (no matter how absurd), and a tongue-in-cheek tone that's as humorous as it is a loving homage to the genre. In some ways, this show feels like the spiritual successor to the hilarious, outlandish "Brave Bang Bravern" and the way it winks at the genre it's parodying.

Like the title indicates, "The Red Ranger Becomes an Adventurer in Another World" follows the Red Ranger from a "Power Rangers" type group of heroes as he's accidentally killed and reincarnated in a fantasy world. Of course, being the Red Ranger, he immediately gets to work saving everyone he comes across with his gadgets and zords, dazzling people with his high spirits and burning passion for doing good. Though very much an isekai, the show doesn't forget to be an amusing tokusatsu as well, complete with full-episode homages to both "Super Sentai" and even "Kamen Rider" on top of its many other references to those franchises.

Indeed, rather than blending the two genres, the show allows its comedy to stem from the clash of isekai and tokusatsu tropes, like how the Red Ranger's gadgets, laser gun, and swords don't seem to abide by any of the local laws of magic. Seeing a bunch of wizards flabbergasted by a megazord is utterly hilarious and a treat to fans of the genre.

"The Red Ranger Becomes an Adventurer in Another World" is streaming on Crunchyroll.

Sometimes, you want a profound animated drama that is visually striking and leaves you thinking deeply about life. Other times, though, you simply want a badass, blood-pumping, bone-crushing, thrilling piece of animated spectacle that prioritizes putting the coolest s*** possible on screen. Enter "Solo Leveling," a show that takes place in a MMORPG-inspired world where portals to another dimension pop up all over the place, unleashing powerful monsters. Only people born with special magical skills called "hunters" are fit to combat them in "dungeons." Their reward if they win? Being allowed to loot whatever they can from said dungeons to sell and profit from. However, the only hunter who succeeds in increasing their skills is Jinwoo, who gains the ability to "level up" like he's in a video game.

Where the first season featured some entertaining training arcs that poked fun at the grind of leveling up in a game, season 2 of "Solo Leveling" mostly forgoes that to focus on Jinwoo honing his existing skills, earning minions, and battling increasingly stronger enemies. The fight scenes in the show are unparalleled right now, delivering massive spectacle worthy of the big screen wrapped around a story that maximizes the power fantasy element of the show. At the same time, the second season has included some fascinating additions to the series' lore and world-building, ensuring there's more to this anime beyond the (admittedly, pretty wicked) throwdowns. 

"Solo Leveling" season 2 is streaming on Crunchyroll.