For Anime Trending’s first compilation of Fall 2026 anime early impressions, our team checks out the first few episodes of Firefly Wedding, Hello, I am a Witch and my Crush Wants me to Make a Love Potion!, Magic Knight Rayearth (2026), The Cold Sato-san Is Sweet Only to Me, and Uncle’s Obsession with Cute Things. Stay tuned for part 2!
Firefly Wedding
Episodes watched: 2
The 16-year-old Satoko Kirigaya has spent much of her life indoors because of a weak heart, with little expectation that she’d live far into adulthood. Her father hopes she can marry someone who can protect her, but a rare outing ends with her being kidnapped and awaiting death. Her would-be killer, 18-year-old Shinpei, hardly seems like marriage material, but when Satoko suddenly proposes that she’d marry him in exchange for protecting her life, he’s her best bet at a chance for survival.
I’m not usually a fan of yandere love interests, but Shinpei’s immediate attachment to Satoko has an odd charm to it. What keeps me interested is how Satoko isn’t simply fearful or helpless in the face of his affection — or the brutal way he murders people, which leaves him coated with blood from head to toe. While Satoko’s ambitions revolve around marriage and honoring her family name, she’s also calculating about staying alive. Her thought process makes me wonder what she might say or how she might act toward Shinpei next to continue stringing him along, and it keeps me interested in seeing how their relationship develops.
On the other hand, Shinpei’s attachment also makes me curious about what he understands love to be. If killing and interacting with the island’s townspeople and courtesans are all he’s ever known, I wonder whether leaving would be as simple for him as Satoko hopes. That doesn’t make him less dangerous, but it makes me think that there might be more behind his possessiveness. Overall, Firefly Wedding has me cautiously intrigued this season. I may not be sold on Shinpei, but I’m willing to stick around to learn more about his past and see how Satoko finds her way off the island.
By: Isabelle Lee
Hello, I am a Witch and my Crush Wants me to Make a Love Potion!
Episodes watched: 3
After her grandmother passes away, Rose is left to take on the duties of being a witch on her own, making potions for the humans who dare to seek her help. One day, a customer makes the trek out to her secluded cottage in the woods — and it’s none other than Lord Harij, whom Rose has had a crush on for the past four years. When he requests Rose make him a love potion, she’s heartbroken. But this too is an opportunity, and Rose does all that she can to prolong her and Harij’s acquaintance before she fulfills his order.
I’m not much of a fantasy anime watcher these days, and this show was my attempt at branching out of my comfort zone. So it’s ironic that I’m left more than a little wanting in the magic department. Where’s the witchcraft? The most witchy thing that Rose does is ask Harij to bring her obscure ingredients and tend to a garden with even more ingredients. For a figure that faces scrutiny from the general human public because of her capabilities, I expected the witch to possess a bit more cunning.
Perhaps my real gripe is with the lack of magic behind the animation, which, while still having motion, relies on a lot of stills. The cozy tone doesn’t need to be battered by grand action scenes, but it would be nice for the anime to exert more visual creativity to portray the emotional momentum between the two leads. I don’t need to stare at a single frame of Rose flushing at Harij falling on top of her for four seconds. If we’re going to utilize classic romance tropes, I want to see all of the emotions between them, all of the subtle and not subtle changes in their body language through that interaction.
Still, the anime is captivating enough that I’m still looking forward to watching it each week. I can’t complain too much about a slice-of-life romance — that’s right up my alley, after all! Though it partially feels like the narrative is forcing their proximity, I like how Harij has started to visit Rose each day at her cottage and provide her with various meals to diversify her diet. He’s not really going out of any other motive (that we know of) other than that he cares about her well-being, and there’s something refreshing about that simplicity. Rose’s inability to lie and Harij’s natural inclination to speak the truth make way for a uniquely easygoing dynamic where the romantic tension isn’t actually all that tense, but enticing nonetheless. As we learn more about the royalty Harij serves and the reason why he needs the love potion, I’m hoping the magical plot thickens, and Rose and Harij’s chemistry along with it.
By: Audrey Im
Magic Knight Rayearth (2026)
Episodes watched: 2
Celebrating its 30th anniversary, CLAMP’s original manga, Magic Knight Rayearth, is back with a whole new anime project. Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu are on a school trip to Tokyo Tower with their respective schools when they hear a cry for help. That voice leads them to be transported into another world called Cefiro, where they must save the world from calamity as Magic Knights and awaken the Rune Gods.
I had the opportunity to watch the world premiere of Magic Knight Rayearth (2026) at Anime Expo and interview both Rie Takahashi (Fuu) and Saori Hayami (Emeraude), but watching it again after it finally premiered still brought a whole lot of nostalgia. It is basically like the original anime series, but with updated, modern animation. The animation looks brighter and prettier, and aside from how Hikaru’s hair color looks more pink than red, following CLAMP’s art style, everything looks the same as I remember from the original anime.
This new series also brings back a lot of the charm points from the manga and the original anime series. I really love seeing Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu’s different personalities, and I’ve fallen in love with them all over again. From their personalities to their reactions when they find out they are in a different world, as well as how they work together, everything shows how these three girls can grow into a team in the future. They even use chibi versions of the characters during certain comedic moments to keep a lighter tone for the series. To top it all off, the first episode ends with the original opening theme song, “Unyielding Wish,” hitting long-time fans of the series hard with nostalgia.
So far, I am loving the new series. Hayami-san mentioned in the interview that this series will cover everything in the manga, which I am excited about since the original didn’t really follow the manga. I didn’t get a chance to read the manga growing up, but I still remember the original anime series, and after the first two episodes, I am really excited to watch the rest of it and finally see a faithful adaptation of the Magic Knight Rayearth manga.
By: Gerrymelyn Casupang
The Cold Sato-san Is Sweet Only to Me
Episodes watched: 2
Koharu Sato might be hopeless behind a camera, but her blooming new friendship with classmate Sota Oshio in The Cold Sato-san Is Sweet Only to Me adds a quirkiness to the show’s familiar rom-com setup. Past Sato’s icy appearance is a bubbly, socially anxious girl who wants to become a Minstagrammer — her world’s equivalent of an Instagrammer. Meanwhile, Oshio is a normal high school boy who helps out at his father’s cafe and manages its Minsta account, which has five thousand followers. This follower count and Oshio’s seemingly ordinary photography skills leave Sato awestruck, because she constantly takes extremely bad, shaky photos that hold her back from becoming a true Minstagrammer. In the age of capable smartphone cameras, I find it hard to believe she can’t take a decent picture, but her enthusiasm makes their interactions more wholesome.
What I appreciate about Oshio is that he’s more straightforward than I expected, even admitting he has a crush on Sato before we realize that Sato also has a crush on him! He recognizes how much her goal means to her without letting his attraction stop him from giving blunt photography advice. His levelheadedness complements her fluctuating moods, and her sudden request to exchange contact information in front of all their classmates in Episode 2 disrupts her aloof reputation.
The familiar setups and blushing misunderstandings haven’t entirely won me over, though. So far, the show follows the recognizable pattern of an ordinary boy discovering a cute girl’s hidden side while both of them are extremely conscious about their feelings and how others perceive them. Their outings that should count as dates seem less certain than Oshio’s new role as her Minstagrammer friend, but I’m cautiously interested in seeing their relationship develop beyond better pictures — with some appealing sweets and cafe stops along the way.
By: Isabelle Lee
Uncle’s Obsession with Cute Things
Episodes watched: 1
41-year-old Mitsutaka Oji has always liked cute things. Having been ridiculed for this affinity since childhood, however, he’s kept this part of himself secret from everyone — even going so far as to hide it from his now ex-wife. Now, he lets himself enjoy cute things a little more openly when he’s in public alone, though he still hides it from people in his daily life. But with his 18-year-old nephew Masumi coming to live with him and his hot-tempered coworker Naruto discovering the tiny plushies attached to his keyholder, it might not be long till Oji’s cuteness aggression gets found out for good.
Only one episode in, I have a feeling this is going to be my comfort anime this season. I was actually surprised at how much I enjoyed all the comedic gags in the animation, like Naruto’s gargantuan face of envy as all the cats crowded Oji at the cafe, and the “romantic” OP sequence between Oji and his beloved Pugtaro. It’s a simple premise with spectacular execution already, and a leading man just as sweet as the canine character he worships.
I also appreciate that Oji’s secrecy around his interests has real-life consequences. It’s understandable how he acts given the bullying he faced as a child, but by hiding his obsession, he bars himself from connecting to the people he should ideally be the closest to, leading to his divorce and the misunderstandings with his nephew. He’s taking baby steps to remedy this behavior now, and though he’s still mostly keeping his identity as a cute-thing enjoyer in the closet (literally), I’m looking forward to seeing him fully break out of his shell. And honestly, he’s living in the best century to be experiencing this problem! Get this man an ita-bag!
By: Audrey Im
