Summer 2026 First Episode Awards

Wooper: This has turned out to be a deeper season than I initially predicted. In addition to all the shows we’ll be recognizing after the jump, some of which weren’t even on my radar a month ago, there are promising titles like Sayonara Lara (one of Mario’s top picks), Smoking Behind the Supermarket (one of Amun’s), and The World is Dancing (one of Lenlo’s). Personally, I’ll be keeping up with a handful of summer series over the next few months, but I’m not sure what kind of coverage they’ll receive, if any. There’s a final spring post I need to make, and I want to check in on midseason debuts like Jiyi Guanli Ju and The Ninth Jedi, but that’s all I can promise at the moment. Maybe some of our other writers will spring into action while I’m gone, though – summer seems as good a season as any to do so!