Best Fall 2026 Anime So Far, Ranked by Fan Polls and Japanese Viewers
The short answer: the polls do not agree, and that is useful
There is no single winner here, because different audiences voted for different shows. In the Japanese Rankingoo mid-season survey, The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 finished first. In Anime Corner's weekly poll, Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War - The Calamity won Week 4 and Steel Ball Run won Week 5. Anime Trending put Ranma 1/2 Season 3 first in Week 3. Before the season even started, Anime Corner's most anticipated vote went to Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2. We have kept each result separate on purpose. A hype vote, a Japanese survey and a weekly poll measure different things, and mixing them into one fake verdict would not help you choose what to watch.
Japanese mid-season survey: Apothecary Diaries on top
Rankingoo ran a mid-season popularity survey with 2,360 respondents aged 10 to 40, and it is the clearest snapshot we have of what Japanese viewers are enjoying this season.
The top 3, with vote counts
- 1. The Apothecary Diaries Season 3: 267 votes.
- 2. Dragon Ball Super: Beerus: 143 votes.
- 3. Tokyo Revengers: War of the Three Titans Arc: 117 votes.
That gap at the top matters. Apothecary Diaries did not scrape home, it pulled well clear of the field. There's a separate run worth noting too: The Apothecary Diaries was also No. 1 on ABEMA's weekly streaming rankings for the week of 26 October, its fifth straight week at No. 1 there.
Why Beerus and Tokyo Revengers sit just behind
Both runners up are familiar names with big, loyal audiences, so their placing is not a shock. Beerus brings Dragon Ball's huge following into a weekly slot, and Tokyo Revengers has a fanbase that shows up when it is asked to vote. Neither got close to Apothecary's 267 in this survey, though. On this evidence, at least, Japanese mid-season viewers have a clear favourite.
Anime Corner weekly poll: Bleach leads Week 4, Steel Ball Run wins Week 5
Anime Corner's weekly poll works differently. Fans vote week by week, so momentum counts, and a single big episode can move a show fast.
In Week 4, Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War - The Calamity finished first with 25.31 percent of the vote. That is a huge share for a weekly poll, and it dwarfs the winning share a week later.
Week 5 results, published on 6 November, look like this:
- 1. Steel Ball Run: 10.42 percent. Its first weekly win of Fall 2026, climbing from 7th to 1st.
- 2. Even the Student Council Has Its Holes!: 9.41 percent.
- 3. Firefly Wedding: 9.32 percent, just 0.09 points behind second place.
- 4. Black Clover Season 2: 7.39 percent.
- 5. The Apothecary Diaries Season 3: 5.40 percent.
Read those two weeks together and you get the real story of this season so far. Bleach can dominate a week outright. Steel Ball Run needed longer to climb, then took its first win in a much tighter vote.
One more weekly chart is worth adding. Anime Trending's Week 3 chart put Ranma 1/2 Season 3 first, which ended The Apothecary Diaries Season 3's two week run at the top of that chart. Again, that is Anime Trending's result, not Anime Corner's, and we have labelled it that way for a reason.
Most anticipated before the season: Cyberpunk and Apothecary led the hype
Before a single episode aired, Anime Corner asked fans what they were most looking forward to. That vote drew 7,601 voters, and it tells you where the hype sat in late September:
- 1. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2: 16.42 percent.
- 2. The Apothecary Diaries Season 3: 15.16 percent.
- 3. Blue Box Season 2: 6.29 percent.
- 4. Black Clover Season 2: 5.47 percent.
Edgerunners 2 and Apothecary were close at the top, then there's a big drop to Blue Box. It is also worth noticing who kept showing up afterwards. Apothecary is the one title that ranks highly in the hype vote, the Japanese survey, the weekly poll and the ABEMA streaming chart. Consistency like that is rare.
The combined top 10 to watch now, with where to stream each one
This list pulls together every show that placed highly in at least one of the polls above. It is our combined watch list, not a poll result, and the order groups the strongest overall performers first.
- The Apothecary Diaries Season 3: first in the Rankingoo survey, second in the most anticipated vote, fifth in Anime Corner Week 5. Streams on Crunchyroll, new episodes on Fridays.
- Steel Ball Run: first in Anime Corner Week 5 with 10.42 percent. Streams on Netflix, new episodes on Fridays.
- Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War - The Calamity: first in Anime Corner Week 4 with 25.31 percent. Streams on Hulu and Disney+.
- Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2: first in the most anticipated vote with 16.42 percent. Streams on Netflix.
- Ranma 1/2 Season 3: first on Anime Trending's Week 3 chart. Streams on Netflix, new episodes on Saturdays.
- Black Clover Season 2: fourth in both the most anticipated vote and Anime Corner Week 5. Streams on Crunchyroll, new episodes on Saturdays.
- Dragon Ball Super: Beerus: second in the Rankingoo survey with 143 votes. Streams on Crunchyroll, Hulu and Netflix, with new episodes on Sundays.
- Firefly Wedding: third in Anime Corner Week 5 with 9.32 percent. Streams on Crunchyroll.
- Blue Box Season 2: third in the most anticipated vote with 6.29 percent. Streams on Netflix, new episodes on Sundays.
- Tokyo Revengers: War of the Three Titans Arc: third in the Rankingoo survey with 117 votes. Streams on Disney+ and Hulu.
Even the Student Council Has Its Holes! also deserves a mention here. It took second place in Anime Corner Week 5 with 9.41 percent, ahead of Firefly Wedding, and it is the season's breakout comedy in our catalogue.
What to watch first, by mood
- You want what Japanese viewers picked: The Apothecary Diaries Season 3. First in the Rankingoo survey, and it keeps backing that up week after week.
- You want this week's winner: Steel Ball Run. Week 5 was its first weekly win, and the climb from 7th to 1st says the momentum is real.
- You want a huge weekly moment: Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War - The Calamity. A 25.31 percent Week 4 share is the biggest single poll result in this guide.
- You want big returning action: Black Clover Season 2 or Dragon Ball Super: Beerus, both placing well across different polls.
- You want something lighter: Ranma 1/2 Season 3 for comedy, or Blue Box Season 2 for sports romance.
- You backed the hype early: Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2, the most anticipated show of the season before it started.
Quick questions
What is the best Fall 2026 anime right now?
It depends which poll you trust, and that is the honest answer. Japanese viewers in the Rankingoo mid-season survey put The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 first. Anime Corner voters gave Week 4 to Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War - The Calamity and Week 5 to Steel Ball Run, while Anime Trending put Ranma 1/2 Season 3 first in Week 3. This guide labels every result with its poll so you can pick the winner that matches your taste.
Is Black Clover Season 2 really the most watched Fall anime?
The polls in this guide do not measure viewing figures, so they cannot prove that on their own. What they do show is steady demand: Black Clover Season 2 placed fourth in Anime Corner's most anticipated vote before the season, with 5.47 percent, and fourth again in the Week 5 weekly poll, with 7.39 percent. That is a strong, consistent showing, even if it has not topped a weekly poll yet.
Which Fall 2026 anime should I start this weekend?
If you want the show Japanese viewers backed most, start The Apothecary Diaries Season 3. If you want the current weekly winner, go with Steel Ball Run. For a big returning action season, pick Black Clover Season 2 or Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War - The Calamity, and for something lighter, try Ranma 1/2 Season 3 or Blue Box Season 2.