Looking for the best anime to watch in Spring 2026? The top trending anime this week — ranked by fan votes on AniTrendz — tells you exactly what the community is watching, rewatching, and arguing about right now. Week 5 of Spring 2026 (May 2026) has a new #1, two shows holding steady for consecutive weeks, and one major six-spot drop that needs context to understand.
Here is the complete Spring 2026 anime rankings breakdown for Week 5 — what's trending, why it matters, and whether each show deserves a spot in your watchlist.
1. Ascendance of a Bookworm: Adopted Daughter of an Archduke
#1 Trending · WIT Studio · Crunchyroll
The bookworm is back — and this time WIT Studio is behind it. Ascendance of a Bookworm: Adopted Daughter of an Archduke takes the beloved Honzuki no Gekokujou universe in a new direction, following a fresh story arc set in the same richly detailed world fans have been exploring since Season 1.
What makes this instalment stand out is the shift in emotional register. The original series built its identity on the slow, satisfying grind of Myne's ambitions inside a rigid feudal society. Adopted Daughter of an Archduke opens with that same patient storytelling but layers in a more politically charged narrative — the complications of noble adoption, identity, and where loyalty actually lies when the world you were born into and the world you are given don't match.
WIT Studio's production is exceptional. The architecture of the noble quarter, the texture of illuminated manuscripts, the way light moves through stained glass during the indoor scenes — this is a studio that understands what the source material is doing visually and commits to it fully. Longtime fans of the series have been particularly vocal about how well the adaptation captures the tone of Miya Kazuki's writing.
The chart jump from Week 4 to Week 1 is significant — this is not a quiet rise, it's a takeover, and the community response suggests the show is delivering on every promise its announcement made.
Where to watch: Crunchyroll (sub + dub) | Episodes: 12 (currently airing)
Should You Watch? If you've seen the original Ascendance of a Bookworm seasons, this is essential. If you haven't — start from Season 1 first. The payoff is earned, not handed to you.
2. Always a Catch!
#2 Trending · TROYCA · Crunchyroll · Unchanged 2 weeks
Always a Catch! has now held the #2 position for two consecutive weeks, which is the kind of consistency that separates a genuinely good show from a one-episode viral moment. TROYCA — the studio behind Re:Creators and Bloom Into You — brings their trademark clean aesthetic and emotionally restrained direction to what is, on the surface, a romantic comedy about competitive fishing.
The premise sounds niche. It is, in the best possible way. The romance develops through the ritual of fishing: the patience it demands, the silence it creates between two people, the way a shared obsession becomes a language of its own. The show understands that sport anime and romance anime work the same way at their core — two people reaching toward the same thing at the same time, just from different directions.
TROYCA's animation makes every outdoor scene feel genuinely expansive. Water, in particular, is rendered with an attention to light and movement that elevates the fishing sequences from background activity to something worth watching for their own sake.
The show has held its ranking without a single viral moment — purely on quality and word-of-mouth. That is rare and worth noting.
Where to watch: Crunchyroll | Episodes: 12 (currently airing)
Should You Watch? Yes — if you want something that earns its emotional moments quietly, Always a Catch! is the best romance of Spring 2026 so far.
3. Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun Season 4
#3 Trending · Bandai Namco Pictures · Crunchyroll · Down 6 positions
A six-position drop for Iruma-kun S4 will look alarming in the numbers, but context matters: the show fell from a position of exceptional week-to-week performance. This is a show that has been punching well above its expected ranking all season. A correction was inevitable.
Season 4 continues the story of Iruma Suzuki — the human boy thriving in the Babyls Demon School — as the stakes continue to escalate around him without Iruma himself ever quite noticing how serious things have gotten. That comedic gap between how dangerous Iruma's world is and how relentlessly good-natured he remains is the engine the series runs on, and Season 4 has kept it running smoothly.
The current arc, which places several of Iruma's classmates in situations that force genuine growth rather than comedic reaction, is the most structurally ambitious the show has attempted. Some viewers are adjusting to the tonal shift, which likely accounts for part of the ranking movement. Others are exactly where they want to be.
Bandai Namco Pictures maintains the bright, expressive character animation that defines the series' look. Iruma-kun S4 remains one of the most consistent shows on the chart — a six-spot drop is noise, not a signal.
Where to watch: Crunchyroll | Episodes: 26 (split-cour, currently airing)
Should You Watch? If you've been watching — keep going, the dip is temporary. If you're new, start from Season 1.
👉 See our full Spring 2026 anime preview
4. Botan Kamiina Fully Blossoms When Drunk
#4 Trending · Soigne · Crunchyroll · Down 3 positions
Botan Kamiina Fully Blossoms When Drunk is the most pleasantly surprising series of Spring 2026. Studio Soigne — a smaller outfit with a short but thoughtful catalogue — has delivered a yuri romantic comedy with genuine warmth and an unusually sharp understanding of how social anxiety actually works.
The premise: Botan Kamiina is reserved, careful, almost entirely closed-off in daily life. A single drink unlocks a version of herself that is warm, expressive, affectionate, and more honest than she allows herself to be sober. The comedy comes from the gap between those two states. The romance comes from the question of which version of Botan the person she's falling for actually likes — and whether that question has a clean answer.
The show handles that question with more nuance than its premise suggests it will. Episode after episode, it complicates the setup in ways that feel true to how people actually work rather than how romantic comedies usually need them to work.
Down three positions this week, but still in the top five. The show has built a loyal audience that votes for it consistently, and the community around it — particularly on social platforms — is growing.
Where to watch: Crunchyroll | Episodes: 12 (currently airing)
Should You Watch? If you enjoy yuri romance or character-driven comedy with actual emotional intelligence — yes, immediately.
5. The Warrior Princess and the Barbaric King
#5 Trending · Jumondou · Crunchyroll · Unchanged 2 weeks
Two consecutive weeks at #5 for The Warrior Princess and the Barbaric King, which is a statement of quiet durability in a competitive season. Studio Jumondou is adapting a fantasy romance that knows exactly what it is and commits to it completely — and that commitment is what has kept the show on the chart.
The story follows a princess trained from birth for political marriage who is instead claimed as a war prize by a king whose kingdom her own was unable to defeat. What sounds like standard fantasy-romance territory gets interesting through the way the show interrogates the power dynamics it sets up rather than romanticising them uncritically. The princess is not passive. The king is not simply commanding. Both characters are navigating a situation neither fully chose, and the drama emerges from that genuine friction.
The production is serviceable rather than exceptional, but the writing is doing heavy lifting. Viewers who came for the fantasy aesthetics and stayed for the character dynamics are the core of the show's consistent fan base.
Where to watch: Crunchyroll | Episodes: 12 (currently airing)
Should You Watch? If political fantasy romance is your genre — this is the best-written example of it airing this season.
Spring 2026 AniTrendz Week 5 — Quick Rankings Table
| Rank | Anime | Studio | Movement | Where to Watch | |---|---|---|---|---| | #1 | Ascendance of a Bookworm: Adopted Daughter | WIT Studio | ↑ New #1 | Crunchyroll | | #2 | Always a Catch! | TROYCA | → Unchanged | Crunchyroll | | #3 | Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun S4 | Bandai Namco | ↓ -6 | Crunchyroll | | #4 | Botan Kamiina Fully Blossoms When Drunk | Soigne | ↓ -3 | Crunchyroll | | #5 | The Warrior Princess and the Barbaric King | Jumondou | → Unchanged | Crunchyroll |
What to Watch for in Week 6
All five shows release new episodes before the next AniTrendz update. Key things to watch:
- Ascendance of a Bookworm — Can it hold #1? The show has the momentum, but Always a Catch! has two weeks of consistency behind it.
- Always a Catch! — A potential #1 challenger if this week's episode delivers the emotional beat the setup has been building toward.
- Iruma-kun S4 — A strong episode could reverse the six-position drop in a single week. The show has done it before.
- Botan Kamiina — Watch whether the community response to the latest episode stabilises or continues to drift.
- Warrior Princess — Unchanged for two weeks means either deeply loyal fans or a show that needs something new to happen. Week 6 might be that moment.
Conclusion
Spring 2026 is stacked — the AniTrendz Week 5 chart reflects a season where five genuinely different shows are competing for the same attention at the same time. Whether you're here for the rich world-building of Ascendance of a Bookworm, the quiet romance of Always a Catch!, the chaotic warmth of Iruma-kun, the emotional nuance of Botan Kamiina, or the political edge of Warrior Princess — there's a top-five show made for you this season.
Come back next week for the Week 6 rankings update. We cover every chart movement, every breakout episode, and every show worth adding to your list.
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