Battle Manga and Steampunk Adventures Top the List
Anime!Anime!'s semiannual reader poll drew 205 responses between May 27 and June 7, asking which currently serialized manga deserves an anime adaptation. The respondent pool skewed young and female, with roughly 60% women and 30% of all voters under 19.
Nue's Exorcist (鵺の陰陽師), Kota Kawae's modern exorcist battle series running in Weekly Shonen Jump, was one of the most prominent picks. Readers pointed out that fellow 2023 Jump launches like Kill Ao and Kagurabachi have already landed anime announcements, making Nue's Exorcist feel overdue. Fans praised its mix of dark fantasy, stylish heroines, and oddly charismatic background characters whose banter they want to hear voiced.
Tokyo Aliens, NAOE's SF action series in Square Enix's Monthly GFantasy, also drew strong support. The manga follows an ordinary high schooler recruited into an alien management organization, and readers cited its dynamic fight choreography and the balance of serious and comedic tones as reasons it belongs on screen.
Rounding out the action picks, Kuzoku Hack to Joki no Hime (空賊ハックと蒸気の姫), a steampunk juvenile fantasy by Tomonori Inoue serialized in Mag Garden's Blade Comics, won fans over with its airships, floating cities, and a lovable broke sky pirate protagonist. Voters called it a rare steampunk adventure in a manga landscape that doesn't see many.
Animal Manga Steal the Show
The survey's clearest trend was the popularity of animal-themed series. Multiple titles featuring dogs, foxes, and cats received enough votes to land on the multi-vote list.
Shiba-tsuki Bukken (シバつき物件), a comedy about a high schooler whose new apartment comes with a Shiba Inu poltergeist, had readers gushing over the ghost dog Muu-chan's fluffy antics. Konzukushi (こんづくし), about a human girl sneaking through life at an all-fox girls' school with a tanuki homeroom teacher, earned votes for its slapstick premise. And Kamisama Kitsune to Salaryman (かみさまキツネとサラリーマン), about a 32-year-old bachelor sharing his home with four divine foxes, charmed voters with its found-family warmth.
Cat manga showed up in force too. Junkissa Neko (純喫茶ねこ) is a long-running daily-life comedy about a protagonist who sees cats as humans while working at a traditional coffee shop. With 13 volumes out, fans argued its deep episode backlog makes it a sure bet for adaptation material. Nukozuke! (ぬこづけ！), a healing short comedy about mysterious cat-like evolved creatures, and Hirotta no ga Honto ni Neko ka wa Utagawashii (拾ったのが本当に猫かは疑わしい), a comedy about a cat that speaks human language and drinks alcohol, both received multiple votes as well.
Proven Creators Drive Anticipation
Several picks rode on the reputation of their creators' previous anime hits.
Dogsred, Satoru Noda's ice hockey manga set in Tomakomai, Hokkaido, benefits from the Golden Kamuy creator's established fanbase. Readers highlighted the manga's detailed recreation of 2010s Tomakomai streetscapes and cameo-style appearances by characters familiar to Golden Kamuy fans.
Maotoko no Ichi (魔男のイチ), a battle manga with original story by Osamu Nishi of Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun fame and art by Shiro Usazaki, had voters excited about its magic-system battles and already speculating about voice casting.
Binetsu Kuukan (微熱空間), a romance-comedy by Ume Aoki of Hidamari Sketch, drew votes from readers who want to see its delicate portrayal of step-siblings navigating their complicated feelings translated into animation.
Looking Ahead
The poll is a snapshot of where Japanese fan appetite sits heading into the second half of 2026, a year that has already seen manga like Yomi no Tsugai, Akane-banashi, and Ikoku Nikki reach television.
For international readers, several of these titles are already accessible in English. Nue's Exorcist is available through Viz Media's Shonen Jump simulpub and MangaPlus. Dogsred is likewise published by Viz with five English volumes out as of May 2026. Tokyo Aliens has an official English release as well. The animal-comedy titles, however, remain largely unlicensed in English.
Whether any of these picks get greenlit is anyone's guess. Still, the range of genres (battle, comedy, romance, animal) shows plenty of source material is ready for adaptation. Anime!Anime! plans to publish the completed-manga edition of the poll separately.