10 best summer-themed anime to watch

Summer is an emotion more than it is a season in many anime series. Late sunsets, salty sea breezes, cicada chirps, and the bittersweet knowledge that school is just around the corner have inspired countless anime directors.

For many fans, nothing captures the season’s spirit better than animation that brings back summer vibes, creating the perfect backdrop for various tales. From slice-of-life comedies to thoughtful dramas and sci-fi epics, summer-themed anime can be exciting, hilarious, or sad.

Choosing ten standouts means balancing pure escapism with stories that explore what the break truly means for their characters. The summer-themed anime highlighted in this list treat summer as more than a setting; it's a character in itself, shaping the narrative.

10 must-watch summer-themed anime

1. Grand Blue Dreaming

Iori Kitahara has dreamed of a glorious college life, but his seaside engineering program in Izu quickly turns into an endless loop of skinny-dipping, heavy drinking, and wacky diving lessons. He's joined by the buff, lunatic members of the diving club based at the "Grand Blue" shop.

What starts as a slice-of-life comedy spirals into increasingly absurd situations, peppered with heartfelt dives beneath the Pacific waves. The show uses summer for maximum comedic effect, with sun-bleached beaches and barbecues serving as playgrounds for physical comedy.

The actual scuba-diving sequences are animated with meticulous attention that rivals real GoPro footage. Grand Blue Dreaming's background art drenches everything in intense light, making it a perfect pick for anyone craving escapism full of pure beach fun.

2. Nagi-Asu: A Lull in the Sea

Nagi-Asu: A Lull in the Sea (Image via P.A. Works)

In a world where humans split into land-dwellers and sea-dwellers, four middle-school friends from the underwater village of Shioshishio are forced to attend school on land. Culture shock, gentle prejudice, and teenage crushes swirl around them like shifting tides.

The story arcs elegantly from youthful slice-of-life to a sweeping fantasy about environmental balance and first love lost in time. Summer’s light is bent differently beneath the waves, and the series captures both above-sea sunsets and underwater glows with artistic beauty.

The constant presence of saltwater, cicadas, and fireworks festivals makes Nagi-Asu feel like a fond summer memory. The emotional layers linger long after the season’s finale, confirming that growing up sometimes means leaving childhood behind.

3. Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day

Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day (Image via A-1 Pictures)

Years after the accidental death of their friend Menma, a drifting group of childhood pals reunite when Menma’s ghost appears to the reclusive Jintan and asks him to grant her a forgotten wish.

A single summer becomes both a countdown and a crucible as long-buried guilt, love, and resentment resurface under the glare of sweltering heat. Menma's request sets a ticking clock over every rooftop conversation.

Anohana anime wraps summer nights in hazy cicada buzz and mosquito coil smoke, turning convenience-store parking lots into confession booths. The animation leans into thick, hazy color palettes that make every emotional high feel like a wave of nostalgia, a witness to how time can heal.

4. Barakamon

After punching an elderly curator, arrogant calligrapher Seishu Handa is banished to rural Goto Island for a forced “summer retreat” to rediscover his artistic soul.

Surrounded by boisterous kids, nosy neighbors, and the island's rustic charm, Handa slowly learns that creativity doesn’t exist in sterile Tokyo studios but in the sticky humidity and buzzing insects of everyday life. His journey is a masterclass in gentle character growth.

The laid-back island life feels cinematic in its stillness: cicadas form a constant soundtrack, sea salt hangs in the air, and sweatdrops shine brightly. Barakamon anime is the perfect summer-themed anime for viewers who want restfulness without boredom.

5. Aria the Animation

Aria the Animation (Image via Hal Film Maker)

On the terraformed planet Aqua (formerly Mars), apprentice undine Akari dreams of becoming a professional gondolier in Neo-Venezia.

Each episode drifts at a gondola pace through shimmering canals, daily festivals, and serene sunsets where the horizon melts into orange gelato. The stakes never rise beyond finding a lost cat or watching fireworks, yet the series radiates a calming magic that feels like an open-armed exhale.

The summer atmosphere in Aria the Animation anime is pure mood: white parasols, gelato stands, and soft boat bells over cobalt water. Heat is drawn as shimmering mirage lines on stone bridges, conveying warmth without discomfort. Neo-Venezia lingers as the ultimate summer daydream.

6. Free! – Iwatobi Swim Club

Free! – Iwatobi Swim Club (Image via Kyoto Animation)

Haruka Nanase lives for the water, and when his childhood swimmates reunite to restart the abandoned Iwatobi High School Swim Club, the season becomes a splashy race toward regional tournaments.

Glistening biceps, beautifully animated strokes, and relays that play out like intense rivalries round out the flashier side of summer sports. Beneath it all lies a surprisingly tender story about nostalgia and identity.

Every frame of Free! anime knows exactly how sunlight hits chlorinated water; droplets freeze mid-air as characters face emotional bombshells. Training camps and wind chimes complete the mood. For viewers who equate summer with medal dreams, this summer-themed anime is pure sunny energy.

7. Non Non Biyori

Elementary schooler Hotaru Ichijō moves from Tokyo to the countryside hamlet of Asahigaoka, where her new one-room schoolhouse has five total students.

What follows is a mosaic of lazy days chasing crawfish in rice paddies, shooting bottle rockets across endless sky, and taking impromptu naps in the cool shade. Storylines move with the slowness of clouds rolling over distant mountains.

Visually, Non Non Biyori anime paints summer as endless green fields, as rice paddies sway and dragonflies trace glitter paths. The comedy is as relaxing as a slow breeze, proving that the season can still enchant when everything is countryside quiet.

8. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (Image via Madhouse)

High-schooler Makoto Konno gains the ability to leap seconds, then hours, then days backward after discovering a strange walnut-shaped device. Her first instinct is to use her power on small things, rerunning karaoke sessions and dodging awkward confessions.

But tampering with time proves trickier than skipping classes, as ripples turn to riptides and the countdown to reality looms. Summer scenes at dusk are rendered in lush oranges and shifting shadows as Makoto sprints through empty schoolyards.

Heat haze blurs when timelines fracture, mirroring how humid days themselves feel elastic and surreal. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time anime is a bittersweet sci-fi fever dream.

9. Summer Wars

Introverted math prodigy Kenji Koiso is tricked into a summer trip at his friend Natsuki’s sprawling country estate. He's there for “part-time work,” but the gig escalates when he accidentally cracks a math code in OZ. This one mistake sends the digital world into a meltdown.

Now, Kenji must rally four generations of the Jinnouchi clan to save two summers at once—the virtual and the physical. They battle inside neon avatars on a high-speed connection while also enjoying real-world traditions, working together to avert a global crisis.

Summer Wars anime film’s tribute to the Japanese summer is incredibly detailed, with yukatas, lively family meals, and fireworks. Director Mamoru Hosoda blends analog tradition with digital fantasy so seamlessly that viewers feel summer itself can be hacked and saved.

10. Tsuritama

Painfully anxious redhead Yuki Sanada transfers to the seaside town of Enoshima, where his life takes a strange turn.

He is roped into learning ocean fishing by Haru, an exuberant alien prince who claims he must catch a mysterious fish to prevent a global catastrophe. It’s a bizarre premise that quickly finds its emotional footing and becomes a story about connection.

More eccentric anglers join the group, their fishing rods becoming metaphors for friendship. Enoshima’s summer comes to life in soft colors and a ukulele soundtrack. This summer-themed anime is quirky, sincere, and proves that fishing can be an act of hope.

Conclusion

Every entry of summer-themed anime above frames summer not merely as calendar pages but as a key element that forges friendships, saves worlds, and breaks hearts in equal measure.

Whether fans crave slapstick beach shenanigans, shimmering underwater fantasy, or quiet cicada symphonies, these ten anime bottle the sensory mix of warm sand between toes and cold jelly in paper cups.

Re-watching any of them during real summer nights rekindles nostalgia for breaks that once felt infinite but always slipped through sweaty fingers. Seasonal anime magic lies in that gentle contradiction: the hotter the animation, the cooler the memories stay.