New Chinese Anime Is The Secret Anime Of The Year Ahead Of Solo Leveling

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Fans worldwide are huge admirers of the incredibly popular action anime, Solo Leveling. It’s famous for its exciting and visually stunning fight scenes, and has quickly gained a massive following. The show’s success has been a surprise to many, and it remains extremely popular. Solo Leveling was named Anime of the Year in 2025, and it’s widely predicted to win the award again in 2026.

Although it’s possible another anime will take the title, To Be Hero X, a Chinese anime, is a strong contender for anime of the year. It’s a new and interesting story that has generally been rated higher than Solo Leveling, and it’s likely to give Solo Leveling some serious competition in 2026.

To Be Hero X Is Higher Rated Than Solo Leveling Overall

I’ve been following the anime scene closely, and while Solo Leveling has been incredibly popular – and Season 2 really delivered some amazing episodes – it’s not quite the top-rated anime of 2025. It finished with a fantastic 8.61/10 on MyAnimeList, but a newer series actually surpassed it! To Be Hero X, a Chinese anime, scored an impressive 8.72/10, taking the lead over Solo Leveling. I’m really excited to see how this year plays out with so many strong contenders!

While not as widely known as Solo Leveling, To Be Hero X is quickly gaining fans globally. It boasts a compelling story and a visually striking art style.

Many fans believe To Be Hero X is a strong contender for Anime of the Year, even better than Solo Leveling. If nominated for an award in 2026, it stands a good chance of winning. A win would be historic, making it the first Chinese anime to ever receive a Crunchyroll Award.

To Be Hero X Offers A Fresh Story, While Solo Leveling Can Feel Generic

What really sets To Be Hero X apart, beyond its distinctive animation and art, is its story. Surprisingly, the superhero genre isn’t very common in anime. Besides To Be Hero X, My Hero Academia is really the only other notable superhero anime out there.

I’ve been really getting into To Be Hero X, and what’s so cool about it is how different it is from something like My Hero Academia, even though you can see a few connections. The biggest thing? These heroes don’t get their powers from quirks or training – they get them from how famous and popular they are! It’s such a fascinating concept and really grabs your attention.

Both To Be Hero X and Solo Leveling have appealing ideas, but Solo Leveling‘s story is fairly straightforward. While Solo Leveling does have its own strengths, To Be Hero X presents a different and equally compelling narrative, making it a strong contender for anime of the year.

Solo Leveling Will Face Tough Competition In 2026 For The Title of Anime of the Year

While Solo Leveling is highly anticipated, it won’t be the only popular series releasing in the coming years. 2026 is shaping up to be a competitive year, building on the success of several major releases in 2024 and 2025. For example, fans enjoyed the second seasons of The Apothecary Diaries and Dandadan early in 2025, and Takopi’s Original Sin quickly became a hit later that year.

Recently, both the new season of My Hero Academia and the artist Gachiakuta became incredibly popular. This suggests that Crunchyroll’s awards in 2026 could be even more competitive than they were last year.

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2025-12-19 00:34