The Summer 2026 Anime Preview Guide

Grand Blue Dreaming Season 3

Iori's college shenanigans head overseas! Just as he's finally starting to get the hang of university life, crashing at his uncle's dive shop while balancing the booze-fueled antics of his diving club, Iori's cousin enlists him to help run a new dive shop in Palau. Between crystal-clear dives and his diving group that can't resist partying it up and stripping down, Iori's in for a wild summer.

Grand Blue Dreaming Season 3 is based on the manga series by writer Kenji Inoue and artist Kimitake Yoshioka. The anime series is streaming on Crunchyroll on Mondays.

Stupidity is back on the menu, everybody! And I am so freakin' here for it. The characters are as goonish as ever, the irony is laid thick and bare for all to see, and the art and animation are so impeccably detailed. Seriously, love or hate this show, you have to admit it's eye candy. While the sex jokes are very simple and obvious, the intense direction and style of the show knows how to build up the absurdity to keep the punchlines from being groaners. Just hear how the voice actors of the show are giving their chuunified all here. Are you not entertained?

The episode starts off with the guys in class when their teacher assigns them to come up with a debate for a grade. This is Grand Blue here, so of course they're going to debate about sex of some kind—specifically, the major philosophical talking point of Shinichiro Yamamoto's virginity. Every single talking point in this debate gets dumber and dumber and dumber, but holy hot dang, what style! This bit is filled with dirty jokes, speed lines, screaming out the wazoo, animation that goes way harder than it should, and even the suggestion that Shinichiro hook up with...well, actually, I'll leave that part out. As stupid as a punchline as it is, it's too nonsensical and absurd for me to just ruin it like that. It is this episode's biggest laugh. The episode makes it so clear that we need not take any of this seriously; these are dumb horny college students doing dumb horny college student things—and their thoughts are as cartoonishly silly as any of the arguments the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia gang have with each other.

Admittedly, the episode's other bits involving cooking and underwear did not garner the same amount of “LMAO” from me, but I still loved how they were able to keep up with Grand Blue's style of hyperactive idiocy. The characters are as wacky as ever, with Kouhei and his otaku-ness absolutely taking the cake here by continuing to conform to every low-bar stereotype in the book. With lines of dialogue like “this summer anime season is so peak,” can I even hate the man? He's just right. The final frame of the show has Kouhei amassing an ungodly amount of aura fueled by his sister complex, which, again, is so obvious, but I've got to admit that his commitment to the bit never ceases to put a smile on my face. Wrong and taboo? Sure. But the show knows this, and the fact that it's so willing to go to the end with Kouhei's obsessions in such ridiculous fashion makes it even funnier.

If you're wondering why I haven't really talked about any sort of plot or character developments, that's because there aren't any. Obviously not. One of the flaws I had with Grand Blue's second season was that whatever tiny nibbles of plot were available were cast aside in favor of gag after gag after gag. It was beating the rubber chicken over our heads a little bit too much, and to an extent, that style does bleed into this new episode. I won't abandon ship here. There might be a little bit more plot this time around since the episode ends with the gang preparing for an overseas trip. I'm not expecting anything grand with this trip, but so long as the stupidity continues, and we get some diving scenes that are visually just *chef's kiss*, then count me on board.

There's plenty of anime out there with characters who drink a lot, but there's nothing quite like Grand Blue Dreaming—which still kicks off each episode with a disclaimer about consuming alcohol in ways that are safe, moderate, and legal. This anime is the definition of laid back, party-forward summer vibes, and I can't think of a better season for it to be airing (could you imagine if this were airing in say, winter?). Speaking of which, considering that there were seven entire years between seasons 1 and 2, it's nothing short of wild that season 3 came out after just one year. Glad to see that this series is getting its flowers, even if it feels very belated.

In any case, for better or for worse, things still feel the same as ever in the sun drenched world of Grand Blue Dreaming: The guys are still antagonizing each other over their (lack of) romantic lives, everyone's partying, and of course, there's exorbitant amounts of alcohol. Still, it's the fact that everything feels the same and how everyone's basking in the good times that became a bit of a sticking point at the end of the last season. The stage has already been set to prepare both the audience and our main characters for some manner of change. And although we didn't get that in this episode, we at least learned what it'll be, and it seems like it's happening next episode: The squad is going to Palau to work for about two weeks.

Certainly in the context of this alcohol-scented series, the idea of our main characters going overseas for a bit seems rife for hijinks to ensue: Failed attempts at picking up women, learning about the local drinking culture, and hey, maybe if we're lucky we might even be treated to them—could you imagine—actually diving! It almost feels scandalous to suggest that diving could happen in this alleged diving anime series, but that's very obviously what it's going for—and it's light hearted enough that it's been making that work. Suffice to say, I'm excited to see where things are going this season—and for whatever manner of drunken chaos Iori and co. stumble into.

Ah, Grand Blue Dreaming. The older I get, the more I appreciate your crass and shameless ambitions to be the best low-rent college sex-comedy you can be. For anyone unfamiliar with this “diving” anime, the opening scene of this Season 3 Premiere offers a great encapsulation of what to expect from its sense of humor: Our collegiate bros are all harnessing the power of the single, fragmented brain cell they all share to figure out how their perpetual virgin of a buddy, Yamamoto, could ever possibly get laid. The crass part comes in the way that they all just immediately suggest physical, financial, or magical hypnosis-based coercion. Pretty gross. The inevitable turn-around comes when all of the boys agree that such actions are morally reprehensible and could never be supported by anyone in the group, which means that Yamamoto's virginity is an impossible conundrum that even the greatest minds of our species could not solve. Unless, proposes our genius hero, Iori, we simply adjust the parameters of the mission. After all, would it still count for Yamamoto to lose his virginity, if his partner was not human?

Here, it's still crass as hell, but also funny! Depending on your comedic tastes, of course. I still laughed, even if the gag ended up evoking traumatic memories of watching The Fruit of Evolution. I'm not sure what that says about me as a person, but I remain entertained by the idiotic antics of Grand Blue Dreaming's degenerate crew. The footnote at the end of the boy's spirited class debate reads “Got a good score for some reason!” I can't think of a better explanation for this preview, myself.

If you've already survived the first two seasons of drunken debauchery and romantic mishaps, then you will almost certainly still be on board for this season, which looks to be adding some tropical vacation elements to the show…even though, being set in Japan, it already consisted of nothing but tropical vacation elements. Huh. Well, as a Pacific Islander, I suppose I'm interested to see what the gang makes of a fun jaunt over to the Republic of Palau. I can only hope that the dumb jokes and loveable characters will smooth over whatever cultural insensitivity we're bound to get up to.

If you're new to this franchise, while I am giving Grand Blue Dreaming a hearty recommendation, you definitely do not want to start with Season 3. This is one of those hangout comedies that you have to become acclimated to, like a diver jumping into uncharted waters looking for treasure, or a victim of Stockholm syndrome who must learn to placate their captors' whims to survive. Start from the very beginning and see if this particular brand of industrial-grade lunacy is for you. If so, then rest assured that, by the time you catch up to this premiere, there will be a whole third season's worth of antics to enjoy.