2026 Milestones:

Some important events are going to occur in 2026.  Some are assured, while some are only probable, but we can hold out hope.

The most important milestone of 2026 is going to be the true ending of Bleach.  Tite Kubo was sick and ended Bleach prematurely in the manga, with a cop-out 'silver arrow' that suddenly beat Ywach out of the blue.  I expect the animated version of the ending, which Tite Kubo oversaw, to be what he originally envisioned would be the ending.  A satisfactory victory that people can buy.  Once we have that true ending of Bleach, the 4th best anime of all time will be complete.  It would join Naruto as one of the only completed great stories -- that is if we ignore the dumb attempts to extend Naruto and the halfhearted attempts to extend Bleach beyond their manga finales.

With a whole additional year to work with, I have to believe the author of Fate/Kaleid Liner will also find a way to conclude their manga.  Fate/Kaleid Liner getting a proper ending is almost as important as Bleach, and we've been waiting for it almost as long as Bleach.

The same is true of Fairy Tail: 100 Year Quest.  With a whole additional year, surely this final battle can be wrapped up nicely and Fairy Tail can end for a second time.  I won't be content until the anime adapts the manga to the end, but even the manga ending would be a milestone.  This is one of the best and longest manga ever made, featuring more beautiful and lovable girls than any other.

While we're at it, I'd like to see the ending to Saki already.  This manga has been ongoing forever, but there's only a few more rounds of the interhigh nationals tournament left to cover.  The author could wrap everything up for her fans who have been waiting so very long for this moment.

It isn't in Kamachi's character to finish any series, but this would also be a good time to finish the Railgun manga.  The 'past arc' currently being written is nearly over, so this would be a good time to wrap it all up.  Only so many world-changing and life-threatening events can occur to the same person in the same short span of time, realistically speaking.  Mikoto is already well over that limit.

It would be nice if the Prince of Tennis manga finally ended, but it's not even being scanlated so our only hope is that an anime will eventually be made of the match with Spain in some later year.

As for visual novels, I dearly hope to see the English-translated true story of Akaneiro ni Somaru Saka, where Yuuhi actually wins, as opposed to the anime version where she loses.  I also hope to see the true conclusion to Majikoi, which is found in A+, as opposed to the ludicrously curtailed anime version.  And I hope to see the true version of Kud Wafter, which was again cut way too short in its anime version.  These three visual novels will do true justice to their works, and they should all be translated in 2026.

Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave is unlikely to be the final game in the franchise, but each and every game in this franchise is so good that it's a milestone in and of itself.

The Winter Olympics and The World Cup are definitely milestones for 2026.  I hope they're as entertaining as past iterations were.  I thought the Paris Olympics were amazing.

America's 250th anniversary is kinda cool.  There aren't many nations that can boast of a continuity of government for that length of time.  I hope Republicans win the midterms in 2026, but there are so many checks and balances built into the system that it hardly matters.  Republicans will still maintain a filibuster in the Senate or a veto in the Presidency regardless.

I hope Russia defeats Ukraine once and for all in 2026, but I could easily see the war extending many more years, so we'll just have to wait and see.  I hope 2026 doesn't see the resumption of nuclear war, but I could see that happening too.

As a personal goal, I want to read '100 Waifus' for the 51st time without having to edit anything, proving it's actually done.  Last year I was tripped up by having to correct Kud's and Tenshinhan's names, but surely this year is the year.  I also want to defeat Skullfeather in 2026.  It would be insane if I spent this much money to power up my seraphs and still couldn't beat the last boss.  No game is that unbalanced, that slanted against the player.

Everything in 2026 has been long-awaited.  The endings I seek are things we all should have had years ago.  They're all overdue.  But when you're super-duper overdue, with a whole extra year to work with, presumably something can finally get done.  That extra time now works in our favor -- everything we've been waiting for can't be delayed any longer, because anyone, no matter how hopeless, can finish their job with this much extra time.