Grand Blue Dreaming Is the Timely Pick
The recommendation list comes from Japanese anime news site Anime Anime, which tied it to Marine Day (Umi no Hi), the national holiday on the third Monday of July that celebrates the ocean. All three shows stream on ABEMA, the Japan-based video service, and all three treat the sea as more than scenery.
Of the trio, Grand Blue Dreaming (published simply as Grand Blue in Japan) is the one with actual momentum this summer. The comedy follows Iori Kitahara, a freshman who moves to the seaside town of Izu for college and gets pulled into the crowd at Grand Blue, the local diving shop. The source manga, written by Kenji Inoue and drawn by Kimitake Yoshioka, runs in Kodansha's good! Afternoon magazine, and the anime pairs crystal-clear diving scenes with the college drinking parties that are just as much of a draw.
There is also a bigger reason to catch up now. Season 3 premiered in early July 2026 as part of the summer lineup and relocates the cast to Palau, the first time the series has left Japan, as Anime News Network reported when the season was announced.
Numazu Idols and the Grand Line
Love Live! Sunshine!! covers the beach from a different angle. The 2016 series, the second entry in the Love Live! franchise, is set in Numazu, a port city in Shizuoka Prefecture, where Chika Takami and eight other students at Uranohoshi Girls' High School form the school idol group Aqours and chase their dreams together. Beyond the performance scenes, the show is full of views of Suruga Bay and the harbor-town landscape, and the real Numazu drew waves of visiting fans after the anime aired.
One Piece needs the least introduction. Eiichiro Oda's pirate saga has run in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump since 1997, following Monkey D. Luffy, a boy who became a rubber man after eating a Devil Fruit, as he sails with the Straw Hat crew toward the title of Pirate King. For a holiday dedicated to the ocean, a story about crossing every sea on the map is the obvious anchor.
Looking Ahead: Watching Outside Japan
ABEMA is only available in Japan, but none of these picks are hard to find elsewhere. Love Live! Sunshine!! streams on Crunchyroll with both subtitles and an English dub, and Crunchyroll also carries Grand Blue Dreaming, including the new Palau season airing through summer 2026. One Piece is the easiest of the three to access internationally, with the TV series widely available on Crunchyroll and Netflix in many regions.
If you want the full seasonal-mood experience, the Grand Blue Dreaming route is the strongest bet: two seasons of Izu diving chaos to catch up on, and new episodes arriving weekly while the summer holiday spirit lasts.