Tenta algo assim ....

<?php

include '../painelanime/connection.php';

$alfabeto = ["a", "b", "c", "d", "e", "f", "g", "h", "i", "j", "k", "l", "m", "n", "o", "p", "q", "r", "s", "t", "u", "v", "w", "x", "y", "z"];

foreach($alfabeto as $letra){

    $sql = "SELECT * FROM animes WHERE nomeanime LIKE '%$letra'";
    $query = mysqli_query($link, $sql);
    $dados = $query->fetch_array(MYSQLI_ASSOC);

    $nomeanime      = $dados['nomeanime'];
    $nome           = $dados['nomeanime'];
    $nome           = substr($nome, 0,25);
    $nome          .= '...';
    $id             = $dados['id'];

    echo "<div class='box-lanc'>";
    echo "<p lang='{$id}'>";
    echo "<div style='background: #f2f2f2 !important;' class='panel panel-default'>";
    echo "<div style='background: #111 !important; color: #ccc;' class='panel-heading'><a href='?page=page-anime&id=".$dados['id']."'>$nome</a></div>";
    echo "<div class='panel-body'><img width='215' height='160' title='$nomeanime' src='".$dados['thumb']."' /></div>";
    echo "</div>";
    echo "</div>";
}