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It’s that time of year again! While the snow’s melting outside and everyone’s out watching cherry blossoms bloom, the folks at RC have been busy preparing this spring’s anime preview. It features a total of 42 new shows, and many of them might sound familiar. There’s the long-awaited Mushishi Zoku Shou, a new season of FAIRY TAIL, the last saga of Dragon Ball Kai, and Soul Eater Not!, a spinoff of the original Soul Eater. Along with the familiar old shows, there always seems to be a new trend every season. This time I couldn’t help but notice the number of shows about NEETs (Mekaku City Actors, No Game No Life), and a healthy dosage of sports anime (Baby Steps, Haikyuu!!). There’s no shortage of different genres this season either – with not one, but two reverse harems, some great original mecha, and some much needed romance. It’s definitely not a season to be skimping on your watch list, so be prepared for a season of high expectations. Oh! And of course, a special thank you to you for reading!
As a quick reminder, most entries are divided into two paragraphs:
- A brief introduction to the series and its premise, often with the starring cast of characters.
- The writer’s impressions, expanding on the plot and highlighting specific points of interest.
This season we’ll continue using the Expectation Levels we implemented a few seasons ago. As always, remember that these reflect our own subjective excitement level for each show, and as such do not necessarily reflect how shows will pan out. For more information check out the Overall Impressions section at the bottom, which includes an expanded explanation of each category and a list of all shows by expectation level.
Disclaimer: Way back in the ancient era of 2012, previews were done by a single writer, Divine. Unfortunately, none of the current writers are nearly as crazy awesome as him, so we’ve divvied up the writing among our seven current writers (Cherrie, Guardian Enzo, Kairi, Takaii, Zanibas, Zephyr, and Stilts) in order to maintain the quality of this preview. As always we will try to point out what appeals to us in each series, in the hope that it will help you determine if it coincides with your tastes.
Disclaimer #2: Please note that this list does not reflect all the series airing this coming season. It is meant to be as comprehensive as possible, but omissions have been made for shows that stray from the anime norm or seem to be oriented towards young children. Please check out MOON PHASE for complete listings, syoboi for specific air times, and Fansub DB for a list of potential subbers for each series.
P.S.: With another year, comes another announcement! This time, I wanted to give a shout-out to my amazing co-writers on this special preview, because it’s officially been two years since we’ve been slaving away privileged enough to write for RC. Happy anniversary to Zephyr, Zanibas and I! We’ve hit another milestone! Also a pat on the back to everyone who’s been here longer than us (Prooof, Takaii, Guardian Enzo, Stilts) – you guys are even more awesome for all the work you do. You are all seriously underappreciated! To the man running the show behind the scenes and continuing to offer us a platform to express our thoughts – Divine, you’re the best! To Xumbra, for always putting up with our ridiculous demands – you’re truly irreplaceable. And of course, thank you to all the readers for allowing us to share our passions with you. We’ve officially hit (way) over 120 million visits, and in lieu of a celebratory post, we hope you enjoy this preview. We love you all!
Technical Note: The chart below is ordered by the date and time that the shows premiere. The links in the schedule will take you to a series’ corresponding entry and the “Top” links on the right will bring you back. You can also use the back/forward buttons in your browser to jump between links you’ve clicked. All times are given in a 24-hour, relative-day format where times are extended to show which day they belong to. For instance, Friday morning at 1:30AM would become Thursday at 25:30 to show that the episode aired late Thursday night.
* Jump to OVA/Movies.
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The Cardfight!! Vanguard series continues, where peace cannot be held for too long. The savior of the world and card-master Sendou Aichi (Yonaga Tsubasa) has disappeared since the battle with Link Joker. In fact, it’s almost like he’s disappeared from history, with everyone’s memories of him erased. However, Kai Toshiki (Satou Takuya) is still connected to Aichi. Through the last remaining bond they shared–the Royal Paladin–Toshiki must now work to fight against those who wish to repress Aichi’s memory, as well as repair the memories of his friends to bring Aichi back into the world they worked so hard to protect. Anyone not caught up with the Cardfight series should by wary of starting–with 169 episodes spanning over three seasons, entering the series now would be a challenge. Those who are currently caught up have nothing to worry about in terms of changes. The seiyuu have all reprised their roles, the same channels are airing the show, and the same production teams are all on board. The only difference is that Aichi will now take a secondary role and Kai will take the main stage, but it’s unknown how long this will last. Whatever the course, nothing too radical is about to happen, so fans can rejoice as the same show you love continues as usual.
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Seeing how this is going to be an anime based off of a popular Korean MMORPG, I’m going to attack this introduction a little differently. For those of you who don’t know, Blade and Soul is a fairly new MMORPG that was released in Korea by NCSoft back in 2012. Using a very anime-esque style, there are four races based on the four benevolent animals – the Gon, the Jin, the Kun, and the Lyn (who are my favorite). What stood out during the game’s promotional videos from way back when were how customizable the characters seemed, and the extensive use of combos for all classes, used to beat the crap out of enemies or other players alike. Blade and Soul was an MMORPG that looked amazing at the time and was one I was super excited for. Unfortunately, it never got an official western release (it was delayed into nonexistence). In terms of its anime adaptation, I have a sliver of hope that it will do justice to the game. While it’s clear that shows based off of MMORPG worlds have been a huge hit recently (Log Horizon and Sword Art Online, for starters), I’m hoping this show will bring back the feel I got while watching the anime adaptation of Ragnarok Online – creating a world based on a game without reminding us it’s a game. That said, the last show I watched that GONZO produced was Chrono Crusade, so I have no idea what they’re bringing to the table. A guy can dream though, right?
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Setting: High School. Genre: Romantic Comedy. Protagonists: the newest entrant to a certain apartment, Usa Kazunari (Iguchi Yuuichi), and the quiet yet well-armed resident of the same apartment, Kawai Ritsu (Hanazawa Kana). Kazunari falls in love with Ritsu at first sight, but there’s a barrier between him and her affections. Whether it’s perverted roommates, gender-split apartments, or general high school worries, Kazunari has a lot on his plate if he’s going to get close to Ritsu! The plot above sounds pretty cut-and-paste, but that doesn’t mean that a tried-and-true formula can’t prove itself once again. Brains Base has produced some quality romantic comedies in the past such as Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun and Yahari Ore no Seishun Rabu Kome wa Machigatteiru., which gives hope for another well-animated adaptation. Add onto that some high-level seiyuu leads such as HanaKana and Iguchi, as well as supporting roles filled by Satou Rina and Kobayashi Sanae. Director Miya Shigeyuki is still fairly new to directing, but considering the moderate success of Blood Lad, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. As for the show itself, it looks to be the standard boy-meets-girl affair, which isn’t a bad thing in itself–the scenes shown in the PV were adorably cute, and were illustrated in an art style that’s reminiscent of pre-2000 designs. For those of us who may be yearning for a more traditional romantic comedy–back to simpler, less sexy times–this may be the one to watch.
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Azuma Tokaku (Suwa Ayaka) is lost in Myoujou Academy. She is a skilled assassin with a no-nonsense attitude and a cold exterior, yet she struggles with the cryptic riddles that her superior sends her, such as, “The world is full of…?” However, what Tokaku struggles with most is how she should treat her target, Ichinose Haru (Kanemoto Hisako). Haru is a seemingly innocent girl who happens to be the target of twelve assassins, but the scars she carries on her arms and legs suggest a much darker past. Follow the story of womanly love as Tokaku opens up her heart to the seemingly innocent Haru in very intimate ways, all while finding the answers she seeks. The question now remains: can she find those answers before Haru or herself falls to the female assassins around her? In line with many other survival shows such as Danganronpa and Mirai Nikki, this show will focus on a strong protagonist protecting a seemingly weaker one and the bond that those two share. The twist here is a dominantly female cast, where the yuri themes will undoubtedly arise. With Diomedea on board, we shouldn’t have to worry about this being a satisfactory adaptation, though I do worry that, with only 16 chapters written so far, the anime could veer off into an original ending which may disappoint fans. Also, with only twelve episodes, there may not be enough time to properly develop Haru and Tokaku’s relationship, much less with twelve other assassins in the cast. However, if you’re into the whole survival genre, do give this a try.
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Made by J.C. Staff and led by a staff including Takuya Sato (Steins;Gate) and Okada Mari (Anohana, Nagi no Asukara), this new original series revolves around a card game called WIXOSS. A popular card game among teenagers, it’s been said there are special cards that possess a will of their own. Known as LRIG cards, these cards can only be heard and possessed by girls known as “selectors,” who fight in an alternate dimension in order to have any wish of theirs granted. As hope, desire, and greed combine and WIXOSS starts taking a dangerous turn, Kominato Ruko (Kakuma Ai) joins the fight as the newest of the selectors. If there’s a series this season that’s hard to make anything out of, it’s this one. Whereas one could get pretty excited about the staff working on this series, it’s odd seeing them come together with J.C. Staff for what’s essentially a card game series with a dark, psychological twist. It’s like a puzzle put together with strangely sized pieces and I’m just not sure what to think of this one. There aren’t many shows that have this kind of staff + premise + studio combination (in terms of what each of them have normally done), and the fact that much of the information on this series came out a few days ago makes Selector Infected WIXOSS even harder to gauge. All I can really say is that if the staff names and PV intrigue you, give it a try. Just don’t be surprised if this series doesn’t end up anything like what it seems.
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Having Mushishi return from a nearly decade-long absence feels almost like a miracle. After almost a decade I never expected to see Mushishi return to the airwaves – it was a modest commercial success, though certainly no blockbuster. Frankly it’s the sort of anime that seems to have no place in today’s landscape – a slow-paced, episodic and intellectual contemplation that offers great rewards to the viewer, but requires them to be an active participant in the process. I’m not sure who the target audience for Mushishi is in 2014 – apart from those of us that loved in when it first aired – but I’m ecstatic to have it back. It’s nearly impossible to capture the essence or genius of Mushishi in a short summary. In brief, it’s the story of a traveler, Ginko, who roams the landscape of a Japan in the unspecified past – probably one that never existed, given the anachronistic nature of Ginko’s clothes and belongings – helping people in their interactions with mushi, the strange and elemental creatures that exist on the border between the human and spirit worlds. This is a series full of mystery, beauty, sadness and mono no aware – one that fully engages both the heart and the mind. All of the main players are back for Zoku Shou, including the director, writer, composer and main cast – and each of them are a critical element of Mushishi’s success. Two cours should be perfect to adapt the remaining chapters of Urishibara Yuki’s manga, and about the only reason for even a shred of anxiety is Artland’s somewhat uncertain financial status. Zoku Shou may cut a few more corners than the original in terms of production values (the recent Hihamukage TV special discreetly used CGI, which was virtually unheard of in the original), but apart from that, there’s no reason to expect anything less than brilliance here.
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Almost a year after the end of the previous iteration, David Production is back with the next in line of Jojo adaptations. Continuing where the original left off, Stardust Crusaders covers the manga’s third major arc of the same name. Originally covered in OVA format, the story revolves around the sudden appearance of Stands, which seem to be the physical manifestation of ripple powers. Making his return is Joseph Joestar (Ishizuka Unsho), who meets with his delinquent grandson Jotaro Kujo (Ono Daisuke) in order to solve the mystery of their newly developed powers and save the latter’s sick mother from being killed by her own Stand. Standing in their way are a multitude of Stand-users and a certain immortal vampire. Looking back at 2013, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure ended up an easy personal pick for best action series. Every bit as over-the-top as it was bizarre, it was a series that not only gave us an action-filled story, but carried it across multiple generations. With flashy ripple techniques, vampire ass-kicking, god-slaying, and fisticuffs, the original had a little bit of everything, and it sets the stage for what should be another great ride in Stardust Crusaders. Considering the production studio is the same and main staff are carrying over, the sequel could very well end up just as great as its predecessor, and it’s something that has me tingling all over in excitement. If you’re looking for something action-oriented, look no further. JoJo has you covered.
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It’s spring, and like clockwork that means another iteration of the never-ending (but always changing) Pretty Rhythm series. Based on the Takara Tomy arcade game, the Pretty Rhythm series is about fashionable super-idols who sing, dance, and skate in the popular Prism Show. This fourth season stars heroines from the first three seasons – Harune Aira (Asumi Kana) from the first season (Aurora Dream), Ageha Mia (Ookubo Rumi) from the second season (Dear My Future), and Ayase Naru (Kato Emiri) from the third season (Rainbow Live) – as they team up to teach newcomer Lala (Akaneya Himika) what the Prisma Shows are all about. Together, these previous Pretty Rhythm heroines will show young Lala how to shine. Please excuse me if I repeat myself from the last three times we’ve previewed this, but Pretty Rhythm is a proper long-running series in that its base attributes never change. Here are the basics: If you’re looking for a light, fluffy, cutesy, super-peppy pop-music-and-pretty-fashion idol anime aimed at young girls, this series is a good exemplar of the type. The characters are always cute and optimistic, they’re always striving for their dreams, and uplifting plots are the name of the game. I still find the transition from traditional animation to CG for the dance routines to be jarring, but the insert songs tend to be good, provided you like hyper-cute J-Pop. What will likely keep you from watching is the same reason I won’t be watching – this series is targeted squarely at young girls, and if you’re reading RandomC, that’s probably not you. If you like cute clothes, peppy singing, and energetic dancing-and-skating routines, then by all means tune in, but if that’s not you then don’t expect a lot of crossover appeal. Pretty Rhythm has always known exactly who it’s targeting, and it has little need for the rest of us. That’s smart, says I.
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After a break to let the manga churn out more material, the rambunctious mages of FAIRY TAIL are back for more knock-down, drag-out, magically-charged adventure! Set in the imaginary world of Earth Land, the story follows the Mage Guild known as Fairy Tail. The tale begins when Lucy Heartfilia (Hirano Aya), a 17-year-old Spirit Summoner who wants to become a full-fledged mage, meets Fairy Tail’s famously reckless Fire Dragon Slayer, Natsu Dragneel (Kakihara Tetsuya). Along with friends like the chronically nude Ice Make mage Gray Fullbuster (Nakamura Yuuichi), the sword-wielding and armor-switching S-class mage Erza Scarlet (Oohara Sayaka), and the young Sky Dragon Slayer Wendy Marvell (Satou Satomi), watch as the mages of Fairy Tail fight to reclaim their place on the world stage. Moete kita zo! To any existing FAIRY TAIL fans who have read Stereoman’s old posts, you know the overwhelming love she holds for this series. When reached for comment about the new season, she said: “Watch it watch it watch it!!” (Note: I didn’t actually contact her, but I’m pretty sure that’s what she’d say.) Personally, as someone who doesn’t have the time to follow never-ending shounen manga, FAIRY TAIL is the only one I read, and it’s great! Filled with overflowing emotions, the characters continue fighting, never give in to despair, and always find a way to win no matter the odds stacked against them. Combined with unshakable faith in their friends, their tendency to recruit new nakama as the series progresses, and more potential couples than you can shake a very big shipping stick at, FAIRY TAIL has a lot to offer, as long as what you want is a lot of action. The anime version earned my ever-lasting respect for, when it was coming close to catching up with the manga, stopping instead of going into filler-mode. Now that they have more source material to work with we’re getting more of that Fairy Tail goodness, so if you’re a fan of the anime then I know you’re already on board. As for those of you who are interested but haven’t seen FAIRY TAIL before, you’re going to need to start from the beginning to catch up on all the fun.
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After 14 years since its first anime adaptation ended, the long-running competitor to Detective Conan is finally returning to television. Kindaichi Hajime (Matsuno Taiki) is a genius with an enormous IQ. Oh yes, he may trip up many times on really trivial things, but he never trips up when it matters most. As a detective accompanied by his assistant Nanase Miyuki (Nakagawa Akiko), they both solve the many mysteries that elude the Tokyo police. Will Hajime be able to live up to his grandfather’s legacy, and will Hajime and Miyuki finally admit their feelings for one another after fourteen years off the screen? From what people have told me, it’s not necessarily fair to call this show as a sub-par Detective Conan. The original anime paced itself in a way that allowed the audience to formulate good conclusions before the big reveal came next episode. Many complained about the art style, but praised the characters and mysteries they were intertwined with. Now, the current adaptation should serve to remedy the art—although it still has the flavor of a 1990’s anime, the quality and color palette have been updated for modern viewers, something that Toei Animation is pretty good at doing. Fans looking for that throwback anime that provides a good old-fashioned mystery may find this to be a winner.
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Madadanbashi Kouichi (Shimazaki Nobunaga) has but one job–to pilot robots to fight off those who would wreck human cities. But as with every mecha show, there has to be a twist, right? That twist happens to be something called, “Hi-ERo particles.” That’s right. Kouichi has to generate sexual eroticism, either through groping the breasts of females from the Prince Beauty Parlor organization–Sonan Kyouko (Hikasa Yoko) being one of them–or through other acts of questionable sexual harassment. How else will he be able to fight against the accursed Penguin Empire!? Oh yeah, I’m serious, this is a thing. But it doesn’t sound like a new thing, right? This isn’t the first show that’s used sex as a powering mechanism for fighting off evil (and consequently objectifying women shamelessly), but I have to say this might be the one that doesn’t take itself seriously at least. I mean, look at this website! In fact, from reading the first chapter, everything screams comedy and clueless characters everywhere, for that blend of humor that can only happen when you turn off your brain and then some. From the people who brought you High School DxD, you can expect that they’ll deliver the ecchi humor that they’re known for. If that’s your thing, then check out the groping scenes on this show!
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Learning to tame and ride dragons comes easy to most students at Ansarivan Dragonar Academy – except for first-year student Ash Blake (Takahashi Kouji), who is known as the school’s number one problem child. Ash is a laughing stock at school because, despite the uncommonly large star-shaped brand that covers his entire arm and marks him as a future dragon master, his dragon has never appeared…until now. One fateful day, Ash’s dragon awakens in all its glory, but unlike other dragons, it takes the form of a beautiful young girl! What’s worse, Ash soon discovers that his dragon Eco (Ise Mariya) has an attitude, as she promptly informs him that she’s the master and he’s the servant. Join Ash and others – including the haughty princess Silvia Lautreamont (Sakura Ayane) and the beloved student council president Rebecca Randall (Inoue Marina) – for a fantasy tale with dragons aplenty. I watch way too much anime, so as soon as I read about this show I started picking out similar series. Dragon Crisis (a loli dragon in human form), Zero no Tsukaima (a main character has a rare/unique human-form familiar), a dash of Unbreakable Machine Doll (familiar battles, a high-class blonde tsundere riding a flying dragon)…and as it turns out, those shows have a lot in common with Seikoku, particularly the first and last. There’s a little bit of fanservice from Eco, who doesn’t think “proud dragons” need to wear clothing, while the action centers around both the dragon familiars and the human character’s magic. Ash isn’t the most interesting of main characters, but he starts out as laudable (he helps others, stands up for his unborn dragon’s honor, etc), so he has room to grow. This is the first anime produced by new studio C-Station, which split from Bee Train last year, but with veteran director Tada Shunsuke and the accomplished series composer Kimura Noboru on board, they’re not without talent or experience. To my eyes this light novel adaptation looks like a poor man’s a-lot-of-things, but the fundamentals are solid. If you’re a fantasy fan – and especially if you enjoy a dash of ecchi or harem alongside your dragon battles – give this one a look. I’ll watch the first few episodes, but it will have to show us something special for me to dive all in.
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A Madhouse production, Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei comes in as one of the more anticipated light novel adaptations of the year. Led by director Ono Manabu (Horizon, Saki), the series revolves around a world where magic has become technologically systematized. Magic users have become known as “magic technicians,” and attend magic high schools and universities in order to nurture their skills. Depending on their skill, technicians are divided into two groups: the low achievers and the high achievers. Buoyed by her practical skills, Shiba Miyuki (Hayami Saori) arrives as the freshman group’s top student, while her brother Shiba Tatsuya (Nakamura Yuuichi), who lacks the ability to use magic, is designated as a low achiever. This is the story of two siblings beginning the next stage of their lives. Considering the popularity of the light novel, it stands to reason that the anime will be worth watching, if only to see what the hype is all about. This series can be polarizing though – as all hyped series are – so it may not appeal to everyone. The whole “institutionalized nature of magic” concept does appeal to me, but the occasional info-dump and the rapid introduction of a large cast in the first few chapters had me tempering my expectations. All in all, I’m cautiously optimistic when it comes to Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei. This is still a hyped series though, and such series have a propensity to skewer expectations and polarize impressions. If you’re going to watch this show, be sure to temper your expectations so you can enjoy it for what it is.
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Brains Base is bringing us a new otome game adaptation in this season’s god-themed fantasy romance, Kamigami no Asobi. The story stars Kusanagi Yui (Hayami Saori), an average high school girl and daughter of a Shinto shrine. One day she discovers a mysterious sword, which transports her to another world where she meets the Greek god Zeus (Otsuka Houchuu). Headmaster Zeus asks her to attend the school he created and teach the young, handsome gods there the meaning of love, in order to help cancel the negative effects of the weakening bond between humans and the gods. “Bishies. Bishies everywhere.” That was my first thought when reading up on this otome game adaptation, though to be fair that’s my reaction to all otome game adaptations. It originally caught my eye because of the god schtick – if it’s going to feature unnaturally handsome bishies, they might as well be literal gods, eh? Works for me. But past the setup, it doesn’t look like there will be much “godly” about the male characters, save for how their personalities are loosely patterned after the gods they’re supposed to be. I did twitch a little when I realized Zeus was ruling over not only bishie versions of Apollo and Hades, but Baldr, Loki, Anubis, and some Japanese gods as well. Stick to one pantheon, will ya! As far as the story goes, it’s the same old tune – some routes are good, some are not so good, so if they animate one of the better ones then this could be a good show. Who knows which one they’ll go for though, or if they’ll try to go full Photo Kano and pack all eight routes in a single cour. (Please don’t.) It doesn’t feel like this is the otome adaptation that will transcend its genre and appeal to fangirls and other everyone else alike, but with Brains Base at the helm hopefully it will be a competently done series for all the otome fans out there.
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The third visual novel in the Kin’iro no Corda series is getting an anime adaptation, completely independent of the first two iterations. The story begins with Kohinata Kanade (Takagi Reiko), a girl with two male childhood friends, the younger Kisaragi Kyouya (Fukuyama Jun) and the older Kisaragi Ritsu (Konishi Katsuyuki). When Ritsu goes off to music school to become a master violinist, Kanade follows suit by enrolling in the same school. However, this causes Kyouya to come along as well. What follows is a dramatic love triangle full of violins, music, other romances, and various levels of confidence in one’s violin skills. With roots in an otome game franchise, we can definitely see some shoujo-targeted themes in the art style as well as the choice of seiyuu. But since it is an adaptation of an otome game, it’s a coin flip right now on what the direction the show will go. Is it destined for a singular route, or an omnibus format like Amnesia? Either way, it should be interesting to see a music-themed romance again, though styled differently than the recent White Album 2. The only thing we need to cross our fingers about is for TYO to properly produce the animation. Although they have played a part in producing some beautiful animations in the past, such as with Ghost Hound, this is the first time they’ve taken up the lead role. Otome game lovers, if you’re looking for many boys in a show this season, this could be the musical offering you’re looking for.
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Led by director Igarashi Takuya and script writer Enokido Yoji, the staff of Star Driver reunite in their newest original work, Captain Earth. Bought to you by BONES, the series focuses on 17-year-old high school student Manatsu Daichi (Irino Miyu). Having stumbled upon a mysterious rainbow over the skies of Tanegashima, Daichi finds himself inexplicably drawn to the island. There, he finds himself in front of giant robot known as the “Earth Engine.” As mysterious mechanical life forms from Uranus (the Kill-T-Gang) suddenly attack, Daichi’s summer vacation is interrupted as his battle among the stars begins. Burdened with a life full of mysteries, this is a story of one boy’s search for truth and the fulfillment of a promise made years ago. As one of the many ardent BONES fans among the RC staff, I think I speak for everyone when I say this series screams with potential awesomeness. We have BONES supplying what should be quality animation, the staff of the fabulously memorable (albeit polarizing) Star Driver on board, and a space-themed mecha premise that seems to draw both from the aforementioned Star Driver and some of BONES’ previous classics (such as Eureka Seven). Captain Earth is a series that can only be led by a studio like BONES, and their track record speaks for itself. There will likely be something memorable here, and fans of the studio’s style or its previous works – and Sci-Fi/mecha fans in particular – will probably find a lot to love. The bottom line is simple: Captain Earth is one of the more promising shows of the season.
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Nike Remercier (Maeda Rena), a simple princess of the Rain Kingdom, loses an unfortunate game of jan-ken-pon (rock-paper-scissors) and finds herself shipped off as a bride to Livius (Shimazaki Nobunaga), the terrifying king of the Sun Kingdom, who is said to rule the world. When she arrives, she meets the king, and finds that he’s a boy even younger than her, though no less powerful for it. Livius asked for a princess of the Rain Kingdom for the sake of having a plaything who could show him rain for the first time, but Nike refuses to be controlled. But as Nike learns more about the boy king, she realizes there’s more to him and his unpleasant nature than she had thought. The World is Still Beautiful, based on a manga of the same name by Shiina Dai, is one of those rare shoujo adaptations that manages to slip past the radar every so often. I’m quite pleased to see it here, and I’m sure those who still hold fondness for decent shoujo manga feel the same way. Thankfully, this isn’t one of those “cage anime” (though there is a jail cell involved, to a much more satisfying outcome), but a fantasy and romance story with its own charm. I like Nike’s character, which fluctuates between free spirit and feisty more often than not, and while Livius is more stereotypically shoujo, he does have interesting developments here and there. My one dissatisfaction is that the designs in the anime have been changed from the softer shoujo look in exchange for a more shounen aesthetic, but otherwise I’m looking forward to this adaptation.
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Matsutarou Sakaguchi is the strongest man you’ll ever meet. When he enters the sumo ring, no one can compare to his strength. However, even with the potential to reach the top, Matsutarou is currently too chill for his own good. Without a clear dream or desire to work hard, it seems that Matsutarou will never reach the top. But with the help of those around him–as well as defeats that will open his eyes–the carefree wrestler may yet be able to finally become the sumo wrestler he was destined to be. Although the sport of sumo wrestling has been adapted into anime before, there hasn’t been an adaptation since Aa Harimanada in 1992. In fact, this isn’t the first time that Matsutarou has seen an anime adaptation, with a 10 episode OVA adaptation of the manga coming out back in 1990. Though it isn’t the easiest sport to make sexy or cool, it is a sport full of power and an interesting facet of Japanese culture. It would make sense that it would be adapted for a possibly older audience, but judging from the art style and the fact that Toei Animation is taking the helm, this show seems to be primarily aimed at a shounen audience. If you’re okay with a simple journey of a carefree strongman climbing up the ranks of the sumo world, while learning what it means to truly aspire and dream, then this might be worth checking out.
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For any of you who have been living under a rock, Dragon Ball Kai (or Dragon Ball Z Kai for those of you watching the English Dub) is the re-mastered and filler free version of the Dragon Ball Z anime that a lot of us grew up with. Seeing how it’s being redone from the ground up, there have been a lot of improvements besides cleaning up the visuals. From getting a majority of the original voice actors to reprise their roles to updating the sound effects and modernizing the sound design, almost no stone has been left unturned. So why are we talking about this show even though it finished airing a couple years ago? Because after repeated talks of not reaching the Majin Buu Arc and the show’s timeslot being taken over by a different show, Dragon Ball Kai is making its triumphant return this season. What does that mean? If for some reason you haven’t watched Dragon Ball Z, you have absolutely no excuse to start. With a completely re-mastered version available in both English or Japanese (I know some people who hate Goku’s original voice with a passion) that’s going to tackle everything after the Androids Arc, I think both veterans and newcomers to the series will have a great time watching Goku and his buddies try to save the earth again.
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Hinata Shouyou’s (Murase Ayumu) love of volleyball began when he watched a match on television by chance, spurring him to start a one-man club at his middle school. After working hard and amassing three other members, the club was finally allowed to participate in a regular middle school match, where it was crushed by the “King of the Court” of Kitagawa Daiichi Junior High School, Kageyama Tobio (Ishikawa Kaito). After vowing to avenge his team, Hinata joins the volleyball club in high school, only to find himself facing his sworn enemy once again. Boys and sports teams seem to be the fad of the day, but Haikyuu!! does have the added distinction of being adapted from a long running shounen sports manga. Volleyball is a rare entry for sports anime as far as I’m aware, so fans of the sport, and of Production I.G.’s animation quality, might be interested. I’m not sure if the studio plans to mail in the fanservice like other shows in this family, but at the very least, the roots here are strong enough to delve into some of those good rivalry and sportsmanship vibes we’ve grown accustomed to in other series in this vein. But if you’re here for the boys in mini-shorts, I guess that’s okay too.
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This is without exaggeration one of the manga adaptation announcements that has made me happiest. I don’t just like the Baby Steps manga, I love it. It features one of the best main characters in sports manga, some of the most realistic and compelling sports, and outstanding writing top to bottom. It’s funny, it’s exciting, and it’s smart. I was quite disappointed to see it announced as only 25 episodes, worried (based on the CGI-heavy Kingdom) when it was announced to be Pierrot, and deflated when it was reported to be incorporating anime-original material. This is a series that deserves a complete and encyclopedic adaptation, but as we all know, it’s rare that great manga get the adaptation they deserve. Upon reflection, I’m feeling a bit better. I’m still thrilled to be getting a Baby Steps anime in any form, and mangaka Katsuki Hikaru is going to be writing for the series. It’s a shame the manga isn’t going to get a full adaptation, but hopefully two cours is enough for viewers to get the essence of why this is one of the best sports manga (and by far the best tennis manga) of all time. The story follows Maruo Eichirou (“Ei-chan”) (Murata Taishi), a bookish, responsible first-year high-schooler who’s forced by his mother to choose a physical activity to hone his body as well as his mind. Initially resistant, Ei-chan takes to the idea of tennis as a way to make him a better student – and then, takes to the game for it’s own sake. As he applies his obsessive study habits to this new venture, he discovers he has a natural affinity for the sport – and the fact that the beautiful and talented Takasaki Natsu (“Naachan”) (Kotobuki Minako) is also a member of his new tennis club is the icing on the cake. It’s a fantastic journey to follow, succeeding intellectually and emotionally, and is funny and romantic and genuinely exciting.
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From the studio that bought you Elfen Lied comes the adaptation of another Okamoto Lynn work in Gokukoku no Brynhildr. Also known as Brynhildr in the Darkness, the series revolves around high school student Murakami Ryouta (Ohsaka Ryota). Having lost his childhood crush Kuroneko in an accident, Murakami spends his days trying to prove the existence of aliens in her stead. One day, a new transfer student suddenly arrives, possessing both a similar appearance and name to his deceased friend. Calling herself Kurohaneko (Taneda Risa), she’s in possession of superhuman strength and claims to be a magician on the run. Despite the warning that they’ll be killed if discovered together, Murakami finds himself drawn to her, and their interactions end up changing both of their lives forever. Having read the manga’s first few chapters, I must say that Gokukoku no Brynhildr has the potential to succeed. Whether it succeeds however, depends on how well it combines the various elements of each genre it touches upon. The way Brynhildr seems to work is it explains its Fantasy elements like Sci-Fi, adds in dramatic elements via the dark atmosphere and death-related aspects of the story, then tops it off with a bit of romance and mystery. The initial parts of the manga end up executing this combination quite well, and it leaves you wanting more, but it’s another question entirely whether it can maintain or build upon this in the later chapters. All things considered, if you’re reading this and anything sounds remotely interesting here, Brynhildr is likely worth a watch just to see how things end up.
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Love Live! School Idol Project is a story of friendship, music, and the ultra-competitive world of school idols. During the first season Otonokizaka High School, which stands on the border of Akihabara, Kanda, and Jinbo, was threatened with closure due to low student enrollment. Unsatisfied with their beloved school closing down, nine female students came up with a (not so) simple plan – to form a pop idol group to promote the school and keep it from shutting down. Thus the idol group μ’s (pronounced “Muse”) was born. They trained, they danced, they sang, and they worked hard…and success! Their school wasn’t shut down, but they didn’t make it to the famous Love Live school idol tournament like they wanted. But μ’s isn’t gone yet. Maybe this time…? Before we begin, let me lay one thing out there: Love Live! is a fairly shameless promotional vehicle for the idol group μ’s – the quasi-real one, of which the seiyuu for the main nine Love Live! girls belong. Now, traditionally I’ve never been a fan of the idol genre, but I enjoyed the first season of Love Live! Why? In focusing on school idols rather than professionals, they skirt many of the more corrosive aspects of the industry, and focus instead on the singing, dancing, and intense training required to perform. The characters are more earnest too, since they get to be regular girls in between concerts instead of performing all. the. damn. time. As an original series the first season’s plot was an unknown before it aired, but it ended up fairing well, with a solid if not astonishingly original story anchoring the idol performances – though even I’ll admit that them not making it to the Love Live tournament was a surprising turn of events, and pleasantly so. My main complaint has to be the CGI in some of the performances, which, while not bad per say, wasn’t at Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio levels, and it’s always jarring to see an abrupt switch from traditional animation to CGI mid-scene. This is a show targeted at fans of the idol genre, so if you like cute girls trying their best while singing peppy pop songs, tune in. For others, it’s hard to know whether to recommend it. It’s probably not the defining idol anime of all time – IDOLM@STER still holds that distinction – but it’s solid, occasionally surprising, and a lot of fun once you get into it.
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Welcome to the world where mecha and technology are powered by quartz, the singular source of power that gives bountiful possibility to those who can harness it. However, not everyone can use quartz. These people are dubbed ‘un-sorcerers’, and Arrow Rygart (Hoshi Souichirou) is one of them. Although this trait prevents him from piloting normal military mechanisms, it allows him to activate an ancient golem from ages past. With this mecha, Rygart must defend his country of Krisna from impending invasion from the nation of Athens. However, to do so, he must butt heads with his former friend and classmate Zess (Kamiya Hiroshi) and re-kindle friendships (and possibly more) with King Hodr (Nakamura Yuuichi) and Erster Sigyn (Saito Chiwa). But things are rarely as they initially seem in Break Blade, with unrequited love, questionable means to an end, and cultural tensions throwing wrenches in everyone’s plans. For those of us who have seen the six movies that comprised the last adaptation of the Break Blade franchise, none of this is new. In fact, this season’s iteration is a remake of the story, which will probably address concerns of adaptation faithfulness that the movie adaptations were criticized for. Newcomers to this series should give it a shot, especially if you’re interested in mecha anime combined with cultural tensions. Break Blade is at its core a story about ethnic conflict, where one’s upbringing reluctantly binds people to obligations they would never have wished for. These ethical conflicts wouldn’t be complete without well-done mecha fights and beautiful animation and music, something I applaud the movie adaptations for doing so well. My only fear is that the TV version won’t be as immersive as the movies due to the time constraints, but I do look forward to seeing how this year’s episodic presentation will differ from the original.
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If there ever was a show that could get the waterworks flowing with a simple yet sad premise, One Week Friends is that show. On a quiet high school rooftop, Hase Yuki (Yamaya Yoshitaka) and Fujimiya Kaori (Amamiya Sora) are two friends who are trying to fight against a cruel twist of fate – a messed up scenario where Fujimiya loses all memories of the bonds and connections she’s made with anyone outside her family after just one week. But even with such adversity staring straight at them, Hase decides to become the anchor that may one day bring Fujimiya’s memories back. Until then, he’s determined to start every week with a very simple but heartwarming question: Will you be my friend? This is the one show I’ve been dying to watch since I was linked to its PV in our IRC channel. Even though I originally thought the premise had some flaws (Just how selective is Fujimiya’s memory loss?) and was concerned I wouldn’t feel anything toward the characters, doing the research for this preview has turned me into a complete believer. From the few chapters I read (because I didn’t want to spoil myself too much), I could feel the tears building up toward the end of the first chapter, and couldn’t help but start letting them flow by the end of the second. If you’re on the fence about this show, let me guarantee that if you’re looking for an emotionally heavy experience that uses the amnesia trope effectively and not as a crutch, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
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How much easier would life be if there were clear flags like in dating sims? Hatate Souta (Ohsaka Ryota) is a high school boy with the precognitive ability to visualize the future via “flags” over people’s heads. Death flags, friendship flags, and even romance flags are all right there for Souta to see. Despite this ability, Souta avoids making friends due to a ship accident when he was younger. The story begins when Souta transfers to a new school, and it’s not long before four beautiful girls – including Nanami Knight Bladefield (Kido Ibuki), Shoukanji Kikuno (Asumi Kana), and Mahougasawa Akane (Kayano Ai) – become interested in his strange way of living, and begin to live with him at the school dorm by force. At first glance, Kanojo ga Flag wo Oraretara – or Gaworare, as it is called for some reason – seems to have a Noucome flavor to it, but if you thought that you are WRONG! While both basically tack dating sim structures onto the real world and feature protagonists who can see things others cannot, Noucome was a rambunctious comedy where the main character was constantly (and hilariously) tortured, while Souta’s ability is actually quite useful. He uses the flags he sees to help others, including breaking death flags of people who he’s never met. But he also breaks friendship and romance flags directed at him, and his reason for doing so – a shipwreck when he was younger – smacked of contrivance to me. It’s like the author decided to give Souta a boring tragedy so he’d be reluctant to accept the girls’ advances rather than thinking up a complex, personality-based reason for his actions. As for the rest, if the art looks familiar to you it’s because the original character designs were done by CUTEG, who also did the character designs for NakaImo. Personally, I find CUTEG’s art to be adorable, so that’s reason enough for me to check this out. This is a light novel harem story with dating sim elements, so it will probably be similar to the rest of its uncomplicated peers. If you enjoy light novel romcoms, give this one a shot. I’ll be watching an episode or two, but it will need to show me something interesting before I’m totally sold.
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From prolific mangaka Hiroyuki comes a story about a silly mangaka and his assistants. The tale stars Aito Yuuki (Matsuoka Yoshitsugu), the shameless, perverted, and endlessly upbeat mangaka behind GonGon Magazine’s moderately popular manga Haji Cafe. He loves panties, manga, and playing ero games, but mostly he loves his assistants – even if they don’t always like being around him. The girls around Aito include the ever-suffering Ashisu Sahoto (Hayami Saori), the perky & busty Fuwa Rinna (Iguchi Yuka), the pint-sized super assistant Kuroi Sena (Kugimiya Rie), and the tsundere editor Otosuna Mihari (Noto Arisa). Join Aito and the rest of the GonGon family as hilarity most definitely ensues. Since I watch so much anime I don’t often have time to follow manga, but Mangaka to Assistant-san to is one of the few I follow faithfully. The main reason is that it’s a light read – it’s a light-hearted gag manga, suitable for a quick laugh or a wry smile before charging off to something else. With this adaptation, expect the same thing. There’s continuity but not too much plot, and most of the story is focused on gags about Aito doing something silly and the girl’s reactions to him (though later on other characters start taking the boke role to change things up). There’s also the atmosphere – Aito is so unabashedly happy when he’s being perverted, jumping to conclusions, or drawing panties that it’s hard not to like the guy, even if I feel bad for the girls who have to put up with him. Also of note is the casting, which is perfect. I usually go into adaptations of manga I’m familiar with being concerned about some of the seiyuu choices, but I love all of these, especially the main duo in Matsuoka Yoshitsugu and Hayami Saori. I can almost hear Saorin’s disapproving voice now! *shivers* This is a comedy that’s not so much insane as it is silly, so if a light-hearted comedy sounds fun to you, go for it. You may find yourself coming to like the lovable Aito despite all his perversions, just as some of the girls do as well.
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The Mahou Shoujo Taisen anime is part of a project originally created for a variety show on the otaku web-TV program “2.5 Chigen TV” (2.5 Dimension TV). After a contest held on Pixiv, illustrations were collected of magical girls to represent the 47 prefectures of Japan, and they will star in this anime adaptation. The seiyuu for each girl was born in the prefecture they represent. The project also includes a browser game “Magica Wars Tactics” and an iOS game “Magica Wars Lock-On”, featuring select characters. As with Double Circle last season, this is an anime that makes me go “Wha?” I’m familiar with the personification of geopolitical entities – Hetalia being the ur-example – but whereas Hetalia worked because the characters are based on countries with markedly different cultures and personalities, with 47 characters representing 47 often similar Japanese prefectures, I don’t see how this is going to be anything but confusing. Even accounting for the fact that I can’t name more than four prefectures myself, if something like this was made for my own country (the United States), there would be a lot of overlap between the characters since not every state (or prefecture) is distinct enough to support an interesting personality. Gainax is animating, but that doesn’t mean a whole lot without knowing what staff is on the project, and there’s little information available on that right now. This smacks of an anime more focused on building a cross-platform brand rather than telling a good story, so I’ll be skipping it. The character designs do look really cool though, so at least there’s that.
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In a world that’s been ravaged by super contagious and deadly virus known as Gastrea – which also happens to spawn things like giant jumping spiders after killing its host – mankind has been driven back into a corner. But if there’s one thing that mankind knows how to do, it’s punch adversity right in the face and push back against oppression. With the discovery of an element known as Varanium and its unique effect against the Gastrea (think of Superman and Kryptonite), mankind has erected huge walls known as monoliths around their major cities to keep the monsters and the virus at bay. But just like how Kryptonite doesn’t instantly kill Superman, Gastrea-spawned monsters sometimes make it past these barriers, and if not handled properly could create a pandemic. That’s why something called the Civil Security Companies were created, private organizations that utilize a Promoter/Initiator combo to deal with the Gastrea threat. The Promoter is the one in charge of battle logistics while the Initiator is the fighter who also happens to be infected with the Gastrea virus, but has built up an immunity to the thing–granting them superhuman powers. Wow that was a long introduction. After going through the first two chapters of the manga, I was left with the impression that Black Bullet could be my secret pleasure of the spring. It has a ton of action when fighting the Gastrea, a wild cast of characters ranging from an adorable loli and violent tsundere all the way to a kind-hearted detective who’s trying to just be a damn good guy. Oh and did I mention there’s the workings of a secret harem that may never surface too!? Add in the emotion that came from a scene that drove home how the Gastrea is a virus that kills you without any remorse, and you have the premise for a show I can’t wait to see animated.
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Soul Eater Not! is a spin-off of the popular Soul Eater series. Beginning before the start of the original Soul Eater storyline, this spin-off stars Harudori Tsugumi (Chisuga Haruka) and her friends in the NOT class. Compared to the students in the EAT (Especially Advanced Talent) class, who train to fight witches and collect souls, the students of Death Weapon Meister Academy’s NOT (Normally Overcome Target) class focus on how to control their powers so they don’t become a danger to themselves and others. Follow Tsugumi as she deals with the difficulties of life in the academy with not one, but two meisters competing to wield her – the shy and ditsy Tatane Meme (Yuuki Aoi) and the haughty ojou-sama Anya Hepburn (Hayami Saori). Like many others, when I heard BONES was going to be revisiting one of their old series, I was hoping for Soul Eater: Brotherhood. (Note: I’m still waiting for that, BONES. *jiiii*) Soul Eater Not! will do though. If you’re going into this thinking it will be Soul Eater with different characters, stop! It’s a little different than that. A good spin-off takes an established setting and uses it to tell a different story, and this does exactly that. More boarding school drama than action-packed shounen brawl, Soul Eater Not! is a more humble story than its parent. All the characters are likable and funny, but they’re not out to save the world, so the scale is necessarily smaller. But the Soul Eater setting is as vibrant as ever, and it provides a good canvas for a slower story. Plus, there’s the occasional cameo from the original Soul Eater characters, which always sends me into fits of nerd joy. If you’re a Soul Eater fan like me, and less action isn’t a deal-breaker, I suggest you give this a watch. For everyone else, it’s hard to say – this spin-off stands fairly well on its own, but there will always be references and cameos you won’t get if you haven’t seen the original. Just go watch that first, alright? I promise it’s worth it.
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From prolific illustrator, author, and mangaka Kamiya Yuu comes a story where NEET hikikomoris are the heroes. No Game No Life centers around Sora (Matsuoka Yoshitsugu) and Shiro (Kayano Ai), a brother-and-sister pair who together form the legendary hikikomori NEET gamer 「 」 (“Kuuhaku”, lit. “blank space”) that is known across the internet. They dominate at games, but to them real life is just a shitty game they have no interest in playing–but everything changes when they receive a mysterious email. After beating an unknown opponent at a game of chess, Sora and Shiro are summoned by a boy named “God” to another world. This is the world they should have been born into, a world where God has prohibited war and declared “everything is decided by games” – even national borders. Humanity has been driven into a corner by the other races. Can Sora and Shiro become the saviors of humanity in this alternate world? If you read the synopsis and thought “Sounds like Mondaiji“, you’re not alone. But I really enjoyed Mondaiji, so that was enough to make me excited instantly. Once I looked into it more, my excitement only grew. Where the problem children of Mondaiji were overpowered in the real world, the siblings here are only experts at games, and personality-wise they’re far more caustic, eccentric, and ridiculous. Sometimes it’s great to see extremely competent protagonists triumph against long odds, and that’s what I’ll be looking forward to here. On the staff side, Ishizuka Atsuko is the director, best known (in my mind) as the director of my beloved Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo. You can even see her influence on the casting, because the seiyuu for Sakurasou’s Sorata and Mashiro are headlining this adaptation. The other seiyuu are all big names as well – Hikasa Yoko, Tamura Yukari, Sawashiro Miyuki, and more – and with series composition done by Hanada Jukki, who has worked with nearly everyone on everything, the fundamentals of this series look good. Hopefully this adaptation will go off without a hitch, because I could use some more heroic hikikomori NEETs in my life.
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Acura Tooru (Majima Junji) is essentially a loafer, a former soldier out of a job since the war ended. Without a purpose in life, Tooru wanders right into Chaika Trabant (Anzai Chika), a 14-year-old sorceress carrying a coffin on her back. Tooru and his adopted sister Akari (Hara Yuuko) – the employed member who actually supports Tooru – end up as Chaika’s companions, with Tooru hoping to find a new meaning in life by following her. You need look no further for your fill of BONES this season, with Hitsugi no Chaika being just one of a plethora of offerings from the studio. Based on a light novel by Sakaki Ichirou, the author of Scrapped Princess and Outbreak Company, and directed by the man responsible for Scrapped Princess’ adaptation, Masui Soichi, this anime should prove a good morsel for anyone craving magic, guns, and fantasy in their anime diet. The characters are pretty one-dimensional at this stage, with a smattering of stereotypes across the board (gun-slinging loli, check), but I fully expect that to change over the course of the series. If you’re looking for a BONES-quality adventure, I suggest you give this one a try.
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What if the Meiji Restoration of 1868 never happened? What if Japan’s history since the Edo period included giant robots and Japan had no foreigners? In a world much like this, Japan has successfully dispelled the Kurofune, the foreign ships, with the help of an ancient mecha named Onigami. As a result, Japan has remained isolated from the rest of the world, and remained in the Edo period. Our hero, Tokugawa Keiichirou (Kakihara Tetsuya), whose surname implies he has ties to the Tokugawa shogunate, claims in the tagline that “I can become the greatest man in the world, because I am a virgin!” When was the last time that happened? There’s precious little information about Fuuun Ishin, an original series by J.C.Staff and headed by Shakugan no Shana’s director Watanabe Takashi and series composer Dai Sato. Historical series can be entertaining when done right, but when you start mixing in odd elements, things can often go south, and fast. There are still reasons to be interested in a series like this one, even if mecha or vaguely historical plots aren’t your thing. For one, Dai Sato is a good name to swear by if you’re looking for something interesting to watch; he’s behind series like Eureka Seven and Ergo Proxy, and he claims he only works on “meaningful” stories. Whether that’s true or not, it is true that he has a strong resume, and Watanabe isn’t to be taken lightly either. While there’s no word yet as to how long the series is, or even where the plot intends to go, there’s enough of a surprise factor in this original work for us to go in with tempered expectations and (hopefully) be pleasantly surprised.
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Here comes a story from the Atelier franchise, where the world is facing its darkest doom. Although it’s a grim and impending doom, a country seeks to fight off that destiny through the long-lost power of alchemy. Our story is set in the city of Corseit, where we follow the story of alchemist researcher Logy (Ishikawa Kaito) and government official Escha (Murakawa Rie), two members of the Unentered Area Special Investigation Bureau’s Development Department. With Logy’s practice of new alchemy and Escha’s knowledge of old alchemy, the two join forces with the rest of the department to further the discovery of the long-lost art that may just save everyone’s lives. There is an interesting combination with Studio Gokumi leading the charge on an already established franchise such as Atelier. The art style demanded of the series is different from many of their other titles, but knowing Gokumi’s track record, it’ll be a successful experiment for them to venture into. The selection of director Iwasaki Yoshiaki may be a bit shaky, though—although his performance in romantic comedies is passable, his ventures into fantasy adaptations has been less than successful. As for seiyuu, the main billing of Ishikawa and Murakawa is fairly novice-level, but more experienced seiyuu such as Koshimizu Ami and Ise Mariya are ready to balance out the list. Overall, the setup for this show looks fairly promising, especially in terms of the music (casual countryside themes) and all those character designs! Fans of Studio Gokumi and fans of Atelier’s art style should give this a sample, as well as those possibly seeking a fantasy-themed, casually-paced show–despite the grim premise.
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WHITE FOX is bringing us a new cute girls doing cute things 4-koma adaptation in Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka? The story starts when a girl named Hoto Kokoa (Sakura Ayane, a pun on “hot cocoa”) arrives at the café Rabbit House, excited to play with the rabbits. (In truth, she all but lives in the café.) While there she meets lots of different girls, including a tiny, cool girl named Kafuu Chino (Minase Inori, from “cappucino”), a tough and soldier-esque girl named Tadeza Lize (Taneda Risa, from “Thé des Alizés” tea), a spacey and quintessentially Japanese girl named Ujimatsu Chiyo (Satou Satomi, from “Uji matcha” tea), and the ordinary but dignified Sharo (Uchida Maaya, from “Kilimanjaro” coffee). I wasn’t able to get my hands on much of the manga, so I’ll be speaking generally here. This is a 4-koma slice of life adaptation starring a bunch of cute girls doing presumably cute things, so you probably already know if this is anywhere near your wheelhouse. I don’t expect this one to break the mold, but with WHITE FOX animating – one of the few studios who, in this blogger’s opinion, seems to take pride in producing solid, enjoyable shows every single time – you probably don’t have to worry about rank failure either. But what’s really an indicator of quality (usually) is the staff, and that’s an unknown quantity right now. Director Hashimoto Hiroyuki has worked on many series, but this is his first time in the director’s chair, while series composition is coming from Fudeyasu Kazuyuki, who has done the same job on many great series, but also a few stinkers. In the end, if you’re interested in a cute girl 4-koma adaptation for something light, funny, and potentially relaxing, give this one a try. Neither the rabbits nor the tea/coffee schtick are big draws for me, but as long as the girls are cute and the jokes are funny, that won’t matter at all.
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Ping Pong is definitely the more old-school Noitamina series of the block’s entries this season. Usasa Masaaki’s disciple Choi Eun-Young’s recent Space Dandy episode reminds us of the particular charms of Yuasa’s bizarre visual and tonal style, though I confess I tend to grow weary of it after an entire series, and thus am less of an unabashed fan than some. The title is truth in advertising: it’s the story of two friends and rivals in a school ping pong club, and based on an award-winning manga by Tekkon Kinkreet mangaka Matsumoto Taiyou. There’s pretty much no way this is going to be boring, and it might just be great – and that makes it one of my most anticipated shows of the season. Yuasa-sensei’s style can be a lot to take if the material isn’t a perfect fit, but this looks like it should complement his auteur style handsomely. I’m also excited anytime Tatsunoko is on the schedule, as they consistently produce good-looking series, often with a retro look and feel that recalls vintage Gainax. Shows like this that would only be produced for Noitamina are an endangered species even on Noitamina, so we should cherish them when we get them.
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Replacing Samurai Flamenco on Noitamina’s Thursday time slot is a adaptation of Ootorino Kazuma’s Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin. Based on a light novel, this story is about a young girl who was murdered 10 years ago. Now, Ryuuagajou Nanana (Tanabe Rui) lives as a ghost with the mission to find her murderer. The story follows Yama Juugo (Ono Yuuki), who has recently been kicked out of his house by his father. With barely any money, Juugo transfers to a high school on an artificial island and rents out an old apartment – haunted by Nanana. He decides to help her on her quest to find her murderer by finding pieces of the “Nanana Collection”. The “Nanana Collection” features items with mysterious powers that Nanana gathered from across the globe, and which are now scattered on this island, hidden in ruins. However Juugo finds out soon after that he’s not the only one hunting down these treasures… I’ve blogged two Noitamina shows in a row now (Robotics;Notes and Samurai Flamenco), and I’ve got to admit that my faith in this timeslot has gone downhill as a result. However, with every new season, I can’t help but feel excited for every show they bring out. This one in particular has captured my attention strictly by being a murder mystery, and I also love myself a good treasure hunt. There are some aspects I’m leery about, mainly around the lack of experience from Tanabe Rui and the small amount of source material since the novel has only been running for 2 years. Despite all that, the plot itself has got me hooked, and I hope they use their one-cour run wisely to showcase the potential of this show.
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It is the distant future, a thousand years after the solar system’s destruction at the hands of aliens known as the Gauna. Having escaped into space, humanity’s remnants live on in “seed ships” made from the Earth itself. As the Gauna continue to give chase, humanity is forced to rely on new technologies to survive. On is a ship called the Sidonia, and its technology takes the form of genetic engineering, which leads to the production of clones and humans capable of both asexual reproduction and photosynthesis. Capable members of the population are then drafted in the military, where they pilot mechanized weapons known as Guardians. A 30th anniversary production from the 3D CG specialists at POLYGON PICTURES, Sidonia no Kishi (Knights of Sidonia) focuses on the story of a new pilot named Tanikaze Nagate (Ohsaka Ryota). Having been given a legendary guardian known as the Tsugumori, he fights against the Guana threat as part of humanity’s last stand. An epic tale of survival involving genetically engineered humans, mecha, and nearly indestructible aliens? Count me in. This is the kind of series Sci-Fi fans live for, and it makes it an obligatory watch for all fans of the genre. The staff behind this series may not have extensive resumes, and the 3D CG may end up being a turn off for some, but there’s something to be said about a series entering its fifth year of publication. Considering that it’s 11 volumes long and even officially published in English, it reasons there’s a lot here worth watching. Combining alien slaying awesomeness with a great Sci-Fi backdrop and what should be a memorable soundtrack from the man behind some of Rurouni Kenshin’s best tracks, Asakura Noriyuki, Sidonia no Kishi could very well be one of the standouts of this season.
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Last year’s Date A Live continues this spring with a second season. Itsuka Shidou (Shimazaki Nobunaga) was a generic and “ordinary” high-school boy until he discovered a mysterious girl after a “spacequake” devastated his town. That’s when his little sister, Itsuka Kotori (Taketatsu Ayana), revealed herself to be the commander of a secret anti-spirit organization, and demanded that Shidou woo said mysterious girl – and other spacequake-causing spirits like her – in order to seal their powers and save the world. After a first season meeting spirits like the “Princess” Yatogami Tohka (Inoue Marina) and the “Hermit” Yoshino (Nomizu Iori), Shidou and co are back with more spirits to conquer! First up are Yamai Kaguya (Uchida Maaya) and Yamai Yuzuru (Sarah Emi Bridcut), twins who have the power to manipulate wind. With a nearly incomprehensible premise and a pastiche of fantasy, sci-fi, and dating sim tropes tossed into one big hurricane of cliche, Date A Live’s premise doesn’t do itself any favors in selling itself – and yet I very much enjoyed the first season. It’s crazy and bonkers and doesn’t always make sense, but it’s also funny, entertaining, and the action is good and occasionally thrilling. To me, Date A Live is best embodied by the word “clash” – the kitchen sink full of sci-fi/fantasy tropes, the tone that swings wildly from slapstick hilarity to macabre depictions of death and murder, and the conflict between Kotomi’s Ratatosk, Tobiichi Origami’s (Togashi Misuzu) AST, and the spirits themselves makes for a messy but entertaining ride. True, it’s not the most accessible show – if you can’t accept the overly complex premise long enough to give it a shot, you’ll never like this series – but I promise that once you get a few episodes into the first season, it starts to make sense…or at least, as much sense as Date A Live ever does, which is half the fun! The first season surprised me by not finishing “Nightmare” Tokisaki Kurumi’s (Sanada Asami) arc, so I’m ready for another season. Yes, I realize I say that on a lot of my previews, but I’m really excited about this one, honest!
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Mekaku City Actors starts off following a young man by the name of Kisaragi Shintaro (Terashima Takuma) who has an IQ of 168, but is also a hikkomori. His life revolves around his computer and the internet, which unexpectedly breaks down one day as a result of Ene (Asumi Kana) provoking him. Ene is a cyber-female who was mysteriously sent as a download to Shintaro a year ago. Now she resides in Shintaro’s computer, phone and all other electronic devices. On the fateful day that Shintaro’s computer dies, he ventures outside his home for the first time in two years and attempts to buy himself a new one. Unfortunately, he’s held hostage by a gang of robbers who holds everyone in the mall for ransom. When Shintaro attempts to escape and free everyone, he’s knocked unconscious. When he wakes up, he finds himself at Mekakushi Dan’s headquarters – a gang of teenagers (including his own sister) with odd personalities but extraordinary “eye” powers. They extend him an invitation to join their group, which he accepts. The source material for this anime is actually from a vocaloid song series which was later released as a light novel and then subsequently a manga. Written by the same artist that created the song, the original series is named Kagerou Project, and follows a group of teenagers self-proclaimed as Mekakushi Dan. While the earlier stories are about the formation of the group and appear more lighthearted and comedic, the latter arcs are based on who each of these individuals are. Their pasts are dark and mysterious (like, who is Ene?), and I expect the story to be told similarly to how Durarara!! was executed. With Shinbo Akiyuki directing, I imagine they’ll use many SHAFT’s staple animation quirks, as well as the storyboarding which the studio is so well known for.
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Who says dogs and cats can’t get along? At least for these two girls, it seems they get along just fine. Take Nekoyama Suzu (Touyama Nao), the shy dog-lover, and Inugami Yachiyo (Uesaka Sumire), the energetic cat-lover. They meet once and suddenly click together to the point of being attracted to one another at first sight. Of course, their conflicting personalities make for adorable scenes of them together, only to be straightened out by their mutual friend Aki. As a five minute yuri-type comedy, this show is great for the quick adorable moment you need every week. The premise is simple, but the animal-like qualities of the main couple are what sells the cute factor in this short. If you love yourself some nekomimi and inumimi girls doting on one another, give this soft yuri comedy a shot—the cuteness levels are comparable to Yuruyuri, but now with added animal ear goodness!
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Brought to you by Satelight, M3: Sono Kuroki Hagane is Sato Juinchi’s (Aria) latest original work. Supported by mecha designs from Kawamori Shoji and writing from Okada Mari, M3: Sono Kuroki Hagane is a Sci-Fi drama set in a near-future Tokyo. There, a distorted area known as the “avidya zone” exists. Characterized by its darkness, the zone is home to strange beings known as Imashime. As beings that consume humans, the Imashime bring despair and chaos, and threaten humanity’s very existence. In order to combat this threat, an expedition of eight boys and girls are sent to the avidya zone. Wielding a destiny forged from years past, they confront the present crisis as keys to humanity’s future. With its announcement coming only three weeks before the start of the new season, M3: Sono Kuroki Hagane comes in as a literal dark horse. It’s hard to not be interested in a series with such notable staff, and there’s something to be said about the combination of Sato Juinchi and Okada Mari in particular, as the former may serve as a nice balance to the latter’s overly-dramatic tendencies. Put them together with a grim-dark, Sci-Fi backdrop that serves as a great foundation for their respective talents, and we have the makings of a series whose story could be one for the ages. As with any Okada Mari series however, whether it lives up to its potential is essentially a coin flip, and it’ll be interesting to see how she handles writing for two series in the same season. For now though, it’s a winner on paper in my book.
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| Release Date | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Early April | GJ-bu@ | GJ部@ http://www.ntv.co.jp/gj/ |
Special TV broadcast. |
| 04/09 | Shingeki no Kyojin OVA | 進撃の巨人OVA http://shingeki-kyojin.com/archives/34787544.html |
Bundled with manga vol. 13 (Limited Edition). |
| 04/23 | Little Busters! EX | リトルバスターズ！EX http://litbus-anime.com/ex/ |
Episode 4 of 8. Bundled with BD/DVD vol. 4. |
| 04/25 | Sakasama no Patema | サカサマのパテマ http://patema.jp/ |
BD/DVD release. |
| 05/14 | Persona 3 the Movie #1: Spring of Birth | 劇場版「ペルソナ3」第１章 http://www.p3m.jp/ |
BD/DVD release. |
| 05/16 | Magi: Sinbad no Boiuken OVA | マギ シンドバッドの冒険 http://www.project-magi.com/sinbad/ |
Bundled with manga vol. 3. |
| 05/16 | Seitokai Yakuindomo OVA | 生徒会役員共 OVA http://kc.kodansha.co.jp/seitokai/ |
Bundled with manga vol. 10 (Limited Edition). |
| 05/20 | Ore no Nounai Sentakushi ga, Gakuen Love Comedy wo Zenryoku de Jama Shiteiru OAD 俺の脳内選択肢が、学園ラブコメを全力で邪魔している OAD http://noucome.jp/ |
Episode 8. Bundled with vol. 8 of the light novel. |
| 05/28 | The Galactic Railways: A Letter from the Abandoned Planet OVA 銀河鉄道物語 ～忘れられた時の惑星～ http://www.gintetsu.com/index.html |
BD release. |
| 05/28 | Little Busters! EX | リトルバスターズ！EX http://litbus-anime.com/ex/ |
Episode 5 of 8. Bundled with BD/DVD vol. 5. |
| 05/31 | Monogatari Series: Second Season +α | 〈物語〉シリーズ セカンドシーズン+α http://www.monogatari-series.com/2ndseason/ |
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| 06/06 | Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn OVA | 機動戦士ガンダムUC http://www.gundam-unicorn.net/ |
BD/DVD release. Episode 7 of 7. |
There’s no way that I can’t be excited for this season with the vast variety of shows that are airing. Like I said, there’s a ton of different genres featured here, and there’s bound to be something that captures your attention. Standouts for me have always been mysteries, romances and especially anime that are well-rounded enough to be everything. BONES and Brains Base have really outdone themselves with three series each under their belts, whereas Madhouse, Production I.G, and J.C. Staff have their plates full with two series each. If these animation studios are your cup of tea, then you have something to look forward to. This season is not short of expectations, and my fellow co-writers and I hope this preview can help you determine what’s worthy of your attention.
Every season, several individuals get together to determine the expectation levels of shows. Please see below for a summary of the shows with the definition of what each level means. This is not an indication of how the show will turn out, but rather a prediction of the upcoming season (because who really knows how shows will be animated, right?). My personal watch-outs would be Isshuukan Friends, Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin, Mushishi Zoku Shou, Selector Infected WIXOSS, and No Game, No Life. However, if you’re curious, the vast majority of writers are interested in Black Bullet, Hitsugihime no Chaika, and Mekaku City Actors. Quite a great mix in there, and you can expect an equal mix of shows on our blogging schedule. Thanks again for everyone’s continued support. If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments.
Note: The lists are sorted in alphabetical order.
The Rundown:
High expectation shows give us reason to believe they have the makings of a very good series that should appeal to the widest audience in their given genres. If you consider yourself a “casual” fan who only gets your toes wet every season by watching the “best” shows (i.e. popular ones that generate the most buzz), then these are the ones we feel you should keep an eye out for. We’re also expecting good things from these shows, so if they fall short, disappointment is understandable.
- High Expectations: Captain Earth, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders, Mushishi Zoku Shou
Moderately High expectation shows are ones that came close to joining the High expectation crowd, but missed out due to one or two elements that gave us concern. The series underpinnings are generally strong, but there is just something that keeps us from putting all our hopes and dreams on these shows. They still have most of the makings of very strong series, so if you watch only the “best” shows but want more than what the High category provides, keep an eye out for these as well.
- Moderately High Expectations: Break Blade, Isshuukan Friends., Love Live! Season 2, M3: Sono Kuroki Hagane, Mangaka-san to Assistant-san to, Mekaku City Actors, Sidonia no Kishi, Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii
Moderate expectation shows, also known as “True Moderate”, don’t provide any immediate indication that they’ll be amazing in retrospect. This is often the case with shows that fall into one of anime’s overused plot devices, which most people, particularly self-proclaimed critics, will perceive as mediocre at best. However, in many of our experiences these shows still provide a great deal of entertainment and may turn out a lot better than they appear. They’re good for “regular” fans who are aware of all these tropes and don’t mind seeing them used in different settings. Personal tastes come heavily into play, so your mileage will vary.
- Moderate Expectations: Akuma no Riddle, Baby Steps, Black Bullet, Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou, Date a Live II, Escha & Logy no Atelier: Tasogare no Sora no Renkinjutsushi, Gochuumon wa Usagi Desuka?, Gokukoku no Brynhildr, Haikyuu!!, Hitsugi no Chaika, Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei, No Game No Life, Ping Pong THE ANIMATION, Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin, Seikoku no Dragonar, Selector Infected WIXOSS, Soul Eater Not!
Moderately Low expectation shows don’t seem to be aspiring to much, but it’s hard to call them bad exactly. They might focus on senseless humor or fanservice, but there’s often at least one element that elevates them above other members of their genre. Once again, personal taste comes heavily into play with these shows, because if they’re part of one of your favored genres then chances are you’ll enjoy them no matter what. Just don’t expect them to break the bank with originality.
- Moderately Low Expectations: Abarenbou Rikishi!! Matsutarou, Blade and Soul, Fuuun Ishin Dai Shougun, Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san, Kamigami no Asobi, Kanojo ga Flag o Oraretara, Kenzen Robo Daimidaler, Kiniro no Chord: Blue Sky
Low expectation shows don’t seem to be striving for much and choose to focus on more frivolous aspects such as senseless humor and fanservice. That doesn’t mean they’re the bottom of the barrel and shouldn’t get any consideration, but simply that you need to keep in mind what kind of show it is. Generally only “avid” fans will be interested in seeing what these have to offer, because they’re already watching all the better shows.
- Low Expectations: Mahou Shoujo Taisen
Niche shows break away from the norm by being slower-paced, extremely dark/grotesque, or even controversial. In most cases these shows are oriented towards older audiences or those who feel that anime has become far too repetitive and want something different. Shows of this category tend to be highly under-appreciated, but can turn out to be hidden gems for that very reason. Includes works oriented toward female audiences.
- Niche: N/A
Established shows are generally long-running manga/anime series, geared towards younger viewers who are already fans of them. A commonality is that they all air early morning on weekends or well before midnight on weekdays so that “normal” people can watch them. They aren’t very dependent on expectations, but a love for never-ending shows and a willingness to get into all the material that’s out if they’re completely new to you. Shounen series fall into this category, hence why we treat them differently.
There’s a surprisingly large amount of shows I’m interested in this season. Although some might not meet expectations, I hope I’ll find at least a few good hits! The LN adaptations are especially noteable to me.
i probably won’t need to sleep for another 3 months.
That’s not even including the OVA/Movies like GJ-bu, Shingeki no Kyojin, Little Busters! EX, Seitokai Yakuindomo OVA, Monogatari Series: Second Season +α, etc… I’d assume it’s safe to say no one anytime soon is getting sleep…..yeah…
And i thought my winter season was busy…
1.Blade and Soul – just to see if it can match Log Horizon
2.Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou | – for the love with comedic obstacles
3.Akuma no Riddle – Assassins, riddles and Yuri – I’m sold.
4.Selector Infected WIXOSS – darker than usual take on magical girls? I’m intrigued.
5.Mushishi Zoku Shou – I will probably need to marathon the original series…
6.Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo Returns – we dont get enough detective stories!
7.Kenzen Robo Daimidaler – you can trust the makers of DxD to get the ero-powered mecha fights look great…
8.Seikoku no Dragonar – everything is better with the dragons!
10.Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei – magical academies are almost always fun
11.Captain Earth – Mechas recycled in space! – I am itching for good mecha fight.
12.Historical/Fantasy romance with poltics in backgrund? – count me in!
13.Baby Steps – I’m not usually into sports-based series but this one has one of best mangas to work with!
14.Gokukoku no Brynhildr – there is nothing better than chu2 getting his/her quest for magic in mundane life vindicated!
15.Break Blade – I have seen none of the movies yet, so I’m fresh and unspoiled to this quartz-powered world – bring on the mechas and power politics!
16.Kanojo ga Flag o Oraretara – just for the lol’z of seeing flags over people and the fight to break death flags.
17.Mangaka-san to Assistant-san to – meta-manga, so to say?
18.Black Bullet – looks like promising action show!
19.Soul Eater Not! – I loved the Soul Eater world, dont mind a spinoff series at all!
20.Hitsugi no Chaika – gimme a break, Scrapped Princess and Outbreak Company makers made me sold instantly
21.Fuuun Ishin Dai Shougun – while I am not so enchanted by visions of alternative Japan still isolationist (where would we get anime?), but having mind behind Ergo Proxy on board picked my curiosity
22.Escha & Logy no Atelier: Tasogare no Sora no Renkinjutsushi – alchemy to save the doomed world? count me in!
23.Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin – I LOVE a good vengeance story. A ghost girl out to avenge herself! SOLD!
24.Sidonia no Kishi – genetically-engineered on an unending war in space? YES! (The ship itself reminds me of the concept of Eldar Craftworlds- 40k fan note)
25.Date a Live II – I WANT A RESOLUTION WITH KURUMI!
26.M3: Sono Kuroki Hagane – I just hope this will end up being better than Coppelion.
Goodbye my free time. Even if I drop half of the shows within first few episodes this will be a busy trimester…
THIS IS GONNA BE A GREAT SEASON!!!
We say that every season. We also say “This is the worst season ever” every season.
Can we just please choose one and be done with it? XD
Everyone has their own preferences… but yes, you’ll always hear people saying it’s the worst or best season =X
there are far too many people in “we”, just look at the polarizing opinions in this comment section.
This is the most average season ever?
Call me when it’s time for Fate and SAO again.
Forgot to add to my other post but Soul Eater fans should give NOT a chance. It’s slow at first but also has some slice of life elements and isn’t full of fanservice. If you want something you’ll end up enjoying if you invest the time in it, NOT is for you.
Mentioning as I have 2 downvotes for some reason, but I put this post in the wrong area, I didn’t realise before posting that I had accidently clicked on someones name, I meant for this post to go to the bottom of the page as I follow up to my other Soul Eater NOT post :/ sorry..
At last… Sidonia no Kishi….
I know right? It’s about damn time!
Sidonia is definitely the series I’m most looking forward to. The first minute of Sidonia episode 1 and a few CMs are out. Looks like Polygon kept Nihei’s famous architectures. The combat in ep1 preview is fluid and dynamic. The details in the cockpit is unbelievable – the HUD, the pilot health monitor, even the round counter on the auto-cannon are all functional!!! Then there is the movie quality sound effects. A proper sound card and headphones/speakers will be needed to get the most out of the sound in this series. If Polygon keeps up this level of quality through out the season, they’ll set a new standard for future Mecha series.
It’s a shame the series is only 12 episodes long, so Tsumugi won’t appear … damn it…
After the horrible Winter season, we’ll finally get lots of good stuff 🙂
Very happy to FINALLY get a conversion of Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei! Keeping my fingers crossed.
I liked the Soul Eater NOT! manga and bought the first 2 volumes. You’re right in that its much slower and less action orientated than the original Soul Eater series. I can only assume they will be doing some kind of filler with this as the series is still ongoing and only has 3 volumes so far in book format.
Without spoiling people will like the cameos from certain beloved characters 😛
I’m hoping they just keep going with Break Blade but honestly there really isn’t a whole lot of manga to draw on after the point where they left it in the original anime. I enjoyed Soul Eater so I’ll give Not! a chance but I too would like to see a a full adaptation of the original. In fact they can do the rest of Deadman Wonderland while they’re at it. I want to watch Knights of Sidonia now but Netflix will have it this summer and I’d like to watch it then just to support he show and hopefully help show Netflix that anime is a worthwhile investment on their part. I read the first chapter of the Sidonia manga and really liked it so my expectations are high. The 3D CGI I saw the trailer does leave something to be desired but I can probably get past it. I will have to check out Captain Earth; I have no expectations for it so it will be hard to be disappointed.
Looks like to be another promising season.
Thank you very much for this preview. I especially like how you guys always find something positive in every show to talk about – even though one might think its utter c***.
I was a HUGE fan of Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo when I was young whenever I was in Japan I always rushed to the TV just to watch it.
I’m so glad it’s coming back 😀
Expectations for Love Live are high? It’s a fucking generic idol anime for gods sakes.
Sunrise should stop with this idol nonsense, and just make a third season of Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon.
Oh well i guess the anime industry is going all the way to the craphole with the whole season and all we have left to watch is Space dandy .Such a sad thing with all the moe robots with large gazongas that we havent seen in any anime ever. More time for playing lol and touching myself.
The presence of so many overtly sci-fi based shows already gives this season a leg up (at least for me). Sadly though escaping the moe, harem, and other stereotypes won’t happen because they are guaranteed profit makers.
What is odd, however, is the number of NEET-based shows this time around. Looks like the pool of moe is starting to dry up.
Liking the look of this season compared to the last, many more shows that look worthy of attention. The next 6 weeks are going to be busy trying to meet the 3 episode rule 😛
Chaika and No Game No Life are what I am looking foreard to the most.
I am not so sure… Kinda feel this season may be a bit weak.
I hope I am terribly wrong 😀
Will be giving some of them a 1-2 episode treatment.
Agreed, a lot of these shows look kind of generic.
Moe highschool robots playing video sport games with large loli melons against monsters on cards fighting for no reason for brainless generic women. All anime this season combined(mushishi excluded)
I’ll have to check whatever “first impression” post you guys mioght post before checking any of these series for real. Not saying that they all look bad… but looks can be deceiving.
You’ll be covering at least each first episode, right?
A vast majority of shows will get a first impression post, yes.
Ok, that’s good to know. Like I said, there are some promising shows… but I got tricked a lot of times by cool shows that ended up being awful, just by their trailers, that I need a first impression to begin with.
Certainly gonna watch Fairy Tail, Black Bullet and Haikyuu. Later, I might check out more shows, since I prefer marathoning anime anyways. Thanks for the preview!
3 BONES shows in one season!
*nosebleed*
See, now this is what I was waiting for: You all to come along and give me some hitns as to what these shows were so I could start picking and choosing. Things that catch my eye from top to bottom: Akuma no Riddle, Seikoku no Dragonar (mostly because Amazon has been determinedly trying to shove the manga onto my “recommended for you!” list lately, so I’m curious about it), Gokukoku no Brynhildr, Isshuukan Friends, Black Bullet, Soul Eater Not (I didn’t watch Soul Eater, and I don’t WANT to. Everything I know about it, from the art style to the style of show itself tells me it wasn’t my type of show. The biggest reason this catches my attention is precisely BECAUSE it looks nothing like the original.), No Game No Life (comparisons to Mondaiji for the win), Hitsugi no Chaika,
Gochuumon wa Usagi Desuka?, and Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san.
…That’s a bunch more than normally catch my attention at this point. Who knows how many others might crop up as being worth watching once you folks actually start blogging things.
@Wanderer: …No Game No Life (comparisons to Mondaiji for the win)…
That’s my thought as well. I liked Mondaiji quite a bit (especially the Pest arc) so willing to give No Game No Life a shot.
Why is No Game, No Life being billed as a story “from the original creator of Itsuka Tenma no Kuro Usagi…”?
Itsuten is written by Takaya Kagami, who is also the author of Denyuuden (Legend of the Legendary Heroes), and is _illustrated_ by Yuu Kamiya.
No Game, No Life is written and illustrated by Yuu Kamiya, and has no other relation to the author of Itsuten and Denyuuden.
I think it’s important to make this distinction, because while both Itsuten and Denyuuden have fairly serious and dark stories, I don’t think that expectation should be applied to No Game, No Life. Really, no comparisons should be drawn between Kamiya’s writing and that of Kagami (whose writing I absolutely adore, so I admit I’m pretty biased here).
As far the adaptation goes, this isn’t being handled by the same company that did the adaptations for Denyuuden and Itsuten, so it might turn out alright. I still enjoyed those two adaptations to some degree, mind, but they definitely left lots of room for improvement.
Also, I have no idea why I keep putting a comma in the middle of No Game No Life’s title. 😐
Thank you, and fixed. Got a little confused there when I was doing the research. Now I’m even more excited about that show!
Will watch “Mushishi Zoku Shou” and “Ping Pong THE ANIMATION”.
Pay little attention on “M3: Sono Kuroki Hagane”, “Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii”, “Isshuukan Friends.”, “Mekaku City Actors”, “Baby Steps”, “Captain Earth”.
I forget about this one – “Sakasama no Patema”. The third thing I am waiting for.
*forgot
So many shows I’m interested in. x_x
M3: Sono Kuroki Hagane
Baby Steps
Black Bullet
Blade and Soul
Boku wa Minna Kowaisou
Brynhildr
Captain Earth
Atelier
Haikyuu!!
Hitsugi no Chaika
Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san
Kamigami no Asobi
Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin
No Game No Life
Isshuukan Friends.
Akuma no Riddle
Selector Infected WIXOSS
Sidonia no Kishi
Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii
Mangaka-san to Assistant-san to
Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei
Knights of Sidonia is getting an anime?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Tears, just tears, all over my face!
I loved watching Cardfight Vanguard, until Link Joker happened and I dropped it. Now Kai is going to be the main lead, f that DROPPED. I’ll probably start watching it in the next season though.
I’m going to watch Blade and Soul just because I’m salty and jelly for life that nobody, but Korea gets to play that damn game.
I’d have to go back and watch all the other Mushishi episodes first, backlogged already god damn it ;/
I didn’t keep up with watching Phantom Blood and Joseph’s arc, but you bet your ass I’m watching Stardust Crusaders start to finish. Favorite Jojo arc of all time!
If I see one god damn magic circle show up when Natsu uses his magic I am done with Fairy Tail’s anime. They ruined the beginning of it, I tried watching after they fixed what they ruined, but couldn’t do it. Fresh start this time >.>
Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei I’ll watch because there’s not that many manga chapters out anyway and I doubt the anime will even cover all of what’s been translated already.
I’m watching everything animated by Bones for obvious reasons. I’m glad Chaika is getting an anime
I used to love reading Baby Steps, the matches drags on too much so I dropped it. Shouldn’t have that problem with the anime so I’ll watch it.
Definitely watching Brynhildr because it’s so good.
Break Blade finally getting episodes instead of movies like Gundam Unicorn, which Gundam Unicorn does better. My body has been ready and waiting forever.
I like Soul Eater Not even though I stopped reading Soul Eater so I’ll watch it ;p
No Game No Life – with a title like that I just have to watch it, Madhouse being behind it just makes it even more worthwhile
Fuuun Ishin Dai Shougun – Shouldn’t be too hard for this to be better than Nobunaga the Fool, which I thought would be better than Nobunagun and it’s not, imo.
Because it’s Ping Pong, imma watch it
Date a Live II YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!! I thought we wouldn’t get season 2 until later in the year :D.
Mekaku City Actors – something from Shaft that isn’t a monogatari, I’m on board. Monogatari series is dead to me until Koyomi Vamp is animated.
Everything below is what I’ll give a try until I decided whether or not to keep watching or drop it. I’m not big on OVAs outside of watching Gundam Unicorn and the OVAs of known series. I’ll probably check some of the other stuff like Galaxy Railways out though.
Kenzen Robo, Seikoku no dragonar,
Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou, Akuma no Riddle, Selector infected Wixoss, Gochuumon wa Usagi Desuka?,Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin
Kamigami no Asobi,Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii,Haikyuu!!, Isshuukan Friends,Kanojo ga Flag o Oraretara,Mangaka-san to Assistant-san to,Mahou Shoujo Taisen,Black Bullet,
M3: Sono Kuroki Hagane
Mahouka is a Light Novel with 12 volumes out(13th coming out next month).
The anime will surely pass what’s available in the manga.
I can only hope that they do because the action portrayed in the manga is very good.
Kawaisou highly likely will be the show of the season.
And also it most likely will be one of the best rom-com series in many years.
seems like a bit of weak season to me personally
few potentially good ones, but nothing amazingly amazing IMO
Towards the Eschatology anime, the voice cast from the game reprises their roles for the anime.
<3 Winbell
Oh wow, so nothing to watch…
At least there is Mushishi and there is slim chance that Sidonia no Kishi won’t look awful 3d.
And i’ll give a chance Ping Pong THE ANIMATION and Isshuukan Friends
I’m all fired up! FAIRY TAIL!
A lot of shows, but seems more quantity than quality to me though JMO. Two “high expectations/definitely will watch” shows on my list:
– Mushishi Zoku Shou: No explanation needed I would think.
– Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei – Read the all currently translated LN volumes. This is very good series overal IMO. There is hype, but I think a good part of that is deserved. I’ve read the manga as well, and I would not judge this series by the manga alone. This is a VERY detailed, highly structured and complex world. Definitely more than just “magic highschool” here. TBH, at times I seriously wonder whether the author has a degree in physics.
Personally, I like all the detail, multiple concurrent plot lines and numerous characters as they add considerable realism and depth to the world/setting. However, some might not like having to process all that, and the story does take some time to fully set up. For those not familiar with the story, a “3 episode rule” probably won’t work for this show. 26 episode/2-cour run is definitely a good thing IMO for this adaptation.
Same director as for Kyoukaisenjou no Horizon I/II which I thought were good adaptations. So while one can’t say for sure until it airs, I definitely have high expectations for this show.
– Hitsugi no Chaika. The one show with “moderately high” expectations for me. The story seems interesting as does the setting. Same author as Outbreak Company (exceeded my initial expectations) which raises my expectations for this. Looking forward to this one.
Most of my initial watch list in no particular order:
– Mangaka-san to Assistant-san to: Manga’s pretty good IMO.
– Black Bullet
– Akuma no Riddle
– Escha & Logy no Atelier: Every time I see alchemy in an anime description, I can’t help but think of FMA.
– Gokukoku no Brynhildr
– No Game No Life
– Date a Live II: With you on this one Stilts 😀 Watched the first season so I know what to expect. Season 2 looks to cover 3 LN volumes in 10 episodes which is about the same fast pace as the first season (4 LN volumes in 12 eps). Would rather have a slower pace, but is what it is.
– Seikoku no Dragonar: Read the manga (well, dropped, then picked up when anime announced), but not the LN. Definitely get a Dragon Crisis x Zero no Tsukaima vibe here. Personally, never thought about comparing to UMD which IMO is much better (read LNs/manga as well as watched anime). Frankly, I have fairly low expectations for this, but haven’t read the LN so might be surprised here = worth a shot.
Movie: Sora no Otoshimono.
Forgot one that’s not on the RC list – Hanamonogatari (Monogatari Series: Second Season +α) which covers the Suruga Devil arc. I definitely have high expectations for that show. Starts May 31st, and one site (not MAL) lists as a 5 episode run.
Yeah I saw that recently as well, been debating whether or not to add that in because it’s an odd air date and what not. I’ll probably add it to OVA list sometime in the next day or two.
Lot of shows i’ll watch for sure.
Btw, i still can’t understand all that hate on Otakus typical Anime, all these hates like “Moeshit”.. Just pissing me off. We’ve got lot of Anime for this new season but there’s still lot of ppl crying –‘ I can understand that a lot of ppl don’t like em but it doesn’t mean you have to trashtalk on it… Maybe Hard fans are not allowed to watch lot of Animes? I wonder..
Just reading “shity winter season” is a huge joke -.- But all this hate isn’t new on RandomC sadly. Well, if you hate all these Moe Anime, just stay back and watch again an again same Animes. Or read new stuff maybe? Instead of raging on a community =_=
But all this hate maybe comes from all these retarded ppl thinking Moe is pedos? Can’t you just enkoy a lite and cute show? Or are they too much kiddy? Don’t start comparing some stuff like GitS or Eva with Moe, you can not compare what it can’t be compared.
We all have our opinions, that’s why i’d say, Moe > all, so i’m going to be busy this season again! 😉
(I’m not attacking anyone, just saying something wich is worring me. Forgive my terribad english :<)
We have Soul Eater, Not!
this season.
Wow. Mekaku City Actors being one of the last to air, eh? I hope that means something, coz I’m having another high expectations to the studio which has done 2 masterpieces: Monogatari Series and Madoka.
Oh, and Haikyuu produced by the same studio as KuroBasu?! Sugoii~ Gonna watch that.
GG for this season.
Dibs on Dragon Ball Kai!!
Oh my lord I feel like I’ve taken epic field trip from last summer! DIS SEASON IS PACKED! There’s one show I’ve been excited to see again
DATE
A
LIVE
Can’t freaking wait
So . . . still no Sailor Moon? What ever happened to that damn show?
It was moved to summer. It will hopefully air in July without new delays.
Definitely watching most of the mecha anime. The others I’ll watch depending on their mix of art and story.
After reading half of the manga, Sidoria looks to be Muv Luv in space.
Like a continuation of Muv Luv Unlimited, following those who left in Alternative V? That was my first thought as I read the preview.
Has there been a confirmation of how much this adaptation of MKnR will cover? I would assume Enrollment (vol. 1-2) + Nine Schools Competition (vol. 3-4), possibly parts of vol. 5 as well. I would like to see Tatsuya during the Yokohama arc, but I think that would speed up the pacing too much.
@SK: I haven’t seen anything official, though covering LN volumes 1-4 is a given IMO. As you probably know, volume 5 is all short stories so they could cherry pick from it if there is extra time left after adapting the first four volumes. Personally, I would like to see the first and last story from volume 05 included in this season (leave the rest for OVAs).
While I would also like to watch the Yokohama Disturbance arc, trying to squeeze in 6 LN volumes (assuming you skip volume 05) would ruin the pacing IMO. Volumes 03 and 04 (especially) are quite long – those two volumes are over 1.5 times the length of the first two volumes (which are not short). So IMO, adapting MKnR LN volumes 1-4 is really adapting 5 typical length LN volumes worth of material.
Though I highly doubt it will happen, integrating LN volume 8 along with volumes 1-4 (leave volume 5 stuff for OVAs) would be useful since LN volume 8 contains a lot of important background information. However, probably too hard to cram all that extra material in without screwing up the pacing.
TL:DR – my best guess is that this season (both cours) cover LN volumes 1-4 with maybe one or two (I hope no more than two) side stories from volume 5. Ending with the last story in volume 5 sets up for a second season quite nicely.
We already have seiyuus for Ichijou Masaki(Crimson Prince) and Kichijouji Shinkurou(Cardinal George) so it’s already locked in that we’ll cover up to volume 4.
And there’s actually some new PVs: here and here. And there you’ll see some scenes in volume 8 with loli Miyuki and Tatsuya using MB.
In short, it’ll be volumes 1-4 plus volume 8.
@belatkuro: In short, it’ll be volumes 1-4 plus volume 8
Thanks for the PVs. Didn’t see those. Looks like your right about vol. 8 included. Covering vol. 1-4 was a given like I said, but I am a bit surprised about integrating volume 08. Have to see how well the execution/integration is done, but on the surface, LN vol 1-4 + the bulk of vol. 8 (i.e. all the flashback stuff) may very well be the best way to go for MKnR anime. Adding that background info would go a long way in preventing misconceptions about some of the characters.
Hmm, once you add most of vol. 8 into the mix, suddenly 26 episodes doesn’t seem like so much time. Should be just enough for acceptable pacing IMO if that’s the case. As for volume 5
Show Spoiler ▼
Thanks for the info and PV links, it does appear 1-4 + 8 is the plan. Agree with daikama, I’m curious how they will integrate the vol. 8 bits into the rest of the story. I feel like some of the background stuff from vol. 8 is a good, probably necessary, addition, but I feel like overall it ties in better with the Yokohama arc.
@SK Well, you do have to admit while stuff like Tatsuya’s magic come into play in making sense and tying in with Yokohama more. Other parts also work better in establishing the dynamic between the Yotsuba and him and his sister. I can definitely see where parts of it will work well as flash backs for background information. But, yeah other parts do tie in better with the Yokohama arc.
Who knows, its plausible some information is used for the this first run, and if we’re lucky and get the Yokohama/Visitor arcs animated (in a second run) they could use the remaining portions of VN8 then.
Its a plausible thought, that might just work.
Defintiely cant wait until next week for the first epi lol
Since we’re going to have 2 seasons, extending to the Yokohama arc seems pretty likely to me.
Thanks for the great preview as always guys.
About the Pretty Rhythm entry: Pretty Rhythm Rainbow Live is actually ending the 29th of March. The 5th of April, Pretty Rhythm All Star Selection will start. You wrote the title correctly in Japanese but not in English.
Like you said, this fourth season will bring up together the characters from seasons 1+2 and 3. (Saying it like this since season 2 already had the season 1 characters as it takes places three years after it while season three is in a parallel world)
The character called Lala, that will be included in All Star Selection, is actually the heroine of Puri Para, another project which has been announced and is the successor of the Pretty Rhythm franchise. Pretty Rhythm All Star Selection is only 13 episodes and Pretty Rhythm will actually end after it, with Puri Para’s anime replacing it and beginning the 5th of July.
Pretty Rhythm All Star Selection is a farewell and homage to Pretty Rhythm.
One more thing, this is totally not in the name of my grandfather but just me being a fanboy: Pretty Rhythm does change. Rainbow Live was very different from the first two seasons, completely removing some aspects, like fashion, and toning down others, like skating and comedy, replacing them with a huge emphasis on human drama and being literally one of the most unfunny and serious kids show I ever watched. I still liked it and I still consider it the best show of 2013-2014 I saw so far but Dear My Future was way better.
I’m not watching Cardfight but what this season’s doing is really fresh and interesting imo. They’re basically making the best friend/rival character trope become the main character. Like a friend said it’s like if “Kaiba started using Black Magician and became the MC in Yugioh”.
Feels weird it’s already been ten years since Mushishi aired. I always wanted to watch it but haven’t done so yet. Time goes sooo fast.
I really wasn’t interested in Daimidaler, and I didn’t watch DxD either. But then I saw the website and couldn’t stop laughing for a good five minutes. I’m really looking forward to it now.
Really looking forward to a tons of show this season, but like always I won’t watch everything right away. Those I’ll watch weekly for sure are Break Blade(Can’t wait for Girghe being one of the best mecha pilots in fiction ever), M3, Daimidaler, Captain Planet and DAL 2 I guess.
As others have written, I’m most looking forward to Mahouka.. Please don’t base it on the Manga. The LN series, imo, is, in short, pretty damned awesome.
I initially started the manga for Mahouka but thought it was interesting and blitzed through the LNs and aboslutely loved them.
As someone else stated, don’t judge the series based on the manga. Compared to the LN, the manga does not do it justice. The LN is highly detailed and, while some may dislike the explainations, the info, jargo, and details are very consistent. I’m anticipating both the anime series AND the new LN supposed to be due any day (havent checked if its already released)
As for a 2-cour, I’m expecting that it’ll adapt Novels 1~5, just based on the information given. I guess theres a slight posibility for the Reminisce and Summer Novels as well. But if they delve pass the Nine Schools Competition I’m not so sure they’ll do it justice. Feasibly (for fans who’ve read as well), I can see the first arc taking 10 or so episodes, and then another 10 or so for the Schools Comp, and maybe 2~3 episodes each for Reminisce or Summer Days novels :S
Any input?
@Stratski: RE MKnR, definitely agree with you about not judging the series on the manga alone. In terms of adaptation, as noted in my reply to SK above, I think the Nine Schools Competition arc will take more than 10 episodes due to the length of that arc (approximately 70% longer than the Enrollment arc based upon English TL word count). My guess/hope is that volumes 3 & 4 are covered in 14-15 episodes which leaves 1-2 episodes (3 if the Enrollment arc is covered in 9 episodes) for parts of LN volume 5.
– …the new LN supposed to be due any day…
Good to know – thanks. The Visitor arc wasn’t quite as good as the others IMO, but I enjoyed the Double Seven “chapter” quite a bit. Looking forward to the next LN volume.
Heh I acutally enjoyed the Vistors Arc. Though, my favorite is still The Yokohama/Scorched Halloween Arc. Double Sevens (assuming its not over) looks promising as well. Really looking forward to year 2 of the Compeitions.
As for Volume 13, Last I checked a few weeks ago it was due out mid~late March, so hopefully its out by now lol
As for your idea on the adapations, yeah I was thinking something along the same lines. I’m hesitant to think the Enrollment arc will take up to ten episodes. While the read was long, a lot more was introducing us to the world. 7~9 episodes seems feasible for Enrollment. And yeah, I realized it after I posted the comment that the Nine Schools Arc was a tad longer, so 15 or so episodes seems pretty ideal for it, especially the games.. (Man I CAN’T wait to see it animated lol)
I do hope we see some of the Summer Days/Break stories though. They’d be nice to see. But, if they can squeeze both the Enrollment and Nine Schools to the whole 26 episodes, that’d be even better, especially since LN 5 Summer stuff somewhat leads into the Yokohama Arc :S
@Stratski: To be clear, it’s not that I didn’t like the Visitor arc (pretty good IMO), I just don’t think it is as good as the Nine Schools competition and Yokohama arcs (tie as my favorites. LOL’d a lot when reading the 9 Schools arc – some parts remind me of Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari).
Overall, I think we agree on the pacing, though 7 episodes is too short IMO for the Enrollment arc. IMO, 9 episodes is workable with 8 being the very minimum. While I’d also like to see at least the first and last story in volume 5 included in this run, the important thing is to take whatever time is needed to adapt the first four volumes at the right pace. If that leaves time for parts of volume 5 – great. If not, that’s fine with me as well.
Since your a LN reader/fan of the series, you might enjoy this MKnR image montage video (LN images only – text is for lyrics) set to The Beginning by ONE OK ROCK. Overall, I think it’s very well done. I love the song, and IMO it fits the series very well (should be used for the OP :D). Link in the spoiler tag below since some might consider LN images spoilers.
Show Spoiler ▼
Heh, yeah, definitely the biggest concern is how they handle the pacing of the material. My fear is they might use some of the manga as a refernece and potentially rush the Enrollment arc.
As for the Visitors Arc, I thought it was pretty good in the sense we got to see stuff some of the Magicians outside the Nippon. Not to mention, I find it both funny and fitting how they fit the ______ into the world. (I hope you know what I’m referring to. I don’t want to potentially say it and spoil people). Especially since the Ancient Magic Users knew about _____ for a while. Plus it gave more side characters screen time (which is always nice). I do have to love how they develop the side characters and not just the main. It makes you actually care about them lol
As for that video.. I wonder if its bad that I knew the name to each character that appeared.. isntantly XD
Just a minor correction. Vol13 won’t be out until next month, April 10.
And see above for how much will be covered.
Thanks for your hard work RC team!
As usual,tons of stuff to try out although I’ll probably end up dropping half of them like I always do. I’ll be trying out the following:
– Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei
– Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou
– Break Blade
– Sidonia no Kishi
– M3: Sono Kuroki Hagane
– Gokukoku no Brynhildr
– Date a Live II
– Isshuukan Friends
– Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii
– Hitsugi no Chaika
– Mangaka-san to Assistant-san to
– Mekaku City Actors
– Kanojo ga Flag o Oraretara
– Seikoku no Dragonar
– Black Bullet
– Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin
– Kenzen Robo Daimidaler
– Captain Earth
Hayami Saori sold me on the Mangaka-san to Assistant-san to!
Even if every other show is awful(which they won’t be), this season will be amazing because of JoJo and Mushishi.
Thanks for the preview, guys.
I got half way through this list and just thought… Meh this season blows.
There were more that looked interesting on the 2nd half of the list but we’ll see.
I hope theres some dark horses.
Freaking Mushishi yeah! That’s definitely my most anticipated show this season. Jojo has a secure spot in my schedule as well.
As for the rest, I’ll watch the majority of new shows anyway (everything save for the otome game-adaptations, sports series, sequels of anime I haven’t watched and kids shows) so I’ll see for myself whether or not they’ll be worth it. So far I’ve got good hopes for Mekaku City Actors (Shaft!), No Game, No Life (I loved Mondaiji as well), Hitsugi No Chaika (as I liked Scrapped Princess and Outbreak Company), Brynhildr, Sidonia and M3 as well.
Dammit, one more week before it starts now…
A number of interesting shows, but Sidonia no Kishi and Mahouka will be the shows that stand out. The latter will be the series that everyone watches, and that some will hate because they’re hipsters or creeped out by the incest angle. (And the protagonist of Mahouka is a total Gary Stu if you don’t know the rationale for his personality.)
Also looking forward to Break Blade because we get Girge scenes the film didn’t do, and No Game No Life cause it’s an interesting wild card. Baby Steps deserved a 52 episode run…
At first, when checking out new series, I was nearly depressed, because it was or fanservice serie or just not for me, but in the end I chose to watch 17 series. I hope they won’t turn to be so disappointing as series, which have ended recently ( e.g. tokyo ravens, samurai flamenco, hamatora ). Thanks a lot for preview! I only noticed that you probably put wrong trailer for cardfight! and there are some previews for Haikyuu! already 🙂 I hope the last serie (m3) will air without any problems, somehow I’m afraid that it could be delayed, because I didn’t hear about it before, which is surprising.
Sorry – what’s wrong with the Cardfight trailer? o_O
The video encoding is one of the most time-consuming parts of this preview… and there is usually a cutoff date which we stop adding videos. Haikyuu!! PVs were probably on the later end =X sorry.
Don’t apologize, I imagine how much effort each of you had to put in this preview 🙂 I assumed that it’s wrong trailer for Cardifght, because it looks like preview for next episode. Doesn’t show any main characters and at the end, they say ‘next time’, which is used usually for episodes preview. I can be mistaken, because I don’t watch it 😛
…. yikes there’s like ONE show and ONE OVA and ONE movie out of anything else here that I wanna see this season! O_O Maybe my tastes are slowly migrating away from anime.
Quite a few shows on my preliminary watch list
Selector Infected WIXOSS – It’s Okada Mari, so it’s an obvious must try.
JoJo Stardust Crusaders – Currently making my way through season 1. Episode 9 was fantastic. I feel manlier just from watching this.
Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei – Hayamin❤ Favorite seiyuu voicing best imouto? Yes please. I like the source material as well, so I’m very hyped for this one.
Captain Earth – BONES mecha. That is all.
Gokukoku no Brynhildr – I don’t really know if I should. I dunno if I can take another Elfen Lied…
Love Live! Season 2 – I don’t know what it is about this show. It’s so mediocre… but I love it so much.
Break Blade – I watched the first 2 movies and liked them, but just kind of forgot about it. Now I can rectify that folly… I guess.
Kanojo ga Flag o Oraretara – My trashy fanservice harem show for the season.
Mangaka-san to Assistant-san to – Hayamin❤ I have no choice, it is my destiny to watch this.
Black Bullet – The only real complaint I have for this from my experience with the manga is that the developments in vol. 1 in the light novel feel like things that usually come up later. In other words, not a big deal at all. Let’s go!
Soul Eater Not! – Hayamin❤ I should probably finish the original series though, even with all its deviations.
No Game No Life – Sex in visualized form. Those visuals are glorious, thank you Madhouse.
Date a Live II – My not-so-trashy(?) harem fanservice show of the season.
Mekaku City Actors – Listened to the songs, haven’t read any of the other stuff. I love you Jin, but I’m kind of skeptical that this will be all that good.
M3: Sono Kuroki Hagane – Kawamori and Okada again huh? Challenge accepted.
And then there’s Mushishi. I wanna watch it, but I have to go back and watch season 1 first. Soredemo, Nanana and Sidonia no Kishi are on my will watch if I have time list and that preview for Isshuukan Friends. made me want to try it.
So what, that’s like 18 shows on the will/might watch list? FML, I’ve been wanting to cut down too.
I find this season quite lackluster as compared to the Winter selection, but I AM excited for Mekakushi Dan. Also, Atelieeeeeer! :DDD Also adding Isshuukan Friends, Black Bullet, No Game No Life and M3: Sono Kuroki Hagane to my 5-episode rule because they sound awesome, but I’m practicing the rule of cautionary addictions. Whoops.
Not surprised to see Mahou Koukou no Rettousei dominating the spot for most anticipated anime of the year, but you know what would be nice? A THIRD SEASON OF CHIHAYAFURU. (I say this every season, le sigh).
Man I was just starting to move on from chihaya and now you go bringing it back to forefront of my thoughts. I needs a season 3 too.
Stardust Crusaders isn’t even making this season fair. It’s in a league of its own.
Literally the only things I care for this season are Soul Eater NOT!, DATE A LIVE II, Break Blade because I never saw past the first OVA, and the new PRetty Rhythm series. Aside from that I’ll await your reviews of shows before deciding on what to watch.
Holy hell this season is looking rather good. Gonna have to try a lot of these out.
Also I’m gonna wait on baby steps, I’m kinda afraid of it’s adaptation, it really deserves a longer run though.
A last my struggle with short adaptations continue, I end up loving them but when they only cover 1/4 or half the material you just know you are in disappointment for cliffhanger ending and if sales are low and no season 2 it just kinda feels like a waste of time, but I still love them.
Mushishi? TT_TT <- Tears of Happiness
The first Mushishi was what you'll call a TRUE Mystery-Fantasy anime that DOESN'T need ACTION to be breath-takingly awesome.
A few corrections I want to make here for Black Bullet (having read the manga and discussed about the original Light Novel from an anime site, spoilers):
Show Spoiler ▼
Must watch :
1) Jojo
2) Mushishi
3) Sidonia no Kishi
4) Isshuukan Friends
Will give it a try :
1) Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei
2) Black Bullet
3) Hitsugihime no Chaika
4) Gokukoku no Brynhildr
5) Soredemo wo Utsukushii
6) Kamigami no Asobi
7) Captain Earth
8) Haikyuu!
9) Baby Steps
10)Ping Pong
Still undecided :
1) Ryuugajou Nanananananana
2) Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou
3) No Game no Life
4) Hentai Robo Daimidaler
5) M3 Sono Kuroki Hagane
6) Okada Infected Wixoss
7) Soul Eater Moe
8) Horny Mangaka tries to lay his assistant
9) Mekaku City Actors
What a great change of pace for the anime set this season! I didn’t expect to have that much sci-fi anime and that was a big surprise. Can’t wait to watch those sci-fi’s!
I just hope they would cover much of Mahouka and Black Bullet’s LNs. I enjoyed the LNs so much and right now, my expectations for them are really high. ^_^ Hopefully, we won’t get disappointed with the anime version. Awww! And Fairy Tail’s finally coming back! I though they’re gonna make us wait more!
Great season! Goodluck RC for this season! Will be looking forward to the reviews soon! ^_^
well, looks like i am doing mostly mecha again this season, just like last year. definitely picking up captain earth and break blade )since i like the six movies). just a question on the break blade preview: all of those were scenes from the movies right? so they have yet to show us sceens from actual series?
M3: sono kuroki hagane has mecha and high school kids (lots of them), and Mari Okada is holding the pen? this is definitely going to be fun. same way as Wixoss, that one also looks fun (by the Okada definition of the word, that is 😉 ).
now for the non-mecha, will probably be picking up brynhildr, mahouka, and chaika.
JOJO
Mushishi 2nd Season
Ping Pong
Kishi no Sidonia
Nothing else worth mentioning.
I got a feeling none of the Randomc writers have watched/read Tenkonkinkreet and The Tatami Galaxy to at least reconsider their judgment of Ping Pong.
It’s arguably one of the most high-profile series of the season if not the year and yet it’s put at a bracket far below that of some anime from the Star Driver’s bracket.
I guess you’ll see its brilliance yourself.
I think I’m hopeful for Gochuumon Wa Usagi Desu Ka? The scriptwriter attached to this is pretty good one. As for Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei, it will hit the mass popularity like SAO, AOT and GC did, I suspect.
I’m glad that Mahouka koukou no reitousei will have 26 episodes. Volume 9 is a great place to stop at. Plus we finally get to see
Show Spoiler ▼
I just Hope Randomc make all the post and of course screenshots of all these animes =)) My habit is before I watch I always take a look at Randomc screenshots and description Hehehe I expect a lot from you Randomc (◕ω＜)
Dang, this is going to be a weird season. Not very many anime jump out at me yet. A few do, but that’s because I know the source material pretty well. But that doesn’t mean that the studio can’t screw it all up to hell, so I’m tempering my excitement.
GaWoRare could be really REALLY good, if they can pull off what the original material pulls off… or it could be a mess that’s too rushed or with gaping holes in the material. Don’t let CuteG’s designs fool you. There is depth under there, but whether the studio can pull it off? Who knows?
Rettousei will be polarizing. (And water is wet, and the sun is hot.) I enjoy it, but I know some of you will downright loathe it, because it will remind you of another anime. (Can’t say more than that without spoiling.) I’d say just kick back and enjoy it, cuz it’s fun, like eating a bag of potato chips is fun.
Isshukan Friends… I want to watch it, but I know it will break my heart every week. So conflicted. Screw it. I’ll go to Costco and get ALL THE KLEENEX.
Dragonar is cookie-cutter. Might be great, might not. Depends on execution.
Same for Chaika. Another series that could go either way. Fingers crossed, soul tempered for disappointment.
Soul Eater NOT– really looking forward to this.
But… nothing really jumps out at me this season, so I’ll wind up watching damn near everything and whittling it all down as I get surprised by some shows, and disappointed by others.
Just like every season. XD
So excited for P3 movie more than anything right now. I’m gonna have a blast watching this for sure, guess I’ll have to prepare myself for some BABY BABY..
Captain Earth, Mushishi, Love Live and Atelier Escha & Logy for shows I’ll be surely following. Dang that’s not much.
I actually wonder how deeply will the P3 movie dive into the universe itself and if the writers behind the movie intended the movie for the masses or alternately its for the fans only. Then again, given the sheer number of P3 products out already, I doubt this requires too much of an introduction.
Besides for the obvious one this season, I will be looking forward to Chaika, Break Blade, and Black Bullet, though I’ll likely give many others on this list a stab. (Can’t remember the last time a season was slated for 40+ shows.)
GOD DAMN YOU STILTS!
While I am proud to say that I am one of your faithful followers and I will most likely watch what you watch, where is your damn moderation?! You watch way too much anime! which means that I’m about to watch way too much anime!
MY FREE TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!
*SOB*
Somebody stop me, I’m out of control T_T
OMG!!! Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii!!!
I can’t believe this is getting animated! I thought it’s one of those series that is somehow overlooked by everyone…
Sigh…more moe crap (with ‘high expectations’ no less)
Thank goodness JOJO IS BACK FUCKERS
That and Ping Pong. Seriously, it’s time to break the mold for character designs mangakas…
volleyball be where it at, right? looks to be a great season for sports anime. i can’t wait.
> shows based off of MMORPG worlds have been a huge hit recently
Errm, Nope. Those are shows based off novels based off of MMORPG, shows based directly off MMORPG have been far from hits (i.e. Ixion Saga, although I’ve enjoyed that one, was quite far from commercial success)
Come on J.C.Staff, Where’s my third season of Index?! D:<
But yes, lots of interesting new anime to check out for this season.
JOJO THOUGH, NEXT FRIDAY
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAa
There was this small magazine clipping about how JC announced there will be no more Raildex animes for now.
I guess is because of budget.
Is it just me or RC almost put all hyped anime that can be called mainstream as moderate expectations
Anyway, Captain Earth is the one I’m looking forward to the most
When you have extremely hyped series, there’s a tendency to end up also with a fair amount of people at the other end of the spectrum. For shows such as Mahouka (I’m assuming you’re talking about this), this polarization has been readily apparent in many venues, and when doing expectations one has to take that account. Averaging both sides of the spectrum gives you the middle, which is moderate.
By that same token, the polarization (pre-airing) on, say, Kill la Kill wasn’t as extreme, and it did receive a high expectation rating due to a combination of it being an original and the staff behind it.
fallacious argument. polarisation occurs yes, but if a majority have high expectations and a minority are at the other pole, you would have to weigh them accordingly.
e.g. 70% high expectation + 30% low expectations =/= moderate expectations.
personally i don’t care much for mahouka, but your reasoning is flawed.
The question is how exactly do you know how many people are at one pole versus another and how you can argue for sure that people that love the series love it more than those who dislike it. You can point to the sales numbers, but those don’t necessarily reflect anything in regards to this.
With that said, you’re essentially saying that it should’ve gotten a Moderately High, which was considered as a potential designation for the series. Ultimately the three of us ended up agreeing on Moderate, so there’s not only one reason why it ended up that way. There’s the general content we looked at, among other things.
Maybe Moderate will end up under-rating the show (which would be fine), but at least personally, I’d rather lean somewhat safer in terms of expectations when caught between two categories as well, as it’ll be more accurate in terms of “at least” how the general audience may feel.
You can have your own opinion for how you’d want to put it and that’s fine.
There was only one intent here with my two replies, and it’s to give some insight into some of the reasons that went into its designation and nothing else. I’m not going to enter into an argument about “flawed reasoning” or “fallacious presentation.”
In the end, the one category difference won’t make much of a difference anyway. If the show really is as great as a portion of the audience feels it is, it’ll get the recognition it deserves before it’s all said and done. For now though, the intent (at least mine) is to tell viewers that this series in particular is something they may either quite love or hate with a passion before it’s over, so one should go in with moderate expectations to ensure you don’t let the hype skewer your impressions before hand (a recipe for disappointment that’s happened with many hyped series before).
Yeah, I think it’s better to underrate something initially than to overrate it. If you underrate it, people afterwards will say you guys f-ed up your initial rating, but word of mouth/reviews will cause people to go watch it if it’s actually good. If you overrate it, people who may have otherwise enjoyed something end up feeling disappointed that it didn’t meet expectations. That doesn’t mean go in with low expectations for everything, but, especially in cases with a lot of hype, moderate would probably be a good expectation level, so that the hype/backlash doesn’t affect your perception/enjoyment of the show as much.
Hyped that Gundam Unicorn 7 is finally almost here.
Thank goodness for the AT-X channel!
Mangaka to Assistant may be the only one I’m genuinely interested in.
So many shows to look forward to this coming season, time to buy another drive to store them in.
Wheee…So much (mecha shows) to watch this season…yet so many undecided…
The Carryover:
Nobunaga the Fool – o boy…the only one to continue after the winter season for me
The Garranteed:
Sidonia no Kishi – the manga was good, this should be just as so (or better).
Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn OVA 7 – Normally OVAs not even here but THIS IS GUNDAMUC!!!!!!11
The 3 EP-Hops:
Break Blade – Just for the chance that it would not deviate from the manga this time around.
Isshuukan Friends – The slice of life for the season?
Black Bullet – Hmm…so the girl’s the MC while the boy’s the support (in fights)? Okay, count me interested.
Captain Earth – It’s Star Driver staff production, instant 3-ep try just for art alone
Selector Infected WIXOSS – feels similar to a certain mahou shoujo series by SHAFT…without the surprise 3rd ep.
The Top of the Fence (watching RC for reactions):
Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii – It SOUNDS like a nice script TBH…
M3: Sono Kuroki Hagane – so little to go by…might not be on the list at all if that’s any indication.
Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei – might give it a shot despite it being over-hyped with commercials. MIGHT.
Kenzen Robo Daimidaler – the written premise reminds me of some other (non-mechanized) manga series with similar energy requirements, and it’s not a good thing…
Fuuun Ishin Dai Shougun – Can’t say if it’s a good thing that I don’t judge a series by who’s directing the series…
After watching the 2/3 of the long trailers for Isshuukan Friends, I HAVE to move it up to garranteed as the exception…(oh WHY did I not watch those 2 trailers beforehand??)
Step #1: Check RandomC for previews.
Step #2: See new season of Mushishi.
Step #3: ALL HAIL THE GREAT SPIRITS!!!!! \(≧∀≦\)(ﾉ≧∀≦)ﾉ
So…why did nobody cover Jojo Bizarre: Battle tendency?
part1 Phantom blood, may understand for the lack of interest but part 2 was like diamonds.
I’m also surprised a small percentage is hyped for Jojo part 3.
It’s because in order to discourage continuous dropping/picking up of shows and to keep overall consistency in terms of posts, it’s been site policy not to pick up series past a certain point of its airing. By the time it was considered for pickup, it passed that point already.
Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei Expectation Level: Moderate… I was like wtf
This serie aint freaking hyped its just that good… you people clearly have not read the all translated novels. Its highly rated on Manga-Updates and for good reason.
https://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=75426
https://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=71967
I would say to people that are reading don’t think this is gonna be a moderate serie because it aint.
If there some cons it would the following:
– A lot of the cast is introduce in the beginning.
– To mutch information or unnecessary information
It’s the SAO effect. When so many people are bouncing that the show is finally animated, there’s a significant group of detractors who just HAVE to dump on it, no matter what. No point in losing gray hairs over it. It’s just the way it is.
Cause RC staff are fags that is all.
Revassin: I don’t speak for everyone when I say this but I don’t think it’s fair to judge EVERYONE on RC as “you people” based on one writer’s opinion =S Just because one person didn’t think it was their cup of tea, doesn’t mean that you (or everyone else here) will or will not like it. Our expectation rating or the “level of hype” that we have varies for each person depending on the show. I haven’t read the source material for Mahouka but my personal anticipation level for it is still high. I think a show that is “hyped up” must be hyped up for a reason and I’ll leave it as fair game.
Mentar: I think I’m the ONLY writer on RC that didn’t hate SAO o_O I don’t care if it’s over/under-hyped or if it’s too mainstream for some folks, I thought it was good. Better than most anime I saw that year and well worthy of any high and mighty rating that it’s gotten. That said, I agree that some people will not like it for whatever reason (legitimate or not) and then form their own bandwagon. I also think those people tend to be very vocal and then you get into huge debates about whether or not it’s “actually good”. Speaking only for myself – I am not like that and I will admit that I like it and when it comes up next season, I might be the only writer that cares to blog it.
Akki: Right. That is exactly why we pour hours doing this. And where is your non-faggish preview? o_O
That phenomenon has been around long before SAO got animated, that’s just the most recent prominent example.
I would temper expectations, because if something is hyped and people expect the “Best Anime Ever”, EVERY little (or not so little) flaw will be called out and pointed to as why the show sucks. That leads to people saying that the source material itself sucks, and that anyone who actually likes it lacks a brain/doesn’t know true art/has no taste/is the reason for the downfall of anime/whatever else trolls like to say about a fandom. Even if the show ends up as good rather than transcendent, you will get these kinds of reactions from people whose expectations were too high.
As a reader of the source LN, I am excited to see the adaptation of MKnR, but I’m not expecting it to perfectly capture everything from the source. And if the adaptation turns out like, say, the several failed attempts for Negima, doesn’t mean the source itself is bad, but that anyone interested in the story will have to settle for the source material and no animated format.
Original novels are good. My expectations for the anime are actually “low” or “very low”, due to extreme dependence of the original on exposition via narration that transfers very badly into other media.
@Revassin – You’re free to feel what you wish about the series, but all things considered, there are people that could (and seem to) feel just as strongly in the opposite direction. As mentioned above in a previous reply to another commenter, this expectation level takes into account this fact and the notion that while many people may love it, there are people that dislike it just as much.
That said, you’ll notice I said those exact cons in my preview for it, and the thing is that people will undoubtedly feel that detracts a lot from the experience.
Either way, the point of moderate is to make it so people go in with tempered expectations so that they don’t let the hype skewer their expectations and impressions. If it’s as good as it is hyped, people’s impressions will quickly change on its own.
Complaining that something is rated too high or too low in the expectations department is a complete waste of time. So they have their reserves about the series before it airs, so what? If I knew nothing about the series and looked up random facts about it like power levels, character relations and such, I’d come in with tempered expectations too. If the series starts airing and they’re still ragging on it, saying things like it’s horrible and the author sucks, then you can start going at them.
The way you did it reflects badly on the fanbase. Take a look at what Daikama did up near the top with giving examples of why he thinks it’s a good series and is worthy of high expectations. Granted, he can only speak for himself but that’s a much better approach than “Why you no rank high? Look at all these other people who like it with me. Y’all be trippin’.”
It’s sad to admit but nothing this coming season really jumps out to me. I’ll probably just take care of my backlog this season and wait for summer, unless there is really big word-of-mouth for something.
Uhh… Stilts? Love Live is not a shameless promotional vehicle for the real idol group μ’s. Love Live is a shameless promotional vehicle for the FICTIONAL idol group μ’s owned by Lantis and Sunrise. It was already an established multi-media franchise before the anime. Specifically, music videos that fans get to vote what the girls wear and who gets to be the center of the music video. The anime was just the next step. You need to do more research on exploitative Otaku marketing!
On the acutal list, I’m actually glad to see that this season has more then enough of my favorite anime genre: Giant Robots. Just this season we have Captain Earth, Fuuun Ishin Dai Shougun, Break Blade Sidonia and maybe M3. Even Kenzen Robo Daimidaler seems like it fits for being really ridiculous.
And of course there’s Akuma no Riddle which is enough to fill my /u/ fix.
I’m a little bummed that of all the games the Atelier Franchise had to adapt, it had to be Escha & Logy. I always wanted an anime of the Arland trilogy.
What to watch? DAL II is the must to watch. Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou seem like interesting. Mangaka-san to Assitant-san is also the must to watch too. I choose 8 animes for Spring and only 3 animes are confirm (as mentioned above). I will try to watch other 5 animes first before I decided to continue or to stop watching.
I can hardly believe the Yuasa/Matsumoto combo garners only moderate expectations from this site.
Still no Kancolle anime.
Who cares, it’s just another generic Strike Witches ripoff.
@Cybersteel: It airs next season (Summer) So far, I’ve seen anime character designs for Fubuki, Kaga and Akagi. I’ve read that the story will center around Fubuki, but NOT certain if that is true.
za warudo! cant wait to see DIO.
I can’t wait for the power of Muda!
MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA.
I was kind of annoyed that there were no originals I liked. That all the shows I’m interested in are LNs/mangas I’ve read or currently following. But thankfully the very last show M3: Sono Kuroki Hagane look awesome as a story I’m not familiar with.
Others I’ll be following.
Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei – Never could get into the LN because the info dumps felt too boring.
Gokukoku no Brynhildr – I’m kind of dreading and anticipating this at the same time. It really is an Elfen Leid clone. A combination of depression and violence and generally just make you sad and angry… yet somehow appealing
Break Blade
Black Bullet
Hitsugi no Chaika
Can’t wait for Captain Earth. Any show including “a killing machine from uranus” is worth watching.
Seems like im only excited for LoveLive!s2 here…and few got my attentions such as Ishuukan Friends. And the rest is fairly new to me, so i’ll leave that in your care o’ writers-tachi for some great First Impressions and Reviews ^^
MEKAKU CITY ACTORS!
Fanboy since the first video on NicoNicoDouga (Artifical Enemy) from the Kagerou-Project. x3
Thanks guys for the useful preview, it’s hard to know heads from toes with this many anime series out every season, your previews really help me pick which shows to pick up and which to completely ignore, saves a lot of time 😉
It’s also worth noting that adding the video previews help a lot get a better idea about the series, it’s always a welcome plus.
Now time to list my favs so far (and the “try the first 3 episodes” rule applies):-
[[The “No brainers” category]]
-JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders
-Captain Earth
-Sidonia no Kishi
-Break Blade
-Shingeki no Kyojin OVA
-Sakasama no Patema
-Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn OVA
[[The “Seems interesting, count me in” category]]
-No Game No Life
-Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii
-Baby Steps
-Fuuun Ishin Dai Shougun
-Escha & Logy no Atelier: Tasogare no Sora no Renkinjutsushi
-Ping Pong THE ANIMATION
-Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin
-M3: Sono Kuroki Hagane
[[“Not sure if i like it but will give it a chance” category]]
-Mekaku City Actors
-Selector Infected WIXOSS
-Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo Returns
-Kenzen Robo Daimidaler/Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei
-Blade and Soul
-Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou
And for those wondering why Mushishi’s 2nd season isn’t on the list .. ahm .. i’m one of the anime fans guilty of not watching it yet, plan to fix that soon by watching the first season then catching up to the 2nd.
i wonder what good romcom anime will be left behind for review, because another “high expect” shitty anime serie.
There are 18 series this season I want to at least watch one episode of… That’s a whole lot of lacking a life.
i think i give “Sidonia no Kishi” a try. The design of the Anime reminds me of “Killer is Dead” and a bit of “Akira”, and for me it is not a Bad thing.
As always i give all new Animes the first 3 Episodes to get hooked
sorry, made a Mind Typo. i mean “Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio” not “Akira”. Perhaps the next Step of Drawing Art in Animes is about to begin. Do we see the Birth of a New Era?
All Saori Hayami, All Hime Cut and upper class, all the time. Can anime handle that much refinement and overbearing personality? Guess we’ll find out. You really can pretty much tell when she’s probably going to be voicing a character just by looking at the design and vice versa though. Just look for the girl with long black hair or barring that whichever character looks smug as hell in the key art.
Anyway yeah seasons looks pretty promising, particularly after that awful Winter one.
Straw Poll – do people watch the embedded promo videos in these previews?
I usually completely ignore them, but am curious if other people watch them..
Personally I like to go in blind and not watch any PVs, even if I already know about the anime from having read its source material.
If the preview sounds interesting and I may want to watch the anime, then yes, I do check out their PV as well.
I do watch them if i like the show’s description and plan on watching it or checking it out.
If the written review’s good, I’d watch the vids for confirmation. Though there are shows that I went straight to the embedded vids or plain skipped after reading description OR I already saw it on youtube (note: I don’t just look @ preview from here).
I do watch them, too. To see if the Anime can “lite my Fire!”
Here are some of my impressions on the upcoming season.
Blade and Soul – Gonzo still makes anime?
Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou – Tired premise but the animation looks good so I will give this one a shot.
Akuma no Riddle – A yuri, psychological horror show… sign me up.
Selector Infected WIXOSS – Another dark, psychological show that displays some promise.
Seikoku no Dragonar – I love fantasy/magic anime but this one looks way too fan servicey.
Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei – Hard to get a good read on this show but it is has a strong animation studio (Madhouse) and is based on light novels.
Captain Earth – I don’t like mecha shows, but this show has great animation and great music in the promo videos.
Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii – This one looks more like my type of series.
Gokukoku no Brynhildr – Might be worth a look, though I am not sold by the preview videos.
Isshuukan Friends – Sounds like 50 First Dates the shoujo anime version. I am very much looking forward to this show. In fact it might be #1 on my preseason list.
Kanojo ga Flag o Oraretara – This might be worth watching for a few episodes, though a lot will depend on the execution.
Mangaka-san to Assistant-san to – I don’t have a great track record with fan servicey gag anime.
Black Bullet – The show has some promise so hopefully it ends up on Crunchyroll.
Soul Eater Not! – The only sequel I plan to watch next season, at least till I finish season 1 of Mushishi and the OVA.
No Game No Life – As I stated above this one sounds like Problem Children.
Hitsugi no Chaika – Another Bones show because they decided to fill every time slot this season. This show is high on my watchlist.
Fuuun Ishin Dai Shougun – After Nobunaga the Fool I am done with historical period mecha anime.
Escha & Logy no Atelier: Tasogare no Sora no Renkinjutsushi – I assume this one is targeted at people familiar with Atlier games like Kilo and Sojiro.
Gochuumon wa Usagi Desuka? – I need a break from 4koma anime and this one doesn’t offer anything new.
Ping Pong THE ANIMATION – This looks strange.
Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin – The Noitamina show I am looking forward to watching.
Sidonia no Kishi – I am divided on this show but I may give it a try.
Mekaku City Actors – I wish they had an actual PV for this show. I can’t get a good read on this show at this point.
M3: Sono Kuroki Hagane – This show has the best staff with Satelight, Junichi Sato, Shoji Kawamori and Mari Okada.
Didn’t fairy tail go on break due to the whole Lucy voice actress sex scandal not because they were waiting for more source material?
This might just be me not knowing much, but isn’t NHK a broadcasting station? Why is it listed as the animation studio for Brynhildr and Baby Steps?
Fixed. Seems like some editing didn’t save when porting over the post. O_o
In the end I’m looking forward to Soul Eater NOT, if only because it could lead to that hoped Soul Eater: Brotherhood mentioned. If this spinoff can do well then it shows people are still interested in the series and that could be enough to fire things up. I’d love to see more Soul Eater because obviously some amazing moments came after they diverged from the source material.
Looking forward to Baby Steps. Went through all those emotions when hearing about its adaptation. Here’s hoping it turns out to be great because this is definitely a great source material they are coming from.
This is looking to be a strong season. Which is good since it seems like almost every anime aside form the long running franchises are ending going into it.
Thanks for the preview guys! There looks to be a lot of potential for Sci-Fi this season. I’m looking forward to:
Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou
Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei
Captain Earth
Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii
Haikyuu!!
Baby Steps
Isshuukan Friends
Black Bullet
Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin
Mekaku City Actors
Not listing the new Yu-Gi-Oh! series almost made me forget about it.
aaaahhhh 11 shows I’m interested in. This season will kill me
Kagerou project, kagerou project, kagerou project anime Mekakucity actors!
It’s one of those series you can’t really describe well without going into tons of spoilers, but the current canon, stretched across music videos, light novels and the manga is much more layered and complex than a spoiler free description can suggest. The whole series is a puzzle and I’m really glad Shaft picked it up.
There’s a lot of interesting shows there….
Been waiting for this for like ages (or rather a few weeks), thanks anyways…
Finally some better offerings than the last season but i still have a feeling that it lacks something big and stellar… 🙁
here are my picks though,
1. Isshuukan Friends
2. Sidonia no Kishi
3. M3: Sono Kuroki Hagane
4. Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou
5. Captain Earth
6. Gokukoku no Brynhildr
7. Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei
8. Selector Infected WIXOSSTop
There are quite a few hidden gems this time around. Still a lot of generic stuff (of all genres), but I guess their demographics have to be pandered to somehow, and in the end, it does fund the rest indirectly through the anime industry as a whole, so I guess its all good.
-> Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo Returns. If anything, dectective conan is a sub-par version of this show. I grew up on this manga and I grew up watching the J-drama/movies adapted from it.
Haikyuu!! is lovely for ppl who wanna watch sports. no super powerup in this series.
Is Mushishi a series where I need to watch the previous installment before watching the sequel?
Kind of pain in the ass to marathon 26-episode series just to watch the sequel…
I left my thoughts a couple posts down. Tl;dr no, you don’t have to.
Hmm, how to say that, simply put .. you don’t have to watch the first season but you should .. not just becasue it’s pretty damn good but becasue it is going to make you understand and appreciate the world of Mushishi much more.
And you don’t have to marathon it in a day or something .. the new season will air one episode per week so in between every two new episodes you can watch 3 or 4 episodes of the older season.
my oni-chan instinct called me to watch this show
Is it just me or does each season seem to get more shows added to the list over all for the past two years in terms of slots. >_<
Sidonia no Kishi and Mushishi will be the shows I’m watching until further approval from the contributors here convinces me I need to expand. @Kanade_ if you see this: Because of its episodic nature you don’t need to watch the previous ones probably, but they are incredibly great, atmospheric folk-ghost story type tales which are reminiscent of Tohno Monogatari or other collections of supernatural folk stories, and are incredibly enjoyable imho.
Gokukoku no Brynhildr: I hope this Kuroneko will win, Show Spoiler ▼
another certain Kuroneko.
Don´t jinx it dude! But to be fair I´m a Kazumi fan myself. XD
Can’t believe their actually making a second season of Mushishi! Regardless of how bad the other shows may turn out to be, Mushishi alone makes this season a good one as far as I’m concerned.
Any news on the anime Tokyo Ghoul by Studio Pierrot? Last time I heard it it’s one month ago with the first PV. I thought it was one of the spring animes.
From what I’m seeing it’s since been moved to July (Summer).
Thank you for the update!
FYI, for those interested in Mahouka Koukou, three very short introduction specials (“Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei – Yoku wakaru mahouka!”) released on the official web site are now English subbed and available. In the specials (about 3 min. long), chibi versions of the characters give simple explanations for background info such as what is magic/magic highschool and a little of the world’s history.
You can get them at the usual places.
oooh they finally subbed those? It’s a good thing because I’m pretty sure that’s how a lot of the info dumping is going to be handled.
I wasn’t too fond of how Hayamin voiced Miyuki in that though (*gasp* blasphemy). It’s like they tried to make her match her voice to the image of the chibi character ’cause it doesn’t sound much like her voice in the previews.
I’m praying for Yato to show up in Kamigami no Asobi myself.⊂(・▽・)⊃
Now he’ll be able to enjoy high school life with his fellow gods!!
I dont know, but Blade and Soul Anime Art feels not harmonized into Animes. Dunno, perhaps it is the Art of drawing Faces. They are not “Nippon” style
because it is not a ‘nippon’ game
Heee… At first I was disappointed by the lineup in the top half of the list, but looks like there’s a lot of promising ones.. That sure is a LOT of anime..
Anime I’ll be following because they’re sequels to the ones I watch:
1. Date a Live II
2. Break Blade (well remake)
3. Kiniro no Chord: Blue Sky
4. Mushishi Zoku Shou
5. Love Live! Season 2
Anime I’ll be following because of the original source:
1. Mekaku City Actors
2. Escha & Logy no Atelier: Tasogare no Sora no Renkinjutsushi
3. No Game No Life
4. Kanojo ga Flag o Oraretara
5. Mangaka-san to Assistant-san to
6. Black Bullet
7. Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii
8. Gokukoku no Brynhildr
9. Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei
10. Seikoku no Dragonar
And finally, just because out of interest..
1. Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou – If it’s anything like Sakurasou, I’m in
2. Blade and Soul – hoping for RO-style too. Not many good fantasy in the recent years.
3. Akuma no Riddle – Will have to steel my heart but I’ll take peeks once in a while
4. Selector Infected WIXOSS – Madoka version of Fantasista Doll? Will steel my heart too
5. Captain Earth – just because it’s BONES?
6. Isshuukan Friends – reminds me of mangas where there are guys/girls that lose their memory 7. every day – just like 50 First Dates
8. Soul Eater Not! – again, BONES
9. Hitsugi no Chaika – again, BONES
10. Fuuun Ishin Dai Shougun – Nobunaga the Fool vibes
11. Gochuumon wa Usagi Desuka? – Looking for something GJ-bu like, hopefully this one is
12. Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin – Interesting premise, low expectations though
13. Sidonia no Kishi – 3D CG looks interesting, worth a try
14. Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san – just for the short cuteness?
15. M3: Sono Kuroki Hagan – can’t resist dark sci fi like Psycho Pass or Hamatora even though I get scared easily
The number of anime seriously surprised me. I was all frown in the first half and was smiling on the second half. That sure is a LOT of adaptations though for this season.
As always – thanks for your your work you put in this preview! ^_^
Harder to choose what to watch compared to last season.
Wished I didn’t read Brynhildr’s preview and clicked the PV, cause now I’m really interested in that show. Decisions, decisions…
Are you guys sure on the Captain Earth time? I saw it at 01:58 on April 5th, which means it’ll likely be a Friday release in the west.
Can you blog Bokura no Kiseki? It’s a bimonthly manga Comic Zero Sum Zōkan Ward.
From what I see this season is going to be a pleasant pain to figure out which shows to watch and which not.
There are plenty that look worth giving a shot, since they seem to have quite some potential.
The only 2 shows I got my eye on at the moment are:
Kindaichi R – I love mysteries!
Captain Earth – I love mecha!
Anyway I still have a lot of backlog to finish up, current season and last season.
Quite a few mecha anime in the coming season which I might pick up later on.
And Random Curiosity will be great reference for what is interesting!
Looking forward to another season of anime blogging from you guys!
Only shows that catch my attention are
Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei
Sidonia no Kishi
Will give it a try.
Black bullet
Break Blade
The rest look pretty MEH.
I can’t believe Date A Live II is that high in readers’ votes. Hooray for Tohka!!
Isshuukan Friends Isshuukan Friends Isshuukan Friends Isshuukan Friends Isshuukan Friends Isshuukan Friends Isshuukan Friends Isshuukan Friends Isshuukan Friends Isshuukan Friends Isshuukan Friends Isshuukan Friends Isshuukan Friends Isshuukan Friends Isshuukan Friends Isshuukan Friends Isshuukan Friends Isshuukan Friends Isshuukan Friends Isshuukan Friends Isshuukan Friends Isshuukan Friends.
😐
Well, I never commit to anything on the front, so instead here’s the ones I’ll be checking out; since I only started watching anime last spring, most of the sequels won’t be on this list, since I don’t have the time to go back and watch them. That could always change for Love Live and Date A Live, though.
Blade and Soul
Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou
Akuma no Riddle
Selector Infected WIXOSS
Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo Returns
Seikoku no Dragonar
Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei
Captain Earth
Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii
Abarenbou Rikishi!! Matsutarou
Haikyuu!!
Baby Steps
Gokukoku no Brynhildr
Break Blade
Isshuukan Friends.
Kanojo ga Flag o Oraretara
Mangaka-san to Assistant-san to
Mahou Shoujo Taisen
Soul Eater Not!
No Game No Life
Hitsugi no Chaika
Fuuun Ishin Dai Shougun
Escha & Logy no Atelier: Tasogare no Sora no Renkinjutsushi
Gochuumon wa Usagi Desuka
Ping Pong THE ANIMATION
Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin
Sidonia no Kishi
Mekaku City Actors
Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san
M3: Sono Kuroki Hagane
So, there’s about 30 there. Luckily I only have a handful of roll-overs this time (Ace of Diamond, Yowamushi Pedal, Nobunaga da Fool, Buddy Complex(?)… I think that’s it) so I could end up picking up all of these, since I can manage about 35 shows a season.
I heard from a Danish friend that Encouragement of Climb (a short from last year) and Puchimas! Idolm@ster were getting sequels – can anyone comfirm this? And if so, do you know when?
What, no Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V? That starts on 4/6
so I get not listing Yu-gi-oh because its aimed at kids in japan…same with Majin Bones…but then why is Cardfight Vanguard even on this list then? Shame because on a TCG-standpoint Yugioh is actually making a comeback.
Going all in on No Game No Life. And yes, the source is somewhat similar to Mondaiji (NGNL is better written but slightly less fun).
man…slim pickings…………and seriously FAIRY TAIL!?!?! FAIRY TAIL????????!!!!!!! Who the eff watches that?! i know i sound like a asshat for saying that, cuz everybody is free to like what they like….BUT COME ON MAN? ………….Fairy TAIL???…..its just terrible
LOVE LIVE!!!
LOVE LIVE!!!
LOVE LIVE!!!
LOVE LIVE!!!
LOVE LIVE!!!
LOVE LIVE!!!
LOVE LIVE!!!
LOVE LIVE!!!
Yo, it looks like no one’s mentioned this:
1. Sidonia no Kishi is by Tsutomu Nihei, the guy who created BLAME! and Biomega.
2. Mangaka-san to Assistant-san to is by Gogi Power Hiroyuki. He’s the guy responsible for Doujin Work, “a cat is fine too”, “p0n0s” and “vag00”, and “J-J-JAM IT IN”.
FYI.
I have no idea what I should watch…..besides like Soul Eater Not! and Fairy Tale. T_T
This season comes with interesting choice, not as exiting as Fall but will do great. Here is my must watch list:
1.-Date A Live II
2.-Gokukoku no Brynhildr
3.-Hitsugi no Chaika
4.-Black Bullet
5.-No Game No Life
6.-Isshukan Friends
7.-Sekoku no Dragonar
8.-Captain Earth
9.-Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii
10.-Kanojo ga Flag o Oreratera
11.-Sidonia no kishi
12.-Kindaichi Shonen Jikenbo Returns
13.-Break Blade
14.-Mangaka-san to Assistant-san to
15.-Escha & Logy no Atelier: Tasogare no Sora no Renkinjutsushi
It´s a pity there aren´t many shows this season but this will do nicely. No Game No Life and Chaika have great potential in the fantasy department, Captain Earth most likely will be the spear head with the mecha and I have high hopes that Black bullet and Brynhildr will be the very best of this season.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gblr1QGyL4
Animated PV for Mekaku City Actors!
Now I’m even more hyped… xD
“Institutionalized nature of magic”, eh? I guess by that you mean the school setting.
My First Reaction to Gokukoku no Brynhildr:
Well, the OP Music is kinda out of Place for an Anime… This is more a Background music in a Movie Film. But not fitting the OP.. As if the Music is talking another Language as the Graphics we see… My Brain dont get the Music Vibes and Visual Vibe not in Sync..
Of course JoJo is a must. Same with the second season of Love Live. The first one was great.
For the new ones. Akuma no Riddle is the one that impressed me the most.
For the rest. Blade and Soul first episode was pretty ok. So maybe will be a keeper.
And Inugami, for the yuri. Five minutes of yuri is better than nothing.
PD: Gah… I already miss Sakura Trick.
I still prefer Brains Base’s character design for Natsume Yūjinchō.
Can you connect to https://ja.wikipedia.org instead of http://ja.wikipedia.org?
Ping Pong has been underappreciated.