Season Schedule / Series Introduction

Saturday

Yu☆Gi☆Oh!: Sevens
07:30 TXN (04/04)

Digimon Adventure:
09:00 Fuji TV (04/04)

Major 2nd (TV) 2nd Season
17:35 NHK (04/04)

Arte
22:00 BS Fuji (04/04)

Bungou to Alchemist: Shinpan no Haguruma
23:00 AT-X (04/04)

Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai? Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen
23:30 Tokyo MX (04/11)

Sword Art Online: Alicization – War of Underworld 2nd Season
24:00 Tokyo MX (04/25)

Gal to Kyouryuu
25:00 Tokyo MX/BS11 (04/04)

Otome Game no Hametsu Flag shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei shiteshimatta…
25:30 Tokyo MX (04/04)

Yesterday wo Utatte
25:30 AbemaTV (04/04)

Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. Kan
25:43 Prime (04/04)

Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen 2nd Season
26:10 ABC TV (04/04)

Legend:

 Not Covering

Now that every show has had a few episodes to make its case, it’s time to tell you what we’ll be blogging this season. This is Random Curiosity’s Spring 2020 blogging schedule.

As always, this is a tentative overview of our plans for the new season . . . is what we usually say, but this season, unfortunately, is a little different.

I don’t need to tell you about Corona-chan and everything it’s messing up. As if the economic devastation and literal loss of life weren’t bad enough, the anime industry has ground to a halt, as studios are unable to continue many spring shows. Our friends at MyAnimeList have compiled a running list of postponements due to COVID-19, which I encourage you to visit. I have not updated the schedule to remove the shows that are now postponed, because I, like many of the writers at RandomC, am suffering from a sudden loss of free time due to Corona-chan’s presence. Funny, since so many of us are stuck at home, but there it is.

For all of these reasons—series postponements, imperiled jobs, health scares, financial uncertainty, and every other uncertainty under the sun—we at RandomC will not be covering our usual raft of series this season. There aren’t that many to cover, frankly! We may use this time to push out alternative content, to help fill the gap and try something new. We might not be able to, though. Our writers are all working more, working in different ways, and in some cases, working to battle Corona-chan directly. We’ll do our best, as I know all of you are doing as well.

In times like these, the respite of anime is sorely needed, and it’s a minor tragedy that we’re deprived of even that. (And a major tragedy for those studios and animators who are facing financial crises as a result of the shutdowns.) I encourage everyone to stay home (as much as you can), stay safe, and stay healthy. Remember: this too shall pass, and as far as opportunities to do our civic duty go, “stay the hell at home and watch anime” isn’t too bad.

And who knows, maybe this is the opportunity we were all looking for to finally tackle that mammoth backlog every anime fan has, right? We can hope 🙂

Please join me in enjoying this season of anime—or whichever season each of us decides to go back and watch—in the way the people of RandomC always have: together, apart. The distance has never mattered before, so why should it now, eh?

Updates:

  • 5/11: MissSimplice just got a new job, congrats! But it means less time for blogging, so Zaiden is taking over Listeners while Guardian Enzo will be managing Yesterday wo Utatte. Teamwork!

31 Comments

  1. The most recent Shokugeki no Soma episode had animation so poor, one would even question why they even bothered to produce the season knowing Coronavirus was a thing. I don’t think I’ve ever watched an episode produced by J.C. Staff which looked so poor, almost as if the episode was produced by a few random people working together over the internet lol.

    Lyfe
    Reply

        1. Should be interesting to see if the state of emergency is extended beyond May 6. I think it probably will but these are the dates to be looking at to see how the upcoming anime season will play out. If things return to normal before July 2020 the Summer season should be OK.

          Lyfe
          Reply

  3. Yup, That Pandemic Gives a mass disrupt to this season, too many delays perhaps…
    I fear that those people are going to had a very hard time figuring out how to…solve this one. also i hope they gonna have a back up plan for those are still running this season… otherwise……UGH!

    Well…I wish them luck…

    Namaewoinai
    Reply

  6. A little surprised no one is planning to cover Fruits Basket given the quality of the story and that it is looking like it will not be postponed due to most of the episodes having already been completed. Otherwise I’m very happy with your selections and appreciate your taking time in the middle of everything to keep things going!

    NaweGR
    Reply

  8. Well, Enzo and Choya have me covered this season. While I really like the beginnings for Kami no Tou and Gleipnir, and BNA seems pretty good so far, nothing else has really appealed to me. Of the myriad sequels, I guess I was most interested in Yahari Ore but it doesn’t look like it’s coming any time soon. Thanks for keeping things going.

    Mockman
    Reply

    1. Which big stuff? This seasons big stuff imo is Kami no Tou (covered), Kaguya-sama (covered), SAO (delayed), Yahari Lovecom SNAFU (delayed). Only one missing is Fruits Basket, which I hope will still be covered, and not be delayed.

      Shrubbery
      Reply

  12. It is definitely time for the mammoth backlog! Though, we should all take it easy and not blitz our backlog (if that is even possible, looking at the length of mine: definitely impossible). Depending on how long this all will last, we might have no summer anime at all for instance, which would be an absolute shitty situation.

    Luckily there’s still a few excellent/good shows that will continue (for now), which I’m happy to see covered:
    -BNA
    -Kami no Tou
    -Yesterday wo Uttate

    Shrubbery
    Reply

    1. It may be because there’s always a risk of the series being delayed or put on hiatus because of the Covid-19 crisis. This is the sort of show you don’t really want to cover for a few episodes and then take a long forced break from. Ideally you need an uninterupted weekly flow of episodes to get in the mood.

      Lyfe
      Reply

  14. I seriously doubt that this is the reason. The show is still in its “episodic” phase. Other series are much better candidates for an “uninterrupted flow”. “It’s such a good show so we won’t cover it”? Also – there was already a long break between the 1st season and the 2nd.
    I agree with the other comments here though, it’s a pity it won’t be covered 🙁 It was my only reason to come back here… Well, can’t be helped.

    Lia
    Reply

  16. Well, I don’t mind delays, since that signifies the possibility of an anime still pushing through late within the season (or even the next). A stark contrast to “totally cancelled” where a long-planned premiere is axed. (Blame ANN referencing Saturday Night Live‘s “Space Olympics” skit/song in this article.) Still painful waiting for the premieres of OreGairu Kan and No Guns Life season 2, though (if they do premiere this season).

    Covered shows:
    – Kaguya-sama season 2 – Glad to see the fans having something to look forward to read on RC, even though I haven’t seen season 1 yet. (Yeah, I should get my arse in gear and marathon that already, but went for watching JJBA: Battle Tendency instead to remember the late Keiji Fujiwara–who voiced Pillar Man Esidisi in that arc. RIP.)

    Not covered:
    – Princess Connect! Re:Dive – Didn’t expect much, but threefour episodes in and…it’s actually entertaining. Helps that the director of KonoSuba is on board (and explains why Jun “Kazuma” Fukushima voices one of “those two guys”). Cheered when catgirl Kyaru finally said the meme-tastic “Yabai wa yo!” in episode 3, but Pecorine’s “Yabai desu ne!” and overall ditzy, big eater personality grew on me as well. And speaking of eating, having another food anime this season besides Shokugeki no Souma: Gou no Sara was unexpected.
    I can only wish the best of luck with Princess Connect! Re:Dive‘s anime adaptation, and hope that the COVID-19 pandemic won’t affect it too much.

    – Gundam Build Divers Re:Rise season 2 – Man, this pandemic already did a number on my already meager anime watch list for this season and even this got hit by delays, too. Not helped by the possibility that the “State of Emergency” status in Japan might extend beyond May 6.

    As for alternative content, perhaps a retrospective episode-by-episode look at an anime you’ve missed covering from previous seasons (that actually turned out to be good) might fill the gap if episodic releases for this season become sporadic. Though yeah, that may not be possible if some of RC’s contributors are also COVID-19 frontliners as well (from what I can infer from your posts). In which case… o7

    Stay safe and don’t exhaust yourselves–get rest when you can. And take hope that in the midst of all this death from this sickness, there are people who did recover.

    Incognito
    Reply

    1. Well, got some answers regarding OreGairu Kan, plus Go-Toubun no Hanayome season 2 (which didn’t premiere last season):
      – OreGairu Kan rescheduled for July
      – Go-Toubun no Hanayome season 2 moved to January 2021

      Hope I can get some news on No Guns Life season 2 as well, though with Japan’s State of Emergency extended to May 31, I wouldn’t be surprised if NGL s2 also gets moved to July. Yare yare…

      And for some good news to lighten the mood, here’s ANN’s list of anime productions this season that are complete/almost complete. I wonder if MAL also has a similar list/news article?

      Incognito
      Reply

  17. Looks like Railgun T is back ontrack? Episode 13 for May 1. More Dream Ranker arc key art revealed too. Maybe some more of these currently airing but delayed shows will get airdates for the rest of their episodes.

    Lyfe
    Reply

    1. For one episode at least, I’d say it’s too early to expect the remaining episodes to be on time though. We should know more tomorrow, but in either case coverage hasn’t ceased and I’ll post once episodes air.

      Pancakes
      Reply

      1. I wonder if they’re adopting the same method as Funimation and recording dialogue from home? I know some studios are capable of producing a number of episodes in advance of the airdate and we may be seeing that here.

        Lyfe
        Reply

        1. Potentially, but it probably comes down to home setups. I’d imagine it’s not easy to set everyone up with the necessary audio capturing equipment, especially if they need to record two or more voices at once. Even more so as it looks like episode 14 is indefinitely delayed 🙁

          Pancakes
          Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *