It’s that time of the year again. With snow on the ground and Christmas lights about but that’s not what we are here for. Anime be my bread and my wine, and my presents if luck be true. I am lamenting over not being able to get the Spice and Wolf Collector’s edition book. Living in Europe can be quite troublesome sometimes but hey at least I got a Fullmetal Alchemist Collector’s edition that has a replica of the gate which just looks beautiful. Who knows, maybe I might even get around to watching that stockpile of Blu-ray anime i have sitting in my room. After the steam backlog is done i will have time…hopefully. Moving on to what really matters, a new anime season is coming up and forgive me if this sounds uncharacteristic of me but this season is looking very promising. We got second seasons of great shows along with Trigger saving anime again and even some pretty interesting shows in the lineup. I got my eye of a few here and while we got the usual lineup of straight to trashcan anime, there’s quite a lot of good to make up for potential bad tidings to come. 2016 certainly ended on a ominous note.
Same rules apply as before. The poll below will be used to gauge what you readers want us writers to cover this season. Vote for as many shows as you like. In regards to opinions on most sequels, if you liked the previous season then by all means continue. As usual I have checked out every source I can find, read manga, light novels, played video games…If I can get my hands on it then I will look at it to get a better idea of what the anime can offer.
This poll is no longer accepting votes
Once again thanks to Mario for gathering the images. With that let’s get this show on the road.
The sequels/prequels I don’t care about
Gintama(2017)
Reikenzan: Eichi e no Shikaku
Rewrite / 2nd Season Moon-Hen/Terra-Hen
SUPER LOVERS 2
Yowamushi Pedal: NEW GENERATION
Tales of Zestiria the X 2
Series I don’t look forward to
AKIBA’ S TRIP: THE ANIMATION
Studio: Gonzo
Director: Hiroshi Ikehata
Script/Series composer: Kazuho Hyodo
Akihabara, a broad-minded neighborhood where everyone from beginners to masters are welcomed. Even when you’re alone, if you go to Akiba, you’ll find someone who understands you. It’s a neighborhood where anything is possible, where anyone can do seemingly anything; a place where you can lay bare your body and soul. In this neighborhood of Akiba, which has everything including anime, games, maids, idols, secondhand parts, and cheap food, battles are fought against the “Bagurimono,” and a steadfast “boy meets girl” story begins!
Let it never be said that I am not through and to get an idea for what we are in for I bought Akibas’trip Undead and undressed on steam and played through it. Admittedly the story of this anime isn’t related to the story of this game as it’s the second game of the series and I see none of the characters in the promo art. But it does give me an idea of what we are in for. I was really surprised by how much the story of the game took itself seriously. The characters treat the whole idea of stripping vampires to expose them to the sun with a surprising amount of righteousness. However unlike Keijo which shines in not recognising the utter ridiculousness of it’s concept, Akibas’trip just becomes another supernatural battle story when it disregards the whole stripping aspect. It also feels like a tourism ad for Akihabara at times. In fact that description up there is more endorsement of Akihabara than saying anything meaningful about the show. I truly don’t expect much for this and having Gonzo at the helm doesn’t make me think this is going to change my expectations. Director is a newbie and the series composer worked on Relife and that’s about it.
Ao no Exorcist: Kyoto Fujouou-hen
Studio: A-1 Pictures
Director: Koichi Hatsumi
Script/Series composer: Toshiya Oono
In the late Edo Period, a demon known as the Impure King killed thousands of people. After defeating the demon, the Knights of the True Cross kept its left eye safely sealed away on Academy grounds – but now someone has stolen it! Hearing the thief has taken a child hostage, Yukio and Rin go to help. The investigation and pursuit will lead Rin and his friends to Kyoto and involve them even deeper in a sinister plot! But will his friends’ knowledge that Rin is the son of Satan drive a wedge between them?
I seen the first Ao no Exorcist series quite a while back and I really didn’t expect that it would be one to get a sequel. For one I heard that the anime derailed away from the manga to do it’s own thing so the start of this series is likely going to have to do some disaster recovery in order to get it back on track. That said based on my impressions of both the previous anime series and the manga I only ever found this series to be decent at best. It started with good potential but I found the minute it introduced a high school my interest just died. True enough as soon as that school was introduced it became another series jumping through the same shounen hoops. THe director is a newbie for this one and the series composer has Gatchaman Crowds, Tsuritama and The Perfect Insider under his belt. We might have a fund shounen on our hands or more likely a decent but forgetable show.
BanG Dream!
Studio: Xebec
Director: Atsushi Ootsuki
Script/Series composer: Yuniko Ayana
A next generation Girls Band Project which links characters with real live performances! BanG Dream! is a media mix project featuring animation music videos, comics, song releases, and many more. What’s more, the voice cast for the characters of BanG Dream! will also hold real live performances as the Girls Band, “Poppin’Party”.
Isn’t this literally the idea that the terrible producer in Girlish Number had? The idea of “Hey, people like idols right? So how’s about we make anime/idol collaboration and print money!” You know the idea that resulted in the creation of the trainwreck in story anime the poor characters of Girlish Number have to act in? In my experience, when you attempt to do everything you just end up with subpar results in every category. Make an anime, make a band, or make a comic, don’t try to do it all at once. This is counting your chickens before they hatch and the smart idea is milk something to death after it’s successful. Trying to milk it before it’s even a thing is the same mistake Keiji Inafune made. Either way the Director has a season of working and pretty much all of To Love-ru in his resume. Considering this is from Xebec I wouldn’t be surprised if it was heavy on the fanservice. Series composer is a bit more interesting as they are the one currently working on Flip Flappers this season. However this does feel like a paycheck job for them and their other work isn’t all too impressive. I am willing to bet this won’t be worthwhile. It might get some Otaku hot and bothered but as far as I am concerned it isn’t something I would look twice at.
Fuuka
Studio: diomedea
Director: Keizou Kusakwa
Script/Series composer: Aoi Akashiro
The story centers on a young man named Yuu Haruna who has just switched schools. He’s a bit shy, and he’s constantly glued to his smartphone so he can check Twitter. He meets a girl named Fuuka Akitsuki, who doesn’t even have a cell phone, is free-spirited, and naturally fascinates others. Yuu recently has been getting back in touch via Twitter with his childhood friend Koyuki Hinashi, who is now a popular singer. One day Yuu invites Fuuka to one of Koyuki’s concerts, and there the three meet for the first time. The story follows the love triangle between a love that started through electronics, and a love that didn’t start through electronics.
Here comes poor man’s Beck. Well that might be giving it too much credit but it does have a similar kind of story. Except the romance aspect is given higher priority over the band. My basic response to hearing this manga was getting an anime was general apathy. I read through the chapters of the manga on a particularly boring day and kept up to date with it for a while before just losing interest completely. What’s the problem? It’s predictable, immensely predictable. It hits all the story beats you expect it to besides a rather malicious twist later in it’s story. There’s also a harem as girls fall for our protagonist despite him being about as exciting as paint drying on a wall. Director pretty much has nothing good in his resume. Series composer is a newcomer. You might find it interesting in the beginning but as the series goes on I think people will just care less until the finale where no one will care at all.
GRANBLUE FANTASY The Animation
Studio: A-1 Pictures
Director: Not listed
Script/Series composer: Not Listed
Video game developer Cygames announced during the Tokyo Game Show event on Thursday that its Granblue Fantasy smartphone game will receive an anime adaptation.
I have seen this title pop up in a number of places and from the looks of things it’s a smartphone game with bejeweled gameplay combined with Kantai Collection. As a veteran gamer I have a certain deprecating attitude towards mobile gaming. There are certainly exceptions but the majority of mobile games tend to be time wasters and nothing more. A lot of it is geared towards skinner box tactics to push for microtransactions and I doubt that this title is any different. In general while video game adaptations fair better than card game adaptations, it still is a rarity to find a worthwhile title. Games with not much of a story and a large cast of characters really also don’t translate well to anime seeing as they need to pay service to fans while forming a coherent story.
Hand Shakers
Studio: GoHands
Director: Not listed
Script/Series composer: Not Listed
They, the receivers of the Revelation of Babel. They, the challengers to God.
They, who inevitably throw themselves into battle with their partners. What does God want from them?
And did they want powers exceeding that of Gods? The chosen ones, their souls linked,
join hands and head for the Ziggurat where the fighting shall ensue.
That description sounds like pure chuunibyou fodder to the degree that I wouldn’t be surprised if the idea came from eyepatch wearing bandaged hand teenager with a superiority complex. Despite the vagueness of the story synopsis this feels like a regular old supernatural battle anime which I wouldn’t be completely opposed to if it wasn’t for one thing. This anime is animated by GoHands and I utterly despise their tendency to ignore visual sense and make everything look like someone dyed it in blue. Looking at the PV this looks to have the exact same problem. Colour is just thrown on to the screen regardless of the lighting or even common sense and it is aggravating when you notice it, because you just can’t stop it from being distracting. However there is some impressive animation in the trailer and it really is rocking that piano tune. I can’t say I approve of the CGI backgrounds as they really don’t gel well with the characters. Still, that piano tune really was good.
Idol Jihen
Studio: MAPPA
Director: Daisuke Yoshida
Script/Series composer: Naoya Takayama
Part of MAGES’ multimedia “Idol Jihen” project.
You are not going to beat Love Live! There are dozens, literally dozens of other pretenders out there! There is even one in this season! Just stop! You don’t get a hit by following a already done to death trend. I understand that as a business you need to follow the smell of money but copying will only result in a meager paycheck. Anyway, this actually seems to be part of some project to make a bunch of idol anime or something as it’s related to an anime we had airing recently called “B-Project”. The director did nothing of worth and the only thing worth noting with the series composer is that they worked on Chihayafuru. This is prime example of disposable anime.
Kemono Friends
Studio: Yaoyorozu
Director: TATSUKI
Script/Series composer: Shigenori Tanabe
The anime’s story takes place in Japari Park, a “gigantic integrated zoo.” In the zoo, due to the mysterious “sand star” substance, the animals start turning into human-shaped creatures called Animal Girls. Japari Park is a place where many people visit and have fun at, but one day a lost child wanders into the park. The lost child starts a journey to return, but because so many Animal Girls join in on the quest it becomes an unexpected grand adventure.
I got nothing. Well alright, there’s a promo video which seems to suggest that it’s a fully CGI anime. Considering the studio’s only other work, Tesagure! Bukatsumono, was CGI animated it’s a high chance this will be too. I don’t really have any hope for this one. Not only is it based on a smartphone game but the premise just sounds like pandering. Both the director and script writer mainly worked on ten minute shows. I say give this one a pass.
Kobayashi-san Chi no Maidragon
Studio: Kyoto Animation
Director: Not listed
Script/Series composer: Not listed
Miss Kobayashi is your average office worker who lives a boring life, alone in her small apartment–until she saves the life of a female dragon in distress. The dragon, named Tohru, has the ability to magically transform into an adorable human girl (albeit with horns and a long tail!), who will do anything to pay off her debt of gratitude, whether Miss Kobayashi likes it or not. With a very persistent and amorous dragon as a roommate, nothing comes easy, and Miss Kobayashi’s normal life is about to go off the deep end!
I am going to be blunt, this manga is pretty bad. It’s just a series of gags and implied Yuri. Girl finds a dragon while drunk, invites here to stay at her house, dragon has the ability to transform into a girl in a maid outfit. That is generally what I expect now when it comes to anime Dragons. Scales, breathes fire, wings, sexualised as hell human female form that says baka. Considering that KyoAni is going to be animating this that means it’s going to be beautifully animated and that just kills my soul. Maybe some will get a kick out of it if you are into the Lucky Star format but I just find it rather dull.
Marginal#4 KISS Kara Tsukuru Big Bang
Studio: JC Staff
Director: Kentarou Suzuki
Script/Series composer: Masahiro Yokotani
The anime follows the Marginal#4 idol unit, who made their debut at Pythagoras Production on February 13. The members give their all for their fans in their idol activities, but they are also normal high school students. The anime will follow both their everyday lives as high school students and their lives as idols.
A while back I saw an article stating that idol boy band anime was becoming a thing and I wrote it off because I didn’t really see much sign of it. However many seasons later and now I find we got two or three of these shows in every season. I just want to say that nows the time to stop. Directors a newbie but the series composer worked on Re:Zero, Shimoneta and Hataraku Maou-sama. Personally I would prefer if he would get right back to writing Re:Zero because White Fox is going to need him for that second season that we should be getting notified about. Because if there isn’t a second season planned then my rage shall pierce the heavens. As a last note, I can’t be the only person to look at these four boys and see they are exactly the same. All they did was change the hair colour, oddly enough not a single natural hair colour in the four of them.
Minami Kamakura Koukou Joshi Jitensha-Bu
Studio: JC Staff
Director: Not listed
Script/Series composer: Not listed
The story begins with Hiromi Maiharu, a girl who moved from Nagasaki to Kamakura. She begins her new life in Kamakura and her first day in high school by bicycling to her school, but she has not ridden a bicycle since she was young. On the way to the ceremony for the first day, she meets Tomoe Akitsuki, and Tomoe helps her train to be better at bicycling.
Oh look it’s cute girls on bicycles….again. Come on! We did this just last season! Reading the manga again it’s literally long Riders again except with High School students instead of college students. What’s the point of this? It doesn’t matter if you swapped some character designs around if all you are gonna do is tell an inferior version of an already existing product.
Onihei
Studio: M2
Director: Shigeyuki Miya
Script/Series composer: Not listed.
The historical novel series depicts Heizō Hasegawa, who metes justice on wrongdoers and supervises the crackdown on arsonists and robbers in Japan’s Edo period (1603-1868).
There’s pretty much nothing on this. No source material, no trailer, only Director listed and it’s the animation studio’s first work. Director hasn’t done much besides two episodes of Aoi Bungaku and blood lad. Other than that I got nothing.
Schoolgirl Strikers
Studio: JC Staff
Director: Hiroshi Nishikiori
Script/Series composer: Takao Yoshioka
An adaptation of Square Enix’s smartphone “light novel-style RPG” app Schoolgirl Strikers.
The game is set in Goryōkan Academy, a new private senior/junior high school for girls with a vast downtown campus. This highly popular school has “another face” — a secret hidden side. It organizes and trains the special unit Fifth Force to protect the world from invisible supernatural entities known as “Oburi” that are devouring the world. A team of five trained with powers against the Oburi is to be chosen from the student body to perform missions. A new team leader has been appointed to assemble the five students.
Well well, the third series this season being made by JC Staff. i wonder which one is getting the shaft when it comes to the budget. Unlike Glanblue it looks like there is some effort into making this more of a game than a general timewaster based on gameplay footage. Sadly the story sounds so run of the mill I don’t think it’s going to pan out. Video game adaptations already have a bad reputation in regards to anime adaptations. Mobile phone apps have an even worse success rate. Director worked on a lot…not as if any of it was good but he did work on a lot of stuff. Writer has better resume but we have more bad than good here. Sure there’s Your lie in april and Watamote but then there’s Queens blade, Dears, Senran Kagura…basically lots of throwaway fanservice shows. Considering the content of this show i think I know what inspiration he will be drawing from.
Urara Meirochou
Studio: JC Staff
Director: Youhei Suzuki
Script/Series composer: Not listed
The story is set in Meiro-chou, a town where all-female diviners (uranaishi) live and where girls from all over the country yearn to become the top diviner — “Urara.” Today, a solitary girl named Chiya enters the town’s gates. However, she has another purpose coming here, besides becoming the Urara. Chiya’s days as an apprentice diviner begin as she meets three friends — the earnest Kon, Koume who is a fan of Western culture, and the shy Nono.
A fourth JC Staff show? That animation budget is going to be stretched thin, let me tell ya. Director worked on Shimoneta and the Hentai Prince and the Stony cat. Other than that he just did episode director work for other shows. Can’t really speak for the original work but I know that it’s a 4-koma manga which generally is for quick fire gag stories. Based on that we may just have another cute girls cute things story here or at least something I doubt would be worth your time.
ēlDLIVE
Studio: Pierrot
Director: Not listed
Script/Series composer: Not listed
Chuuta Kokonose is an orphan who lives with his aunt. For as long as he can remember he’s had a voice in his head, but other than that he’s a normal boy – right until the day when a strangely-looking thing follows him home and teleports him to a place filled with more fantastic creatures. It’s a space police station, and Rein Brickke, the Chief of Solar System Department, tells him that he’s been chosen by the computer as a possible candidate to join the police force, although Misuzu Sonokata, a girl from Chuuta’s school with an angelic face and ill temper who turns out to be one of Rein Brickke’s subordinates, doesn’t think him suitable for such a job. Chuuta, who was shocked at first, decides to take aptitude test after being urged by the voice in his head and to prove Misuzu wrong.
It’s Studio Pierrot so regardless of source quality it’s going to be subpar. Yes, I know this is heavy dismissal but they certainly haven’t proved it untrue. Regardless I read the manga and found it to be nothing of real worth. It follows a pretty standard story for shounen and doesn’t really add anything interesting. It’s a little strange in how it has to do with arresting aliens. In fact this may be what you would get if you took the story of Space Patrol Luluco and made it take itself seriously. I am putting a firm bet on this anime being bad or at the very least medicore.
Series I am middling on
ACCA Jusan-Ku Kansatsu-Ku
Studio: Madhouse
Director: Shingo Natsume
Script/Series composer: Tomohiro Suzuki
The kingdom of Dowa, which is subdivided into 13 states, is celebrating its monarch’s 99th birthday. These 13 states have many agencies that are controlled by the giant organization known as ACCA. Within ACCA, Jean Otis is the second-in-command of the inspection agency. His agency has ten people placed in each of the 13 states, with a central office in the capital city. They keep track of all the activities of ACCA across the kingdom, and keep data on each state’s ACCA office flowing toward the central office. Jean also often has business trips from the capital to the other districts to check on the situation and personnel there.
This really didn’t turn out to be anything like I suspected upon first seeing the cover art. I was looking at this as some kind of supernatural battle anime but as it turn out it’s something more along the lines of Ghost in the shell Stand alone complex. Well not exactly like it of course, it doesn’t have the aspect of existentialism but it does have the nature of police work to it. Our protagonist investigated for fraud or corruption within the system by looking through paperwork and the like. As such it’s a fairly mature story and one I am not certain on what my thoughts are. It’s a nice unique idea for once and with Madhouse at the helm I am guessing that it will have a solid adaption. This may be a case of it simply not being my thing but that could change when it’s translated into a animated format. Director has experience with One Punch Man and Space Dandy. Series composer also worked on One Punch Man and a Saint Seiya movie. At least this certainly does look to be an interesting anime.
Chaos;Child
Studio: Sliver Link
Director: Masato Jinbo
Script/Series composer: Masato Jinbo
In the original visual novel, after a magnitude-7.8 earthquake hits Tokyo’s Shibuya ward on November 6, 2009, a black fire spreads and causes mass panic on the day of the earthquake. The sudden disaster that becomes known as the “Shibuya Earthquake” kills 3,851 people and injures 30,927 more.
The game is set in a reconstructed Shibuya district in October 2015. A string of mysterious deaths occurs in Shibuya amidst the reconstruction. People begin to take notice as the strange events start on the same day that chaos broke out in Shibuya with a certain incident five years earlier. The events are called the “Return of the New Generation Madness.”
Well I don’t think any of us were expecting another semicolon series so soon after our last one. And considering how the last one turned out I wouldn’t blame you if it pushed you to write off this show. But there is something different about this one that at least gives me some hope for it. Namely that it has a different writer than the fellow behind many of the other semicolon series. I actually heard good things about this one but sadly couldn’t check it out myself due to it not being in English. Despite the insinuation it doesn’t appear to have any real connection to Chaos;Head and that’s just fine by me. Though the director/Series composer has only worked on the last two seasons of Prisma Illya and the Shomin Sample anime. Both of which I found rather disappointing.
Demi-chan wa Kataritai
Studio: A-1 Pictures
Director: Ryo Ando
Script/Series composer: Takao Yoshioka
Succubus, Dullahan and Vampire. They are known as Ajin, or “demi”s and are slightly different than the average human. They have lived alongside humans for ages under persecution. However, in recent years, they have become accepted as members of society. This manga follows a high school biology teacher who has a great interest in demis and his interaction with the various demis in his school, each with their own cute problems.
It’s alright. That’s pretty much my feelings on this. This is a decently watchable story. However I think it’s concept was done better by Monster Musume which basically took the whole monster girl thing and went full throttle with it. This is more a toned down version with more human girls set in a high school…sigh…because you know a high school always makes a story more interesting right?(I swear to god. If I burn down all the high schools in japan would you stop making anime about them?! Can we not move it up to college?! It wouldn’t even take much effort to move the setting to that!) The director is a newcomer and the series composer is the same guy working on Schoolgirl Strikers this season. Well anyway this isn’t going to be a hit of the season but if you miss Musume and want something to sate your hunger for a season 2 this will due for the meantime.
Gabriel Dropout
Studio: Dogakobo
Director: Masahiko Oota
Script/Series composer: Takashi Aoshima
The comedy follows Gabriel White, who graduated at the top of the class at angel school and attends a human school on earth in pursuit of knowledge, but then gets engrossed in a web game and decides its too much trouble to go anywhere.
This show is essentially about angels and demons who spend a short time on earth during their training. So a pure hearted angel comes down to earth and gets completely corrupted by modern media turning her from sanctimonious to cynical and jaded. The big joke is that the angels act more like demons and the demons act more like angels. Thing is that the whole heaven and hell aspect seems more or less irrelevant in regards to the main plot of the manga. Which more or less is a cute girls cute things show with more comedy. You can essentially remove the heaven and hell aspect entirely and it wouldn’t make much of a difference. My general impression of the manga was that it wasn’t bad and was decently readable. Director seems suitable as he’s done a lot of shows similar to this like Love Lab. Series composer fairs worse as they got Hatsukoi Monster, Umaru-chan and Rewrite as previous work. All three shows I would consider terrible. But there’s nothing here that would push me to recommend it. It’s just rather unremarkable how they make use of the heaven and hell aspect for a dull run of the mill story.
Kuzu no Honkai
Studio: Lerche
Director: Not Listed
Script/Series composer: Not Listed.
Hanabi and Mugi are bathed in envious gazers from all around as a beautiful couple with excellent moral conduct. But these two apparently perfect people in an apparently perfect relationship share a secret they can’t tell anyone.
Truly I don’t know quite what to think about this one as it’s a bit of an oddball. Let’s say I don’t quite like the story but I find it has a rather addictive quality to it. I have long complained about stories with teenagers moaning about love troubles while doing nothing to actually change the situation and to be blunt that’s really is all this is. This story starts out with two people who have one sided loves and decide to use each other to help with the heartbreak. However they are not the only ones with a one sided love here, there is actually a full on conga line of unfulfilled love. He’s in love with her, but she’s in love with some other guy who’s in love with some other girl, who’s in love with another girl, who’s in love with another guy and so on and so forth. Basically everyone’s in love with someone who doesn’t love them back and nobody’s happy. It’s a Soap Opera and whether this drama is your cup of tea is up to you. Personally I think that while I am fine reading it, watching it would be an immensely annoying experience.
Masamune-kun no Revenge
Studio: Sliver Link
Director: Mirai Minato
Script/Series composer: Michiko Yokote
As an overweight child, Makabe Masamune was mercilessly teased and bullied by one particular girl, Adagaki Aki. Determined to one day exact his revenge upon her, Makabe begins a rigorous regimen of self-improvement and personal transformation. Years later, Masamune re-emerges as a new man. Handsome, popular, with perfect grades and good at sports, Masamune-kun transfers to Aki’s school, and is unrecognizable to her. Now, Masamune-kun is ready to confront the girl who bullied him so many years ago and humiliate her at last. But will revenge be as sweet as he thought?
I read this manga quite a while back and my opinion of it is somewhat ambivalent. Let me say that you and I both know exactly where that synopsis is going. If you have seen a romantic comedy in your lifetime, you know where this is going and it certainly doesn’t break expectations. We also have a harem and your usual fanservice. Overall I don’t consider this to have anything that bad or good. The director is once again a newbie and the series compose worked on a large number of works but not a lot of great ones. They have Dagashi Kashi and I guess prison school here. Though they did work on Shirobako as well. this shows likely a mediocre watch to help you pass time in the season but a fairly forgettable title.
Seiren
Studio: Gokumi
Director: Tomoki Kobayashi
Script/Series composer: Kisai Takayama
The anime is an omnibus work that will consist of four-episode arcs focusing on each of the main heroines. The three planned story arcs will focus on Hikari Tsuneki, Tōru Miyamae, and Kyouko Touno. The love stories take place in the summer of the main characters’ second year of high school. The protagonist Shōichi is anxious about growing up, and his homeroom teacher calls him to talk about his career plans. Shōichi meets various girls and heads to an unknown future.
Well we have girls in a school and if we are real lucky then maybe the won’t be doing cute things. Director worked on Akame Ga Kill and Hundred so that certainly doesn’t look promising. This seems to be Kisai Takayama’s baby as he is listed as the original creator though I don’t know what he is like as a writer considering this is his first work. He did do minor work with the Amagami series but I don’t know if that would influence this. Though the trailer certainly does make it seem like this story will be quite a bit like Amagami and by the syponsis it looks like they are going with Omnibus format like Amagami which has it’s hit and miss aspects. On one hand we get conculsive love stories. On the other hand having love stories consecutively with each girl one after another somewhat undermines the romance. Might prove more interesting with an original work but the school setting really does kill a lot of my interest.
Series I do look forward to
Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! 2
Studio: Deen
Director: Not listed
Script/Series composer: Not listed
The second season of Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo!
The popular “alternate world home comedy” centers around Kazuma Satou, a hikikomori (shut-in) die-hard fan of games, anime, and manga. A traffic accident brings his disappointingly brief life to an end … or it should have, but he wakes up and sees a beautiful girl who introduces herself as a goddess. “Hey, I have some good news — would you like to go to an alternate world? You may only bring one thing you like with you.”
He responds, “…So, I’ll bring you.” With that, he is transported to another world and his great adventure subjugating the demon king begins … but first the hard work of finding food, clothing, and shelter begins. Kazuma wants to live in peace, but the goddess raises one problem after another, and then the demon king’s army has its eyes set on him.
In an old preview I made a miscalculation regarding this series. I wrote it off as the humor just didn’t really work for me in a written format and I thought that the anime would be hit or miss. Yet through direction or some magic I found the anime to be a great watch that had me smiling ear to ear. I think Studio Deen was with me in thinking that this series wouldn’t be any good as the first season only got a ten episode run. Yet with just how much the series exploded a second season was announced right at the shows end. So here we are at the second season and I certainly am ready. More fantastically animated explosions please.
Little Witch Academia (TV)
Studio: Trigger
Director: You Yoshinari
Script/Series composer: Not Listed
TV series of Little Witch Academia.
I personally loved the first two OVA’s of Little Witch Academia and have been wishing that Trigger would make a TV series ever since I seen the first one. In truth it really should have been their first project instead of making something as ambitious as Kill La Kill. Maybe then Kill La Kill could have been given the budget it deserved. But what’s done is done and we are getting a little Witch Academia anime now. All I truly want from this series is for it to have the same level of fun and lighthearted humor of the OVA’s. Sadly it looks like it will disregard the events of the OVA’s themselves and start the story anew. My biggest worry is that in an attempt to make a longer narrative they push it to become more serious. Though we do have the same director as the OVAs so that could be an unlikely scenario. Having watched the OVA’s recently i certainly am looking forward to this.
Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu: Sukeroku Futatabi-hen
Studio: Deen
Director: Not listed
Script/Series composer: Not listed
Second season of Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu.
It’s a no brainer I am watching this. Though it is rather funny that two of Studio Deens heavy hitters this year are getting sequels on the same season. Hopefully it doesn’t effect the quality of each series as they deal with two shows in the same season. There is the question of whether the second season can bring the same character development and Rakugo performances of the first season and how things are going to change from now after Yakumo’s story conclusion.
Youjo Senki
Studio: NuT
Director: Yutaka Uemura
Script/Series composer: Kenta Ihara
The novel series centers on a young girl who fights on the frontlines in war. She has blonde hair, blue eyes, and nearly transparent white skin, and she flies through the air and mercilessly strikes down her opponents. Her name is Tanya Degurechaff, and she speaks with a young girl’s lisp and commands the army. Tanya used to be one of Japan’s elite office workers, but because of a wrathful god, was reborn as a little girl. Tanya prioritizes optimization and career advancement above all, and she will become the most dangerous entity among the Imperial Army’s sorcerers.
For anyone keeping up to date on the current status of light novels and manga you may find an overabundance of Isekai stories. Reincarnated into another world as a spider, a slime, a dragon, a slave master, a goblin, a butler, a wizard, a demon king, a farmer…there is a heavy saturation of these stories. I will at least say that Youji Senki is different. For one the common thread in these stories is the level of self congratulatory power fantasy present in them. However the protagonist of this story may gain high acclaim and respect, she is not a good person. She’s self serving, completely apathetic on human morals and willing to go to any degree if it means she gets a cushy job pushing paperwork. What makes this story interesting is that our main character is more a villain than a hero. There’s a level of comedy in how the story is told, namely in how the protagonist’s efforts to land a desk job often end up pushing her into more battlefields. In a strange way the setting is similar to that of Strike/Brave witches with a WWII setting and flying magical girls. However this certainly isn’t some bubbly tale of friendship and moe girls. Because they are here to fight people to ensure the prosperity of a military dictatorship. The studio is going to have to work hard as this story has a lot of war scenes which are going to be hell to animate. Of course this story isn’t perfect, for one this adaption is going to have trouble with transition as the novels rely heavily on internal narration. Also despite changes it does have some of the bothersome aspects of a Isekai story. But if handled well this could very well be a hit of the season.
Youjo Senki sounds like a story(told inside a story) I read in one of Heinlein’s books, something about a guy who’s ideal was to laze around on his own farmhouse…he got there as a retired general, with each decision on the way driven by what he *thought* at the time was a step involving the minimal work possible.
Definitely going to try watching it.
FYI, Chain Chronicle is missing.
That one wasn’t listed on the site I usually used but yes it does appear so. However no real harm as that series isn’t really a series. It’s just the Chain Chronicle movies chopped up into TV episodes from what I hear.
The only show that even remotely interests me this season is Tales of Zestiria 2.