Armitage: Allow me the opportunity to be the resident hype-monger this time around and say that, in terms of the quality on offer, Spring 2021 is looking to be the biggest season of anime in almost a decade. Which I know sounds like a clickbait-y exaggeration and a notion that gets thrown around every other season just so fans can feel better about the sheer number of shows we end up watching each year and justify it by saying that “s’all good man!”.

But I have personally never subscribed to that notion. I have always held my head up high and never fallen so low as to put an anime season on the pedestal occupied only by the mythical spring seasons of 2007 and 2011. But you know, what?! This time, I’m doing it. And you couldn’t stop me even if you tried! Because this is my intro paragraph! Hmph!!! [composes herself]  Sorry about that. Fell into a tangent there. But yeah, the rest of the writers here on Star-Crossed and I are hella hyped for the upcoming season of anime. And if you’re not, then maybe reading about some of the shows we are looking forward to would help change your mind. Come get a taste of the good stuff!

Middling Expectations

Zombieland Saga: Revenge

Studio: MAPPA
Director: Munehisa Sakai
Series composition: Shigeru Miyakoshi
Source: Original

Mario: Zombieland Saga’s first few episodes got off to a quick start by satirizing both the idol and zombie genres, but then it lost its footing just as quickly by becoming the very thing it poked fun at (and then there’s Koutarou). I certainly don’t think it has enough meat on its bones for a second outing, and while some plots remain open you could just as easily leave them as they are. From the look of the trailer, this second season promises to offer more of the same: shenanigans from the group with some interactions between the idol girls and some character-focused episodes. I’m actually waiting for more backstory for Tae (the one idol who still hasn’t awakened yet). If you’re a fan of the first season then there’s nothing that should stop you here, but others might want to approach it with caution.

Continue reading “Spring 2021 Anime Season Preview” →

Wooper: 2020 may be on its last legs, but the tradition of milking anime franchises to death is still going strong. That’s right ladies and gents, it’s Sequel Time. We’re getting second, third and fourth helpings of some of the most popular series in recent years – so many that we couldn’t cover them all in this preview. Attack on Titan’s ongoing conclusion and Re:Zero S2’s continuation are massive events, of course, but at least one other isekai sequel went unmentioned here, along with a handful of shounen offerings. In their place we’re covering a few original projects, of which there are a surprising number this winter (half of them involve idols, though, so we opted for the other half). As always, we haven’t commented on every new show, but all of them should be listed in the poll below, so let us know what you’re most excited for this winter. Enjoy the rest of your December, and we’ll see you on the other side!

Middling Expectations

Tenkuu Shinpan

Studio: Zero-G
Director: Masahiro Takata
Series composition: Touko Machida
Source: Manga

Mario: As the first output from Netflix’s batch of original anime in 2021, Tenkuu Shinpan looks middling at best. It’s the kind of title that has an intriguing hook but once it wears off there isn’t much beyond it. It’s based on a manga by Tsuina Miura, the creator of Ajin. While I like some aspects of Ajin, here’s the interesting part: Miura actually left the project after the first volume and some fans sarcastically say that his departure is the reason why the manga stays good. The PV looks unintentionally hilarious from what I saw, with a shirtless masked murderer with an axe chasing a girl in broad daylight. Director is a newbie, and the gal handling Series Composition was behind some oddly-paced shows such as 7 Seeds, Runway de Waratte, and Caligula. I won’t hold my breath over this.

Continue reading “Winter 2021 Anime Season Preview” →

Wooper: The arrival of this particular fall season is significant less for the cartoons it’s bringing to our screens, and more as a prelude to the end of this ruinous year. Even for creatures as cloistered as anime fans, pandemics, hurricanes and wildfires easily outrank the new crop of fall series in our general consciousness. Star Crossed hasn’t missed a season preview in years, however, and we’re not about to break our streak now. The all-star sequels like Attack on Titan, Beastars, and Re:Zero S2.5 might not be airing until 2021, but there are still a few shows to look forward to this September. (EDIT: Attack on Titan S4 is now set to premiere on December 7th of this year.) Among them are a nicely-staffed Shounen Jump adaptation, a reboot of an iconic horror anime from the 2000s, and another season of Volleyball Boys, which is always a good thing. You’ll also want to prepare yourself for the appearance of anime’s godliest MC when he returns to television early next month. I’m sure most of you have heard his gospel by now, but if you don’t know which stone-faced power fantasy protag I’m referring to, you’ll have to read on to find out!

MIDDLING EXPECTATIONS

Taiso Samurai

Studio: MAPPA
Director: Hisatoshi Shimizu
Series composition: Shigeru Murakoshi
Source: Original

Wooper: There’s not a lot of info available about this original gymnastics series, but as our resident sports anime guy, it’s high on my list of things to check out this fall. The synopsis actually makes it sound like MAPPA’s attempt to recreate Yuri on Ice, with a fateful encounter changing the course of a flagging athlete’s career. What makes Taiso Samurai stand out is its setting – the story takes place in 2002, and is set to depict a low point in Japanese gymnastics (presumably making the main character’s turnaround that much more impressive). The other reason I’m interested is the horizontal bar animation on display in the PV. It’s obviously rotoscoped, but that doesn’t disqualify it from looking awesome, much like Hanebado did a couple years back. Of course, Hanebado’s mess of a main character wrecked its chances at a gold medal finish, but Taiso Samurai might fare better with the writer of checks notes Zombie Land Saga on board? Ehh, we’ll see how this one shakes out.

Continue reading “Fall 2020 Season Preview” →

Lenlo: Time passes, leaves grow, allergy season fades and first world nations descend into civil war. Yet still my barber is closed due to COVID-19. Hard times, huh? He isn’t the only thing closed though, as studios continue to postpone series, with only 19 new anime airing this season, 6 of which are sequels. But oh, what big sequels they are. We have two of the biggest Isekai currently on the market, the return of literal fire fighters, and everyone’s favorite high school based romantic drama. Needless to say, just because there aren’t many series airing doesn’t mean we will be lacking for good choices. So strap in, as we here at Star Crossed Anime break down the 2020 Summer Season.

ALREADY AIRED

Great Pretender

Studio: Wit
Director: Hiro Kaburagi
Series composition: Ryouta Kosawa
Source: Original

Wooper: What if I told you that fansubbing isn’t dead? This Netflix Japan series made its way online at the start of June, and a whopping 10 episodes have been translated at the time of this writing. I’ve seen only two of them, but they were good enough to make me optimistic about the show’s expected run of 23 episodes. Actually, “good enough” is doing this thing a disservice, so let me rephrase; Great Pretender’s first pair of episodes was an unqualified success. From the hard bop jazz score to the multiple layers of its con artist-centered story, this is a series that never takes its foot off the “style” pedal. Director Hiro Kaburagi has attracted a bunch of the industry’s top talent to the project, including Yuusuke Takeda (of Eccentric Family fame) as art director and Gainax legend Yoshiyuki Sadamoto on character designs. This thing looks and sounds like an absolute dream, and the characters are all career criminals whose banter and one-upmanship give them undeniable personality. Honestly, Great Pretender is the whole package. It’s ten whole packages. And if you’re still on the fence about watching it for some reason, look for its OP and ED on YouTube (the latter of which is performed by Freddie fuckin’ Mercury), and prepare to groove harder than you’ve ever grooved before.

Continue reading “Summer 2020 Season Preview” →

Wooper: It’s crunch time in Japan right now. Schools are closed as a measure against COVID-19, people are discontent with the lack of testing facilities for the virus, and the fate of the Tokyo Olympics remains uncertain. In times like these, people turn to entertainment to forget their troubles, and the spring anime season has over 40 potential distractions to choose from. Among them are a slew of popular sequels (including Kaguya-sama S2, which needs no elaboration), a Netflix-exclusive Trigger series with a 99% chance of getting fansubbed, the highest-profile manhwa adaptation ever, and a couple of promising detective shows. Even if we limited the preview to just those series, though, that wouldn’t cover all the good stuff in store for us beginning this April. You’re sure to find something interesting on the list, so read on and we’ll break down the upcoming season for you.

MIDDLING EXPECTATIONS

Kitsutsuki Tantei Dokoro

Studio: LIDENFILMS
Director: Shinpei Ezaki
Series composition: Taku Kishimoto
Source: Novel

Wooper: I have good news and bad news regarding this literary detective series. The good news is that it’s based on a novel, so it’s unlikely to get bogged down in delivering an otaku-friendly product. The bad news is that it’s being adapted by Taku Kishimoto, whose previous stab at detective fiction was Kabukichou Sherlock (a show I dropped midway through its interminable two cour run). Even before that, his mystery-centric scripts for Erased and Joker Game hobbled their respective stories. In spite of his involvement, however, I’m excited to try at least one episode of Kitsutsuki. The idea of an early 20th century poet opening a detective agency opens all kinds of doors for his character, and the PV’s aesthetic looks a lot like Concrete Revolutio. Making use of that comic book style to adapt a work of historical fiction is an intriguing decision, so I want to see whether it pans out, even with a saboteur like Kishimoto as head writer.

Continue reading “Spring 2020 Season Preview” →

Wooper: Are you ready for the season of sequels? We’re getting 15 this fall – that’s the most since spring 2018, which boasted nearly 20. What makes this season special, though, is that 7 of those 15 follow-ups belong to high profile franchises. That means a huge number of anime fans will be following multiple sequels this season. Even putting aside blockbuster properties like Sword Art Online, Seven Deadly Sins, and Food Wars, we found seven continuations that were worth bringing to your attention. And for those of you who prefer first seasons and original works, there are plenty of those here, too. With five writers currently on board, we’ve got a thorough mix of tastes and preferences represented in this preview, so we hope you find something to get excited about this fall.

We’re bringing back expectation tiers this time, so you can tell at a glance what we’re really hyped for, and what qualifies as a mere curiosity. With 19 shows being previewed, there are a bunch we won’t be covering, but they’ll appear in the poll below. Let us know what you’re interested in – we’ll take the results into account when deciding what to blog this October.

Middling Expectations

Keishichō Tokumu-bu Tokushu Kyōaku-han Taisaku-Shitsu Dai-Nana-ka -Tokunana-

Studio: Anima&Co.
Director: Harume Kosaka
Series composition: Yuichiro Higashide
Source: Original

Amun: Everyone has something where their head tells them no, but their heart says yes. For me, I gamble on original anime works – I’m really hoping to stumble upon the next big hit. It hasn’t happened yet, but I’m still trying (I guess I saw the first episode of Re:Zero in Japan before the hype, so that counts, right?). Also, I have a soft spot for straight man rookies thrown into exotic situations – I can’t help it.

Tokunana is exactly such a project. With a composer who was previously an eroge company’s in-house writer (and did Fate/Apocrypha, to be fair) and director Harume Kosaka, an industry veteran without a major project to call his own, Tokunana has low expectations. As an anime original, this looks like a second rate Ghost in the Shell.

BUT. The trailer looked good, character designs look crisp, and as long as the plot can stay on point, this could be a nice, one season action show. For the staff’s sake, you can’t help but hope that this breaks out as the next Battlefront Blockade – it’s unlikely, but I keep my hopes up until I see the first couple of episodes.

Babylon

Studio: Revoroot
Director: Kiyotaka Suzuki
Series composition: TBA
Source: Novel

Mario: In any anime season, there is always a show or two that is destined to shake the waters – one that’s bold but utterly inconsistent, and sharply divides the audience. I’m thinking of Vatican Miracle Examiner or Kado the Right Answer a few years back, and it seems to me that Babylon is going to fit the slot. The premise about a prosecutor investigating and unveiling a whole underground conspiracy sure sounds juicy, and add to that, the original writer behind the novel is none other than the guy who wrote Kado’s script. Then we have the director who is behind other ambitious but messy works: FLCL Alternative and Psycho-Pass 2. Can’t say the art style in the PV looks that attractive, but even if this show turns out to be a hot mess, at least I’m sure that I won’t be bored by it.

Continue reading “Fall Season 2019 Preview” →

Wooper: The sun is shining, the temperature is rising, and the anime just keeps on coming. It’s time for our quarterly season preview, which we’ve trimmed down so it can look its best for the summer. Unlike previous editions, we won’t be examining every new show in this post. Instead, we’ve picked the 16 most promising and/or popular shows to preview (though there’s a bit of fodder near the start), and kept the rest confined to the poll down below. We’re still planning to give our thoughts on every summer series during First Impressions week, but when it comes to the season preview, we want to highlight the good stuff – or at least the stuff that won’t make you wonder why you’re an anime fan.

Most seasons have just a few great titles concentrated at the top, and this one is unlikely to be an exception. What’s interesting about this particular summer, though, is that the three most anticipated non-sequels are all action or adventure series. Two of them are big shounen properties, which our authors tend to have mixed opinions on, but these appear to have some serious promise. Will this be the miracle season where we all agree on what’s top tier, or will a handful of underdogs steal the spotlight once July gets underway? We’ll find out in a few weeks, but for now, let’s run down what might be worth your watch this summer.

Kengan Ashura

Studio: Larx Entertainment
Director: Seiji Kishi
Series composer: Makoto Uezu
Source: Web Manga

Mario: Another Netflix original offering and this show looks and tastes like Baki from last year, with the trailer focusing solely on their fights. Moreover, it’s an entirely CG show that sadly doesn’t look that polished. While all these are enough for me to discard this show, there’s one saving grace from the show that holds me back. The key here is the director Seiji Kishi, who directed popular hits like Angel Beats, Assassination Classroom, and MY TYPE OF SHOWS such as Humanity Has Declined, Tsuki ga Kirei and Asobi Asobase. That being said, apart from Assassination Classroom, this is the first anime where he ventures over to shounen action-centric material, and the fact that this is his first full CG project doesn’t spark much confidence. I don’t know. I grow mixed on the Netflix model when it comes to how they handle their original anime. It’s true that they have larger budgets and allow more creative freedom, but for me they aim for more mainstream tastes. Stuff like Baki, this one or Ultraman last season aim for specific fanbases, and their more flashy titles: Carole & Tuesday, Little Witch Academia, Violet Evergarden are products of famed directors/studios producing something weaker than their true talents. Maybe just like last season’s work by Kenji Kamiyama (Ultraman), this one will come and go with a weak splash before vanishing altogether.

Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou

Studio: Asread, White Fox
Director: Kinji Yoshimoto
Series composer: Shoichi Sato
Source: Light Novel

Wooper: I managed to sprint through a few chapters of the Arifureta manga before I had to bail out. It’s based on a light novel, but assuming the manga’s story and characters are the same, the author must have been playing isekai bingo when he conceptualized the series. The MC is an Average Gamer who somehow attracts the attention of the school idol, and is therefore hated by all the handsome, athletic bros in his class. One day, when their bullying gets particularly vicious, he wishes they’d all get transported to a parallel world – and that’s exactly what happens. Video game logic sets in pretty quickly, everybody starts dungeon crawling, and eventually the nice guy protagonist is betrayed by one of his classmates and loses an arm. Last year’s Shield Hero was insulting enough; I don’t need to read any further to recognize this as one of its clones. Really, the only reason I previewed this was to look back and say “I told you so” when its defenders get to the penultimate episode and realize it was a waste of time. Not even White Fox, who usually do good work with fantasy series, can save this premise. In summary, if you’re thinking about watching this, don’t.

Continue reading “Summer Season 2019 Preview” →

HelghastKillzone: The Winter 2019 season of anime was pretty good, wasn’t it? It was filled with great adaptations, amazing animation work, hyped sequels, brand new movie releases from major franchises and the reimagining of old IPs. When it comes to the upcoming spring season though… I fear that it just won’t be as good as these last three months. We’ll give you our thoughts on what interests us but from a curious glance at the numbers from MAL and the PVs shown so far, it is certainly looking thin on hit shows.

Mario: Spring 2019 can also be seen as the season where the three arguably MOST INNOVATIVE auteurs working in anime today are releasing their new works. Shinichiro Watanabe, Masaaki Yuasa, Kunihiko Ikuhara… they all have changed the anime industry in some ways, and it’s unavoidable that their new works will be hyped to the sky.

This also marks the first time where Aidan steps down from editing this preview, so in a way, this is our first real collaborative effort for this type of post. Personally, doing this preview reminds me how much of a pain it is to run through these things. So we offer our gratitude for old man Aidan for giving his opinions on shows that we will eventually forget ever existed. As it stands, I’m not too sure if we will keep this format for upcoming seasons, but rest assured that we, the writers here, will come up with a more suitable format that still benefits you readers.

For this edition Helghast and I are also doing the Movie Preview section. Due to the nature of movie release, many films we preview below won’t be available to us for a good 6-months, or in some cases, a whole year, so this preview serves more as putting these titles into your radar. Keep in mind that this isn’t a comprehensive list (nor do we intend to make one), the list below is merely anime movies that we believe have some merits for you to check out. In the end, a whooping 13 titles are previewed for this season alone, just to say how the anime industry has been more concentrated to theatrical releases more than ever.

Again, sorry for the late post. If you are looking forward to certain shows this upcoming season, make your voice heard by either voting in the two lovely polls below or leaving a comment.

The sequels/shorts we don’t care about

Araiya-san! Ore to Aitsu ga Onnayu de!? (softcore short)
Aikatsu Friends! Kagayaki no Jewel (sequel)
B Rappers Street (kiddie)
Bakumatsu: Crisis (sequel)
Beyblade: Burst Gachi (kiddie)
Bungou Stray Dogs 3 (sequel)
Chou Kadou Girl ⅙ (short)
Duel Masters!! (kiddie)
Diamond no Ace: Act II (sequel)
Han-Gyaku-Sei Million Arthur 2 (sequel)
Joshi Kausei (short)
Kedama no Gonjiro (kids)
KING OF PRISM -Shiny Seven Stars- (sequel)
Midara na Ao-chan wa Benkyou ga Dekinai (short)
Nande Koko ni Sensei ga!? (short)
Nobunaga-sensei no Osanazuma (short)
Rilakkuma and Kaoru-san (kiddie)
Senryuu Shoujo (short)
The iDOLM@STER: Cinderella Girls Climax Season (short)
World Witches Series 501: Butai Hasshinshimasu! (short)
Yatogame-chan Kansatsu Nikki (short)
Yousei Chiitan (kiddie)

Series we don’t care about

Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai

Studio: Arvo Animation/ Silver
Director: Yoshiaki Iwasaki
Script/Series composer: Gou Zappa
Source: Manga
Yuiga Nariyuki tutors three genius of different subjects in highschool to get a scholarship. Furuhashi Fumino is a genius on literature but horrible in math, Ogata Rizu is a genius on mathematics and science but literature and arts are terrible subjects for her and Takemoto Uruka is a genius in the athletic field but really bad in all the others. Together, they study very hard and want to get better at their worst subjects while Fumino and Ogata wants to go to college and work on these subjects for life.

Aidan: Well for this one let me ask you something. Do you remember Nisekoi? That manga and Shaft anime which had the internet fighting an endless waifu war over a series which was nothing but vapid harem antics that never led anywhere? A series born from a mangaka whose more interesting works like Double Arts got axed and just decided to make the most generic thing he could as a joke that became ridiculously successful? Well this series isn’t really related to that author but let me tell you that this is the new Nisekoi. Oh it starts with some promise of story and is even interesting to a degree. But make no mistake that much like To Love RU and Nisekoi, that story just evaporates and we are left with the harem girl of the week formula where each girl is given a momentary pedestal to give the impression that she’s somehow gonna get this guy only to be brushed aside by next chapter. The endless purgatory continues until the author finally decides to end it or stops getting paychecks. You may find some value in its opening episodes, readers, but take it from someone who read long into the series, this is just a waste of time. Continue reading “Spring Season 2019 Preview” →

Time is like a cat. When you want it to move fast it stops dead. When you want it to stop it moves fast. Occasionally it jumps around and every now and again it tries to kill you in your sleep. I don’t quite know where I was going with the metaphor but if we can take anything out of it, it’s that there are only so many analogies to time one can make for these previews. Let’s just say that the second and third Fate Heaven’s Feel movies are not out yet and really that’s all that matters.

I certainly professed certain doom for last season but I will admit to it not being quite as bleak as I would have thought. That said it was still a weak season where even the strongest shows didn’t have much of an impression. Luck would have it that the winter season is going to change that because we got some real contenders here. We got two manga adaptations held in high regard along with a golden oldie, a sequel to Mob and some originals with potential.

Rules are the same as previous previews, I seek out any source material I can to find out what we may be in for and there is a poll below for you lot to vote which shows you wish to be covered.

Once again thanks to Mario, Lenlo, Helghast and Wooper for helping out.

The sequels/Shorts I don’t care about

3D Kanojo 2
Ame-iro Cocoa 5 (short)
BanG Dream! 2
B-PROJECT 2
Date a Live III
Fukigen na Mononokean Tsuzuki
Mini Toji (short)
Piano no Mori 2
Shigeki no Bahamut: Manaria Friends (short)

Series I don’t care about

Bermuda Triangle: Colorful Pastrale

Studio: Seven Arcs
Director: Junji Nishimura
Script/Series composer: Michiko Yokote
Source: Original
The glittering spotlights. The sparkling, fluffy, cute outfits. The charming voices while dancing with bright smiles. Under the dazzling lights on the big city stage, these would be the mermaid idols who swim and dance freely underwater. But far from this big city, the girls once lived in the peaceful village of Parrel. These girls, who would not even imagine such a glittering future for themselves, are instead just raising a fuss over the snack cakes they are eating. This is the story of the cheerful daily life of mermaids who strive their hardest everyday.

It’s a spinoff of the Cardfight! Vanguard franchise. It’s also about a mermaid idol group. My interest levels could not be any lower for this. Just introduce a high school and I would be done. Honestly the best I can see here is some cute mermaids being cute and stuff. But even that just sounds like a dull forgettable experience.

Circlet Princess

Studio: Silver Link
Director: Hideki Tachibana
Script/Series composer: Nachi Kio
Source: Video Game
The game follows a fictional near-future e-sport that utilizes a “mixed reality system” developed from augmented reality technology. The story centers on a fledgling team of high school girls from Saint Union Academy who pursue the sport of Circlet Bout.

A browser game adaption huh? These are rarer than your regular old Gacha game adaptations, considering the last one I remember is Kantai Collection. Still it seems the appeal here is the same. The fanservice was high in that trailer and it’s basically just hot girls fighting each other. I would say this doesn’t look to have anything worthwhile. I see the series composer is the original creator of Aokana. Guess it sucks that VN company basically went defunct. Move along, nothing to see here.

Continue reading “Winter Season 2019 Preview” →