Lenlo: Hello all, and welcome to another seasonal preview! We’re looking at the last season of the year, with plenty of anime to look forward to. Personally I’m keeping my expectations low, so that if they somehow wind up being good I’ll be pleasantly surprised. No use getting my hopes up when I’ve been burned multiple times before with these, right? Anyways, Wooper and I have returned once again to take a look at the upcoming shows and see what might be worth paying attention to, so let’s dive right in!

Wooper: The “What will you be watching?” poll is at the end of the post again this time. Don’t forget to let us know what you’re anticipating after you’ve perused the season preview (or before, if you’ve already done your research!).

Garbage Fire

BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War – The Conflict

Studio: Pierrot Films
Directors: Tomohisa Taguchi, Hikaru Murata
Series composition: Tomohisa Taguchi, Masaki Hiramatsu
Source: Manga

The Premise: Part 3 of the final arc of Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War.

Lenlo: So this may be a bit blasphemous, but I have… negative hopes for this last part of Bleach. We’ve already seen writing issues in the past two parts, nonsensical plot twists, constant escalation, absurd character writing. And with what I remember from the manga, it’s only going to get worse from here. Really the only possible redeeming factor for this season will be the action set pieces, which Bleach has occasionally done well with like with Yamamoto vs Yhwach, some of the Squad Zero stuff and parts of the Kenpachi fight. When Bleach has the desire to be, it’s pretty great action. The issue is that I have no faith in Pierrot and their team to want to do that. Maybe I’m just salty about how the manga ended, maybe I’m not giving them enough credit. But the nice thing about setting my expectations this low is that whatever they do manage will probably end up as a pleasant surprise. And that’s the best Bleach can hope for at this point.

 

Middling Expectations

Trillion Game

Studio: Madhouse
Director: Yuuzou Satou
Series composition: Ryuunosuke Kingetsu
Source: Manga

The Premise: Two best friends start their own holding company with the goal of making a trillion dollars (not yen).

Wooper: I’ll be blunt: the Trillion Game anime isn’t going to be pretty. It won’t even be moderately appealing, at least on a presentational level. Director Yuuzou Satou may be experienced, but based on his recent output (AI no Idenshi, Police in a Pod), he’s clearly near the bottom of the Madhouse hierarchy, taking on projects for which people have low expectations. The Trillion Game PV is a glorified string of panning shots over characters talking or making rudimentary gestures, which surely means this is going to be a “moving manga” adaptation. So why are we bothering to include it in the preview? Because of the manga it’s going to put in motion, which is illustrated by the legendary Ryoichi Ikegami (Crying Freeman, Sanctuary). As sure as I am that this adaptation is going to bomb, I can’t help but be curious how Ikegami’s famously lifelike figures will make the jump to animation – and how his characters plan to make all that money from the series’ title. I’ve read the first few chapters, and both the central duo’s introduction and the formation of their company are abrupt as hell, which makes me wonder how they could ever climb to the top of Japan’s corporate world. Maybe I’ll watch the anime version to find out – but only if its premiere is less stiff than I’m expecting.

Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Season 3

Studio: White Fox
Director: Masahiro Shinohara
Series composition: Masahiro Yokotani
Source: Light novel

The Premise: Season 3 of Re:Zero.

Lenlo: Really Aidan should be the one writing this, but since he’s not you get a pessimist’s opinion instead. I’m not sure how many of you know, but I detested Season 2 of Re:Zero. It was dull, long, poorly paced, poorly produced, and generally overstayed its welcome in every way. There was nothing particularly satisfying about it. So going into the third season, my expectations are at an all time low. The PV makes it seem like this is a bit more of an action focused season, we’re going to be in direct conflict with some more Archbishops of Sin like we were back in Season 1 rather than stuck in a single location doing nothing, so that’s something positive to look forward to. But after Nagatsuki’s writing on things like Vivy and Suicide Squad Isekai, I can’t bring myself to expect much from Re:Zero. Hopefully this season brings it back, refocuses the story in a more interesting direction, and really pushes Subaru’s character forward a bit. I’d love to enjoy the show again. I just need Re:Zero to not bore me out of my mind for another 25 episodes.

Kimi wa Meido-sama

Studio: Felix Film
Director: Ayumu Watanabe
Series composition: Deko Akao
Source: Manga

The Premise: A former assassin attempts to reinvent herself by working as a maid, despite having no cleaning or cooking skills.

Wooper: Ayumu Watanabe really loves series about beautiful, slightly mysterious dark-haired girls, huh? In 2018 there was Akira from Koi wa Ameagari, a few years after that we had the title character from Komi-san Can’t Communicate, and now there’s Yuki from Kimi wa Meido-sama. (The sunset in the poster makes her hair look greenish, but really she’s cut from the same cloth as the other two.) It’s not a crime to have a type, though, especially when you’re good at your job, and Watanabe is one of the most reliable TV anime helmsman working right now – even his Summer Time Rendering adaptation, which I abandoned midway through its run, was well-received by most fans. I don’t know that I’m in the mood for yet another anime about a clumsily cute maid serving a “relatable” Japanese teen, however. Whether they’re robots, aliens, assassins (as in this case), or just plain old human beings, these sorts of maid characters tend to be low level nerd bait. Meido-sama might be worth more than a single episode based on its director’s involvement, but really, it’s his Witch Hat Atelier adaptation (likely releasing next year) that you ought to anticipate.

Shangri-La Frontier Season 2

Studio: C2C
Director: Toshiyuki Kubooka
Series composition: Kazuyuki Fudeyasu
Source: Manga

The Premise: Season 2 of Shangri-La Frontier.

Lenlo: So I was rather fond of the first season of Shangri-La Frontier. The Wezaemon fight was great, and had that been the finale it would have been one of the best shows of its season. The problem was that it wasn’t the finale, instead we were only halfway through, with the rest of the season building towards… Well nothing. And that’s going to be the problem with this second season. I don’t know how many episodes it has yet, but if it’s only a single cour then there really isn’t a major conflict or strong stopping point for it to end on in my opinion. Not without ruining the pacing and speeding up or slowing down more than it should at least. I do expect it to still be fun, I’m current on the manga and Shangri-La Frontier is pretty good, the author clearly loves MMOs. However I’m not convinced this won’t just be a sort of filler season after the awkward spot the first one left us at, covering all the transitionary material as we move between arcs. Hopefully it figures something out though, because I want it to be good.

Ranma ½

Studio: MAPPA
Director: Kounosuke Uda
Series composition: Kimiko Ueno
Source: Manga

The Premise: A teenage martial artist with the ability to change sexes moves into a dojo with three beautiful sisters.

Wooper: In the fall of 2022, Urusei Yatsura’s animated reboot debuted; now, two years later, another Rumiko Takahashi work will be updated for the small screen. I’m neither an authority on Takahashi-sensei’s works nor their anime adaptations, but I did watch enough of the original Urusei Yatsura to judge that its remake wouldn’t be strictly necessary. I’ve seen a lot less of the first Ranma adaptation, though (just four episodes), so I’m not sure how important this reboot will be for the franchise’s legacy. The majority of the original seiyuu are returning for the remake, so it’s not trying to reinvent the wheel, but as far as production goes, it’s surely going to have a much different look than the first series. The color design team in particular looks to be playing it safe, rather than matching the bright reds of Ranma’s outfit and female hairstyle from the 80s series. Most of my interest here lies in the realm of martial arts animation, which I’m hoping will be as strong as the PV suggests – for others, though, this reboot will provide an opportunity to shave away some of Ranma’s filler episodes and extraneous supporting characters to create a leaner viewing experience. We’ll have to wait and see whether it fulfills those hopes (assuming I’m reading the fanbase’s wishes correctly).

Demon Lord 2099

Studio: J.C. Staff
Director: Ryou Andou
Series composition: Yuuichirou Momose
Source: Light novel

The Premise: The demon lord was prophesied to awaken in 500 years… But what will he do when the world he awakes to is nothing like the one he left?

Lenlo: Demon Lord 2099 has my attention for its premise and little else. We get a lot of fantasy isekai, with heroes of the modern world transported into Tolkien-esque fantasy worlds. But I don’t feel like we get a lot of the reverse, of fantasy characters transported to sci-fi cyberpunk dystopias. That sounds fun! I want to see what an all powerful demon lord will do in a high-tech future, how magic will interact with technology, and how he might combat any futuristic heroes that arise to stop him. It’s still isekai light-novel shlock, don’t get me wrong. But shows like this season’s Isekai Shikkaku and I Parry Everything have shown me there’s still a lot of fun to be found in the OP MC fantasy realm, so maybe Demon Lord 2099 will find its niche.

Yakuza Fiancé

Studio: Deen
Director: Toshifumi Kawase
Series composition: Rika Takasugi
Source: Manga

The Premise: A standoffish yakuza heiress enters into an arranged marriage with the bloodthirsty son of a rival family.

Wooper: One of my favorite series from last year was Ooku: The Inner Chambers, based on a historical fiction manga set in the Edo period. Studio Deen’s animation was straight out of the bargain bin, but the scripts, provided by rookie series composer Rika Takasugi, were very strong. That studio/writer combination has cropped up again with Yakuza Fiancé (Raise wa Tanin ga Ii), another manga aimed at an older audience, which gives me hope that the adaptation’s story will be worth following, despite the limited animation in the trailer. The character designs are striking, with thick outlines and plenty of shoujo influence to provide a sensual spark – even if they don’t perform particularly well in motion, they ought to be effective for the purposes of a Romeo and Juliet-esque plot like this one. Yakuza Fiancé’s central relationship is bound to be twisted, so you may want to skip it if you’re in the mood for something light, but I’m going to take the plunge and see whether Ms. Takasugi rewards me for my bravery.

Kekkon Suru tte, Hontou desu ka: 365 Days To The Wedding

Studio: Ashi Productions
Director: Ikehata Hiroshi
Series composition: Kazuho Hyoudou
Source: Manga

The Premise: Coworkers at a travel agency pretend to be married to avoid getting relocated to Siberia for work. But how long until their “fake” relationship turns into something more?

Lenlo: I’ve been in a Romance-genre mood for a while now, and something about this caught my interest. I think it’s because both of the leads are working adults rather than your classic highschooler, so there’s a higher level of assumed maturity in both the leads and the way it will handle the premise. Will 365 actually live up to those expectations? Probably not, especially as the final shot of the trailer makes it seem like the potential exposure of their fake engagement will be the major plot, rather than their growing relationship. Hopefully that’s just a poor editing decision when making the trailer and not the case for the show itself, because I’d really like this to be a simple adult romance.

Mecha-ude

Studio: TriF Studio
Director: Sae Okamoto
Series composition: Yasuhiro Nakanishi
Source: Original

The Premise: A sentient mechanical arm fuses with the hoodie of a middle school boy, who becomes embroiled in a conflict between two rival organizations.

Wooper: Mecha-ude is technically an original show, but this won’t be its first time taking anime form; it began life in 2018 with a Kickstarter-funded OVA, which I watched just minutes before writing this paragraph. The story revolved around a handful of heroic and villainous teenagers and their talking mechanical limbs, and though both the plot and the production underwhelmed me, my disappointment was tempered by the knowledge that it was TriF Studio’s first 30 minute project. They haven’t taken on much work in the interim, so it almost feels as though the studio was established for the sake of this show, meaning the pressure is definitely on for director Okamoto (who’s something of an indie darling in the anime world) and her team. It’s unfortunate that so little of what Mecha-ude brings to the table feels truly unique, especially for an original series – but then again, maybe the evolution process from one-shot OVA to 12 episode cour will bring out a side of the story that wasn’t present in its unofficial pilot.

The Most Notorious “Talker” Runs the World’s Greatest Clan

Studios: Felix Film, Ga-Crew
Director: Yuuta Takamura
Series composition: Takayo Ikami
Source: Light novel

The Premise: Noel has grown up idolizing his grandfather, a legendary adventurer of the class known as Seekers. But when it comes time for Noel to set out on his own, much to his dismay, he turns out to be a Talker: a support class with meager abilities. But Noel’s got ambition in spades–and the smarts to match–so he’s determined to do whatever it takes to make the world know his name!

Lenlo: Another rather straightforward “OP MC with skills everyone believes are weak” show. This isn’t the first “Support class becomes OP” fantasy show we’ve seen, it’s not even the only one this season. But between the MC being a bard-style class based around words, giving me hope for some maybe interesting dialogue, and a decent production judging by the PV, Talker may end up being a little fun. My expectations aren’t very high here, but as I said above, this season has shown me there’s still life in the OP MC fantasy subgenre, still fun and interesting ideas to explore. Maybe Talker will end up being one of them, so I’m at least going to check it out.

The Blue Wolves of Mibu

Studio: Maho Film
Director: Kumiko Habara
Series composition: Kenta Ihara
Source: Manga

The Premise: In 1863, just before the end of the Bakumatsu, a young orphan joins a group of ronin who will eventually become the Shinsengumi.

Wooper: Some anime fans have a pet genre that automatically qualifies shows for their watchlists, at least toward the start of each new season (before you realize how subpar most of those shows really are). For me, that pet genre seems to be “historical,” not because it’s my favorite (or even close to it), but because I think it’s nice that a handful of production companies remain interested in funding shows with some basis in reality. That mindset is why I’ll be checking out the premiere of The Blue Wolves of Mibu (Ao no Miburo), even though its marketing has more to do with its attractive cast than the late Edo period in which its story takes place. That’s kind of a shame, since the Bakumatsu is one of the most fertile conflicts for storytelling in modern Japanese history, and Blue Wolves intends to set itself apart by examining the group that preceded the Shinsengumi (the period’s most significant militia). In the end, the show will probably have to fall back on its wide range of characters to sell itself, since neither the director nor the head writer have worked on much of note in the past. This will probably be a one and done viewing for me, but maybe Blue Wolves will exceed expectations (though if it does, you probably won’t read about it here, since it’s premiering in late October).

Touhai: Ura Rate Mahjong
Touhai Roku

Studio: East Fish Studio
Director: Jun Hatori
Series composition: Mariko Kunisawa
Source: Manga

The Premise: Money, women, organs. Kei, a high school boy, frequents the underground mahjong parlor teeming with desires, earning him the moniker ‘K of Ice’ in the underworld due to his cold-hearted strategy and stylish gameplay. Rumors also circulate that he keeps a girl at his home.

Lenlo: I’m going to be upfront here, I have absolutely no idea how to play Mahjong. The closest I’ve gotten was when a friend tried to get me into Mahjong Soul, but not even the waifu’s could keep me engaged. I’m only interested in Touhai because of one word: Gambling. From Kakegurui to Kaiji, over the top gambling is a lot of fun when done right. So I want to see if Touhai can pull off even a fraction of that power. I doubt it can, the PV looks uninspired and flat, there’s not a single second of passionate or interesting footage in that preview. But maybe, just maybe, it will find the soul of a gambler once the season actually starts. I’ll have to watch it to find out though.

Shows We’re Anticipating

DAN DA DAN

Studio: Science Saru
Director: Fuuga Yamashiro
Series composition: Hiroshi Seko
Source: Manga

The Premise: Momo believes in ghosts but not aliens, Okarun believes in aliens but not ghosts. What happens when both exist?

Lenlo: Basically all of my interest in Dandadan is due to it being a Science Saru production, well that and it being Fuuga Yamashiro’s directorial debut. The series itself seems to be a pretty straight forward battle shounen, superpowers and all that, but maybe the mix of aliens and ghosts will make it feel distinct from other series. I know the manga is well liked, a few friends seem rather excited for it, so between Science Saru and their recommendation I’m hopeful it will be. Other than that though, I really don’t know anything about Dandadan and aside from an above average production the PV didn’t do a lot to excite me. Still, I trust those friends’ recommendations, so up in Anticipating it goes.

Orb: On the Movements of the Earth

Studio: Madhouse
Director: Kenichi Shimizu
Series composition: Shingo Irie
Source: Manga

The Premise: In 15th century Poland, a child prodigy develops a heliocentric theory of the solar system, putting him at odds with the Catholic Church.

Wooper: I’m a little surprised that Orb: On the Movements of the Earth is receiving an anime adaptation, as it’s the sort of short-running, award-winning manga that doesn’t always make that jump. Set in a mildly sensationalized 600 year old version of Europe, Orb’s major themes are the irrepressible curiosity of the human spirit and the adversarial relationship between science and religion. The series contains multiple time skips and features adventure/mystery staples such as encoded research notes and artifacts that point to their locations. Personally, I think the story sounds highly promising, but I wonder whether the viewing public will feel the same way once it starts airing in its late night TV slot. Series composer Shingo Irie may be the most critical staff member here, as his experience writing historical fiction adaptations (Kingdom, Golden Kamuy) means he’s well-positioned to handle a singular plot like this one. The show’s PV doesn’t exactly bring the ruckus, visually speaking (all apologies to The RZA), but with well-paced scripts and music from Kensuke Ushio, I’m hopeful that Orb will become one of the few fall shows I watch from front to back.

BLUE LOCK Season 2

Studio: 8bit
Directors: Yuuji Haibara, Shintaro Inokawa
Series composition: Taku Kishimoto
Source: Manga

The Premise: Season 2 of Blue Lock.

Lenlo: Look, this is entirely me being shounen trash and just wanting to enjoy a crazy nonsensical sports anime. I know what this season covers, and it’s basically one big soccer match the whole way through, only with even more crazy and unhinged characters. If you’re a soccer enthusiast and are looking for some semblance of reality, well I don’t know how you made it past Blue Lock season 1, but this is definitely not for you. If however you’re like me and just want to watch super-powered football on a similar level as Kuroko no Basket, with eyes of god and laser kicks, then strap in. Because this shits about to get even weirder than it already was. We’re escalating baby!

Uzumaki

Studio: Drive
Director: Hiroshi Nagahama
Series composition: Aki Itami
Source: Manga

The Premise: An adaptation of Junji Ito’s legendary manga Uzumaki, a story about a small fogbound town on the coast of Japan.

Lenlo: Junji Ito is incredible, there’s no one quite able to do lovecraftian body horror in manga quite like him. His artwork is detailed and unnerving in a way nothing else is. Much like Berserk and Vagabond however, this becomes a problem when trying to adapt it into animation. How do you get that same unnerving detail and presentation without either spending a lot of money and time or sacrificing other parts of the production? Well looking at the PV, they can’t. Simply put, visually, it’s kind of bad. Everything that made Junji Ito’s works stand out is gone, flattened by an animation pipeline trying to do the impossible. There might still be something worth watching there, it’s still a good story and it’s only 4 episodes so they aren’t overstaying their welcome. But it’s pretty clear this won’t reach anywhere near the heights of the original manga, which you should read. It’s short, I promise.

Blue Box

Studio: Telecom Animation Film
Director: Yuuichirou Yano
Series composition: Yuuko Kakihara
Source: Manga

The Premise: Two athletic teenagers find themselves living under the same roof after a female basketball player moves in with a badminton-playing boy’s family.

Wooper: Lenlo already included my most eagerly anticipated fall shows in this tier (Dandadan, Uzumaki, NegaPosi Angler), but Blue Box might trump them all for me. That’s not to say it’ll be a guaranteed layup, as many of the shots in its PV rely too much on lighting and compositing, and not enough on honest-to-goodness animation. Setting that personal issue aside, though, I’ve got high hopes for this half-sports, half-romance series, whose combination of genres puts me in mind of Mitsuru Adachi. Having sampled the manga, I can attest to the good-naturedness of both lead characters and the likability of the obligatory third wheel. Whether the animated versions of the athletic scenes will be a match for the character-based stuff is one of the bigger questions facing Blue Box, but I’ll be watching either way. Hopefully the first batch of episodes is successful enough that the show gets renewed, since the manga is still running at 150+ chapters – it would be a shame if one of WSJ’s only “normal” adaptations failed to make it past its first season.

Sword Art Online Alternative:
Gun Gale Online II

Studio: A-1 Pictures
Director: Masayuki Sakoi
Series composition: Yousuke Kuroda
Source: Light novel

The Premise: Season Two of the Sword Art Online side-season, Gun Gale Online.

Lenlo: Here’s a surprise out of left field. Did anybody actually expect Gun Gale Online to get a sequel? I sure as hell didn’t. I’m not complaining though, Gun Gale Online is legitimately one of the best seasons of Sword Art Online. While there are sub-arcs like Mothers Rosario that are better, as far entire seasons go Gun Gale Online is pretty high up there. And considering it has the same author as the first season, namely not Reki Kawahara, as well as the same director, I’m rather hopeful. I don’t think it will be any kind of blockbuster, it won’t be the best of the season. But I’m looking forward to some fun gun MMO action.

NegaPosi Angler

Studio: Nut
Director: Yutaka Uemura
Series composition: Tomohiro Suzuki
Source: Original

The Premise: A university student diagnosed with only two years left to live is persuaded to take up fishing by a new acquaintance, introducing him to all manner of odd fishing enthusiasts.

Lenlo: As boring as fishing can be, NegaPosi’s PV actually looks surprisingly lively. Characters appear expressive, there’s a certain mania to them both passionate and crazy, it looks like a healthy mix of fun and drama for an otherwise boring subject. I’m not sold on the “two years to live” thing, that and the debt seems unnecessary to a show like this – Blue Period feels similar in a lot of ways with the lead rediscovering themselves in something new and it didn’t need anything like that. Still, it could work and director Yutaka Uemura has a solid enough history with shows like Youjo Senki. Combine that with this being an original and I’d say I’m looking forward to it a bit.

Highest Expectations

Thunderbolt Fantasy:
Touriken Yuuki 4

Studio: Pili International Multimedia
Director: Chris Huang
Series composition: Gen Urobuchi
Source: Original

The Premise: Season 4 of over the top puppet show, I mean Sesame Street, I mean Thunderbolt Fantasy.

Lenlo: Deep breath. MY PUPPET SHOW IS BAAAAACK. Seriously, Thunderbolt Fantasy is unlike anything else in anime. Is it particularly well written? Not really, no. But something about watching masterfully crafted and manipulated puppets fly across the screen in excessive wirework fights, or their full body exaggerated movements as they talk with each other since their mouths can really only move up or down, just brings a smile to my face. Thunderbolt Fantasy is a unique brand of fun that I haven’t been able to find anywhere else in anime, so I’m always happy when it returns. I don’t expect everyone to be into this, Thunderbolt Fantasy is kind of an acquired taste. But it’s definitely my taste, and the thing I’m looking forward to the most next season.

---