Fall Season 2017 Preview

Yet again we are here in a new season of anime even though it feels just a moment ago the summer season had started. Seasons come and go, stupid controversies rise and fall and yet life goes on as it has always gone on. Well then enough with the sloppy rhetoric and let’s just get to what you are all here for. I must say that this season is looking very promising indeed as while we don’t have the abundance of shows present in the summer season, we do have quite a number of shows with the potential to be something real special. Depending on how this turns out I may be dropping less shows than I usually do and end up watching a majority of the season.

Same values as usual apply as I check out the source material of everything in the season along with the staff to give a better idea of what might turn out well. Below is a poll which can influence what we writers pick up to cover for this season so vote for as many shows as you want. Truth be told a lot of us have already decided on what we will cover for this season, but should we change our minds we will certainly take the poll results into account when choosing a new show.

Once again thanks to Mario for gathering the images and helping with the format. And thanks to Wooper and Lenlo for helping with editing. Let’s get rocking.

The sequels/Shorts I don’t care about

Shokugeki no Souma: San no Sara
Himouto! Umaru-chan R
Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru: Yuusha no Shou
Love Live! Sunshine!! 2
Hoozuki no Reitetsu 2
Osomatsu-san 2
ClassicaLoid 2
Cardfight!! Vanguard G: Z
Itsudatte Bokura no Koi wa 10cm datta
Time Bokan: Gyakushuu no San-Okunin
Wake Up, Girls! Shin Shou

Series I don’t care about

Anime Gataris

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Studio: WAO World
Director:: Kenshiro Morii
Script/Series composer: Mitsutaka Hirota
Source: Original
The anime centers on Minoa Asagaya, a new high school student in Sakaneko Private High School. Despite being a novice to anime, Minoa’s classmate Arisu Kamiigusa invites her to make an “anime research club” at school. Through conversations with her classmate Miko Kouenji, as well as various anime-loving upperclassmen, Minoa gradually gets hooked on anime. While they stand against the student council’s continuous efforts to disband their club, and they ignore the impending end of the world, they talk about anime, whether in Akiba, or in real-life “sacred place” anime settings, or the hot springs.

I am very ready to write this off as a rather uninteresting show as all signs point to this being a cute girls doing cute things show. This appears to be an adaption of what was originally a short animation screened during intermission at TOHO cinemas. The PV points to this being just cute girls in a club as well. But there is one thing here that throws me off and that is that tiny detail in the description: “and they ignore the impending end of the world”. My interest in this show depends on how literal that statement is. That is the make or break point for this show for me, because an anime club by itself isn’t going to sell this show (I would be better off watching Genshiken). But an anime club at the end of the world? There’s something to get me interested. Director really hasn’t worked on anything of note and the same goes for the series composer unless you liked the anime X-men adaption or the New Prince of Tennis. Despite this I don’t have very high hopes for this as it likely won’t be anything of note even if it goes for the impending apocalypse scenario.

Blend S

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Studio: A1 Pictures
Director:: Ryouji Masuyama
Script/Series composer: Gou Zappa
Source: Manga
The story centers on a girl named Maika who gets a job at a cafe where all the waitresses are given certain attributes — such as “tsundere” or “little sister” — to embody while serving customers. The manager asks Maika to be the “Do S” (extreme sadist) waitress, so she will have to adopt a dominant and aggressive persona.

Comedy in manga has always been a thing I don’t find funny. There are of course exceptions, like Kagura Wants to be Confessed To or the fantastic Grand Blue. However despite not often finding comedy funny in manga I get the feeling this manga here just isn’t really funny. The main joke here is that this girl needs to pretend to be a sadist for her job but always feels guilty about it. However she always ends up playing a perfect sadist by complete accident. It’s just very one note and isn’t helped by having a manager character who is just dreadfully obnoxious. His thing is getting nosebleeds and constantly asking out the main character. Director is a newbie and the series composer’s latest work is Tenshi no 3P! So I am fairly certain this show is just not worth your time.

Boku no Kanojo ga Majime Sugiru Shojo Bitch na Ken

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Studio: diomedea
Director:: Nobuyoshi Nagayama
Script/Series composer: Hideki Shirane
Source: Manga
With nothing left to lose, ordinary high school student Haruka Shinozaki confesses to beautiful, diligent class representative Akiho Kousaka and to his surprise she accepts. Kousaka takes dating as seriously as she does everything else, but does not quite get it. She pragmatically suggests activities that are too sexual.

Again my crippling inability to appreciate Japanese comedy appears to affect whatever enjoyment I could have gotten from this story, but even then this is about as lowbrow as it gets. The title basically translates to “My Girlfriend is a Faithful Virgin Bitch” and mainly deals in sex jokes. So many sex jokes. The comedy boils down to Subject A making a comment and Subject B turning that comment into a sex joke. Such as the guy commenting about how it looks nice outside and the girl stating that it’s too early in their relationship to consider exhibitionism. That’s basically all that’s here. There isn’t really a plot nor does it go anywhere. Might be some people’s cup of tea but for myself I think there are better shows to spend time on.

Code:Realize – Sousei no Himegimi

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Studio: MSC
Director:: Hideyo Yamamoto
Script/Series composer: Sayaka Harada
Source: Visual Novel
Restricted to an abandoned mansion on the outskirts of London in fulfillment of a promise to her father, lonely Cardia lives day to day isolated from the world. Her body carries a deadly poison that rots or melts anything her skin touches, prompting the locals to call her a “monster.”
One day, her quiet solitude is interrupted as the Royal Guards break in to capture her. It is then that Cardia meets Arsène Lupin, a chivalrous thief, who helps her escape the soldiers’ clutches. She soon finds herself on a journey with Lupin to locate her father, who holds the answers to her mysterious condition.

Oh no, an Otome game adaptation. No offense meant but from all the time doing these previews I have yet to encounter one good Otome game adaptation. Maybe that Free Running one was the closest to passable but most of these things turn out pretty terrible. This doesn’t mean that the game itself is terrible as I don’t know but these kinds of games generally receive poor adaptations. Director has previously done Strike the Blood and the New Prince of Tennis. Series Composter has pretty much nothing of worth as her most recent work is Konbini Kareshi which was mediocre at best. Seeing as this is a lower tier studio and has lacking staff, I don’t see how this could turn out well. I mean by all means surprise me but I certainly won’t be holding my breath.

Dia Horizon

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Studio: Fanworks
Director:: Haruki Kasugamori
Script/Series composer: Yuuki Takabayashi
Source: Multimedia Project
We met and shared one death in two lives – What’s beyond the end of the horizon? Death… hope… freedom… … A girl has born with the secret to the end. She… is not allowed to live freely. “Freedom” was just a word she yearns for. She lived in a closed and narrow world. Her life is chosen by someone. Therefore, she thought, if the God only gives me scenario with no freedom, I want to share the “death” with you, not that “someone”. I want to give the half of destiny to her, even if I have to share the “death” with her.

A multimedia project by Square Enix and my opinion on this is much the same for any multimedia project. If you are going to make an anime then make an anime. If you are making a game then make a game. Don’t attempt to make everything at once because that is a jack of all trades, master of none situation. It’s attempting to make a franchise out of something which hasn’t even taken off yet. So that description up there tells me absolutely nothing about the story and the PV is no more helpful but I am willing to bank on this being some sort of Granblue Fantasy competitor. Considering how the anime for that one turned out I think it’s a safe bet this will be rather generic. It’s just an advertisement for some mobile game or something and I feel like we could be taking the money being thrown into this and putting it to better use. Here’s a freebie Square, how’s about instead of a stage play, we get Yoko Taro to write up an anime. Regardless of whether it’s Nier related or not you can bet that’s something I would pay to see.

Dynamic Chord

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Studio: Studio Pierrot
Director:: Shigenori Kageyama
Script/Series composer: Shigenori Kageyama
Source: Video Game
The project follows the musical careers and personal lives of several bands under the “Dynamic Chord” agency and music label.

This is by Studio Pierrot so don’t expect the animation to be anything stellar, and despite that description it’s actually an Otome game. Again I say that does not bode well. Plus we have one guy acting as Director and writer whose portfolio doesn’t seem to have a single good thing in it. Queen’s Blade along with hentai. Yeah, I just don’t see this being worthwhile.

Evil or Live

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Studio: Haoliners
Director:: Dongyi
Script/Series composer: N/A
Source: Web Manhua
In the current youth, a certain disease started to spread among young boys and girls. Loneliness, rebellion, avoiding friends. In addition, they obsess over the internet and other electronic devices, unable to avoid them. Experts call this disease ‘net addiction’. And there is an rehabilitation center built with the wish to ‘lead young people back on the right path’, but for one of the residents called Hibiki, the facility is more of a prison than rehabilitation. Will Hibiki be able to escape his desperate hell, where they do not forgive you for leaving?

Mario: It’s becoming a cruel recurring joke now that everything our Chinese neighbor Haoliners touches will turn into crap. Evil or Live doesn’t seem to break that trend as like its predecessors, it has a mildly intriguing concept but terrible execution. The premise leans heavily on societal commentary (but seriously: a disease called ‘net addiction’? Way too blatant here), although I think it only serves as a backdrop and not something they will dig deeper into. The PV doesn’t look good with plain character designs and average production quality. I don’t think it’s worth our time but of course, nothing’s set in stone until we see the first episode. I do appreciate the work the Chinese animation studios have been doing lately to bring their shows to the Japanese markets and our attention, but really I would’ve prefered much more if Korean animation and their manhwa got adapted instead. There are many much better manhwa out there to choose from than these mediocre Manhua sources.

Imouto sae Ireba Ii.

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Studio: Silver Link
Director:: Shin Oonuma
Script/Series composer: Yomi Harasaka
Source: Light Novel
This is the story about the daily life of a young siscon novelist, Itsuki Hashima with his perfect little sister Chihiro, the genius illustrator Nayuta Kani, his best friend Shirakawa Kyoto and some insane partners from his publishers.

YOU MANIAC! YOU BLEW IT UP! AH, DAMN YOU! GOD DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!!… Well you loved EroManga Sensei right? Anime is Trash and so am I, hahaha. Well look, here it is again. From the author of Haganai we have something that’s just as terrible. The main character of this show is just awful in every regard. Comedy is the pits, the story is absurd… we don’t need this now. Look, just take my word for it and don’t subject yourself to this. It’s not worth it. Not even to laugh at. Let it stay in the trash where it belongs.

Infini-T Force

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Studio: Tatsunoko Productions
Director:: Kiyotaka Suzuki
Script/Series composer: Toshiya Ono
Source: Manga
The story of the original manga begins when a girl named Emi uses a pencil that can grant any wish. Emi gets caught up in the robbery of a convenience store, and her life is in danger. She uses the pencil to wish for a “hero that will save everyone.” Four heroes appear in response to Emi’s wish to change the course of the future. The anime will have a different story from the original manga.

There is no translated version of the manga to my knowledge but it seems that doesn’t matter as this plans to go anime original. It’s the Director’s first time in the seat, though he is set to direct the upcoming sequel to FLCL so this could be a preview of what he can do. Series composer is working on two shows this season, the other being Houseki no Kuni. He’s previously worked on the Second season of Ao no Exorcist and Gatchaman Crowds, though he also worked on the rather lackluster Subete ga F ni Naru: The Perfect Insider. I can’t say I have much interest in this one as it seems to be a more traditional Sentai work from looking at the studio and what looks to be the inclusion of Gatchamen. If you are a fan of these kinds of works it could be for you but otherwise I think most will pass on it.

Konohana Kitan

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Studio: Lerche
Director:: Hideki Okamoto
Script/Series composer: Takao Yoshioka
Source: Manga
The story is set in Kokohana-tei, a hot spring hotel located in an inn town between our world and the other world, where many people go to visit. The story portrays the lives of fox spirits, who take the form of girls and work at the hotel.

Cute girls run a hot spring resort and this had better not be getting a bigger budget than Kino, Lerche. Not much to say on this one as it pretty much is hijinks with cute fox girls. Not my thing personally but someone might get a kick out of it.

Ousama Game The Animation

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Studio: Seven
Director:: Tokihiro Sasaki
Script/Series composer: Kenji Konuta
Source: Novel
Nobuaki Kanazawa, who transferred to a high school far away, is afraid of getting intimate with his new classmates because of the events that happened from his previous school. This led him to shut his heart. However, he starts to open up during the sports festival’s class relay. He and all his classmates received an email from “Ousama.” At first, his classmates didn’t take what they were told seriously, thinking it’s just a joke, but Nobuaki, the only one who knows the real meaning of it, fights against the “death” game that will soon begin…

Normally I would rejoice at seeing a horror anime in a seasonal lineup, as within the world of anime, horror is a rather rare occurrence. Sure you may have series with horror as a subgenre but there are stark few genuine horror series. So while I can confirm that Ousama Game is a horror focused story, sadly I cannot be too happy about it. For you see Ousama Game was originally a cell phone novel, which in terms of writing and storytelling quality is about maybe a slight bit above fan fiction. The best comparison I can make to this series would be the anime “Another” as the two do share a number of similarities. But again I would consider it a step down as Ousama Game is like those B grade slasher films that are watchable but well…not particularly good. Personally I would have prefered to see the prequel of this series animated, as while that was also not that great it was at least a little more interesting in execution. This is likely to catch people’s attention at first but eventually the paper thin characters might wear on people. I can tell you that the final payoff is really not worth it. To top it off the Director is a new face and the series composer really hasn’t worked on anything of note. While I normally don’t bring studios into things, this studio has mainly worked on shorts series and well…genuine porn. On the positive side of things this is a completed story, and while I reaffirm that it’s not well written it still at least could make for something mildly enjoyable.

Robomasters The Animated Series

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Studio: DandeLion Animation Studio LLC
Director:: Yasutaka Yamamoto
Script/Series composer: Kenichi Yamashita
Source: Original
Anime based on the DJI-hosted RoboMasters competition, which is the world’s biggest student robotics competition. The series will depict college students as they prepare and participate in a RoboMasters tournament.

Over in Europe here we have a little show called Robot Wars and this looks to be Robot Wars: the anime. Director worked on Jitsu wa Watashi wa, Servant x Service and Shinryaku? Ika Musume. Scriptwriter also worked on Jitsu wa Watashi wa and a bunch of shows I am certain you wouldn’t really care about. I appreciate this series going with college students over high school students but other than that I don’t expect much from this series. It’s really more of an advertisement for the event itself and as such I feel building a good story is likely secondary on the agenda.

Sengoku Night Blood

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Studio: TYPHOON GRAPHICS
Director:: Katsuya Kikuchi
Script/Series composer: Yuuko Kakihara
Source: Visual Novel
Set in the flourish world of Jinga that was formerly a prosperous and peaceful realm, the female protagonist is deemed to be the key to bring back order and to rule this world. Chaos started when people, specifically soldiers, who has special powers like turning into a vampire and a manwolf, called the Getsugazoku, fight for their land. These soldiers of different species would put their life on the line and fight as they follow their own thoughts and ideals. Until one day, she was called by a mysterious lady named “Hime Miko” due to the protagonist’s blood bearing a mysterious power to give strength, healing, and to awake Jingazoku’s real form. This is a story of love and war that she must not miss in order to rule the world.

Look, an anime based around the Sengoku period of Japan. Boy I have only seen that done twenty times before and it’s likely been done more times than that. Truth be told I had to check whether this was some sort of sequel because the title Sengoku is rather common in these works. Plus with the bishounen characters I already think this is another one for the fujoshi fans. While the plot summary appears to be trying I think that will fall apart fast once the boys are on screen. We already had Ufotable provide one of these so this is likely going to feel like a lesser version. Plus it’s an Otome game so yes…not looking good here. But anyway the Director only worked on Oushitsu Kyouushi Heine and Idol Memories besides this. Series composer did the second season of Chihayafuru and Tsuki ga Kirei but other that that I don’t see anything else notable. I guess if you liked Katsugeki Touken Ranbu last season then this might take your fancy. I meanwhile will pass.

The Idolm@ster SideM

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Studio: A-1 Pictures
Director:: N/A
Script/Series composer: Yuniko Ayana/ Yukie Sugawara
Source: Mobile Game
Based on the Idom@ster SideM app.

Idolmaster with guys, I guess that’s something that some people wanted. To be perfectly blunt I don’t quite see how these male idol shows are proving very profitable for everyone to jump on the bandwagon. At least with female idol shows I can somewhat get with shows like Love Live and Idolmaster which are fairly decent. But male idol shows just seem to be at a far lower bar.

TsukiPro The Animation

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Studio: PRA
Director:: Juria Matsumura
Script/Series composer: Reiko Yoshida
Source: Original
The music anime will follow the daily lives and associated drama of four of TsukiPro’s very unique groups — SolidS, Quell, SOARA, and Growth.

I could swear I covered this show already in another season, but perhaps these male idol shows just blend into one another so I just can’t tell the difference between them anymore. Is it okay if I just write this one off? I mean I don’t care and I am fairly certain you don’t care either. Even if you are a fan of these kinds of shows this one looks to be a low effort.

Two Car

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Studio: SILVER LINK.
Director:: Masafumi Tamura
Script/Series composer: Katsuhiko Takayama
Source: Original
The anime is set on Miyake Island, a small and sparsely populated island south of Tokyo, but still lies within the boundaries of the Tokyo Metropolis. The main characters are Yuri Miyata and Megumi Meguro. Yuri is the girlish, cool-headed, and slender driver who works the accelerator and brake, and whose household runs a guesthouse. Megumi is the boyish, impulsive, and glamorous passenger who uses acrobatic skills and body weight to handle the corner work, and whose household runs an inn. Both are students at the Tokyo Metropolitan Miyake Girls High School. While they are the complete opposites of each other, and often butt heads, they compliment each other well during races.
The team will fight other motorcycle sidecar teams from all over Japan, each with their own opposing traits, such as honor student and working student, sadist and masochist, and a funny man and straight man.

WIth the all female cast this looks to be Yuri undertones on motorcycles. Director only previously directed Ange Vierge, a card game show with an all female cast which was pretty terrible. Series composer fairs a bit better with Gai Rei Zero, Ef and Baka to Test, but has a large number of terrible shows like Big Order, Triage X and Aldnoah Zero. His most recent work is Sakurada Reset. With this staff and premise I can’t really see this being that worthwhile and I particularly don’t like the sound of the other teams having their own gimmick in characterization. I would be willing to give it a chance for the racing aspect but I don’t hold high hopes.

UQ Holder! Mahou Sensei Negima! 2

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Studio: J.C.Staff
Director:: Youhei Suzuki
Script/Series composer: Shogo Yasukawa
Source: Manga
In the decade since the world became aware of the existence of magic, the world has undergone massive upheaval. However, a boy named Touta lives in seclusion in a rural town far removed from these changes. His ordinary life is highlighted by his magic-using female teacher and his supportive friends. When his tranquil daily life is disrupted, he embarks on a unique adventure.

This is a very weird one. Four score and seven years ago or so I read the Negima manga and it was an odd one. Starting off as a rather bad harem manga, over the course of the series it evolved into a fairly decent shounen battle manga. Fanservice aside I actually enjoyed it a bit up until its sudden ending that resolves very little. That’s where UQ Holder comes in, as at first it acted as a brand new story within the Negima universe, but then turned into a sequel as older characters were reintroduced. But what makes this a difficult adaption is that the Negima manga was never fully adapted. Two of its anime adaptations stopped before it became a shounen battle manga and the only parts of that side of the manga were adapted into a couple of shoddy OVAs. Considering the appeal of this story is its connections to Negima I don’t see new viewers getting much out of it. Even then as someone who has read the manga I can say this story isn’t anything special, as the only time it becomes worth reading is when it refers its predecessor. As such this show is for big Negima fans only and as for the rest of us it would be better to just pass this show by.

Series I am middling on

Black Clover

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Studio: Studio Pierrot
Director:: Tatsuya Yoshihara
Script/Series composer: Kazuyuki Fudeyasu
Source: Manga
In a world where magic is everything, Asta and Yuno are both found abandoned at a church on the same day. While Yuno is gifted with exceptional magical powers, Asta is the only one in this world without any. At the age of fifteen, both receive grimoires, magic books that amplify their holder’s magic. Asta’s is a rare Grimoire of Anti-Magic that negates and repels his opponent’s spells. Being opposite but good rivals, Yuno and Asta are ready for the hardest of challenges to achieve their common dream: to be the Wizard King. Giving up is never an option!

Gah! Not Studio Pierrot. Sigh…I was worried about this. Anyway I read the manga of this and it looks like we have our standard shounen of the season. If you watch the likes of Boku no Hero Academia, Naruto, One Piece, Seven Deadly Sins and others like them then this is very much in the same vein. However I will say that from what I read of the manga this is one of the better executed ones. It’s nothing new or groundbreaking but it is entertaining and I found myself reading up to chapter twenty before stopping myself. This could turn out to be a worthwhile shounen series…provided that Studio Pierrot doesn’t screw it up again. I know that studios themselves aren’t really the determining factor on the quality of a show but this studio has managed to butcher some promising titles before. We have the Director of Monster Musume, Long Riders and Yoru no Yatterman. The series composer is stretched thin here are they are working on three shows in this season (the others being White Fox’s Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou and Net-juu no Susume), so I think he won’t be giving this his full attention. The main character of this series could turn out annoying in animated form but if Pierrot could just stay faithful to the source and not try to turn this into another Naruto then this could be fun to watch.

Dies irae

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Studio: ACGT
Director:: Susumu Kudou
Script/Series composer: Takashi Masada
Source: Visual Novel
The story features an alternate history of World War II. On May 1, 1945 in Berlin, as the Red Army raises the Soviet flag over the Reichskanzlei, a group of Nazi officers conduct a ritual. For them, the slaughter in the city is nothing but the perfect ritual sacrifice in order to bring back the Order of the 13 Lances, a group of supermen whose coming would bring the world’s destruction. Years later, no one knows if this group of officers succeeded, or whether they lived or died. Few know of their existence, and even those who knew began to pass away as the decades passed.
Now in December in the present day in Suwahara City, Ren Fujii spends his days at the hospital. It has been 2 months since the incident that brought him to the hospital: a fight with his friend Shirou Yusa where they almost tried to kill each other. He tries to value what he has left to him, but every night he sees the same dream: A guillotine. Murderers who hunt people, and the black clothed knights who pursue the murderers. He is desperate to return to his normal, everyday life, but even now he hears Shirou’s words: “Everyone who remains in this city eventually loses their minds.”

Fairly recently I played the original source for this work and found it to be an interesting but rather flawed story. As such I don’t find myself all that excited for its anime adaption though I am curious as to how they will handle it. With the right hand an animated adaption could very well help remove some of my issues with the original source material, such as the intrusive writer’s prose in action sequences. However this is a story that very much rides on the rule of cool and if the anime adaption cannot capture that then this entire story will fall flat on its face. The story itself could be described as the epitome of chuuni entertainment. This my friends is the kind of entertainment that chuunibyou characters would froth at the mouth for. As such it’s the kind of entertainment that not everyone will go for. The Director of the series doesn’t give much confidence as he previously worked on the Mardock Scramble movies, the K series and the fourth Ghost in the shell Arise OVA. Surprisingly enough the series composer for this series happens to be the original creator and while it is good to see he’s handling the story directly, anime and visual novels are very different mediums. The studio isn’t all that impressive either from an animation standpoint but hopefully they can pull through for the large number of action scenes in this story. So if you are a fan of Hellsing and Fate/Stay Night who would be interested in seeing a battle royale between superpowered Nazis with banter over the futility of existence then this just might be the show for you.

Houseki no Kuni

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Studio: Orange
Director:: Takahiko Kyougoku
Script/Series composer: Toshiya Ono
Source: Manga
In the distant future, a new life form called Houseki (gems) are born. The 28 Houseki must fight against the moon dwellers who want to attack them and turn them into decorations, thus each gem is assigned a role such as a fighter or a medic. Though he hopes to fight the moon dwellers, Phos is a gem who is given no assignment until the gems’ master Adamantine asks him to edit a natural history magazine.

I guess it’s another Madoka? Truth be told I find myself at a loss to evaluate this, as when I try to read the manga it just disengages me immediately. I don’t know if it’s the artstyle or something but I just can’t get into this story. It might be because of the lack of background art in the manga which makes it feel like the characters are in a white void all the time. I try but I just can’t connect to the characters and really can’t follow what exactly is going on. This may be one that gains new value once given an animated makeover, but as I see it now I find it just confusing and dull. We have the Director of Gate and Love Live alongside the series composer of Ao no Exorcist season 2 and Gatchaman Crowds. I believe he is working on two shows this season with the other being Infini-T Force. It would be best to reserve judgement on this one until the first episode airs, as the story does seem to be trying something unique that doesn’t quite work in manga form. Perhaps this will blossom into something worthwhile, but at least it will be a strange oddity.

Just Because!

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Studio: Pine Jam
Director:: Atsushi Kobayashi
Script/Series composer: Hajime Kamoshida
Source: Original
At the end of the second semester of third year of high school, four students are prepared for graduation and feel the ending to their high school life. But that changes a little with the arrival of a transfer student.

This is the Director’s first work and the scriptwriter seems to be the original creator of Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo. Other than that he worked on a couple of episodes on Gundam Orphans, M3: Sono Kuroki Hagane and Wixoss. The studio is fairly new as well, with one of their only other works being Gamers from the Summer season. Not sure what we could get here and usually school slice of life doesn’t take my fancy. However if I had to guess based on the PV and staff this looks to be going more in the direction of love triangles and drama. This seems to be one where we don’t know what we are getting until we have got it. So judgment is reserved until the first episode drops.

Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau

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Studio: J.C. Staff
Director:: Kyouhei Ishiguro
Script/Series composer: Michiko Yokote
Source: Manga
Chakuro is the 14-year-old archivist of the Mud Whale, a nigh-utopian island that floats across the surface of an endless sea of sand. Nine in ten of the inhabitants of the Mud Whale have been blessed and cursed with the ability to use saimia, special powers that doom them to an early death.
Chakuro and his friends have stumbled across other islands, but they have never met, seen, or even heard of a human who wasn’t from their own. One day, Chakuro visits an island as large as the Mud Whale and meets a girl who will change his destiny.

If you are a fan of Made in Abyss’s world building then this should be right up your alley. I don’t think it will rival it but nonetheless this is a rather interesting concept. But there is a big problem, this one’s got the Director of Occultic;Nine on it and truly the direction of that series was a nightmare. Well yes he also directed Your lie in April, so maybe he’s not completely hopeless. Series composer has quite a lot of experience though her more recent works were Masamune-kun no Revenge and Re-Life. Though she seems to have worked on Naruto and Gintama too. In the right hands this could turn into an interesting gem of the season.

Net-juu no Susume

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Studio: Signal.MD
Director:: N/A
Script/Series composer: Kazuyuki Fudeyasu
Source: Web Manga
Moriko Morioka is a 30-year-old single NEET woman. After dropping out from reality, she has taken off in search for a fulfilling life and ended up in a net game or “netoge.” In the netoge world, she began her new life as a refreshing and handsome character named Hayashi. While starting out as a beginner, a pretty character named Lily reached out to help her. Meanwhile, in the real world, awaits a shocking encounter with a good-looking elite company employee, a mysterious blue-eyed blonde.

The web manga didn’t really give me much of an idea of what to expect as it was mainly this NEET woman getting into the online game. Overall it seems to be about two people playing opposite their genders in an online game and somehow falling for each other. The premise does at least hold some interest and it’s nice to see a female NEET lead, though I hope it doesn’t go about glorifying the NEET lifestyle. Only the scriptwriter featured on this one and they are also working on Black Clover and Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou this season. He has a number of decent works in his CV like the Hajime no Ippo sequels, episodes of Jojo seasons 2 and 3 and Ben-to. Studio hasn’t done much either besides Napping Princess and Atom the Beginning. Provided they don’t make use of shoujo humor and handle the romance with care this could turn into something watchable.

Osake wa Fuufu ni Natte Kara

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Studio: Creators in Pack
Director:: N/A
Script/Series composer: N/A
Source: Web Manga
The “slightly sweet tipsy couple comedy” anime centers on the 28-year-old senior public relations company staff member Chisato Mizusawa. The story follows Chisato’s daily life as she enjoys her husband Sora’s cocktails. Chisato has secrets that only her husband knows.

Despite the rather depressing sounding English title being “Alcohol is for Married Couples” this series is fairly lighthearted. We have the type of anime we call food porn and in this case this show would be considered drink porn. The premise is just about a husband mixing drinks up to give to his normally uptight wife who becomes more honest and easygoing after she gets drunk. The manga even tells you how to mix up the drinks yourself and chances are the episodes of this anime will feature a “Do it yourself” section. That’s about it really. Could be a decent time waster and educational tool for college parties but nothing too memorable.

Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou

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Studio: White Fox
Director:: takaharu Ozaki
Script/Series composer: Kazuyuki Fudeyasu
Source: Manga
Civilization is dead, but Chito and Yuuri are still alive. So they hop aboard their beloved Kettenkrad motorbike and aimlessly wander the ruins of the world they once knew. Day after hopeless day, they look for their next meal and fuel for their ride. But as long as the two are together, even an existence as bleak as theirs has a ray or two of sunshine in it, whether they’re sucking down their fill of soup or hunting for machine parts to tinker with. For two girls in a world full of nothing, the experiences and feelings the two share give them something to live for…

I am beginning to think that we need a new term for these shows that look cutesy but have really dark themes. Maybe dark Moe? Well in this case I wouldn’t be looking for much on the dark side of things. While the setting is very heavy with death and destruction, our two protagonists often just approach things with the attitude like this was a day at the park. My feelings on the story are a little mixed as while I do like a depressing scenario, the protagonists treat it with a large degree of apathy. Director is brand new as he mainly directed photography in other works and the Persona 5 animation. Series composer has a number of decent works in his CV like the Hajime no Ippo sequels, episodes of Jojo seasons 2 and 3 and Ben-to but is also working on two other shows this season. I would say with White Fox’s hand this show could turn out to be pretty decent but I still wish they were working on a second season of Re:Zero instead. And yes, I will not shut up about that because how else am I to see Echidna in glorious animated form?

Urahara

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Studio: Shirogumi
Director:: Masatsugu Arakawa
Script/Series composer: Natsuko Takahashi
Source: Original
Three high school girls are putting together a limited-time shop called “PARK” in Japan’s Harajuku. One day, aliens come to Earth with the intent to steal the famed district’s culture. At the same time, a mysterious girl appears. The three girls band together to defeat the alien threat and protect their beloved Harajuku.

I feel the artstyle and animation of the PV is a little rough though the idea seems somewhat interesting. Director is a complete newbie though, and has only directed a small 13 minute short. Series composer has a lot more under her belt but it’s such a mishmash of good and bad that it’s hard to know how she will go with this. Being an original show with a decent idea I am willing to give this a chance. But it does feel like this rather new studio may be biting off more than they can chew. Hopefully it works out for them but we can only tell when the first episode airs.

VANISHING LINE

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Studio: MAPPA
Director:: Park Seong-Hu
Script/Series composer: Kiyoko Yoshimura
Source: Original
In a prosperous city named Russell City, an omen that threatens to shake its world begins to move within it. A man named Sword is the first to hear the first stirrings of the plot, and throws himself into a shadow war in order to expose it. His only clue is the key word “El Dorado.” He meets Sophie, a woman searching for her missing older brother who has only left her with the same words: “El Dorado.” With Sword having also lost his younger sister in the past, both are drawn together by the words, and work together to find out its meaning.

I remember hearing about this and was interested up until I heard it was related to the Garo franchise. The previous Garo work I watched didn’t really catch me as it felt very much like a traditional tokusatsu show, which isn’t to my tastes. The animation and art in the PV however does look quite impressive. The Director is a newbie and the scriptwriter hasn’t really worked on anything I would consider worthwhile. I say if you liked the previous Garo anime this might be for you, and it could be interesting to non-Garo fans as well depending on the execution.

3-gatsu no Lion 2

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Studio: Shaft
Director:: Akiyuki Shinbo
Script/Series composer: N/A
Source: Manga
The second season of 3-gatsu no Lion.

Mario: You bet I will return to 3-gatsu, as it still remains one of the best character-piece series in the past few years. It’s pretty telling that my coverage of 3-gatsu feels more like me writing a personal diary to the show, rather than reviewing it. It has that intimate feeling that no other show can quite reach. Some might have a problem with Shaft adapting it, but let me just say that they do a pretty damn good job at restraining themselves and staying faithful to the source material. Too faithful in fact, to the point that sometimes I really want them to speed things up a bit. If nothing goes wrong the same staff members would be in charge, so on that front I have no real worry. The next arc of 3-gatsu that focuses on the 3 sisters (especially Hina) will prove to be an emotional ride, and I can’t wait to spend more time with its lovely cast, the shogi matches and Rei’s progression.

Kekkai Sensen & Beyond

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Studio: Bones
Director:: Shigehito Takayanagi
Script/Series composer: Yasuko Kamo
Source: Manga
Second season of Kekkai Sensen.

Mario: I know most people have a lukewarm reaction towards the first season, especially with the double-length ending that took so long to release and didn’t end up justifying the whole series. I believe it was a matter of momentum. I fell behind after a few episodes of BBB during its airing and picked up only when I heard about the releasing of the last episode. When I binged through the show my investment kept building for the climax and the show ended up in my top 5 of that year. I really have a feeling that if people didn’t have to wait for 3 plus months for a finale they would have enjoyed this show far better. It’s Bones who blew their chance so they have no one else to blame if that is the case. Back to this season, one noticeable bit of news is that Rie Matsumoto won’t be back to direct this (and I heard she’s busy directing other shows, sounds good to me), which for BBB:B is not a welcome sign. Bones is still the studio behind the show, though, and Bones is one of the most consistent anime studios right now. The story might follow the manga more closely than the first season, which for my money will focus more Leonardo and his sister. If you enjoyed the first season you can’t go wrong here, and for those who haven’t checked it out but like an intriguing setting with heaps of over-the-top, fun-to-follow characters, look no further than this.

Series I do look forward to

Inuyashiki

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Studio: MAPPA
Director:: Shuhei Yabuta
Script/Series composer: Hiroshi Seko
Source: Manga
Inuyashiki has a family, a wife and two kids, none of which care about him. When he learns that he has only three months to live, he realizes that the only one who will miss him is his dog. Shortly after this realization, he is killed in a crash landing by aliens. He is rebuilt by them as a machine with a human exterior. How will his life change now that he isn’t human?

This manga is by the author of Gantz as you would see by the artstyle. That might give you an idea of what to expect. This is sort of a superhero tale about an older-looking man who happens to be turned into a machine. I rather like that our protagonist this time is a man in his senior years and the story generally is in a moral grey area with plenty of dark aspects and gore. The PV’s are looking very promising and it could very well turn into a hit of the season. Maybe even an overseas hit. I generally lost interest in the manga as it continued but with an animated adaption this story could take on brand new life. We have the Director behind Rage of Bahamut’s two seasons and Tiger and Bunny. Series composer is a bit spotty as he worked on Resonance of Terror, Seraph of the End and Empire of Corpses. Though he also worked on a lot of Attack on Titan episodes and did the series composition for Mob Psycho 100 and Ajin. I recommend checking this one out.

Juuni Taisen

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Studio: Graphinica
Director:: Naoto Hosoda
Script/Series composer: Sadayuki Murai
Source: Light Novel
12 warriors who are burdened with the names of the 12 Chinese Zodiac members fight with each other’s lives and pride at stake, all to grant just one wish.

Well well, I was ready to write this one off fast until I noticed who penned the light novel. This work comes to us from Nisio Isin, otherwise known as the author of the Bakemonogatari series and its numerous sequels and spinoffs. The PV also looks rather impressive, though the action packed focus is something rather different for NisiOisiN’s rather talkative works. I am rather mixed on his works as a whole because he can have interesting ideas but some terrible execution. We have two cours for this show and the Director of Hataraku Maou-sama and Mirai Nikki. Series composer worked on Knights of Sidonia, Cowboy Bebop, Perfect Blue, Kino’s Journey and Natsume Yuujinchou’s sequels. Given his track record, this series could actually turn out to be something rather interesting indeed. I will keep an eye on this one and perhaps we could have something special.

Kino no Tabi: The Beautiful World – the Animated Series

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Studio: Lerche
Director:: Tomohisa Taguchi
Script/Series composer: Yukie Sugawara
Source: Light Novel
The story follows the travels of Kino, a young adventurer who rides a talking motorcycle named Hermes. They explore the people and cultures of different places throughout their adventures, spending only three days at each location.

Without a doubt my most anticipated title of the Fall anime season. I adore the original 2003 adaption of Kino’s Journey and I have read some of the novels. This is a title I have been dying for a new season of, although from the looks of it this appears to be a full remake, hopefully with two cours. Now this story is an odd one as it serves more as a series of parables that serve to make you think. For example, what would happen if everyone could read minds, or lived in a country where murder is legal? Kino remains an observer as she travels to each country with its own strange quirk and how that has changed it. It’s a really thoughtful series and bound to give me much material to work with as I cover it for this season. No way I am passing up covering this. This receives my highest recommendation based on the source material alone but there are some reservations about the staff. The Director has mainly worked on the second and fourth Persona 3 movies, Twin Star Exorcists and the Persona 4 The Golden Animation. While the Persona 3 movies were fine, I believe this would be better handed off to someone more experienced. The series composer is a bit of red flag as well, as her main works are Overlord and Hina Logi: From Luck and Logic, and she did scripts for episodes of Sword Art Online’s two seasons, Gakusen Toshi Asterisk and Mahouka. The original writer is also on the staff so I hope he has greater creative control over the show than these two do. I do find the studio trustworthy as well, as Lerche have done a great job in the past. It doesn’t need to be an animated visual powerhouse just so long as it can capture the spirit of the books. There is a preview of the first episode on October 1st, so we could get an idea of how this may turn out with that. If they can do that then this is an automatic winner of the season for me.

Mahoutsukai no Yome

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Studio: Wit Studio
Director:: Norihiro Naganuma
Script/Series composer: Norihiro Naganuma
Source: Manga
Chise Hatori has lived a life full of neglect and abuse, devoid of anything resembling love. Far from the warmth of family, she has had her share of troubles and pitfalls. Just when all hope seems lost, a fateful encounter awaits her. When a man with the head of a beast, wielding strange powers, obtains her through a slave auction, Chise’s life will never be the same again.

Definitely something to keep an eye on this season. There is a chance the first few episodes are the OVA repackaged as a series but this story is one of the most unique of the season. I particularly like that it takes more inspiration from celtic folklore, and if I had to make a comparison I guess it’s like the beginnings of Howl’s Moving Castle. A girl is taken in by a mysterious individual and slowly gets involved with a strange and wonderful world of magic. Director directed the OVA and the Blood-C film and the series composer is new with not much on his resume. While Kino is my most recommended of the shows this season, this series makes for a close second.