Wooper: Let’s be honest with ourselves. This season is going to be remembered for two things: the long-awaited conclusion of Attack on Titan’s TV run, and the continuation of Demon Slayer’s story beyond the material of its record-breaking film. Those two properties will attract nearly as many eyeballs as the rest of this winter’s offerings combined – titanic sequels aside, it’s not looking like the strongest start for 2022 in terms of anime. There’s the usual assortment of isekai and MMO-themed fantasies, a stressful three CloverWorks series airing all at once, and a trio of shows about lesser-known (and in one case, fictional) sports. Personally, none of that really speaks to me – my hopes are pinned on a pair of series that aren’t likely to make waves in otaku circles. One serves as the return of an acclaimed director and master animator after a 14 year hiatus; the other is an adaptation of a batshit insane light novel by a studio handling their first full production. Read on for more thoughts on those and a bunch of other anime, and let us know what you’re looking forward to in the poll below.

Middling Expectations

Hakozume: Koban Joshi no Gyakushuu

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

The Premise: A disillusioned policewoman decides to stay on the force a while longer after meeting her beautiful new boss.

Wooper: Hakozume is destined to draw a lot of comparisons to You’re Under Arrest, the female-led police comedy from the mid-nineties, but having skimmed the manga and watched the PV, I doubt it will have the action focus that YUA did. We’re probably looking at a ‘moving manga’ adaptation here, not on par with 2021’s Way of the Househusband but definitely on the low end of the animation spectrum. Workplace comedies can make do with that sort of stiffness, though, as long as the characters are strong and the stories give insight into the occupation in question (2006’s Hataraki Man is perhaps the ultimate example of that possibility). Policewomen Mai and Seiko may well fulfill that first criterion, as their understated banter will probably be just as fun to hear as it was to read. I’m less sure about the second part, though a large percentage of Hakozume’s civilian population seems to view the cops as a blight on Japanese society, which is something of a unique angle. This series isn’t anywhere near the top of my watchlist for this winter (it’s not on the list at all, to be honest), but it features adults in the real world rather than teens who get transported to a make-believe one, so I figured it was worth a mention.

 

Tokyo 24-ku

Studio: CloverWorks
Director: Naokatsu Tsuda
Series composition: Vio Shimokura
Source: Original

The Premise: Three childhood friends reunite to protect the island where they were born after receiving a phone call from a supposedly dead friend.

Wooper: Much like last year’s Wonder Egg Priority, Tokyo 24-ku is an original CloverWorks series with a closely guarded storyline. Also like Wonder Egg Priority, Tokyo 24-ku is likely bound for production hell – only this time it’s probably going to be a much shorter trip. Kiminori Itou, one of the show’s chief animation directors, has been making increasingly foreboding tweets over the last several months, with two of his most recent messages being, “When will the animation collapse? It already has!” and, “Animation decay is my friend. I’m not scared.” That’s certainly not a positive omen, but even if you filter out those sorts of subjective statements, a post from December 10th indicated that the first episode still hadn’t been completed less than a month before its scheduled air date. It looks like Tokyo 24-ku’s main value will be as a cautionary tale against anime studios handling three shows in a single season (CloverWorks is also doing Bisque Doll and Akebi-chan this winter), rather than as a production that succeeds on its own terms. It’s a shame that this is happening to an original project directed by one of the main brains behind the JoJo TV series – under any other circumstances that would be an easy sell – but all we can do now is pray that the staff experience a ninth inning miracle.

Akebi-chan no Sailor-fuku

Studio: CloverWorks
Director: Miyuki Kuroki
Series composition: Rino Yamazaki
Source: Manga

The Premise: In a world where men don’t exist, a girl with a fetish for sailor uniforms attends a new school and makes new friends.

Mario: I wasn’t even kidding when I wrote that sentence in the premise; but not only is the cast entirely female, but the main staff also features some fresh female faces as well. This show marks the first gig for both the director and series composer in their respective roles, but they had worked together before on another female-directed feature: Doukyuusei. I read the first few chapters of the Akebi-chan manga and so far, except for the attractive character designs, the story has little to offer. There’s a male gaze in there that takes me out of it a bit, but I don’t have the same feeling watching the PVs so I’m crossing my fingers that the anime will tone it down. The PV displays neat coloring and lighting, but frankly a main character needs to have more personality than “in love with sailor uniforms” to get me hooked.

On Air Dekinai!

Studio: Jinnan Studio, Space Neko Company
Director: Jun Aoki
Series composition: Jun Aoki
Source: Manga

The Premise: A new recruit at a TV station learns the ropes as a production assistant.

Wooper: Continuing my practice of previewing Jun Aoki anime without knowing a thing about them, here are a few words about On Air Dekinai, an adaptation with no PV of a manga with no English translation. It’s not exactly rare for untranslated manga to make their way to the small screen, but I do wish we had a better idea of what to expect from Dekinai. Its subject matter holds a lot of promise, especially since it’s likely to be assembled by people who have worked entry level showbiz jobs in the recent past (given that it’s a short anime). The main character being an anthropomorphic cat in a world of humans should increase the ‘fish out of water’ factor that PAs experience after being thrust into the meat grinder of TV production. I like the premise and the look of the character designs and all that… I just don’t know whether this is going to be an “Ore, Tsushima” situation where a two minute runtime sucks the air out of the show’s sails before it even begins. Assuming we can get a solid five minutes each week, On Air Dekinai could be worth a watch for general fans of short series; otherwise its appeal will be limited to Jun Aoki cultists like myself.

Baraou no Souretsu

Studio: J.C. Staff
Director: Kentarou Suzuki
Series composition: Hiroki Uchida
Source: Manga

The Premise: Future monarch Richard III struggles to find his place in 15th century England while battling his personal demons.

Wooper: I read the first volume of the Baraou no Souretsu (“Requiem of the Rose King”) manga to see what I could expect from its upcoming adaptation, and came away mostly unimpressed. It’s a dark historical fantasy with a tortured intersex protagonist born to a noble house in the midst of England’s War of the Roses – sounds intriguing at the very least, right? I thought so too, and to its credit, Baraou does a lot of ambitious cross-cutting between the members of its sizable cast. The issue (for me, anyway) is the speed with which it burns through Richard III’s early adolescence. Dad goes off to war and returns in the blink of an eye. Richard and his family are imprisoned seemingly off camera, and their state of captivity becomes apparent through dialogue rather than illustration. His relationships with other characters are crystalized with such immediacy that it’s difficult to invest yourself in their formation. The unique challenges that Richard faces as a result of his biology and social status hold a lot of potential, making Baraou no Souretsu a title of interest this January. But the anime staff’s collective filmography doesn’t signal the same potential, and unless they try some tricky rearrangement of the source material, this may not be a journey worth taking.

Tensai Ouji no Akaji Kokka Saisei Jutsu

Studio: Yokohama Animation Lab
Director: Masato Tamagawa
Series composition: Hitomi Mieno
Source: Light Novel

The Premise: A prince gets too lazy to rule and tries to sell out his kingdom…only for inadvertent success to fall into his lap.

Amun: Waaiiiit a second, this isn’t How A Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom…which is also airing this season. I’ve been tricked! Although since I’m already here, let’s take a look at what this knock-off has to offer (and I already consider Realist Hero to be an imitation of Amagi Brilliant Park). Apparently, not only was I confused about which show this was, the staff involved had me properly mixed up (thanks Wooper for the assist). With this new information – I’m actually a bit more optimistic. This is Masato Tamagawa’s full directorial debut for a seasonal show, but he has been around in animation quite a bit (storyboard for Tsugumomo is probably the work that I’m most familiar with). Hitomi Mieno (or more commonly known as Deko Akao) is more interesting. I have both praised and complained bitterly about her work – brilliant in Flying Witch, Noragami, After the Rain, and this season’s Komi-san…forgettable in Detective is Already Dead and Last Dungeon. So there’s potential there, but as in previous projects, I think the source material has determined the outcome more than anything. And the source material here is exactly what you would expect – harem introductions, cat ears, joking violence, innuendos, and an unlikable MC with a heart of gold. Well then. This season overall is just painful – Arifureta 2 (whose premiere I consider the worst single episode I have ever seen in anime) is the #3 anticipated show on Anichart. Anime is doomed.

Sasaki to Miyano

Studio: Deen
Director: Shinji Ishihara
Series composition: Yoshiko Nakamura
Source: Manga

The Premise: Two students at an all-boys high school form an unlikely friendship based on their shared love of BL manga.

Wooper: Ever since Given aired in 2019, I’ve been more open to sampling BL anime. Most of them are shoddily produced, fetishistic, or both, but Given was a happy exception, and if a rule can be broken once it can certainly be broken again. It’s in that spirit that I look forward to shows like Sasamiya whenever they pop up on seasonal charts, though I’m not super confident in this particular entry in the subgenre. The five manga chapters I read were alright – the series has a way with dialogue that allows it to pursue a solitary topic at length without getting tiresome. What does get tiresome are the occasional thought bubbles along the lines of “He’s so cute…but he’s a DUDE!” from the non-threatening delinquent character. The series is set at an all-boys school, so you’d think it would lean into the gay factor with a bit less hesitation than that, but I guess the author envisioned a longer path when conceptualizing the story. As far as the upcoming anime goes, I’m not a big fan of the animation designs, which made everyone’s eyes 20 percent bigger and still ended up looking less cute than the manga. I can deal with little changes like that, though, as long as some tweaks are made in the writers’ room too. If we get an adaptation that emphasizes smart dialogue and downplays the characters’ cluelessness, Sasaki to Miyano might have a shot at memorability.

Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru

Studio: CloverWorks
Director: Keisuke Shinohara
Series composition: Yoriko Tomita
Source: Manga

The Premise: A popular teenage girl recruits a doll-making loner to help with her secret hobby: cosplay.

Wooper: There’s a fair amount of buzz online for this thing, so if you’re an existing Bisque Doll fan, congrats on the positive forecast for its adaptation. As for me, I sampled the manga and managed to tolerate a whopping three chapters, so I’m only previewing it due to a false sense of obligation. Bisque Doll is yet another “Gyaru Girl x Loser Boy” series with a cosplay twist, but given the amount of ecchi teasing it delivers right up front, I doubt we’re in for an earnest look at the cosplay scene. A lack of seriousness in depicting a particular hobby isn’t necessarily a bad thing; the Dumbbell Nan Kilo Moteru manga was packed with both humor and fanservice yet still translated well to animation. But when a mangaka closes their third chapter with a cliffhanger about measuring a bikini-clad girl’s bust size, complete with shots of the male lead sweating and blushing at the steamy situation in which he’s found himself, I’m out. If you’re still in, good news: despite the anime having four different chief animation directors (a normal production has one or two), Permanently Online industry observers have good things to say about Bisque Doll’s young animation team. That means it’s unlikely to suffer from the sort of visual stiffness that killed its fashion-conscious cousin Runway de Waratte, but will the story hold up to the scrutiny of a much wider audience? Guess we’ll find out next month.

Leadale no Daichi nite

Studio: Maho Film
Director: Yuuji Yanase
Series composition: Kazuyuki Fudeyasu
Source: Light Novel

The Premise: A girl on life support passes away and gets transported into her favorite MMO two hundred years in the future.

Mario: Ho boy, here it comes: your seasonal isekai fix. And what’s even better is that an isekai veteran is in charge of the project! Yup, the director is the MVP of such classics such as “In Another World with my Smartphone” and “By the Grace of the Gods”, and the series composer is no less impressive as he’s worked on “That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime” and “How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Omega”. The PV looks decent, which for me makes it even sadder as shows like The Orbital Children had such a hard time finding funds and this one was likely greenlit without any second thoughts. Leadale is for die-hard isekai fans; sadly I’m not its target audience.

Tribe Nine

Studio: LIDENFILMS
Director: Yuu Aoki
Series composition: Michiko Yokote
Source: Original

The Premise: In the future, Tokyo gangs settle their differences not with violence or subterfuge, but with Extreme Baseball.

Wooper: And the award for 2022’s Silliest Anime prematurely goes to… Tribe Nine! Not since Keijo has there been a sports anime that sounded this dumb on paper, so naturally I’ll be catching Tribe’s premiere to see whether it manages to be even dumber than that. The PV has an Akudama Drive vibe to it: bombastic characters, pulsating synth music, wild use of color, even a guy with the same drill pompadour that Hoodlum rocked back in Fall 2020. I doubt Tribe Nine will delve into the complexities of its alternate future in the same way Akudama did, but with Michiko Yokote (Gintama, Saiki Kusuo) in the writers’ room it could be a fun watch. She’s also scripted some very grim stuff, most notably Cowboy Bebop’s ‘Ballad of Fallen Angels’ episode, but that’s not what I want from a show like Tribe Nine – just give me outrageous poses, transforming athletic equipment, and Extreme Baseball games with preposterously high stakes.

 

Shows We’re Anticipating

Ryman’s Club

Studio: LIDENFILMS
Director: Ami Yamauchi
Series composition: Teruko Utsumi, Ami Yamauchi
Source: Original

The Premise: A former badminton prodigee turned salaryman joins his company’s badminton team as an adult.

Wooper: After getting burned by Liden Films’ schizophrenic badminton anime Hanebado in 2018, I’m back for another round in 2022. There are several things about Ryman’s Club that make me willing to risk a second burning, though. The main factor has to be the animation on display in the (admittedly brief) PV, but Hanebado was even flashier on that front, so there had to be something else to hook me if I was going to give this thing a try. That something is the adult age of the characters, who are working members of society with memories of high school, rather than starry-eyed high schoolers with memories of junior high. The character designs make them look like teenagers anyway, but they’re playing for their company’s team in a casual league, which is good enough for me. I’m also intrigued by the presence of first-time female writer-director Ami Yamauchi, whose work as an episode director on 2019’s underrated Blade of the Immortal ONA must have impressed the right people at Liden Films. I’m hopeful that her and Sarazanmai co-writer Teruko Utsumi’s scripts will maintain a work-sports balance all the way through, rather than giving the plot over to the latter by the halfway point. There’s a strong chance my optimism won’t be rewarded, but for now I want to believe.

P.S. There’s yet another badminton anime coming out next season. Either the sport has exploded in Japan recently, or the shuttlecock lobbyists are targeting the animation industry.

Futsal Boys!!!!!

Studio: Diomedéa
Director: Yukina Hiiro
Series composition: Shouji Yonemura
Source: Original

The Premise: The story is set a decade after futsal has skyrocketed in global popularity. Protagonist Haru Yamato joins Koyo Academy High School’s futsal team with the goal of becoming a star player.

Mario: I suppose there will come a time where all kinds of sports are being covered in anime. In recent years there has been a focus on the niche sports in this medium: skating, water polo, soft tennis… you name it, and this time futsal (5-on-5 indoor soccer) is taking the spotlight. The Futsal Boys anime is part of a multimedia project that includes a mobile app and live futsal games between cast members to determine the story. That gimmick certainly piques my interest but it also runs the risk of making the plot incohesive and random. The talents involved consist of character designs from established manga authors like Mizuki Kawashita (Ichigo 100%) and Shirano (Touken Ranbu: Hanamaru) amongst others, and direction from Yukina Hiiro, who is best known for checks page Hitorijime My Hero. The trailers look heavily CG-ed and upon closer inspection the CG director is the guy behind 2.43 Volleybros which I am mixed about visually. I don’t think this will be anywhere near Haikyuu’s level – the only way this one can compete with Haikyuu is with its exclamation points!!!!! – but I expect a fun take on the sport that needed more mainstream attention like futsal.

Sabikui Bisco

Studio: OZ
Director: Atsushi Ikariya
Series composition: Sadayuki Murai
Source: Light novel

The Premise: An archer, a doctor and a giant crab journey through a rusted wasteland in search of a mushroom that will restore the world to its natural state.

Wooper: If you watch one PV from the upcoming winter season, make it Sabikui Bisco’s. Seriously, this is the most intriguing light novel adaptation we’ve gotten in years. There seems to be a fair bit of Dorohedoro influence here, from the dilapidated scenery to the grotesque images (e.g. sucking a giant maggot out of someone’s mouth) to the prominence of mushrooms. Another thing it looks to share with Dorohedoro is a reliance on CG to animate nonhuman characters, though that can be forgiven considering what those creatures are: giant crabs, hippopotami mounted with machine guns, and a stadium-sized flying shark. Yes, you read all that correctly – this series is going to be completely nuts, and I’m eagerly anticipating the ride. The only thing stopping me from giving Sabikui Bisco top billing in this preview is the combination of a first-time director and studio, but it’s not as though either is an industry novice. Atsushi Ikariya was one of the major creative forces behind 2019’s ID Invaded (with which Bisco shares some key staff), and OZ have handled clean-up animation for other studios since the 80s. This may be their first time in a leading role, but they’ve got a hell of a property with which to prove themselves.

 

Highest Expectations

The Orbital Children

Studio: Production +h
Director: Mitsuo Iso
Script: Mitsuo Iso
Source: Original

The Premise: In the year 2045, a group of children are stranded aboard a space station after a terrible accident.

Wooper: The Orbital Children (“Chikyuugai Shounen Shoujo”) is technically a two-part theatrical film series, but it’s also being released as a six episode ONA. And boy am I glad it’s being distributed online, because I’ve been waiting to see it for years. Anime has tackled its ‘kids aboard a spaceship’ premise many times before (Kanata no Astra, Infinite Ryvius, Starship Operators, Galactic Drifter Vifam), but I’m kind of expecting this to become the definitive variation on that theme. How could I not? It’s directed by Mitsuo Iso, whose previous work Dennou Coil demonstrated a specific gift for throwing together children and futuristic tech and getting the best of both. Iso has been almost entirely absent from the industry in the 14 years since Coil’s release, so his return has been widely anticipated both by sci-fi anime fans and general sakuga enthusiasts. Iso is a legend with a pencil himself, and he’s recruited longtime friend Toshiyuki Inoue for the project as well; Inoue was famously called “the perfect animator” by Mamoru Oshii for his meticulously realistic style. The Orbital Children has a lot working for it in terms of pedigree, but it’s also set to comment on AI, social media, and the impending space age – all topics on which I’m interested to see Iso’s futuristic take. If you’re interested too, mark your calendars for January 28th, when the first three episodes will drop on Netflix.

 

Anime Movie Previews

Mario: Normally this first quarter of the year where things are still freezing is a low season for theatrical anime releases, but this time we’ve got quite a handful of promising films, some of which were delayed from 2021. (That includes The Deer King which I am not going to feature here. I’ve previewed it twice already.) While on the series front we have blockbusters dominating the season, here on the movie (and feature-length OVA) front it’s quieter, but arguably more promising. Let’s scroll down to find out why.

Goodbye, DonGlees!

Studio: Madhouse
Director: Atsuko Ishizuka
Script: Atsuko Ishizuka
Source: Original
Release date: Feb 18, 2022

The Premise: A trio of boys travel to Iceland to clear their name after they’re blamed for a forest fire they didn’t cause.

This film might fly under the radar for most anime viewers but the moment I learned that Goodbye, DonGlees was a new project from the team behind “A Place Further than the Universe”, I was sold. Director Atsuko Ishizuka and her staff are capable of offering realistic portrayals of international settings, all the way from Antarctica to Iceland. The color palette in the trailer has a nice mix of warm green, yellow and a touch of red that looks incredible. The story itself is a big sell, too. “They become involved in a forest fire that gets blamed on them, and go off in search of a missing drone that has evidence of their innocence.” I know I am intrigued just by reading this. The wait for this one to get English subtitles is going to be long.

Fruits Basket: Prelude

Studio: TMS Entertainment
Director: Yoshihide Ibata
Script: Taku Kishimoto
Source: Manga
Release date: Feb 18, 2022

The Premise: A prequel film centered on the backstory of Tooru’s parents Kyоuko and Katsuya.

It’s a half-compilation, half-original film so I’ll give it a bit of leeway here. After the height of the final season in 2021, which sits as high as #5 of all time on MAL and #1 on Anilist (if these ranks mean anything to you), we get a prequel about Tooru’s parents Kyouko and Katsuya, which the series did not adapt. The film will also include new scenes – written specifically for the film by mangaka Natsuki Takaya – depicting events from after the television anime’s story. The same staff will take charge of this film, and this might be the (actual) final chapter of one of the most beloved shoujo series in all of anime and manga. Personally I regard this film as filler, so you don’t really need to see it unless you are a Furuba devotee, or you prefer Kyouko over our main lead Tooru. I know I do.

Blue Thermal

Studio: Telecom Animation Film
Director: Masaki Tachibana
Script: Masaki Tachibana / Natsuko Takahashi
Source: Manga
Release date: March 2022

The Premise: The story centers on Tamaki Tsuru, who was on sports teams throughout her entire school life until high school, but is instead seeking an active romantic life once she enters college. However, a turn of events puts her on the path to joining her university’s glider club at college.

On the quieter side of anime’s theatrical slate, we have Blue Thermal from Telecom Animation Film. There’s not much info about it available right now – just a brief teaser trailer with no exact release date, so I couldn’t tell much about the movie’s look. But I do trust the director Tachibana and script writer Takahashi; the former directed Barakamon and Princess Principal, both of which were among my favorites of their respective years, and Takahashi writes one or two shows per season so she’s certainly a veteran. I’ve heard the manga concluded with some rushed developments denoting the end of “Part 1,” but a sequel has yet to be published. My take as of now is that it falls within the middle range, not bad enough to dismiss outright but not capable of winning a mainstream audience.

Totsukuni no Shoujo OVA

Studio: Studio WIT
Director: Satomi Maiya / Yuutarou Kubo
Script: Satomi Maiya / Yuutarou Kubo
Source: Manga
Release date: Mar 10, 2022

The Premise: It’s about a girl… from the other side.

Have you watched the trailer? Seriously, just go watch it and tell me if every frame looks like a painting. I saw the short Totsukuni no Shoujo OVA several years back and even though I could only understand half of it, the experience was unforgettable in the best possible way. The premise of a “monster” taking care of a human girl might remind you of another Studio WIT show (cough Mahoutsukai no Yome cough), but this one is about a parental relationship not a romantic one like the latter, which makes it much more digestible for me. Studio WIT is amongst my favorite working studios right now as it bravely takes projects that no one else dares to, and it shows when you look at the main staff. The dual writer-directors are only in their early 30s but if you look at the visuals you can already see their confidence and skills on display. Honestly, the trio of The Orbital Children, Goodbye DonGlees and this OVA are promising enough for me to remain optimistic about the current state of anime.