A new anime season is like the opening of baseball season. There’s a great feeling of anticipation. Every show you’ve looked forward to is excellent. There’s no disappointment…
With that in mind, hit the break and let’s take a look at the shows I’m anticipating in the coming weeks. (And a few thoughts on how I’m going to blog the upcoming season.)
I normally don’t get too excited about seasonal shows until I see if they’re going to get a legal stream in the US. It’s not that I object to seeing them via ‘alternate’ means, but many of those can’t be played on my TV (which makes it difficult for both of us to watch) and it’s a massive PITA when they’re not neatly lined up in my queue. (Life is busy enough without adding another task to my weekly to-do list.) But that doesn’t mean I don’t look forward to some shows and hope they get a legal stream…
These are more-or-less in order from top (most anticipated) to bottom (mostly because I’m curious).
Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend 2
Because of some poor choices on the part of the production staff, Saekano got tagged in the minds of many as “that fanservice show”. Which is actually kind of sad because it was a smart, well-written comedy filled with snark and commentary about otaku culture. I’ve been looking forward to more ever since the first ended. Sadly, along with its reputation, it’ll be airing on Amazon Strike giving many people yet another reason to avoid it.
Sakura Quest
A PA Works original series set in the rural countryside? About girls at work? Sign me up! Seriously, according the show’s promo material it’s in the same vein as Hana-Saku Iroha and Shirobako. That’s some big shoes to fill, but if Sakura Quest is even half as good as it’s older sisters, it’ll still be very good indeed.
My Hero Academia 2
Despite the pacing problems of the first series overall, most individual episodes were very, very good. The animation and characterizations were top-notch. I’m hoping they keep it up.
Hinako Note
Looks to be the only SOL/CGDCT on offer this season, and that’s two of my favorite genres so Hinako Note goes onto the list pretty high up.
Attack on Titan 2
Now, some might reasonably ask – “why would such a good show be so low on the list? And after SOL/CGDCT fluff to boot?” Well, here’s the thing – for me, the first season was like Scum’s Wish this season… I liked the show, I looked forward to it each week, but I didn’t always enjoy it very much. It’s hard to explain, even though it makes sense in my head.
Alice to Zouroku
Found families, mysterious pasts, a complacent loner finds themselves no longer alone, and liking it… Alice punches a lot of “things Derek finds interesting” buttons.
Atom: The Beginning
Astro Boy – there’s simply nothing more that needs saying.
Anonymous Noise
The description and PV’s aren’t actually all that promising, but I’m an absolute sucker for idol/band/music anime… I can’t resist at least checking it out.
Sakurada Reset
I’m mostly curious about Sakurada, though I can’t quite put my fingers on why. Off the top of my head I’ve watched three “boy and girl team up to save the world” anime (Absolute Duo, Luck & Logic, Handshakers) and ended up dropping all three. I wasn’t even interested in Sakurada until I saw the PV while writing this entry, but now… for some reason my interest is piqued.
Nine shows seem like a reasonable list and a decent stopping point… If history is any guide, I’ll check out as many as twenty shows if they’re available and I usually end up watching somewhere in the neighborhood of twelve to fifteen… If my/our schedule gets too crowded, I’m pretty ruthless when it comes to culling to get things down to a reasonable level. Sometimes even “it airs on Tuesday” (when I have a meeting every week) suffices if the show doesn’t offer enough on its own. Plus Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. airs on Tuesday, so we’ve already got an hour taken up on Wednesday. And with it being Spring I hope to squeeze in at least a few baseball games. (That is, until the Mariners piss me off enough that I stop watching.)
That being said, one thing I found out this season is that I have difficulty blogging in any depth about more than four or five shows. So this season, I’m going to restrict myself to commenting only if I have something to actually say about a given show in a given week. If I’m at a loss for words, I’ll simply note the show as “watched, no comments”. If all I have is a line or two, then all I’ll post is a line or two. I watch anime for fun, I blog for discussion, and I don’t want either to become burdensome.
So, drop me a line in the comments and let me know what you’re looking forward to!
Apprentice Mages Lounge. 
For me, the star of next season is obvious: Uchouten Kazoku 2. Season 1 is among my favourite anime ever and might even be my favourite altogether, though that’s a bit of a daring thing to say about a whimsical taste like mine.
Saekano, for me, rises and falls with Megumi Kato. The show itself is good at domestic details, but I find the male lead irritating, and the plot fairly standard. Megumi is a stroke of genius, though.
Of the new shows, it’s Alice to Zouroku that I’m curious about the most. I also have my eyes on Tsuki ga Kirei, which can go either way. Kabukibu could be good, but who knows? Renai Boukun might be interesting; an ecchi romcom by the looks of it inspired by Death Note. (The PV has parts that appeal and parts that annoy, so it’s all about the in-show balance.) And Re:Creators is likely not going to be very good, but a show about fictional people coming to life will at least get one episode from me, always.
I’m interested in all the shows you mentioned to some degree, though Attack on Titan feels more like a duty watch – I’m curious, but it’ll almost surely annoy me with its sound-and-fury approach (the first season did).
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No arguments there… though we disagree on details, Saekano does indeed ultimately hinge on Megumi! I didn’t pick a screenshot of her from the prequel by accident. :)
Kabukibu is on my radar, and will probably get at least an ep, but I’m kinda burned out on school club series. Like I said to Bless though, I need to get better at not getting sucked into the shiny based on one ep.
“Duty watch”… I’m so stealing that term.
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Alice to Zouroku is pretty much the only non-sequel (the Danmachi spinoff, Uchouten Kazoku 2, and My Hero Academia S2 being the three big ones for me) that’s really got my eye for now. I’m sure there will be other shiny things floating around to attract my attention in the next week, but for now it’s mostly just wait and see.
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It’s the shiny that kills me… that’s how I end up watching way more than I intended.
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I’m disappointed with the streaming announcements so far. In a perfect anime world I’d be all over Saekano 2 and Sword Oratoria, and I had some mild interest in Sagrada Reset too, but they all got Struck. So unless I want to pay even more money for streaming or resort to piracy (and neither is very appealing), then I’m down to one show before the season even starts: Sakura Quest. I might give Re:Creators a try too if it doesn’t also get Struck, just to see if it’s worth anything (while I’m not optimistic, I like the kind of metafictional premise it’s teasing if it’s done right), but I’m not feeling it for anything else this season based on the descriptions. Never watched Titan or Academia, so those are irrelevant to me.
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That you can’t see Saekano gives me a sad, because I know how much you enjoyed the first season. We already had Prime, and so dropping our Funi sub for Strike was a pretty straightforward choice. Unless Hulu picks up something good, it’s going on the chopping block once Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ends for the season. (I think, I don’t know offhand when our sub renews.)
Still, I hope to see you around the Lounge as much as possible.
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I’m really looking forward to Sakurada Reset, it seems so intruiging! Nice write-up! :)
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Thanks!
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