I can’t believe it’s that time of year already… Spring is about to spring, and with it a fresh new crop of anime. And that means it’s time to peer into the crystal ball and try and figure out what tempts me to watch it.
Yeah, the title is a hoary old joke… But, what the heck. It works for me.
Anyhow, let’s hit the jump an run ’em down!
I normally try not 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…
As is the tradition here at the Apprentice Mages Lounge, not going to play coy. Just going to start at the top and work our way down.
Standard note: The shows that I am planning on watching are in bold, shows my wife and I are planning on watching together are in bold italics.
Hi no Tori: Dogo Onsen-hen
Can’r find much about this one… But it’s based on a manga by Osamu Tezuka. That alone earns it a berth on my list.
Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 2 / Shingeki no Kyojin
Does this one really need an introduction? From the PV it looks to be a bit more action oriented than S3P1… Which I’ll be glad for. The political bits/world building were fascinating but deadly dull. There’s also been hints dropped (from folks that have read the manga) that this part of the story is really good.
One Punch Man Season 2
The first season seemed to run out of steam a bit towards the end… But I’m still looking forward to S2. If this sounds kinda like I’m damming it with faint praise, I guess I kinda am.
Joshi Kausei
Who needs dialog when you’re this cute? The beautiful (but unlucky) Momoko, the cool, collected Shibumi, and the refreshingly innocent Mayumi star in a “silent manga.” No speeches, no dialog! Just pictures, sound effects, and three high school girls living their daily lives.
Source – ANN
I have to admit to some trepidation here… I’ve been reading the manga since forever, and was happy when they announced that it would be anime. However, the PV gives me a bit of cause for concern… Fanservice has always played a role in the manga, but it’s not actually a big deal – but the PV plays it up. Crossing my fingers they don’t go that route!
Carole & Tuesday
Fifty years have passed since mankind began migrating to the new frontier: Mars. It’s an age where most culture is produced by AI, and people are content to be passive consumers. There’s a girl scraping a living in the metropolis of Alba City, she’s working part-time while trying to become a musician. She’s always felt like something is missing. Her name is Carole. There’s another girl. Born to a wealthy family in the provincial town of Herschel City, she dreams of becoming a musician, but nobody around her understands. She feels like the loneliest person in the world. Her name is Tuesday. A chance meeting brings them together.
Source – ANN
Anyone who knows me, knows I can be a sucker for shows about music & musicians… The description is also giving me “found family” vibes, another HUGE button for me.
Plus I’ve been wanting to rewatch Nana, and this also gives off some of those vibes. Odd couple from different backgrounds, etc…
Fruits Basket
I have to admit to knowing next to nothing about Fruits Basket… The manga and the existing anime have been on my radar basically forever, but I’ve never gotten around to them. My wife has read the manga, and was very pleased when the anime was announced… The community also seems pretty high with anticipation… So, onto the list it goes.
Ultraman
Several years have passed since the events of Ultraman, with the legendary “Giant of Light” (光の巨人 Hikari no Kyojin) now a memory, as it is believed he returned home after fighting the many giant aliens that invaded the Earth. Shin Hayata’s son Shinjiro seems to possess a strange ability, and it is this ability, along with his father’s revelation that he was Ultraman, that leads Shinjiro to battle the new aliens invading the Earth as the new Ultraman.
Source – Anime Planet
This series is way lower on the list thank you might think it should be if you knew how much I like the Ultraman franchise. It’s not because the manga is a re-imagining or how it varies from franchise canon. Plain and simple, it’s the animation – or to be specific the designs of the human characters. I positively loathe that particular style of CGI.
Mix
26 years after Meisei High conquered the Kōshien, a promising pitcher-catcher battery was formed in its middle school by the Tachibana step-brothers, Touma and Souichirou.
Source – ANN
High-school baseball… but I can’t find much about it.
Hachigatsu no Cinderella Nine
In the game, the player takes the role of an unnamed former little senior league baseball ace who lost his or her baseball career after suffering an unspecified injury. The character moves to his or her grandmother’s hometown and enrolls in the local high school, resolved never to enter the world of baseball again. When the character meets Tsubasa Arihara, he or she is persuaded to be the manager of the school’s baseball team, and to take the team to the high school nationals at Koshien.
Source – ANN
The character designs are cute… But it’s another “guy leads a harem of girls to victory” anime, and it’s an adaption of a smartphone game. On the list with trepidation. I’ve seen both done decently, I’ve seen both be abysmal.
Both Mix and Cinderella Nine are basically on the list because I’ve been hoping for a decent baseball anime ever since the disaster that was Battery.
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Anyhow, what do you think of these shows? What are you anticipating for Spring 2018? Drop a comment and let’s chat!
Apprentice Mages Lounge. 
Hi no Tori: There’s an anime movie, if I’m not mistaken, which I’ve always wanted to see but haven’t yet. I’m definitely watching the TV series, but part of me wishes I’d seen the film before this. (That means alongside Dororo, there are going to be 2 Tezuka anime next season.)
Attack on Titan 3: Yeah, I’m going to watch this. It’s entertaining enough. I’d be lying if I said I was excited about it, though.
One Punch Man 2: Unsure if I’ll watch this. Depends how I feel about the first episode, and what else airs in its time slot. The first season was great in the beginning, but came with severe diminishing returns by the end.
Joshi Kausei: I don’t know the manga. I’m torn: the concept of a non-verbal show is interesting, but the PV and especially the line from the promo material, “Who needs dialogue when you’re this cute?” is worrying (I get vibes of “women should be seen, not heard”).
Carole and Tuesday: Cautiously excited. It’s both a potential favourite and a potential dud. Watanabe tends to either capture me completely or bore me to tears; there seems to be little in between. If Kids on the Slope is anything to go by, though, he’s great with music.
Fruits Basket: The first anime is extremely cute. This preview? I don’t know. I’m not fond of the character designs. See the moment when they kick the one character in a comic arc into the pond? That sort of thing doesn’t really work with the more realistic designs this time round. That said, I hear the mangaka didn’t like the first adaption and had some sort of input for this one, so I’m at the very least curious. There’s no way I won’t watch this.
Ultraman: No thanks. Ugly 3D, and a franchise I never cared about. And to top it off, the PV already triggered my motion sickness a little. I’d rather watch the live action series, to be honest.
Mix: The manga’s a classic by Adachi Mitsuru, and it’s a classic. There have been anime adaptions of his work before Touch, which I haven’t seen (and to which Mix is a distant sequel), and Cross Game, which is excellent and one of my favourite sports anime ever. Fans have been wanting an adaption of Mix forever, but they also tend to warn non-fans not to expect another Cross Game (it’s still good, thouhg, they say). I’m actually excited for this. I’m expecting at least a two-cour, if not a year-long run. If it’s a year-long run, there’s a small chance I’ll drop out at some point. What’s making me optimistic is that the Cross Game anime, while also excellently written, had a whimsically melancholic feel to it which I found very appealing. In other words, there’s a good chance I just click with the mangaka. (As far as you can say that only from one anime adaption – it’s a little shaky.)
Cinderella Nine: Not sure. Could go either way.
Frankly, there are good baseball anime. Watch Cross Game, it’s a master piece. Also, I recently watched Taishou Yakyuu Musume, a period-historical anime about girls playing baseball, when girls playing baseball was not a thing, and it was good fun to watch.
Finally, I think Senryu Shoujo could be a cute if unexceptional romcom. Previews look a little cheap at times, but mostly pretty and cute. Now it’s a question of whether they know what to focus on, and how one-note the show’s gimmick (girl only communicates in senryu) is.
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It’s not like that (“seen, not heard”) at all! The manga is available on Crunchy’s reader if you want to check it out.
Somehow I missed that one… I’ll probably check it out, but I’m pretty concerned right off the bat. As you know, I study haiku (of which senryu is a subset) – and translating poetry is HARD. I have very little faith that anime subs will get it right.
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Good to hear Joshi Kausei‘s not like that.
And I didn’t consider the translation problem for the senryu. That is a hurdle.
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In this particular case, I’m just more sensitive to potential translation issues than most. Doesn’t mean I won’t check it out though.
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I’d definitely watch Carole & Tuesday if it wasn’t a Netflix series. Fruits Basket will depend on whether it’s a CR/Funi joint series or a Funi exclusive. I’m interested in both, but not enough to pirate them. I have some mild interest in Cinderella Nine, but I’m in wait-and-see mode on that one until I hear more about the approach they’re going to take to adapting it.
The other one that interests me is Kono Oto Tomare. I’ve heard good things about the manga, and the koto is a gorgeous instrument, so I hope it has some good music too.
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Do you not have Netflix? My biggest worry with it being a Netflix series is potentially having to wait until September or longer to see it. (As it’s a two cour.)
re:Kono Oto Tomare Hmm… May have to check that one out then. Hadn’t heard anything about it, and the promo material makes it sound like a rather mundane school club anime.
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Nope, never had it. Maybe if I ever cut my cable cord someday I’ll think about it, but I’m not ready to go there yet.
This is one of the reviews of the KOT manga that convinced me the anime will be worth a shot: http://www.themagicrain.com/2017/04/kono-oto-tomare-manga-review/
Although I’ve also seen some fans who are worried because the manga’s artwork is one of its big selling points and the anime was given to a no-name studio, so they’re afraid it’ll be hurt by low production values. We’ll see. I feel like the potential ceiling here is a notch below Chihayafuru and the potential floor is Hanayamata. And that’s a perfectly watchable range, even if it ends up on the lower end.
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If you’re looking for a decent baseball anime and haven’t seen Taishou Baseball Girls yet, order it NOW. It’s fabulous. Hi no Tori? Interesting, unlike Dawnstorm I HAVE seen the movie as Space Firebird 2772 and it did not age well, but may be greatly improved by having the additional breathing room of a TV series to work with. https://piratesobg.wordpress.com/2012/02/25/space-firebird-2772/
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Taishou Baseball Girls has been on my radar basically forever… Sadly, my budget doesn’t stretch to buying series sight unseen. :)
Hi no Tori is a new adaptation, so along with more time that might help too.
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HiDive has the Baseball Girls (according to because.moe), so if you gather up enough shows for another run with the service and it’s still there… It really is a good show and well worth watching.
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HiDive does indeed have it… Now to find enough free time! :) Thanks!
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Do you still have HiDive, then? I was under the impression that you had a limited run to binge some shows you wanted to see. Do I misremember? Do I confuse this for something else? Am I living in my own head again?
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Oh wait, you recently watched Mitsuboshi Colors, which (if I’m not mistaken) is a HiDive show, too. I get confused sometimes.
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Yes, we still have HiDive… Mostly by inertia, kept forgetting to cancel it after we finished Mitsuboshi Colors. (Which was excellent BTW, thanks for recommending it.)
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Huh, had no idea there’s a new Hi no Tori adaptation coming out. Information seems scarce after I tried looking it up. Will keep an eye on though. After Dororo, I’ll try anything Tezuka-related.
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I’ll almost always check out Tezuka… Dororo was an exception because it’s so far outside my wheelhouse. Seeing the reviews, I wish I kinda wish I hadn’t but I still suspect I’d have dropped it anyhow.
You’d expect there to be more information about Hi no Tori though.
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