When I was kid… Always looked forward to summer, long lazy days… the beach… and when I got older, yard chores. Oh, wait, I didn’t look forward to that part. Despite all the crazy in the world, and the changes to the upcoming season, still looking forward, so let’s take a peak into the crystal ball!
As is my usual habit here at the Lounge, these aren’t necessarily in any particular order. It’s pretty easy to sort by broad bands, but kinda pointless to sort in details.
The shows that I am anticipating are in bold, shows my wife and I are anticipating together are in bold italics.
Sword Art Online: Alicization – War of Underworld Part 2
We’ll get the easy one out of the way first… Given the mess that Sword Art Online: Alicization has been, I’m not exactly looking forward to it. What I am looking forward to is the return of Asuna. That’s it. (Who is surprised? I make no bones about my love for her as a character.)
Streaming on Crunchyroll, Funimation, HIDIVE, VRV, and Hulu
Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. Kan
(My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Climax)
Oregairu shouldn’t need any introduction, should it? If you’ve seen the first two seasons, if you’re a fan of character dramas like I am… You know why this is right at the top of my chart. If you haven’t seen it by some mischance, you have a week and a half or so to remedy that lack. Better get busy!
Streaming on VRV and HIDIVE. (Which keeps getting just enough shows that I don’t unsubscribe. Also, I don’t want to lose that sweet (cheap) early adopter pricing.) This isn’t a service that gets a lot of buzz though…
Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T
(A Certain Scientific Railgun T)
Not technically a new series… But a return of a series delayed by the impact of the COVID-19 virus. Still, it’s a full cour and I am definitely looking forward to it!
Streaming on Crunchyroll, Funimation (dubbed), and VRV.
And here’s where we start getting into the speculative stuff… With the ongoing effects of the pandemic, it’s likely going to be a thin season. I probably still won’t get to my backlog though. What’s the point of having a backlog if you actually watch it?
Lapis Re:LiGHTs
Based on a mixed media project that blends fantasy, magical girl, and idol elements, Lapis Re:LiGHTs will follow a group of students as they train to become idols. Together, they’ll use the magic of music and the magic of… well, literal magic… in their performances.
Source: Crunchyroll
Magical girls and idols… Practically catnip for Derek. (And for at least a couple of my regular followers here and on Facebook. You are following me on Facebook, right?) Truthfully, more for the idols than the magical girls.
Only one concern, the promotional art hints at a huge cast. And for me, such shows live or die by how well they handle their cast. Can they bring them all at least partially to life? Or will they simply be interchangeable blobs that I can’t keep track of?
No announced streaming sources, and honestly I half expect it to not get picked up at all.
Monster Musume no Oisha-san
(Monster Girl Doctor)
In the town of Lindworm where monsters and humans coexist, Dr. Glenn runs an exemplary medical clinic for monster girls with his lamia assistant, Sapphee. Whether receiving a marriage proposal by a centaur injured in battle, palpating the injury of a mermaid, or suturing the delicate wounds of a flesh golem, Dr. Glenn performs his job with grace and confidence. But when an unsavory character seeks to steal a harpy egg, how will the unflappable Dr. Glenn respond…?
Source: Seven Seas Entertainment
Monster girls are one of my occasional interests… I’m not expecting Demi-chan by any stretch, but I did enjoy Monster Musume. So, I’ll check it out just in case.
Listed as streaming on VRV “via Crunchyroll”, but not listed on Crunchyroll. OTOH, Crunchy is (in)famous for it’s delayed announcements. Just have to wait and see.
Kanojo, Okarishimasu
(Rent-A-Girlfriend)
In Japan, the lonely have a new way out — online services that rent out dads, children, even girlfriends. When Kazuya’s true love dumps him, he’s just desperate enough to try it, and he’s shocked at how cute and sweet his rental girlfriend turns out to be. But she wants to keep their “relationship” a secret, and there’s a complication, she goes to his university, their grandmothers are in the same home, and they live next door to each other. Then Kazuya finds out she’s not nearly as nice in “real life.”
Source: ANN
Romantic comedy… I enjoy the genre, so long as it isn’t overdone. (Basically that means so long as isn’t too in-your-face.) Plus the character designs are cute,
Streaming on Crunchyroll, and VRV.
Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai!
(Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out!)
Sakurai Shinichi’s one wish is for a little peace and quiet. But Uzaki Hana–his boisterous, well-endowed underclassman–has other plans. All she wants is to hang out and poke fun at him. With the help of her chipper charm and peppy persistence, this might just be the start of a beautiful relationship!
Source: Seven Seas Entertainment
With this ecchi (fanservice?) romance (comedy?), we’re really scraping the bottom of anything even remotely related to my core interests…
No announced streaming sources.
That’s not to say there isn’t other stuff I’ll check out just in case, and I always keep my eye on the buzz and first impressions. Just nothing that really leaps out at me. I do plan on checking out Healin’ Good Pretty Cure when episodes 1-13 are available.
And must not forget to mention that Fruits Basket 2nd Season is continuing and we’re still watching it.
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So, that’s it for me – and I turn the mike over to you. Drop a comment and let’s chat on your hopes and choices for the upcoming season!
Apprentice Mages Lounge. 
Apart from second seasons, there’s really only Great Pretender that catches my interest, and it’s one of those weird-release-schedule Netflix shows, so it’ll probably drop all at once sometime later, in the future. But I just can’t pass up Hiro Kaburagi.
I’m not sure about Oregairu actually. During the first season, I liked it every second episode or so, until season 2 blew me away (and made every single episode of season 1 count). So the story’s certainly well-thought out. But I’m sort of worried about momentum. I hear the light novel series has finished recently/will finish shortly, so who knows what that means for the entire story. Part of me worries that too many seasons will ruin it for me, and part of me doesn’t care and just wants to watch season 3. My ideal anime would have the direction and writing from season 2, coupled with the rougher character designs from season 1.
Uzaki-chan might be okay, depending on the humour. I hear people say they’re getting ecchi Takagi-san vibes, but personally, from the PVs, I’m getting Aho Girl vibes. Which could be good, or an entire desaster.
I’m a little mad at Monster Musume no Oisha-san for not being Monster Musume. It’s partly unfair, but when they’re copying quite a lot of the species, too, you just can’t shake the feeling of a knock-off, even if the setting is definitely its own thing, and the PV’s production values look to be at least good.
Kanojo, Okarishimasu sounds like the sort of story I haven’t been enjoying lately (latest example being Oresuki), but who knows.
There may be a surprise or two, but so far I really think next season’s going to reduce my backlog a little. I’ll try nearly everything like nearly every season, but there’s not that much around. (I hope that means the studios are taking care of their empoyees. I really hope it does.)
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Re:Great Pretender: That one hadn’t been on my radar, now that I really look, maybe it should be.
Personally, I could easily go for a 2nd season of Monster Musume. But Oisha-san doesn’t look too bad.
Indeed. That was a huge issue before all this…
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