I don’t feel like watching Majutsushi Orphen Hagure Tabi this week (and perhaps ever again), so let’s take a quick look ahead to the upcoming season. When I return from hiatus, I usually take the first three months pretty easy. I don’t try to watch to many shows. But now that we’re moving onto the spring season, I’m definitely going to stack more shows onto my plate. Will this burn me out? Eh, maybe. You never know. But it’s how I’ve always done things, and I don’t really feel like changing.
Also, if I cover a show, I usually do it in two ways: 1) a full blown post or 2) a few quick thoughts. For the latter, refer to my coverage on shows like… oh, Darwin’s Game. I’d claw my eyes out if I had to write at least 1000 words on it. But 200 to 400 seems perfectly doable. Why is this necessary to point out? Because the upcoming season has a ton of junk. Oh yeah, if any of these shows are acquired by Netflix, then just disregard anything that I write here. I’m not gonna hunt for fansubs. I tried this in the past for shows like High Score Girl, and it was a pain in the ass.
Last but not least, I’ll sorta rank these shows in order of excitement.
Anyways, without any further ado…
Will blog
(in some form or another)
BNA – PV
How come the hot guy is always a wolf? What’s up with that? You guys just wanna bang your dogs or something? As for the girl, she gets to be a tanuki instead of, say, a rabbit. Normally, I’m all for romance, but the animal-human hybrid angle kinda squicks me out. That’s not my jam. Nevertheless, it’s a Trigger show so I’ll watch it. What can I say? I like their animation style. Maybe we’ll get some hype battles out of this show.
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LISTENERS – PV
The premise reads like a mess, and I’m not too keen about plugging yourself into the girl’s ass (see the PV if you are confused). But hey, I’ll watch it just for the music.
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Gleipnir – PV
Apparently, our hero can turn into a ferocious stuffed animal, then afterwards, our heroine can climb into him. The PV suggests that she’ll be showing lots of skin. Is this going to be a trashy show? Or is it going to be provocative? There’s a fine line between the two. Either way, I guess if you want a couple with a twisted relationship, this might be the show for you. The artwork looks neat, but I’m not sure how well that will translate to anime. Still, I bet the show is worth blogging just in terms of having something to talk about.
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Fugou Keiji: Balance:UNLIMITED – PV
Why two colons? Ah well, it’s some detective anime with yet another odd couple dynamic. It’s not exactly Holmes and Watson part deux, but one man’s cold, one man’s passionate. Nothing too outside the box. But sure, I’ll watch it. I like mysteries, and I wouldn’t mind having something to replace Kabukicho Sherlock. The animation looks decent, at least. I’m wary of CloverWorks, though. They haven’t exactly delivered on any show yet.
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Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen 2nd Season – PV
I actually went and read the manga for this series, so as a warning, there are a few spoilers ahead…
So how do I feel about this show? Eh… I like the romance between the main couple, especially since the story doesn’t end as soon as they get together. The second season is only going to be a single cour, right? So we won’t get to the big moment, which is a shame. On the bright side, they should get some romantic scenes together. More than what we got in the first season, anyway. I’m looking forward to the one on the school rooftop.
On the other hand, I oddly don’t care for Yu at all even though he seems to be a fan favorite. And whenever the chapter is about the love triangle forming around him, I just groan. In general, I think the series has its moments, but the hype preceding the first season (like always) was overblown.
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Arte – PV
In Italy, a woman tries to shatter the glass ceiling and become an artist. The premise has potential, I think. I just hope they don’t shoehorn in a bad romantic subplot, since the I’m-so-gruff dude in the trailer looks like he’s maybe 15 years older than the heroine. Anyways, the animation looks decent enough. I’ve never heard of Seven Arcs, though. As long as it isn’t dreadfully boring, I’ll do a full post on it.
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Appare Ranman! – PV
Two Japanese guys end up in America, and will race from Los Angeles to New York for a prize. That premise sounds… okay-ish. Plus, the PV makes it look like this might be a fun anime. At the very least, I get to see this era of America through the lens of anime. It has to be ridiculous and a bit… sanitized. Finally, it’s P.A. Works, and their stuff always looks good. I just doubt that there’s enough here to blog about, so I’ll probably drop a few quick thoughts on the show every week. Oh yeah, I hope this doesn’t end up being stuck on Netflix. It feels like a show they would target.
By the way, I initially misread the title and thought I’d get another show about ramen.
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Otome Game no Hametsu Flag shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei shiteshimatta – PV
Another mouthful of a title. Anyways, our heroine finds herself in one of those otome games as one of the villains. She’ll have to use her knowledge of the game to rewrite her fate or something. Ah, I’ll give it a shot. Another isekai where a girl leads the story can’t hurt. And maybe this one can make up for Shield Heroine being full of empty fluff.
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Fruits Basket 2nd Season – PV
On the one hand, I only stopped blogging the first season because I lost interest in anime in general. On the other hand, I didn’t exactly love what I was watching. The drama felt overwrought. On the other hand, happy moments were exceedingly sappy. It was like eating something way, way too rich for multiple bites. Still, this is one of those popular shows that I should probably keep an eye on. As a result, I’ll spend a chunk of March catching up on the series.
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Maou Gakuin no Futekigousha – PV
Demon king no longer wants conflict. Demon king reincarnates 2000 years later. Demon king finds conflict anyway. Also, probably overpowered as hell. No, make that definitely. Finally, probably harem shit, which means the show can be something to snark about.
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Hachinan tte, Sore wa Nai Deshou! – PV
A man wakes up one day in the body of a six-year-old boy? He then grows up, goes on adventures, and meets a bunch of cute girls. Lots of cute girls. Goddamn, cute girls everywhere. Yeah, sounds like more harem trash disguised as isekai. Like the demon king show before it, I’ll probably watch it just to snark at it.
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Shokugeki no Souma: Go no Sara
The fifth season of this unending series. Like with previous seasons, I’ll use this as an excuse to talk about the culinary world until I get bored and drop it…
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Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu 2 – PV
I definitely wasn’t a fan of the first season. In fact, I dropped it outright. I didn’t like any of the characters, but especially Subaru. I have no desire to write a full post on this show week in and week out, and if I had to do so, I’d probably go on hiatus again. But a few short paragraphs? I think I should be able to do that much. And considering how this is one of the more popular shows next season (if not the most popular), I should say a few words about it.
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Sword Art Online: Alicization – War of Underworld Part 2 – PV
The first thing I hear from the trailer is the voices of Kirito’s real life waifus calling out to him. Ah, how things never change… but they do! Allow me to explain… I watched the initial leg of the Alicization arc and I couldn’t even get through it. I didn’t even manage to get the War of the Underworld part. SAO in general has become so convoluted. It has always been full of itself, but the plots keep getting more and more elaborate. This, however, is a trap. It’s a trap that lures the writer into inundating his poor audience with even more exposition than before. In the past, SAO used to just be so dumb that it was fun to hate on it. But now, it’s worse than that; it has become boring. Nevertheless, I’ll keep an eye on it for the same reason as Re:Zero. It’ll get a few quick thoughts every week.
On the fence
Yesterday wo Utatte – PV
Ugh… the premise sounded okay, so I went and took a peek at the manga. I really can’t stand the main character at all. I know we wouldn’t have a story if he wasn’t so wishy-washy and indecisive — that he’s only relatable due to his flaws — but I can’t stand it. The heroine ain’t bad (a bit manic pixie girlish), so it got to the point where I was actively rooting against him getting the girl. Maybe Doga Kobo’s adaptation will render Rikuo a little more palatable, but I’m not holding out much hope. At least the animation looks decent.
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Shin Sakura Taisen the Animation – PV
Uh, isn’t there a PS4 game for this? In fact, I’m pretty sure I already preordered it. Hm. I guess I’ll watch it? I wonder if this will spoil the game for me. Hm, it definitely will. Plus, is this all I get for mecha nowadays? Sigh…
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Nami yo Kiitekure – PV
The premise doesn’t sound too exciting. A woman somehow ends up sharing too much about her life, and before she knows it, she ends up on radio. From the PV, it looks like we’ll hear these guys tell some wacky stories. I would normally welcome a show that is about adults for once, but I’m not sure if we have enough here to blog about. I would need to watch an episode or two first.
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Shironeko Project; ZERO CHRONICLE – PV
Some adventure show with cats and islands. It would need really good world-building to be successful, which is rarely the case in anime. My main problem, however, is that the main character looks like an edgy Kingdom Hearts reject. Right off the bat, he’s called the Prince of Darkness. C’mon. Anyways, the PV seems kinda overly dramatic.
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Kami no Tou: Tower of God – PV
Two kids climb a tower and face challenges on each floor because something amazing is at the top? What? Yeah, I need to see more. Is this a literal dungeon? Is this story metaphorical? Will it be like most Japanese stories where everything is shrouded in secrecy until the 11th hour where everything is finally explained in one long, unending chunk of exposition? Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
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Kitsutsuki Tantei Dokoro – PV
Another mystery anime, but this one deals with the paranormal. Also, it’s set in the Meiji era, which honestly kinda sours it for me. I dunno, I’m not thrilled with stories from that time period. Lots of hot guys in the trailer though… if that’s your thing.
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Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen 2 – PV
Good lord, that title length. I have no clue what this show is about other than that our heroine likes books. I do, however, have the first season queued up somewhere. I just need to watch it. I’ll do that before deciding whether or not to cover this show in some form or fashion. My guess is no.
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No Guns Life 2
Like the show above, I’ll give the first season a look before I decide if I wanna cover the second. Looks and sounds kinda braindead, though. Couldn’t find a trailer on Youtube, unfortunately.
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Tsugu Tsugumomo – PV
Yeah, yeah, I’ll check out the first season in March. Seems like harem trash from the PV, though.
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Kakushigoto – PV
A father makes a living by drawing manga he wouldn’t be comfortable to show his young daughter. But hey, he’s gonna bring home the bread. There’s no shame in earning an honest living. Nevertheless, a season’s worth of episodes seems like overkill for this premise, no?
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Shachou, Battle no Jikan desu! – PV
Looks like another half-assed isekai, but the character designs look too cutesy for me to even bother dumping on it. Meh.
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Bungou to Alchemist: Shinpan no Haguruma – PV
Even though I linked a “trailer,” I wouldn’t even bother clicking on it if I were you. It doesn’t reveal anything. As for the premise, we seem to have a bunch of pretty boys “delving” into novels in order to purify them. Didn’t we have a show with this exact premise recently? Well, except with less pretty boys. Ah, it doesn’t matter. The show looks and sounds pretty lame. I highly doubt I’ll blog it, so I’ll stick it at the bottom of this category.
Won’t watch
(beyond a first impression post)
Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. Kan – PV
With the other shows, I would only need to binge watch one season of anime in order to get caught up. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), I’m too far behind here to bother. In fact, I have no clue what this show is about. It has been adapted twice and it somehow still flew under my radar. Animation doesn’t look bad. Maybe I’m missing out, but oh well!
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Princess Connect! Re:Dive – PV
Nah. I don’t have any further to say. Just a gut feeling. That M.A.O., though. She’s everywhere these days.
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Mewkledreamy – PV
A girl meets a cat who can enter dreams… and together, they collect dream stones? When I first read the premise, I thought, “Hm, I wonder if this will be subverted somehow.” Y’know, maybe they’re hiding a darker story or something. But no, a quick Google seems to imply that this show is playing it straight… in fact, it’s a Hello Kitty thing. So yeah, I’ll pass.
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Major 2nd Season 2 – PV
Wake me up if Masaaki Yuasa does another sports anime. Until then, I’ll pass.
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Tamayomi – PV
Cute girls play baseball in… a league of their own. Actually, I have no clue about that. My point is that I’ll pass.
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Houkago Teibou Nisshi – PV
Cute girls go fishing. The only thing more boring than baseball is probably fishing… or golf. Say, where’s my cute girls play golf anime? Anyways, slice of life means slice of bore, and nothing in the PV convinces me otherwise.
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Kingdom 3 – PV
I know nothing about this series.
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Kiratto Pri☆Chan Season 3
More sequels to ignore.
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Gal to Kyouryuu
A girl gets a pet… dinosaur? Did I read that right? Ah, it doesn’t sound very interesting either way. I would have liked to see the PV for the novelty factor, though. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find one after ten seconds so I gave up.
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Jashin-chan Dropkick’ – PV
I watched maybe two episodes of the first season, so I’m kinda surprised that this would get a sequel.
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IDOLiSH7: Second BEAT! – PV
Idol stuff. ‘Nuff said.
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ARGONAVIS from BanG Dream! – PV
More boy band nonsense. It’s remarkable how these all look and feel the same.
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Digimon Adventure:
What’s with the dangling colon at the end of the title? In any case, I’ve never watched a Digimon any thing in my life, and I’m not starting now.
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Cardfight!! Vanguard Gaiden: If
I’ve never watched a Cardfight anything in my life, and I’m not starting now. I don’t even wanna dig up an image for the show.
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Hakushon Daimaou 2020
Nah.
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Tomika Kizuna Gattai: Earth Grannar – PV
Nah.
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Tsukiuta. THE ANIMATION 2
Nah.
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Watanuki-san Chi to
I thought this would be a short. 23 minutes on three sisters vlogging every week? C’mon.
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Yu☆Gi☆Oh! SEVENS – PV
Nah.