The more things change…
Season previews are the time for looking forward, not back – there will be plenty of posts breaking down 2017 in anime. But it’s hard to talk about Winter 2018 without noting how similar it seems to most of 2017. There are big potential changes looming for the anime industry, but for now they mostly remain peripheral in impact.
The benchmark for 2017 was pretty straightforward – if we could get one standout and one sleeper per season, plus a handful of entertaining and watchable 2nd-tier shows, then the season (and year) wouldn’t be a complete loss. And for the most part that’s pretty much what happened, leading to a year that will probably end up being close to average on the whole. There’s no obvious masterpiece on the Winter 2018 schedule, nor any single sleeper that sings out to me in the night – but there are enough possibilities to give me at least some hope. It could be a rough season, but it might prove an adequate one.
To my eye there are two opposing forces (excluding KyoAni, which has successfully carved itself an isolated ecosystem) at work in anime, pushing the medium in opposite directions. Or perhaps pulling it apart would be the better metaphor, since one nascent trend is a compartmentalization of the medium – giving us a tiered system where the production model and end product are so different that we may be seeing “speciation”. As mass media goes anime is a very small, self-contained, Galapagos-like environment – one where invasive species like Netflix and Amazon can have a profound and rapid impact.
Make no mistake, right now the old model is still very much in the ascendancy. No anime schedule I can remember has been safer and more formulaic than this one – for the 90-95% of it that’s made under the production model system. Cute girls, idols, isekai LNs, sequels to hits – it’s all here. The vast majority of these series are produced by smaller and more budget-conscious larger studios, much of the production outsourced to Korea or China (the new standard-setter for hideous production, Pierrot’s Dynamic Chord, may end up as the first 100% outsourced series I can remember).
But there is another thread happening here, and we see it In shows like Devilman Crybaby and B. Studios love working with Amazon and (especially) Netflix, because they get much more money and time to properly produce a series. But these series are made almost entirely by the top studios – which have not coincidentally been marketing with one eye towards the West for years – and by new studios like Geno and M2 formed in part to try and surf this new wave.
The gap between these two models is quickly growing, and I’m not sure what the endgame is. We may end up with two effectively different mediums altogether – a smaller one driven by international business which fosters creative diversity and keeps some old-school anime genres alive, and a dominant one which altogether abandons any pretense at artistic ambition and functions entirely as (low-budget) late-night TV advertising for discs, light novels and games.
That’s not the future I want, personally – I’d rather see the influence of Western (and Chinese) money lift the industry as a whole (and the standard of living for those working in it). As of yet we don’t see much evidence of that, but there are a few traditionally-produced series which look interesting – mostly sequels, but also a show like Gakuen Babysitters which takes a highly-regarded manga and Quixotically tries to bridge into anime without haemorrhaging money. Of the reboots/sequels, it’s certainly Cardcaptor Sakura which is generating the most buzz – this is a series that’s hugely popular both in Japan and the West, and it’s been gone for a very long time.
What about genres and themes? Apart from the ever-increasing percentage of increasingly-tortured cute girls doing cute things iterations (“This time let’s have them go to Antarctica!”), it looks like a pretty standard late-10’s grab bag. Maybe there’s an uptick in sci-fi at the expense of fantasy (which would be a reversal of the general trend), but it’s a minor blip rather than a major shift.
The sidebar poll is in the usual place – go get it. Without further ado, on to the previews:
Itou Junji Collection – Studio Deen
Director: Tagashira Shinobu
Writer: Sawada Kaoru
Schedule: Premieres Friday 01/05, 22:30
Episodes: TBA
First Look: Legendary horror author Itou Junji’s works have made their way to anime (and certainly live-action) before (GYO), but this series from Deen is their first full-length animated series. The staff is quite experienced, and while I’m not well-versed in Itou’s work his reputation is such that I’m going to assume he’s pretty good at what he does. “Collection” will be a series of one-off adaptations of Itou’s short stories (no announcement on which ones as of yet).
Gakuen Babysitters – Brain’s Base
Director: Morishita Shuusei
Writer: Kakihara Yuuko
Schedule: Premieres Sunday 01/07, 23:00
Episodes: 12
First Look: Gakuen Babysitters would probably be my default pick for most promising series this coming season. Tokeino Hari’s manga is excellent, and it’s a series that largely ignored the prevailing clichés that dominate production committee anime in this day and age. It’s the story of two brothers whose parents are killed in an accident who are taken in by the headmaster of a prestigious academy, where the older boy becomes the school’s babysitter to earn his keep. An odd premise, but’s handled with considerable maturity and sophistication.
This is the sort of series you’d immediately think of Brain’s Base for in the old days, but of course much of what we think of as Brain’s Base disappeared with the split which formed Shuka a couple of years ago. As far as I can tell this is director Morishita Shuusei’s first major role of any kind in anime (which is rather interesting), though writer Kakihara Yuuko is experienced at adaptations, generally very successful ones. And the usual caveats about on-cour adaptations of ongoing manga sadly apply. For all that, though, it will be an upset if this isn’t the best non-sequel of Winter 2018.
Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card-hen – Madhouse
Director Asaka Morio
Writer: Ohkawa Nanase
Schedule: Premieres Sunday, 01/07, 07:30
Episodes: 26
First Look: It’s not like I was a huge Cardcaptor Sakura fan, but watching the hacked-and-slashed dub on Saturday morning American TV was one of my very early experiences with anime, so I have a soft spot for it. And its popularity with American audiences was clearly demonstrates by the rapturous reception the “Clear Card-hen” OVA received at Anime Expo this summer. The connection folks feel with series is more emotional than most, I think.
I was frankly surprised by how much negativity there was in the online community when the OVA was officially released – I thought it was quite good, but a lot of folks seem to have been put off by the change in art style. But you know, almost 20 years have passed in RL and the characters are now in middle school – I think a softer pastel look makes a nice change from the original rainbow bright color palette. Asaka Morio is back in charge, and from what I read the Clamp manga “Clear Card-hen” is based on seems to be reasonably well-regarded. So my expectations are fairly high for this one – I expect a fun trip down memory lane.
Kokkoku – Geno Studio
Director: Oohashi Yoshimitsu
Writer: Kimura Noboru
Schedule: Premieres Saturday, 01/06, 24:30
Episodes: TBA
First Look: Geno Studio is an interesting anomaly in anime, in that they were formed to finish the late Project Itoh’s Genocidal organ film after Manglobe (much missed) went belly-up. They’ve progressed to 3 new TV series for 2018, one of which is an adaptation of the prestigious Golden Kamuy – one of the most awarded manga of the century. Kokkoku (“Moment by Moment”) isn’t nearly as prestigious but as Geno’s first TV project, it merits a look. It follows a NEET who tries to save her kidnapped brother and nephew, but with some sort of sci-fi twist involving time manipulation by her grandfather. It’s an odd plot, but the staff is hyper-experienced and presumably Geno chose this manga to adapt first for a reason.
Ryuu no Oshigoto! – Project No.9
Director: Yanagi Shinsuke
Writer: Shimo Fumihiko
Schedule: Monday, 01/08, 24:30
Episodes: TBA
First Look: As bad as most LN adaptations are, we did have a couple of decent ones in 2017 and we’re kind of in beggars can’t be choosers mode at the moment. There’s a lot that seems potentially tropey and awful in this tale of a teenaged shogi prodigy who has a 9 year-old loli show up at his house demanding to be his protege, but most of the buzz I’ve seen on the LN (and the subsequent manga) has been decent enough that I figure I may as well give Ryuu no Oshigoto! a shot. Truthfully though, this feels like bottom-feeding and a longshot at best, especially given that studio Project No.9 already has a distinct vein of loli pandering in its history.
Dagashi Kashi Season 2 – Tezuka Productions
Director: Kuwahara Satoshi
Writer: Morita Mayumi
Schedule: Premieres Wednesday, 01/10, Time TBA
Episodes: TBA
First Look: So, I was definitely swimming against the current with the first season of Dagashi Kashi. Director Takayanagi Shigehito (ironically now facing criticism for the exact opposite reason with Kekkai Sensen and Beyond) made some changes to the manga so that it would work better as an anime. And I thought they were almost all for the better – the first season was innocently cheeky and captured the experience of being an adolescent in small-town Japan splendidly. But manga readers seem to have almost universally hated it.
Well, they have their wish – a new director, writer and studio, with a promise to be more faithful to the source material. We’ll see how it works out – the manga itself is a lot of fun so the anime should be too, but I’m not sold that it lends itself especially well to a full-length series (which is undoubtedly why this season’s episodes are going to be only 15 minutes long). Be careful what you wish for I say…
Hakyuu Houshin Engi – C-Station
Director: Aizawa Masahiro
Writer: Takahahashi Atsuko
Schedule: Premieres Friday, 01/12 – 22:00
Episodes: TBA
First Look: Sometimes I look at old series getting reboots and wonder why, and Houshin Engi is one such case. I have nothing against it, don’t get me wrong, but Soul Eater got 26 episodes almost 20 years ago and I don’t think it stands out as either a particularly great or immensely popular series. It’s nice that the manga ending will finally make it to the screen, but are there enough people who still care about this series for it to matter?
Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens – Satelight
Director: Yasuda Kenji
Writer: Yasukawa Shogo
Schedule: Premieres Friday, 01/12, 22:30
Episodes: TBA
First Look: Hakata, in Fukuoka, is famous for its tonkotsu ramen – thus the odd-sounding title of this light-novel adaptation (yes, another one in the preview). The story centers around the colorful underworld characters of Hakata, and if that sounds a bit like a re-packaged Durarara!, the two series have actually had a crossover novel volume. This is another flyer for me, pretty much, but I’m a fan of director Yasuda Kenji (he directed my top series of 2011, Ikoku Meiro no Croisee, at Satelight).
Beatless – Diomedea
Director: Mizushima Seiji
Writer: Takahashi Tatsuya
Schedule: Premieres Saturday, 01/13, Time TBA
Episodes: TBA
First Look: At first glance, Beatless seems like a pretty stock anime sci-fi – dystopian future, ultra-advanced AI which threatens humanity, hot girl emerging from a pod, angsty teenaged protagonist. But Mizushima is a pretty prominent figure in anime science-fiction, and he’s fresh off the excellent and mind-blowingly inventive Concrete Revolutio for Bones. Still, this is a light-novel adaptation (though it’s passed through several manga incarnations on the way) so my expectations are pretty limited. At least as an Amazon co-production Beatless figures to have solid production values, and the entire series is probably already in the can.
Darling in the FranXX – A-1 Pictures, Trigger
Director: Nishigori Atsushi
Writer: Hayashi Naotaka
Schedule: Premieres 01/2018
Episodes: TBA
First Look: The sad truth is, the next Trigger series I like will be the first one. As a former Gainax fanboy that makes me extremely sad, but everything this studio has done so far has struck me as calculating and marketing-driven, and none of it compelling. Trigger announced an aggressive 2018 production schedule at Anime Expo, including the first formal co-production in the studio’s history, with A-1 Pictures, Darling in the FranXX. If nothing else, it’s one of the weirdest titles I’ve seen in a while.
Trigger seems to be staying solidly in the post-Gainax comfort zone with this series – mecha, post-apocalyptic, troubled boy protagonist, mysterious and alien girl love interest. I’ll go in with some hope as I always do with Trigger shows, and director Nishigori has pretty much done the Gainax greatest hits route over his career. Hayashi is a scenario designer in the gaming world – in anime terms he’s best known for creating Plastic Memories (which didn’t work for me, in the end). Tanaka Masayoshi’s presence as animation director and character designer suggests the visual side of Darling in the FranXX at least should hold up its end of the bargain.
Koi wa Ameagari no You ni – Wit Studio
Director: Watanabe Ayumu
Writer: TBA
Schedule: Premieres 01/2018
Episodes: TBA
First Look: I hadn’t heard of this manga until the adaptation was announced, but there’s enough here to make it interesting. We have an outstanding director in Watanabe Ayumu, a frontline studio in Wit, and it a Seinen – a demographic that’s delivered some of anime’s best adaptations and tends to run better than most. That said, the focus of the plot being a high school girl falling in love with the 45 year-old manager of the restaurant where she works part-time certainly has the potential to be problematic (though it was nominated for a Manga Taishou, FWIW). High curiosity factor, high anxiety factor, not much idea what to expect.
Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san – Shin-Ei Animation
Director: Akagi Hiroaki
Writer: Yokote Michiko
Schedule: Premieres 01/2018, Schedule TBA
Episodes: TBA
First Look: It was only a matter of time before Yamamoto Soichiro’s weekly manga got an anime adaptation – it sells very well and has been generally getting a lot of positive buzz in the fan and critical communities. And not without reason – this story of a 7th-grade boy and the girl who’s exceptionally good at trolling him skillfully straddles the line between sweet and acidic, and despite its premise manages to mostly avoid becoming a victim of excessive tropeiness. Imagine a gender-flipped Tonari no Seki-kun where Seki actually talks, and you have a pretty good idea of what this series is like.
Given that I’m quite a fan of the manga, it was a considerable blow when Kaji Yuuki was announced for the role of Nishikata-kun, the male protagonist. Kaji is pretty terrible most of the time, but especially so in roles where he’s asked to play comedy. It’s not quite the deal-breaker it would be if Shaft were animating it, but it dampens my enthusiasm considerably. I’ll still be watching, but based on the previews my expectations are going to a lot lower than they should be.
Yowamushi Pedal: Glory Line – TMS Entertainment
Director: Nabeshima Osamu
Writer: Sunayama Kurasami
Schedule: Premieres 01/2018, Time TBA
Episodes: TBA (probably two cour)
First Look: Yowamushi Pedal – the gift that keeps on giving for sports manga fans. I still remember way back when the first series premiered way back in 2013 and I predicted it might be a hit, even though almost nobody in the West had head of it. It’s so nice when it happens good.
Not much has changed with Yowapeda behind the scenes – the key staff has carried over pretty much from the beginning. I did find “New Generation” to be a bit of a step down from prior seasons – the third-years (especially Makashima) were missed, and Teshima just isn’t interesting enough to carry the story as a main character, IMHO. I’m hoping we see a return to Yowapeda’s roots with “Glory Line” – which would mean a renewed focus on (especially) Onoda-kun, Naruko and Imaizumi.
Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku – Silver Link
Director: Oonuma Shin
Writer: Shimoyama Kento
Schedule: Premieres Thursday, 01/11/18, 11:30
Episodes: TBA
First Look: So why am I previewing an isekai LN adaptation of all things? Mostly, I suppose, because Silver Link and Oonuma Shin have done enough over the years to earn at least an audition for me. And as far as I can tell the source material is regarded as pretty good, at least by the absurdly low standards of the genre and medium. If it’s as derivative and boring as most of its type, I really haven’t lost anything.
Miira no Kaikata – 8bit
Director: Kaori
Writer: Mieno Hitomi (Akao Deko)
Schedule: Premieres Friday, 01/12/18, Time TBA
Episodes: TBA
First Look: How to Keep a Mummy is one of the few Winter 2018 shows that I feel actual sleeper vibes about, though the premise does seem pretty lightweight. The story surrounds a high-schooler who’s “adventurer” father sends him a tiny mummy for some reason (and hijinks presumably follow). Honestly this just looks fun, silly and kind of sweet (and Akao-sensei is one of the better screenwriters when it comes to adaptations).
Devilman Crybaby – Science SARU
Director: Yuasa Masaaki
Writer: Okuchi Ichirou
Schedule: Premieres Friday, 01/05/18 (Netflix)
Episodes: 10
First Look: Devilman Crybaby is absolutely part of that “other” anime reality. Netflix produced, completed before airing, premiering in Japan months before it does online (though that won’t stop millions from watching it anyway). This is about as far away from the production committee model as it’s possible to get.
It’s hard not to be excited about the prospects for this series with anime auteur Yuasa-sensei directing an adaptation of a Go Nagai manga – that’s a powerful combination. Studio SARU is basically Yuasa’s personal studio, formed for the release of his two 2017 theatrical features. As for plot, this is the story of a young man who agrees to fuse with a demon in order to combat a demonic plot to take over the world. If you know Nagai, you know things will get very weird and edgy before all is said and done.
Violet Evergarden – Kyoto Animation
Director: Ishidate Taichi
Writer: Yoshida Reiko
Schedule: Premieres Wednesday, 1/10/18 (Netflix)
Episodes: TBA
First Look: As with Devilman, Violet Evergarden is part of anime’s new reality as a Netflix co-production – though Kyoto Animation has always operated within their own isolated anime biodome anyway. Even KyoAni can always use a little extra money and time, of course – and based on the fact that a two-episode preview was completed by Anime Expo in July and on the sheer lavishness of that preview, it’s clear they have plenty of both to work with in this case. I’d guess Violet Evergarden is probably 100% finished.
The expectations for this series seem a bit absurd to me – I’ve seen “best anime ever” thrown around more than once. Gorgeous visuals aside, Evergarden is still a product of KyoAni’s incestuous production model, adapting light novel properties they own outright so as to control as much of the profit as possible. The story of a humanized weapon adapting to civilian life in the aftermath of a great war, this series may be a step or two above the usual ultra-safe KyoAni template, and there’s no denying that the visuals – a sort of gothic-steampunk hybrid – are stunning. But based on two episodes at least it’s not anything profound or groundbreaking – just a more restrained and dignified version of what the studio usually does.
B: The Beginning – Production I.G.
Director: Nakazawa Kazuto/Yamakawa Yoshiki
Writer: Ishida Katsuya
Schedule: Premieres Friday, 03/02/18, (Netflix)
Episodes: 12
First Look: The last of Netflix’ spring triumvirate, B: The Beginning actually premieres worldwide on the same day for a change. I saw a preview of this one at Anime Expo as well, though it was only a few minutes long. My initial take: extremely violent and more than a little kinky.
Plot-wise we’re looking at a dystopian high-tech future, a serial killer, a genius investigator and a colorful cast of oddballs – in other words, sort of a typical anime sci-fi. We’ll see – I mean, it looks great (you’d expect that from Production I.G. spending Netflix’ money), but truthfully nothing in the premise leaps out as exceptional and the staff is more craftsman than artisan. It is nice to see the wonderful Hirata Hiroaki back in a lead role – he’s been largely AWOL in anime for the past couple of years.
Will Definitely Blog: Devilman Crybaby, Yowamushi Pedal: Glory Line, Dahashi Kashi Season 2, Cardcaptpr Sakura: Clear Card-hen, Gakuen Babysitters. Five again, for the second season in a row. Thank goodness for Netflix.
Sleeper Candidates: Miira no Kaikata, Koi wa Ameagari no You ni
OVA/Movie: Quality over quantity, hopefully.
Days: Touin Gakuen-sen! (OVA) – 03/16/18: This decent but under-the-radar soccer anime gets a three-episode OVA.
Mob Psycho 100 Reigen: Shirarezaru Kiseki Reinouryokusha (Special) – 03/18/18: It may be a while before we see a second season of Bones’ excellent adaptation of ONE’s web manga, but at least we get this Reigen-focused special to tide us over. Tachikawa Yuzuru will again be at the helm.
ReLIFE: Kanketsu-hen (Special) – 03/2018: 2016’s excellent web series ReLIFE gets to finish its anime journey with a 4-episode special, starting this March. I’ve been following the manga and the story continues to be quite good after it leaves the anime, so I’m pleased to see at least some of that adapted.
Theatrical: Slim Pickings for a second third season in a row.
Sayonara no Asa ni Yakusoku no Hana wo Kazarou – 02/24/18: I suppose another movie written by Okada Mari would be news anyway, but what’s notable here is that she’s stepping into the director’s role for the first time. P.A. Works is pairing her up with experienced director Shinohara Toshiya, probably a sensible move. Not much is known about the plot except that it’s a “human drama” – which is about as non-committal as it gets, especially given Okada’s involvement. The usual Okada caveats – it could be anything from a satisfying tear-jerker to a complete clusterfrick – apply x 10 here. Trailer:
Acernos
December 14, 2017 at 1:39 amDoubt about Violet Evergarden, the series will be broadcast on TV first ( according to the official website), so this is no different than Devilman that was broadcast exclusively by netflix?
Simone
December 14, 2017 at 2:13 am“the next Trigger series I like will be the first one”
What, I understand all the rest, but you didn’t like Little Witch Academia either? Personally, even as a Trigger fan, I have little hopes for Darling in the FranXX, which seems to be rather un-Trigger-y in spirit (like Kiznaiver was, except that at least had interesting character designs), which I guess might turn out to be a good thing for you? Unless they just go full-bland like they did with the absolute bore that was Inou Battle.
Guardian Enzo
December 14, 2017 at 7:52 amI didn’t hate LWA, but I liked it as much as a bowl of M&Ms. It’s pleasant, very safe and utterly familiar, and once I’d had a few I lost interest.
Simone
December 14, 2017 at 3:59 pmFari enough.
On another note, no love for Pop Team Epic? Though it’s probably going to be a short, I understand the manga has a huge following. Might pick up the torch that Osomatsu-san sort of dropped as far as over-the-top humour goes.
Guardian Enzo
December 14, 2017 at 5:04 pmI don’t know the backstory – it just looked kinda dumb to me, but I’ll check it out.
bunder
December 14, 2017 at 3:46 amDeath March is, as far as LN goes, a slow burn enjoyment.
it’s tropey and quite pandering but the real enjoyment is from the casts’ interactions and how the world expands.
not much conflict and pressure, this is slice of life comedy at its lightest (and widest)
Couch Tomato
December 14, 2017 at 4:12 amWow, I have 0 hype for this season…
Guardian Enzo
December 14, 2017 at 7:54 amIf at least Devilman and Gakuen Babysitters aren’t really good, I’ll be very disappointed. The rest of it is a crapshoot for me.
El Huesudo II
December 17, 2017 at 12:47 pmWith Okouchi writing it, I’m not exactly sure why people think Devilman Crybaby is gonna be good.
Guardian Enzo
December 17, 2017 at 1:36 pmWell, he’s adapting an established source material. Even Yoshino Hiroyuki can do that OK some of the time at least.
Matti
December 14, 2017 at 9:15 amI’m getting Kemonozume vibes from the Devilman preview, and I really liked Kemonozume. Dialogue’s corny as heck though – par for the course in this genre, I suppose.
As for the rest, I’ll probably give B a shot, though single alphabet titles don’t inspire any confidence after the cringefest that was K. Maybe even give the KyoOnani anime a shot just to see how much the studio onanis to it’s own reflection these days.
I like the Gakuen Babysitters and Koi wa Ameagari no You ni mangas, so will probably give the animes a chance. I tend not to stick with manga adaptations for whatever reason (usually because the manga versions are just plain better), but at the very least they’ll give me voices to put onto the characters when I go back to the manga (unless the voices happen to be squeeky shrill crap, in which case I just replace them with Tom Jones).
Still, Dagashi Kashi will obviously be the best of the lot, just like Himouto Umaru is best of the current season’s lot. Predictability is good sometimes.
Dein
December 15, 2017 at 9:58 amI kind of get the Violet Evergarden hype. KyoAni has been rehashing the same old thing for years and yet all of it kept getting positive feedback. All of a sudden they go for something seeminly different and the fans just lose it. I doubt a studio would shift its priorities so suddenly and I fully expect a fairly dull ride. Hope I’m wrong.
I also take it you’re not giddy with excitmenet for Citrus, Enzo?
Guardian Enzo
December 15, 2017 at 10:10 amI saw nothing in Citrus that struck me as especially noteworthy, no. As always prepared to be convinced I’m wrong.
Does Violet Evergarden really seem all that different from KyoAni’s typical product?
Dein
December 15, 2017 at 12:32 pmI haven’t been a fan of KyoAni since ancient times, but I have given a 2-3 episode shot to almost all their stuff. Just the fact that this show isn’t about cute girls (or boys) doing cute things is already interesting, I think. Again, I don’t share the massive hype or anything, but I think there is potential here.
Guardian Enzo
December 15, 2017 at 1:05 pmWell, TBH, based on what I saw it really is a CGDCT show in a somewhat more artsy setting.
Jack Spicer
December 15, 2017 at 1:45 pmAgain, another season and I’m wondering where Rise of the Shield Hero is. I swear I read somewhere that it was in production.
Guardian Enzo
December 15, 2017 at 1:51 pmIt’s definitely happening, and Kinema Citrus (Made in Abyss) is doing it. I would assume sometime in ’18 but I haven’t heard anything on a firm date.
TBH if it weren’t Citrus I doubt I’d be paying much attention – it’s basically an isekai LN, isn’t it?
sonicsenryaku
December 15, 2017 at 5:45 pmDon’t feed too much into the hype enzo; it’s the same isekai wish fulfillment shtick we’re all used to with a slightly new coat of paint. Sure the narrative is packed with some crazy scenarios and looney characters to have a good time with but it’s all superficial stuff really. It’s empty popcorn entertainment; something you’ll sit down, digest, have some fun with but ultimately realize that you’ve been spoon fed this kind of stuff before. It’s one of those stories that pretends its self-aware of itself (you know the kind of shit im referring to) without being clever enough to avoid the pitfalls of the tropes it’s trying to subvert. At the end of the day, it’s empty calorie fun. I can almost guarantee it’ll be show you’ll probably watch on the side here and there when you curious to see how the community is receiving the show, but you’ll definitely not blog it. I dont think it’s bad by any stretch of the word, but with all the hype surrounding this series, i was a bit dismayed to find that this is almost as derivative as the ilk that typifies this sub-genre of LN/anime. I’d rather take the third season of To aru majutsu no index thank you very much; it’s an LN that while tropey, has the creativity to levy some of its mediocrity
Guardian Enzo
December 15, 2017 at 5:50 pmHeh, noted.
Simone
December 20, 2017 at 3:51 pmIsn’t Rise of the Shield Hero that isekai LN that has a really weird and somewhat disturbing relationship/fetish with slavery?
Bob
December 15, 2017 at 9:34 pmThis winter looks far more desolate than usual, so hopefully Darling is good. I loved Kill la Kill and Space Patrol Luluco and enjoyed Kiznaiver well enough (though I wouldn’t watch it twice outside of Kacchon’s breakdown and Yuuki Kaji’s sterling work for that scene), so here’s to hoping Trigger does well with this. I’m still baffled by the hype for Dagashi Kashi, though. I gave that dumpster fire three episodes and the third one quite literally put me to sleep. The mediocre art, droll visuals, languid pacing, agonizingly unfunny attempts at comedy and one-note characters were a perfect storm of wasted time.
Karl Eriksson
December 16, 2017 at 10:20 amCorrection, Devilman is same day everywhere, even listed as such on the Netflix page
elianthos
December 17, 2017 at 2:29 pm1) Enzo… have you not tried Itou’s Uzumaki yet? The maternity ward episode personally stil makes my bowels crawl out of my body but I quite liked the work as a whole. It had a certain Poe-esque quality and the spin on the spiral motif was as imaginative (and unsettling) as one could desire (disclosure: I’m actually quite squeamish but the body horror over gore here worked for me for the most part. Plus some food for thought bonus. Yay!) . Hence I’m crossing my fingers for Deen’s adaptation of his stories
though I might not be even able to watch some of them.2) KuroPanAkuMan Of Doom! Disclosure: I’m no fan of Go Nagai – the man tend to go too crudely pulpy for my taste for one – but in Italy we have been exposed hardcore to his stuff in either anime and/or manga form since the 70s (let’s just say a part of my indifference is also due to a good chunk of Italian’s fandom cultist x nostalgia goggles attitude but eh). My main interest here is Yuasa’s touch. And dat iconic hell pantsu :°DDDDDD.
3) Sort of genderbent Tonari No Sekikun? Alright, mildly interested now. They better dish out some witty OP/ED animation though.
4) Sakura was a cute series (as much as CLAMP’s stories can get in either manga or anime form) but I have soured on the C quartet a lot since then to the point their involvement is an automatic hype killer. I’m struggling to even get interested in this honestly.
Basically the Reigen special is my only real happy hope XD. Bring on that goodness <3
wandering-dreamer
December 17, 2017 at 7:40 pm“If it’s as derivative and boring as most of its type, I really haven’t lost anything.” Death March is the most boring isekai story I’ve read to date, it’s pretty darn dull AND paint by the numbers!
Guardian Enzo
December 18, 2017 at 8:25 amThat seems to be the consensus, ROFL.
anne
December 18, 2017 at 10:51 amI agree with you about little witch academia I lost interest in that show but they apparently went with the yuri route again with Akko and Diana instead of Akko and Andrew even though the latter had just as mush development as the former. Regarding citrus I’m not watching that show because it’s the “assult is ok as long as it’s girls” thing again.
Simone
December 18, 2017 at 2:55 pmYuri route in LWA? At most there were a couple of joke scenes (mostly in the episode where the magical bee that makes people fall in love starts stinging everyone left and right), but while there was no explicit romance, Akko+Andrew was the obviously suggested pairing. Akko and Diana become good friends through the series, but that’s it.
And it’s not like I’d have had a problem if they had done the yuri thing in a justified manner. Though that probably wasn’t the show for it.
Justinnnnnn
December 30, 2017 at 9:57 amI understand your skepticisms and acknowledge that they come from a history of true disappointments, but this time I feel way more positive on this season than you. The fact that Netflix and Amazon and kickstarters are becoming another way to finance anime brings me so much hope for the future. I want Devilman and VIolet to be a success so bad for them, so that they recognize there’s potential in this method.
Add to that some quirky comedies like Pop Team Epic, hand-drawn mecha from Trigger and A-1, big shonens for boys (nanatsu, gintama) and mahou shoujo for girls (SCC, though everyone will watch that regardless of sex) and you got yourself a season with a big visual diversity. Oh, and some uncommon romance stuff with Ameagari and arguably citrus. I can’t say we’ve had a season like this one for a while, where the latest isekai show was the only contender for something *at least* visually pleasing.
Mike
December 31, 2017 at 5:18 pmNothing for Grancrest Senki? I would think it’s relation to Lodoss is a formidable pedigree…
Guardian Enzo
January 1, 2018 at 1:08 pmNot really a fan of the franchise, though I’m not that well-versed.
ahelo
January 7, 2018 at 8:39 amPlus Shinichi Omata is directing this anime
sonicsenryaku
January 5, 2018 at 10:11 amJust a headsup Enzo; all the episodes of devilman crybaby were released today. Either you do what you did with relife (if you end up liking what you see) or doing just one big series review. I guess that if this is what the future of big anime releases, it looks like you’re gonna have to face this conundrum sooner or later.
Guardian Enzo
January 5, 2018 at 11:03 amYeah, I know. I haven’t decided yet how I’m going to handle that.
Collectr
January 20, 2018 at 5:30 amI’d like to recommend one more “new” (or at least newly subtitled) series for your viewing pleasure: Hidamari no Ki. I think it hits a lot of your interest areas: seinen, historical (Bakumatsu era), Tezuka Osamu. It’s also a chance to compare and contrast how a serious series from 2000 (almost 20 years ago) stacks up against today’s very different environment. The first six episodes are now available.
Guardian Enzo
January 20, 2018 at 7:30 amThanks, I’ll take a look at it.