Spring is coming. Here’s what will air that interests us. Promo art and info from MAL. Eventually you can check out countdowns to first episodes over at Anichart.net.
Amusingly, the initial batch of Spring show’s we’re either interested in or at least going to give a look is 19, the exact number of shows we’re currently watching (not including Steins;Gate retro reviews). Certainly a less ridiculous field than the 42 of last Fall (of which we reviewed 17 to completion).
We’re not sure yet if we’ll be going back with brackets, or just taking shows as they come, and as always, the choices below are subject to change.
Braverade
 |
 |
 |
1. Sidonia no Kishi: Daikyuu Wakusei Seneki (Knights of Sidonia: The Battle for Planet Nine) – Starchild / Polygon Pictures (Action, Mecha, Sci-Fi, Space, Seinen) Second season of the best anime of Winter 2014 (reviews here). Unlike Aldnoah.Zero, I was actually hoping for a second season. It happens to have an awesome sci-fi title, to boot.
2. Gunslinger Stratos: The Animation – A-1 Pictures, Square Enix, Nitroplus (Action, Sci-Fi) Anime adaptation of Square Enix’s arcade action game Gunslinger Stratos. Urobuchi Gen planning.
3. Plastic Memories (Plamemo) – Aniplex, Doga Kobo, Mages (Sci-Fi) My first thought: “promo art looks like Infinite Stratos.” Which makes sense because as it turns out they have the same original character designer. Amamiya Sora voices the heroine.
 |
Braverade + sesameacrylic
4. Gintama’ – Sunrise / TV Tokyo / Aniplex (Action, Comedy, Historical, Parody, Samurai, Sci-Fi, Shounen) – We’ll be taking a short glance at this new version of a wildly popular show. If it’s good, and we have time, we might review it…but we’ll be tourists. Our only exposure to the franchise is when the three main characters had a cameo in SKET Dance 26.
sesameacrylic
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
5. Denpa Kyoushi (He Is an Ultimate Teacher) – A-1(?) (Comedy, Romance, School, Shounen, Harem) Genius-turned-NEET-turned-teacher, thanks to his sister. Ono Daisuke will voice the male lead; Asumi Kana will voice his sis.
6. Hibike! Euphonium (Sound! Euphonium) – Kyoto Animation, Lantis, Pony Canyon, Rakuonsha (Music, School) That this is the latest work by the director of Suzumiya Haruhi and Chu2Koi, makes it worth an automatic close look, despite its similarities to A-1’s Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso.
7. Nagato Yuki-chan no Shoushitsu (The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan – Satelight / Lantis / Kadokawa Shoten / The Klock Worx (Comedy, Romance, Shounen, Harem) – This spin-off of the beloved and extremely popular Suzumiya Haruhi series has all the voice actors returning, but isn’t being produced by KyoAni. That being said, Nagato Yuki cemented her place as my favorite character in the franchise after the movie, so the fact she’s the main focus here (and Chihara Minori will voice her) makes me hopeful the change of studio is of no concern.
8. Nisekoi: – Shaft (Comedy, Romance, School, Seinen) – Will Raku end up with Kosaki (or any one girl) at long last? Ehh…Doubtful. But I’ll watch anyway, without committing to any particular pairing, because that’s not really the point of this kind of harem show.
9. Shokugeki no Souma (Food Wars) – J.C. Staff (Ecchi, School, Shounen) – Sounds like a higher-stakes Koufuku Graffiti and Chihayafuru. involves cooking so I’ll be taking a look.
10. Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. Zoku (Oregairu 2 / My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU 2) – Feel / TBS (Comedy, Romance, School) – Like Nisekoi, I’m familiar with this franchise and it wasn’t bad, so I’ll be watching. Its first season got off to a slow and uninspiring start but got much better.
sesameacrylic + Oigakkosan
 |
 |
11. Ore Monogatari!! (My Love Story!!) – Madhouse, Nippon Television Network Corporation (Comedy, Romance, Shoujo) A “big awkward guy gets some love” in an industry full of “regular-sized guy gets some love” shows. Worth a look.
12. Punchline – MAPPA (Comedy, Slice of Life) – “follows Yūta Iritatsu, whose spirit has been separated from his body.” Studio and promo art suggest this won’t be a bad-looking show.
MagicalChurlSukui
 |
 |
 |
13. Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka (DanMachi / Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?) – J.C.Staff / Genco (Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Romance) This has a long an obnoxious title, but I will be watching this along with Zane (not sure who’s reviewing). The director has comedic chops (Kill Me Baby!) but that was a short. Here’s hoping it’s not terrible?
14. Owari no Seraph – Wit Studio (Drama, Shounen, Vampire, Supernatural) – Pros: Those genres are up my alley…and it co-stars Hayami Saori. Con: There’s already a second season planned, so this will be a long commitment.
15. Re-Kan! – Pierrot Plus (Comedy, School, Seinen) – Kido Ibuki voices the lead.
Oigakkosan
 |
 |
 |
16. Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works (TV) 2nd Season – Ufotable (Action, Fantasy, Magic, Shounen, Supernatural) Like regular blade works, only unlimited. Having lost Saber, Shirou will retire to Okinawa with Rin and they’ll spend their days working on their tans.
17. Triage X – Xebec, DAX Production, Nippon Columbia (Action, Adventure, Ecchi, School, Shounen) – Boob Hospital.
18. Yamada-kun to 7-nin no Majo – Lidenfilms (Comedy, Mystery, Ecchi, Romance, School, Shounen, Harem, Supernatural)
 |
Braverade + Oigakkosan
19. Ninja Slayer From Animation – Trigger (Action) – Trigger’s third TV show after Kill la Kill and InoBato. Will have future ninjas in it, and a theme song from Boom Boom Satellites.
RABUJOI - An Anime Blog 
I’m pretty excited for this season — not that I’m not enjoying what we have now but Winter’s been… weird? Some really good shows but a lot of shows that should be good either slipping stumbling or running out of money.
I plan on watching everything that Hannah is reviewing and Hibike! Euphonium from Zane’s docket. Preston’s docket looks like it has potential too but probably not as ‘me’ on-target, if that makes sense?
LikeLike
My current prediction is that Boob Hospital will be dropped because Boob Hospital. Sometimes ecchi shows have hidden depths, but usually they’re right what they are on the cover. Can’t say I have high expectations for the dungeon show either.
UBW is definitely hype as hell. To be frank, all of season one was basically setup and is the slow ascent up the roller coaster. (The most amazing scenic and fun ascent ever). Season 2 should be the roller coaster plunging down.
Have some character and ability refreshers (UBW will definitely make use of abilities, and knowledge of them will enhance viewing experience, since the characters (rightly) won’t be expositing about their powers like this is Bleach)
(The Rin and Shirou sheets are partly joking, and though Rider has a sheet she is dead and doesn’t matter)
LikeLike
FAN-TAS-TIC lineup for next season.
Shokugeki no Souma, Oregairu 2, DanMachi, UBW2 are already total keepers, and several more shows I don’t know but which look interesting…
Lovely!
LikeLike
Oh yeah, as someone who’s read both Denpa Kyoushi and Shokugeki no Soma, you’re definitely in for a treat sesameacryllic. Shoukugeki no Soma is probably the most serious fictional work about cooking ever written; it is literally Iron Chef and the details it goes into are insane.
This is a sample image from way far into the manga, and that’s not even remotely the most obscure thing I’ve seen in it. Basically, if you like food, it’s probably heaven for you.
LikeLike
I do love Iron Chef (the original Fuji TV version), as well as the standard format of Chopped (none of this celebrity or kids stuff!). I detect a little of Chihayafuru too…a kind of Chihayafoodu? Definitely looks up my alley.
LikeLike
Chihayafuru is the karuta tournament anime, yes?
This’d be the food tournament anime then.
It also has quite the sense of humor, because every time particularly good food is eaten, what can only be described foodgasms occur. Equal opportunity foodgasms. They range from fanservicey to ridiculous (yet somehow still intimately tied to food)
LikeLike
Hrm… I’m not sure how I feel about this upcoming season. I’ll take a wait and see approach on every one of Braverade’s picks. I think I’ll go with Hibike!, Ore Monogatari!!, Dungeon, and UBW to start. I didn’t really care for Kill la Kill, so Ninja Slayer will be another wait and see option.
LikeLike
Normally I watch 6-8 shows per season, but with three Fall shows that I really enjoyed having second split cours (F/SN, Can’t Understand/Husband, Kaitou Joker), two of my longtime favorite franchises having new sequels or spinoffs (Nanoha Vivid and Disappearance of Yuki Nagato), and Assassination Classroom being a two-cour, I’m getting close to maxed out for Spring before I’ve even started looking at anything else. Not surprised you’re only covering F/SN from that bunch though, given that you already dropped three of the continuing ones and Nanoha would really need a reviewer who’s at least somewhat familiar with the franchise already, since this will be its fourth series.
LikeLike
I liked I can’t Understand My Husband and Kaito Joker… I just couldn’t find a rhythm in writing about them. Husband more so, because it was so short and the tone shifted dramatically along the way.
LikeLike
Nagato Yuki-chan no Shoushitsu is this Spring?!!
This wasn’t on the one chart I looked at! I must add it to my list at once.
LikeLike
Gintama’s very funny, if you enjoy toilet humour and manga parodies.
There was one episode where it parodied Dragon Ball ( a character’s quest to smoke in peace turns into a quest to find the Slippery Balls that grant a wish) and one where all the characters fight each other Battle Royale-style to ascend the Shonen Jump manga character popularity rankings.
LikeLike
Between Kyoani’s piece, Oregairu 2, and Nisekoi 2, spring seems to have just as many good romances as second rate harems from this season. By the way, I’ve read a bit of the manga for the dungeon one preston is reviewing, and its good enough that I can see JC Staff doing a good job with it. Out of everything there, the only questionable thing is boob hospital.
LikeLike
No love for the new Lupin III or Kekkai Sensen? Come on guys, those two are gonna be great! Or at least, the odds are stacked pretty high in their favor. Even if you’re not gonna review them, they definitely seem fun enough to watch anyway. Y’know, for enjoyment and stuff. ;)
LikeLike
I’m sure Preston or I will take a look at Kekkai Sensen. Thanks for the recommendation!
As for Lupin III…Franklin, maaaaybe?
LikeLike
I’ll probably watch the first ep of both but I don’t really know Lupin’s brand enough to comment? I mean, I’ve only seen it on Cartoon Network, dubbed, ten years ago maybe?
LikeLike
you forgot there is digimon squal to the classic adventure in this spring as well which can be great
LikeLike
braverade, oigakkosan- aight, sounds cool! The new Lupin will probably pretty late in the season anyway, so it’s probably not worth too much worry. Plus, Lupin’s like Scooby-Doo. What you see is what you get (except for those new Scooby seasons…) so familiarity with the brand is a plus, but not necessary at all. You can basically judge any season by its own merits with no prior knowledge.
But I don’t wanna overload y’all or anything. Seems like you’ve already got a lot of anime on your plate. I’ll probably read your posts either way, just to see how the other shows turn out. Keep up the good work! :D
LikeLike
i cant wait for nanoha vivid it going to be more awoesome batttles
LikeLike