Spring 2018 Anime

Netflix originals

The stuff that gets dumped all at once worldwide, not the stuff that makes fansubs relevant again

B: The Beginning

Some sort of sci-fi thriller. Looks pretentious and edgy. No idea if it'll be good (beyond the basic animation quality)^note Some people claim that this is the result of being picked up by Netflix, but as near as I can tell this is backwards; Netflix hasn't actually been credited as a producer for any of the anime they've streamed— the staff hasn't worked on anything like this before, and originals are always a crapshot^note The bell curve doesn't seem to apply to anime originals. Pretty much have equal odds of being great, mediocre, or awful

A.I.C.O. -Incarnation-

This comes to us from the director of Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet, which was enjoyable but never really came together as a cohesive whole, and the writer of Comet Lucifer, which was terrible. So, uh, low expectations here

Sword Gai

One of the small number of adaptations that I couldn't find anything on, which is doubly odd since action series tend to be pretty easy to find. It's almost like the author, a veteran scriptwriter, is using his industry connections to get an anime made of his unpopular manga. But no-one would do something like that

Netflix exclusives

The ones where it airs in Japan normally and then Netflix dumps the whole thing some months after most people that're interested in it have already pirated it

Juushinki Pandora

Technically a Kawamori^note Did Macross, Aquarion, various other mecha series series, but these days he makes anime by coming up the basic idea, designing the robots, and then leaving it to other people. In this case we have the director of Nobunaga the Fool and writer of Macross Delta. Again, low expectations

Lost Song

Netflix has been advertising this one like an actual original, but nope, it's barely even exclusive

So, it's a giant question mark. The director, series composer and original creator is all listed as "Junpei & Morita", which is among the most obvious pseudonyms I've seen. As near as I can tell MAGES. decided to make an original anime, but I have no idea what to expect from that

Doreiku

To give you some idea of what to expect here, the manga starts off with a girl dumping a guy because she found him fellating another man. It later turns out that he faked this by using a particularly realistic dildo because he thought it'd be the easiest way to break up. Expect edginess

I'm pretty certain these are shorts

There's some other shorts I didn't bother to add to list in the first place as well. I don't really care that I'm skipping them

Also note that not being on this list doesn't I'm sure they're not shorts

Alice or Alice

Actually know for a fact this one is a short. Anyway, it's a CGDCT series. The siscon brother is a basically a running gag that doesn't do much. Also the manga is pretty bad

Fumikiri Jikan

Does not appear to be yuri

Omae wa Mada Gunma o Shiranai

I'm certain that this show about regional cultural will be a smash hit outside of Japan

Tachibanakan To Lie Angle

Same staff and studio as the Netsuzou Trap anime. The manga is a low-drama fanservice fest, though

Remakes

There has been an anime covering this material before

Captain Tsubasa

Old school sports anime. Which means the art is wonky and the MC is a Mary Sue

The Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These

I don't know why this is happening either. Has the main staff of Kuroko no Basuke for some reason

Piano no Mori

It's a melodrama. Apparently well-regarded in Japan, but not my speed

Direct sequels

Like the section header says

Amanchu! Advance

Director is different, but I wouldn't expect any major quality changes

Fist of the Blue Sky Regenesis

I'm putting this here, but I'm not sure if it's a sequel, remake, or what. There was a previous anime, but that was 12 years ago. Anywho, it's a Polygon series, so it looks like shit. I do not mean that idiomatically

Full Metal Panic! Invisible Victory

Well, this is happening. I got bored with the series after the first season, but I know some of you guys are happy about this. So, new director, but the author is writing, as usual. Should be fine

High School DxD Hero

My understanding is that this basically replaces the last season, and should actually be good. At least in terms of writing. Those faces...

Hoozuki no Reitetsu

This is the second part of the second season, because that's not confusing

Lostorage conflated WIXOSS

From what's in the promotional materials, the events of the Peeping Analyze manga are going to be relevant, so you should read that. Like, even if you didn't like the first Lostorage season you should read it, 'cause it's good

My Hero Academia

There are no surprises here

Shokugeki no Soma

The second half of the third season, because this is the most annoying timeline

Steins;Gate 0

Apparently the game is pretty good, but also is composed of many short routes that can't be easily combined. Might turn into a mess!

Tokyo Ghoul:re

This replaces the second season, I think

Franchise entries

Related to a previous anime but doesn't meet the criteria for any of the above categories

Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-bu Happy Kiss!

Same director, but now he's in charge of writing as well. This is rarely a good sign, especially as he has no (credited) experience at it

Cutie Honey Universe

They've been annoyingly tight-lipped about this one ("we've cast several voice actresses, but won't say who they're playing!"), so all I can really say for certain is to expect fanservice and camp

GeGeGe no Kitaro

If you want some idea of what to expect, consider the following: A) This is taking Dragon Ball Super's timeslot B) It's adding a human girl to the cast

Gundam Build Divers

Same director as Try, but the writer is new. New battle format resembles Girls Und Panzer

Lupin the Third: Part 5

Same director as part 4, but the writer... Okouchi can put out good material (Code Geass, Princess Principal), but also absolute garbage (Guilty Crown, Valvrave). If nothing else, it's almost guaranteed that this'll be unnecessarily complicated and rather campy

Major 2nd

A shounen baseball manga, but didn't look like it followed the usual sports formula as closely as a lot of these series do. Seems well-enough put together

Megalo Box

Has something to do with Ashita no Joe, but I'm not sure if it's a distant sequel, odd remake, or just claiming a connection for viewer recognition

PERSONA 5 the Animation

It's not going to be good. None of the previous Persona anime were better than okay, and this game did nothing to change the structural issues that make adapting them so hard. On top of that, the game's writing doesn't seem to be as highly regarded as it's predecessors. So, watch it if you want to see a game you like animated or are interested in what your friend is into, but I wouldn't expect greatness here

Sword Art Online: Alternative Gun Gale Online

That name... So, it's an SAO spin-off, but doesn't really have anything to do with SAO's story. Kirito does not appear

New stuff

New-ish, really, since most are adaptations

Akkun to Kanojo

I'm expecting most of the entertainment value here to come from flamewars over whether it's glorifying abuse

Butlers: Chitose Momotose Monogatari

Like the those female-led action series we've been getting, but intended to appeal to fujoshi instead of yuri fans, I guess

Caligula

Persona minus stands but plus a vocaloid theme. I'm not sure how well this'll work out, but the PV looks neat, at least

Comic Girls

Cute girls doing cute things. Not high-tier for the genre, but not low-tier either

Devils' Line

You know those supernatural romances we've been seeing in the wake of Twilight? Ordinary girl fall for a dangerous supernatural being that's also a hot guy? This is one of those. It's technically seinen, but that just means that there's a certain level of grittiness to it

Golden Kamuy

Rated M for Manly. Like, one of the first things that happens is the main character taking a bullet through the neck and proceeding to kill people regardless. It's awesome. There's a good amouunt of historical/anthropological detail as well, but the over-the-top badassery is the main selling point

Gurazeni

I don't know much about it, but as a baseball anime no one outside of Japan is going to watch it anyway

Has the same director as the other baseball anime, oddly enough

Hinamatsuri

Gag comedy. Slapstick, ridiculous characters, constant overreactions, etc.

Hisone to Masotan

So, Shinji Higuchi is involved, but not really doing much beyond helping come up with the concept, in a clear attempt to piggy-back off of Shin Godzilla. The most important person involved is probably the writer, Mari Okada^note I'm kinda baffled that she doesn't have a page here, she of downbeat anime and introspection. Between Okada, the premise, and the cutesy artstyle, I'm expecting this to get fairly dark, and probably somewhat gory

Jikken-hin Kazoku: Creatures Family Days

While it's an almost entirely Taiwanese production, it's looks maybe a bit on the low-budget side instead of like complete garbage as is usual when China is involved

Kakuriyo Yadomeshi

Reverse-harem food series! Might be able to argue that it's isekai, too

No, I don't have anything meaningful to say about it

Last Period: Owari naki Rasen no Monogatari

Driector and writer both specialize in what I'd call shounen comedy. Love Hina, Hayate The Combat Butler, that sort of thing

Mahou Shoujo Ore

It is a functional comedy, not just an excuse for BL

Mahou Shoujo Site'

I'd like to note that the description ANN gives it is somewhere between misleading and wrong. More of a revenge drama (with magic artifacts) than anything

Something to note here is that it starts off incredibly dark. As it goes on it lightens up a bit and more black comedy appears, but getting past the beginning can be difficult. Worth it, though! I enjoyed this one

Nil Admirari no Tenbin

???? The game was popular enough to get an anime and sequel, but I haven't heard much about it. Dig the style, though

Otaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii

Frequently written with a W at the start, despite the fact that you wouldn't pronounce it. So, it's a sorta realistic romance/comedy, where two otaku just sorta end up going out because they get along

Real Girl

Technically josei, but feels a lot like shoujo. Main differences are being from the guy's PoV and not being rapey in the parts I read

Rokuhoudou Yotsuiro Biyori

Food anime for the ladies, I guess. These female-oriented series could be spread more through the year

Saredo Tsumibito wa Ryuu to Odoru: Dances with the Dragons

Apparently this gets really dark, enough that fan-translators have dropped it in horror. I don't have much context on that, but it's worth keeping in mind

Tada-kun wa Koi o Shinai

Same main staff as Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun, though this appears to have significantly more romance and drama elements

Uchuu Senkan Tiramisu

One of those comedies where the humour comes from stupid things being treated entirely seriously

Uma Musume Pretty Derby

Going by the manga version (which is probably only broadly indicative of the anime), it's somewhat like Love Live in tone— cute girls, some mild drama, and a fair bit of comedy. Oh, and yuri subtext

Other stuff

• Chiochan No Tsuugakuro is almost definitely happening and was announced for Spring, but has no website, which damn weird for something that's supposed to be airing soon. I'm assuming it was quietly delayed It was delayed to next season
• I'm pretty certain this is the largest season since I started keeping track
• I don't like what Netflix is doing
• I wish we could have swapped some of this season's edge with some of Winter's SoL