ah spring the season of love
rejuvenation and sequels so so so many
sequels from quirky niche comedies to
huge mega franchises and even a few
follow-ups to old classics that we never
thought would continue plus we've got a
whole mess of reboots and spin-offs on
top of those which kind of puts me in an
odd position when it comes to making
recommendations a good chunk of the best
series this season are continuations of
older anime which means that one it's a
much bigger investment to actually get
into them and to especially with the
bigger shows most of the people who
might like them are already probably
watching them so in telling you which
anime you should watch this season I'm
gonna make an assumption that you don't
need me to tell you that steins gate
zero is an excellent follow-up to an
equally excellent anime or that you
might like shokugeki no souma and Tokyo
ghoul re and as much as I love Heroica
and want to gush about it especially
since this season is going to cover some
of the best arcs and individual fights
in the manga I definitely don't need to
tell you guys to keep an eye on that one
in fact I'm going to limit myself to
recommending just one sequel on this
list and with it the two seasons that
preceded it because Full Metal Panic is
back baby
and looking at the numbers not nearly
enough of you are watching it if you're
not aware and considering that it's been
over a decade since the last season
aired I'm going to assume that most of
you aren't Full Metal Panic is one of
the best action anime ever made or well
at least it's one of my favorites and it
comes to us from Shoji Gotoh who also
created a muggy brilliant Park so you
know that at least the comedy is great
it's a unique fish-out-of-water story
about a teenage super genius named
Chidori Kaname who unbeknownst to her is
one of the whispered a small group of
teenagers with highly intuitive
scientific minds supernatural powers and
secret knowledge far beyond the reach of
modern science because of this Chidori
is under constant threat of attack so
she needs a bodyguard enters Sasuke
Sakura a hardened teenage soldier who
has spent his entire life on the
battlefield and who must now face his
most deadly challenge yet
blending in at a Japanese high school
it's basically Chuck the anime except
instead of Best Buy it's set in a local
high school and instead of sneaky spy
stuff our hero spend there nah
comedy hours battling terrorists in
giant robots which I think we can all
agree is just better Full Metal Panic
blends drama action romance and comedy
into one compelling package and the new
season invisible victory is more of the
same if you want to get caught up and
really I can't recommend it enough both
the new series and all three of the old
ones are up on crunchyroll it is well
worth binging to watch the new season
which has been excellent so far and hey
if you watch fast you can get all of
them out of the way with the 14-day free
trial that you get from crunchyroll.com
slash basement fortunately while it's
also part of a big franchise you don't
need any prior knowledge to enjoy sword
art online alternative gun Gale online
what it's a good show and Reki Kawahara
was barely involved with making it which
is a big part of why it's a good show as
the name suggests
SAO alternative is a spinoff of sao
focusing on the online vr Shooter gun
Gale online which sounds kind of
terrible at first glance a spinoff based
on the second worst part of the series
until you realize that it's written by
ket sig Sawa the creator of quino's
journey not to mention produced by three
Hertz the studio that gave us
flip-floppers and Princess principal so
it's no surprise that sao alternative is
good but that it's as good as it is is
still impressive the story plays on
interesting themes that were present in
kawaras concepts but not really explored
at all specifically the idea of escaping
the parts of yourself that you don't
like through virtual reality the main
character Len is a cute little girl in
the game but in real life she's a shy
college student who has a complex about
being too tall she's also not the best
at games at first which is a really nice
change of pace from Jesus Koon and gives
us a chance to see the greatest tutorial
ever I'm finding myself loving all of
the characters we've been introduced to
in the show so far which is a real
surprise since you know this is sao but
there is one thing that i will not stand
for sure it might be cute that Len calls
her pink p90 peach on but I refuse to
accept it this is the one true peach on
no not the porn
start the pig from Ranma I'm surrounded
by Philistines which is also how I feel
when I see that megalo box isn't being
watched by literally every single person
on the goddamn planet like it deserves
to be made as a spiritual successor to
Ashton Oh Joe one of the greatest boxing
manga of all time megalo boxes set in a
dystopian future where cybernetic
augmentation has made the sport of
boxing much more exciting and much more
deadly our hero is junk dog a nameless
boxer who spends his days throwing
rigged fights in an underground boxing
ring for petty cash but who dreams of
one day putting his legitimately
impressive boxing skills to a real test
when he catches the eye of the world
champion URI he finds a chance to do
just that by entering the mega lo Nia
Championship and fighting his way to the
top we've seen a few anime try to
recapture the style and tone of 90s era
classics like Trigon and Cowboy Bebop
recently but none have succeeded quite
as completely as mega lo box TMS
entertainment went so far as to
downsample their raw HD footage then
scale it back up to 720p to make it feel
like a remastered cel animated show
rather than an overly crisp and clean
modern digital anime but they still take
advantage of advancements in CGI to do
things that were never possible back
then it's stunning to behold feeling
authentic without being hampered by the
limitations of what it's emulating not
unlike the first season of stranger
things and beyond that gimmick the
series is just kick-ass despite being
the directorial debut of yo moriyama he
clearly knows how to work a camera
metaphorically speaking and lay out a
scene for maximum impact and the fights
underscored by a killer soundtrack are
absolutely incredible make no mistake
like junk Dawg himself this show is a
contender not just for anime of the
season but maybe for anime of the year
and amazingly it's not the only
top-notch original anime of the spring
in addition to killing it with my hero
academia bones is bringing their a-game
to the table with Dragon pilot he's
owned a tommaso Tong a show about I I
don't even know how to describe it
there's this girl who works for the
Japanese air force and she gets drawn
into the
secret program where she pilots a dragon
by being eaten by it also the dragon is
a fighter jet sometimes it's undoubtedly
a weird show weird and gorgeous and
heartfelt and really really really funny
like I've got a lot of excellent
comedies to recommend this season and
this show probably made me laugh the
hardest out of all of them the
characters are cute and wonderful the
art style is unique the animation is
stunning but the comedy which manages to
be absolutely absurd while still making
perfect sense within the rules of this
world is what really makes it stand out
I'm tempted to compare it to kono Suba
and not just because it's that funny but
also because it's got an authentic heart
to it that I just love this show
unfortunately it's a Netflix series
which means that we won't have a legal
way to watch it for somewhere in the
ballpark of the next century but when it
does make its way stateside officially
do not let dragon pilots slip under your
radar it's really something special
and so is hina matsuri an adaptation of
a scene in gag manga about a Yakuza
lieutenant who finds himself forced into
the role of father when a little girl
with unfathomable psychic abilities
randomly teleports into his house with a
sense of humor built around absurd
situations and overly serious deadpan
reactions think Cromartie high school
this is another anime that made me laugh
out loud and it features some pretty
slick action animation on top of that
it's not quite as funny or visually
breathtaking as dragon pilot or kono
Suba but it comes damn close and despite
how cynical some of the jokes can be the
relationship between Hina and Nita is
endearing and heartwarming even within
just a couple of episodes we can already
see me too slowly turning into a
genuinely good surrogate dad
very slowly I mean the second episode is
all about him leaving her at home while
he runs off to get laid if you're like
me and you enjoy this 100%
straight-faced style of comedy
then hina matsuri is going to have you
in stitches and you'll also probably get
some good laughs out of magical girls
sight although the show doesn't seem to
be trying to get those laughs on purpose
as you can probably guess from like one
nanosecond of looking at it magical
girls sight is the latest attempt at
doing the whole
madoka magica deconstruction thing but
it stands out from its contemporaries
for being hilariously over-the-top it's
so obscene that I feel compelled to put
a legit trigger warning on what I'm
about to say so skip to this timestamp
if you're not comfortable with graphic
sexual assault or violence in just the
first episode our poor suicidal
protagonist aya is beaten by her
sadistic older brother and a trio of
bullies at her school she has her shoes
packed to the brim with razor blades
which is still barely a fraction of the
total edge in this anime her desk is
covered in glue and her [ __ ] cat is
murdered which she finds out about in
the middle of an attempted rape then she
accidentally murders two people like
kings game last fall this is edgy on a
level that makes it impossible to take
seriously and just like kings game if
you have a dark sense of humor
I expect that you're gonna enjoy the
hell out of it anyway well it doesn't
have Kings games hilariously inept
animation it makes up for it with some
truly ridiculous reaction phases and
also the IDI which is about jizz I
couldn't make this up if I tried know
what else I can't make up not three
months after Logan Paul's disastrous
visit to Japan an anime gig again no
Keith Errol is lampooning him or at
least lampooning social media obsession
and in particular Fame chasing
self-absorbed youtubers one of whom
happens to be blond and have zero
respect for Japanese culture or people
around him in general
gaijin Goomba made a fantastic video
going into the specifics of that Logan
Paul spoof so watch that if you want to
learn more as for the other reasons you
should watch this show
yeh Gugino ki taro is the third anime
adaptation of a decades-old horror
comedy manga about a yokai named key
taro who has dedicated himself to
helping humans solve supernatural
problems it was made to celebrate the
50th anniversary of the first anime
adaptation and well it's pretty much
exactly the kind of anime that Western
fans tend to ignore steeped in nostalgia
that we have no context for and aimed
squarely at children but if you can look
past that initial hang-up you will find
a show that is charming smart funny and
little bit spooky without taking it too
far if you're looking for something to
watch with your kids or younger siblings
or just something light-hearted and fun
for yourself to enjoy you're not gonna
regret giving ki taro a chance speaking
of giving things a chance why not love
that's what Tata coy or Tata ku never
falls in love is all about as the title
suggests stoic high schooler mitsuyoshi
Tata has only had one love in his life
photography which he pursues with a
fervent passion however one day his lens
captures a beautiful foreign transfer
student named Teresa Wagner and as they
keep bumping into each other slowly but
surely their lives become more and more
intertwined could tata kun finally be
falling in love I don't know could the
sky be blue it's not the most
unpredictable story in the world but two
things set Tata koi apart
firstly the production values because
this is a Doga Cobo anime and haha holy
[ __ ] do they ever make their shows
pretty secondly there's a huge
delightful cast of characters including
a quality Emoto a top-tier cat a
loveable [ __ ] boy a doting grandpa a
violent Sunter a because there's always
got to be one of those and Teresa
herself
Teresa you see is a hardcore weeaboo who
is obsessed with old samurai movies and
came to Japan primarily to geek out
about them she learned Japanese from
said samurai films and starts falling
for tada mainly because he does a thing
that kind of resembles a scene from one
of them it's really cute and while other
anime have had this kind of character
before this is the best that I think
I've seen it done if you're in the mood
for a lavishly produced highschool
romance you've got a watch Tata coy but
please don't confuse it with otic Oi or
love is hard for otaku another anime
about nerds that skews a little bit
older nah to me Momo se is a young
office lady with a dark secret
she's a fujiyoshi who loves nothing more
than Ultima games and smutty yaoi manga
she had to quit her last job after the
secret got out and her boyfriend dumped
her but things start looking up when she
discovers that her old middle school
friend hirotaka is her new coworker
hirotaka is a diligent worker and a
hardcore gaming otaku who spends every
lunch break grinding for loot in Monster
Hunter shortly after reconnecting the
two start dating
but they're about to find out that when
you're an otaku love isn't as easy as it
seems
sorry about that if we can ditch the
trailer lines for a second Oda coy is
just a good romance through and through
with fantastically written characters
and a positive message about finding
someone who loves you for who you are
this show is giving me strong recovery
of an MMO junkie vibes only without the
Nazi director hopefully I'm really
loving this new wave of Jos a web manga
adaptations that focus on adult romance
they make a lovely change of pace from
the endless flow of awkward horny
teenagers that star in most romance
anime maybe I'm a little bit biased
towards liking this one because the show
reminds me a lot of my own relationship
and because the opie is 10 out of 10
fantastic but even without that personal
attachment loving oat sukhoi isn't hard
at all now before we get to my last
recommendation I'd just like to take a
second to acknowledge some good shows
that didn't quite make the cut here if
you can look past some janky animation
short cuts golden kamilly is a great
unconventional sainted adventure story
last period is a gotcha game adaptation
that pokes fun at gotcha games which is
pretty funny and has been a long time
coming
Oroku holo Yasui Toby Ori is a calm
relaxing anime about four handsome dudes
who run a quaint little cafe it's a good
time if you're into that and comic girls
is a mo a show about cute girls making
manga that's also a good time if you're
into that Caligula is an adaptation of a
mediocre Vita RPG that's way better than
it has any right to be and uma Musa made
pretty Derby is an adaptation of an
unreleased mobile game that's also way
better than it has any right to be but
before you watch any of those lastly I'm
gonna recommend that you check out
legend of the Galactic Heroes Dean you
ape a say yeah yeah I know that you
should watch legend of the Galactic
Heroes is pretty much the single most
repeated phrase in the Western anime
lexicon but there's a reason for that
the
original hundred episode OVA series is a
space opera of almost unparalleled scope
and scale with hundreds of significant
named supporting characters with unique
voice actors and a story that spans
across an entire galaxy
well there are other stories with this
level of detail and geopolitical or
should I say Astro political
sophistication I can't think of any that
have received an adaptation this
complete obviously production IGS new
galactic heroes anime is not the OVA and
it's unlikely that it will ever achieve
the same monumental feats as the
original but it's still a damn fine
adaptation of one of the greatest sci-fi
stories ever told
with epic space battles the likes of
which we haven't seen it in anime for
years now and it's new which despite
what purists might say is an advantage
it's able to make use of cgi to create
massive fleet battles featuring
thousands of ships on screen at once a
scale that the OVA z' could only ever
suggest or portray at an extreme
distance because each ship had to be
hand drawn but moreover the fact that
it's new means that you have an
opportunity to be part of new
conversations surrounding a series which
is a chance that we don't get often with
anime classics that alone makes Deen u8j
say worth your time god I hope I'm
pronouncing that correctly at least in
my eyes this is a new chance to see what
all the hardcore otaku are talking about
and hey if you like this new anime I
mean the original is right there on high
dive ready for you to dive in and with
that we are done you can watch Full
Metal Panic Sao alternative hina matsuri
giga a No Kotaro and legend of the
Galactic Heroes on crunchyroll which you
can get a 14-day free trial for at
crunchyroll.com slash basement tada koi
is available on high dive while amazon
has owed to koi and magical girls site
and dragon pilot will come out on
Netflix sometime before the heat death
of the universe all right you've got
your marching orders now go watch some
anime
I'm Jeff thew professional [ __ ]
signing out from my mother's basement