Because I end up writing – or at least getting most of the info – for any upcoming season
as it is released, I actually had this speech all prepared about how this was a season that
some studios checked out on because they were burnt out for one reason or another.
Until of course it because quite obvious that this was not the case.
Which is great because talking about upcoming anime seasons is one of the few things that
I am usually optimistic about in my otherwise generally pessimistic mindset.
I could just tell you that the new shows coming out this season are going to be shit and then
be pleasantly surprised later, but it would be rather sad to watch anime for a living
if I went into a show already thinking it was going to be shit.
So…OPTIMISM.
Today we are going to be looking at 10 shows that I have picked out from the upcoming season
that I am looking forward to.
This is not meant to be an ultimate list of guaranteed good shows, just what I consider
to be the most likely good shows based on the information I have preseason.
With luck, something not on this list will surprise us all.
That prospect is something I actually quite look forward to.
Also, no second seasons for any show that I have not watched or taken an interest in.
So I’m sorry if that’s something you wanted me to talk about.
ANYWAY, based on little information, and as such ranking them arbitrarily, I present my
Top 10 Anticipated Anime of Fall 2016.
Let’s Jam.
First up, a series called ClassicaLoid (and I hope I pronounced that right).
This is Sunrise’s entry for the season and it’s a comedy about two high school students
meeting…either magical resurrected versions of classical composers like Beethoven and
Mozart, or people who honestly believe themselves to be said classical composers.
It’s kind of hard to tell which at this point.
I put it on the list mostly because of its connection to the comedy series Gintama.
It’s being directed by the same man who’s been directing Gintama since episode 100 and,
considering Gintama’s current length, that’s impressive.
Also, several of the voice actors are from Gintama as well, so there’s even more of
a connection there.
Besides that, the series composition for the show is being done by Ichiro Sakaki, who was
the original creator for both Outbreak Company and Scrapped Princess, shows which I enjoyed
greatly even if their audiences were rather niche.
So with any luck, it’ll turn out just as well.
If not, then there are plenty of Gintama episodes that I have to get through.
ClassicaLoid has been licensed at this time, before it has even aired, by Sentai Filmworks.
Next on the list is Fune wo Amu translated as The Great Passage.
Thus far it’s not a series that’s looking to be necessarily exciting, but that in and
of itself might be merit enough.
The main reason I added it to the list was because the character designer for the series
also just so happens to be the original creator to another Drama series from earlier this
year that I quite enjoyed, Rakugo Shinju.
Now this show looks to be a drama series centered on the publication of a dictionary titled
The Great Passage, name drop!
Now I’m not one to judge a series based on so little, but I can see why others would
find this unappealing based on just that.
“A show about a dictionary?
Come on man!
Who the hell uses dictionaries anymore?
That’s what google search is for!”
But the past has shown me that subjects like this can still turn out to be interesting.
Hyouka is one such example, though it had many other facets to it, which with luck this
show will also have, just maybe not the same facets.
But my hope is this series will be more than just the brief synopsis that I found.
Number 8 on the list is a series called Yuri!! on Ice.
A show that apparently is not at all what I thought it was going to be.
When the title “Yuri on Ice” came out, I’m sure I was not the only one who thought
it was talking about Yuri, as in the genre, and ice was somehow involved.
Or maybe the series would be about Yuri Gagarin and how he was cryogenically frozen and put
on ice until a future time when they needed the famous Russian cosmonaut to save the universe
or something.
Hell, I’d watch that.
Turns out though, instead it’s about two figure skating guys, not girls at all, but
they are apparently Russian and their names just happen to both be Yuri.
Not sure if the confusion over the name was intentional or not, but there you have it.
The series is mostly the brainchild of one Sayo Yamamoto, the director of both the Fujiko
Mine Lupin spinoff and the series Michiko & Hatchin.
Which means at the very least, even if the stories are less than stellar, it’ll be
a spectacle to watch.
Which really should be expected.
If you are animating figure skaters, it should be at least as beautiful as real life skaters
or at least as close as you can get.
I’m optimistic about it, but I’ll see how that changes after the first few episodes.
Number 7 on this list is Flip Flappers!
Insert joke about women in the 1920’s here to show how cultured I am.
This is the entry from Studio 3Hz for the season.
You might remember them as the studio that animated Dimension W a while back, which aired
on Toonami and everything.
Not that I watched it because we don’t get Toonami in Canada.
CURSE YOU, ADULT SWIM!
Anyway, Flip Flappers is a series apparently about two girls having adventures in an alternate
dimension, and I placed it on the list because I expect it to look freaking amazing.
I just can’t guarantee anything beyond that.
The series has a first time director, though his past credits include being the animation
director for Dennoh Coil and Space Dandy, as well as a key frame animator for both the
FMA films as well as some Gurren Lagann.
On top of all that, the chief animation director was one of the key frame animators for last
year’s Death Parade.
So with all that in mind, you know what I am expecting?
Sakuga.
Lots and lots of beautiful, amazing, Sakuga.
As long as I get that, I’ll be happy.
With luck the story will be interesting too.
Flip Flappers has been licensed pre-airing by Sentai Filmworks.
Moving on.
Every season I end up adding and eventually following a show that has a particular kind
of upbeat and somewhat relaxing feel to it.
Last season it was New Game.
This season?
Long Riders.
Possibly.
Back in high school I got enamored with a bicycle series called Overdrive, a show no
one has watched, but I bring it up from time to time because while I never got into shows
like Yowamushi Pedal, I’ve still been interested in the bicycle sport in general ever since
that show.
Hopefully this helps with that.
It’s being directed by Tatsuya Yoshihara, who I know from directing Monster Musume (not
that that’s a positive point), but they also got Yatterman Night on their resume,
which from what I gather is a very good thing.
The composition was done by Natsuko Takahashi who was responsible for My Love Story, and
the whole thing is being produced by Studio Actas, the same studio behind Girls und Panzer.
Which is a good thing!
I loved Girls und Panzer, even if it did have production issues.
But hey, those issues turned into great plotlines for Shirobako, so I can’t complain.
I’m not expecting brilliance out of Long Riders, but I do hope for entertainment.
So that’s something.
Next for number 5, we have 3-Gatsu no Lion, or translated “March Comes in Like a Lion”.
This is Shaft’s entry for the season, taking a break from their regular Monogatari production
crazy train.
The original manga was written by Chica Umino, who also wrote Honey & Clover if you remember
that from the early 2000’s.
This time we get a story about a professional Shogi player, living alone off his earnings,
and not doing very well socially.
He becomes acquainted with a nearby family of three sisters and they help him get out
of both his social slump and his professional one as well.
The main director for the series, Kenjiro Okada, hasn’t taken on a full series on
his own yet, having only directed episodes for the original Gatchaman Crowds, as well
as for Captain Earth.
Though to balance that, Akiyuki Shinbo is attached as a director as well, because of
course he is.
Shaft can’t produce a series without him after all.
Though it’s because of Shinbo that Shaft shows have a habit of somehow becoming notable
every time one airs, so mostly I’m just waiting to see what about this seemingly innocent
storyline makes the internet explode this time around.
Number 4 is a show, also already licensed by Sentai Filmworks, man you guys are going
really strong this season, anyways the show is called called Matoi the Sacred Slayer,
and let me start off by mentioning the two reasons why this is here.
First, it’s being produced at White Fox.
You might know them as the ones who produced Re;Zero this past season.
The second reason is that the director is Masayuki Sakoi, who some people will know
from Strawberry Panic and Princess Resurrection, but who I know from a show called KAMEN NO
MAID GUY!
A wonderfully absurd series about an almost super-soldier like man in a maid outfit.
Now I don’t expect that to factor in on the actual story for Matoi at all, as it looks
to be a magical girl series about said magical girls performing exorcisms on ghosts.
But if it’s anywhere near as entertaining as maid guy, then we are in for a treat.
Plus, White Fox hasn’t let me down yet.
Re;Zero was definitely an enjoyable series, as was Jormungund which shares the same series
composer as Matoi.
And of course they also produced Steins;Gate.
Speaking of Steins;Gate…
Number 3 is Occultic;Nine.
Notice the semi-colon in the name and the fact that it was written by Chiyomaru Shikura,
the creator of Steins;Gate.
The main difference is that it’s not based of any sort of game or visual novel.
Instead it’s based off a light novel.
Though apparently a game adaptation was announced back in early 2015, but we haven’t heard
anything since.
ANYWAY.
The story apparently revolves around nine peculiar individuals who are all tied together
through an Occult blog on the Internet run by our main character.
Beyond that, we know that small paranormal type events are occurring that will build
into a much larger threat for our heroes to deal with.
If its ties to Steins;Gate wasn’t a possible upside for you, then here’s another big
tie in: Your Lie in April.
Occultic;Nine and Your Lie share both a director (Kyohei Ishiguro) and a musical composer (Masaru
Yokoyama), which has me confident that the series SHOULD be of a particular quality.
Key word being should though, as we won’t know until it actually comes out.
Hopefully, I’m not wrong!
Hopefully.
For number 2, like with the list I did for this past summer, here are the major things
you need to know about the anime DRIFTERS.
Its original creator is Kouta Hirano, the creator of Hellsing, and it’s being directed
by Kenichi Suzuki, who was the director of the original season of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
as well as Stardust Crusaders.
Also it’s been picked up by Funimation, so with the funimation crunchyroll agreement
subs will be on crunchyroll as it airs, and a dub will be up on funimation’s site a
few weeks after every episode airs.
I’m not going to go beyond that, because like with Mob Psycho last season, I have a
completely separate video, which I’ve already released, and you can just go watch that.
Which leaves #1…
Sound Euphonium Season 2, this is the only sequel on this list, mostly because I haven’t
watched many of the other shows that have second seasons coming out.
Now while I did a First Reaction video for the first season of Eupho, I never actually
reviewed it.
Had I done so, my most major complaint would be how it ended.
Mostly because the band of students that we followed spent the whole season preparing
and practicing for a national competition.
A competition that we never got to see, because the show didn’t make it that far.
There was all this build up and we never got to see the payoff.
We got quite a few other things though, from the wonderful character stories that Kyoto
Ani has been really good at, to a seriously well-animated smile.
But the lack of a conclusive ending was my major sticking point.
The hope is that this second season will solve that problem, though of course I am aware
of the potential it has to just make it worse by not really ending the story on this season
either.
I would think that they wouldn’t need more than 24 episodes to tell this story, but it
is their story and they can tell it how they wish.
With the original material actually finished though, I would hope that we see an ending
of some kind.
But for all we know, Kyoto Ani will keep this particular moe train on the rails for a while
longer.
We’ll have to see.
And that’s the list!
You can disagree with my picks, but ultimately these are my most anticipated shows and not
anyone else’s.
So what are you guys excited for?
Let me know down in the comments.
As I mentioned before, I put out a solo video on DRIFTERS, and chances are most of the shows
on this list will be subject to a First Reaction sometime following the start of the season.
I’m looking forward to all of that and hopefully you are too.
Until then, ladies, gentlemen, and others, Stay Frosty.