Ahh, spring. When the sun is shining, trees are blooming, AND THERE’S STILL SNOW ON
THE GROUND BECAUSE I LIVE IN CANADA. WHAT THE HELL? IT’S APRIL ALREADY! So even though
it still feels like winter where I am, with luck the new anime coming out will make it
FEEL a bit more like spring. BECAUSE TODAY, we will be discussing 5 anime that I am looking
forward to watching this season! Well, there’s a plus one in there too, so it’s more like
6, but the 6th is…..well, we’ll start with that. So ladies, gentlemen, and others,
my name is Arkada and today on Glass Reflection I present to you my Top 5 Anticipated Anime
of Spring 2019! Let’s jam. So what’s the plus one, the honourable mention,
the series that’s not really on the list because I’m not necessarily anticipating
it but can’t go without mentioning it? Easy.
It's One Punch Man.
The original One Punch Man season from back in 2015 was a phenomenal anime. It looked
amazing! The story of this weirdly relatable superhero was new and unique. It didn’t
overstay its welcome either, only lasting 12 episodes with some OVA’s shortly afterwards.
It launched the original creator ONE’s name into the spotlight which soon led to the adaptation
of Mob Psycho 100, which just wrapped up its second phenomenal season.
So why is it only an honourable mention? Because the creative team is entirely different. Most
of what arguably made the original series so good is potentially not there anymore,
and in promotion for the series they released a trailer that I honestly felt showed more
of a black screen than it did actual animation cuts. Which, considering how close to release
they were when this came out, gives me a sinking feeling. Sure, perhaps I could be reading
this all wrong. The production could be doing fine, and maybe the series will be as amazing
as the original season. But I’m still seeing the chance that there is already a dumpster
and a can of kerosene with this show’s name on it. Hopefully I’m wrong. Please let me
be wrong. So let’s move on to something that I know
is going to be good: Fruits Basket. This is weird to say, honestly. I remember when I
made a video about this series over 10 years ago. I was worried because I knew that FruBa
was not necessarily aimed at me as an audience. It – along with a few other anime I can
mention – was an example for me of something that didn’t line up with what I stereotypically
enjoyed up to that point. But I enjoyed the series immensely.
However, the original Fruits Basket was adapted and released back in 2001, 18 years ago. If
it were a person, it could legally drink now, which is a scary thought. But as good as it
was, as much as I enjoyed it, FruBa was a series that was continually marred by narrative
problems. There were blips that didn’t make sense here and there, which were forgivable,
but then it ended up….not really on the highest of notes. For a lot of people who
watched the series, it got placed on our list of shows that we wished could receive the
Brotherhood treatment and get a re-adaptation, especially since the manga ended back in 2006.
And now, here we are.
I’m looking forward to appreciating this series just as much, or even more, than I
did last time because, even if a bunch of the initial episodes will contain stories
and such that I’ve watched countless times in the previous adaptation, a fresh coat of
paint will do the story wonders. I’d like to say that it’ll be a hard project to screw
up. But since I can’t guarantee that they won’t, I will instead say that I find it
unlikely that this new Fruits Basket will be anything less than one of my favourites
of the upcoming season. Speaking about shows that are relying heavily
on my pre-existing enjoyment of shows I’ve already watched, have you guys heard of Isekai
Quartet yet? It’s a short series for this season, and it’s pretty much an Isekai fan’s
dream. Let’s take four of the more popular Isekai series from the past number of years,
and then have all of their protagonists exist in a separate chibi universe for the purposes
of comedy! This will either be an example of comedic genius or a case of horrible brand
over-reliability. So you got Re;Zero, Konosuba, Overlord, and
Tanya all in a room together for wacky comedic adventures. While the characters of Konosuba
and Overlord I can see fitting right in, the magically cursed Subaru and the murder-happy
Tanya seem like an interesting addition to the mix that I wouldn’t have predicted.
Of course that makes this project all the more unique. All of these series are in a
bit of a holding pattern. Overlord wrapped up its 2nd and 3rd seasons only last year,
but still doesn’t have a narratively complete ending. Tanya recently had a theatrical film
in February that no one in the west has bothered to pick up yet, so no idea how good that turned
out. Konosuba is getting a film in July that, if the last two seasons are any indication,
will just repeat the same tired jokes and tropes without offering anything of substance
(yes, I’m still bitter about season two). Though finally Re:Zero is being given its
second season and depending on how that goes, it might actually get an ending…but let’s
be honest, the light novel isn’t finished and even if they follow the pace of season
one, the farthest we’ll get is just catching up.
This series will probably just be meant to tide us over until more proper content arrives…potentially
anyway. It could pull a fast one on us and be far more entertaining than any of the individual
series involved, but we’ll have to wait and see. I, for one, welcome our new chibi overlords
or just overlord…..
Now the next series I want to talk about is another comedy, and when I describe why I
want to watch it you might look at me funny, but maybe I can explain it to you. “We Never
Learn: Bokuben” is a high school anime about a guy who in his final year must tutor two
super-intelligent underclassmen in order to get his desired scholarship into college.
Problem is, their super-intelligence only applies to the subjects in which they specialize.
Outside of that, they are both completely hopeless.
Now as for the reasons why, when I first looked at the art and read the show’s synopsis
I was like, “Huh, this whole tutor situation reminds me of Love Hina. I wonder if this
will be a flaming dumpster fire in the same way.” That’s why I want to experience
it. Because I hate Love Hina. I’m pausing for effect here, because I feel like I might
have struck a nerve with my audience, but there are many things about Love Hina that
I do not enjoy. Its influence on anime and the genre it helped to popularize is one of
my least liked in the entire spectrum of anime. So if a show comes along that could possibly
prove me wrong, get me interested, and keep my attention, then I want to know about it.
I want to see it and decide for myself. ONLY I CAN CAUSE MYSELF PAIN IN THIS WAY.
So with luck, that'll be it. Or you know, I'm just going to be banging my head against a wall.
Because this was probably a really dumb idea, why did I put this on the list?
Alright, second-to-last let’s talk about P.A Works’ new series Fairy Gone. Not going
to lie, there are two obvious reasons why I’m interested in this series. 1) P.A Works.
I’m easy that way and 2) Look at these uniforms! Damn, those are some slick jackets. I can
appreciate good fashion in an anime such as this, even if I myself do not thoroughly understand
fashion. This curse is mine to bear. Fairy Gone is going to tell the tale of a
world where fairies are used as a tool for humans, possessed organs implanted to give
someone supernatural abilities. All for a war that ended nine years prior. Now these
super soldiers are trying to find new lives, but some of them can’t escape from who they
now are and begin engaging in terrorist acts as a form of rebellion.
Looking at the promotional art, reading that synopsis, and watching the PV’s, I am reminded
of a series that sounds similar called Witch Hunter Robin. There, persons with supernatural
abilities are somewhat conscripted to flush out others who use their powers for nefarious
purposes, with of course this weird air of mystery and internal conflict. I can’t really
explain WHR in a sentence because it could instead take an hour long video, but those
are the same vibes I’m getting out of this. Combined with both the studio behind it and
the fact that it’s being directed by Kenichi Suzuki, who not only directed the amazing
action series Drifters from 2016 but was also the director for the new JoJo series up until
the end of Stardust? Man, I’m looking forward to seeing how this series plays out. I’m
used to seeing more personal slice of life type series from P.A Works, not so much anything
with lots of action, so we’ll have to see. Lastly, we have Ufotable’s offering for
the season: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. Is it wrong that the main reason I want to
watch this is because it’s a Ufotable show and I just want to continually watch everything
they produce because I feel like eventually they will make something I actively dislike,
but they haven’t yet and that bothers me? Even God Eater wasn…
Also, you know, BOTH Yuki Kajiura and Go Shiina are attached for the music, plus LiSA is going
to do the theme, so musically there’s something amazing that’s going to happen here, even
if the rest of the production turns out to be less than stellar. What we know about the
plot is that falls back on a lot of tropes about historical Japan and their views on
samurai and demons. The synopsis talks about the main character Tanjirou and his quest
to save his sister from becoming a demon, so personally the story hasn’t grabbed me
yet, but there’s this lingering feeling I’m getting from all of it that screams
the promotional material isn’t all the series is actually going to be, which has my interest
piqued.
So that’s it! There are 5-ish shows from this upcoming season that I am excited to
see. As per usual this list is not the be all and end all, which means 3 months from
now I’ll probably be coming to you with a very different list of what ACTUALLY ended
up being good this season. With some entries I didn’t even mention here today. But we’ll
get to that when we get to it. This video was lovingly sponsored by the wonderful
folks over at Crunchyroll, who happen to streaming several of the entries on this list there
will be links down below to their service should you require them!
And now I leave you, to go and patiently wait for all the new episodes to come out. Expect
some First reactions coming out from me in the coming weeks as we slowly get a glimpse
as to the hopeful greatness, and Lastly, a very special thank you to my patrons,
who not only support my work in general, but who also allow me to do what I do. I love
and appreciate you all. Specifically though, as I like to do, I want to give particular
shout-outs to patrons Rune Jachobson, Joshua Garcia, Calhoonboy, Siri Yamiko, and Ryefan
Boneapart for being especially awesome. You guys are great! And until next time – ladies,
gentlemen, and others – watch more anime…and stay frosty.