I can’t say that the Spring season has caught me by surprise since I’ve been looking forward to it for months now. There are a lot of shows coming this season that I’m sure will contend for my top 10 of the year. The Spring is usually a packed season in terms of quantity and quality. That doesn’t appear to be changing this season either. And while it does seem to lean towards comedy, this season should still have enough variety for most people.

Although I’m sure it is a tough loss with some of the shows that ended this winter. I’m just not much into Attack on Titan or Demon Slayer so that isn’t much of an issue for me. My Dress-Up Darling will be missed. Marin was owning the season in a lot of ways. Same goes for Princess Connect Re:Dive S2. That’s one of my favourite sequels in a while. Just took everything that the first season did well and went to another level with it. But good shows have to end sometime and there are a lot of good ones coming up next.

As always, the preview will be referring to information listed on LiveChart and AniChart. This certainly won’t be a comprehensive preview of what is coming up. It will just be a list of the shows I’m interested in. As always everyone can feel free to talk about the shows they are hyped about even if I don’t mention them here. And there will definitely be shows I don’t know that much about their source material so any discussion on what can be expected there (minus spoilers) sounds good to me.

Series of High Interest

These are the shows I’m the most hyped to see. Odds are that is either because I’m familiar enough with a previous season/source material or just because the previews and summaries look really good. If these don’t turn out to be good that will be rather disappointing.

I am happy to have this show back! Easily one of my favourite romcoms of the past decade. This show just knows how to balance wanting to see the main characters getting together, while not minding the journey it takes to get there. The two main characters are smart in their own ways, but absolutely stupid in other ways. Their strengths and flaws allow the viewer to enjoy seeing them fail at certain things, while also still wanting them to get together. Season 2 was great in adding new characters like Iino to the mix. And I fully expect to be blown away by what is coming. This season also marks the point where I decided to pause reading the manga to let the anime tell the story. So, I don’t have that much knowledge of what is coming up next. Bring on season 3! 

The manga for this show is really good. For that reason alone, I’m hyped to see this animated. There is something fun about a group coming together that are all hiding something. All of them are extraordinary in certain ways while flawed in others. It’s a good setup for comedy and I think that will be the strongest element of the show. We are still talking about spies, assassins, and a setting with drama packed into it. But at the same time I think the biggest thing will just be how fun this show could turn out. And they are going into it with a great combination of CloverWorks and Wit Studio handling the animation. The show is going to look good without a doubt. This is definitely a show I fully expect to be great. 

I am happy to have this show back. This show also had a nice mixture of comedy and character moments. Yuko is a really enjoyable main character. She has had quite the difficult life up to the point where this show starts up. But even with that drama packed into her past, her path forward is almost endearing to watch. The previous season revealed a lot of important information about her family and I’m curious to see how much gets resolved there this season. If nothing else though seeing her interactions with her magical girl ‘rival’ Momo will be fun. You don’t need any yuri goggles to see how strong that ship is XD. 

Ever since this adaptation was announced, I’ve been looking forward to it. I know isekai shows grind people’s gears at this point. It has been too prominent and overwhelming. And I’m also sure that some fans of Overlord might look at this and scoff a bit. But this is absolutely one of the isekai shows I’ve been looking forward to seeing. Arc is an enjoyable main character. He’s in a pretty tricky spot being stuck in the body of a living skeleton. Yet his journey should be a lot of fun to watch. This show has an interesting mix of comedy with some pretty over the top violence. The trailer kind of nailed it. He can and will just slash evil individuals in half. The mix of comedic and dark elements should make it an enjoyable ride. Fingers crossed that Studio KAI and HORNETS got this handled. 

Series of Moderate Interest

Now to the shows I’m somewhat excited for. While not as excited about these as the category above, I’m still pretty interested in watching these. Some have intriguing premises that if done right could make for great shows. While some have source materials that I’m sort of familiar with, but not extremely interested in. Some of these could easily turn into my favorites. That uncertainty factor can turn into a positive surprise.

This is a show I’m curious to gauge my own reaction to. The first season was a strong one, but one where it all depends on whether you can connect with the main character or not. He suffered painful betrayal and being driven down a dark path by it wasn’t a surprise. But how far he sunk really did surprise me. How damaged he is reflected in his interactions and relationships to others. I’m curious to see if he can start recovering and going down a better path. Staying on the road he’s been on won’t work out long term. If nothing else though I’m curious to see how this story plays out with the bigger world issues still unresolved. And you don’t see many main characters that use shields as their primary battle tools so it’s still unique in that sense. 

In some ways I feel like this is the show that will pick up after My Dress-up Darling. At first glance we seem to have a main girl that will dominate the show in a lot of ways. She has the power of cuteness on her side and also looks to be the coolest character in the show. Although in that sense it has me a bit worried if her male counterpart can carry his own weight. Shikimori has got cool and cute locked down and I’m not sure what that leaves for him XD. No doubt that watching her be really awesome from week to week should be entertaining. I’m just hoping that it won’t just be a one-character show with her boyfriend just kind of being…there. At the very least the trailers look good. 

There seem to be a few strong romcoms coming our way this season. This just seems like a fun setup. You have a pretty likable lead who tries to interact with his female classmate to initially no success. And then…the distance certainly shrinks between them. It seems like a pretty basic setup with her struggling to gauge the proper distance to others. But that in itself isn’t a bad thing. It just depends on how well the leads interact and how the supporting characters handle their part. But at first glance the main characters seem like they’ll be fun to watch. Something about the initial trailers leaves me smiling too. 

This show should take care of any concerns about there not being enough thrillers this season XD. That it has 2 cours already confirmed really will let it take time to develop the dramatic elements and let the mystery build up. The trailer really did a good job getting me interested. It seems like will have a good mix of drama, supernatural, and plenty of tension. The summary seems to want to build this up as being incredibly big. Although I can’t guess at this early junction how a situation playing out on this island has wider implications. I’m sure it could find a way to though. If nothing else this show should stand out since there aren’t that many supernatural thrillers this season. 

No question that romcoms are ready to go this season. Something about this one really has me smiling though. I can’t recall before this year so many shows featuring super sentai characters. And in this one you have the ‘red leader’ character having fallen for one of the major generals of the evil organization he’s up against. A Romeo and Juliet style story. But this one just happens to have superheroes and such XD. This is definitely a story where an over-the-top narrator will work out nicely. Presuming that isn’t just something they threw in for the trailer. But I’ll probably enjoy watching these two deepening their relationship while trying to hide it from their respective organizations. I’m kind of curious how seriously they’ll consider the completely different goals of their sides as well. They could just choose not to worry about that though. 

Series of Lower Interest

These are the shows I’m still interested in, but it’s a lot weaker than the tiers above. Either the previous seasons were mixed bags for me or I just don’t have enough to work. They still get mentioned because I still think the potential is there to really surprise me. Which is more than the shows I’m not going to mention at all.

This is a show I never expected when first watching to see become this big. For whatever reason I didn’t keep up with it that much. But the concept does seem pretty fun. You have majorly powerful individuals that left alone would be too dangerous. And the only way to deal with it…is by having the main character effectively seduce them XD. It’s just silly enough to work and it seems as if the series does try to make it as legitimate as possible. I do want to give season 4 a shot though. There’s a lot of interesting characters in this harem and it seems like it will be action packed as well. A lot will depend on whether I can catch up on the franchise before this comes out though.

It really hasn’t been long since season 1 aired. But I still think this is the right category for it. Season 1 was ok. The first episodes were really strong. But the rest of the season was just kind of ok. I think the biggest issue for the show is the supporting cast. It’s a bunch of strange personality quirks…and one potential murderer. Not sure I agree with the plan to include someone that kidnapped the male lead with the intention to murder him in the circle of friendship here. Still, Komi herself is a pretty nice character. I think anyone who’s had social anxiety can understand her to some degree. All the popularity in the world doesn’t help her from feeling incredibly alone since she just can’t express herself the way she wants to. So, I am looking forward to seeing her story play out. But that’s about it. 

The comedy train keeps on going. This isn’t the first show that covers a hero joining the demon lord’s army. But it should be a pretty fun show. Just at the start I feel a bit for the main character. He fought hard to protect the human world and actually got the job done. But people have to be stupid and decide that making an enemy of someone that powerful is a great idea. So where is he to go but to the side he just helped decimate…I’m really betting on the interactions between him and the demon lord being entertaining. Probably a mixed-up situation for her since she does need the help, but this guy is the reason why she does need the help. The comedy should be good. But I’m not sure going in how good it will be. 

The summary itself seemed perfectly fine. A guy gets dropped into this dating sim turned reality. And it could be seen as ok if it was just him trying to use his knowledge to live casually. But the trailer made it seem a bit more fun. His efforts to live quietly (with a mob character appearance) dashed because of how harsh that setting is. So his hand is forced in terms of creating drama and overturning the status quo. In order to try and live peacefully, he’ll have to shake up that setting so severely that he’ll never be able to. I don’t know how well it will turn out. But the potential is there for a pretty fun show. 

This one seems to be a pretty straight forward comedy. You have a kunoichi with a clear interest towards the opposite sex who is forbidden to explore it. It doesn’t appear as if there is any noteworthy male character from the summary. So it’s more like she’s in love with the idea of meeting someone. I suppose the comedy will just center around her quirks and the quirks of her companions. Not sure if the show will just be about her almost breaking the rules of her clan or what. So it’s a bit further down in terms of hype. It is going to look good with Cloverworks behind it. It should be worth checking out to see if the comedy lands or not. 

Comedy seems to be ruling the day this season XD. Though maybe people just need some good laughs. I’m glad to see a fantasy show that isn’t some kind of isekai or reincarnation story. This is one of those shows where I’m not sure how far the comedy will stretch and if they can keep it interesting. A healer that is mostly a pain and full of insults can be fun in short doses. It just depends on both the healer and her companion the swordsman to keep it fun. If nothing else the first episode should be worth checking out. If I have enough fun then I’ll keep going. Doesn’t look bad and Jumondou has done a good job animating comedies like Acchi Kocchi. So I do have some hopes for it. 

Conclusion

I only really noticed how comedy heavy this season was after putting together this little preview. If I’m not smiling during this season then something has gone terribly wrong. Whether it’s a great romcoms like Kaguya-sama or simply pure ridiculousness like Machikado Mazoku, we are in good shape when it comes to finding laughs. Most of my most hyped shows are comedic in nature and that even includes SPY×FAMILY. I suppose it shouldn’t be a surprise though since comedy can be the main focus of a show or a supporting element. It’s going to be in a lot of shows and this season is no exception there. 

This season isn’t likely to be as action packed as the winter. It’s pretty tough to surpass fighting giants, monsters, and demons. Gaikotsu Kishi-sama should have some good action in it. Although I wouldn’t expect it to surpass the levels of something like Demon Slayer. SPY×FAMILY could help out in terms of action. But it isn’t a pure action show, no matter how absolutely serious the original trailer was for it. It may mostly come down to Tate no Yuusha to handle that side of it.  

Hopefully this was a good read for everyone. I’m curious as always to hear about what others are interested in seeing though. There are a few shows I have no actual knowledge about that I’m sure others do. Regardless though, I hope the spring season is a blast for everybody.