Another season ends and another begins. The Spring season wasn’t as crazy as it’s been in some years, but in a lot of ways Summer looks to be picking up the slack. We’ve got at least one huge sequel in this season and a lot of others that I’m sure many have been looking forward to. There’s also a ton of show that I really have little knowledge about so that’s allowing the season to arrive with a bit of intrigue. My personal coverage isn’t dwindling that much since Kimi to Idol Precure♪ will obviously be continuing for the rest of the year. Shiunji-ke no Kodomotachi will be ending so I’ve got some room to cover shows this season! Here’s hoping that I’ve got the problem of too many shows I want to cover and not enough time to do so.

As always, the preview will be referring to information listed on LiveChart and AniList. 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. Everyone can feel free to talk about the shows they are hyped about in the comments, even if I don’t mention them here. There will 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 Highest Interest

These are the shows I’m the most excited about. Odds are that’s because I’m familiar enough with a previous season/source material. But I may just have gotten excited by the summary or trailer. If these don’t turn out to be good that will be rather disappointing.

It’s hard not to be excited about this. This was easily one of the best shows of 2022 and the wait for season 2 has been a long one! But this wasn’t something that I would have wanted to be rushed. The return of Marin and Gojou will be a treat. Cloverworks handling it again leaves me confident that it will be a beautiful series. I hope we’ll see a good amount of Sajuna and Shinju, but I do remember hearing things that makes me expect not as much of them.

This show is going to be great. The romance and the handling of cosplay was a strong part of season 1. Seeing Marin fall for Gojou was great since she’s such an expressive girl. And I learned more about cosplay than I knew before this show so I’m always down to learn even more. If nothing else though, this show will be a contender for the season and likely for anime of the year.

This show is always great. And I’m just glad that finally it’s got an anime season coming up. So much of the story has been covered via movies. I get that movies can have their place, but it’s a bit tougher internationally since the movies don’t come out. Having to wait for the blurays to drop just doesn’t feel as good. One good thing about this being a show is that clearly there will be a ton of story. And with the summary focusing pretty heavily on a threat to Mai…I’m immediately engaged with it! Mai is one of the top female characters of all time as far as I’m concerned. So more of her is always worth it. Good luck to Sakuta in keeping her safe and happy!

Clearly things are going to be going beyond simply Mai’s safety and more so to Sakuta’s interactions with Puberty Syndrome in general. There’s a lot of places this season could go.

Ever since this show was announced (a few years ago) I was really curious to check this out. It just has great drama built into it. The main character is a tragic hero that crawled through the muck of tragedy to defeat the Demon Lord. He saved the day, but it cost him everything (including his life). But he manages to get sent back with a chance to change everything. That’s a great thing for a character. He gets to see people that he lost once again, has to struggle with building those bonds again, and also has to find a path forward. Just because Kyle triumphed once doesn’t mean he’ll survive again after choosing different things. Here’s hoping this show lives up to my hopes.

I’ll be honest in saying that I’m interested because this show just looks cute. Tina seems like an adorable main heroine. The trailer visually looked good and the fantasy setting is often a great one. I just like the concept of this magical tutor trying to help a girl that seemingly can’t use magic. There’s obviously going to be some big story reason why she can’t, especially with the girl’s father seemingly wanting him to fail. But that will be something to figure out when the time comes. Something about this show is giving me a hopeful feeling that it will be great.

Series of Moderate Interest

These are 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.

I am looking forward to this coming back. The first season was ok even with some character designs getting a strange change compared to the source material. Everything in this show was setup nicely for action and the show delivered there. I didn’t fall in love with the cast, but it was just over the top fun. Things ended on a pretty interesting note with the truth coming out regarding Kafka’s existence. And it did change the status quo for a lot of characters. I can’t wait to see how things play out for Kafka now that he’s more or less accepted for what he is. Kikoru, Reno, Mina, etc are all going to go on journeys because of this reveal. And the biggest thing is that the kaiju threat is going to escalate which should make for some insane fights! It’ll be a fun show for me.

It is kind of cool to have this show back. Would I say that Panty and Stocking was one of my favourite shows of all time? I wouldn’t go that far. But it was a crazy show that pushed the envelope in a lot of ways. And I think it’s good to have a show like this out there. Plus the leads are entertaining characters. We’re talking about Angels that…aren’t exactly angelic in a lot of ways! This may be a show that stirs the pot quite a bit. I can only imagine what the types of fans that voted on the CR game awards will think of it. But I think this will be crazy, fun, and hopefully pretty good. Lot of potential for this one.

This one has my attention mostly because I expect the action to be good. It’s nothing new to follow a side more commonly seen as villainous. But it’s interesting to dive into this show to follow the Oni as they try to empower themselves in order to survive the battles that are coming. Plus the blood powers makes me think of Deadman Wonderland. And I did enjoy that franchise even with how crazy it got at points. Bring on the blood based powers and the wild tactics that could emerge from that.

The concept of this show just seems cute. I respect Monica’s crazy move of mastering a supreme magic because she wanted to avoid speaking in public! That’s just great. The potential for fun is there with this poor shy girl getting stuck trying to protect a prince. The trailer really sold me on this. It’s clear that Monica has quite the history to her and isn’t just shy for the sake of being shy. I look forward to seeing this girl grow closer to the people around her while also being an absurd magical badass at the same time. I’ve got a good feeling about this one. Feels as if Studio Gokumi has it under control.

This is a show that I mostly enjoyed, though I didn’t downright love. The most noteworthy thing is just the visual difference. We’re going from Shin-Ei Animation and SynergySP to Okuruto Noboru. The new studio seems to do good work overall, but I did need a moment when watching the trailer to adjust to the differences. It’s another show with characters pushed together because their families really want to do that. The idea of them getting switched up is interesting and creates this bond between families that I enjoyed in the first season. It is overall a pretty straight forward harem series and I expect to just casually enjoy this season. Just generally looking forward to this one.

Here’s another remake! It is another one for a show that I just never originally checked out. I give myself some of a break on this one. It was the late 90s. Sure I was watching shows at that point, but not as many as I do now. The concept isn’t one you exactly see these days, but I like it. A teacher with supernatural powers that is going to use those powers to protect his students. I can imagine the whole demon hand thing is the source of some of the chunni characters I’ve seen over the years with “demons sealed in their hands.” This could be fun. It’s a series that originated in the early-mid 90s and gets a chance to wow people in the 2020s. Here’s hoping it’s a show that really grabs me.

This is another one where the trailer definitely got me onboard with it. I like the whole concept. You have supernatural artifacts, people granted powers via these artifacts, and a main duo that seek to solve mysteries involving them along with saving lives in the process. Maybe it was the strong OP song that got me, but I like where this show can go. Both in terms of action and the bond between Kakeru and Miyako. If this show delivers on its potential it could be one of my favourites of the season. And that’s saying a lot since summer is looking packed!

Series of Mild 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.

It’s with a show like this that I just say once again that a lower tier of interest doesn’t mean a lesser show in terms of quality. There’s no doubt in my mind that Dandadan will be one of the bigger shows of the season. The animation will be good, the characters will be fairly entertaining, and the comedy will be a bit wild. It wasn’t a show that connected intensely with me and that’s why the second season is down here. I know people lost their minds with the OP of season 1, but I just never enjoyed that OP. But I do think the weird/raunchy comedy will fit in nicely in a season that has Panty and Stocking. This show won’t be my favourite, but I’ll probably enjoy it overall.

It’s another show with a wronged protagonist that goes on a quest of vengeance. This kind of thing can work out great or just be a bit too dark for my tastes. It is going to look good with Bones on the case. And in terms of action it likely will deliver enough to at least keep an eye on it. It really just depends on if I connect with Rudo at all. If I can get into his quest for payback then it’ll be fun.

This is another show that I expect others to be insanely hyped for. The first season was certainly good. You had this guy meet up with a lovely vampire and get addicted to the night life a bit. Over the first season things did build up with interactions with both other vampires and even vampire hunters. I’m curious to see where this season goes. The relationship between the two leads will be an essential part of it. But I’m also expecting quite a bit of drama as their connection is going to get attention from some dangerous if not hostile forces. It’s not likely to be my top show of the season, but I am going to check out season 2.

I’m sure that this series is grabbing people really hard. The last season was a bit of a mixed bag for me. As the show has gone on it’s lost that “how can we bring the old world into this stone world” and has gone into “here’s some absolutely ludicrous stuff that is closing in on pure sci-fi.” I get that they don’t want to slow the show down to really build up to some of this stuff, but it did have some weird moments. You know…like characters casually surviving plane crashes with minimal safety measures. But I do want to see how this story ends. So…here we go!

Here comes a full blown yuri romance! I’m curious to see if I connect with this one or not. I do like the idea that the main girl doesn’t want things to go down the romantic route because she really appreciates the friendship that she gained. A lonely girl that finally gained a normal friendship only to have that friendship…change on her. It’s a good versus situation where one side wants to convince the other to be friends and the other wants to convince the other to be lovers. Both sides don’t want to give up on having a relationship, but they can’t immediately agree on that kind of relationship that will be. This will either grab me right away or I might just fall behind on it among a busy season.

Here’s another isekai with a character that’s spent a long time mastering their craft before the call to adventure arrived. The question of course will be whether I connect with the lead and care about his overpowered adventures as the world’s greatest water mage. The visuals look good and I appreciated the way the trailer made the water magic look. No issues with a lead that likes to take things at their own pace…so long as that pace isn’t too slow. It’s hard for me to gauge this show at this point. The trailers that we’ve gotten hasn’t quite given me a feel for this one. But I do think there’s the potential for this to be good.

I’m usually down for a new camping anime. Of course the idea of someone intruding on another person’s solo camp experience could be a bad move. But I presume we’ll see these two gradually grow to enjoy each other’s company. And I think seeing the camping of two adults could be a nice bit of variety compared to the mostly younger experience of Yuru Camp. It’s hard for me to say what about this is getting to me from that trailer. But I like the idea of a relaxing camping show. There’s a lot of action in this season and something laid back could be nice.

This also seems like a pretty laid back show that will add a bit of relaxation to a crazy season. It’s a bit of a weird one in some ways, but it could be cute. You have this “dog” that Fuji has picked up and I presume the show will just be whatever life they are living together. This thing is obviously a tanuki so that will be interesting in and of itself. This show might not blow me away, but it could be nice and fun. Nothing wrong with a bit of comedy and slice of life.

And here comes the “banished from the hero’s party” of the season. At least this one seems to have a pretty fun angle of giving the MC an excuse to go and try other things. Just seems like it could be both a heartwarming show and one with a surprising amount of action. Combine a bit of food anime and probably the MC heading into dungeons on occasion and this might be enjoyable. I’m not entirely sure yet, since this concept might not work that well for me. But I like the idea of it. But this does seem like a fun way to tackle that being fired from a party thing. Just going off to explore other hobbies!

This is a show that could either be amazing or just not work at all. I do love the idea of a lead that just never go going because of shyness. He’s got all sorts of skills but not the confidence to make use of them. It’s a good twist on that concept to have the girls that pull him out into the world…actually wanting to kill him. That’s just silly, but in a good way! I’ve got no idea why these girls want him dead, but I’m curious to find out. If they worry about his potential or something then that would be funny since he wouldn’t do anything if left alone! I just hope his nerves around girls won’t be too annoying! Again, this could either be one of my favourite shows of the season or just not good. Can’t wait to see which it is!

Conclusion

This is a pretty solid mix of shows. And it doesn’t feel too heavily slanted by isekai or any other specific niche. There is a lot of action, lot of slice of life, and fantasy shows to enjoy. I’m not going to complain about the mecha count since we did get a Gundam show last season. The really good news might be that we’ve got some more casual shows that should allow people to relax a bit while watching. You can’t have full out action in every show all the time. This season obviously isn’t bringing the return of Bleach or anything. In some ways it does feel as if it’s lacking a specific something, but I can’t put my finger on what that might be. This season does seem to have a nice amount of quality though and I can’t complain about that.

Here’s hoping that Summer is a great season for us all. I’m really curious (presuming people can comment) about what others are looking forward to. There are a lot of wild cards that could easily be my anime of the season, but it’s hard to say as of yet which shows those will be. I hope everyone at least has one or two shows they are excited for this season.