#contributing writer

Mob Psycho Season II

Source: Manga

Studio: Bones — Bones is a rightfully legendary studio and listing all their classics would keep us here all day. However, a small sample is worth recounting; they were responsible for both “Fullmetal Alchemist” adaptations, “My Hero Academia,” “Mob Psycho 100,” “Noragami” and “Ouran High School Host Club.”

Director: Yuzuru Tachikawa — Tachikawa entered the anime industry in 2006 and has since worked on big projects, directing “Mob Psycho,” “Death Billiards” and “Death Parade.” He has also directed episodes of shows such as “Kill la Kill,” “Steins;Gate,” “Bleach” and “Attack on Titan.”

Genre: Action, Comedy, Supernatural

Premise: Mob is an eighth grader with extraordinary psychic powers. He works for a fake psychic named Reigen who mentors Mob and uses him to solve supernatural cases. Mob’s brother has recently developed strong psychic powers of his own. All these characters come together to form a high tempo fast paced comedy.

Recommendation: Must watch, provided you’ve seen the original

The Promised Neverland

Source: Manga

Studio: Cloverworks — Cloverworks is a relative newcomer to the anime scene but are already making a splash. Recently they’ve directed “Rascal does not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai,” “Slow Start” and the “Persona 5” adaptation, as well directing parts of “Darling in the Franxx” and the final season of “Fairy Tale.”

Director: Mamoru Kanbe — Unlike Cloverworks, Kanbe is a veteran of the anime scene. He has worked on numerous famous projects: among them, “Elfen Lied,” “Cardcaptor Sakura" and “So Ra No Wa To.”

Genre: Mystery, Psychological, Supernatural

Premise: A group of orphans are given an ideal world with all their needs provided for them. But this is only a ruse; they are actually being raised as little more than livestock to be eaten by demonic creatures. After finding this out they only have a few months to escape.

Kaguya-Sama

Source: Manga- Kaguya-Sama is one of the most popular currently ongoing manga, sitting in the top 50 all-time manga on MyAnimeList.

Studio: A-1 Pictures — Much like Bones, the great works of A-1 would be much too long a list. However, a sample of some of my favorites that they have done are “Anohana,” “Wotaku,” “Erased,” “Silver Spoon” and “Servant x Service.” They excel at romance anime, in my experience.

Director: Shinichi Omata — Omata has a relatively small amount of work under his belt, which might be a cause for concern. His most famous credit is work on “Madoka Magica.”

Genre: Romance, Psychological, Comedy

Premise: Two top students have fallen in love with each other but there’s only one problem: neither is willing to confess that to the other. The show details the battle between the two students to make the other confess to them and become the submissive partner in their relationship.

Boogiepop Doesn’t Laugh

Source: Light Novel — Light novels have gained a bit of a reputation in recent years for being low quality cash grabs, but Boogiepop was made before that was a trend and is a high-quality source.

Studio: Madhouse — Madhouse is another titan of the animation industry. They have put their work into such greats as “Cardcaptor Sakura,” “Monster,” “Paranoia Agent,” “Death Note” and “Death Parade.”

Director: Shingo Natsume — Natsume has worked on numerous large projects, directing “One Punch Man” and doing key visuals on “Gurren Lagann” and “Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood.”

Genre: Horror, Mystery, Psychological

Premise: There is a legend of a Shinigami (Japanese death demon) that can give death to suffering people, whose name is Boogiepop. The story follows a rash of disappearances at Shinyo Academy. Is Boogiepop to blame, or is something more sinister happening?

Recommendation: Watch unless horror/the premise is a turnoff for you.

Dororo

Source: Manga

Studio: Mappa — Mappa is a relative newcomer to the animation industry, having come up in 2012. But their quality is not in doubt; they have produced modern greats, such as “Kids on the Slope,” “Yuri on Ice,” “Banana Fish” and “Zombieland Saga.”

Director: Kazuhiro Furuhashi – Furuhashi directing this project is excellent news; he’s been the director of numerous extremely high-quality projects. He has been in the director’s chair for such projects as Hunter x Hunter, Gundam Unicorn, Mononoke, and Getbackers.

Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy

Premise: A greedy feudal lord sold his unborn son’s body parts to demons in exchange for power. When the son was born he was horrifically deformed and his father threw him into the river. The baby was rescued by a doctor who gave him prosthetics and trained him to hunt the demons and reclaim his body parts. Now he’s joined by Dororo, a young thief boy as he takes his journey of vengeance.

Recommendation: Combining a good studio with a great director and a classic manga, this project is the one I am most excited for after “Mob Psycho” and my early prediction for Anime of the Season.

Revisions

Source: Anime Original

Studio: Shirogumi — Shirogumi is a newcomer to the anime industry and doesn’t have any really recognizable projects under their belt. I hope this will be a first.

Director: Gorou Taniguchi — Taniguchi has extensive experience with sci-fi anime, having directed or storyboarded numerous entries in the “Code Geass” and “Gundam” series as well as directing “Planetes.”

Genre: Action, Sci-fi, Mecha

Premise: High school students are transported 300 years into the future and are forced to fight monsters in mechs known as doll weapons.

Recommendation: It’s CGI so it’s hard to say if the animation quality will be up to everyone’s standards, but if the premise and crew excites you, feel free to join me on this journey.

Doukyonin wa Hiza, Tokidoki, Atama no Ue.

Source: Manga

Studio: Zero-G — Zero-g is another newer studio, having first released anime in 2016. Their most famous work is 2018’s “Grand Blue.”

Director: Kaoru Suzuki — Suzuki is something of an unknown quality as far as directing projects goes. He’s been in the industry for some time, but he has mostly done storyboarding work.

Genre: Slice of life, Comedy

Premise: Atame no Ue is a story about a writer who adopts a cat hoping to find inspiration for his novels in him.

Recommendation: This one is hard to recommend because both the director and studio are relative unknown qualities. However; if you, like me, are a fan of cozy, slice-of-life shows like Tada-Kun, this may be your best bet in that genre for the season. I have high hopes that this will be a nice breather compared to all the other fast paced action I’ll be watching this season. 

Best recommended to fans of the genre who want something wholesome and funny.

Quick looks!

This category is for anime that I won’t personally be watching, but others should still take note of.

The Rising of the Shield Hero

This semi-dark isekai features an Otaku drawn into another world then branded a worthless and weak hero and soon labeled a criminal. Fans of other Isekai such as “No Game No Life,” “Overlord,” “The Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime,” “Log Horizon,” “Re:Zero” and of course “Sword Art Online” may find something to watch here.

Kakegurui

This anime is a sequel, so if you haven’t seen the first season, look that up. But the basic premise is students at an elite school for the privileged take part in dangerous gambling at night to cure their overwhelming ennui.

Endro!

This looks like the premiere example next season of a genre I like to call “cute girls doing cute things.” This time the “cute girls” are demon-slaying heroes, and the “cute thing” is mostly avoiding slaying any demons. If things like “K-On. Yuru Camp” and “Little Witch Academia” are in your wheelhouse, this may be the anime for you.

Domestic Girlfriend

This seems a bit lewd for my tastes, but others may approve. The protagonist is in love with his high school teacher and sleeps with a girl who turns out to be her little sister. Both of these women later become his stepsisters and he has to choose to pursue a romance with one, both or neither of them.

The Quintessential Quintuplets