Spring 2018: What I’m watching

Another season, and another batch of anime! When I first looked over what was on offer this Spring, I told myself that this would be my season off. ‘I’ll only really watch Boku no Hero Academia’ I told myself.

And yet, here I am watching 10 shows, not including 2 that have carried over from seasons past. Uh, what was I saying again?

Before I start on the shows I’m watching this season, an honorable mention to the ones I barely got an episode into before dropping them into the bin where they belong.

• Dorei-Kun: The Animation – Remember Ousama Game? If you don’t, consider yourself lucky. If you do, Dorei-Kun is almost as ridiculous as Ousama Game was, if not even trashier. Only pick this up if you’re into killer dentures…for whatever reason.
• Persona 5: The Animation – Maybe it’s because I haven’t played any of the Persona games, so I may not be the best person to make judgement on the show, but it didn’t grab me one bit. I found the pacing to be extremely messy, and the overall story to be lacklustre. I tried, but it’s not for me.

Now, onto the real list! What am I watching, and which shows are my stand outs so far? Note: This list does not include Darling in the FranXX or Black Clover, which I am carrying over, nor does it include sequels with the exception of my #1 of the season so far.

3D KANOJO: REAL GIRL (3D GIRLFRIEND)

Out of everything I’m watching this season, this probably has the most potential to get dropped. The show follows a lonely, anti-social otaku (nope, never heard that one before) who hate all real life girls, but especially his classmate, Iroha, who he is forced to spend time with. And what do you know? Somehow, this person who hates everything about the girl and has no obvious social skills somehow gets her to fall in love with him?! The entire thing reads like your done 1000 times self-insert, so imagine my surprise to find out that this is actually a shoujo. I’ll give it a couple of weeks, but unless the couple find some actual personality that isn’t blushing and awkward giggling, this is going in the dropped pile.

BOKU NO HERO ACADEMIA SEASON 3

Coming as a surprise to no one, like everybody else in the community, I too am watching Boku no Hero Academia season 3. The show is one of my favourites, and just two episodes into season three, it’s already threatening to break through the bar that season 2 set (and believe me, it’s incredibly high). I can feel my hype building up with every scene, and I already predict I’ll be writing a post in 6 months time gushing over how great it was. P.S – If you still haven’t seen season 1 and 2…what are you doing?! Hurry up already!

DEVILS’ LINE

People may have dubbed Magical Girl Site as the ‘edgy’ anime of the season, but my goodness, is Devil’s Line trying to steal that title. Think of Tokyo Ghoul, except replace the Ghouls with vampires, and the actual great storytelling (Pierrot’s take on that aside) with lots of strangely animated action scenes and you’ve got Devil’s Line. I’ll admit, I’m a sucker (ha) for human x vampire romance – I was a big Twilight fan in the past, after all, so I’ll probably hold on to that hope alone, but it’s going to have to rely less on the blood splatter and more on making a great plot to impress me. Stakes are high this season.

GINGA EIYUU DENSETSU: DIE NEUE THESE – KAIKOU (LEGENDS OF THE GALACTIC HEROES: THE NEW THESIS – ENCOUNTER)

I admit it, I’ve never seen the original Legend of the Galactic Heroes. Despite being a big fan of long running shounen, for whatever reason, I could never commit myself to 110 episodes. So I went into this with no expectations – and so far it’s paid off! With my favourite seiyuu on board, the CGI looks great, and the story seems to be interesting. I’m getting a very Star Trek vibe from this, which could never be a bad thing in my eyes.

MAHOU SHOUJO ORE

Ah, the so called ‘seasonal meme’. Two girls make a magical girl contract – only to be turned into big, buff bishounen in their magical girl form! It’s ridiculous, it sounds like complete trash, and yet I’m loving it. The show is very self aware of everything it’s parodying, and sprinkles this self awareness with a dash of fourth wall breaking. The characters are adorable (both sexes!) and all of the jokes have hit me just right so far. I think I’ll be giving this an unironic high score, watch this space.

MAHOU SHOUJO SITE

The show that’s gotten everyone talking – naturally, it’s on my list, too. The first episodes have dealt with some pretty hard hitting topics, such as abuse, parental pressure, suicide and bullying. Yikes. But like Devils’ Line, I wonder if Mahou Shoujo Site can do more than just try to shock us? At some point, the shocking just isn’t shocking anymore. Besides, wouldn’t it be more shocking to not have a murderous magical girl show? Come on, anime.

PIANO NO MORI (PIANO FOREST)

I went into this completely blind. To be completely honest, the only reason I started this is because the title vaguely reminded me of Hotarubi no Mori E. If anything, my expectations were considerably low, since the only other music anime I have seen is Your Lie in April – which I hated. But, goodness, I was captivated by that first episode. The CGI use for the piano playing didn’t drive me away, since it flowed so beautifully and danced along with the music playing. The piano was gorgeous, and the story – a tale of two boys from opposite backgrounds who form a friendship based on a mutual love and talent for the piano, has the potential to blossom into something extraordinary. I am so excited to see more, and my only complaint is that no one else seems to be talking about it!

WOTAKU NI KOI WA MUZUKASHI (IT’S HARD TO LOVE AN OTAKU!)

This was the other show I was most looking forward to besides BnHA, and so far, my excitement has not been unwarranted. The show has started off strong and sweet, with two very likeable and relatable leads…or relatable when you realise you’ll probably be a 30 year old fujoshi too, sniff. It’s a perfect feel-good show, and also probably has my favourite opening of the season, check it out!

What are you watching this Spring? Is there anything I should pick up? Anything you disagree with? Let me know!

Until next time!