Once again, we must start with the news that Sailor Moon is not in the lineup, with the expected premiere date now set for July again. But this time, there are definite signs of production swinging into gear, like the appearance of this promo artwork:
Although I gotta admit, at this point, I’m expecting it to premiere the day after The Last Dangerous Visions is published.
Anyway, on to the banquet of options the anime world will be bringing for for sf fans!
Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky
The premise: Alchemists stationed in a small frontier town do research and help people.
Derivative factor: Game adaptation
The buzz: Looks cute and will probably suck, the way game adpatations generally do.
Premiere: April 10
The premise: In the near future, humanity has been devastated by an alien virus, and the only ones who can fight it are teenage girls who have grown up infected by it, plus the teenage boy hero.
Derivative factor: Light novel adaptation
The buzz: If you’re not a fan of the novels, it’s a light novel adaptation, and it looks ugly. But a lot of people are, and are only concerned about whether the adaptation will be faithful.
Premiere: April 8
The premise: An assassin stalks the demon-woman who killed her teacher.
Derivative factor: MMORPG adaptation
The buzz: At least the art looks pretty.
Premiere: April 3
The premise: A boy joins the school astronomy club in memory of his dead friend who believed in aliens, and soon meets a mysterious girl who resembles that friend and claims to be a magician on the run.
Derivative factor: Manga adaptation
The buzz: Should be good for those who like dark and atmospheric sf.
Premiere: April 6
The premise: A teenage boy stumbles across a mecha just as Earth is invaded and winds up fighting aliens.
Derivative factor: Original
The buzz: So far there’s nothing to distinguish it from a lot of other mecha series, but it’s being made by a studio that’s made some really good mecha series, so cautious optimism.
Premiere: April 5
The premise: A 20-year-old ex-soldier and a 14-year-old sorceress who carries a coffin wander around having adventures.
Derivative factor: Light novel adaptation
The buzz: Looks like it could be a little more intelligent than the average light novel adapatation.
Premiere: April 9
Dai Shogun – The Great Revolution
The premise: In an alternate timeline, Commodore Perry never forced Japan to open its ports and triggered the Meiji Restoration, because Japan had mecha to defend itself.
Derivative factor: Original
The buzz: Most of the hope for this to be good centers on the head writer being Dai Sato, who was also responsible for Eureka Seven and Ghost In the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.
Premiere: April 9
The premise: A boy is marked as a future dragon master, but when he finally does summon a dragon, she takes the form of a bossy human girl.
Derivative factor: Light novel adaptation
The buzz: Looks like basically every light novel adaptation ever. Skip!
Premiere: April 5
The Irregular at Magic High School
The premise: The incoming freshmen at a school for magic users include a slacker boy and his high-achieving sister who has a crush on him. Wacky hijinks ensue.
Derivative factor: Light novel adaptation
The buzz: Expect yet another generic light novel adaptation.
Premiere: April 4
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders
The premise: Goodguys and badguys duke it out with psychic powers in exotic locales.
Derivative factor: Continues adaptation of manga
The buzz: Huge. This is adapting the best-known story arc of one of the most inflential manga of the 1980s.
Premiere: April 4
Kanojo ga Flag o Oraretara (When She Made the Flag Appear)
The premise: A boy who can sense significant moments in others’ lives somehow winds up being forced to live with four beautiful girls.
Derivative factor: Light novel adaptation
The buzz: At least it doesn’t pretend to be anything other than a basic harem comedy, which is what it is.
Premiere: April 5
The premise: Centuries after Earth was destroyed by aliens, generation ships still flee across the cosmos, packed with lots of sfnal goodies like people who can photosynthesize, more than two genders, and, of course, mecha.
Derivative factor: Manga adaptation
The buzz: Mild rage at Netflix for picking up probably one of the best shows of the season and then announcing that it will not be simulcast. (Only mild, because most of hardcore otakudom has no problem with watching unlicensed streams. Way to turn the clock back, Netflix.)
Premiere: April 10
The premise: Near-future Tokyo has been partially consumed by a zone of darkness populated by mysterious beings that eat humans, and only a team of teenagers can save the world.
Derivative factor: Original
The buzz: Looks intriguing.
Premiere: April 21
Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers
The premise: Five children have the ability to summon Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hulk, and Wasp, who have been trapped in devices called “DISKs”.
Derivative factor: You may have heard of these superheroes before.
The buzz: Yep, it’s basically a toy ad.
Premiere: April 2
The premise: A travelling expert untangels difficulties caused by creatures that exist at the boundary of the everyday and spirit worlds.
Derivative factor: Continues manga adaptation
The buzz: Reuniting the team behind one of the most-loved series of the past decade, there is absolutely no way this can turn out to be bad.
Premiere: April 4
The premise: A high school student enlists the school adventure club to find a treasure hidden by the ghost that haunts his apartment.
Derivative factor: Light novel adaptation
The buzz: Could be fun, but don’t expect too much of it.
Premiere: April 10
The premise: A brother and sister pair of shut-ins who spend their lives playing video games are whisked into an alternate world where game competitions have replaced warfare.
Derivative factor: Light novel adaptation
The buzz: Nerd heroes are pretty much a guarantee that people will be interested.
Premiere: April 9
The premise: Girls play a dark card game which occurs in an alternate dimension.
Derivative factor: Original
The buzz: The dark spin on the card-game genre is making it mildly interesting.
Premiere: April 4
Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii (But Still, the World Is Beautiful)
The premise: A princess with the power to conjure rain is forced into an arranged marriage with the ruler of a neighboring kingdom, who turns out to be a young boy.
Derivative factor: Manga adaptation
The buzz: Completely unlike anything else this season, should be good for fans of drama.
Premiere: April 6
The premise: A girl with the power to change into a weapon goes to school to learn to control that power and select a wielder.
Derivative factor: Adaptation of manga spinoff
The buzz: Fans of the original Soul Eater are not hyped up because the tone of the spinoff is different, and non-fans aren’t interested because it’s Soul Eater.
Premiere: April 8
As usual, there’s a lot to be hopeful about and a lot not to. Mushishi is my favorite comic ever, and it would be the highlight of any season for me. Knights of Sidonia would be far and away my most anticipated show otherwise, at least if there were any real chance of seeing it during the actual season by any legitimate means.
I’m really curious about how selector infected WIXOSS and Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii will be handling their material, and I confess to looking forward to No Game, No Life even if it is a light novel adaptation, because, well, gaming.
What are you looking forward to most?
