It’s that time once again where we take a look at an oncoming wall of new shows.
This will, sadly, be the last time, as my tenure at Amazing Stories is drawing to a close with the end of the winter shows. But here’s one last list of things to look out for on your favorite anime-streaming service.
The premise: Three guardians of humanity, including a girl with amnesia, are tasked with stopping a rogue AI from building a space elevator to the moon lest it flood the remains of Earth with robot soldiers.
Derivative factor: Reimagining of multimedia franchise
The buzz: Black Rock Shooter was A Thing a decade ago, but the fandom was thought to have died out long since. It’s a mystifying choice for a revival, especially one for Disney+.
Premiere: April 3
The premise: In a fantasy world where witches carved out their own territory to hold against the persecution of a church, a hopeless student of magic is sent off to fight anti-magic insurgents.
Derivative factor: Light novel adaptation
The buzz: This is set in the same world as another adaptation from a few years ago that managed to be a bit better than average for generic fantasy world stories, so, ehhhh, maybe?
Premiere: April 7
The premise: The comic adventures of a swordsman trying to do good in the world and the cleric who mercilessly taunts him.
Derivative factor: Manga adaptation
The buzz: The manga reportedly isn’t too awful, at least?
Premiere: April 10
The premise: Future Tokyo has been split up into sealed communities governed by AIs, but an organization of “Extractors” helps people escape to the outside world.
Derivative factor: Original
The premise: Very much a dark horse; there’s one big name associated with it but who knows if it’ll be any good.
Premiere: March 23
The Executioner and Her Way of Life
The premise: In one of those worlds where people from Japan keep getting reborn in fantasy anime, the interlopers have caused disaster after disaster with their advanced knowledge, and special assassins now hunt down and kill them. But one young assassin finds that her target is unkillable, so the two of them go on a journey of discovery instead.
Derivative factor: Light novel adaptation
The buzz: At least it’s a new spin on the reincarnated-in-a-gamelike-world genre, and that’s an accomplishment all by itself.
Premiere: April 1
The Greatest Demon Lord is Reborn as a Typical Nobody
The premise: A dark lord arranges to reincarnate himself several generations into the future as an ordinary human, only to find he’s still massively overpowered and people still want favors from him.
Derivative factor: Light novel adaptation
The buzz: And in contrast, here is something that brings nothing new to anime fantasy.
Premiere: April 6
The premise: Four girls study at a school for vocal magic to learn to aid people’s mental health.
Derivative factor: Original
The buzz: Okay, it’s probably just another excuse for an idol show, but it looks like a very wholesome one.
Premiere: April 4
The premise: The hero who defeated the Dark Lord was so powerful, no one would allow him back into human society. Now he’s switched sides to win with a demon army, and learning along the way that the nature of the conflict wasn’t quite what he believed.
Derivative factor: Light novel adaptation
The buzz: Shows every sign of being a very average fantasy comedy.
Premiere: April 5
The premise: A couple’s dating life is complicated by the fact that he’s a super sentai hero and she’s a villainess.
Derivative factor: Manga adaptation
The buzz: Hey, if Miss Kuroitsu From the Monster Development Department could make an office comedy work with the monster-fighting show genre, why can’t a romcom work just as well?
Premiere: April 8
The premise: Four girls of varying fantasy races work to find everyone their ideal homes.
Derivative factor: Manga adaptation
The buzz: This mainly looks like another entry in the Cute Girls Doing Cute Things genre. Probably harmless.
Premiere: April 5
Shachiku-san wa Yо̄jo Yuurei ni Iyasaretai. (A Corporate Drone Wants to Be Healed By a Ghost Girl.)
The premise: An overworked salarywoman is haunted by the ghost of a little girl who wants her to slow down and enjoy life.
Derivative factor: Manga adaptation
The buzz: Could be a cute little slice of life, could be a terrible paean to overwork.
Premiere: April 7
The premise: When a spy needs to go undercover as a family man, the family he’s supplied with includes a crack assassin and a psychic little girl.
Derivative factor: Manga adaptation
The buzz: This is the one hugely anticipated show of the season. Based on a bestselling, award-nominated manga, it’s as sure a bet as you can find this season.
Premiere: April 9
The premise: When a man returns to his hometown for a funeral, he finds that something strange and supernatural is happening there with potential global consequences.
Derivative factor: Manga adaptation
The buzz: It’s an intriguing story, the manga is already finished so it should be a fairly smooth adaptation.
Premiere: April 14
Trapped in a Dating Game: The World of Otome Games is Tough For Mobs
The premise: A young man is resurrected in a gamelike fantasy world where he is oppressed by a matriarchy, but he uses his knowledge of the game plot to fight back.
Derivative factor: Light novel adaptation
The buzz: Some potential here for some good romantic comedy, but also for it to turn horribly sexist.
Premiere: April 3
The premise: A brilliant strategist from ancient China wishes for a more peaceful existence in his next life and finds himself transported to the midst of Tokyo’s party scene.
Derivative factor: Manga adaptation
The buzz: This sounds like an excellent comedy premise, which makes it disconcerting that the trailers are trying to make it look like a serious drama.
Premiere: April 5
And for continuing adaptations:
- Ascendance of a Bookworm: The further adventures of a bibliophile reincarnated in a world of magic but not many books. I was lukewarm on the premiere but this is season 3 so it clearly has legs. (April 11)
- Build-Divide -#FFFFFF- Code White: More of a show that was basically an ad for a computerized collectible card game. (April 2)
- The Demon Girl Next Door: More slice-of-life silliness about a girl not really in tune with her demonic destiny. The premiere was pleasant enough. (April 7)
- Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story: The conclusion to the story of magical girls trying to beat physics and change their fate. This made it onto my weekly blogging list and would again if I were continuing. (April 3)
- The Rising of the Shield Hero: More about a deeply wronged hero and his path to evening the score. Yes, that one, the one everyone remembers as “that incel anime”. (April 6)
- Shadowverse Flame: Another helping of another show that was basically an ad for a computerized collectible card game. (April 2)
Personally, I’m planning to check out at least Summer Time Rendering and Spy×Family, even if I’m not writing them up, and finish Magia Record. How about you?
