Well folks, the fall season’s approaching, and I could not be happier to for once actually have good news. After two relatively light seasons in a row, it’s looking like fall will be delivering us a genuine bounty, offering a handful of obvious can’t-miss productions and plenty of other potential favorites besides. Contrary to what you might believe, I don’t really enjoy being negative about media – I’d much rather celebrate good things than sneer at failures, and this coming season offers plenty to celebrate.

As usual, my preview list here won’t be including every single coming show – you can check out anichart for that list, along with all their various synopses. Instead, I’ll specifically be highlighting the shows I’ve got high hopes for, and explaining whatever caught my attention, be that a strong staff, excellent source material, particularly impressive PV, or whatever else. The right execution can make any narrative compelling, and an intriguing premise doesn’t mean much if the staff can’t follow through on it, so I’ll mostly be leaning on production-side resources to guide me here. Starting from my most anticipated prospects, let’s run this exciting season down!

Zoku Owarimonogatari

My most anticipated show for the fall should come as no surprise to anyone who’s stuck around here for a while. The Monogatari franchise is not only the series that first got me into anime criticism, it’s developed into one of my all-time favorite series. The show is rich with complex and engaging characters, consistently blessed with vivid art direction, and profoundly humanist in its ultimate worldview. Framing psychological drama as supernatural mystery, it embodies both the creative and intellectual promise of anime, and I’m always thrilled to see another season.

Zokuowarimonogatari is a somewhat unique entry in that as of this point, as the principle narrative of Monogatari as it’s been building so far is essentially “finished.” Monogatari spent several seasons building towards one specific dramatic clash, and that clash has happened – the good guys “won,” or won insofar as you can win against your own psychological demons. That doesn’t make me any less excited for Zoku, though – not only are most of Monogatari’s stories relatively self-contained, but the show is also often at its best when the characters are simply able to enjoy each other’s company. I still expect there to be plenty of thrilling drama, though, and I’m eager for the return of Sodachi, who never really got a chance to express herself fully in her first arc. Monogatari is a gem and my life is always brighter for it, so I’m thrilled to have another installment coming down the line.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Vento Aureo

As with Monogatari, JoJo standing at the top of this list shouldn’t be much of a surprise. Across its first four arcs, JoJo has cultivated a specific style of comedy, cool, and general energy that almost defies description. From the wild powers of its various heroes to its vividly distinctive outfits and art design, JoJo is simultaneously absurd and thrilling at nearly every moment. The show’s understanding of shonen battle fundamentals mean even when the overt nature of some given fight is totally ridiculous (“that baby’s trying to kill us in our dreams!” “that rat has a sniper rifle!”), the in-fight mechanics are sturdy and satisfying enough to still keep things genuinely tense and exciting. I don’t actually know very much about JoJo’s fifth arc, but the show’s fourth arc was one of its best, and consistently demonstrated Araki’s growing mastery of character writing. I’m eager to see whatever JoJos in Italy brings.

Tsurune: Kazemai Koukou Kyuudou-bu

After directing key episodes of recent Kyoto Animation productions ranging from Euphonium to Maidragon to Violet Evergarden, Takuya Yamamura is finally getting the chance to direct his own production. Yamamura’s skills are abundantly clear in the episodes he’s directed so far, and Kyoto Animation on the whole need no introduction – without any other information, we can safely assume this will likely be the best-looking show of the fall season in terms of animation, background design, and post-processing. What I know of the narrative echoes Euphonium pretty closely, except focused on an archery club, but I’m game for basically any number of sensitive and gorgeously illustrated coming-of-age dramas. Yamamura has more than earned his shot at a full production, and I’m eager to see how Tsurune unfolds.

You can check out the brief PV here.

Thunderbolt Fantasy 2

“Gen Urobuchi writes a work of Taiwanese puppet theater” might have been a hard sell the first time around, but it sure as hell shouldn’t be now. Thunderbolt Fantasy’s first season was a wild and utterly satisfying spectacle, offering iconic characters, plenty of ridiculously melodramatic dialogue, an engaging narrative, and a dynamic visual identity. Urobuchi is known for his heavy, tragic works, but Thunderbolt demonstrated he can handle lighter and even funny works with grace. I loved Thunderbolt’s first season, and I’m eager to see what lunacy act two brings.

Irozoku Sekai no Ashita kara

Fresh from co-directing the Maquia film with writer-turned-director Mari Okada, P.A. Works mainstay Toshiya Shinohara is now tackling what looks to be a beautiful and lightly fantastical coming-of-age drama. Irozoku’s art design seems to be taking its cues from Maquia’s theater-ready standard, with a wash of gorgeous backgrounds, aggressive lighting, and smartly employed post-processing techniques making its PVs a wonder in their own right. Whether all that terrific art design will translate into a strong show is an open question, but the show’s veteran composer Yuuko Kakihara handled both Orange and Tsuki ga Kirei, so she’s clearly comfortable with this kind of story. P.A. Works shows tend to be worth a second glance in general, and all the pieces seem strong here. Irozoku could easily be one of the not-so-secret gems of the season.

You can check out that PV here.

Bloom Into You

Bloom Into You’s source material has a reputation as one of the better yuri manga around, and one that avoids the exploitation-ripe pitfalls that stories like Citrus or Netsuzou Trap tend to fall into. Bloom Into You is just a genuinely earnest romance, and that sounds pretty great. Both the director and studio behind this one are relatively untested (Troyca’s biggest hit so far would likely be Re:Creators?), but Troyca shows tend to be relatively well-animated, and this one looks to be no exception. My main fear from the PV is that the intrusive lighting work used in the director’s prior Beautiful Bones will continue to frustrate here, but on the whole, this project has solid source material, a very sturdy series composer, and a strong look so far. Definitely worth checking out if you’re in the mood for romance.

That PV is available here.

Kaze go Tsuyoku Tsuteiru

Production I.G. shows tend to always be worth a second glance, and Tsuyoku Tsuteiru in particular has a variety of strong factors in its favor, from its talented animator-turned director Kazuya Nomura to its source material, a manga by the same woman who wrote the excellent The Great Passage. The PV isn’t terribly informative and the show’s actual priorities remain to be seen, but all the pieces are here for a very strong sports-slash-character drama.

You can check out that PV here.

That covers the shows I’m personally very confident about, but even this season’s long shots seem pretty great, along with a variety of shows outside of my genre purview. Release the Spyce has a very energetic PV that seems to echo the recent Princess Principal, while That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime has both more generally well-regarded source material and a stronger adaptation staff than most isekai productions. Meanwhile, Karakuri Circus looks like an obvious pickup for anyone who enjoyed the director’s prior Ushio and Tora, while SSSS.Gridman is absolutely a show by Trigger. Whatever your genre tastes, fall season is looking to provide plenty of great shows to chew on. I hope you’ve found something new to look forward to here, and let me know what all else you’re excited for this coming season!