Hello folks, and welcome to hell. Having fought my way through nearly every premiere of the fall season, I’ve weathered injustices and disappointments both familiar and entirely new, all to bring you the freshest possible anime delicacies. There were a huge number of new releases this fall season, but with so many of the season’s high-profile shows being sequels, separating the strongest newcomers from the pack seemed even more arduous than usual. I succeeded, though, and I return to you with arms full of alluring new cartoons. Additionally, many of the shows that are either continuing into the fall or commencing new sequels are also really darn good – if you’re not current on them, I’d highly recommend supplementing your viewing schedule with something like Vinland Saga, Legend of the Galactic Heroes, or Chihayafuru.
As usual, I wrote full length reviews for all of the premieres I’ll be summarizing here, which you can check out over at ANN’s preview guide. I’ll also be including links to each individual review below, as I run down the season’s new prospects from best to worst, and separate them into loose tiers of view-worthiness. Returning to help me define those tiers will be an array of representative Chaika gifs, because everybody loves Chaika and it’s easier to describe gifs than to write funny descriptions anyway. Without further ado, let’s break down the fresh premieres of the fall anime season!
Chaika is Filled With Joy As She Wiggles the Metal Thingy
Written and directed by the acclaimed Kazuki Akane (The Vision of Escaflowne, Noein), Stars Align offers a stunning feast of expressive character animation and evocative layouts from start to finish, immediately establishing itself as this season’s premier character drama. Our introduction to the complicated lives of Toma and Maki is conveyed with essentially no exposition or internal monologue; instead, the sharp poignancy of this show’s spoken dialogue, and the character-revealing fluidity of its animation, clearly express the emotional complexity of their school and home lives. Character relationships are conveyed purely through their physical interactions, and the distinctive posture of each new schoolmate conveys a sense of lived reality matching the best slice of life productions.
Stars Align is ostensibly a sports drama, but it’s clear that its scope will encompass more than that, as this episode’s painful illustration of alienation and even familial abuse made clear. Yet at the same time, this episode’s actual tennis match was executed brilliantly, and I expect Toma and Maki’s investment in their team to eventually inspire them to challenge their unhappy home lives. Either way, Stars Align’s first episode was stunning, and if you have any fondness for character dramas, sports dramas, or exceptional character animation, this one shouldn’t be missed.
Blade of the Immortal was another of this season’s high pedigree releases, based on an acclaimed manga and directed by Hiroshi Hamasaki (Steins;gate, Texhnolyze, Orange). If you’ve seen any of Hamashi’s anime, you likely won’t be surprised by this adaptation’s washed-out, dreamlike use of color; however, Hamasaki complements his usual aesthetic tendencies with an evocative array of other techniques, from the live action visions of protagonist Manju’s memories, to the breathtaking grayscale-and-red contrast of this episode’s opening sequence. Beautiful layouts and a striking soundtrack convey a larger-than-life tale of samurai and revenge, bringing a sense of grandeur to some gleefully violent samurai duels. There will be other strong action shows this season, but I can’t imagine any of them looking as beautiful as Blade of the Immortal.
Unlike my top two shows, Legend of the Galactic Heroes’ new adaptation isn’t elevated into absurdity through its outstanding visual execution. Legend of the Galactic Heroes certainly looks polished and attractive enough, but its production is mostly just a functional adaptation of its source material. As it turns out though, that source material just so happens to be one of the most gripping, ambitious, and intelligent space operas adapted to anime, offering an expansive feast of compelling characters, timeless political commentary, and tactical repartee. If you still haven’t caught up with Legend of the Galactic Heroes, this is a perfect time to start.
Chihayafuru
Chihayafuru might not have actually debuted yet, but hell if that’s going to stop me from placing it right the fuck in my top bracket. Chihayafuru’s first two seasons stand as one of the best sports anime of all time, a rich and rewarding tapestry of characters and competitions, full of tactically gripping matches and charming relationships. It’s been a clear labor of love from the start, and with the staff largely unchanged between seasons, I have every reason to suspect Chihayafuru will continue to be one of the bright lights of modern anime.
Chaika is Happy to Offer These Shows a Round of Applause
To be honest, My Hero Academia’s placement here isn’t in any way a reflection of the strength of its premiere. Season four actually opens on a largely skippable recap episode, and though it’s certainly nice to see the main crew again, this is far from an essential or genuinely great installment. But this article is more about recommendations for the season than individual episode evaluations, and I expect this season of My Hero Academia to be a stunner. My Hero Academia is about to enter what likely stands as its most action-packed arc yet, and with the production having taken an extra six months to return this year, I’m hopeful this team will make the most of it. All Might’s final battle set a fuse that’s been burning away for some time now, and I’m eagerly awaiting the explosion to come.
With this season also offering the visually stunning Stars Align and generally gripping Chihayafuru, Ahiru no Sora may unfortunately slip through the cracks as a “simply solid” sports drama. But simply solid sports dramas are a fine thing, and Ahiru no Sora’s first episode offers a propulsive and neatly executed example of the form. Centered on a short boy named Ahiru with a passion for basketball, Ahiru no Sora moves quickly through its initial setup, and ends on an energetically executed match sequence that implies Ahiru will likely spend this season whipping a team of sullen delinquents into fighting shape. If you’re hungry for more sports shows, or simply a fan of basketball, Ahiru no Sora seems like a fine pick.
Isekai parodies are at this point nearly as common as isekai themselves, but Konosuba demonstrates that there’s certainly solid material to be found riffing on the genre, and Cautious Hero seems like a fine inheritor of the Konosuba throne. Though this premiere’s contrast of idiot goddess and straight man hero would likely be pretty funny regardless, this production’s greatest strength is Mai Toda, its chief animation director. Toda’s guidance turns this premiere into a feast of goofy expression work and cartoonish character acting, selling even minor jokes through the goddess Ristarte’s fantastic faces. If you’re up for an isekai parody, Cautious Hero is a strong choice.
This season is unusually stuffed with police procedurals and crime dramas, and so far it looks like Special 7 is the best of them. Special 7’s visual execution is only so-so, but its premiere moves efficiently and energetically through a full bank robbery and high-speed chase, introducing its key players gracefully while offering fun, easy to follow police drama all along the way. The show seems like it’ll transition to a classic “special unit handles superhuman crimes” model from here, but if it can maintain its grasp of procedural drama appeal, it could make for a compelling hybrid production.
Chaika Recommends Taste-Testing These Genre Enthusiast Picks
Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun
Director Makoto Morikawa brings much of the same energy he added to the absurd Tantei Opera Milky Holmes to Demon School, a less grotesque but no less manic comic adventure. Centered on a boy who finds himself adopted as the grandson of a demon lord, Iruma spends this episode stumbling from one improbable victory to another, his obliviousness and profound unluckiness actually acting as a sort of weird shield against demonic destruction. Iruma-kun isn’t a truly exceptional comedy, but I felt this premiere had a very reasonable joke strike ratio.
Assassin’s Pride isn’t genuinely good, but it is so sincere and polished in its pursuit of not-goodness that I kind of fell for it anyway. Centered on two characters called Kufa Vampir and Melida Angel, Assassin’s Pride is precisely as chuunibyou as those names would indicate, and drenches its fantasy drama in as much melodramatic slow panning and soft focus reacting as it can possibly muster. Assassin’s Pride is the undisputed best show this season for any fans of Ebony Dark’ness Dementia Raven Way.
Didn’t I Say To Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?
The second of this season’s endless array of isekai offerings, Average Abilities rises above the pack through its heroine Mile’s very sympathetic desire for “ordinary happiness,” as well as its general fluidity of character animation. Striding the boundary line of self-parody and earnest fantasy, Average Abilities is easily the strongest traditional isekai of the season; it’s still full of the lazy worldbuilding and tired, self-aware gags endemic to the genre, but if you’ve read beyond “isekai offerings,” I imagine those aren’t much of a deterrent.
Dice Club clocks in as this season’s best club slice of life show, which unfortunately means this season just doesn’t have a particularly great club slice of life show. This premiere dithers through clumsily executed character setup for its first half, but really comes together once its cast gathers to play some board games. I’m hopeful this one will improve as it goes along, as niche board games actually seem like an unusually strong club focus for a show like this. Either way, if you’re looking for a slice of life this season, this is likely the best of them (though you should also maybe give Stars Align a try).
I really don’t know how many ways I can say “this show is often bad in the various ways isekai shows are almost always bad, but people keep watching them, so I’ll keep reviewing them.” Kemono Michi is actually by the author of Konosuba, though its portrayal of a pro wrestler entering RPG Fantasy World is a bit more direct farce than Konosuba’s character-based comedy. Either way, this episode features a pro wrestler entering a fantasy world and immediately suplexing a princess, so if that sounds good to you, give it a try.
Chaika Has Actually Had Enough to Eat, As It Turns Out
No Guns Life is the most predictable hardboiled anime detective drama you could possibly imagine, with one unique defining feature: its protagonist has an actual gun for a head. In spite of discovering perhaps the most succinct and biting possible way to parody its own genre, No Guns Life doesn’t actually seem like a parody; it’s the classic “old soldier returns to help an innocent escape a conspiracy” narrative, except centered on a character who it is physically impossible to take seriously. If you’re a big fan of the hardboiled stuff and can look at Gunface without giggling, maybe give this one a try.
Outburst Dreamer Boys is a perfectly reasonable entry in a genre that never really works for me – the hyper-energetic anime comedy. Centered on a club full of boys who all embody different forms of chuunibyou, this episode actually offers a surprisingly intriguing central narrative, as well as a welcome scattering of beautifully animated physical comedy. If you’re a fan of boisterous anime comedies, it’s well worth a try.
ACTORS combines vocaloid music, band drama, and mysterious shadow ghosts, offering a premiere that wasn’t exactly good, but was certainly pretty unique. Given it’s mostly designed to promote a series of actors and vocaloid albums, I don’t expect too much from ACTORS, but I’ll always take extremely weird over obviously bad.
True Cooking Master Boy is a shounen cooking show that feels unexceptional in pretty much every regard, Chickens of Misfortune aside. If you’re looking for a cooking show and dislike Food Wars’ extremely horny approach, True Cooking Master Boy stands as the unobtrusive peanut butter and jelly sandwich of the genre.
Africa Salaryman is one of the more unusual visual productions this season, offering a combination of mediocre CG models and distinctive, traditionally animated highlights. Its genre is easier to pin down, though – this is a sharp-edged office comedy, one with too wide of a mean streak to likely find an audience.
Chaika Has Been Shackled by the Cobwebs of Terrible Cartoons
Val x Love elevates itself over the usual harem doldrums through its unexpectedly relatable protagonist, who mostly just wishes all these women occupying his house would leave him alone. That aside, this premiere is mostly just your standard introduction of archetype-ready heroines, thinly written fantasy hook, and plentiful panty shots, making for a largely predictable harem experience.
Ascendance of a Bookworm mercifully excises most of the obnoxious self-awareness, harem tendencies, and power fantasy structure of modern isekai, replacing those things with… well, not much, unfortunately. Bookworm is mostly harmless, but also extremely slow, though it may find its niche as an isekai/slice of life combo.
Babylon’s first episode is precisely as gripping as your average episode of CSI or Law & Order, featuring a bunch of serious-faced policemen who all conduct a variety of serious investigations with serious repercussions. Also much like those other shows, it’s emotionally sterile and boring as hell.
Stand My Heroes is roughly as good as you’d expect from a show based on a mobile game where you recruit hot policemen to join your drug investigation division. I initially thought this show’s many hot men were eventually going to transform into sentai warriors, but instead they just moped around and told the heroine that I’ll Never Accept You!!, which was significantly less exciting.
Chidori RSC clocks in as this season’s lesser club drama, in spite of featuring some very charming character animation. Though it has a pretty solid look, Chidori RSC’s comedy is unfortunately weak, and its adaptation has the jerky, disjointed feeling of a show that’s made no effort to disguise its 4koma origins.
Chaika Didn’t Want It to Come to This, But Will Do What She Must
If you’ve ever wanted to watch a tiny girl ride a flying unicorn as she shoots laser beams at a giant wolf with an aircraft carrier on its back, anime has at last gotten narrow enough in its indulgence to scratch that remarkably specific itch. Stay gold, ponygirl.
Kandagawa Jet Girls manages to be the horniest production in a season that also features a show about valkyries who gain magic powers by fucking. If that’s not an accomplishment, I don’t know what is.
Phantasy Star Online 2: Episode Oracle
Phantasy Star Online 2 perfectly captures the appeal of watching someone else play through the tutorial segment of a bad videogame.
High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World
Unwatchable isekai are modern anime’s default waste product, and as a wise man once said, everybody poops.
I think that just about covers it! While I’m personally planning on sticking with my top tier plus My Hero Academia, there’s actually a very wide array of reasonable anime this season, with solid picks available in a vast array of genres. I hope my breakdown has helped you discover some new productions worth checking out, and look forward to joining you all as we traverse this new anime frontier. Three cheers for good cartoons!
Using LOGH screenshot with everyone facing away from camera. I see what you did there.
Now excuse me while I go feed off of my elitistic viewpoint that LOGH bishies are not supposed to be shoujo boyfriends and Horikawa Ryo is the only Reinhard I know.
No, srsly – why does anyone even watch this?