With the summer upon us, what is often a small season has gotten even smaller. However, even this small season comes with 34 new titles (some which were postponed from last season). Here are the five I am the most excited for.
Image source: NX on Twitter
Japan Sinks 2020
Genre: Disaster Survival
Studio: Science SARU
Premiere date: July 9, 2020
What it’s about: When a massive earthquake strikes Tokyo, the nation is sent reeling. But that is only the start of the disaster. Due to its precarious location on the edge of a tectonic plate, Japan itself is sinking beneath the waves. In the midst of all this chaos, a girl sets out to find her family in the days the country has left.
Why I’m excited: For this one it’s all about the pedigree. Based on the award-winning novel Japan Sinks, this retelling sets the events not in the 1970s but in modern Japan. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. This anime comes to us from the mind of Masaaki Yuasa–the director behind Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, Ride Your Wave, Devilman Crybaby, and Tatami Galaxy. A master at both the realistic and surreal, there’s not a work of his I have seen and not enjoyed.
Watch it if you like: Tokyo Magnitude 8.0
Where to watch: Netflix
Image source: TVアニメ「魔王学院の不適合者 ～史上最強の魔王の始祖、転生して子孫たちの学校へ通う～」 on Twitter
The Misfit of Demon King Academy
Genre: High School Fantasy, Mystery
Studio: Silver Link.
Premiere date: July 4, 2020
What it’s about: Anos Voldigoad was a demon king among demon kings. He destroyed nations, killed thousands upon thousands but the war would never seem to end. And so he made a deal with the hero of mankind and the representatives of the spirit folk and gods. They would split the world in four for a thousand years–each race isolated to let tensions calm. And as for Anos himself? He would die only to reincarnate 2000 years later to enjoy the peaceful world he longed for.
Now Anos is back and the world is a peaceful one–with humans and demons even living together. But one thing is beyond his comprehension: magic has weakened to a shadow of what it once was.
Why I’m excited: As much as this one is a satisfying power fantasy–with Anos being infinitely more powerful than everyone he comes across–it’s also a decent mystery. Why has magic become so weak? Is it a natural consequence of peace? And if it isn’t, who is behind the degradation of magic and what do they hope to gain from it? Twists and turns abound as Anos makes friends and unravels the mystery behind his own legend and the world he helped create.
Watch it if you like: The Irregular at Magic High School, Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor
Where to watch: Crunchyroll
Image source: やはり俺の青春ラブコメはまちがっている。 on Twitter
My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU 3
Genre: High School Drama
Studio: feel.
Premiere date: April 10, 2020
What it’s about: Hachiman is a deadpan snarker who is smart enough to know that if he keeps his head down and does the bare minimum, he can get through high school without issue. Unfortunately, when his teacher realizes his untapped potential, he is forced into the school’s “service club”–a club that helps anyone who asks with whatever they need. The only other member of the club is Yukino, the smartest and most beautiful girl in school–who is as socially isolated as Hachiman himself.
What follows is a story about the fakeness of highschool, the weighty pressure caused by the expectations of those around you, the knowledge that the easiest way to unite people is to become the villain they unite against–and the damage that all this can cause to a young person’s soul.
Why I’m excited: No other anime is quite as “real” to me as My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU. In high school, I was the jaded kid who thought he had everything figured out while everyone else was just fooling themselves with superficial relationships. Of course, I was also longing for those relationships–though I’d have been loathed to admit it. Seeing these characters struggle to find something “real” and meaningful–even when they aren’t sure what they are looking for–hits home in a way that shakes me to my core. And watching them learn and grow–even if the lessons are learned the hard way–reminds me that even though we may cringe when thinking about the past, without those experiences, we’d never be who we are today.
Watch it if you like: ReLife, Daria, WataMote: No Matter How I Look At It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Unpopular!
Where to watch: HIDIVE
Image source: 『Re:ゼロから始める異世界生活』公式 on Twitter
Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- (Season 2)
Genre: Time Travel, Trapped in a Fantasy World
Studio: White Fox
Premiere date: July 8, 2020
What it’s about: Ripped from our world and cursed to return to the past each time he dies, normal high schooler Subaru has finally reached his happy ending. After countless deaths, he has saved the girl he loves and defeated both a giant monster and a horde of cultists. But best of all, he has grown as a person–letting go of the entitlement and self-importance that plagued him for so long.
The problem is, his happy end is a lie. He has already lost more than he can imagine and can no longer time travel far enough back to fix things. All that’s left is to try and move forward. But what awaits him is a challenge that has the potential to destroy his very soul–along with that of the woman he loves.
Why I’m excited: If the previous season of Re:Zero was about Subaru’s growth, this one is about Emilia’s and what role Subaru will take in her life in the future. It fleshes out the central antagonist–the Witch of Envy–as well as the other witches who were murdered by her. You also get to learn about Roswaal and Beatrice–how they are connected to each other and the predicament Subaru and Emelia find themselves in. For something that starts off feeling like a side story, it soon becomes as vital as anything that has come before.
Watch it if you like: Steins;Gate, Erased, The Rising of the Shield Hero
Where to watch: Crunchyroll
Image source: アニメ ソードアート・オンライン 公式 on Twitter
Sword Art Online: Alicization – War of Underworld (2nd Season)
Genre: Trapped in a video game
Studio: A-1 Pictures
Premiere date: April 26, 2020
What it’s about: In the fantasy world known as Underworld, the forces of light fought the forces of darkness in a final battle for the fate of their world. Now both sides are being slaughtered by mysterious, homicidal invaders from another world. Even magical powers and trained warriors aren’t enough to stop the sheer numbers they face. Humanity’s champion, the knight known as Alice, has been captured by the fleeing evil emperor. And to top it all off, the one man who might be able to save this collapsing world is little more than a broken, mindless husk.
But all is not lost for the people of Underworld. For a call has gone out across the multiverse: to a world of gunslingers; to a world of fairies; and to the survivors of a world known as Sword Art Online.
Why I’m excited: This is finally it: the ultimate climax of Sword Art Online. Everything that has come before has led to this. Everything that has come before has a vital part to play in this. Our heroes have gone from being trapped in a death game to being the last line of defense in saving the population of an entire world–a world filled with a new and wonderful kind of intelligent life. The stakes couldn’t be higher nor could the danger. And each of our heroes will have to overcome one final challenge before the story reaches its final, satisfying conclusion.
Watch it if you like: Log Horizon, .hack//sign
Where to watch: Crunchyroll, Funimation, HIDIVE, Hulu, Muse Asia, AnimeLab (AU/NZ), Wakanim (EU)
Top image source: アニプレックス on YouTube.
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