Summer is finally at an end, as is the summer anime season. So that means it’s time for all you binge-watchers out there to catch up. But with so many new anime last season to sort through, it can be more than a little tough to know what to watch. So to start you off, here are five that you shouldn’t miss out on.
Image source: アニメ「進撃の巨人」公式アカウント on Twitter
Attack on Titan (Season 3)
Genre: Gaspunk Fantasy
Studio: Wit Studio
Number of episodes: 24 (Currently at episode 10)
Non-spoiler plot summary: Within the lands protected by three massive concentric walls, the last remnants of humanity have lived safely for a century. Outside the wall, however, roam massive man-eating titans. When two new strange titans appear, breaking a hole in the outermost wall, civilization is thrown into chaos as the all-too-many survivors fight over the few remaining resources.
Now years later, Eren, a boy driven by revenge, fights alongside the survey corps, the branch of the military tasked with bringing the fight to the titans. But little does he know that the nation is teetering on the edge of a civil war and soon, he and his friends will be fighting men as well as titans–men tasked with killing them no matter the cost.
Why you should watch it: In this, the third season of Attack on Titan, the show finally starts revealing its big secrets. This is done largely by fleshing out just how the government works in this fantasy world and by digging into what has been really happening in the last kingdom of mankind behind the scenes.
But more than that, it is also a story filled with personal revelations. Crista, Levi, and Eren are all confronted with the hidden mysteries of their own respective pasts. Each revelation has the power to shake them to their very cores. And by the end, each must face what they have learned, knowing they will be forever changed, and then choose their path for the future.
Watch it if you like: Attack on Titan
Where to watch: Crunchyroll, Funimation (Dub), Hulu, Aniplus (Asia), Wakanim (EU), AnimeLab (AU/NZ)
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Baki
Genre: Ultra-violent Fighting
Studio: TMS Entertainment
Number of episodes: 26 (Currently at episode 13)
Non-spoiler plot summary: Baki isn’t exactly your average teenager. Sure, he goes to school and has a girlfriend that he loves, but what really gives his life meaning is underground fighting tournaments. Ever since he was a young child, he has trained to be the best fighter in the world. Unfortunately for him, that title is already held by someone else: his own estranged father.
After many battles, both won and lost, Baki is ready for his next challenge. But what awaits him isn’t a tournament with the typical rules and trappings. Instead, it’s a life-or-death battle against the five most dangerous criminals in the world–all of which have no qualms about using weapons, fighting in public areas, or killing their opponents outright.
Why you should watch it: Baki is a fighting anime that doesn’t shy away from violence–rather it embraces it in all its gruesome glory. People take insane amounts of damage (so much that they should be crippled for life) but somehow gather their bloody bits together and keep on fighting. It’s really a much more grown-up version of the fighting you’d see in one of Shonen Jump’s famous series. But instead of scuff marks or tiny cuts, people lose limbs or have their skin flayed right off their bodies.
In fact, the violence is so far over the top, the series might actually be a comedy–taking fighting anime to their most extreme and reveling in the absurdity that’s found there. But whether you take is seriously or as a joke, it is certainly an enjoyable series nonetheless.
Watch it if you like: Baki the Grappler, Berserk
Where to watch: Netflix (Fall/Winter 2018)
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Happy Sugar Life
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Studio: Ezόla
Number of episodes: 12
Non-spoiler plot summary: Satō is a beautiful high school girl well known for being willing to date anyone–well, until she gets bored anyway. But all that is in the past. Now all she wants to do is work hard, make money, and get home as soon as possible. You see, after searching for years, Satō has finally fallen in love…
…with the young child she has kidnapped and keeps locked in her apartment.
Why you should watch it: Happy Sugar Life is the thrilling story of a psychopath who has finally found something that doesn’t make her hate the world: namely the innocence of a young child and the inherent sweetness within. However, standing between her and her perfect life is a series of equally fuck up people. Unfortunately for them, Satō is willing to cross any line to keep living her life with her captured child–up to and including murder.
This is one of the few series that can get away with having a villain protagonist. Embedded in Satō’s point of view, we can see the tragedy that is her life and the good she is actually doing for the child. Pitted against people who are often worse than her–puppets to their own respective insanities–we can even root for her despite knowing she is in the wrong. However, there is always the looming danger that she will cross the moral event horizon and do something so unforgivable that the audience will only continue watching to revel in her inevitable destruction.
Watch it if you like: Dexter, Yandere characters
Where to watch: Amazon Prime
Image source: TVアニメ「ハイスコアガール」公式 on Twitter
High Score Girl
Genre: Romance, Video Game History
Studio: J.C.Staff
Number of episodes: 12
Non-spoiler plot summary: It’s the early 90s and arcades are booming in Japan–especially among kids. Enter gaming fanatic Yaguchi. A sixth grader, he spends every waking moment he can gaming. He is the king of his local arcade and has yet to truly meet his match. Then one day he is utterly demolished in a game of Street Fighter II by Oono, the most popular girl in his class. What follows is an unlikely friendship-turned-romance that spans a decade of video game history.
Why you should watch it: High Score Girl is about young romance. It shows what happens when you find someone who shares your passion–even if you can’t ever quite seem to measure up to them. At the same time, it’s about the joy that comes from someone seeing who you really are on the inside–with all the pretense and responsibilities stripped away–and accept you completely.
It’s also a history of gaming in Japan throughout the 90s. While originally focusing on arcades, their games and culture, it soon moves on to the various home consoles as well–some which will likely be unfamiliar even to hardcore Western gamers. But rather than just being a stand-alone history lesson, the games and their effect on Japanese culture are intrinsically tied together with the evolution of Yaguchi and Oono–not only as people but as friends as well.
Watch it if you like: Retro Video Gaming
Where to watch: Netflix (December 2018)
Image source: アニメ「異世界魔王と召喚少女の奴隷魔術」公式✦次回第7話は8/16放送！ on Twitter
How Not to Summon a Demon Lord
Genre: Fantasy, Comedy, Ecchi
Studio: Ajia-Do
Number of episodes: 12
Non-spoiler plot summary: One day a gamer finds himself summoned to a fantasy world in the body of his max level MMORPG character, Diablo the demon lord. But when the two who summoned him attempt to complete the summoning ritual and enslave him, his gear automatically reflects the spell–enslaving them to him instead. As a shut-in otaku with no social skills trapped in a situation he can’t begin to grasp, he doubles down on acting like the character he played in the game–that of an arrogant and unbeatable demon lord. But little does his suspect that he may be the only one who can save his two new companions–and possibly even the world–from dangers both mortal and demonic.
Why you should watch it: While this new world he has entered bares a striking resemblance to the game that Diablo is from, there is one major difference: everyone is incredibly weak compared to him. This puts him in almost a Superman-style position. And it is how this theme is explored that makes the series stand out among the numerous other anime with similar plots.
Diablo can technically do anything he wants but this would ultimately cause him more problems than it would solve. For example, he could end a war by killing an entire side. Of course, on the inside he’s just a normal guy–and he has no want to actually become a mass murderer. Likewise, despite his powers, he is just one man–and can thus only be in one place at a time. All it takes is an attack on two locations at once to limit his effectiveness. But his real handicap is himself: He can only interact with the world through his demon lord roleplay–which can make things complicated, to say the least.
Watch it if you like: Overlord, Superman
Where to watch: Crunchyroll
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