So, the Fall 2016 anime season is starting up. So far there seems to be some a fair few sequels on the roster. I can't say I'm personally looking forward to a lot, but a few things have caught my eye.

The shows airing this season can be found here.

The most popular anime on MAL going into the season are:

1.Bungou Stray Dogs 2nd Season: The second season of Spring 2016 anime Bungou Stray Dogs. I dropped it, but it seems a lot of people liked it.
2.Haikyuu!! Third Season: The third season of an anime I've been meaning to watch since the first season. Probably the most popular sports anime of the 2010s.
3. Ajin 2nd Season: The second season of the Polygon Pictures series, Ajin. While I didn't find it all that appealing myself, some seem to have liked the first season quite a bit.
4. Occult;Nine: The synopsis just left me slightly confused. From what I gather, it's about nine bloggers coming across an occult mystery.
5. Drifters: Actually the anime I'm most interested in this season. Basically it takes Shimazu Toyohisa, who, after his historically accurate death, he is transported to another world, and joins a group of famous warriors called Drifters.



So, what're you guys planning to watch this season? What are you most excited for?

 

That description undersells it. Try, it's an adaptation of the manga from the author of Hellsing that's about Shimazu Toyohisa joining Oda Nobunaga, Hannibal Barca, Scipio Africanus, Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid (and others) in their fight against other historical figures like Jeanne d'Arc, Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova, Grigori Rasputin and mysterious leader, who most likely is Jesus with a grudge against humanity.

The series I'm waiting for is Tenchi Muyou! Ryououki 4th Season. While I get complains about 3th and agree with some of them, I still enjoyed it and if 4th will be similar, I will enjoy this one too.

 

Ones that catch my attention-

Occultic;Nine: Looks interesting, though it depends how it handles having nine main characters.

Natsume Yuujinchou Go: Fucking finally. I’ll wait until it’s finished to watch.

Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku: Cool premise, but I’ll wait a couple episodes to see how people like it.

Luger Code 1951: Great potential, please don’t turn into harem shit.


Other comments-

Trickster: Edogawa Ranpo "Shounen Tanteidan" yori: Initially caught my attention by its wordy summary that desperately needs editing, then I saw the ‘Ranpo’ in the title. I googled and yes, it takes place in the same universe as Ranpo Kiten: Game of Laplace. Since that anime was incredibly stupid, I’m not touching this.

Bloodivores: Convoluted summary and that picture with the masks makes me think a Tokyo Ghoul clone.

Gakuen Handsome: That picture is giving me flashbacks of awful yaoi I read years ago. Please tell me this a parody. <_<

Ao Oni the Animation: Oh wow, I remember the game being cool… Too bad the budget looks zero.

There are sure a lot of sports anime this season.

 

All Out looks pretty good
as does Hanamaru and Soul Buster. I guess i'm in a historical kick.

You are correct Infinity, Drifter looks good.

 

Well, the summaries and blurbs tend to be pretty shit at conveying how the animes actually are, quite enjoyed Alderamin and New Game from last season although their blurbs made them sound like crap.

That said, so far, don't think all that much caught my eye here but that might change with more information on them.

So far:

1. Hibike Euphonium Season 2: definitely the one I am most looking forward to. Season 1 was great and I really hope they won't stick to the light novel story and instead go the way it was very strongly hinted in season 1.

2. Oregeiru Zoku OVA: It's fucking Oregeiru, as long as it retains the qualities of season 1 and especially season 2, this will be worth watchinig. Too bad it's not a full season.

Things I might check out but don't have high hopes for:

3. Nazotokine: As long as the riddles are solid and the main character is good, this should be entertaining.

4. Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku: As Vira said, interesting premise and depending on how they do it, could have potential. Could just as easily be fanservice shit.

5. Occult 9 / Drifters: One of them is probably going to be the hype anime of the season, so might as well check them out but don't have high hopes for Drifters, tbh. And occult 9, well, a bit hesitant to believe they can juggle 9-10 main characters that well.

6. Gi(a)rlish Number/Long Riders! : I really enjoyed New Game and if these have similarly fun characters (and hopefully lack that super annoying best friend caricature) I could imagine them being charming and fun enough...unless they goes full fanservice as well.

Well, hopefully Crunchyroll will have most of these >_>

 

I'm looking forward to Hibike! Euphonium season 2 more than I've looked forward to any other anime in quite a few years. This makes sense considering season 1 was my favorite anime of the last several years (also my only 10/10 show in the last several years).

If anyone's thinking about watching season 1 before season 2 starts airing, I really can't recommend it highly enough. You won't regret it.

I guess I should familiarize myself with the rest of the shows as well.

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Edit: Mission complete. Here's what I'll be watching at least the first episode of, in order of hype:

3-gatsu no Lion - If this has good characters and not-overdone drama, it could be really great. Shaft is making it so I'm tentatively excited.

Occultic;Nine - From the creator of Steins;Gate. Sounds pretty interesting, and A1 can probably be counted on to not butcher the source material.

Touken Ranbu: Hanamaru - I've really enjoyed the last 2 Doga Kobo shows. Summary is nothing special, but I'm excited anyway.

Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku - This is probably going to be bad, but I really want it to be good. The characters'll make or break it.

WWW.Working!! - Actually, haven't seen the original WWWorking, but it sounds good.

Soushin Shoujo Matoi - Like a lot of shows, this sounds like it could be good or really bad, but I like White Fox. (Steins;Gate, Re: Zero) Also, anime originals are always nice.

Long Riders! - If Actas can bring the same magic to this they brought to Girls Und Panzer, this might be really good. Probably gonna be garbage though.

All Out!! - I don't like sports anime but I like Madhouse.

Yuri!!! on Ice - This show can be as good as the characters are. Mappa is fine.

Luger Code 1951 - Manga won awards and stuff. Sounds vaguely interesting.

Idol Memories - I want it to be good, but it's going to be bad.

Show By Rock!! # - I hate myself for even finishing the first season...

Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari - Meh. Could be ok.

Flip Flappers - Bleh. Could be ok.

Gi(a)rlish Number - I want it to be good, but I have no reason to think it won't suck.

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Like basically every other season, I have no clue if it's going to be good or not. Pretty confident there'll be at least a couple shows I can watch to the end.

 

Apart from Natsume Yuujinchou Go, there doesn't seme to be anything for me this season. But getting to watch another season of pure harmony called Natsume certainly is good enough. Now if only we could get some sort of a spring season announcement for Re:zero I will be a happy man. Another season for the Gate would be nice but it is unlikely.

 

No matter what anyone says. Haikyuu!! Season 3 is going to be the best.

 

Not as many I'm excited about compared to this concluding season.

Gonna try/watch:

Hibike Euphonium 2 - Most hyped for this - absolutely loved Season 1. Unlike most club anime that feature female leads (with the exception of a handful, such as Chihayafuru), it genuinely had interesting characters and very real character development instead of just moe. It also had very real yuri relationship development and not just fanservice (though I've heard the LN goes a different way despite the fact its overwhelmingly blatant).

Drifters - summary seems interesting, and from the author of Hellsing could be a whole lot of fun.

Haikyuu!! S3 - I actually haven't finished season 2 yet. I loved Season 1, but found the focus on every character's individual training and development in Season 2 a bit boring.

All Out - will give it a go. Some sports anime are great, most disappoint me.


Shuumatsu no Izetta - An anime original magic fighting story set in WWII by the look of the somewhat interesting PV? Could be pretty cool or really, really meh. We'll see.
Lostorage incited WIXOSS - I loved selector infector WIXOSS apart from feeling it was rushed, selector spread WIXOSS was an utter disappointment (did a review here). Let's see whether the new story deliverson the potential of the first season...

Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans 2 - First season started great, but ended up disappointing me - like ever other Gundam I've seen since Wing and SEED. But it was still somewhat entertaining I guess.

Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku - I probably won't enjoy it, but the manga seems to have high reviews and there is a chance it could actually be good. PV doesn't really tell you much.

 

Shuumatsu no Izetta aired yesterday, and I caught the first episode at around four this morning. It was pretty good. I have high hopes for the rest of the season.

 

So, I watched the first episode of Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku.

It hooked me.

At first I was worried it was a Madoka clone with this cute creature suspiciously offering girls the chance to fulfill their wishes by being magical girls. But once La Puelle, another magical girl, is introduced, the anime immediately invested me in these characters in a creative and surprising way.

Spoiler

Turns out La Puelle is Snow White’s childhood friend that she lost contact with. Her male childhood friend that was always as into magical girls as she is and has taken a female avatar. I was iffy when I saw the childhood friend (in a flashback) because he had generic love interest written over him, but I really like him.

Then at the end, when the darkness promised by the summary slid in, I was both excited and horrified. I didn’t expect to like this anime this much. I want the next episode now.

 

So, watched a few of the first episodes, here are my thoughts:

Hibike! Euphonium - First episode was a whopper of 50 mins, crazy they got such a long one but it was excellent. The character interactions were great as always, the mystery and tension of what happened last year was build up more and we got introduced to two interesting new characters.

Kumiko and Reina are still the highlight of the show and especially Kumiko's differences in behavior when she is with others and when she is with Reina (and her own family) is so interesting, I'm loving it. Really hoping that will be explored more fully and we will see her make that one step where she stops pretending.

Spoiler

Also, if those two don't start really dating and are instead railroaded with the teacher and that one boring guy, I will rage so hard. They have insane chemistry and build-up, really hoping the anime will take that step. It's not really subtle, hasn't been for some while but they really need to confirm that.

Music, animation and voice acting are as good as they were in season 1. Especially the VA in this show has impressed me a lot, it seems different than usually in anime, or maybe it's the dialogue.

So yeah, excellent start into the new season.

Shuumatsu no Izetta - This one is all new and I have to say, it was a really compelling first episode, maybe the most compelling first episode of anyhting I have seen in a while. Characters are interesting, the setting is compelling, animation and music are great and yeah, it has a lot of promise. Was hooked right from the beginning and it never let go. Here is to hoping it will retain this quality and not jump the shark.

Really depends where they are going with this.
Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku - It really starts with the feeling that they want to make you aware that this will be like Madoka, but it's really not that bad so far. i doubt it will be great, to be honest, it's nothing amazing so far but still interesting enough.

The twist at the end is really what's mostly keeping me here,

Spoiler

I am really hoping they will explore the childhood friend, whether or not he feels more comfortable as a girl or as a boy (or both) and have some depth to that rather than just use it as a gimmick and discard it mostly afterwards. If they can explore gender identity in that setting with that set-up, could be interesting.

The Ancient Magus' Bride - It showed some imagination and had interesting visuals and it seems good enough, but it wasn't amazing so far and I am not that hooked. Going to check out the next episode but slow start so far. Still, solid start.

Really, all those had pretty good starts, all things considered.

Also checked out Keijo!!!!! because I saw a clip on tumblr and it looked too stupid not to check out and yeah, it's a super fanservice anime and I don't understand how it got such a budget for its animation. It's as dumb as the premise promises it will but it's firmly in the "it's so dumb, it's funny" category. Not going to bother with this, since it wasn't entertaining enough to make up for it's...reason for existing.

 

Ancient Magus' Bride is a wonderful manga that's won awards. Really looking forward to more of it, even if it's not a straight adaptation.

I hope this is one of those feeler anime that lead to more in the end, cause I don't think they're dedicated to a full series yet.

 

Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku episode two dropped.

I liked it, and I'm still impressed how pretty the show and characters look. The show juggles its characters well and I never feel like I'm missing anything.

Spoiler

There was a nice fake out when it's revealed early in the episode that Fav actually meant a candy collection contest to decide who stays a magical girl. It made me second-guess whether a killing game would occur because Fav decided or that the other magical girls go way too far in trying to keep their positions.

Then the end of the episode hit. Yeah, I'm definitely following this show.

In other news, Occult;Nine.

I made it four minutes in.

First off, the characters speak at a rapid pace, but sound so unnatural it's like they're blurting out speeches with dramatic movements and everything. As I was watching I wondered if they chose this route to get more time out of their episodes. But the biggest (ha) problem was the animation. It's realistic-looking, especially the opening scene, which I have no problem with, but then a girl comes in with breasts as huge as melons (no exaggeration). It was so stupid that as soon as I got a good look at her, I peaced out.

 

Currently just looking into Kejo and Drifters, though I'll probably add Bungou Stray Dogs soon. I liked the first season well enough.

 

Everyone here should try Shuumatsu no Izetta. Potential to be an outstanding anime.

First two episodes have been absolute top quality. Pulled off near perfectly so far - interesting concept, the right atmosphere, great animation, good music, likeable characters, good storytelling.

To set the scene, it's set in World War II just after Germany has invaded Poland (renaming Germany to Germania and Britain to Britannia isn't fooling anyone - even the map of Europe is identical) and starts off following the Princess of Switzerland as she sneaks into France to have a meeting with a British Ambassador to request a military alliance.

The anime does a fantastic job of setting that World War II atmosphere for it - the way people dress, the locations, the visuals, the war scenes. The Germanians feel like the sort of Nazis you expect from older war films, but also aren't portrayed as just unrepentantly evil. It feels more like an anime movie than an anime series and captures a feel you rarely see in the latter.

The princess is a pretty decent character so far, if a bit typical. Determined, courageous and selfless. A decent enough main character for this setting. The other character is the Witch, Izetta. In contrast, she has an adorable anime innocence that works for her. It doesn't really take away from the rest of the atmosphere and works to single her out as being quite different. She isn't really overpowered and certainly doesn't seem like she'll be turning the tide of the war herself so far.

I have huge hopes for this show. This could really be an outstanding anime if they continue the deliver. The next challenge will be how they portray the actual war - whether it becomes simplified and silly (like most anime), or whether they can actually do it justice.

Hibike! Euphonium S2 gave us a 50 minute long pilot ep. Nothing groundbreaking happened, but it was enjoyable nonetheless.

What I really loved was Kumiko's voice actor's (Tomoyo Kurosawa) performance. She does an amazing job of having Kumiko sound so different depending on who she's talking to, which gives her so much depth as a character and makes her feel so real. The lazy drawl of her internal monologue, the irritated bite to her tone when she talks to her family, the more stereotypical schoolgirl voice she uses with her classmates, the flirtyness as she teases Reina or the soft relaxed voice when she's having a moment with Reina. She totally brings Kumiko to life - any other VA could have made her quite boring.

(And yes, there's no way they can possibly not pair those two. More blatant chemistry than most actual romance anime. Hell, in that last scene you could see the moment where Kumiko heart drops out of her chest as she stares at Reina and thinks "I'm in love with this girl." - and it was done so well and subtle too)

Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku doesn't seem particularly high quality, but is still interesting enough to keep me watching for now.

The biggest obstacle is the main character. We are given a shy, passive protagonist. Her main strength will naturally be the drive to help people and I can't really see her going through any interesting development. Like WIXOSS, I'm not sure the world or the powers really allow for any really interesting competition or combat. But I guess we'll see how it goes.

Spoiler

I did enjoy the plot twist of her MALE friend being a magical girl too. Though, I think it'd have been a hell of a lot more fun if he was more of a Ranma type character, who found the entire situation humiliating, rather than a guy who openly dreamed of being a magical girl from the start.

 

Woah. The first ep of Ancient Magus' Bride is absolutely breathtaking. It's like full blown Ghibli quality. I'm sad that there will only be three "prequel" episodes; basically just an attempt to get people to go read the manga.

That seems to be the sole purpose of quality anime nowadays. Le sigh.

 

How about brave witches? I remember watching the strike witches franchise a few years ago and enjoying it, and while I can't say I still remember the events, I do remember that it was quite the enjoyable journey.

 

Haikyu!!'s episodes are killing it this season. So good.

March comes in like a lion is also really good. A very solid and cute slice of life show.