I’m having trouble getting for hyped for Spring seeing as there is a snowstorm outside my apartment at the moment, but hey, at least there’s some new anime to check out! Spring 2015 is the season Manga Strikes Back as the majority of the new shows are manga adaptations. Party like it’s the 2000’s as new Nanoha and Haruhi spinoffs headline Part 1 of our Preview Guide, and we already have a candidate for Worst Show of the Season with Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?. Throw in popular manga Shogeki no Shouma and our seasonal random anime with Gen Urobuchi’s name attached to it and we’re certainly starting off with an eclectic mix.

Check out Part 2 of the guide here.
Check out Part 3 here.

Re-Kan!

Manga Adaptation by Studio Pierrot Air Date: 4/3/2015

A girl with the ability to see and talk with supernatural beings goes about her daily school life with her friends. Sounds pretty dull and the trailer is not very impressive, but in this post-Love Lab world it’s hard to rule something like this out until we see it. What I can say definitively is I do NOT want this thing where you can see anime girls’ eyes through their hair to make a comeback. I noticed it pop up recently in screens from the modern classic World Break: Aria blah blah blah and that is not a show you want to copy.

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ViVid

Manga Adaptation by A-1 Pictures Air Date: 4/3/2015

What do you do when the main characters of your 10 year old Magical Girl series are all grown up? Don’t reboot, just use their adopted common law marriage daughter as the new star! From the trailer it looks like this will be a more light hearted affair than Vivio’s moms’ adventures, which dulls my already low interest. It makes sense since ViVid is based on a spinoff manga and not a real deal Nanoha sequel. At least it doesn’t seem to have the Prisma Ilya Creep Factor, so that’s a plus?

The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan

Nagato Yuki-chan no Shoushitsu, Moe Nagato

Manga Adaptation by Satelight Air Date: 4/4/2015

Speaking of spinoff mangas that are very different than their souce, this particular story follows the alternate Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya timeline in which Nagato is just a normal shy girl trying to save the literature club. The few remaining worshippers at the Church of Haruhi are only going to be disappointed if they are expecting a “season 3” here, both for content and the lack of Kyoto Animation’s gorgeous production values. That said, the new art direction seems to work well with the stronger emphasis on comedy, so maybe it will be fun.

Food Wars: Shokugeki no Souma

Manga Adaptation by J.C. Staff Air Date: 4/4/2015

Iro’s prophetic “Random Manga Theatre turned into anime” powers strike again. Seriously, check out all the manga he has covered, they are all probably going to be anime someday. That aside, Shokugeki no Soma is about a hot blooded young man determined to be a better chef than his father, who just so happens to be one of the best chefs period. Apparently this somehow translates into a shonen style action show. I was totally on board with the trailer until the girls clothes started exploding. I have a tough time endorsing anything that needs the mysterious light beam censors, but at least the fan service appears to be equal opportunity. The concept might be fun enough to overcome all that, so it seems worth a look at least.

The Eleccentric Educator

Denpa Kyoushi, They Better Use Our Localized Title

Manga Adaptation by A-1 Pictures Air Date: 4/4/2015

Junichiro has a brilliant scientific mind but is only interested in his otaku hobbies. His sister tears him away from his anime blog and forces him to get a job as a teacher. Besides possibly being the anime version of Marlin’s life story, there’s a chance this might be amusing. The odd genius being forced to see the value of reality kind of gives off a vibe similar to The World God Only Knows. As sick as I am of otaku meta humor, if the message is to get yourself out of the house and out into the real world I can be OK with it. That’s a pretty big “if” these days so we’ll see how it pans out.

Seraph of the End

Owari no Seraph

Manga Adaptation by Wit Studio Air Date: 4/4/2015

The Earth’s population is wiped out by a deadly epidemic that only seems to affect adults. The Vampires, who have been hanging out underground, use the opportunity to overrun the planet and take the remaining children captive. Years later, our hero joins a resistance army bent on avenging his murdered friends. Sounds fun! The plot lends itself to plenty of daaaaaark action series cliches, but this could be entertaining if the vampire fighting outweighs the inevitable angsty teenage drama. After Glorio cult faves Yozakura Quartet and The Rolling GIrls – not to mention a little series you may have heard of called Attack on Titan – Wit Studio has build a solid track record of cool fight scenes. The bigger concern is what the rest of the package has to offer, but the action alone might make it worth watching.

Rin-ne

Kyoukai no Rinne, Rinne of the Boundary, Not Inuyasha

Manga Adaptation by Brains Base Air Date: 4/4/2015

I appreciate Rumiko Takahashi is a manga legend and what not, but personally I never got into her work. It seems very basic and timeless which is fine, but probably not what I’m interested in at this point in my anime watching career. Rin-ne doesn’t look like it will be changing my mind. The story focuses on a girl who can see supernatural beings and her classmate, a boy who is half human and half Death god. I guess she hangs out with him as he does his job, guiding spirits to reincarnation? Sure, let’s go with that. I’m sure there’s plenty of people still watching Inuyasha on Toonami who will want to check this out, but it’s probably not the most exciting new show of the season.

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?

Danjon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka?, DanMachi

Light Novel Adaptation by J.C. Staff Air Date: 4/4/2015

Yes. NEXT! …oh I’m sorry, did you want me to write something here? The stupidly long light novel title already explains the premise so what else do I need to say? In a world that is apparently an actual fantasy setting that just happens to use JRPG terminology, our hero is an adventurer that is more interested in picking up girls than pursuing fame and fortune like everyone else. I’m guessing this will be packed with painfully overused meta humor, an overpowered hero, and plenty of one dimensional female characters to ogle. Don’t believe me? The main girl is nicknamed “Loli Big Boobs”. It’s going to take a miracle for this to not be the worst show of the season.

Gunslinger Stratos

Game Adaptation by A-1 Pictures Air Date: 4/4/2015

OK I know this is based on an arcade action game, but hear me out! The scenario is written by Gen Urobuchi and the cast have been claiming it will be full of drama, death, and romance. Of course the plot on paper sounds pretty convoluted: a task force from the future is sent to our time to prevent two parallel universes from colliding in theirs. Combine that with the trailer and it’s likely this will be so ANIME it hurts, and yet after the fantastic Rage of Bahamut we can’t even rule out plot thin game adaptations before giving them a chance.