Let’s do a little math. 2016 in general = bad. 2016 anime = good. Using that formula and checking out next season’s shows, 2017 is looking to be a really good year. There will be some good continuing shows and a few things that don’t look embarassingly bad, but as a whole the batch of new shows is looking rough. Still, it is our duty to carry on and sort through the trash so you don’t have to, and we always manage to find a few surprises. Take a look at part 1 of our Winter preview guide and let us know if you agree.

Akiba’s Trip: The Animation

Game Adaptation by Gonzo Air Date: 1/4/2017

Director: Hiroshi Ikehata (Seiyu’s Life, Robot Girls Z) Series Composition: Kazuho Hyodo (ReLIFE, Wanna Be the Strongest In the World)

I’ve seen this game before and from what I understand it’s about the nerds of Akihabara wandering the streets trying to punch each other’s clothes off. As to why, I don’t know nor care and I don’t think this anime does either. Normally I’d say not taking yourself too seriously is a positive, but if there’s one thing I learned from Keijo!!!!!!!! last season it’s maybe taking yourself 110% seriously is the only way to make trash like this palatable. The trailer doesn’t inspire much confidence with its generic waifu bait and sub par animation either. MOVING ON.

Masamune-kun’s Revenge

Masamune-kun no Revenge

Manga Adaptation by Silver Link Air Date: 1/5/2017

Director: Mirai Minato (Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya) Series Composition: Michiko Yokote (Shirobako, Sekko Boys)

A flip on the “be careful who you call ugly in middle school” fantasy, Masamune-kun was teased for being overweight as a kid but has grown up to be super hot. He has his eyes set on asking out a hot girl that was particularly mean to him as revenge. Based on what I can tell from the trailer, he seems consumed by his vengeance and there seems to be another cute, plain girl who is in love with him, etc. etc. It’s not a very interesting plot nor is it much to look at visually, but I’ll reserve judgement until the first episode. As unlikely as it may seem, this is the kind of show that can be saved by stellar writing, so we’ll see what happens.

Fuuka

Manga Adaptation by diomedea Air Date: 1/6/2017

Director: Keizou Kusakawa (Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, KanColle) Series Composition: Aoi Akashiro (Endride, KONOSUBA)

Shy dude meets manic pixie dream girl at his new school, she makes him contact his childhood friend who is now a famous singer. The three meet and BOOM, love triangle. I’m guessing at some point they also form a band? I’m a sucker for rock band stories and a decent romance, so I at least want to check this out. The story sounds like it writes itself and the characters could end up being paper thin, but I think there’s a sliver of hope here and that’s more than I can say for a lot of shows this season. At the very least Megumi Nakajima will be returning to music and doing the ED so that’s cool, right?

Seiren

Anime Original by Studio Gokumi Air Date: 1/6/2017

Director: Tomoki Kobayashi (Amagami SS, Akame ga KILL!) Series Composition: Kisai Takayama (Amagami SS, Kimikiss)

The easiest context to explain Seiren is that it’s by the creators of Kimikiss and Amagami, which should be obvious if you’re at all familiar with them. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. While Amagami looks like the most basic of dating sims, its down to earth simplicity was part of its charm. Perhaps its most notable feature though was the “omnibus format” in which the protagonist spends a few episodes dating each girl instead of spending the entire series hooking up with one. It’s been confirmed Seiren will follow the same format, this time at a new school with a new batch of heroines for fans to argue who’s best. Will any of them live up to the legacy of Kaoru “Sex Hair” Tanamachi? Probably not, but we’ll be checking it out regardless.

Urara Meirochou

Manga Adaptation by J.C. Staff Air Date: 1/6/2017

Director: Youhei Suzuki (SHIMONETA, HENNEKO) Series Composition: Deko Akao (Amanchu!, Noragami, Mysterious Girlfriend X)

A group of cute girls train to be fortune tellers. Pretty sure that’s it plot wise, as this 4-koma adapation is going more the super moe cute girls doing cute things angle. I guess that’s still a thing in 2017. You’l have to forgive my lack of enthusiasm but with that kind of set up I can’t say the ceiling is very high for this one. The best we can hope for is a few decent jokes and that it won’t be super pervy. The trailer looks like it is at least competently made, something I would be concerned about as J.C. Staff is doing a lot of shows this season. We’ll have to see if they can make anything of it.

Youjo Senki: Saga of Tanya the Evil

Light Novel Adaptation by NUT Air Date: 1/6/2017

Director: Yutaka Uemura (Mystic Archives of Dantalian) Series Composition: Kenta Ihara (Aijin, Terror In Resonance)

So this may win this season’s MOST ANIME award, check it out: a salaryman is reincarnated as a little girl named Tanya. She uses her magical powers and squad of sorcerers to mercilessly dominate the battlefields of (probably) World War I. Based on the trailer, it seems they are going for something a bit more dark and serious with Tanya being some kind of ruthless anti-hero. Personally I’m guessing that will mean lots of magical technobabble and unnecessary cruelty for shock value, but it’s a broad enough concept that maybe they can prove me wrong.

Minami Kamakura High School Girls Cycling Club

Minami Kamakura Koukou Joshi Jitensha-bu

Manga Adaptation by J.C. Staff Air Date: 1/7/2017

Director: Susumu Kudo (Old Shows No One Remembers, Coppelion???) Series Composition: Kurasumi Sunayama (Bakuon!!, Yowamushi Pedal)

Hot off the heels of last season’s Long Riders, not to mention Yowamushi Pedal and Bakuon!! with which this show shares some staff, we get yet another show about bikes. In this case, a young girl rides her bicycle to her first day at her new high school and discovers her passion for cycling! ARE YOU NOT EXCITED??? Between the description, the bland trailer, and extremely generic title, this anime has zero unique qualities at first glance. I doubt there will be any with the second, but as is our solemn duty we will at least give it an episode and find out.

SCHOOLGIRL STRIKERS Animation Channel

Game Adaptation by J.C. Staff Air Date: 1/7/2017

Director: Hiroshi Nishikiori (Azumanga Daioh, A Certain Magical Index) Series Composition: Takao Yoshioka (WATAMOTE, Magical Girl Raising Project)

This anime is based on a “light novel style” RPG smartphone game. It’s about girls at some school with super powers that fight some arbitrary monster things. Watch the trailer. I have gazed into the void, and I saw nothing. Emptiness. I feel tired. And cold.

Interviews With Monster Girls

Demi-chan wa Kataritai

Manga Adaptation by A-1 Pictures Air Date: 1/8/2017

Director: Ryo Ando (Debut) Series Composition: Takao Yoshioka (Yes, same guy as the show above)

I swear this season is trying to make me quit anime. Thank you, dear reader, for surviving this long with me. This show is about assorted classic monster girls (just watch the trailer for the conveniently itemized list) who go to high school and a teacher who takes an interest in them. He talks to them and helps them solve their problems. I’m actually going to say that premise alone isn’t necessarily bad, but after watching the trailer I don’t have a lot of confidence here. It just looks like another excuse to parade around cute, vulnerable girls for the otaku crowd to fawn over. NEXT!

Idol Incidents

Idol Jihen

Anime Original by MAPPA Air Date: 1/8/2017

Director: Daisuke Yoshida (Debut) Series Composition: Naoya Takayama (Chihayafuru)

I guess even MAPPA has to pay the bills sometimes. The hook to this particular idol show is the idol groups are formed to fight the government by starting their own political parties or something? That could be interesting but from what I’ve seen it’s had no bearing on this being just another idol show. This being MAPPA it at least looks nice. Hopefully it will be hugely successful and they will have lots of resources to give Rage of Bahamut season 2 the attention it deserves. Now THAT is a show I’m hyped for.

élDLIVE

Manga Adaptation by Studio Pierrot Air Date: 1/8/2017

Director: Takeshi Furuta (The Comic Artist and His Assistants, Utano☆Princesama Legend Star) Series Composition: Toshimitsu Takeuchi (Old Shows No One Remembers)

Pierrot’s latest attempt at turning a Shonen Jump manga into a mega anime hit, elDLIVE stars a normal boy who gets teleported into space and recruited by the, uh, space police? Turns out he has some kind of alien living inside him that gives him powers. There also seems to be a lot of cute girls around. The trailer shows a lot of action which I guess is to be expected, but it’s hard to say what, if anything, will make this show special.