The fall season is full of sequels both new and surprisingly old, as well as a LOT of idol shows. Part 1 of our guide is headlined by the return of 2015’s smash hit Mr. Osomatsu and… well not much else, at least at first glance.

Before we get started though, I realized I have never explained our reasoning on what we include in the guides and what we don’t. So here’s how it works:

The guide includes:
• New full length TV series we intend to watch and write about at least one episode
• Sequels we intend to watch and write about at least one episode

The guide does NOT include:
• Sequels we do not intend to watch and write about
• Continuing series from the previous season
• Shorts
• Movies
• OVAs or other one time specials

Some of the shows that will not be included but you might be interested in:

Sequels	Returning from Summer
10/2 Gintama 10/3 UQ Holder: Negima! 2 10/4 Food Wars: The Third Plate 10/7 Houzuki’s Coolheadedness 2 10/7 Yuki Yuuna Is a Hero (sort of) 10/7 Love Live Sunshine 2 10/7 The Idolm@ster Side M 10/8 Himouto Umaru Chan R 10/10 Wake Up, Girls! New Chapter	Fate/Apocrypha Altair: A Record of Battles Welcome to the Ballroom

Now, on to the previews!

Mr. Osomatsu 2

Osomatsu-san 2

Anime Original by Studio Pierrot Air Date: 10/2/2017

Director: Yoichi Fujita Series Composition: Shuu Matsubara

No one could have predicted that a sequel to a silly gag anime from the 80s that was based on a silly gag manga from the 60s would become an incredibly successful phenomenon in 2015 and yet that’s exactly what happened with Osomatsu. Now the series is set to return for more irreverent, black humor and occasionally heavy musings on the anxiety of adult life. If you missed it the first time, it’s about a group of sextuplets that were famous as children but grew up to be spoiled, useless adults. I’d classify it as the “terrible people doing terrible things and getting what they deserve” type of comedy that I personally love, so if that’s your thing too this is definitely worth a look.

Black Clover

Manga Adaptation by Studio Pierrot Air Date: 10/3/2017

Director: Tatsuya Yoshihara Series Composition: Kazuyuki Fudeyasu

Can we call for a moratorium on anti-magic? I mean specifically as a way to turn weak protagonists into the strongest. It’s been done too much. That is basically the deal here as our hero attempts to be the greatest wizard or whatever despite not having real magic ability. But hey, he has anti-magic so I’m sure it will work out. Given the premise I was shocked to find this is not a light novel but the next attempt at finding a Shonen Jump property to fill the Naruto void. So it seems there will be a lot more hot blooded yelling than accidentally walking in on girls changing. Either way I don’t see anything here that we haven’t seen before.

Sengoku Night Blood

Game Adaptation by Typhoon Graphics Air Date: 10/3/2017

Director: Katsuya Kikuchi Series Composition: Yuuko Kakihara

I feel like it’s been awhile since we’ve had a Sengoku era show, not that I’m complaining as most of them are trash, just saying they used to spring up all the time. Sengoku Night Blood once again takes us to Japan’s warring states period, except this time… well actually I couldn’t find any information about plot so I don’t know what the premise is. It seems to be based on one of those mobile games where you collect art of pretty guys in elaborate outfits voiced by popular voice actors, so if that’s the crowd they’re after then it probably doesn’t matter.

Juni Taisen: Zodiac War

Light Novel Adaptation by Graphnica Air Date: 10/3/2017

Director: Naoto Hosoda Series Composition: Sadayuki Murai

Apparently NisioIsin (author of the Monogatari novels and Medaka Box) wrote a novel about a modern day battle royale featuring characters based on the Chinese zodiac. This is the anime based on it. At face value the trailer looks action packed and kind of cool, but given the author is known for lengthy dialogue I have to wonder how much of the show is going to be people standing around talking. I’m also personally tired of NisioIsin’s double talk and weirdly specific life observations that appear in all his work, but your mileage may vary on that. I’ll give it an episode at least.

Konohana Kitan

Manga Adaptation by Lerche Air Date: 10/2/2017

Director: Hideki Okamoto Series Composition: Takao Yoshioka

A group of fox spirits work at a hot springs hotel in between our world and theirs. Conveniently, they turn into cute girls while they work. Given the premise and the chill trailer I’m wondering if this will be something like Restaurant to Another World but in a slightly different setting. I feel like if that were the case we’d see some of the clients walking around in the trailer to hype up the fantasy element, so I could be totally wrong. Not setting the hopes particularly high on this one but I haven’t seen any indication that it will be terrible either, we’ll see.

Urahara

Anime Original by Shirogumi Air Date: 10/4/2017

Director: Amica Kubo Series Composition: Natsuko Takahashi

Urahara has received a bit of attention for being a joint venture between Crunchyroll and Chinese video sharing site Bilibili, as well as the fact that all primary creative staff are women. So that’s cool, and the premise sounds alright: three girls open up a shop in Harajuku just in time fight off aliens intent on stealing their culture. As for the trailer itself, it’s certainly colorful and creative but I’m a bit concerned with the animation quality. Hopefully the ideas are not too ambitious for the execution, which would be my biggest fear in this case. We certainly don’t want another Rolling Girls on our hands…

Tsukipro The Animation

Anime Original by PRA Air Date: 10/4/2017

Director: Juria Matsumura Series Composition: Reiko Yoshida

In yet another attempt to kickstart and idol series cash cow, Tsukipro follows not one, but FOUR groups as they go about their business of idoling. I guess approaching from the perspective of a central agency managing several groups is kind of different, but if I had to bet I would not put money on that having any impact. I think there are a few trailers floating around that feature different groups but I’m not going to spend too much time sorting it out, if you’re into this kind of thing feel free to dig around.

Just Because!

Anime Original by Pine Jam Air Date: 10/5/2017

Director: Atsushi Kobayashi Series Composition: Hajime Kamoshida

Just Because! looks to capture that very specific feeling at the end of your senior year where you have nothing left to do at school but you still have to go and kill time. Well, that and throwing a transfer student in the mix. As to what that means I’m not sure, but this seems to be more of drama than a comedy. The quality of the trailer looks a bit rough, but relatively new studio Pine Jame has done a decent job with GAMERS! this season, I’m willing to cut them a little slack. Worth a look.

King’s Game The Animation

Ousama Game The Animation

Cell Phone Novel Adaptation by Seven Air Date: 10/5/2017

Director: Noriyoshi Sasaki Series Composition: Kenji Konuta

Take anime’s favorite method of getting characters to contemplate kissing each other, now make it DEADLY. This particular King’s Game involves a group of classmates that receive text messages with orders from the King. They must obey or DIE. The trailer is extremely dark and violent but I can’t take it seriously while the uplifting pop song plays over the bloodshed. I don’t think laughter is the first response they’re going for but that’s what they got from me, so not a great start. This could be fun for the train wreck factor, assuming it doesn’t get super rapey… it probably will and could also end up being the worst thing to air this season.