​Part 2 of our guide features Megalo Box, the robot enhanced boxing tribute to Ashita no Joe, although I’m probably more interested in Hinamatsuri, the magical girlfriend Yakuza comedy (not to be confused with this season’s magical girl Yakuza comedy). Oh, and I guess Persona 5, Sword Art Online, and Cutie Honey, you may have also heard of those.

Megalo Box

Manga Adaptation (?) by TMS Entertainment Air Date: 4/6/2018

Director: You Moriyama Series Composition: Katsuhiko Manabe

​As the 50th anniversary project for Ashita no Joe, it’s a bit hard to see how Megalo Box is related to the classic manga. Sure there’s boxing and a retro art style, but then there’s also robot arms? We don’t really know much else but I have to admit it looks a bit too meat-headed for my tastes. That said, Gee and Iro are pretty excited for it so we’ll see how it goes.

Dances with the Dragons

Saredo Tsumibito wa Ryuu to Odoru

Light Novel Adaptation by Seven Arcs Air Date: 4/6/2018

Director: Hiroshi Nishikiori Series Composition: Takayo Ikami

​All the descriptions I’ve read of this show are extremely elaborate and detailed and yet they basically boil down to “two dudes with magic powers fight dragons”. Add in the trailer and it seems like the kind of self-serious, wannabe edgy that you might think is cool if you’re 11 or 12 and you have the power of God and Anime on your side. That’s fine, but it also seems to lack anything noteworthy or original. I’ll be surprised if anyone remembers this show exists by the end of the season.

Hinamatsuri

Manga Adaptation by feel. Air Date: 4/6/2018

Director: Kei Oikawa Series Composition: Keiichirou Ouchi

​This is basically a magical girlfriend comedy except this time our hapless protagonist is a young up and coming member of the Yakuza. Between this and Magical Girl Ore (and I guess Nisekoi a couple years ago), are Yakuza comedies a thing now? Also based on the trailer it seems like there are a lot more cute anime girls in organized crime than I was expecting. That aside, I love my absurd comedies this does actually seem like something I would enjoy. So long as the keep away from getting too creepy with the rather young looking main girl, it could be good.

Gurazeni

Manga Adaptation by Studio DEEN Air Date: 4/6/2018

Director: Ayumu Watanabe Series Composition: Hideo Takayashiki

​With quite a few sports shows popping up this season, it’s a bit hard for Gurazeni to stand out. The hook here is that the main character is actually an older veteran and he’s playing for a team that pay strictly on performance. More importantly, whoever is doing the music in the trailer sounds like they’re doing their best impersonation of GLORIO favorite Soul’d Out. Even if that’s the best thing we get out of this, I think we made out alright.

Magical Girl Site

Mahou Shoujo Site

Manga Adaptation by production doA Air Date: 4/7/2018

Director: Tadahito Matsubayashi Series Composition: Takayo Ikami

​Look, I have a lot of other shows to write about and this is basically Magical Girl Raising Project, can I just skip this one? No? FINE. As you can tell I have no patience for people making second-rate Madoka rip-offs in 2018 and to make matters worse this trailer looks like they’re adding a stronger torture-porn horror element to the mix. I’m sure this will find a devoted fan base but I can guarantee I will not be a part of it. There, I wrote something, now let me move on.

Devil’s Line

Manga Adaptation by Platinum Vision Air Date: 4/7/2018

Director: Yoshinobu Tokumoto Series Composition: Kenji Konuta

​Steamy forbidden romances with hot vampire dudes never go out of style I suppose, and that’s pretty much what this show is. Our hapless lady protagonist falls for a half-vampire cop that saves her, now torn between his love for her and his desire to drink her blood. *Yawn* One thing that does really annoy me is the fact that all the descriptions of this show are using “devil” and “vampire” interchangeably. Come on, you can’t just ignore centuries of legends and folklore like that, get your terminology straight.

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gale Gun Online

Light Novel Adaptation by Studio 3Hz Air Date: 4/8/2018

Director: Masayuki Sakoi Series Composition: Yousuke Kuroda

​Our uh, “dislike” for Sword Art Online here at the GLORIO blog is well documented, but this time, things are different! In this SAO side story, our heroine is a tall college student who is self-conscious about her height and she escapes to the Gale Gun Online game where she can play a short, girly character dressed in all pinkCOME ON, I was trying to give you guys a chance! Problematic gender expectations aside, we can at least take solace in knowing this does not star our lord and savior Kirito (as far as we can tell) and it is being done by the up and coming Studio 3Hz, makers of GLORIO favorites Flip Flappers and Princess Principal. That probably isn’t going to save this show, but maybe it will look good? Also, the original novel is written by Keiichi Sigsawa of Kino’s Journey fame although after the most recent revival of that franchise I’m not sure that’s helping their case.

Persona 5 The Animation

Game Adaptation by A-1 Pictures Air Date: 4/8/2018

Director: Masashi Ishihama Series Composition: Shinichi Inotsume

​Look, I love Persona as much as the next anime nerd, but it just doesn’t adapt well to anime. So much of the enjoyment of the game stems from making your own choices and not because the story is particularly mind blowing. I don’t see how that could possibly change for Persona 5. If the one-off OVA is any indication it will be perfectly fine, and maybe the game’s more politically focused message will be more interesting as a TV series. Don’t get your hopes up though.

Cutie Honey Universe

Manga Adaptation by Production Reed Air Date: 4/8/2018

Director: Akitoshi Yokoyama Series Composition: Natsuko Takahashi

​We got Devilman Crybaby last season, so why not bring back another old Go Nagai classic? This new take seems to be a pretty straightforward adaptation, in which our robot girl hero assumes different identities before transforming into Cutie Honey, the “Warrior of Love”. There’s definitely a retro appeal to this and Go Nagai is hot these days, for better or worse, so it’s certainly noteworthy enough to check out. Whether or not it will be more than a fun bit of nostalgia remains to be seen.

The Scales of Nil Admirari

Nil Admirari no Tenbin

Visual Novel Adaptation by Zero-G Air Date: 4/8/2018

Director: Masahiro Takata Series Composition: Tomoko Konparu

​This being based on an otome game adaptation (and with a quick look at the trailer), you can kind of see where this is going. Our plucky audience insert character will get bounced around between a group of cute guys in elaborate turn of the century uniforms. The actual plot has some kind of twist with magic books or something, but let’s be honest, it’s about the cute guys. I will say the overall quality of these game adaptations have improved over the past few years so maybe there will be something special about it, but I’m not taking that bet personally.

The Caligula Effect

Game Adaptation by Satelight Air Date: 4/8/2018

Director: Junichi Wada Series Composition: Touko Machida

​What if we did The Matrix but instead of real life we trap people in an indefinite loop of their three years in high school? That’s a question I never asked and don’t particularly care to answer, and yet here we are with The Caligula Effect. I might be more interested if this was an anime original project, but it’s an adaptation of a C-list JRPG that seems to be trying its hardest to copy Persona and Danganronpa at the same time. That rarely works out and until proven otherwise, I’m not expecting this to be any different.