We tried to warn you on the podcast: the Summer 2018 anime season is looking a little rough. I don’t want to be too negative because we always finds shows that surprise us, but part 1 of our guide features forced sex changes, magic mind control slavery, big sister/little boy fetish stuff, and of course, lots of bouncing anime boobs… so yeah, we will have to look for some silver linings here. Let us know if there’s anything you think might actually be good, and we’ll see everyone for Part 2.

Here’s how our anime previews 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	Continuing from Last Season
7/8 Gintama 7/12 Free! Dive to the Future 7/23 Attack On Titan Season 3 TBA Overlord III	Kakuriyo -Bed & Breakfast for Spirits- Captain Tsubasa Lupin III: Part V Juushinki Pandora Steins;Gate 0 My Hero Academia Season 3 Persona 5 The Animation The Piano Forest

Now, on to the previews!

Island

Visual Novel Adaptation by feel. Air Date: 7/1/2018

Director: Keiichiro Kawaguchi Series Composition: Naruhisa Arakawa

​As visual novels have given way to light novels as the obscure hardcore otaku adaptations of choice, Island feels like a throwback to the mid 2000’s when KyoAni’s Key adaptations ruled the anime world and people still said “moe”. The actual plot seems to fit the mold as well: three girls from three prominent families living on an island cut off from the rest of the world. Of course they don’t know how to save the island until a man from the future washes up on the shore to lead the way So cute little girls in a tragic situation that need a man to save them/probably have sex with them? Sounds about right for a VN, make of that what you will.

Hanebado!

Manga Adaptation by LIDEN FILMS Air Date: 7/2/2018

Director: Shinpei Ezaki Series Composition: Taku Kshimoto

​Hanebado! is a show about hot anime girls playing badminton… OK it’s probably more than that. The trailers make me think they are actually going for a pretty serious sports story but they also seem to put a lot of emphasis on the bounce of the female cast’s bodies. From what I can tell the main character is actually the girls’ male coach and that feels like a bit of red flag to me as well. It certainly looks nice as LIDEN FILMS is capable of doing quality technical work when they want to, but whether this turns out to be a legitimate sports show or just another excuse to ogle anime girls remains to be seen.

Senjuushi: The Thousand Noble Musketeers

Game Adaptation by TMS Entertainment Air Date: 7/3/2018

Director: Kenichi Kasai Series Composition: Takashi Aoshima

​Senjusshi is a gacha game featuring anthropomorphized guns. No, not Girls’ Frontline, that has modern guns as girls. This has old muskets and rifles as guys! TOTALLY DIFFERENT! Anyway, the plot is not important here obviously, the trailer looks to be decent quality and the boys are cute so if that’s your thing, here you go.

Back Street Girls

Manga Adaptation by J.C. Staff Air Date: 7/4/2018

Director: Chiaki Kon Series Composition: Susumu Yamakawa

​The premise of this show is so offensive that I was actually considering ignoring it altogether, but in the end I think it’s worth mentioning to warn people. Back Street Girls is about three yakuza who fail a job and presented with a choice: kill themselves or undergo sex reassignment surgery and become female idols. They choose the latter of course, and become extremely popular. I don’t even know where to start on this let alone fit all my thoughts in one paragraph. Let’s just say it sounds very bad, it’s insulting to trans people and women, and you have been warned.

Miss Caretaker of Sunohara

Sunoharasou no Kanrinin-san

Manga Adaptation by SILVER LINK Air Date: 7/5/2018

Director: Mirai Minato Series Composition: Fumihiko Shimo

​I’m not sure if this is supposed to be a big sister fantasy thing or a little boy fantasy thing, but either way it seems bad. Our main character is a little boy that gets mistaken for a girl and this bothers him enough that he decides to move to a new school. Moving means living with a busty woman for some reason and picking up a harem of classmates along the way. I’d go a little easier on it but the trailer is just all boob bounce so it’s pretty clear where their priorities are.

How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord

Isekai Maou to Shoukan Shoujo no Dorei Majutsu

Light Novel Adaptation by Ajia-Do Air Date: 7/5/2018

Director: Yuuta Murano Series Composition: Kazuyuki Fudeyasu

​Alright, get out your light novel bingo cards, here we go: gamer dude is summoned to the game world by some hot anime ladies who try to enslave him with a spell, but unfortunately he materializes as his in-game character that has a passive counter spell ability. This reverses the spell and enslaves the hot anime ladies instead. AWESOME. I hope I don’t have to explain how bad a look it is to have your male main character/audience proxy walking around pulling two women with chains and collars but just in case let me shout it’s VERY BAD. If not for the existence of Back Street Girls I’d probably nominate this for worst show of the season.

Banana Fish

Manga Adaptation by MAPPA Air Date: 7/6/2018

Director: Hiroko Utsumi Series Composition: Hiroshi Seko

​Adapting an influential Boys Love manga from the 80s is certainly something we don’t see very often, so at the very least I’m interested to see exactly what Banana Fish will be. The plot centers on a dude who was adopted and raised as the heir of a crime family but at 17 decides to rebel and start his own gang. The fact that it seems to be a violent, pulp action show aimed at a female audience intrigues me and MAPPA usually does good work, so we’ll be keeping an eye on this one. My only concern is the age of the source material and the descriptions I’ve read seem to indicate the main character has gone through some kind of sexual abuse. If they can navigate that minefield then maybe it will turn out good?

Seven Senses of the Re’Union

Shichisei no Subaru

Light Novel Adaptation by Lerche Air Date: 7/6/2018

Director: Yoshito Nishouji Series Composition: Takao Yoshioka

​A group of kids played an MMO together in elementary school until one of their friends died in an incident somehow related to the game. Now in high school, they decide to reunite and play the new version of the game and end up running into their supposedly dead friend. If you’re thinking this sounds like they mixed the plot of AnoHana and Sword Art Online you’re not alone – that’s nearly every reaction I’ve heard including my own. By all appearances this seems to be leaning more towards the game aspect and the mystery surrounding their friends death rather than the impact it had a la AnoHana, and if that’s the case you can count me out. If it’s not though… well you can still count me out, I don’t think this looks very good regardless.

Angels of Death

Satsuriku no Tenshi

Game Adaptation by J.C. Staff Air Date: 7/6/2018

Director: Kentarou Suzuki Series Composition: Yoshinobu Fujioka

​Turning a low budget RPG maker game into an anime sure is an interesting back story, but it’s hard to say if this will actually be any good. Plot details seem intentionally vague as they are going for a horror/mystery thing, but basically it’s about a girl waking up in a weird building and forming an uneasy alliance with a killer carrying a sickle as they both try to escape. I guess that sounds alright on paper, but the trailer looks like a pretty generic, wannabe-edgy horror anime that I have no interest in whatsoever. To be fair, there must be SOMETHING to it if its made it this far from its humble roots, but I will need to see it to believe it.

Harukana Receive

Manga Adaptation by C2C Air Date: 7/6/2018

Director: Toshiyuki Kubooka Series Composition: Touko Machida

​So earlier we had a show about anime girls playing badminton, now we move on to anime girls playing beach volleyball. Unlike Hanebado though, this gives off more of a “girls’ club” vibe than a serious sports story, which has other pros and cons. I’m not particularly fond of the cutesy art style and voice acting, but the directing in the trailer seems slightly less pervy and I don’t see any male authority figures around to dominate the narrative. So maybe it will be alright? I’m guessing it will be perfectly adequate if maybe a bit boring, unless you’re really that desperate to see anime girls in bikinis. I mean, if that’s the case, you do know how to use Google, right?

Chio’s School Road

Chio-chan no Tsuugakuro

Manga Adaptation by Diomedea Air Date: 7/6/2018

Director: Takayuki Inagaki Series Composition: Takayuki Inagaki

​This is the story of a girl named Chio who tries to go to school. Yep, that’s it. OK, so there is more to it of course. Chio is an avid gamer and loves Western shooters in particular, and she runs into various bizarre and random circumstances that make getting to school a lot harder than it sounds. I do love some absurd comedy when done right and the way this season is looking I’m pretty desperate for some hope to latch on to, so I’m hoping this is at least entertaining enough to watch. The trailer looks pretty fun despite (or maybe because of?) opening up with a school girl on a stripper pole. Also I’m pretty sure that blonde dude is just Nitta from Hinamatsuri, so it can’t possibly be bad, right?

Ongaku Shoujo

Anime Original by Studio DEEN Air Date: 7/6/2018

Director: Yukio Nishimoto Series Composition: Deko Akao

​We already had a decent anime about a low rent idol group called Locodol. Go watch that, this looks lame and it also does that thing where you can see the girl’s eye and glasses through her hair. Inexcusable.