With an abnormally high amount of sequels and returning shows, our winter preview guide is going to be a bit shorter than usual. That said, there’s still quite a lot to talk about. Part 1 of our guide features the latest version of Osamu Tezuka’s Dororo, a return of sorts for Boogiepop Phantom, and the latest isekai trash called Rising of the Shield Hero. There is also a show with a talking cat so it can’t be all that bad.​

If you are new to the GLORIO preview guide, we generally only cover new shows and omit recent sequels or shows continuining from the previous season. We don’t want to leave you completely hanging though, so here’s a list of the notable series that will not be covered in the guide:​

Sequels	Continuing from Last Season
1/3 – BanG Dream! Season 2 1/5 – The Morose Mononokean Season 2 1/7 – Mob Psycho 100 Season 2 1/8 – Kemono Friends Season 2 1/9 – Real Girl Season 2 1/9 – Kakegurui XX 1/11 – Date A Live Season 3 TBA – Forest of Piano Season 2	Radiant Sword Art Online: Alicization Fairy Tail Final Season That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Run with the Wind Karakuri Circus Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind A Certain Magical Index III Hinomaru Sumo Ace Attorney

Now, on to the previews!

Boogiepop and Others (2019)

Boogiepop wa Warawanai, Boogiepop Doesn’t Laugh, Boogiepop Phantom

Light Novel Adaptation by Madhouse Air Date: 1/4/2019

Director: Shingo Natsume Series Composition: Tomohiro Suzuki

Boogiepop is a long running series of modern day fantasy light novels that are centered around an urban legend that appears to be real – a shinigami known as “Boogiepop”. Think early 2000’s psychological horror anime and you’re there. Dragging up a modestly recognizable series from that era reminds of the recent revival of fellow light novel series/anime Kino’s Journey. That didn’t go particularly well, and to be honest my gut says this didn’t age well either. Here’s hoping I’m wrong.
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The Price of Smiles

Egao no Daika

Anime Original by Tatsunoko Productions Air Date: 1/4/2019

Director: Toshimasa Suzuki Series Composition: Shinichi Inotsume

Tatsunoko, the renowned studio that produced Speed Racer, Gachaman, and many other timeless classics, is celebrating their 55th anniversary with a… generic looking mecha show? Well, at least it will have some budget. Cynicism aside, a story about a princess and a female soldier who’s fates I’m sure will be inevitably intertwined does not sound like your typical mecha anime setup. Hopefully that will add some fresh perspective.
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W’z

Anime Original by GoHands Air Date: 1/6/2019

Director: TBA Series Composition: TBA

So from what I can piece together, this is about a YouTube DJ trying to get famous and somehow getting tangled up with magic sword fighting??? That actually sounds alright, but given studio GoHands last TV project was Hand Shakers, considered by some to be one of the worst anime of all time (or at least the ugliest), they’ve got a lot to prove. It seems their uhhh… “unique” visual style is carrying over here and that alone may be enough to count me out. As of writing they haven’t announced the director or writer but they have put out a list of EDM artists that will appear in the series, so that’s also a good sign, right?
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How Clumsy You Are, Miss Ueno

Ueno-san wa Bukiyou

Manga Adaptation by Lesprit Air Date: 1/7/2019

Director: Tomohiro Yamanashi Series Composition: Tomohiro Yamanashi

This concept sounds like something I would like: the titular Ueno is a member of the science club and tries to use her weird inventions to confess to the boy she likes. Of course, she fails miserably every time. In practice though, the trailer does not hold out a lot of hope. I’m not fond of the art style, it’s a bit more pervy than I can tolerate for a show about middle-schoolers, and to be honest the only “inventions” I’m seeing are random costumes. I’ll give it a shot but not getting my hopes up.
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Dororo

Manga Adaptation by MAPPA Air Date: 1/7/2019

Director: Kazuhiro Furuhashi Series Composition: Yasuko Kobayashi

This is the latest retelling of the well regarded Osamu Tezuka manga of the same name, which I’ll admit I’m not personally familiar with but the rest of the GLORIO crew seem pretty interested in it. The story is about a child thief named Dororo joining a hunter who is on a journey to reclaim his body parts his father sold off to demons at birth… sure, whatever, the trailer looks pretty solid and I think it’s safe to trust MAPPA to do quality work. Definitely worth keeping an eye on.
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Pastel Memories

Game Adaptation by project No. 9 Air Date: 1/8/2019

Director: Yasuyuki Shinozaki Series Composition: Tsuyoshi Tamai

Pastel Memories is based on a C-list mobile game about a group of girls trying to save otaku culture from disappearing from Akihabara. This of course means collecting cute anime girls and having them fight virtual monsters. Recent shows like Last Period have taught me not to automatically write these things off, but I don’t know folks, this one looks pretty unremarkable. Given the premise, maybe they can work in some fun references or something? That’s all I got on this one.
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An Angel Flew Down to Me

Watashi ni Tenshi ga Maiorita!

Manga Adaptation by Dogakobo Air Date: 1/8/2019

Director: Daisuke Hiramaki Series Composition: Yuka Yamada

Continuing this new trend of “adult female pedophile” anime… you know what? I’m not even going to keep talking about this trash, just complain that the extremely talented staff at Dogakobo are wasted on another terrible show and not making Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun season 2. There is no justice in this world.
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Circlet Princess

Game Adaptation by Silver Link Air Date: 1/8/2019

Director: Hideki Tachibana Series Composition: Nachi Kio

Another generic game adaptation I’m not expecting much of, this one is about girls participating in a virtual fighting thing as a sport or something. Basically an excuse to put them in skimpy outfits and swing giant anime swords. The only nice thing I can say is the trailer looks like higher animation quality than I usually expect from Silver Link, but other than that I’m not seeing a single unique thing to be interested in here.
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The Rising of the Shield Hero

Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari

Adaptation by Kinema Citrus Air Date: 1/9/2019

Director: Takao Abo Series Composition: Keigo Koyanagi

Pull out your isekai light novel trash bingo cards, because here is this season’s top entry. Over the past year we had slavery pop up as a common isekai element (which is apparently in this show as well), and now we’re adding false rape accusations as a key motivation for our main character! Yay! While I suspect the writing is not nearly conscious enough to be intentionally making a statement with that, coupled with all the other isekai light novel trappings I sure don’t think it helps. The first episode is already available on Crunchyroll if you want to check it out, but if you are genuinely excited about this series you’re probably on the wrong website.
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My Housemate Is On My Lap, But Sometimes On My Head

Doukyonin wa Hiza, Tokidoki, Atama no Ue

Manga Adaptation by Zero-G Air Date: 1/9/2018

Director: Kaoru Suzuki Series Composition: Deko Akao

A writer adopts a cat, and as they live their new life together the story shifts between the man and his new friend. You know what? I’ll take it. If anything, it’s a unique premise and I’m willing to give it a shot. The trailer seems surprisingly serious and makes me wonder if this is going to be a heavier, healing type story. Also, let the comparisons to She and Her Cat begin.