First Look: Fall 2016 Anime Shorts

Shorts in fall are probably a bad idea, especially in Japan, where the common cold can leave you bedridden for days on end. Nevertheless, this fall season probably has a bigger boatload of anime shorts than ever before, and once again it’s up to Jel and I – safe for an entirely unwarranted appearance by Euri – to separate the wheat from the chaff. Though this season, that will probably give you enough wheat to bake a single biscuit and enough chaff to feed an entire stable throughout the winter. But hey, at least we got to see Yotsuba animated! Yay…?

First Look: Poco’s Udon World

After his father’s passing, Souta returns to the small town where he grew up to clear out his parents’ former home and udon restaurant. While in the restaurant he finds a peculiar (and hungry) young boy who immediately grows attached to him.

First Look: Magic of Stella

Tamaki Honda has just started high school and has yet to find something she is truly passionate about. After checking out the various school clubs she decides to join the SNS club, a group of girls who design indie games.

First Look: Occultic;Nine

Yuuta Gamon is a self-declared NEET running an affiliate blog on occult phenomena and gonzo rumours. Also, there’s a spirit medium at his school who’s also an idol, there’s a grumpy dude in glasses and a kid in a fedora and a goth who finds someone’s scalp in her mailbox. And a journalist who is investigating into some professor who gets killed. Oh, and a bunch of people drown. I think?

First Look: March Comes in Like a Lion

At 17 years old, Rei Kiriyama is already living alone, funded by his winnings as a renowned shogi prodigy. Outside of his professional life however, things are much tougher as Rei struggles in his relationship with family and friends.

First Look: Classicaloid

“Classicaloid” versions of classical music composers like Beethoven and Mozart have appeared in modern day Japan. They look like normal people (in slightly weird clothes) but when they play their “musique”, very strange things begin to happen.

First Look: Kiss Him, Not Me!

Kae Serinuma lives to witness the intimate relationships between handsome young men. Yet when the death of her favourite anime characters cause her to lose a lot of weight, Kae suddenly finds herself the object of various boys’ affections. How could she make them stop pining after her, and start pining after each other?

First Look: All Out!!

The anime industry needs another group of schoolboys to sell their merchandise, and it seems the sports genre is popular right now. With no swimming, basketball or volleyball this season, it’s rugby’s time to shine.

First Look: Flip Flappers

Cocona is an ordinary middle school girl in an ordinary town, but one day she runs into the mysterious Papika, a sky-surfing girl accompanied by a fussy robot. Together they’re spirited away to the world of Pure Illusion, a mysterious alternate dimension full of whimsy and danger.

First Look: Yuri!!! On ICE

Anime Original by Mappa Streaming on Crunchyroll Premise Yuri Katsuki is a professional figure skater. After an embarrassing loss in one of skating’s top tournaments, he gets in a rut and ends up moving back to his hometown. Determined to shake his depression, his renewed passion unintentionally draws the attention of his idol, world champion Victor Nikiforov.

The Catch-Up: Fall 2016

After the Wrap-Up and the Roundup, it’s time for the Catch-Up! Because it’s a bit silly to write a ‘first look’ post on shows that aren’t technically new, the Catch-Up gathers our brief impressions on new seasons of existing shows and reminds readers what we thought about their earlier installments. The Fall season is bringing us new episodes of Sound! Euphonium, Natsume’s Book of Friends, Ajin, Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans and Glorio Blog favourite BBK/BRNK. What’s remained the same and what’s new or different? We’re here to help you find out.

First Look: Kamen Rider Ex-Aid

Emu Hojo is both a trainee doctor and also a lover of video games. These two sides to his life come together in an unexpected way one day when he discovers the existence of a deadly virus threatening humanity, known as the Bugster. Now he’ll have to battle the viruses’ monstrous manifestations as the gaming doctor, Kamen Rider Ex-Aid!

Actually, it’s about Medics in Games Journalism.