Genre: Action & Adventure, Animation, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Actor: Atsumi Tanezaki, Chiaki Kobayashi, Hiroki Touchi, Kana Ichinose, Nobuhiko Okamoto
Genre: Action & Adventure, Animation, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Actor: Atsumi Tanezaki, Chiaki Kobayashi, Hiroki Touchi, Kana Ichinose, Nobuhiko Okamoto
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Drama
Actor: Ai Kakuma, Aki Toyosaki, Atsumi Tanezaki, Kazuyuki Okitsu, Kengo Kawanishi, Maaya Sakamoto, Makoto Furukawa, Manaka Iwami, Megumi Han, Miyuki Sawashiro, Nobunaga Shimazaki, Reina Ueda, Rie Kugimiya, Satomi Sato, Takahiro Sakurai, Takuya Eguchi, Toshiyuki Morikawa, You Taichi, Yuichi Nakamura, Yuma Uchida, Yuuichirou Umehara
Fun, wholesome, and relatable, Haikyu!! celebrates the highs and lows of high school volleyball. The show starts off focused on two freshmen volleyball players from opposing middle school teams, who have to learn teamwork in order to be accepted into their high school club. While the team might initially come across as self-conscious, over-the-top, highly dramatic characters, it’s clear that they're coming from a shared love for the competitive sport (and that they also just happen to be going through puberty). However, the show’s strategic storytelling makes us care about the team: explanations about volleyball tactics are taught just at the right moment in order to heighten the stakes of every player’s move. Simultaneously, every player moves into each new plot point as a natural consequence of their backstory and their perception of each event. Haikyu!!’s agile approach makes the show a compelling watch, and a great place to start if you're new to anime.
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Drama
Actor: Ayumu Murase, Daisuke Namikawa, Hiroshi Kamiya, Hiroyuki Yoshino, Hisao Egawa, Kaito Ishikawa, Kaori Nazuka, Kazunari Tanaka, Koki Uchiyama, Koutaro Nishiyama, Mark Ishii, Masaru Hayashi, Miyu Irino, Nobuhiko Okamoto, Nobuyori Sagara, Ryohei Kimura, Ryota Takeuchi, Satoshi Hino, Shinnosuke Tachibana, Soma Saito, Subaru Kimura, Sumire Morohoshi, Toshiki Masuda, Yoshimasa Hosoya, Yu Hayashi, Yuichi Nakamura, Yuki Kaji, Yuu Hayashi
An oni/human hybrid, a severed head in a birdcage, and a bayonet-wielding maid step into a vampire's house to solve a murder.
And that is truly the essence of Undead Murder Face. Blending gothic with supernatural, creatures of global and Japanese lore converge in a turn-of-the-century historical anime. In only two episodes, the show establishes the Westernization of Japan and how it leads to erasing foundational parts of their culture while mixing in a unique fantasy element to the story. Most interestingly, the impressive animation (especially the transitions), eerie close-ups and ominous nightscapes are punctuated by curious moments of comedy. And it all accumulates into a sensational concept that's worth the watch.
Genre: Animation, Mystery, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Actor: Hiro Shimono, Itaru Yamamoto, Maaya Uchida, Makoto Koichi, Mamoru Miyano, Masaki Aizawa, Reina Kondo, Saima Nakano, Sayumi Suzushiro, Shin-ichiro Miki, Soma Saito, Taku Yashiro, Tomokazu Sugita, Tomoyo Kurosawa, Wataru Yokojima, Yumiri Hanamori
It’s cool that more and more people are drawing attention to the cleanup after the cinematic explosions — much more kaiju explosions. This series is balls to the wall action, giving us the monsters and the raining down of blood and guts right away. The details are graphic and satisfying like a perverse cooking show or a horror film. When it’s not about that, we’re looking at hardworking, disciplined laborers in this absurd setting. Like many kaiju films, it’s a pretty easy show to get into, shining with its punchy animations, high octane action, ever-present danger, and a surprisingly adorable factor.
Genre: Action & Adventure, Animation, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Actor: Asami Seto, Fairouz Ai, Keisuke Komoto, Kengo Kawanishi, Masaya Fukunishi, Sayaka Senbongi, Shunsuke Takeuchi, Wataru Katoh, Yuuki Shin
Featuring almost no external conflict for its protagonist to face, this story of a young, ill-tempered calligraphy artist—sent to recollect himself at an island community—makes the private process of soul-searching as inspiring as it is cathartic. It's a series that understands how one's art is informed almost subliminally by the smallest observations and interactions, transforming the act of personal expression into a tribute to the people and places who give this expression real weight. So even if Barakamon spends most of its time on quaint, everyday experiences without any heightened drama, you get the sense that something significant is shifting within Seishu with every day that passes. It's a warm, beautiful anime about some of the biggest existential questions, delivered in a modest, good-humored way.
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Drama, Family
Actor: Atsushi Ono, Daisuke Ono, Fumihiko Tachiki, Junichi Suwabe, Koki Uchiyama, Megumi Han, Nozomi Furuki, Rina Endou, Rumi Okubo, Suzuko Hara, Tanuki Sugino, Yoshino Takamori, Yuki Kaji
Simple yet captivating, Skip and Loafer is a slice-of-life anime with a refreshing approach to the high school experience. While the anime genre is mostly known for its bright, high-saturated colors and action-filled, fantastical plots, this show celebrates the ordinary, with its pastel toned design, sweet humor, and clean animation. The series is centered around the main duo Mitsumi and Sosuke, but it never skimps on their friendships with their group. In fact, despite the classmates’ different backgrounds, the show’s thoughtful introductions make it easy to see why they would all care for each other, even as we get to know their insecurities. Skip and Loafer feels like a hug from the childhood best friend you had (or the one that you wished you had) – the one who you hung out with after school, the one who inspired you, and the one that changed your life for the better. Every episode is just full of pure, simple joy.
Genre: Animation, Comedy
Actor: Akinori Egoshi, Ayumu Murase, Hikaru Tanaka, Maaya Uchida, Megumi Han, Minami Tsuda, Mitsuki Saiga, Ryohei Kimura, Tomoyo Kurosawa, Yuka Terasaki
Intricately constructed and unbearably suspenseful from beginning to end, the first season of The Promised Neverland is a masterclass in using the episodic structure of TV to maximize the effect of a mystery-driven thriller. By placing us firmly within the perspective of its child protagonists (who are, to be fair, incredibly smart and determined), every step towards freedom still feels like a shot in the dark, and every setback becomes increasingly more devastating. Even as the season hurtles towards its conclusion, it never becomes clear how much its characters will succeed, if at all. Intelligent editing and animation that goes from ominous to fully grotesque ensures that something always feels off or too good to be true, no matter what.
And it says a lot about the sheer quality of the first season that it's still worth recommending despite a truly awful, rushed second season, which ignores its own themes and resorts to lazy animation just to get through the story faster. Viewed as a two-season series, The Promised Neverland can't help but look disappointing, squandering an exhilarating first half with developments that lead nowhere. But even on its own, season one stands tall as a stunning achievement in anime—a self-contained story of selflessness and hope in the face of dehumanization and despair.
Genre: Action & Adventure, Animation, Crime, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Thriller
Actor: Ai Kayano, Ari Ozawa, Erisa Kuon, Hiyori Kono, Lynn, Maaya Uchida, Mari Hino, Mariya Ise, Nami Fujita, Nao Fujita, Shinei Ueki, Shizuka Ishigami, Sumire Morohoshi, Yoshino Aoyama, Yuhko Kaida, Yuko Mori
Genre: Animation, Drama, Mystery
Actor: Aoi Yuki, Atsumi Tanezaki, Katsuyuki Konishi, Takeo Otsuka
After his team loses in the prefectural tournament finals, Yoichi Isagi is invited to join an isolated training program designed to create the best striker in the world in hopes of Japan winning the World Cup. The program's designer believes that great strikers are selfish and egoistic players. As a more intense sports anime, the stakes of becoming the best striker in Japan (and the world) or never playing football again keeps the suspense high. The series does a great job of balancing the action and taking the time to develop the characters and their motivations. Blue Lock is a solid, high-concept anime for the world's most beloved sport.
Genre: Action & Adventure, Animation, Drama
Actor: Aoi Ichikawa, Eri Yukimura, Hiroshi Kamiya, Junichi Suwabe, Katsuyuki Konishi, Kazuki Ura, Kazuyuki Okitsu, Kenichi Suzumura, Koki Uchiyama, Masatomo Nakazawa, Natsuki Hanae, Nobunaga Shimazaki, Shinnosuke Tachibana, Shoya Chiba, Shugo Nakamura, Soma Saito, Takahiro Sakurai, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Yuki Ono, Yuma Uchida
Genre: Animation, Drama
Actor: Eriko Matsui, Haruka Shiraishi, Hiroki Touchi, Makoto Furukawa, Naoya Uchida, Ryoko Shiraishi, Takuma Terashima, Yoshino Nanjo
With its slice-of-life approach, A Sign of Affection immediately tugs at the heartstrings with its sweet romance between a deaf university student and a multilingual traveller from manga duo Suu Morishita. The anime adaptation sees the world in Yuki’s eyes, with delicately lined shapes and pink-tinted watercolor paired with Sumire Morohoshi’s sweet voice, and it’s lovely to see the unjaded, kind way she interprets the world. The series does have some of the familiar romance tropes, like love triangles, wingman friends, and the glowy, bokeh lighting, but it’s sort of the point in this charming show. A Sign of Affection likens the careful, hesitant way of falling in love with the way Yuki interacts with the world, or rather, the reactions abled people have to her disability.
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Drama
Actor: Kaede Hondo, Nao Toyama, Ryota Osaka, Sumire Morohoshi, Takeo Otsuka, Tasuku Hatanaka, Yu Miyazaki
Genre: Animation, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Actor: Ikumi Hasegawa, Nobunaga Shimazaki
Genre: Animation
Actor: Koki Uchiyama, Nobunaga Shimazaki, Ryota Suzuki, Shoya Chiba, Yuichi Nakamura, Yuma Uchida
Making a bucket list at the height of a zombie outbreak seems ridiculous, yet totally reasonable when you've spent the last three years overworked and undervalued. In real life, our workforce already feels zombified as higher-ups enslave the working class to high production and insufficient pay, so it's nice to see Zom 100 exemplify that notion. Zom 100 also immediately captures that essential reminder to "live now," which has become especially relevant as the Covid-19 pandemic found most people rekindling old hobbies and discovering new ones as death and sickness felt ever near.
Though there isn't a lot of character-building in episode one, the titular 100-item bucket list promises an eye-opening, personal journey with our protagonist Akira. Thankfully, the opening didn't shy away from the gore and electrifying tension of the zombie attacks, making this an interesting horror/slice-of-life/coming-of-age/drama to keep an eye on.
Genre: Action & Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Actor: Makoto Furukawa, Minami Takahashi, Shuichiro Umeda, Tomori Kusunoki