8 new anime to watch this spring
More than 45 new shows will air this spring as the anime season kicks off in Japan. To help you decide what to watch, we’ve put together a list of eight shows that stand out as interesting to newcomers and diehard fans alike. Thanks to streaming services such as Amazon, Crunchyroll, Funimation and Netflix, most of these shows can be viewed internationally within a day of their original broadcast date.
A show from our preview of the winter season (DorohedorO) should be coming to Netflix internationally this season. We will continue to update this post with streaming and availability information.
For viewers with children
Emergence of a bookworm season 2
The first season of Emergence of a bookworm aired late last year and made it to our list of the best anime of 2019. The series follows Myne – or rather, an aspiring librarian from our world who died and woke up as the ailing five-year-old Myne – in a fantasy world where normally people have no access to books. In season 1, Myne tried to realize her dream of making books with her knowledge of our world, but her unknown food constantly stopped her. Now it seems that Myne will achieve her dream, along with a way to manage her illness, but not without a new set of complications.
Emergence of a bookworm season 2 will continue Crunchyrolland the broadcast begins on April 5 in Japan.
If you want Promare and Zootopia
BNA: Brand new animal
BNA: Brand new animal is a new series from animation studio Trigger (Promare, Kill La killed), director Yoh Yoshinari (Little Witch Academia), and writer Kazuki Nakashima (Promare, Gurren Lagann). It follows Michiru, a high school girl who one day mysteriously becomes a tanuki person. She moves to Anima City, a whole city of humanoid animals like her, to discover what has caused her sudden change.
BNA: Brand new animal will air in Japan on April 8 and will continue streaming Netflix in North America later this year.
If you like romance, drama, comedy and cute animals
Fruit basket season 2
Fruit basket is a romance / drama / comedy about orphaned high school student Tohru; she is going to live with two of her classmates, a few cousins from the incredibly rich and powerful Soma family. The cousins, along with several other members of the Soma family, have been cursed to turn into different animals of the Chinese zodiac when embraced by someone of the opposite sex. Season 2 will delve deeper into the trauma the curse has caused for those involved, as well as the deep-seated problems of the Soma family.
Fruit basket Season 2 will be streamed from April 6, subtitled on Crunchyroll, and with subtitles and dubbed FunimationNow.
If you like action packed philosophical cyberpunk political thrillers
Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045
This third season of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex takes place 13 years after the events of the second season, which originally aired until 2005. After a global financial crisis, Japan’s Public Security Section 9, a special type of cybernetic crime SWAT team is involved in trying an AI-driven sustainable war to stop. swallow the world. The move to 3DCG animation only is a first for the series, which is produced by both Production I.G and Sola Digital Arts. It is co-directed by Kenji Kamiyama, who directed the earlier seasons, and Shinji Aramaki (Apple seed).
Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 will be available to stream on Netflix on April 23.
What if a romantic story was a comedy written as a thriller?
Kaguya-sama: Love is War season 2
Season 1 of Kaguya-sama: Love is War was on our list of the best anime of 2019 for its stylish animation and unique twist on a romantic comedy about two overachieving high school students who like each other but will do everything they can to make the other admit it first. Season 2 promises further swear words and some new characters to escalate their ridiculous romantic scheming.
Kaguya-sama: Love is War season 2 opens on April 11 in Japan. Where it will stream has yet to be announced.
If you like the phrase “dystopian rock music anime with mechs”
Listeners
In a world where people have lost the concept of music, special people called Players fight monsters called Miminashi to protect humanity. One day, a boy named Echo encounters a mysterious woman buried in a junkyard. Myuu has no memory of who she is; strangely enough, she has a large headphone jack in her lower back. After hooking her up to an amp, they discover she may have the power to change the world. The sci-fi / rock music concept for the series comes from musician JIN (Kagerou Daze), anime screenwriter Dai Sato (Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo) and producer Taichi Hashimoto. It is animated by MAPPA (Yuri !!! On ice, and Zombie Land Saga).
Listeners will stream FunimationNow and will air in Japan on April 4.
If you like your complex fantasy worlds with stylish action
Tower of God
Bam and Rachel lived outside a gigantic closed building called the Tower, until Rachel found a way to enter. Not wanting to be alone, Bam manages to open a door to the tower. Inside, he finds that each floor is the size of North America and is filled with different nations and cultures; to ascend to the next floor, you have to pass several tests to prove yourself worthy. Tower of God is the second Crunchyroll Originals series and is created in collaboration with internet comics platform Webtoon, which published the original strip on which the show is based. Telecom Animation Film, best known for his recent work on Lupine the third part 5, animates the show.
Tower of God will stream Crunchyroll from April 1.
If you like romance stories that are light on romance but high on work drama
Wave, listen to me!
Based on a manga series by Blade of the Immortal creator Hiroaki Samura and animated by Sunrise (Gundam, Code Geass, and Cowboy Bebop), golf is about a waitress named Minare Koda. Minare complains about her current life situation and ex-boyfriend of a radio producer in a bar after drinking too much. When a recording of her diatribe is broadcast on the radio the next day, she angrily confronts the producer, only to get him airborne live.
Wave, listen to me! will stream FunimationNow and start on April 4 in Japan.
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