It’s the start of a new anime season, and that can only mean one thing: time to start judging books by their covers! Rather than put you all through a detailed preview of every new series out there, I’ll be focusing on a few promising titles in this pair of articles. For part one, let’s take a look at some promising wild cards that could be good if all goes well.
Sound! Euphonium
Kyoto Animation is making a show about girls in a band? Golly, that doesn’t sound familiar at all. Before you fall headfirst into a K-On! flashback, it’s worth noting that Sound! Euphonium is showing a few key differences from its spiritual cousin. Classical music has replaced the old pop rock, and the girls in question play a variety of brass and string instruments. There have been confirmed sightings of male characters with speaking roles, and there even seems to be a real plot here.
All kidding aside, this one should appeal to both admirers and detractors of the K-On! franchise. The main characters seem likable enough, and the animation looks absolutely gorgeous. As long as the writers can wring a half-decent story out of the premise, this has the potential to be a low-key hit.
Mikagura School Suite
On the other end of the spectrum, we have Mikagura School Suite. The show supposedly has its origins in a collection of Vocaloid songs, and boy does it look the part. Bright colors and energetic characters abound, and the plot seems to revolve around magical battles between cultural clubs at an exclusive high school. Honestly, it’s a bit tricky to tell exactly what’s going on in Mikagura’s manic first episode.
There’s an awful lot of energy in this show, but it needs to be unleashed in the right direction at the right time. It’s possible that the whole thing might collapse under its own weight, but there’s definitely fun to be had if the series can keep everything together.
Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches
I’m cheating a bit on this one, as I’ve read the manga that Yamada is based on. A goofy school comedy with some interesting gimmicks, this show will live or die based on its ability to make the audience laugh. The first episode is heavy on set-up and character introductions, but getting the heavy lifting out of the way early on could prove to be a good call in the long run. The anime is adapting what is arguably the best portion of the source material, so it’s got a decent shot at holding up over the course of the season.
That’s all for now, but check back for part two of the season preview later this week. I’ll take a look at some big hitters that should be good as long as they don’t do anything stupid.
This Week in Anime is hastily cobbled together by Paul Jensen. You can follow his ramblings about anime and manga on Twitter.