With April a couple weeks away, it’s about time to put away the winter wear and break out the summer clothes. But for anime fans, it also means the opportunity to check out an entirely new season of anime.
What we have now has been...interesting, to put it mildly, but much of what we wound up with were just strong performers from the season before. But that’s not the case this time around, where we’re loaded down with so many series, it almost feels like ten isn’t enough. Still, this list examines some of the hottest new titles coming out for this upcoming Spring 2020 season.
10 APPARE-RANMAN
Appare-Ranman is a new series coming from the studio P.A. Works. One of a handful of original series coming out this season, it’s set right before the beginning of the 20th century. The story is about two young men—one is Sorano Appare, a genius engineer, and the other is Isshiki Kosame, a samurai. They both wind up stranded in America, and compete in the Trans-America Wild Race, a contest requiring them to travel from one end of the country to the next in Sorano’s steam powered car. The winner of the race wins a prize the two hope to use to return to America. Basically? This is anime Wacky Races. How can people not be interested?
9 NO GUNS LIFE PART 2
No Guns Life season one was a surprisingly compelling series about a hard boiled “Resolver” named Juuzo Inui, a man that was experimented on for the sake of the war and turned into a cyborg with a gun for a head. With the war over, Juuzo works in the city to help solve issues related to Extends, the other members of his kind. The series sees him protecting a young boy named Tetsuro after he winds up needing protection from a mega corporation that runs the city. Animated by Madhouse, No Guns Life was one of the highlights of the fall season.
8 KINGDOM SEASON 3
Based on one of the longest running action seinen manga, Kingdom is a series set during the Warring States period in China. It follows Li Xin, a young man who wants to be one of the greatest generals who ever lived, and Ying Zheng, a man aiming to unite all of the different states under one nation.
This series has been running off and on since 2012, and the third season has been highly anticipated by fans of the anime and manga. The animation is looking better than ever as well, now that the studio behind the scenes has changed hands from Studio Pierrot to Studio Signpost.
7 SAKURA WARS
The original Sakura Wars was one of anime’s biggest cross-media properties—a series that was successful not just with video games, but as an anime as well. Unsurprisingly then, with the creation of a new video game, they’ve made another anime series. Set ten years after the events of the Great Demon War, it sees the international Combat Revues becoming organized. Shin Sakura Wars will focus on the Imperial Combat Revue, led by Navy Captain Seijuurou Kamiyama, as they prepare to participate in a tournament while also battling against a new invasion.
6 RE: ZERO SEASON 2
Subaru Natsuki found himself snatched into an alternate, fantasy world. Things are about to be great for him, right? Surely he’s got a bunch of sweet powers and is about to get a really attractive girlfriend while having the world handed to him, right?
Well….not so much. Turns out, Subaru’s only power is “Return by Death”, where he gets to come back to life after being killed, with his full memory intact. Maybe this can help him in a hostile world while he tries to help a beautiful young woman. Re:Zero was one of 2016’s most popular anime, and having a season two is sure to excite the fanbase that’s been waiting forever.
5 DESTRUCTION OTOME
Katarina Claes believes she’s simply the daughter of a duke...until one day she hits her head, and realizes the world around her is actually based on the game Fortune Lover, the romance game she played in her previous life. Unfortunately for Katarina, though she’s wound up in a new world, she’s actually become that game’s villain! The routes for the villain she remembers all end with her being either exiled or killed, so it’s up to her to figure out how to get a good ending. We’ve been smothered in a deluge of isekai anime for years, fortunately at least this one is at least creative.
4 FRUITS BASKET
Fruits Basket was one of the most popular romcom anime of the 2000s, but it ran way too short and didn’t manage to adapt the entire manga. This time around, we’re getting a new version with updated animation as well as a complete adaptation of the story of Tooru Honda and the Souma Family she meets that turn into animals of the Chinese Zodiac whenever they’re hugged by members of the opposite sex.
3 SWORD ART ONLINE ALICIZATION PART II
It’s weird this series went on break considering the first season was an unbroken two cours, but ultimately it’s fine so long if it keeps up this level of quality. Alicization is easily the best part of Sword Art Online thus far, seeing Kirito trapped in a world where there isn’t a guaranteed way out while also introducing new characters like Alice and Eugeo, the combat remains as slick as ever while the character development continues to improve. Can Alice protect the Human Empire from the Dark Territory? Will Kirito ever come back to the world of humanity?
2 DIGIMON ADVENTURE
Taking place in 2020, this series seems to follow Taichi Yagami after being transported into the Digital World on his way to helping his family. Though it’s mentioned as being a new series, it seems more like a full reboot to take advantage of all the milennials who can’t get enough of the Adventure 01 crew. Toei Animation hasn’t given us any reason to think otherwise, so perhaps we’ll finally see whether nostalgia truly is the answer to the Digimon franchise.
1 TOWER OF GOD
Originally an immensely well known Korean manhwa, Tower of God is about Twenty-Fifth Bam, who lives under a massive tower with his friend Rachel. After losing Rachel to the tower, Bam goes into the tower as well in search of her. But with the Tower promising everything someone could want, what challenges will Bam to ascend? Animated by Telecom Animation Film, Tower of God is the first of many Crunchyroll projects to release this year.