Greetings, dear readers! The Spring ’23 anime season has mostly ended, and Summer shows will soon begin. (Some might have started airing already, actually.) At the time of writing this article, I haven’t yet decided how many new shows I’ll be watching or if I will be doing episode reviews for them. However, I’m leaning toward picking a handful of series (5 to 10) to write episode reviews for every 3 weeks. It’s easier for me to manage covering new anime every quarter season rather than every week. I might end up changing my mind. We’ll see how the first few weeks go.
At any rate, I’m already looking at some options for the summer. Below is a list of 8 new series that I might watch. Included with each entry are a few of my notes. I may decide not to watch some of these, and I may pick up other shows that aren’t on this list. Again, I haven’t made my mind up yet. For now, however, here are the options I’m considering.
1) AI no Idenshi (Gene of AI)
Genres: Drama, Sci-Fi, Psychological
Personal Priority: High
Why This Interests Me: Sci-fi and Psychological are some of my favorite story categories. Additionally, this anime is made by Studio Madhouse, which is my current favorite anime studio. They are responsible for great series like Monster, Parasyte The Maxim, and Death Note. Although there have been Madhouse anime series that I didn’t like, the odds are still good that I will enjoy any anime they produce.
2) Bungo Stray Dogs 5
Genres: Action, Superpower, Mystery, Seinen
Personal Priority: High
Why This Interests Me: I have watched all the previous seasons of this anime, and season 4 was more exciting than any other so far. Consequently, I was thrilled to hear we were getting a season 5 so quickly. I always end up learning a little about Japanese literature from this series, and it’s extra great when there are references to European or American authors. Even if BSD wasn’t full of interesting world literature references, I would love it for the quirky characters, cool superpowers, and exciting plot arcs.
3) Devil is a Part-Timer! Season 2 Part 2
Genres: Fantasy, Comedy, Mythology
Personal Priority: Low
Why This Interests Me: I watched the first season forever ago, and then enjoyed season 2 last summer. Honestly, I was really surprised to learn that season 2 was not well received at all. It was basically a flop, with reviewers complaining about subpar visuals and an unimpressive plot. To me, the second season was just as good as the first, and I love the visual style. That said, this anime is still pretty low priority for me. The plot was never great to begin with, even in the first season. Plus, the humor of the series increasingly fails to entertain me. I’m not sure if I’ll watch this or not.
4) Horimiya Season 2
Genres: School, Romance, Healing
Personal Priority: Medium
Why This Interests Me: Though I’m generally not fond of school romance anime, Horimiya is an enjoyable exception. The visuals are really nice and the atmosphere is calm, cute, and healing. The writing for the characters is actually pretty good, and there is little to no fanservice. Hori and Miyamura are adorable.
5) Mononogatari – Malevolent Spirits Season 2
Genres: Action, Supernatural, Mythology
Personal Priority: Medium
Why This Interests Me: Season 1 just aired in winter and I found it fairly entertaining despite overall low quality of production. Since this series is still fresh in my mind, I would like to see what happens next. The plot isn’t thrilling or original by any means, but I’m somewhat interested in the characters. The female characters and their cute designs are especially appealing to me in this anime. Additionally, the core concept of marebito mythology is neat.
6) Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan (2023)
Genres: Action, Romance, Historical, Shounen
Personal Priority: Medium
Why This Interests Me: This series is a revamp of a famous 90s anime. I’ve always heard good things about the quality of the original. Recently, I started enjoying historical settings in anime from time to time. I figured a history-themed show like this might be a good fit. Unfortunately, it seems the original creator of Rurouni Kenshin is a terrible person. However, the story he created might still be good, so I don’t want to judge it till I’ve seen it. After all, I still somewhat enjoy Harry Potter despite J.K. Rowling being a horrible Terf and bigot. Sometimes, it’s possible to separate creator from creation.
7) Undead Girl: Murder Farce
Genres: Mystery, Historical, Supernatural, Vampire
Personal Priority: Low
Why This Interests Me: Although most of the popular examples are not for me, I sometimes enjoy stories that feature vampires. Late 1800s England and America are also some of my favorite historical settings. Anime mysteries are often fun, especially when they have quirky characters or unusual starting concepts. (A detached head in a cage acting as a detective is pretty unusual, I’d say.) Based on the short trailer, this series looks like it could be a lot of fun.
8) Zom 100 (Bucket List of The Dead)
Genres: Comedy, Horror, Zombie, Seinen
Personal Priority: High
Why This Interests Me: People have been buzzing about this new anime since the start of the year, at least in my circles. They’re saying it looks funny, creative, and high quality. In order to see what all the fuss is about, I plan to watch it as soon as it begins. In general, I think horror and comedy is a good combination, and a lot of humor can come from the trope of a zombie apocalypse. I’m excited for this one!
Note: I will also continue watching Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts
Thank you for reading~
Anime Rants 
Yeah, I’m definitely interested in trying out Undead Girl: Murder Farce, it looks very cool. Zom 100 looks like it could be pretty funny too. When I was much younger, I was a huge fan of Kenshin, so I’m definitely going to watch the remake too. Other than that, I’m not sure what I’m going to watch for the Summer season. There’s a lot of new anime that look really interesting, but I need to prioritize. There’s just not enough time in the day to watch all of it!
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