I haven't done an anime pick in ages since I've been so damn behind on stuff I wanted to watch. This year, I'm trying to jam a lot of series into my schedule even though I have even less time this year to watch stuff. In keeping of the tradition of recommending series, I'm going to try to include more recent titles relevant to this year as well as some that are from last year.
Assassination Classroom (Season Two)
A continuation from the first season, Assassination Classroom continues with Class E balancing school and assassination in their schedule. Adapting closely with the original manga, the story in the second season is still very funny, witty, and heart warming. Going with the theme of learning, there is always some sort of moral that can be taken at the end of each episode and seeing that the characters are growing in the story makes you feel very proud of them.
Kindaichi Jikenbo R (Season Two)
I wrote about this one before and this one can't really be classified as a season two. It's more like the animation team took a break before resuming broadcast. Speaking of animation, I think they may have improved the animation slightly, but it still isn't all that exciting. My biggest cringe is seeing that they color a glass of red wine more like a glass of Kool-Aid. The opening sequences aren't that fun to watch and depend heavily on clique. Fortunately, I'm here for the actual story, but if they bumped up the animation quality, the series would deserve a higher grade. The mysteries adapted in each episode are still fun to watch and I seem to enjoy watching Kindaichi more than I like Detective Conan.
Yami Shibai (Season Three)
Do you enjoy watching animes using unconventional art styles? Yami Shibai employs the look of kamishibai, a Japanese form of storytelling involving pictures displayed in a box. The art is purposely given this eroded look referring to the traditional means of storytelling. The title Yami Shibai itself is a play on words meaning "dark drama". In each five minute episode is a different scary story. Like a lot of Japanese horror stories, they are most often based on urban legends and usually contain ambiguous endings. The art and story gives a brief unsettling chill to give you a spook, but not the type to leave you sleepless for three days.
Gintama (Season Seven)
The infamous shonen comedy returns with a run more than twelve episodes unlike season six. Season seven however disappointed me a bit in a few episodes where they recycled a similar joke. For the first time I was dismayed with an episode(s) and couldn't wait for it to end. Some arcs took way too many episodes when they could have been one or two episodes shorter. However when the jokes are funny, they are really funny. At least I thought they were since I was clutching my sides. The much awaited gender-bend arc is in this season and we also have an introduction to a new villain foreshadowed at the beginning tied to a more serious plot. The final arc in this season leaves a more bitter sweet conclusion and some more deaths to anticipate.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable
Fans went ham when they knew the fourth arc was going to be adapted. Hell even I was excited. Stardust Crusaders remains my favorite arc, but if David Production decides that they wanna animate all of JJBA including Steel Ball Run, then as fans we are probably going for the entire ride. Staying truthful to the art style of Diamond is Unbreakable, characters resemble their manga appearances which means Jotaro has less lines on his face. To stay consistent with previous JoJo arcs, the animation team decided that they will stick to the bizarre color schemes for backgrounds and characters.
Kotetsujou no Kabaneri
The series reeks of Shingeki no Kyojin. They even employed the same musical composer, Sawano Hiroyuki. But since we can't get enough of Titans, we will enjoy Kotetsujou no Kabaneri in the meantime. After watching episode one, there was enough content to reel you in, but maybe because I am too reminded of Shingeki no Kyojin, I start comparing the two series. That's one thing viewers should be careful of is to try not to mix the two titles together. Though the stories have a similar premise, humanity is enclosed behind a wall because of the existence of an threatening monster, I think Kabaneri may offer something new with its steampunk approach.
Joker Game
I like espionage themed stories and the trailer caught my eye. Taking place during World War II, Joker Game is about Imperial Japan. As controversial as this may sound, there is a good control on suspense and tension within the first episode. Sakuma is a military man with ideals on what an ideal soldier should be and immediately he has dislike for the D Agency because he holds prejudice against what he calls cowardly actions of spies. There is also the sense of being toyed with and in situation of being between a rock and a hard place. I am looking forward to the next episode.
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