I’m foreseeing another Spy x Family sweep on the horizon, including from Spy x Family itself.
I’m not going to mince words: we have five. Fucking FIVE. Big shonen coming out in the Fall season. Not even My Dress-Up Darling and Cyberpunk Edgerunners (which are pretty much the only big hits that aren’t shonen this year) would have been able to survive five fucking big shows coming out in the same season as it, and this is discounting how many people hype up Blue Lock as the next big sports anime. I don’t participate in MyAnimeList’s FAL competition anymore, but I did see what they have blacklisted, and the fact that they had to restrict eight anime pretty much spells out that The Eminence in Shadow is doomed to have cult popularity at best whenever that airs (the fact that it’s on Hidive doesn’t help either).
I know that Crunchyroll is still trying to do those Anime Awards even after how hilariously awful their last one was, and oh boy is that going to be a disaster given how Chainsaw Man has been locked in for a huge sweep similar to how Elden Ring seems to be setup to sweep the next Game Awards (new God of War might challenge it though). The only way it wouldn’t is if the adaptation was a disaster like God of Highschool’s ended up being, but that does not seem likely. God of Highschool was restricted by trying to tell 200 chapters of story within twelve episodes whereas Chainsaw Man seems to be getting a full adaptation split into 12-episode chunks. No chance of it being disastrous on the visual front either because…
…it looks fucking sick in all positive definitions of the word.
Spy x Family is returning this season as well. It won’t be sweeping like it did in the Spring season due to the increasing backlash once a lot of people realized it was more slice-of-life-y than they expected combined with airing in the same season as Chainsaw Man, but it’ll still be big enough. The dog is coming this season and we’ll probably have some decent action sometime down the road. Spy x Family may not be the greatest thing ever, but it is one of the current great shonens, and it’s still going to be an attention-stealer.
So much so that I’m unsure if Mob Psycho 100 and My Hero Academia, Bones’ big shonen shows, can survive this season. Especially since they’re kind of carried by their hardcore fandom at this point in a similar vein to Made in Abyss these days. Mob’s main issue is that it doesn’t feel like there’s any more story that needs to be told, and while I’ve heard the third season will be the final one, I’m unsure if it has any room left to grow at this point. And My Hero has been suffering from a decline in quality for a while now. How much it has affected its growth is up for debate, but I’m pretty sure that the anime-onlies aren’t rushing to see the new season.
Bleach is in a similar position to the above two, but it’s a little special with its hardcore fandom because it’s the return of one of the biggest anime properties after god knows how long with a major increase in production values and scheduling so that it doesn’t suffer from pretty much all the flaws that came from being produced in the 00s. Even if by some miracle Disney Plus secured the exclusive rights for it (very unlikely, but if I’m wrong, I will laugh hard because I play both sides like that), the hardcore fandom is so determined that it’ll survive that. Hey it survived that horrible manga ending and the fact that you have to watch the original show or have read the manga to know what’s going on in it.
As for those three shows that MAL will only let you select one of, To Your Eternity did suffer a hype decrease when the animation quality fell and all that, but it was still a good show that I’m interested to see more of. It won’t be as big as when it first aired, as not even the first season would survive airing in Fall 2022, but I expect that from sequels. Same with Uzaki, which got some of its popularity due to Twitter controversy that is pretty expired at this point. Blue Lock is somewhat of a gamble as a new property, but it’s making a pretty good case for being the next Haikyuu with this trailer.
I have no idea who 8-bit hired for this anime, but apparently it’s someone much more talented than their usual hires.
Is there anything else to get hyped for next season? Maybe, but I don’t care to look them up because I’ll be too busy paying attention to the big anime to give a shit. I don’t even like My Hero Academia anymore, but if I’m continuing to watch Jojo despite forgetting pretty much everything that happens in it besides Jolyne escaped some other prison and the flamboyant gay guy might have died (I honestly can’t tell because the show keeps coming up with so much bullshit to keep characters alive), I’m continuing to keep up with Deku’s decline in quality – and yeah I’ve heard the manga hasn’t been doing great either.
I’ll give some breadcrumbs in that I’m kinda interested in the Urusei Yatsura remake mainly because it seems a lot of love is going towards it. My issue is that I’m not sure how Lum and Ataru’s comedic antics will hold up in today’s age, nor how the overall show will be without Mamoru Oshii giving his occasional mindfuck directing to the proceedings.
The new Gundam looks interesting in that niche acclaim that Gundam always enjoys. Also that animation is sweet.
And then there’s the Adult Swim/HBO Max exclusive, which I really only know by that reputation. That and it’s a horror anime.
But that’s it. I don’t care to watch the trailers or even look up any of the light novel adaptations, let alone anything Hidive acquired unless one of said shows is Urusei Yatsura. I don’t care about that maid show that PA Works is doing because it looks gimmicky as all hell. Admittedly the promo art for that isekai where the dude is reincarnated as a sword looks higher quality than every other recent isekai, but the only way I’d pay attention to it is if it gets higher than an 8 on MAL. Golden Kamuy is probably worth it if you’re caught up by now. I know about that Netflix anime that’s like World God Only Knows with the genders reversed, but I don’t know anything else past the promo art.
Unless you don’t like shonen, why would you give a shit about any of the other shows? Maybe if you don’t watch sequels, but that still leaves you with Chainsaw Man and Blue Lock. I guess if you’re one of those people who watch twenty fucking anime a season you’d care, but you definitely do not represent the majority of fandom, who generally only watches a couple shows a season. And if you try to talk big about loving Eminence of Shadow or the sword isekai, you’re going to be ignored by all the Makima simps barking every week followed by all the Power simps doing…something. I actually don’t know what Power fandom is like. Only reason I even know Power to begin with is because of all the merch I see of her at anime conventions.
P.S. Okay okay, Kaguya-sama Season 3 was big too this year, even if Spy x Family swallowed up all of its attention until its finale. And maybe the biggest of the Summer anime will be big as well one their final episodes aired.
Standing On My Neck 