The winter anime season is upon us. Just like for the Fall Season I’m going to do a list of the animes I’m looking forward to seeing. These are in no particular order. This article will be updated as the shows are released on Funimation and Crunchyroll for free members. So keep coming be to this article for the next week or so to see my thoughts on the first episodes.

Tonari no Seki-kun: The Master of Killing Time 

 
(trailer)

In the middle of class at a certain school, Rumi Yokoi, a diligent student, has her in-class life turned upside-down when her next-door desk mate “Seki” (full name Toshinari Seki) begins to play by himself at his desk in class. Although Yokoi is irked by Seki’s distracting yet intricate playtime, she finds herself being drawn into his interesting hobby. Never being able to focus, Yokoi observes Seki’s stunning ways of slacking off in class. <source: ANN>

Where I’m watching it: Crunchyroll airing Sundays

My Thoughts after the first episode: I was not expecting this to be a short-form anime. What I mean by short-form is the episodes are only a couple minutes long.  This will be a fun little anime and I’m expecting bigger and more absurd hijinks in the coming weeks.

Nisekoi

(trailer)

As a child, Raku Ichijo made a secret promise with his childhood sweetheart, keeping a pendant as a memento while his love took the key. He dreams of one day meeting his past love, but years later, reality smashes his hopes when Chitoge Kirisaki accidentally knees him in the face. Though Raku’s a normal high schooler, his family heads the notorious yakuza gang the Shuei-Gumi faction. And he’s dragged into family affairs when he’s forced into a relationship with Chitoge, the daughter of a rival gang’s boss. <source:ANN>

This anime will be the first one that I’ve actually read the manga before hand.

Where I’m watching it: Crunchyroll airing Saturdays

My Thoughts after the first episode: This was exactly what I expected. This type of show “slice of life romantic comedy” is not really something I’d normally go for. First was Golden Time now this. Plus I’ve been reading the manga for a over a year now. I’m interested in see the other characters that haven’t appeared yet.

D-Frag!

(trailer)

Kenji likes to think that he and his gang of friends are the bad boys of their school. That is, until he meets the four insane girls of a game-making club whose personalities are all super weird (and a little on the violent side). When Kenji’s forced to join their little group, his life quickly takes a turn for the outrageous. <source: Funimation>

Where I’m watching it: Funimation airing Monday

My Thoughts after the first episode: D-Fragment definitely has potential. The first episode was pretty funny. I’m curious to see what a Game Creation Club does. I can absolutely see shenanigans for the main character in the future. I think I will like this show.

Strange+

(trailer)

Kou is searching for his older brother Takumi, who left home and has gone missing in the city. Worried that he’s in trouble, Kou decides not to go home until he’s found him, only to find him all too easily. Takumi, it turns out, has become head of the Mikuni Detective Agency, and has no intention of going back home. Kou decides that if he can’t make Takumi return, then he’ll join the agency himself. <source: ANN>

Where I’m watching it: Crunchyroll airing Thursdays

My Thoughts after the first episode: I’m not sure I saw the show in the description. What I saw was the type of anime that American TV makes fun of. It was over the top and made no sense whatsoever. It’s also a short-form anime.

Witch Craft Works

(trailer)

Honoka knows his classmate Ayaka is talented in both the pen and the sword, attractive in face and figure, and that everyone at school calls her the Princess. When he gets himself involved in the “Witch of the Tower” incident one day after school, however, he learns she is also a witch sent to protect him. From then on, his ordinary school life is completely turned upside down, as he discovers that most of his classmates are not what they seem. <source: ANN>

Where I’m watching it: Crunchyroll airing Wednesdays

My Thoughts after the first episode: I liked the first episode. It was funny and action packed. I laughed when she called him her princess.

Hamatora

(trailer)

“Minimum” – a special inborn power found in a limited number of human beings, known as “minimum holders.” In Yokohama, the detective team Hamatora, formed by two minimum holders named Nice and Murasaki, comes across information connected to a serial killer being pursued by their old friend Art. It turns out all the victims are minimum holders like them. Unwillingly at first, the two detectives become involved in the investigation. <source: ANN>

Where I’m watching it: Crunchyroll airing Tuesdays

My Thoughts after the first episode: I like this anime. There is potential for the rest of the series with the serial killer. The first episode does a good job at showing how powerful the minimum holders are with a car toss.

The Pilot’s Love Song

(trailer)

This is a tale of a prince who lost everything leaves for a journey with no guarantee of returning to his hometown safely. With hatred and revenge in his mind, he met several people that taught him about friendship…and love. <source: ANN>

Where I’m watching it: Crunchyroll airing Mondays

My Thoughts after the first episode: This anime reminded me a bit of the Xbox game Crimson Sky. Which I liked. I suspect we’ll see student rivalry and a love interest or two and dog fights and in the end the two rivals learn to value each others skills. One of those stories.

Nobunaga the Fool

(trailer)

The planets of the East and the West were once connected by the Ama-no-Hashidate. The culture that built it was destroyed countless years ago, and the two planets have had separate histories ever since. On the Western planet, ancient culture is experiencing a renaissance after a long period of war. Jeanne Kaguya D’Arc, a girl from the Western Planet, was prophesied to be the Savior of the World at her birth. With Leonard Da Vinci, she lands on the Eastern Planet, where Nobunaga “the Fool” longs for the power to change the world, as his planet is still locked in a war where many heroes vie for supremacy. When these two people meet, the culture of both worlds will be transformed. <source: ANN>

Where I’m watching it: Crunchyroll airing Sundays

My Thoughts after the first episode: I like the look of this anime. They have mechs and space ships but still use swords and bows and arrows to fight. And the mechas seem to have this clockwork type of technology. Since this anime is going to have a lot of historical figures, I expect there to be a lot of Eastern figures that I won’t recognize. But likely it’s not just Joan of Arc and Da Vinci from the West but King Arthur and Magellan are in the first episode.

Space Dandy

(trailer in english)

 Space Dandy is a space hunter, someone who is paid to search for new, undiscovered alien species. It’s an industry where the prize goes to the person who finds aliens the fastest. Dandy searches unknown planets for strange beings with his companions, QT the worn-out robot and Meow from Betelgeuse. Meanwhile, they’re being chased by minions of the Gogol Empire, for reasons that are still a mystery. <source: ANN>

Where I’m watching it: Since this show is being simulcasted on TV day in day with Japan, I am watching this one on Toonami Saturdays. It’s also dubbed.

My Thoughts after the first episode: I could tell that this show was made by the same guy who did Cowboy Bebop and Soul Eater. Most people are comparing this to Cowboy Bebop and saying that it sucks. Well that’s because they are comparing it to Cowboy Bebop a mostly serious anime. Space Dandy is not serious. It’s goofy like Soul Eater but in space.

Nobunagun

(trailer)

Shio Ogura is a Japanese high school student, who is visiting Taiwan on a school trip when she is suddenly attacked by monsters. Agents known as “E-Gene Holders” from the government agency DOGOO also arrive, who wield weapons infused with the spirits of historical figures. Shio is revealed to also be an E-Gene Holder when the soul of Oda Nobunaga awakens after she tries to rescue a friend. <source: ANN>

Where I’m watching it: Crunchyroll airing Sundays

My Thoughts after the first episode: This is the other Oda Nobunaga based anime. I actually wasn’t expecting this to be very interesting but I quite enjoyed the first episode. This is also one of those high school kid has a power to save the day that he/she didn’t know about. And since I’m not tired of seeing that toupe I will continue to watch this show.

Wizard Barristers

(trailer)

In 2018, humans and wizards live together in Tokyo. Police continue to protect order in society, but wizards are tried according to magical law, in special courts defended by wizard barristers. At age seventeen, Cecile has just become the youngest wizard barrister, and begins work at the Butterfly Law Offices. While she hasn’t realized it yet, she has tremendous magical potential. <source: ANN>

Where I’m watching it: Crunchyroll airing Sundays

My Thoughts after the first episode: So it’s Law and Order magic edition wait I think I’ve seen that. I don’t know what to think of this show yet. The characters are likable but I don’t know what the tone of the show is just yet.

Magical Warfare

(trailer)

When Nanase Takeshi, a regular high school student, encounters Aiba Miu, a girl from a world of destruction, he winds up getting involved in a grand battle between mages. In order to save Miu, in order to save the world, and in order to change destiny. A real, modern-day magical action story begins now. <source: ANN>

Where I’m watching it: Crunchyroll airing Thursdays

My Thoughts after the first episode: Its like Harry Potter but instead of being born with magic, you are exposed to it and then you get magic powers. This is also a nice change of pace to the “will he get the girl and which one” drama because he already starts the show off with a girlfriend and she joins him in the magicy world.

Z/X Ignition

(trailer)

In the not-so-distant future, five portals suddenly appeared acting as gateways to alternative worlds. However, these five worlds are actually the same world, but in different timelines. As the situation becomes increasingly dire, the inhabitants of each world will stop at nothing to ensure the survival of their own timeline, even at the expense of the other timelines. The key to survival lies in one card-shaped device. <source: Crunchyroll>

Where I’m watching it: Crunchyroll airing Thursday

My Thoughts after the first episode: I don’t know what to think of this anime yet because it didn’t explain anything yet. It starts off and everything is already underway and using words like “Red World” and “White World” which at this point in time mean nothing. It then just back a week before the main character got into…whatever it is he’s into. I suspect my questions will be answered in episode 2.

Maken-ki! Two

(trailer)

The busty babes of Maken-ki! are back in a follow-up to the hit first season! When Takeru enrolls in Tenbi Academy, he discovers that he has a magical power called “Maken.” The hornball might end up a great fighter—if he can keep from being distracted by all the gorgeous girls running around his new school.<Source: Funimation>

Where I’m watching it: Funimation airing Wednesdays

My Thoughts after the first episode: (Hasn’t aired yet)

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Those are the animes new to this season there are still some animes that I will continue to watch that are run-overs from the Fall Season.

Samurai Flamenco

Male model Masayoshi Hazama decides to become a superhero, despite having no superpowers or the technology to create a high-powered suit. He becomes the hero, Samurai Flamenco and begins to fight crime in the name of justice. Police officer Hidenori Goto finds out about Samurai Flamenco and his real identity by a twist of fate, which leads to him getting involved into lots of trouble. Nonetheless, these two young men will come face to face with hardships of being crime-fighters while discovering what it truly means to be a hero of justice. <source: ANN>

Where I’m watching it: Crunchyroll airing Thrusdays

My Thoughts on the series so far (spoilers): This show started completely based in reality. That was no longer the case once monsters started showing up half way through the first half. Then the last episode introduced 4 other teammates for Samurai Flamenco the Flamangers. Yep this show went bonkers then turned into a super sentai. I love the crazy of this show.

Log Horizon

Elder Tales is an online fantasy RPG that has become popular worldwide. But when its twelfth expansion package, “Cultivate the Noosphere,” is installed, thirty thousand players in Japan are trapped inside. Among them is grad student Shiroe, who isn’t very good at interacting with others. But to survive in a world full of monsters, he forms a guild called “Log Horizon” with an eclectic group of other players. <source: ANN>

Where I’m watching it: Crunchyroll airing Saturdays

My Thoughts on the series so far (spoilers): This show was not on my list in the fall but it should have been. I was watching this from the day one. The first couple episodes weren’t that exciting. Yeah sure, most of the series’ combat were in the first couple episodes but that’s not where the show shines. The show really takes off when Shrio decides how his going to make the world that they are not trapped in safe. Watching him out think the other players is quite fascinating.

Strike the Blood

“The fourth true ancestor” is a legendarily strong vampire that shouldn’t exist. Accompanied by the 12 “gun-beasts,” this phantom vampire is said to have appeared in Japan. In order to find and kill this “fourth true ancestor,” the government and the Lion King Organization order the dispatch of attack mages called “sword-maidens.” For some reason an apprentice named Yukina Himeragi was chosen for the task. Wielding the strongest spiritual spear, Yukina comes to the special demon district Itokami City. There she encounters Kojou Akatsuki and learns the true nature of the “fourth true ancestor.” <source: ANN>

Where I’m watching it: Crunchyroll airing Fridays

My Thoughts on the series so far (spoilers): This show has it’s up and downs. The action itself is decent but the enemies I find quite boring. I actually enjoy the scenes between the fights. I like the interaction between. Kojou, Yukina, and Asagi.

Golden Time

Banri Tada is a newly admitted student at a private law school in Tokyo. Due to the after-effects of an accidental fall from a bridge shortly after high school graduation, he lost all his memories from before then. At the time of the accident, Banri’s soul had escaped from his body, and the “Spirit of Banri Tada” came into being, carrying his memories from before graduation. <source: ANN>

Where I’m watching it: Crunchyroll airing Thursdays

My Thoughts on the series so far (spoilers): This was another show that was not on my fall list. I came into this one over half way through the fall season. I like this show. It’s not an action show, no magic, nothing fantastically unrealistic. Completely based in reality. It’s good to have a show like that every once in a while. I am drawn to Golden Time in a very soap opera way. Is he going to stay with Koko or go back his previous love Linda.

If there is a show you’re looking forward to and it wasn’t on my list tell me in the comments below.