Wooper: Our final season preview of 2025 looks a lot like our first, in that it’s much shorter than average. That’s not to say this fall will be entirely lacking in excitement – most of this year’s coolest non-continuations just so happened to air in spring and summer. It’s the headliners that most folks are fiending for this October: Spy x Family (its third season), My Hero Academia (its last season), One Punch Man (its last chance). Rather than pontificate about those juggernauts, I’ve got thoughts on some of the fall’s odds and ends, including a pair of upcoming anthologies that are also my two most anticipated series of the season. Whether you’re into big sequels or the smaller stuff, vote for whatever you like in the poll at the bottom of this post, and we’ll see you in a week for another round of first impressions.

Middling Expectations

Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle

Studio: Feel
Director: Yuuji Tokuno
Series composition: Naruhisa Arakawa
Source: Light novel

The Premise: A narcissistic teenager must entice one of his shut-in haters to return to school in order to maintain his high social standing.

Light novels about male high schoolers surrounded by their haremettes are a dime a dozen, and I don’t have a strong reason to suspect that Chiramune will be any different. To be clear, I do have a reason, just not a good one: from the synopses I’ve read, the title character is supposed to be more extroverted than your average protagonist in his position. That makes him different from the avalanche of Literally Me dudes in these types of stories (your 8-mans and Kiyo-pons and such), but it also opens the door for him to be worshiped rather than properly characterized. This will be a split cour adaptation, so the production company is confident it’ll be a success, but unless Chitose’s swarm of fangirls do their part to keep his ego in check, I doubt I’ll even make it through the first cour. The real reason I’ll be sampling Chiramune is to witness Yuuji Tokuno’s directorial debut, as he’s headed up some impressive episodes of other series in the past few years, Shin Samurai-den Yaiba’s action-packed sixth installment chief among them. The PV looks good, so hopefully it indicates an overall level of polish brought by Tokuno and his team.

Ganglion

Studio: Maf
Director: Ayumu Watanabe
Series composition: Tomoaki Shiono
Source: Manga

The Premise: An costumed salaryman grows frustrated with his constant losses to a super sentai hero under the leadership of his evil organization.

Between Witch Hat Atelier, Akane-banashi and now this show, veteran director Ayumu Watanabe is currently overseeing three TV anime. Even for a workaholic like him, that seems like a recipe for burnout, but Ganglion shouldn’t be too big a time commitment, since it’s a short series based on a manga with just twelve chapters. Ordinarily that would beg the question of why it’s being adapted, but I think I’ve got that figured out. Recently there’s been a trend of superhero shows with villain characters in leading roles (Ranger Reject, Love After World Domination, Mr. Villain’s Day Off, etc.), so I’m guessing an oldhead producer had the bright idea to resurrect the trope’s granddaddy for modern audiences. I doubt Ganglion is actually the progenitor of all these modern works, but its source material dates back to 2007, so it can’t be too far off. Based on the PV, the animation will be limited, but there’s some fun framing here (particularly the shot of a ramen stand springing to life during a customer’s freakout), and I like the character designs. Shorts often turn out to be low commitment fun, so if I dig the first couple episodes, I’ll likely stick with it through December.

Gnosia

Studio: Domerica
Director: Kazuya Ichikawa
Series composition: Jukki Hanada
Source: Video game

The Premise: The passengers of a refugee spaceship must deduce who among them are murderous alien doppelgangers.

The most striking thing about Gnosia is its compositing, which is meant to approximate the look of the talking heads in its visual novel source material. The characters’ multicolored hair and outfits have a distinct sheen to them, befitting their exaggerated personalities, as well as the story’s futuristic setting. You sort of need to create a cast of nutjobs to dramatize a game of Mafia, which is essentially the form that Gnosia’s story takes, along with a time loop twist. In my mind, the success of this show will hinge on the work of head writer Jukki Hanada, whose experience on Steins;Gate makes him the perfect choice to adapt another time travel VN. At least, that’s what I would say if I were a Steins;Gate fan, but I’m not – in fact, Hanada has penned several well-received works that haven’t floated my personal boat, including The Dangers in My Heart, Girls Band Cry, and the recent figure skating series Medalist. He’s written just as many shows that I really like, though, so this will be a coin flip for me. Pickiness aside, if you’re an existing Gnosia fan, or if you’re just in the market for a good sci-fi thriller, you should be in safe hands here.

A Star Brighter Than the Sun

Studio: Kai
Director: Aya Kobayashi
Series composition: Yasuhiro Nakanishi
Source: Manga

The Premise: A first year high school student realizes that she’s not the only girl with feelings for her childhood friend.

I’m on shoujo patrol once again this season with Taiyou yori mo Mabushii Hoshi, or A Star Brighter Than the Sun, a familiar entry in the genre if the free-to-read chapters on Viz’s website are anything to go by. It wasn’t only the trademark sparkly backgrounds and pining inner monologues that gave me deja vu as I read – the physical stature of its male and female leads is a key component of their relationship, just as it was in Ore Monogatari by the same mangaka. I liked that series quite a bit, so I’ll be giving Brighter Than the Sun a look as well, but my hopes aren’t particularly high. The trailer’s animation style is dated, and it frequently shifts into a fuzzy aesthetic for flashbacks that I don’t like the look of. First-time director Aya Kobayashi isn’t anywhere near the top of her freshman class either, though of course I wish her well. If this project succeeds, it’ll be due to the romcom experience of Yasuhiro Nakanishi, who adapted Kaguya-sama and Yamada-kun to Lv999 for the small screen.

Tojima Wants to Be a Kamen Rider

Studio: Liden Films
Director: Takahiro Ikezoe
Series composition: Touko Machida
Source: Manga

The Premise: A middle aged man who dreams of becoming a Kamen Rider takes advantage of a city-wide crime wave to live out his fantasy.

I’m not a tokusatsu fan, but I’ve seen a few animated spinoffs of various toku franchises: Garo the Animation, Trigger’s SSSS series, and a few episodes of 2022’s Fuuto Tantei, the last of which was the Kamen Rider franchise’s first foray into anime. It was somewhat action-oriented, but as a mystery show, it felt only tangentially related to its parent series (based on my meager knowledge thereof). Enter “Tojima Wants to Be a Kamen Rider,” Tantei’s punchier, kickier little cousin, with hybrid 2D-3D animation and music by TeddyLoid (an interesting coincidence, since he just worked on Panty and Stocking last season). Neither the studio nor any of the key staff members grabbed my attention here; rather, it was the premise, which feels like the male-oriented version of the Looking for Magical Doremi film, where nostalgic adults bond with each other over their love for a media property from their childhoods. I can’t share in that bond, but I’m down to try a couple episodes and see whether Tojima can whip up some fauxstalgia in me.

Towa no Yuugure

Studio: P.A. Works
Director: Naokatsu Tsuda
Series composition: Naokatsu Tsuda
Source: Original

The Premise: A high school boy awakens from cryogenic sleep and receives a marriage proposal from someone who closely resembles his former girlfriend.

This is the only original anime of the fall, so if you want to go in completely blind, stop reading now. Are all the spoilerphobes gone? Okay, that “someone” from the premise above? Her identity is no mystery – she’s an android, the fiftieth robot girlfriend in anime history (at minimum). When I gleaned that factoid from the PV after first reading about the show, I was pretty let down, but with Naokatsu Tsuda serving as writer-director, I should have guessed that’d be the angle. He’s the guy who directed the Planetarian adaptation, after all (another robot girlfriend story, albeit a sad one), and on top of that, his most recent original work (Tokyo 24-ku) was sadly a flop. If you couldn’t tell, I’m not feeling too optimistic about Dusk Beyond the End of the World (you can see why I went with the Japanese title), but I can’t exactly pass on the season’s only non-adaptation/continuation. At least the female lead’s design is eye-catching, plus P.A. Works typically puts out at least one worthwhile show per year. Who knows, maybe it’ll be this one?

Shows We’re Anticipating

Sanda

Studio: Science Saru
Director: Tomohisa Shimoyama
Series composition: Kimiko Ueno
Source: Manga

The Premise: In a future version of Japan suffering from a demographic crisis, a middle school boy discovers he can transform into Santa Claus (sort of).

Man, they really nailed the character designs for this adaptation, huh? I’ve got no personal stake in whether the Sanda manga is properly adapted, but I’m glad to see that the aesthetics will be on point. This is a big opportunity for director Shimoyama to redeem himself after the relative failure that was Yurei Deco, though it may not have the same muscle behind it as Science Saru’s cash cows (Dandadan and the upcoming Ghost in the Shell re-adaptation). The story sounds interesting – it won’t be the first anime to tackle the topic of Japan’s aging population, but details like children being forcefully sleep-deprived in order to slow their maturation should give its setting a unique flavor. I don’t know what the deal is with the main character being part of the lineage of Santa Claus, nor why that would necessitate an action focus (not that Japan needs an excuse to include violence in their shonen manga), but I’m happy to reserve a few surprises for the show’s October 3rd debut.

Star Wars: Visions S3

Studio: Various
Director: Various
Series composition: Various
Source: Original

The Premise: The third volume of Star Wars animated short films, and the second to be produced entirely by Japanese studios.

Just like the first two volumes of Star Wars: Visions, this third installment will contain nine episodes by nine different directors. Three of them will be sequels to previous stories, including “The Ninth Jedi,” one of the short films from the first volume with the most narrative potential. (Incidentally, Ninth Jedi will also be receiving a standalone limited series next year, with Kenji Kamiyama returning to direct.) I won’t list all the participating staff and studios (here’s the info if you’re interested), but there’s one episode in particular that I’m very excited about. That would be “Black” by Shinya Ohira, the most interesting man in animation, who reportedly assembled a murderer’s row of talent for its production. Between Ohira’s love of fully animated backgrounds and the elusive Kevin Aymeric’s role as art director, I have to imagine Black will be one of the best-looking pieces of anime to release in 2025. Even if I’m wrong, though, the majority of the other shorts should be able to pick up the slack.

Yano-kun’s Ordinary Days

Studio: Ajia-dou
Director: Shinpei Matsuo
Series composition: Deko Akao
Source: Web manga

The Premise: A motherly high school class president and her injury-prone classmate fall in love without realizing it.

We’ve gotten so many of these light romance series in recent years, where a typical teenager is drawn to a less typical classmate of theirs with a particular quirk. Most of them are mediocre or worse (Komi-san is probably the best of the recent crop), and there’s a fair chance that Yano-kun will be too. Its source material is popular enough to have received a live-action adaptation, but among English-speaking fans, it doesn’t have much buzz. So why am I previewing it? Put simply, I really like the look of the trailer. The show’s approach to character and color design keeps its cast looking consistent from shot to shot, and their thin faces and subtly touched-up lashes are right up my alley. My interest isn’t driven solely by my shallowness, however; first-time series director Shinpei Matsuo turned in some very nice work on Kakushigoto at the start of the decade (also at Ajia-dou), so I’m happy to see him moving up within the company. If Yano-kun ends up being as charming as it looks, Matsuo will have made a fan of me.

Highest Expectations

Fujimoto Tatsuki 17-26

Studio: Various
Director: Various
Series composition: Various
Source: Manga

The Premise: An anthology of mangaka Tatsuki Fujimoto’s short stories written between the ages of (you guessed it) 17 and 26.

If you’ve been reading my writing for any amount of time, you know that when it comes to manga, I’m a know-nothing numbskull. Sometimes I sample a couple chapters of the source material for an upcoming anime series, but that’s essentially it. So when it comes to my excitement for this Tatsuki Fujimoto anthology, please don’t think it stems from my familiarity with his early work. Rather, it’s all about my fondness for the Chainsaw Man and Look Back anime, as well as the stylistic breadth on display in this PV. Of the eight stories that will be adapted, the one that interests me the most on a conceptual level is “Sisters,” which seems to have been a prototype of sorts for Look Back. The one that seems to have the best grasp on Fujimoto’s visual style (in my inexpert opinion) is “Woke-Up-as-a-Girl Syndrome,” which should dig into his gender-related theming quite aggressively, while my dark horse would be the post-apocalyptic “A Couple Clucking Chickens Were Still Kickin’ in the Schoolyard.” That one comes from director Seishiro Nagaya, who worked on both the CSM series and upcoming film, and also helmed Bakuten, probably the most underappreciated sports anime of the decade so far. Tempering my expectations are the pair of shorts produced at 100Studio, but if even those punch above their weight, 17-26 really will be the whole package.

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