Buckle up, this is going to be an ordeal.
And that’s not even including the sequel list, which is its own Rogues’ Gallery of atrociousness. There are, between new shows, old shows, and a few continuing ones, if I’ve counted correctly, a staggering NINETEEN shows about being transported into a fantasy world, around fifteen of which are worlds with video game rules, either implicitly or explicitly. Which doesn’t even include a couple web OVAs that are only six episodes! This… It’s… it’s going to… it’s going to be painful. Sequels first.
A Certain Something Something
Ace of Diamond
Already Dead Detective
Apothecary Diaries
Black Clover
Blue Box
Blue Footsies
Cardfight
Chitose in Ramune
Dragon Ball
Hotel Inhumans
Iceblade
Lulu & Lily
Magic Girl Raising Project
Ramparts of Ice
Ranma
Returner Magic
Reincarnated Sword
Reincarnated Noble
Sasaki & Pii
Sgt Keroro
Tokyo Revengers
Tougen Anki
Yozakura Family
I actually made it to the end of both Iceblade and Magic Girl Project, but I remember absolutely nothing of either. Not surprising since the latter was back in 2016, and looking at my old writeup, was the usual utter nothing of a main character who had a lot of emotions, but not the kind where they ever do anything while everybody else sacrifices themselves/each other for her. I’ll probably glance at them, given *waves hands* everything below, but good lord, this is the kind of season that makes me want to put a bullet in this site. Wait, no. I do remember Iceblade. That was the show where the dude was part of a cult of beefcake body builders that he kept dumping his harem to hang out with. Riiiiiight. Anyway.
I Have Cheat Powers in An RPG World
Overgeared
https://tempal-anime.net/
Studio: JC Staff
Genre: Action
Premieres September 27th*
Show Premise:
Dude has cheat power to make OP gear.
Random Thoughts:
Bizarrely known in Japanese as Tempal: Item Power. It’s a Korean thing, so it’s doing the same Solo Leveling/Tomb Raider King nonsense, but not quite as serious. Don’t worry, it’s a just in a VR game. A game where the developers can’t control how awesome he is, every woman wants him, and he’s an unrelented jackass to everybody he meets while simultaneously humiliating them all for their hubris. Oh, but he’s not just level 0. He’s level -1. That’s how low his power level is, except for all the cheat powers. Anyway, it already aired its first two episodes as a webcast a few weeks ago. JC Staff put some actual effort into the animation, which is very rare for them these last few years, but otherwise, it’s just another goddamned RPG cheat power thing, with extra EXTRA status screens on top.
Preseason Swing Rating:
Ask about how the manhwa gets weirdly nationalistic.
I Took Back the Magic Power that I Lent Others via Install Payments – After Being Kicked Out of the Party For No Longer Being Needed, I Partied Up With a Cute Support Fairy To Manage All the Magic Power I Collected To Become the Strongest
https://revo-anime.com/
Studio: SynergySP
Genre: Chort Power
Premieres October 3rd
Show Premise:
See title.
Random Thoughts:
…Ugh. And here we have the slight opposite, where it likes to pretend that it’s a parody but the dial on the revenge BS is a set extremely high so we just have a sadistic power fantasy about a dude being a dick and abusing everybody. And the protagonist here? A predatory lender preying on teenagers trying to establish lives and careers who didn’t realize that they would have to repay the debt they were taking out at all, let alone a crushing amount of interest on top. Gee, can’t think of any kind of real world parallels here at all. Everyone cheer for the student/healthcare industry, the real heroes when people are mean to them.
Preseason Swing Rating:
Hey, pay up!
The Cheat Granting Wizard Who was Kicked Out Enjoys a Carefree New Life – I Can Add Enhancement Points to Anything, Not Just Weapons, and I Can Remove Them Whenever I Want, But Will the People Who Fired Me Be Okay?
https://sh-anime.shochiku.co.jp/chiifuyo-anime/
Studio: PA Works
Genre: Loud Noises
Premieres October 6th
Show Premise:
See title.
Random Thoughts:
Sweet zombie christ on a saltine, what the hell are you doing, PA Works. As if the title wasn’t bad enough, I want you to look at this screenshot from the promo. The entire promo is just one long scream. What in the absolute hell is going on in the anime industry? Being only the THIRD show this season about someone with cheat powers who’s ‘weak’ because they can only give cheats to things at least a quarter step removed from themself (but actually themself), the second about being a lender, and fourth about people who make cheat power things. I… am so tired of this.
Preseason Swing Rating:
Keep sniffing, anime industry.
The World’s Strongest Witch Sets Out – I’ll Live My Own Life in a World Where Only I Can See the Online Strategy Guide
https://sekamajo-anime.com/
Studio: Bridge
Genre: Gamefaqs
Premieres October 7th
Show Premise:
See title.
Random Thoughts:
She too is kicked out for the the ‘useless’ ability of *checks again* omniscience. Which she immediately uses to power level to 999 and get the strongest equipment in the world. Which is definitely how this works. Look up a game on Gamefaqs and five minutes later, you have total god mode. Just another thing that makes me wonder if these people have even ever been in the same room as an RPG, or even a video game at all. There are so many completely insane ways that people have broken or abused actual game mechanics to become infamous at least in their communities, and yet, anime can’t be bothered to even understand how games work at all for all these supposed parodies. At least she’s not reincarnated.
Preseason Swing Rating:
Witches and technology don’t mix.
I Have Cheat Powers And Was REINCARNATED In an RPG
Magical Explorer – I Was Reincarnated as the Friend Character in a Porn Game, But I’m Going to Use My Game Knowledge to Live How I Want
https://majieku.com/
Studio: White Fox
Genre: Maid Cleavage
Premieres October 3rd
Show Premise:
See title.
Random Thoughts:
Also, he has cheat powers, lest you think he’d be getting by on nothing but pluck, verve, and intimate knowledge of every single person he knows and future events. Just some level 999 on top. His goal is to sleep with all of them, but his status as gag character makes ‘crazy’ things happen like accidentally walking in on them undressing and getting slapped. Yeah, very creative and completely different from regular protagonists. At least they’re acknowledging that porn games existed. The anime industry used to be at least a third porn game adaptations. I miss that time. Not whatever the hell this is.
Preseason Swing Rating:
All worms out of the rotting carcas.
The Reincarnated Great Saint Hides that She’s a Saint
https://daiseijo-anime.com/
Studio: Felix Flim
Genre: Giant Ribbons
Premieres October 3rd
Show Premise:
See title.
Random Thoughts:
Don’t worry. She was reincarnated from in-world, not Japan. That makes it extra creative. She still has the harem of princes, pet CGI dragon, and is the most perfect cinnamon roll ever. She just has to hide that she has cheat powers. …Cool. Very different. Great twist on the formula. At least she’s not a villainess. Does that count as new and special? Not really, no. Even has red hair. Why do so many of these saints have red hair? Is there some ur saint that they’re all derived from? Please don’t answer that.
Preseason Swing Rating:
Still no genies, huh?
When I Woke Up, I Had the Strongest Equipment and a Spaceship, So I Want to Live Free as a Mercenary With the Dream of Owning a House
https://saikyosoubi.com/
Studio: studio A-CAT
Genre: Cheats! In! Space
Premieres October 4th
Show Premise:
See title.
Random Thoughts:
It’s ‘twist’ is that it’s sci fi. So it has aliens, right? Nope. Maids and elves in the harem. We can’t shake things up THAT much, after all. Also, it’s A-Cat (Beginning After the End). They’re horrendous, and CGI spaceships are not going to change that. It doesn’t appear to be an RPG, nor are there status screens plastered all over the place, so it appears to be just leaning into the harem aspect more than the cheat crap, but what is it even adding then? Can anime not get funded if they don’t have a paragraph for a title about having cheat power? I’m scared that the answer is probably yes.
Preseason Swing Rating:
Aliens used to at least be catgirls.
I Was Reincarnated as a Goblin, So What?
https://tengobu-anime.com/
Studio: Bakkka
Genre: Ugh
Premieres October 5th
Show Premise:
See title.
Random Thoughts:
Goblins are weak, but he has the power to live 80 years and absorb the power of any goblin that dies before him, so wouldn’t ya know it, but oops, max power level by the end of a timeskip within five minutes, no doubt. With an entire harem of barely dressed demon girls and giant titted elves and humans who are in awe of how great he is. The lady behind this has been churning out this garbage for the last ten years at a rate that would make even ChatGPT blush, and this is the FOURTH thing of the format “I was X, But I Became the Strongest” of hers to get an adaptation, with a goddamned FIFTH already confirmed. You… You need stop, lady. Or share whatever your dark secret is that baits anime studios so well since this ain’t new or special. Also, this is this studio’s first full show. The studio has the slogan, in English, “Grim determination. If not, until it is created.” That’s… um… probably a bit more honest than you meant, but is a hell of a depressing way to advertise yourselves.
Preseason Swing Rating:
Some people just have it.
Conquering the Fantasy World With a Goddess Who Has Zero Followers
https://zero-believers-anime.com/
Studio: HORNETS
Genre: Shoot Me
Premieres October 11th
Show Premise:
See title.
Random Thoughts:
Sing along. His entire class is reincarnated, and only he gets no super powers, except for the ability to see things as a literal RPG on top of the world being an RPG, and to think clearly, which means he gets to go into bullet time to explain every single situation at exhaustive length and how he’s going to do one simple trick to overcome it. That trick usually being “react to it.” The funniest twist is that the goddess, whose surname is “Titan” is secretly… a titan! Obviously he immediately amasses a giant harem of his classmates who are blown away by what a virile man he is, with his… ability to react things happening around him. All it’s once again done is codified what all these garbage cheat power shows do while insisting that he’s actually still the weakest.
Preseason Swing Rating:
That’s why I worship Cthulhu.
Loud Noises and Inappropriate Shows for Children
FX Fighter Kurumi
https://fxkurumi-info.com/
Studio: Passione
Genre: Day Trading
Premieres October 1st
Show Premise:
Girl becomes a day trader.
Random Thoughts:
I feel bad for trash talking things like C: Control back in the day. How good we had it without realizing it. This is just “girls make humorous faces,” with the topic du jour being day trading. Specifically, the foreign exchange, the FX in the title. And scream. We can’t forget the screaming. And overreacting. That’s how you can tell it’s a comedy. Like the idol advertisements weren’t bad enough, and the club scene is played out, so now… this. Coming soon, Draft Kings brings you Bitcoin Collector Hinako. I hate this timeline.
Preseason Swing Rating:
The financial industry must feed.
My Uncle Likes Cute Things
https://ojikawa.com/
Studio: LIDENFILMS
Genre: More Loud Noises
Premieres October 4th
Show Premise:
See title.
Random Thoughts:
We’re trying to do a whole show around this one joke, huh? How, exactly? Oh right, nonstop overreaction images and yelling. Of course. They introduce multiple middle aged dudes who like various kinds of cute things, but overreact when people suspect them of liking cute things. The repetition here is important. Some like stuffed animals. Some like actual animals. All of them yell THIS ISN’T WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE. Repeatedly.
Preseason Swing Rating:
This is why women choose the bear.
Super Patrol! Officer Choujou
https://chojun-anime.com/
Studio: Arvo Animation
Genre: Not Quite As Loud Noise
Premieres October 6th
Show Premise:
Psychic dude is a cop.
Random Thoughts:
A Jump gag manga adaptation, which means loud overreactions and yelling. At least the promos only had a couple bits of screaming, but were more interested in just slapping up the dozen ‘wacky’ character archetypes on screen than doing anything humorous. A relief, sure, but the existence of a teenage girl, or drunk dude, or robot, are not major hooks that need callouts. That said, glancing at the manga and it is indeed much more focused on loud and giant overreactions to everything as its form of joke. Plus the entire second chapter is looking for a cat by way of yelling about animal poop. And yelling about how it’s yelling about poop. I expect that the promos are the least irritating it’ll be.
Preseason Swing Rating:
Lobotomize the police.
Horror Collector
https://www.nhk-character.com/chara/kyoufucollector/
Studio: Studio Palette
Genre: Spooky Season
Premieres October 10th
Show Premise:
Dude investigates ghost stories.
Random Thoughts:
The light novels are just Japanese Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Not even long enough to be Goosebumps. Just short like 10 page creepypasta kinds of things. Dude and his dogboy sidekick roll into town, scope out the urban legend of the week, fix it, go on to the next. He dresses in red, and has an entire family of sidekicks/antagonists who are color coded and generate or relocate or -insert verb- urban legends as well. It’s… not cerebral.
Preseason Swing Rating:
Somehow the edgiest show of the season.
The Fall of Fanservice
The Student Council Has Issues Too!
https://nama-anaru.com/
Studio: Passione
Genre: Back Problems
Premieres October 3rd
Show Premise:
Dude joins student council. They are all quirky girls.
Random Thoughts:
It’s funny because student council members are supposed to be perfect. Apparently. Also known by the idiotically literally translated “There is Also a Hole in the Student Organization!” Which is definitely how people talk. This had some notoriety a few years ago for a weirdly overanimated promo, which sums things up pretty well. If you don’t care to subject yourself to it, let’s just say that it starts with a girl leaning over so you can see all the way down her shirt with only a bandaid covering her nipples, into them dancing around, two of them having chests larger than their heads moving with enough force to concuss an elephant. The actual PVs for the anime are largely the same, just far less detail and fewer frames per tit bounce. Trashy fanservice, with extra yelling on top, also on full display alongside the basketball balloon tits flailing wildly like Chain Chomps.
Preseason Swing Rating:
Bulbous dangerous objects.
The Cold Satou is Hot For Only Me
https://shioama-anime.com/
Studio: Tezuka Productions
Genre: Bad Puns
Premieres October 6th
Show Premise:
See title.
Random Thoughts:
This began its genesis under a different title: “Hasn’t Satou, Who’s Usually So Cold, Been Super Warm to Me Ever Since I Rescued Her When Someone Was Hitting On Her?” The title (either one) is actually some wordplay around salty and sweet if you really want to be literal, but “Salty Satou is Sugary”… pains me, not to mention being “salty” has a bit of a different connotation in English. Then again, that pun is the most creative part of this. She’s just shy, which people assume is being mean, except for him, because he did One Nice Thing for her, so now she wuvs him forever. This isn’t a harem thing, so they get together within a few volumes, by which I mean they move from whimbling over expressing their feelings to whimbling over expressing their feelings ENOUGH. Don’t expect high drama. Or anything more romantic than breathing the same air, and even that requires five minutes of blushing, stammering, and then having a lie down.
Preseason Swing Rating:
Suck on an orange, you losers.
Rail, Ho! Meet With Railway Girls
https://tetsuryo-anime.com/
Studio: East Fish Studio
Genre: Advertising
Premieres October 8th
Show Premise:
Girls are trains. And work on trains.
Random Thoughts:
Railway Girls is a franchise from 2005 created by Tomy to advertise mascots for various trains in Japan. There’s literally hundreds of girls at this point, all barely distinguishable from the next. The anime adaptation here has already announced it’ll be including over fifty of them. This is barely a step removed from Kellogs presents Tony the Tiger and the Rice Krispy Elf Adventures. Admittedly, nothing new for the anime industry, and we have been a little light on the tourism advertisement shows for the last season or two. If only they could’ve taken cheat power shows with them.
Preseason Swing Rating:
Gotta at least admire the mascot fetishization in Japan.
In Another World With Only Regular Magic Powers
From Afar
https://kanatakara-anime.com/
Studio: Studio DEEN
Genre: Girl Power!
Premieres October 4th
Show Premise:
Girl is reincarnated into another world.
Random Thoughts:
Not the cheat power flavor, but the Escaflowne, or Red River, or Inuyasha flavor. From the early 90s at that. Where every dude wants her, the girl of destined destiny, and they all have chins you could carve statues out of. Or with. Or both. He’s a gruff bad boy, rejected by society but with a heart of gold. She’s a simpering ninny who is the most damsel in the mostest distress at all times. She can’t go a day without finding a new amount of distress to plumb. They struggle with their feelings for each other for like eight years worth of manga, plus another few years of contrivance keeping them apart until they can accept their True Fates or whatever.
Preseason Swing Rating:
How do they always have immaculately shaved legs?
PSYREN
https://psyren-anime.com/
Studio: Satelight
Genre: Boy Power!
Premieres October 5th
Show Premise:
Dude goes to magic world, gets super powers, participates in tournament.
Random Thoughts:
You’d never guess it by the premise, but this was a Jump thing. A Jump thing that was canceled over 15 years ago. It was never popular, and who can imagine why, what with aping Bleach in style and characters, and being clothed in the survival game premise as were half the other shows of that era. And it’s a Satelight adaptation. Satelight shows are already fraught these days, but their adaptations have been atrocious for decades. The promos don’t show them breaking that pattern. I’m sure some of the full on cheat power shows will be worse animated, but Satelight’s heyday has long passed, and I can’t imagine reviving a failed Jump manga is going to have a lot of takers.
Preseason Swing Rating:
One Piece, meanwhile, is eternal.
Magic Knight Rayearth
https://rayearth-anime.com/
Studio: E&H Production
Genre: Nostalgiabait
Premieres October 7th
Show Premise:
Girls are magic in fantasy land.
Random Thoughts:
The latest in wrenching old anime back to life for a second, in this case, third, bite at the adaptation apple, with extra EXTRA fidelity to the source manga. Sure, the original was iconic, but it had all those pesky episodes and the manga was short. So let’s do it again. Dragon Ball Kai really screwed the pooch by just editing things down instead of milking the hell out of it… he says, probably accidentally conjuring Dragon Ball Z Remastered into existence. I feel like I watched the original, but like Evangelion, can’t remember a thing about it, so maybe I just hallucinated it. All these Clamp things blend together. Even if it was groundbreaking at the time (it wasn’t), we’re now awash with shows about girls going to RPG lands with cheat powers. Yeah, more emphasis on the powers, less on how cheat they are, or how RPG the world is, because 30 years ago, magic girls were the thing to ape, not having 999 in all stats, but doesn’t help that it just makes it feel like this was brought back to chase trends and nostalgia in one convenient package. E&H is a relatively new studio, but has been decent so far (Ninja Kamui, Red Cat Ramen), but… man, I may not be AS sick of these reboots as I am cheat power shows, but it’s getting there, and this has a toe dipped in that stuff anyway.
Preseason Swing Rating:
Let’s consult the armillary sphere.
DARK MACHINE
https://www.fujitv.co.jp/darkmachine_anime/
Studio: Production +h
Genre: Marketing Power
Premieres October 13th
Show Premise:
Dude plays VR mecha fighting game.
Random Thoughts:
This is to advertise a game of the same name scheduled to come out in 2027, a team based 3rd person shooter, but with generic mechs. I don’t think it’d going to be eating too much of Marvel Rivals or Overwatch’s slice of the pie. It is original though, and important to note that it’s explicitly him playing the HIT GAME, DARK MACHINE, THAT HAS LITERALLY TAKEN OVER THE ENTIRE WORLD. DARK MACHINE, THE EPIC GAME PLAYED BY BILLIONS. Which is super duper serious and only by becoming the leetest gamer can he uncover the secrets behind it. I don’t have a lot to go on here, and the studio has been around for a while, but mainly doing shorter net shows. They did do the DeDeDeDe movies, which were then carved up into a broadcast series. And… uh… a lot of CGI robots.
Preseason Swing Rating:
Robots in deez guys.
dreamland
https://www.dreamland-anime.com/
Studio: Ellipsanime Productions
Genre: Frenching
Premieres October 17th
Show Premise:
Teenagers have magic powers in dream worlds.
Random Thoughts:
The first of two France-Japan collaborative things for the season. As you might be able to guess from the premise and the ominous clown in the background of the promo image, the source comic here is pretty much French Hunter x Hunter by way of Persona. Everyone goes to dream world when they sleep, but those that overcome their inner fear get to then use it as a super power. Also there’s a magical pet that tatoos people or something. What do they do with this? Formalize their ranks and regulations through tests and tournaments! Yay! Okay, so it’s not quite AS rigid and focused on proper certification as most Japanese shounen manga, but on the other hand, the token girl of the group is constantly having all her clothing burned off. There’s the French touch. The promos do seem at least decently animated, but still begin with a dude screaming and a whole lot of power grunting. It’s not distinguishing itself from its shounen cousins.
Preseason Swing Rating:
I’m here for your dreams.
Shounen Adventures of Yesteryear
The Azure Legend – Welsh and Shedar
https://welshandshedar-anime.com/
Studio: Studio Massket
Genre: Adventure?
Premieres October 2nd
Show Premise:
Teenagers go on an adventure?
Random Thoughts:
And here we have the other of two France-Japan collaborative things. This one IS an original show, though advertised as “by the same people who brought you Wakfu,” if that’s something you find attractive in a series. Also, not the same studio. The promos don’t elucidate much either. There’s a bunch of elemental furries, someone gets stabbed, the kids look like gnomes compared to the absolute ogres of adult baking women. I’m really not sure what to make of it, except that it doesn’t appear to take place in any kind of explict RPG. Good job, France. You cleared the bare minimum.
Preseason Swing Rating:
At least it’s sort of different?
#ZombieHunt
https://zommasu.com/
Studio: Studio Comet
Genre: Zombie Power!
Premieres October 3rd
Show Premise:
Teens fight zombies.
Random Thoughts:
I’d be a little more optimistic if this wasn’t Studio Comet (Haibara NG+, Strongest Alchemist), and specifically, the same staff as Salad Bowl. Also, the manga is only like 18 chapters long, and the industry has not been doing well lately when it comes to creating actual content to fill space instead of outright padding. That said, the promo actually looks like quite a bit of fun, and this is much more in the Zom 100 or Zombieland kind of goofy post-apocalypse nonsense, rather than a horror bend. The only traumatized anybody looked in the promo was from another human menacing them. Plus, flamethrowers, improvised weaponry, actually animated running from and running over zombies… all the things you would hope to see in a monster killing romp. It’s one of the very few shows that I have even an iota of hope for this season. But… it’s still Comet.
Preseason Swing Rating:
Stupid sexy undead.
The Seven Knights of the Marronnier Kingdom
https://www.nhk-character.com/chara/marronnier/
Studio: JC Staff
Genre: Powers Power!
Premieres October 3rd* (prime time and 25 minute broadcast)
Show Premise:
See title.
Random Thoughts:
It seems pithy to say that the title covers it given the length of other shows’ titles, but the manga is essentially 11 volumes of short stories of about 1-2 volumes covering a different knight going on some little adventure where they meet-cute with the local princess or noble lady and save whatever themed appropriately kingdom they’re in. They’re all brothers, none have names, and they’re all referred to as their Captain Planet like powers; fire, cold, animal, plant… uh… sleep. Yes, Knight Dayquil with the power of nyquil goes to the land of endless nights where they’re struggling with insomnia. This is somehow so much better than RPG worlds. What has become of anime fantasy.
Preseason Swing Rating:
Your powers combined!
Suikoden – The True Hero
https://suikoden-anime.com/
Studio: KONAMI Animation
Genre: War Power!
Premieres October 3rd*
Show Premise:
Teen soldiers fight wars.
Random Thoughts:
This is a very timely adaptation of the nearly thirty year old Suikoden 2. Okay, fine. It did have an HD Remaster a year ago, but more relevantly, a Suikoden gacha was released just a month ago. Konami made an entire animation studio for YuGiOh advertisements, so they might as well be pushing their other franchises too. The promo is certainly well animated… almost to GoHands levels where there’s a bit too much going on, which is a rare, but welcome issue. I wasn’t a Suikoden kid, though maybe that’s a positive here since it’s all new to me. I understand that the story is bonkers in that true PS1 era of RPG nonsense, even above and beyond the standard Suikoden 108 stars of destiny recruitables. Sometimes all your friends are being murdered, sometimes you’re infiltrating a Japanese high school despite the Chinese war setting, sometimes your party members are blinding enemies with their bald heads. Given the state of anime fantasy, it’s hard to say no here.
Preseason Swing Rating:
Golden bird holy flower dragon tooth glory punch!
Beast King War God Dandivine
https://gattaishin.com/dandivine/
Studio: LIDENFILMS
Genre: Toy Power!
Premieres October 7th
Show Premise:
Dude pilots giant mech,
Random Thoughts:
You might know Good Smile as the company that invested a ton of money into keeping 4chan solvent, but they’re actually a figure/toy advertisement corporation. And for their 25th anniversary, which is a thing companies celebrate, apparently, they decided to announce a supposedly annual franchise of giant mech toy line anime which are legally distinct from classic ones. This iteration is about a struggling toy company that invents a line of mechs that are lega– Hold up, really? A bit on the nose here. Well, let’s hope it goes all Bravern and does something insane, though it certainly seems much more focused on just being a classic toy advertisement with transforming animal giant robots and a bunch of barely clothed girls flitting about the protagonist like feeder fish.
Preseason Swing Rating:
Now that’s what I call diversification.
The Vermillion Mask
https://the-vermilion-mask.com/
Studio: 100studio
Genre: Action
Premieres October 10th
Show Premise:
Dudes have magic masks.
Random Thoughts:
A fairly classic shounen adventure deal. He’s on a quest to deal with all the masks doing evil, while using themed power masks himself, with a pair of sidekicks tagging along. Very little shouting or overreacting in the promos, though a lot of crying. The animation was decent, but it’s 100hands (Black Torch, Living with My Stepsister), who has not been an animation powerhouse. The first episode was screened at Otakon, and apparently very well received, but otherwise, the manga hasn’t seemed to catch on anywhere or have done anything all that notable. I’ll say it again, given the rest of the season, any port in a storm.
Preseason Swing Rating:
Yeah, I know how cursed masks go.
Everyone’s a Villainess
Even Though I’m a Super Timid Noble Girl, I Took a Gamble With My Cunning Fiance
https://yowaki-max-anime.com/
Studio: Jumondou
Genre: Blegh
Premieres October 4th
Show Premise:
Generic villainess crap.
Random Thoughts:
Reincarnated into her favorite VN as the villainess, rejected at the ball, yada yada. She proceeds to do nothing villainessy, and thus win over literally everybody by being the cinnamonest cinnamon roll. Every one of these is the same. Its supposed twist is that she’s just one sub-villainess and every possible member of the boy-harem has their own dedicated villainess, so there’s like four of them running around who all need to be healed by her divine presence. Really just an excuse to rerun the premise over and over again changing nothing but the color schemes.
Preseason Swing Rating:
Someone reincarnate as a dwarf villainess already.
Hello, I’m a Witch Who was Asked to Create a Love Potion By the One I Love
https://horemajo-anime.com/
Studio: diomedea
Genre: Drama
Premieres October 5th
Show Premise:
See title.
Random Thoughts:
I’ll just spoil this now and reveal that he was asked to get a love potion by someone else. This will be a shock to I assume nobody, as will her personality of being awkward, overexcitable, and making lots of faces and blushing around her crush, who is as dense as a block of concrete. But she can’t confess her feelings because society says she… can’t confess her feelings. It’s forbidden for witches. By the rules. The rules of… society. How ever will she overcome this and confess her clearly reciprocated feelings. Stay tuned for another 80+ chapters to maybe find out. The least villainessy of all these, but she’s still an outcast of society, and doing the same tedious crap, so I’m counting it.
Preseason Swing Rating:
She turned me into a newt.
Romelia Chronicle – After Slaying the Demon Lord, Humanity Seemed to Still Be in Danger So I Raised an Army
https://romelia-senki.com/
Studio: Atra
Genre: Drama
Premieres October 5th
Show Premise:
See title…ish.
Random Thoughts:
You thought you knew what kind of show this was? Wrong. It’s every cliche, but not the ones on the cover. Her fiance declared her to be an evil villainess and kicked her out of the party ball. But she doesn’t have cheat powers, so she forms an army with her realist ideals like “think about logistics” and “don’t be quite so racist.” It’s a bait and switch, but leaping from one trashcan to a different one. Atra has assisted on a number of random shows, but this is their first one as the main producer. The promo doesn’t look to be anything special, just a fusion of villainess and kicked-from-the-party faffery.
Preseason Swing Rating:
A turnip based economy will prosper.
Violent Lady Nia Liston – The Magnificent Tale of a God Slaying Warrior Reincarnated as a Frail Girl
https://kyoranreijo-pr.com/
Studio: KONAMI Animation
Genre: Streaming
Premieres October 6th
Show Premise:
See title.
Random Thoughts:
The other Konami show for the season. And by the promos, definitely the unloved of the two, though at least the action is animated. There’s just not much of it. And it’s another goddamned cheat power reincarnation thing, because we will never escape them. With a particularly dumb setting where it’s fantasy, but with TVs and broadcasting. Where she becomes a streamer to promote her family’s magic TV network. As a ten year old. Fighting in schoolgirl tournaments. And they say AI will replace human writing. As ever, I’m sure I’m making the premise sound ten times more interesting and crazy than it actually is or will be, but a brand new studio that seems to have quite a bit of money behind it is still a wild card, so who knows. I still don’t have high hopes for a show about a girl with cheat powers becoming a streamer.
Preseason Swing Rating:
A hundred apes at a hundred typewriters came up with this.
Firefly Wedding
https://hotaru-anime.com/
Studio: david production
Genre: Drama
Premieres October 9th
Show Premise:
Rich girl offers to marry assassin if he spares her.
Random Thoughts:
One more for the road. She’s noble and desired by all, but sickly, just not in a way that impedes or affects her in any way. He’s a Bad Dude, because society looks down on him for being such a Bad Dude, even though he’s honest and forthright and everyone else is fifty times worse. He kills people though. Everyone else tries to, but doesn’t succeed, which is why he’s such a Bad Dude and they’re just Sparkling Evil. And she’s shocked by how Bad a Dude he is, which she shows by comically making faces, but also learns life lessons about how sheltered she was. Same paint by numbers shoujo thing as a hundred thousand times before; Japanese edo era edition for the set dressing.
Preseason Swing Rating:
It’s over. I’m free.
Wrapup:
…So, how about that zombie show, huh? And France? France is getting in on things? That’s new. We like new. Too bad it’s bog standard shounen adventures… probably. It’s gonna be a rough season, but I suppose a timely one with a hojillion high profile JRPGs coming out. Now if only one of them was named Ogre Battle. I miss you, my love. Anywho, the anime industry is what it is, and what it is right now is all cheat power and villainess rubbish. Pretty soon, the titles alone will be longer than the entire posts I used to write. Still waiting on that collapse of this stuff from oversaturation that was promised some ten years ago.
