Upcoming Anime Season: Fall 2022

[Ryllharu]

Mid-season check in. This season is astonishingly good, and if you're not branching out and trying a few odder series, you're missing out on some real gems. This could legitimately be one of the best seasons of anime in 5 years.

In no particular order:

Shinmai Renkinjutsushi - Probably the weakest of the shows I'm still watching, but I need something for earlier in the week.

Kage no Jitsuryokusha - Somewhat sub-par and oddly paced adaptation of an otherwise very good manga.

Reincarnated as a Sword - Fran Omega Cuteness with decent action scenes, but starting to show some powercreep problems that plague the LitRPG genre.

Bibliophile Hime - A fluffy historical romance. The color palette is nice.

Urusei Yatsura remake - I finally see why Japan is still obsessed with Lum decades later.

Reincarnated Villainess Taming the Last Boss - Series does mini-arcs about four episodes each, and they're really well composed. The OP is awful (Megumin's VA singing past her range) and the art feels a bit generic at times, but overall I'm enjoying it more than I did Bakarina.

Spy x Family S2 - Animation is better than the previous season, but with more of the filler chapters from the original manga, it is a bit weaker.

Kokyuu no Karasu - Surprisingly good Imperial Chinese Court series, in a subgrene often caught with very bland series. More of a political mystery series with modest supernatural elements to it. Not a reverse harem. Absolute worst OP of the entire season, but one of the best EDs. Also plays with some rather unique animation styles for flashbacks.

Utawarerumono - I'm still watching it, but it is starting to lose me. I'll finish it, but I kinda expected more from this.

Gundam: Witch from Mercury - Look forward to it every week. The series has started to tease out some of its huge twists.

Bocchi the Rock - My current show of the season. This is "Mental Health Dilemma K-ON" and covers social anxiety so well, on top of actually having good music performances in-universe. Every episode gets better. It also has some truly incredible Late 90s - Early 2000s nostalgia to it while still being very modern because they get experimental with the animation, and it works every time. This feels like GAINAX at their absolute peak. It is consistently endearing, weird, and constantly hits close to home. A true sleeper hit.

Arknights - Really good worldbuilding and promising overall, but oh my god the exposition. At 8 episodes, this will be a nice bonus, but not a mainstay.