...is what I would normally say, but honestly, the spring docket is surprisingly light. There are sequels and Narou-poisoned series aplenty, don't get us wrong, but the fresh isekai offerings are pretty slim. So we're going to do something different and sample some rom-coms alongside the adventures in other worlds. The contents maydiffer slightlyt, but fear not, dear readers: the suffering isn't going anywhere.
Lucas
The mandate is shifting, Steve! Is this the beginning of the dawn of a new era!? Have remakes of older anime franchises and webcomic adaptations dethroned isekai and rom-coms as the dominant genres in a given season!?? Is it too soon to celebrate the death of one of the most cynical trends in the modern media landscape!???
Oops, my bad! A better world seemed possible for a moment, and I clung to it harder than I realized. I'm excited to double up on the isekai and rom-com impressions with you, and I think this optimism flows well into the title I was the most pleasantly surprised by: Catch Me at the Ballpark!.
On its surface, it is a rom-com, but it is a low-key ensemble story about the particular community that forms around a seasonal space like a professional baseball stadium.
Yeah, I dug(out) that aspect of it. Not only does it eschew the usual high school cast and setting, but the show also focuses on a specific and quotidian location that you usually don't think about outside of the games they host. In reality, these stadiums are huge conglomerations of infrastructure with lots of moving parts, and it's neat to zoom in behind the scenes.
I couldn't agree more! (Though I shouted at the screen during that gag, as cats making it onto the field can lead to some of the best moments in baseball!
Moreover, it's about a girl with a snaggletooth who gently teases the main character, and that's a perennial genre for shy masochists everywhere.
Steve, I was so worried that this was about to be just another anime for people who enjoy being stepped on, but then it dropped the twist! Ruriko's not actually domineering; she just thinks that's what Murata wants and is trying to fit into the expectations of her new job.
Nagatoro-san (the easiest comparison to make) pulls a similar trick with its main couple, but I also like the extra bit of characterization this gives Ruriko. And that's how I feel about the show overall—it doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it has enough of an identity to stand out and be pleasant to watch.
That's fair. I'm not sure how much more I'll watch, but what I've seen so far is way better than expected from anything else in this lineup. The cast is well acted (though with Fairouz Ai playing Ruriko I should have expected as much), I love that it's already getting into more niche stuff around baseball like the socio-politics of being a player's partner by episode 2, and this anime is an early frontrunner for best ED of the season, if not year!
If I'm allowed to break a cardinal sin of writing and utilize a sports metaphor, Catch Me at the Ballpark! is a deep hit with a good chance of becoming a home run!
But if we're talking about real trash aimed at guys who want to be stepped on, that distinction easily belongs to Please Put Them On, Takamine-san!
This one at least deserves points for the audacity with which it sallies forth into complete and utter porno ridiculousness.
Steve, I'm torn. One part of me wants to give props to the animation studio, LIDEN FILMS, and also to Crunchyroll for not being afraid to both give and show that the characters in this universe have nipples, which is usually a point of contention in any televised media!
But the other part of me wants to call this show out for a myriad of reasons! It's frustrating that Takamine is supposed to be the most beautiful person in her community when she has perhaps the most generic "waifu" design to date. Furthermore, as we hinted at on Bluesky (y'all should follow us on Bsky, we're a delight!), how does she know how her powers work if the MC is supposedly the first person to see her naked? Also, why does Takamine's anatomy seem off in so many still images of her??
I know this isn't a show I shouldn't ask too many questions about, but I'd like my smut's internal logic and world-building to be consistent!
And as far as uncensored smut on streaming services goes, Takamine-san is no Gushing Over Magical Girls, neither in titillation nor in consistent world-building. But I'm willing to handwave logic if it throws out lines of dialogue as beautifully nonsensical as this one. This is the shit a Metal Gear Solid boss says before pulling a gun out of her cleavage.
My main problem (aside from the off-putting art style you mentioned) is that I don't like either of our leads. The dude has no defining personality traits, and the gal comes across as a vector for fetishes rather than a person. I respect its honesty about its intentions, but Takamine-san just doesn't have the juice.
Especially with last season's second cour of 100 GFs, which managed to be horny, hilarious, and have a wealth of character writing; I don't think Takamine-san will rise above being more than fodder in the seasonal waifu wars.
On the other hand, there's a little something-something going on in Kowloon Generic Romance!
This is (in my opinion) the best show we will be discussing in this column, and I knew that would be the case as early as its opening scene. A pure vibe in anime form.
Naturally, it also helps that the content of the show is intriguing, engaging, and unique. After the Rain's mangaka Jun Mayuzuki crafts a Wong Kar-wai-esque romantic romp in the crowded streets of Kowloon, with a mysterious sci-fi backdrop looming over everything. It's moody. It's sexy. It's fantastic.
I don't think I'm as big on it as you are, but there are plenty of moments and little decisions to appreciate. While I'm not sold yet on the chemistry between the leads, I love how casual and classy it is while making Reiko out to be an absolute bombshell.
This show doesn't have to invent ridiculous circumstances to make Reiko attractive; it just places the viewer in more intimate or naturally provocative moments with her, and that immediately creates a sense of connection and desire. It's still a little male-gaze-y, but it's way more highbrow than what I expect from most anime.
I mean, Jun Mayuzaki is a woman, and I think her eye comes through in this adaptation. She understands that someone can look their hottest when covered in sweat and paint and ready to pass out from heatstroke. It's a refreshingly unvarnished perspective on sexiness, especially in contrast to its competition.
I like, too, that this philosophy applies to the anime's depiction of Kowloon, which is dirty, rusty, and dingy but awash in people and personality. Again, it helps set the anime apart.
I appreciate it whenever an anime makes a space feel real and lived in, as opposed to a sterile TV set. The more distinct character designs for even secondary characters also help. Of course, I'm also curious about what's up with that octahedron (the most menacing shape) and the memory/amnesia mystery it seems to be setting up.
I'm just happy it so quickly reneged on taking Reiko's glasses away. I was worried for a couple of minutes there.
Also, admittedly, we're stretching the definition of "com" in rom-com by including Kowloon Generic Romance here, but its premiere is just too good to ignore. To make up for it, let's talk about the goofiest rom-com premiere next.
Between its limited theatrical run about a month ago and the production values present in this first episode, I can tell that Shonen Jump alum WITCH WATCH is desperately trying to be the season's hit! This is admirable, but it might also be challenging since it's my understanding that the manga takes a little while to get going.
Speaking as someone who is blissfully ignorant of as much as possible, I didn't know what to expect going in, and I came away from WITCH WATCH sufficiently charmed. It's super cartoonish. Our main character barfs confetti. I can't not love that.
It also shows off some incredible chops in its OP. Megumi Ishitani, fresh off the One Piece Fan Letter, is here to make a name for herself in the industry.
Oh my god, YES! WITCH WATCH is a STRONG frontrunner for the best OP of the season. And it is as charming as it is hilarious. I'm not sure how intentional this gag was, but I got a chuckle right out of the gate with the not-Levis hat in the cold opening.
And regarding Flat Nico, the transition from silly slapstick to a horrifying Junji Ito situation is true cinema.
I was half-hoping we'd see him try to drag her out with a yardstick, but I like that he's also an endearing dumbass. They are made for each other.
Hey, I ship it! This is more than I can say for any coupling of characters in The Shiunji Family Children! Which, outside of giving me a screenshot that's sure to be incredibly useful for my career as a professional anime person, didn't have a single standout moment for me!
I'm more partial to prestige incest myself (Yosuga no Sora, Days With My Stepsister, Nisemonogatari, etc.), so Shiunji Family doesn't quite cut the mustard for me either. But it comes close. It's self-effacingly absurd, Dōga Kōbō's production chops make it nice to look at, and there are gestures towards some compelling drama in between the parts where the siblings sit the audience down and explain each of their charm points in excruciating detail.
That male nipple is more than can be said of some of the rom-coms that'll appear in this convo! And, as weird as it sounds, I'm in the same boat as you on the incest. Either make them siblings or don't! Spending half of the episode hedging at how taboo this anime might be without actually committing feels like a poorly executed fake-out to me.
While I don't respect fake incest, I can respect the gesture towards soap opera drivel. I also appreciate how convoluted it is—one set of twins is actually twins, but the other set isn't. It doesn't quite get saucy enough. And considering that Rent-A-Girlfriend (from the same mangaka) was a series I thought had more potential than follow-through, I can't say I'm too optimistic here, either.
Let's change gears and talk about strong female characters.
Would The Gorilla God's Go-To Girl be more popular if it were instead titled Gorilla Girl Bananza? Who can say? For the only shojo anime to make this watch-through, I found it surprisingly serviceable! The animal connections are sure to make for valuable short-hands for various romantic interests. Who doesn't love a good fish-out-of-water story?
My one complaint is that this is yet another anime that features a girl with super strength while giving her no muscle mass. I need to accept that this hyper-specific trope is my pet peeve alone.
At least the show doesn't mock Sophia for her newfound super strength. That's what I thought I got going in, based on the entire history of anime comedies, but I was surprised by Gorilla God's good nature. Most of the humor stems from Sophia's awkwardness and shyness. And her occasional simian proclivities.
I think the setting and style feel a bit too generic, and that holds it back from standing out, but as you said, a shojo adaptation of this ilk can be a unique selling point. The girls have every right to enjoy a harem as well.
Absolutely. Though I can't fault it for being generic until I saw a screenshot I took of the show yesterday, I had completely forgotten that I watched the first episode of Can a Boy-Girl Friendship Survive?!
Which to me feels like a rom-com anime so rote that the kindest thing I can say about it is that maybe I would have liked it more if it came out before Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines! deconstructed the genre, but even that feels backhanded.
There's nothing wrong with it, and it's one of the better put-together anime featured here. But it, too, feels profoundly sauceless. I was going to compare it to My Dress-Up Darling, which also has a male lead with a feminine-coded hobby that endears him to the precocious female lead. But here, that setup feels more contrived and less interesting. I can't quite put my finger on why. It might be the more generic character designs.
At least in Dress-Up Darling the leads could bond over their overlapping hobbies and there was a believable explanation for the lead feeling so discouraged about his interest, but Can a Boy-Girl Friendship Survive? eschews most of that so that it can rush to what's gearing up to be love triangle central conflict. Which feels dated after The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You shattered the glass ceiling on polyamory in anime. Maybe Boy-Girl Friendship would have done well enough five or so years ago, but I doubt it'll survive, much less thrive, in the modern anime landscape.
Still, it should please dedicated rom-com fans, and it has some reasonably funny bits after the third wheel gets introduced.
And providing easy transitional fodder for this column is the most useful thing Yandere Dark Elf does. Maybe the only useful thing.
Uh, excuse you! Yandere Dark Elf paves the way for male-female nipple censorship equality in anime! Years from now, scholars will look back and deem this moment pivotal in the march to reach true gender equality!!!
Outside of that bit, I've got very little to say about what might be the trashiest rom-com of the season, either. Although, when did "yandere" become synonymous with "obsessive?" Back in my day, during the peak of media like Future Diary and Yandere Simulator, a waifu could only be a yandere if she more or less wanted to kill her crush! This obsession is weak shit undeserving of the yandere moniker!
If I'm being charitable, maybe they don't want to blow their proverbial yandere load all in the first episode. Even so, that doesn't stop Yandere Dark Elf from disappointing. Making a pervert anime explicitly aimed at dudes who developed a formative crush on Pirotess should be a laughably easy exercise, but they manage to bungle it. It looks bad. It feels bad. And HIDIVE couldn't even get the uncensored version. There's nothing for you here.
Yet another example of a final work falling short of the sum of its parts. It's frustrating points come more from a series of missteps and misunderstandings than outright malice. On a related note:
I'm the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! is one of the most cynical and nakedly misogynistic pieces of media I've ever seen. I despised what was presented to me in the first episode.
You are entirely correct, and that's also why I found it funnier than most of the rom-coms we just covered. Evil Lord is so over-the-top in its isekai icks that I couldn't help but have fun with it. As soon as I saw this dude's family, I knew they were either going to A) die tragically or B) betray him. And boy, oh, boy, did we get option B.
Outside of the space opera opening, the entire premiere is about everything in his life grinding him down into the saddest, wettest dog of a person imaginable. It's a backstory oozing with contempt for everyone except our hero, who merely tried to be the goodest boy in the whole world. We rarely get something this in sync with the societal undercurrents of male entitlement and insecurity, even amongst the isekai world.
I wish I could disconnect enough to get some dark laughs out of it, but I was just floored non-stop at how people can believe that their unhappiness is entirely out of their control and wholly due to people conspiring against them for no reason.
The wild part is that it might be aware of what it's doing. Like, the guy who isekais our main dude turns out to be some malevolent interdimensional agent who feeds on unhappiness, and he directly calls out our MC's "woe is me" schtick. I can see a possible future where Evil Lord addresses and rejects that toxic mindset.
That's a sentence a mom would say to their 5-year-old child! Listen, I'll be the first to eat crow if it turns out that Evil Lord does a rug pull and reveals that everything evil the main character does is, in fact, BAD, but I'm not holding my breath for that 180.
Though at least Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire is comprehensive in its themes, genre, and political messaging. With its sci-fi kingdom where sword fights are still a thing to JPRG standard fantasy world reincarnation, I have no clue what The Beginning After The End is going for in its first episode.
It has a neater premise than most isekai, I'll give it that. Instead of a Japanese high schooler, it's the king of a dystopian fascist future who reincarnated in a magic fantasy world. There's a crumb of an original idea there.
Unfortunately, in execution, this premiere mirrors Mushoku Tensei in every way except the horny baby part. This sounds like it should be a good thing (and it is), but it contributes to the episode being bland.
It's probably not a good sign when the best thing I can think to say about a show is that "well, at least it's not as gross as Jobless Reincarnation."
From my Wiki community manager days, I recall that this anime is tied to a hugely popular webcomic, but I have a hard time envisioning how the anime adaptation will reach those lofty heights after watching the first episode.
Yeah, the adaptation is quite rough around the edges. At least Mushoku Tensei had ridiculously impressive production values propping up its depravity. Fans might be better off sticking to the webcomic in this case.
I'm a little torn on Teogonia! On the one hand, I could see it having some potential in a throwback shonen series. On the other hand, the character designs and the animation leave quite a bit to be desired.
It feels like it will either be blowing up on my social media feeds by mid-May, or I'll never hear anyone say anything about it, with absolutely zero middle ground between the two extremes.
It also downplays the isekai angle quite a bit. The premiere gives us just a few hints of Kai's past life, which even he is only vaguely aware of. In practice, Teogonia feels more like a standard fantasy adventure.
And that's a double-edged sword. Compared to other isekai, I think Teogonia is off to a stronger start than most. But compared to other similar fantasy series, Teogonia's premiere struggles to find a truly compelling thread to follow outside of the usual call to adventure.
I'm probably not being a great critic by saying that I feel wholly indifferent to Teogonia by the end of its first episode, but it didn't give me enough to chew on to have much more of an opinion than that.
Jose shows some potential with her fight against feudal sexism, but I don't know if that's strong enough to string me along any further.
Still, if you want a new isekai on your plate, Teogonia is easily the least morally reprehensible of the bunch, so it has that going for it.
And with that, I think we've gone through every isekai and rom-com to release this season! Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'd say this batch of genre fare has more than enough high points to make up for the muck at the bottom or the more forgettable entries somewhere in the middle.
Overall, I'd say the big picture is comfortably middling. But Kowloon Generic Romance easily gets my top marks in this joint isekai-romcom session of TWIA congress, followed by WITCH WATCH and Catch Me at the Ballpark!! Consider me smitten with this smoking hot real estate agent.
With spring coming on, the anime real estate market is heating up! Hopefully, we've given our readers the information they need to head into it with cool heads and the skills to distinguish the close-on-sight deals from the ones that'll make them want to cancel escrow!
The implication that anybody in our cohort can afford real estate in the current market is the funniest joke of all.
It's time for another giveaway here at Anime News Network, and today we've got something for you from our friends at Nitro Plus and NetEase Games. We've got game codes for their new release, Rusty Rabbit!― It's time for another giveaway here at Anime News Network, and today we've got something for you from our friends at Nitro Plus and NetEase Games. We've got game codes for their new release, Rust...
It doesn’t take long to realize that there’s not a helluva lot of things promising about this wizard show.― Promise of Wizard is an anime so sluggish that it robs itself of any opportunity to be enchanting. Not even the wizard's ball that happens halfway through has any sense of glittery whimsiness. With the plot and animation trudging along at a snail's pace, it feels like nothing is going on. Ther...
Steve and Lucas pull double-duty as they tackle both the new season's isekai and rom-com anime.― Steve and Lucas pull double-duty as they tackle both the new season's isekai and rom-coms. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the views of Anime News Network. are available on
The Beginning After the End, Can A Boy-Girl Friendship Survive, Please Put...
nonco's romantic comedy manga centers on demoness in love― Retailers are listing the 20th issue of Kodansha's Weekly Shonen Magazine with a cover image, which reveals that nonco's Kanan-sama wa Akumade Choroi (Kanan is Simple-Minded in the End) manga is receiving a television anime adaptation in 2026. The magazine ships on Wednesday. The manga centers on Kanan, a demoness who has infiltrated human s...
The biggest selling point of the limited edition set is the art book for season two, although calling it an art book feels misleading.― Season two of Jujutsu Kaisen is broken up into two major arcs that act as definitive turning points for the overall series. The limited edition set itself only comes with the second half of season two, the Shibuya Incident arc, but we will also be reviewing the firs...
The weaponization of irony makes it hard to distinguish sincerity from sarcasm. What can we do to counter the online radicalization of anime fans?― Overworked 9-5 Employee asks: “From the K-On! profile pic meme to accounts that post images of Anya Forger with white nationalist undertones, there's an unhealthy number of alt-right internet users who spout hateful content and have an affinity for cute...
This version of the PS1 Lunar games is the most accessible way to experience these classics.― A standout series from a time in the video game scene where Japanese RPGs and aggressively anime-styled games weren't consistently brought over in English, the Lunar line carved out a historic niche for itself. That legacy can make it easy to initially fixate on what this Lunar Remastered Collection doesn't...
A rushed plotline and frenetic pacing barely leave you with a memory of this show worth naming.― Many great fairy tales treat love as something no magical curse, giant tower, or fire-breathing dragon can tear apart. In worlds occupied by fairies and magic, love is the most real part of any fantasy; a passionate force that conquers all. Unnamed Memory Act 2 follows that precedent by having its leadin...
Moare Ohta’s Teppu is a bonafide cult sensation, but is this print-on-demand release punching under its weight?― In early December, Kodansha USA announced the establishment of their Kodansha Print Club program—a print-on-demand service that gives select digital-only titles the chance to shine in print. The publisher capped off this news by revealing the program's first trio of titles—Narumi Shigemat...
Moko-chan directs anime with scripts by Toh Enjoe― Bandai Namco Filmworks revealed a new trailer and the main staff on Saturday for Science Saru's new Ghost in the Shell television anime series that is slated to debut in 2026. The new anime is titled Kōkaku Kidōtai The Ghost in the Shell (the English title is The Ghost in the Shell). Moko-chan (storyboarder, key animator for DAN DA DAN, The Heike St...
Kyōtarō Azuma, Yōsuke Nakamaru's alternate history of warriors battling to rule Japan― The official X (formerly Twitter) account for artist Kyōtarō Azuma and author Yōsuke Nakamaru's Tenkaichi: The Greatest Warrior Under the Rising Sun (Tenkaichi: Nihon Saikyō Bugeisha Ketteisen) manga announced on Friday that the manga is receiving a television anime. 【祝❗️TVアニメ化‼️】テンカイチがアニメになります！！生き生きと動くキャラクター達と、躍動...
@RiderStrike
@BWProwl
@LucasDeRuyter
@vestenet
