This Week in Anime

Which Recent Anime Announcements Are Most Hype-Worthy?

Nicky
We're also creeping up on the spring season, where we're sure to see tons of already announced, highly anticipated new and returning series!

However, even with an infinite amount of anime being made in this day and age, there are still a bunch more manga that hasn't been made into anime that people want to see.

They even have a huge poll where people can vote for their favorite manga they want to see themselves! Judging by last year's Top 10 results, winners aren't always guaranteed an anime. It's an interesting way to see where some of the demand is while knowing that many people in the industry will also be looking at it, compared to most other polls.

Look, Nick, only YOU could've predicted that, of all things, The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You would be getting an anime THIS year, which speaks how fast the turnaround can be.

On the other hand, given their wide appeal and potential for merchandise, I'm also hoping for some titles such as Magu-chan, one of my favorite gag series. I would pay anything to own a plush version of those adorable, somewhat aquatic-inspired gods of unknowable terror.

Just look how marketable these guys are!! Let me build a shrine to my wife, Uneras, you cowards!

On the other hand, some adaptions come later than others. I never expected Tomo-chan to get an anime about five years after it wrapped up its web-based serialization, albeit a modest one. It shows that even a few low-key titles can have their day.

Of this year's nominations, I'm not sure if I call it a romance-comedy, but if there's a hilarious manga based around two dorks who should smooch that'd make a great anime, it's the wild Dandadan.

Smooch, dorks, smooch!

That's a pretty apt comparison, given that author Yukinobu Tatsu was Fujimoto's assistant. The series moves as fast as the high-speed dick-stealing terrifying turbo granny ghost that kicks off its story.

Shonen Jump+ has undoubtedly been an interesting test bed. As sad as I am about PPPPPP, some of the most innovative and popular titles have come from the mobile end of things, some even migrating to Jump proper and others having even more widespread success as anime. I went to the mall the other day and saw oodles of SpyxFamily merch sandwiched between Demon Slayer and Naruto, as I predicted would happen back in 2019.

Choujin X is where Sui Ishida continues to do whatever he pleases, including drawing some incredible shirt-based puns. I'd prefer if the corporate anime-deciding overlords let this one simmer a bit, as the first 30 chapters are only the "prologue."

What I wouldn't kill for a Jack Jeanne anime, though. It's Ishida's rhythm-based otome game that I'll finally get to play this year, hopefully.

In terms of storytelling, I'd rather something be adapted too "late" rather than too early. It's much easier to adapt a more fully-realized property or outright finished narrative than to hedge all your bets on guessing where something will end up. Though striking while the iron's hot can be a good boost, too. I thought we'd get a Delicious in Dungeon anime sooner. Still, I'm happy to see that monthly series get its end-point before seeing Studio Trigger animate the hell out of some DnD monsters (before they're consumed as delectable meals).

I think everyone has their one "dream adaption," just like how some people might want their favorite YA to move to Hollywood. I love hearing some of my lesser-known favs getting announced. I'm constantly worried those "dream adaptations" could become real nightmares without the right amount of care. Yes, hello. I see you there, The Promised Neverland Season 2.

There are also some series that are good, if not great, that don't need to be given a whole team of animators to spruce it up. Sometimes, manga are just beautiful as their own medium. I'm greatly looking forward to the Witch Hat Atelier anime. Still, I also recognize that animation can't capture the complexities of some of the most lovingly drawn works. All the money and time in the world couldn't compare to the feeling put into those cross-hatches.

There are pros and cons to each medium for sure; I'm willing to forgive some budgetary measures if a series can still portray the same heart to a broader audience. That said, I think the real reason people clamor for things to be adapted into movies or series isn't just because of the fuller sensory experience but because it's tough to convince people to take a little time to read things without an entire advertising campaign and hype movement at their disposal.

I'm just as guilty. There are things I'll put off if I'm not constantly reminded about them. I read volumes faster than I watch anime episodes, but it's more work for my brain to try to fill in all the voices and images myself. It's also certainly cheaper and faster for me to watch a whole season on my Crunchyroll account than to shell out for every individual volume of what might be an ongoing series. There are many valid reasons that people might have an easier time watching over reading, and overall they make anime more accessible despite there being so many good manga. I can't even openly gush about the unanimated in-depth because there's too much risk of spoiling the yet-to-be-initiated.

Shout out to every person on my servers who must follow their recs for Oshi no Ko with a "just trust me, bro."

It's a great upcoming example because anime has the power to create a simultaneous mass reaction that we struggle to do individually. Being broadcasted can turn singular story beats into an event. So I'll never blame people for wanting to see their feelings recreated on a massive scale. It's okay to dream! Sometimes they even come true, but it's not always essential for a work to be adapted to reach that same scale when we only want to publicly discuss how things make us feel.

I can hold onto every single one of my adaptation dreams and try to forget my one-too-many adaptation nightmares, but I do so in the face of a few crushing realities. First, numbers-wise, only some things can be adapted. There will always be more manga, light novels, or original sources. Second, dreams come at a cost. Animation is a lot of labor, and the more anime get greenlit, the tighter the schedules are for many of the few major anime studios.

You'd assume more projects would be a sign of a flourishing and healthy industry, but because of the particular technical details surrounding anime, that genuinely isn't the case. When studios take on more projects, animators work more but aren't paid better than if they worked less. This video from the animator supporters program, a non-profit dedicated to housing underpaid animators, explains it in much greater detail.

Oh yeah, while I wish I could easily blame one person for why something turned out the way it did, most of the time I can't even get mad when a production falls apart. It's more sad than anything knowing that people with passion aren't given the right resources to do the job. I'll hold the Farewell, My Dear Cramer anime as my shining example. That poor show had people who cared. Even some anime I'd consider "serviceable" now still can't help but get a little melty. I have to keep crossing my fingers that my favs don't just explode mid-production, including next season's Yuri is my Job!

I was a little worried about a more drama-based series, but this new trailer looks better than some previous ones.

These two shows definitely "deserve" to be made too! Their manga have good art, appeal, characters, and other qualities that plenty of people will enjoy. However, studios could also be more selective with their titles. Having so many poorly managed adaptations can be equally overwhelming and disheartening.

I'm not saying every anime needs to be immaculate, but most people would rather have one great-looking show with a good hook than ten moderately animated ones they won't have time to watch. Hell, its appearance is probably one of the biggest reasons Demon Slayer stands out. I'm excited to see the ufotable animate the shit out of an arc I like.

Oh yeah, while I say "moderate," I should clarify that we're still getting good shows that aren't getting as much care as their premises might demand. I love how Sasaki and Miyano looks for its atmosphere of what's otherwise a slow and breezy story. It's precisely what the story needs.

"Budget" isn't just about money for showing off but having time and being well-managed. As said in the previous video, most anime have identical amounts of money given to them, but this doesn't account for a production schedule's flexibility. Having every production being a rushed-out mess means there's less room for the kind of oomph needed to make a work stand out. Having the time to make those small and meaningful decisions can help bring out better resonance in an audience.

In my heart, there'd be a world where the increase in demand didn't mean an increase in pain. An industry that's doing well could also afford a few more small projects to space out the big ones, and there'd be more animators and small studios to take them on if they weren't all crashing and burning out. It's also not that these series aren't making money; the studios don't see most of the profits.

Exactly, we need to learn to be okay with loving something that will never get an adaption. Some manga are great and unique on their own; we don't need corporations to remind us what to love, how to love them, and when. It's depressing when you have no one to talk about a series with, but I've found much reward from being that annoying friend who hanks others to check out a series and watch them react.