Well, it’s that time of the season again. Let’s check out some of the anime premiering in Fall 2022!

This time around, I won’t be writing any episodic reviews since I think I bit off more than I can chew the last time. If I find something that really inspires me to do reviews, I might do it, but I don’t think I’ll do more than one anime this season.

This time, I checked out MAL’s list because it was the first result that came up when I looked up “Fall 2022 anime”. I probably should have used livechart.me instead—but who cares?

I also watched the trailers this time, unlike the last time when I went in completely blind. I have to say though, these short PVs don’t really give me much to work with. I am once again reminded why I’ve stopped watching trailers for anything.

Contents:

  1. Chainsaw Man
  2. Mob Psycho 100 III
  3. Urusei Yatsura
  4. Do It Yourself!!
  5. Play It Cool, Guys
  6. Bocchi the Rock!
  7. Bibliophile Princess
  8. Eikyuu Shounen: Eternal Boys

1. Chainsaw Man

Denji is a teenage boy living with a Chainsaw Devil named Pochita. Due to the debt his father left behind, he has been living a rock-bottom life while repaying his debt by harvesting devil corpses with Pochita.

One day, Denji is betrayed and killed. As his consciousness fades, he makes a contract with Pochita and gets revived as “Chainsaw Man” — a man with a devil’s heart.

Source: AniList
  • Alternate Title/s: N/A
  • Studio/s: MAPPA
  • Genre/s: Action, Comedy, Drama, Horror, Supernatural
  • Source: Manga

This one’s obviously the most popular anime of the season. And with the source material being as well-received as it is, it’s definitely gonna be an instant hit.

I’ve actually read some of the manga for this. According to AniList, I was 63 chapters in when I decided to drop it. There were a few reasons why I didn’t continue with this manga. There’s the fact that I’m really bad at remembering faces, and at some point—where there were a bunch of characters being introduced—I just didn’t know who was who anymore. I also sometimes had trouble following what was happening in the panels. It’s a common problem I have with action manga. The biggest reason is definitely that I realized that I had trouble following complex stories with large casts, which was the reason I moved to reading and watching more slice-of-life. This was also one of the main reasons I started to suspect I had ADHD.

So, yeah, I think these problems had more to do with me than the manga itself, and I think the anime make it easier for me to be able to follow the story so I’m looking forward to that.

2. Mob Psycho 100 III

The third season of Mob Psycho 100.

Source: AniList
  • Alternate Title/s: N/A
  • Studio/s: bones
  • Genre/s: Action, Comedy, Psychological, Slice of Life, Supernatural
  • Source: Manga

This was a series that I enjoyed a lot more than I expected too. To be honest, I didn’t actually like it all that much at the beginning. I actually initially dropped the show 1 or 2 episodes in. I decided to pick it back up just because I was really curious to see the godly animation I had heard so much about. And boy, am I glad I picked it back up.

The story and characters really resonated with me. I’m a sucker for cool mentor characters, so it didn’t take long for me to absolutely fall in love with Reigen. I just love his relationship with Mob, especially with big of a part it plays in the finale of season 1.

I do like season 1 a lot more than season 2 though, which seems to be an unpopular opinion judging from AniList scores. Of course, those ratings might also be skewed since the people who didn’t like season 1 probably wouldn’t continue with season 2, which would allow season 2 to get a higher rating.

The reason I liked season 1 more was because it was more in-line with my taste. Season 1 felt a lot more slice-of-life and a lot more personal, while season 2 felt closer to a standard action shounen. I don’t know where this season is going, but either way I’d still probably enjoy it. I should probably get a refresher for the series though since I’ve completely forgotten what had happened.

3. Urusei Yatsura

Tokyo. Tomobiki Town.

Lum, the gorgeous daughter of an invading race of Oni Aliens is smitten with High School student Ataru Moroboshi. A dedicated womanizer, Ataru is unfazed by Lum’s fierce electric shock attacks and continues his daily hunt for pretty girls. With a host of other unique characters, including classmate Shinobu, elegant shrine maiden Sakura, Lum’s best friend’s Oyuki, Benten and Ran, Buddhist Monk Cherry, Ten, the little brat, heir to a wealthy family Shuutaro Mendou and the secretly female beauty Ryunosuke… A classic slapstick love comedy where anything goes!

(Source: Fuji Creative)

Note: A new adaption of the manga of the same name by Rumiko Takahashi.

Source: AniList

I’m not at all confident with this one. Remakes of old beloved anime don’t really have the best track record. In fact, I’m currently watching Tokyo Mew Mew New which by all accounts seem to be worse than the original (I’m still enjoying it though).

I also find it visually disjointed. It seems to retain the original character designs, which don’t seem to fit with the modern animation. Maybe that’s just me. I’ll probably get used to it, but like I said, I doubt I’ll be watching past the first few episodes (or even the pilot). The trailer doesn’t really make make we look forward to it either. It looks like a standard slice-of-life romcom with the additional baggage of being adapted from a source material which I can only assume has a lot of dated tropes. Part of me was hoping it was going to be a Dororo situation, wherein it was going to be radically modernized, which I don’t think is going to be the case with this one. Still, it might be worth checking out.

4. Do It Yourself!!

Building furniture and friendships have a lot in common. Intention, effort, and hard work are needed for both crafts. This is a story of girls in a DIY club building both as they carve out their futures. None of it comes easy, but that doesn’t stop any of ’em. Furniture, friendships, and the future—they’re building it all with their own hands!

Source: AniList
  • Alternate Title/s: N/A
  • Studio/s: PINE JAM
  • Genre/s: Slice of Life
  • Source: Original

Ever since finishing K-ON!, I’ve been looking for the next CGDCT anime to fall in love with—to no avail. I have no idea if this anime will be able to fill that hole in my heart. It’s even an anime original, so it doesn’t have source material whose ratings I can reference to gauge it’s quality.

I’ve mentioned multiple times in my blog that I love slice-of-life anime about niche hobbies or professions. This anime seems to revolve around woodworking and other DIY-related stuff. That’s definitely something I’ve found interesting in the past. It’s something I’ve always wished I could do, so I might be able to live vicariously through this girls.

They do seem to be quite younger than the characters in CGDCT anime/manga I usually consume, with one character I think being in the 3rd grade. Not really the age you would expect to be working with dangerous tools. I also kinda think that with CGDCT anime, the younger the characters are, the weirder it is. I just have to hope that the creators chose girls at this age for no unsavory reasons whatsoever.

5. Play it Cool, Guys

Enter: a bunch of cool guys who look like they got that unapproachable swag. But let’s be real—that’s not the true them. They’re just a bunch of dorks who’ve got the act down pat. So sit back, grab some popcorn and enjoy watching a bunch of goofy guys try to look cool all day every day.

Source: AniList
  • Alternate Title/s: Cool Doji Danshi
  • Studio/s: Studio Pierrot
  • Genre/s: Comedy, Slice of Life
  • Source: Manga

I’ve never really seen any of these shoujo anime/manga with primarily male casts (aside from Given, but being yaoi, I think that’s a different thing). I would assume this would fall under the subgenre of Cute Boys Doing Cute Things (CBDCT), right?

I really don’t have much to say about this one. I just found the premise somewhat interesting and was curious about this subgenre of shoujo anime. A lot of times, I find portrayals of male characters to be a bit weird in shoujo—girls probably feel the same about female characters in shounen—but I am curious to see what these characters are like. The description suggests that they’re on the dorkier side, and I definitely appreciate dorky characters.

6. Bocchi the Rock!

Gotou Hitori is a high school girl who starting learning to playing the guitar because she dreams of being in a band, but she’s so shy that she hasn’t made a single friend. However, her dream might come true after she meets Ijichi Nijika, a girl who plays the drums and is looking for a new guitarist for her band.

Source: AniList
  • Alternate Title/s: N/A
  • Studio/s: CloverWorks
  • Genre/s: Comedy, Music, Slice of Life
  • Source: Manga

This one’s a bit weird. The poster, manga cover, and PV all seem to be a bit on the more serious (edgier?) side. And yet it’s a CGDCT comedy based on a 4-koma—which, from my limited experience, I would expect to be quite lighthearted.

Being fan of rock music and having played in a (sucky) band myself, I’m definitely a fan of anime and manga about rock bands. This might actually get closer to filling that hole K-ON! left in my heart. The original manga seems to have meh ratings, but K-ON! was also adapted from a somewhat meh 4-koma and that turned out amazing. I think this one definitely has potential to be great and is one I’m really looking forward to checking out.

This also stood out a bit to me because it has the word bocchi in the title and has a lead named Hitori. From my limited Japanese knowledge, I know Hitoribocchi means alone. This is also a pun used by the show Hitoribocchi no Marumaruseikatsu, which had a character named Hitori Bocchi who was also really shy and had trouble making friends. I guess that might just be a common pun to make.

7. Bibliophile Princess

When book-loving Lady Elianna spots Prince Christopher—her betrothed in name only—consorting with another noble lady, she realizes the recent rumors must be true. The prince has someone he truly loves, which means the annulment of their engagement is both inevitable and fast-approaching. What she doesn’t realize is that this is merely a surface ripple—one of many where the truth runs deep, in a conspiracy surpassing her imagination!

Source: AniList

Okay, I’m usually not a fan of princess stories, but this actually looks kinda good. The source material doesn’t seem all that popular and the ratings aren’t high, but the PV honestly looks good. The music is really pretty, the animation looks good, and the lead character’s VA sounds pretty good too. She is voiced by Reina Ueda who also voices my girl Ellen from Parallel World Pharmacy, so I already like her a lot more than I would otherwise.

The MAL description of this show seems to be a lot more descriptive than AniList but a bit too long to include here so I’ll just summarize it. It seems that the princess is expected to find a suitor despite the fact that she’s only really interested in books. This prince character then agrees to pretend to be her fiance. They spend years doing this and she slowly starts developing feelings for him.

Fake relationships suddenly giving birth to real feelings are definitely a staple of shoujo stories. I don’t have high expectations for this, but I am somewhat curious to see what it’s like.

8. Eikyuu Shounen: Eternal Boys

“The Mature Idol Project”

The latest project proposed by Manpuku Etertainment productions, in a bid to revive the company. Experienced in the successes and failures of the business world, 6 middle-aged men now face the many hurdles of age and physical ability, whilst pursuing their goal to become idols. In an effort to prove that old dogs can learn new tricks, and that you can still learn to shine no matter your age. These middle-aged men, and the end of their ropes, are taking a stand!

Source: AniList

Alternate Title/s: N/A
Studio/s: LIDENFILMS
Genre/s: Comedy
Source: Original

This is the one I’m least looking forward too. I’m not really a fan of idol anime. I really just put this one on my list because the premise seemed kinda interesting. I’ll check it out purely out of curiosity, but I doubt I’ll watch past the first episode.

Final Thoughts

Aside from Chainsaw Man and Mob Psycho 100 season 3, both of which I already know what to expect, there’s really nothing coming out that’s got me really excited the way Call of the Night or Tokyo Mew Mew New did the past season. I am excited for Bocchi the Rock!, but I doubt it’s gonna recapture the magic of K-ON!. At the very least, I hope it’s fun enough for me to keep watching, which is what I’m hoping for with the other shows on this list as well. Well… maybe not all of them. I don’t need 8 shows to keep up with this season.