Summer 2017 anime preview

Written by Dan Barnett on 28 Jun 2017

Its Summer already... summer! You know what that means? Anime, lots of anime - 51 new shows to be precise, and after a mostly lackluster spring season we're absolutely raring to go, so let's dig straight into what you might want to look forward to over the coming months.

18IF

Offical web site

Err... there Are stuffed animals and a cat-headed man? This is part of a new multi-media project from Gonzo which will include a VR game (probably in Japan only). As to what this is going to be about I have no idea!

Should I watch this? Maybe? I don't know - it looks weird so if that's your thing go ahead. All I know is that this is the first show on the list and I don't have a clue! I'm going to go and polish my "if you like the first season" stamp ready for other series until it makes sense.

Action Heroine Cheer Fruits

Offical web site

The mascot girls of various regions of Japan have become super popular and started to compete for the love of the fans. Now Misaki and her friends are setting our to become the mascot girls for Hinano City!

Should I watch this? Well, this feels a bit like Love Live meets Sakura Quest, so if you're looking for something with heaps of slice of life action as cute girls do mascotty type things like fighting off costumed men on stage for kids then you're in for a treat. Otherwise expect this to be cute but otherwise nothing special.

Aho-Girl

Offical web site

Yoshiko is an idiot (who apparently has a thing for bananas) who has to be constantly looked after by long-suffering childhood fried Takkun in this four-panel manga adaptation.

Should I watch it? Well, that's gonna depend on how well they manage to translate the gags over here as is always the case for such things. My gut says this will likely be okay but it doesn't feel like a classic. Certainly worth a gamble though.

Battle Girl High School

Official web site

I think the title rather succinctly says it all here. The enemies are called the Irosou and the girls come from Shinjugamine, but apart from that you can probably join the dots here in the latest in a long run of fighting magical girl (but not that kind of magical girl) anime.

Should I watch it? These shows are very hit and miss but they tend to be worth a look because every now and then one of them turns round it turns out to be insanely good. It doesn't feel like this will be one of those to be honest, but you wouldn't want to be caught on the back foot when Twitter explodes now would you?

A Centaurs Life

Offical web site

Himeno is a centaur going about her school life in a world where many of her classmates are various types of monster. After Monster Musume and Interviews with Monster Girls it seems to be the case that monster girls are just a flat-out recipe for success, so moving to slice-of-life drama seems so be the next move here.

Should I watch it? The manga has done pretty well and I have heard many, many good things about it, so I would say this is definitely one to watch here. Don't expect this to head down a fan service route as things are reportedly much more straight-laced here though.

Clione no Akari

Official web site

Minori, a young school girl, is sent to hospital to recover from an illness. Meanwhile, two months later her school friends receive an e-mail inviting them to a summer festival in a nearby town.

Should I watch this? Well, I suspect it will depend on how much you like school shows with dark turns as it certainly feels like this will not be a happy show by the conclusion. The drama will be offset by the visuals though which even in the trailer are not great.

Dive!!

Offical web site

A diving club is in financial crisis with only one way out - they must train someone to be worthy of a spot on Japan's Olympic team.

Should I watch it? Did you like Free? If so then I suspect you're already on-board here, but for the rest of us its going to depend on how much they focus on the sports drama as opposed to shots of water running off impossibly muscled half-nude men (unless that happens to be your thing).

Enmusubi no Youko-chan

Official web site

Youkai and humans live and love alongside one another, but there's a catch - humans grow old and die, leaving their youkai lovers alone. All is not lost though as a certain service can revive the memories of the deceased into the human's reincarnated selves to allow love to flourish once more.

Should I watch it? This has all the hallmarks of being a really solid drama as long as it can hit the pretty high bar set by it's premise. If this plays out just right then it could be something really special indeed. If it tries to rush things though it'll fail hard and fast, but this is definitely one to keep an eye on.

Fate/Apocrypha

Offical web site

After a holy grail is stolen under the cover of World War II a new Holy Grail War is about to break out on an unprecedented scale as two armies of seven heroic spirits prepare for battle.

Should I watch it? Well, if you watched any of the last million Fate shows and spin-offs then you're definitely on-board. For the rest of us? This could be interesting. It looks like none of the classic characters are set to turn up here, and it seems that advance knowledge of the labyrinthine mythos will not be required. The only stumbling block is likely to be how they deal with the new protagonist and whether he's as bad as Shiro was.

Gamers!

Official web site

It looks like harem show time as lonely gamer Keita encounters the girls of the video gaming club and a 'non-stop sequence of comedy scenes and misunderstandings' ensues.

Should I watch this? This is one where you'll have to wait and see as it's really going to depend on execution, and thus far I've not been able to track down a trailer. This doesn't sound anything special though unless it's your genre of choice.