Summer 2025 Overview

Is the concept of four distinct anime seasons a year still valid? Well…just about…although Netflix doesn’t quite get it and with many series being interrupted by mid-season breaks for all manner of reasons, we ended up with the increasingly familiar situation of some shows having finished while others still had a couple of episodes to go with the Autumn Season almost upon us! Undaunted, the Anime UK News reviewers are here to share their thoughts on the titles that most impressed them – and maybe mention one or two that didn’t live up to their initial promise.

Demelza

Hotly Anticipated

With a talented team behind it, Secrets of the Silent Witch’s anime got off to a fantastic start at the beginning of the season. As the weeks went on, it remained high on the list of shows I was looking forward to the most. And now it’s come to an end, I can say looking back that while imperfect, it was not a bad adaptation.

In total, the anime covered the first three volumes of the light novel, which offered an emotional and satisfying place to stop. However, because these are quite intricate books to tackle, adapting this much material meant cutting out a notable amount of content. This was the worst with the Volume 2 arc, where they cut out a surprising amount of the start of the book and sacrificed a lot of scenes with Glenn and Lana. Ultimately, Glenn wasn’t in Volume 3 much, so for the anime, it made sense to lose those, but I hope it doesn’t come back to haunt them should they get a second season. Lana was a bigger loss, given how important she is to Monica, but it’s rare to have an adaptation that feels like it covers all bases perfectly.

And I think that’s my key takeaway from Secrets of the Silent Witch. It is not perfect; there are definitely things I wish they’d kept, but this is an anime that always delivered when it counted. Yesterday’s finale is a great example of that, where it packed in action scenes and heartfelt emotional beats that presented both Felix and Monica in a much more vulnerable state than usual.

It’s clear that although the team had to make sacrifices, they always knew what was most important for Monica’s story and presented that in the best possible way within the time they had. It didn’t succeed solely on the strength of the original work, but also because it had a team that clearly understood what people loved about it. They even rearranged some scenes compared to the books, which often led to a much better flow for the season as a whole. The action scenes always looked absolutely sublime, as well as the more comedic moments where Monica lapsed into expressions very reminiscent of Konosuba (unsurprisingly, given the directors involved).

It was funny, heart-warming, and great fun. I dearly hope there will be a second season in the future because I’m nowhere near ready to bid goodbye to Monica’s adventures just yet. At least for now, the manga and light novels are available from Yen Press to fill the gap left behind!

Unexpected Diamond

Betrothed to My Sister’s Ex seemed like another Cinderella-inspired romance series at first glance. The story follows a baron’s daughter, Marie Shaderan, who spends all her time being treated like a servant in the household. Even on her birthday, it’s her older sister Anastasia who takes centre stage at her party. It’s at that same party that Count Kyros Granado is in attendance and falls in love with Marie at first sight; however, due to a mix-up, he ends up sending a proposal to Anastasia instead!

Unfortunately, on the route to Granado’s estate, Anastasia gets into an accident and is believed to be dead. Marie is sent as a replacement bride, unaware that she’s the one that Kyros wanted all along. Even with the misunderstanding cleared up, Marie feels guilty about taking her sister’s rightful place, even if she does believe that Kyros has feelings for her, and she, too, has fallen for him.

What I ended up appreciating the most about this series is that it doesn’t pretend that all of Marie’s problems are solved as soon as she’s out of her family home. Yes, she’s no longer being abused, but the years of mistreatment have left trauma that isn’t so easily healed. And not only is the narrative keenly aware of it, so too are the cast. Kyros’s butler, Mio, ended up being one of my favourite characters as she wasn’t afraid to deliver some harsh truths to Kyros in a bid to make sure he does what’s best for his new bride.

I wouldn’t say Betrothed to My Sister’s Ex is a perfect series by any means. There are some silly twists and turns, but it’s very rare for stories like these to acknowledge that people are complicated and being rescued by a prince charming doesn’t resolve everything, nor should it. That alone quickly earned it a recommendation from me, particularly matched with the fact that it’s a very sweet romance series. If you’re a fan of this genre, this one is definitely worth your time and a second look if you let it pass you by at the start of the season due to the somewhat generic premise.

Failed to Meet Expectations

To Be Hero X debuted in the Spring season, as a joint donghua project co-produced with Aniplex. With a star line-up of Seiyu talent for the Japanese dub, as well as the highly acclaimed Hiroyuki Sawano involved with the music, this seemed like a project that could become a huge success. However, as the season went on, the repetitive nature soon caught up, and the final episode did very little to deliver a satisfying conclusion.

Set in a world where people’s ‘faith’ in someone can gift them superpowers and allow them to become heroes, To Be Hero X follows the stories of individuals who rose to fame through this system. Their origin stories were always more or less what you’d expect of a superhero – downtrodden individuals who had often lost someone or something important to them, driving them to fight against the system. Each character was given a handful of episodes dedicated to setting up and introducing them before moving on to the next, until we eventually reached X, who stands as the most popular Number 1 hero.

Given we had two cours, I really thought that toward the end of the series we’d bring the heroes together and begin addressing some of the background elements that had been building up. However, that ultimately wasn’t the case. X’s arc is left to attempt to tie up some loose ends, but it’s not satisfying, and on top of that, I was left feeling like X, despite being the hero the others wanted to defeat, remained a mystery. Especially as one of his episodes is effectively a monologue about how the hero system came to be. Important for the story perhaps, but at the cost of offering any real development for X.

This was an incredibly flashy show when it came to the animation, and because of that, it was easy to stay engaged with it in the beginning. However, as time went on, it became clear that all the heroes had very similar backstories, and this repetitiveness was not only boring but also diminished the impact of each story over time. Some arcs are better than others, especially in the back half, where a small subset of heroes came together for a bit, but that almost makes the rest of it worse once we return to the ‘hero of the week’ format. Plus, we never got to see the hero tournament that was supposed to be what everyone was aiming for at the start…

In many ways, it gives the impression that the whole series was simply set up for something bigger, but as of the time of writing, there’s no indication that there are plans for a sequel of any kind. And unless that happens, I just really wouldn’t recommend this. Or at least if you are really keen, watch it in small doses so you’re less likely to notice the pattern of each story. This is the most disappointed I’ve been in a project in a long while, given the talent involved.

Secrets of the Silent Witch, To Be Hero X and Betrothed to My Sister’s Ex are all streaming on Crunchyroll 

HWR

This Summer season has generally delivered where it counts for the continuations I tuned into (with one or two exceptions) and showcased potential for others that we’ll be taking into next season, or possibly seeing sequels to in the future.

Hotly Anticipated

TOUGEN ANKI, as mentioned in the Summer Preview, is that rare occasion where I’ve been actively reviewing the manga as it releases in the West, though having watched the first half of this season so far, the anime has more than passed the three volumes available to readers as of writing.

Its origins and set-up deliver a familiar shonen storyline, building off lead character Shiki (Kazuki Ura) and his backstory as a rebellious teen with supernatural abilities and an adoptive parental figure who breaks down societal boundaries to care for him, only to die in the process, all whilst Shiki is shunned from normal society, then thrown into a school setting by a reluctant mentor figure, alongside other students with abilities.

Despite this, TOUGEN ANKI’s story manages to switch to high gear with much of this season so far being more focused on a vicious assault by the antagonistic force of the series in the Momotarou Agency, who are a force to be reckoned with, slaughtering innocents and even manipulating the dead to do their bidding. I rather enjoyed seeing the pages come to life, and I felt at least with the initial three volumes’ worth of content that this anime hasn’t felt too rushed so far – this initial major arc has established what kind of threat lies ahead for the protagonist and his new allies, and I’m curious to see where the story develops from here as world-building hopefully allows fresh ideas to flourish.

Other titles from this season that I hotly anticipated, so to speak, included Nyaight of the Living Cat, from executive director Takashi Miike which, despite its zany premise, came and went each week without leaving too much of a lasting impression. I did enjoy some episodes but others were sadly rather forgettable. I’ve also found myself disappointed with the latest fourth season of Mr. Osomatsu, which has just felt off in both tone and characterisation which in a character-focused comedy is less than ideal.

To conclude this section on a more positive note, DR. STONE: Science Future Part 2 was a great watch with an emotional climax and has overall kept the momentum from the first part, leading into what I hope is an equally-good Part 3. Anne Shirley was also a very solid new adaptation and I wouldn’t mind seeing more World Masterpiece Theater titles redone in the future if it allows them to become more accessible to a new audience.

Unexpected Diamond

Solo Camping for Two isn’t exactly a ground-breaking anime on paper from either a premise or execution standpoint but in execution so far has offered a more mature-skewing slice-of-life series. It features two adult characters navigating not just differing levels of experience with camping, but also lived experiences, romance, relationships and friendship.

Solo Camping for Two focuses on Gen Kinokura (Daiki Hamano), a solo camper devoted to a hobby that encourages a solitary outlook and execution, who stumbles across newbie camper Shizuku Kusano (Mizuki Niizaki), and the process of the two becoming unexpected friends despite their numerous differences. Most of the episodes so far have focused on the technical and practical aspects of camping, as seen in other popular series like Yuru Camp, but instead of high-school girls, these are two adults trying to function to the best of their abilities, with Gen being very socially awkward and solitary, whilst Shizuku is more outgoing but also has insecurities of her own.

The age gap between the two (Gen is 34, whilst Shizuku is 20) highlights their differences, but a love for camping manages to make opposites attract – and when Shizuku begins to develop feelings for Gen, as seen towards the end of this first half, alongside the reappearance of Gen’s old flame, the situation is handled maturely and I hope will avoid will-they-won’t-they shenanigans as the next cour develops, but will instead focus on the leads and their character growth as they discover solo camping for two. I also hope some of the animation can be tidied up which, as observed by other viewers, does falter in places. Some of the side characters aren’t great either but the focus has mostly been on the likeable protagonists so far.

TOUGEN ANKI is available on Amazon Prime, Netflix and Crunchyroll; DR. STONE: Science Future Part 2 and Solo Camping for Two are available to stream on Crunchyroll.

Onosume

Hotly Anticipated

I’ve immensely enjoyed the second season of DAN DA DAN, even if it hasn’t always been as consistent as its first outing. While the first season had plenty of variety in its storylines to keep you engaged, the sole focus on Evil Eye for this season hurts it due to the way it’s dragged out long past its bedtime. Of course the whole point is to have Evil Eye/Jiji join the expanding DAN DA DAN team (as I’ll call them for a lack of a better term for our bunch of heroes) yet I think it tries to spell out how he works too much in that you could have shaved off a few hot/cold switches and battle scenes and lost none of the context around what was going on.

Despite this dip in the middle, DAN DA DAN remains an excellent zany shonen action comedy. Momo and Okarun develop in leaps and bounds over the course of this season in how they are able to tackle the supernatural situations that are thrown at them, and I loved how these slowly bring them together not just as a fighting duo but as a couple too. There’s a cute, awkward atmosphere between the pair when they are alone but it never strips them of their fangs when they need to show them (and I just love how mouthy Momo gets when she’s in a fight!)

The rest of the cast don’t get quite as much love though. Aira isn’t present for a lot of the main Evil Eye arc, so she’s only really used in the mid-season training sequence with Okarun and the series finale. Meanwhile, although Seiko has her moments, she tends to play the voice of reason against the kids’ more wishful thinking in the middle of the show.

It’s not hard to see why they may have been left out though as, apart from the awkward middle bit, there’s really not much downtime or space to cram stuff in. Instead, we get a lot crammed in towards the end, and even then, the limelight is stolen by mecha nerd Kinta coming in during the hilarious finale where he gets to fulfil his dreams piloting a giant mecha Buddha in a fight with the series’ homage to Godzilla.

At the end of the day though this is a nutty action show and not one really for deep character development, and that’s fine as we get plenty to cover for it. Whether that’s JoJo stand-offs, a music battle for the ages, or the series’ take on mecha versus kaiju, it’s all gloriously well done by Science Saru who, once again, proves to be the ideal studio for this kind of show with their knack for taking on the absurd and quirky.

With a third season confirmed to follow up on a crazy cliffhanger (just enough to wet our appetites and not leaving it in the middle of an arc like before), DAN DA DAN feels like it’s offering the best shonen action show at the moment, with others either coming to a close (like My Hero Academia) or not making as big waves as expected (like Kaiju No. 8). Either way, this is definitely one of my current favourites and I’ll be looking forward to it coming back soon enough!

Returning Champion

I got on board the Witch Watch train fairly late, but I instantly fell in love with the series’ zany cast of characters and the idea of Nico being a developing all-powerful witch trying to do the right thing and help others with her magic, even if it does get her into trouble!

The series takes a multi-story approach for each of its episodes which is a format that usually works well for adapting 4-koma style manga. In Witch Watch’s first half, everything is told really well to the point where you kind of forget about it using this format as each story in the episode generally flows into the next, and there’s a lot more focus on telling a coherent story, building up the core cast of characters and having a showdown with a villain at the end.

After this however as we move into the second half, the show feels like it loses its drive and goal to aim for and doubles down on slice-of-life vignettes that jump around in the episode. There are still some good coherent stories mixed in, but it does feel like something gets lost after the first big bad is defeated and it’s not really sure where to go from there.

Keigo’s double life as down-to-earth teenager and womaniser werewolf is probably the most compelling ongoing storyline in this second half as it explores the pros and cons of having those two sides to him, while also being able to bring in Nemu a bit more other than her thing of liking being petted in her cat form. Elsewhere however it feels like the writing is on a bit of a downturn. Nico, despite being the main character, never feels quite as involved as she should be, merely the troublemaker to set up a punch line, and the delivery of the jokes never hits as hard as it really should.

There’s also a weird anime-in-an-anime thing going on, which confusingly fakes you out with episodes of the in-universe Uron Mirage taking over the main show a couple of times, and although it gives rise to a pretty cute Comiket episode, the initial gag fails to land as it’s been done in other shows before and the shock doubletake just feels like a bit of a nuisance.

Honestly, I still want to like Witch Watch, but the series does feel like it has been let down by a middling second half compared to a stellar first half. I think it’s maybe that the first half lulls you into a false sense of security about it being a narrative-driven series, when actually it’s a short-form gag comedy with hit-or-miss jokes. In that sense it feels like it’s riffing off Kaguya-sama: Love is War in its style, but with ideas that aren’t as effective or suited for that type of show.

Overall, I’d still say give it a go, but do keep in mind that this is first and foremost a comedy show, not a full-blown magical narrative!

Unexpected Diamond

My personal standout highlight for this season goes to My Dress-Up Darling Season 2, which has been an utter joy to watch as it not only nerds out over cosplay in a genuine way but also gives us an adorable developing romance between Marin and Wakana.

There is a lot of character development and growth for both our leads here, as the series sort of splits into two halves, one focusing on Wakana and his insecurity about being judged for what he loves, and one focusing on Marin that covers both the pressures of her modelling gig and trying to hold that down while her feelings for Wakana start to explode.

I was really impressed by the character writing for all this as everything feels natural and, most importantly, relatable as you watch everyone trying to deal with what’s going on around them. The fake-out involving Akira and Marin is comedy gold as having that fangirl experience is so easy to understand, while I have high praise of the way Wakana is accepted amongst the rest of the group despite doing something you’d expect to be painted in an awful fashion. That said, I was expecting a bit finer commentary on Marin’s weight issue  based on how supportive the series is to Wakana, but she sadly doesn’t get the same treatment when she’s told she has to lose weight for her job.

That aside, it does give us a different angle on the cosplay side, placing Marin behind the camera instead of in front of it, allowing some of the side characters to take centre stage and giving Wakana some time to build on his prop making skills. Taking on the topic of crossplay I thought was really well handled, and although Chitose isn’t strictly a trans character, a lot of the reflection here falls into the same domain and carrying a positive message here is very powerful.

Across the entire thing though, the nerdiness scale is off the charts and it’s brilliant to see everyone nerding out about the things they love with no judgement. You can feel that the show itself, not just the characters is passionate about it, and that makes it feel so engaging.

Which means overall I think the series is brilliant. If you want a heartfelt and open-minded look at the art of cosplay with the addition of a genuine relationship between two very lovable nerds, then this is certainly the show for you!

My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 is streaming on Crunchyroll. DAN DA DAN and Witch Watch are available to stream on Netflix and Crunchyroll. 

Cold Cobra

Returning Champions

There were two anime I talked about in the preview, both of which were adaptations of Shonen Jump! properties in their second season (or “second half of their first season”) so not a lot of variety tone-wise, but a lot of variety in type of enemy if nothing else!

Sakamoto Days’ second batch of episodes was a lot of fun. The series follows overweight ex-assassin Taro Sakamoto as he finds his quiet life with his wife and daughter interrupted first by assassins whom he then recruits to his shop, then by more serious assassins who now plot to destroy not just him but the organisation he used to work for. To this end several dangerous criminals were released from prison to track him down, but what actually happened is those serial killers were used to show us how powerful some of Sakamoto’s old  and current acquaintances are instead, most of them being killed off only a couple of episodes in. Focus instead shifted to Slur, the man who has been trying to kill Sakamoto, invading the Japan Assassins Association with a man called Gaku by his side. This led to more crazy fighting (including an appearance by Takamura, a fun old man character who slowly walks around and mumbles to himself but then slices an entire skyscraper in half with a single katana strike…) and the reveal that Slur is actually an old friend of Sakamoto’s from their time at the JCC, basically the JAA’s training school.

This leads to the closest the series is going to come to a  training/tournament arc as Sakamoto decides the best way to get more intel on Slur is to infiltrate the JCC during their next recruitment drive on a deserted island, which is where most of the back half of the episodes take place and include a few more zany would-be killers and another appearance by Slur and his men… sort of. It ends on a sort of cliffhanger, at least in that Sakamoto and his close associate Shin have infiltrated the JCC  (and in the case of Sakamoto, not in the way you’d think!) but what they’re going to be doing there isn’t really played up, it just sort of ends like the show will be continuing next week, so there was no need to pile on the intrigue.

As per usual the animation is good, but you’ll still find diehard manga fans complaining that a more cutting edge animation studio wasn’t used. Honestly though, beyond a few “the whole frame is still apart from some moving hands” kind of moments here and there it’s fine. The voice work (both dubbed and subbed) and soundtrack are good too. Sakamoto Days’ second half was just as fun as the first, full of fun fights and an even more enjoyable cast of characters, though the ending did feel a little… flat.

Kaiju No. 8’s second season is an odd one. In the past, both with the first season and when I previewed this one, I’ve said that I find a lot of the cast of the show to be rather cookie-cutter and generic, especially personality-wise and that the show’s saving grace was the titular Kaiju No. 8, otherwise known as Kafka Hibino, and that stays true here. A guy in his 30s essentially wanting to be the shonen hero protagonist but just not having the skills until recently gaining a visually-threatening ability to transform was a great and original hook for a lead in one of these series. Season 1 ended with him essentially being allowed to fight other Kaiju alongside the rest of the Anti-Kaiju Defence Force but with the knowledge that should he slip up he’ll be executed and his body turned into weapons. It was a nice extra wrinkle, but after a few episodes of combat, Kafka finds himself spending a good chunk of the season isolated away from the rest of the cast, potentially finding ways to deal with Kaiju that were used in the days prior to the technology of today to get around his mental instability when trying to transform.

While it’s a nice little bit of world building, once again the side characters don’t really have it to hold the show together. For example, a lot of focus is on Kikoru Shinomiya, a spoiled rich girl stereotype who wishes to show her worth and strength to her overly harsh father (who is also the head of the Defence Force) but she has proven herself many times and her father has been shown, at least to us, to be a pretty stand-up guy actually, so her character has just sort of… frozen. She appears and shows her skill but I’m not really sure why she’s doing it any more, beyond saving lives and all that, obviously… She just occasionally mentions desperately wanting to get stronger and that’s about it. Anyway, there is one episode before the final few where we see Kafka again and we even got more of a look at the bond between himself and Mina, the girl whom he promised to fight Kaiju alongside when they were kids but only just recently found that goal within his grasp. It was a nice reminder that Mina, who was often shown to be something of an emotionless leader within the Force, still has some of that old niceness in her.

The final few episodes see the main side cast all paired off with extremely powerful foes and then ends on the cliffhanger of Kafka arriving in his Kaiju form to take on the big bad, so I assume Season 3 is already confirmed somewhere as that would be some way to end the show if not! While I haven’t said a lot of kind things about the cast I will say that the animation is great, a nice mix of 2D and occasional 3D assets that creates a great sense of kinetic energy to the many fight scenes, and from popping over to both tracks, the voice work is great, no matter which you go with. So once again Kaiju No. 8 is something I will follow through to its end (which given how many chapters are left, looks like it will either be with the next season or they’ll be two shorter ones…) but I’ll be doing it mainly for the main protagonist and the great animation, rather than the wider storytelling or cast.

Sakamoto Days is streaming on Netflix, while Kaiju No. 8 is available on Crunchyroll.

Sarah

Summer 2025 has been a really strong season for me and I’m already experiencing that empty feeling when scanning the Autumn titles and just not feeling the same buzz. I’m really going to miss CITY, DAN DA DAN as well as the titles below – and especially their OPs and EDs which have been especially memorable. The delightful The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity (currently streaming – late! – on Netflix will have to tide me over as it straddles both seasons) and one of us will return to talk about it next season!

Hotly Anticipated

The Summer Hikaru Died (Netflix) by Mokumokuren has maintained its mesmeric hold over viewers all summer. It’s generated a great deal of fan art, fan fiction, and much heated discussion about the way the mangaka has (or hasn’t) used the friendship between Yoshiki and Hikaru/‘Hikaru’ as a homoerotic metaphor or an exploration of queer themes etc. etc. It’s been very faithful to the original manga (the mangaka has been involved in the creation of the anime series, thank goodness) but also has established itself as a convincing reinterpretation in anime terms of the characters and themes. It looks good, the voice actors are excellent and the sound score (those sinister cicadas) as well as the music (composed by Taro Umebayashi who also composed the many-faceted score for Yuri on Ice) all contribute to a riveting and atmospheric experience.

The claustrophobic setting in a remote country village with a sinister history and traditions veiled in secrecy is a classic in horror stories worldwide but works especially well here with Kubitachi. The various plot strands that begin to unravel when high schooler Hikaru goes missing on the mountain and is found – miraculously still alive – a week later have been keeping viewers involved even if not always delivering revelations at the same time as in the manga. And from the moment ‘Hikaru’ reveals to Yoshiki on one ordinary hot summer day that he’s not his friend but something Quite Other, who’s come down from the mountain to fulfil Hikaru’s dying wish to still be there for Yoshiki, it’s difficult not to stay hooked.

Meanwhile the enigmatic Tanaka (with his hamster) has been working with the village elders to find out what’s really happening as various ominous supernatural happenings disturb the peace. Does Tanaka have a hidden agenda? He works for an equally enigmatic company whose purposes in tracking down the god of the mountain, Nounuki-sama, are far from clear. And what about Kurebayashi-san, the ordinary middle-aged housewife who happens to notice that Yoshiki has been ‘mixing’? She warns Yoshiki that he mustn’t get too close to ‘Hikaru’ from her own bitter experience. It turns out that she’s able to exorcise the emanations from the other side and offers her support to both boys. There’s also Asako, Yoshiki’s classmate, who from an early age has been able to ‘hear’ sounds and voices from the other side. She realizes that ‘Hikaru’ isn’t her classmate – and dares to confront him with the truth. And when the boys start to investigate the history of their village, a horrifying series of events begin to be revealed – and Hikaru’s family is directly involved, going back through many generations.

CygamesPictures have done a superb job animating the ordinary (high school, rice fields, the local family diner) as well as the supernatural (the true and terrifying essence of ‘Hikaru’, the menacing apparitions that begin to haunt the village, the surreal dreamscapes Yoshiki begins to experience). The blending of live footage with the animated characters (especially on the train in the game-changing, moving and traumatic Episode 12) is really skilfully done, adding to the atmospheric portrayal of the boys’ escape to go to the ocean (which ‘Hikaru’ has never seen before). And anyone who’s already watched the episodes, can’t fail to have been moved by the song ‘Hibi no Kage’ which we’ve seen being rehearsed in several episodes by the whole class being sung as a duet by Hikaru and Yoshiki over the ending credits of episode 7 (they skipped the assembly).

But can an ongoing manga anime adaptation reach a satisfying conclusion in only twelve episodes? The manga will, apparently, end with Volume 10 (and the new chapters are available to read digitally via Yen Press as they are published in Japan) – but it’s not finished yet. The anime has reached the end of Volume 5 – and ended on a cliffhanger – so I’m greatly relieved that it’s getting a second season. (And how often are we able to say that with a non-shonen series?)

Returning Champion

Anne Shirley came to a very satisfying conclusion at 24 episodes – and, even if the quality of the animation and character models suffered noticeably toward the end of the series, the acting by the voice cast (Honoka Inoue as Anne) and the well-judged storyboarding/scripting just about made up for it. None of the key moments of heartfelt drama portrayed from the novels were skimped. From the charming OP to the equally charming ED, each episode enabled us to get to know the headstrong but charismatic red-headed heroine a little better, alongside her dreams and literary ambitions. I defy anyone to watch the final episode without being affected by it! Hopefully this lively, likable version will have won over another generation of potential readers who will now seek out the original novels by L.M. Montgomery.

Unexpected Diamonds

Let’s Go Karaoke! and Captivated, By You from Doga Kobo were late starters, too late for our Summer preview, but well worth the wait. Based on two unrelated manga by Yama Wayama (they’re published by Yen Press), they both ran for five episodes each – although Let’s Go Karaoke! ran for four episodes and returned with an anime-only episode after Captivated to round off the run. If you’ve read either of the manga, you’ll know that the mangaka has a wonderfully dry and quirky sense of humour – and all credit to the studios and voice actors for conveying that special quality so successfully. It’s rare to find slice-of-life series that combine humour and characters you care about these days amid all the rentable girlfriends, elves, demons, witches and isekai-ed salarymen – but these two anime deliver a breath of fresh air.

Let’s Go Karaoke! introduces us to bespectacled Satomi, head chorister in his middle school choir and a gifted treble – although, given his age, he knows that his voice could break at any moment. He’s approached by Kyouji, a sharp-suited yakuza after a public concert/contest who whisks him away to the local karaoke joint where he practically begs him to teach him to sing. As for Kyouji’s reasons… Satomi’s reactions go from utter terror through wary acceptance (and bribes of food and drink) to being persuaded to give advice to all Kyouji’s yakuza brethren before they have to take part in a singing contest arranged by their boss. But the events that unfold as the day of the karaoke contest dawns are unexpected and make Satomi react in a way no one could have predicted…

Captivated, By You follows the everyday lives of high school students, each episode introducing us to a different main character. The last two are perhaps the best as they deal with Yuichi Medaka who finds himself having to sit in front of Akira Nikaidou, the boy everyone dreads because of his doom-laden, off-putting aura. Who is Nikaidou? And what happens when they’re in the same group for the high school trip to Okinawa? As in all Yama Wayama’s work, nothing – and no one – is ever quite what they seem to be. A charming OP and ED are a great bonus (as are the three potatoes!).

The Summer Hikaru Died is available to watch on Netflix; Anne Shirley, Let’s Go Karaoke! and Captivated, By You are currently streaming on Crunchyroll. 

Ian Wolf

Hotly Anticipated

Keiichi Arawi’s CITY: the Animation was widely tipped to be one of the anime of the season. Happily, it went beyond this expectation. Not only does it feel like one of the best anime of the year, but arguably it deserves to be remembered in years to come.

The surreal sketch comedy was packed with so much that was unexpected, and I’m not just talking about the quirky humour. The mixture of 2D and stop-motion animation was a delight, the characters were wonderful, and the storytelling was truly engrossing. At one point, multiple different scenes were being shown all at the same time. The finale of the series began with a tragic goodbye as a resident of City moved to England, but then ended with a full-blown musical number. Along the way we witnessed the most bizarre race in the world, stage plays starring animals, and attempts to post viral videos featuring the music from “Mambo No. 5” (because that song ended up everywhere, despite Japan being one of the few countries where it never charted).

CITY has been an immensely enjoyable and loveable show. If you have not been able to see it, then I for one hope a physical release will come out sooner rather than later, as it deserves people’s attention.

Returning Champion

Has the fact that we have had to wait 15 years for Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt to return hindered the series? Well, that’s complicated.

It is certainly true that for many, tastes in comedy has shifted since the series first debuted, but those who enjoyed the original will have no doubt still liked this latest collection. This second series featured parodies of films such as The Thing as well Yu-Gi-Oh!-style trading card games, while also give us some new characters to enjoy, mainly in the form of spoiled-but-cute boy angels Polyester and Polyurethane, who you can imagine becoming increasingly popular over time. The series ended with a message saying the show will continue. Hopefully we won’t have to wait another 15 years for season three.

Another series which reached its conclusion this season was Pokémon Horizons: The Search for Laqua, with the final batch of episodes from the series airing a few months ago, but after our original preview article went out. The series ended with the Rising Volt Tacklers finally finding all of the Six Heroes before finally making their way to Laqua, ending in a battle which featured joy for Liko as Floragato evolved into Meowscarada, but also tragedy with not everyone making it out in one piece.

The series also featured something that never appeared in the original Pokémon anime – a time skip. Unlike the always 10-year-old Ash, the forthcoming series is set a year later. We have already got hints of what we will see in the third series, with Liko back at her old school, while Roy has another new Pokémon on his team, and a shiny one at that. Hopefully we will get to watch the third series soon.

Unexpected Diamonds

On paper, it probably shouldn’t work, but it turns out that you can make a series work about a group of girls who enjoy tenpin bowling who travel back in time several hundred years.

Turkey! Time to Strike was surprisingly entertaining. As the series progresses, we witness our quintet of girls getting to grips with living in the past, and becoming friends with the girls they are living with – as it turns out, all the main family in the Tokura mansion are sisters, with Suguri the warrior being a girl who was raised as a boy, which is something that draws on older manga series like The Rose of Versailles.

The series built to what was a surprisingly engrossing, often frightening ending, with Mai and her fellow bowlers willing to put their own lives on the line to prevent history from unfolding in the wrong way. Given the mixture of storytelling, imagery, and setting, I can see Turkey! becoming a cult hit among future fans.

CITY: the Animation and Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt are currently available on Amazon Prime Video; Pokémon Horizons: The Search for Laqua is available on BBC iPlayer and Turkey! Time to Strike is on Crunchyroll.