It’s that time again! Time for spring anime recommendations. There’s nothing I’m particularly looking forward to this season, although there is a time-traveling show on this list that I greatly admire and am excited to see. Also, if you try to pick out a single thread that connects all of the shows I’ve included on this season’s list together, I don’t think you’ll find one. The shows I’d like to watch this season are as varied and unique from one another as flowers that bloom in the spring! We’ve got vampires, spirits, thieves, time travel, and otaku. So let’s get to it.

Devils’ Line

“Tsukasa, a college student, is rescued from an attack by a devil, one of many vampires that can blend in among the human population. Anzai, her savior, is a half-devil who exploits his supernatural gifts as a member of a shadowy police task force that specializes in devil-related crime in Tokyo. As Anzai continues to keep guard over Tsukasa, the two quickly forge a tentative bond—one that Anzai fears will test his iron-clad rule of never drinking human blood.” (Plot Summary from Anime News Network)

Vampires? Vampires?! I haven’t watched a vampire anime since Shiki and Vampire Knight almost ten years ago, unless you count the Monotagari series or JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, which I don’t. Vampires fell out of favor long ago, and yet, I could go for some vampires right now. I recently finished reading the YA novel The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black, as well as finished playing the video game Victor Vran, both of which contain vampires. Devils’ Line also has half-devils, and while I’m sure the show will be nothing like DEVILMAN Crybaby, which was amazing, I could go for some devils right now too.

Devils’ Line will be available to watch on HIDIVE.

Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi

“A female college student named Aoi inherits the ability to see spirits from her late grandfather. Aoi prides herself on her cooking, and one day she’s feeding some agricultural spirits when suddenly a god and the master of the ‘Tenshinya’ (Heavenly Inn) appears and takes Aoi away. He says that due to her grandfather’s debts, she must become his bride. Aoi hates this idea and instead declares that she will pay back her grandfather’s debt by working at the Tenshinya.” (Plot Summary from Anime News Network)

Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi feels a lot like Natsume’s Book of Friends (which I love) meets The Ancient Magus’ Bride (which I wanted to love). Aoi can see and interact with spirits, much like Natsume, but she is also essentially enslaved and forced to marry a god, much like Chise. And it’s this second aspect of the story which makes me a little wary of the show. While the preview gives Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi a shoujo (the original manga is actually josei) romantic feel, the whole girl-falls-for-her-jailor à la Beauty and the Beast-style (which The Ancient Magus’ Bride falls more strongly into than Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi appears to) makes me highly uncomfortable. Still, from the preview alone, I think I’ll give this show a chance.

Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi will be available to watch on Crunchyroll.

Lupin the Third Part V

“In the new series, Lupin III will travel to France—the home of his grandfather and namesake, Maurice Leblanc’s master thief character Arsène Lupin.” (Synopsis from MyAnimeList)

As surprising as it is for me—and probably for people who know me—I’ve come to love Lupin the Third. My first encounter with the slick, yet zany, master-thief Lupin was at an anime convention, two years ago, when I watched The Castle of Cagliostro, Hayao Miyazaki’s directorial debut. This encounter with Lupin lead me to watch The Woman Called Fujiko Mine (directed by Sayo Yamamoto, the director of Yuri!!! on Ice). This twelve-episode series gave a feminist take on Fujiko, a character in the Lupin series who hasn’t always been treated with respect. Now we’re getting a new Lupin, with this sixth series (even though it’s titled the fifth) being set in France.

Lupin the Third Part V will be available to watch on Crunchyroll.

Steins;Gate 0

“The dark untold story of Steins;Gate that leads with the eccentric mad scientist Okabe, struggling to recover from a failed attempt at rescuing Kurisu. He decides to give up and abandons his lively scientist alter ego, in pursuit to forget the past. When all seems to be normal, he is seemingly pulled back into the past by meeting an acquaintance of Kurisu, who tells him that they have begun testing a device that stores the memory of a human and creates a simulation of them with their characteristics and personalities. Okabe begins testing and finds out that the simulation of Kurisu has brought back anguish and some new unexpected tragedies. Zero is a side story that explores events from the Beta Attractor Field’s future that contribute in making the end of the original story possible.” (Synopsis from MyAnimeList)

Have you noticed one thing that does link all of these anime to one another? They’re all about adults, with the first three about college students and the last three about working professionals (to a certain degree). Steins;Gate includes both adults and teenagers, with the main characters—Okabe and Kurisu—being at least college-aged. I’ve mentioned my love of Steins;Gate before, in previous recommendation posts in which I recommended their parallel “Science Adventure” stories, Occultic;Nine and Chaos;Child (both of which were, in the end, not good). If you’re going to watch any of these anime shows adapted from visual novels, Steins;Gate is the one to watch. There’s time travel—so, obviously, multiple endings and versions of the story—conspiracies surrounding an organization called SERN (obviously referring to CERN), and lots of Dr. Pepper. Not to mention melting bananas in microwaves?

Steins;Gate 0 will be available to watch on Crunchyroll.

Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku

“Narumi, a female office worker who hides her fujoshi lifestyle, and Hirotaka, a handsome and capable company man who is secretly a game otaku. The two seem perfect for each other, but love is difficult for a nerd.” (Plot Summary from Anime News Network)

When Recovery of an MMO Junkie came out in the fall of 2017, I didn’t recommend it. Later on, I did watch it, and while I enjoyed it—having related to Moriko’s love of video games—I felt it lacked the depth of a similar anime about a NEET (an acronym for “Not in Education, Employment, or Training”) called Welcome to the N.H.K. Then, when I learned the director, Kazuyoshi Yaginuma, is an anti-Semite, anti-Catholic, Japanese nationalist (see Caitlin Moore’s article on Anime Feminist for more information), I could no longer bring myself to admire, let alone recommend the show. I can’t separate the art from the artist. But maybe, just maybe, Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku, which has a similar premise to Recovery of an MMO Junkie, will be better! The couples look cute. It’s about a fujoshi and a gamer. And I’m hoping it’ll be a lot of fun.

Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku will be available to watch on Amazon Prime.

[blocktext align=”center”]What simulcasts will you be watching this spring?[/blocktext]

[coffee]