Oh man, this list. There are so many anime in the upcoming anime winter 2023 season. This list took me a long time to go through. I tried to whittle it down, and I may be a bit generous to some of these (hey, it’s the holiday season), but it’s what we got. Now, as always, I left continuing anime off the list (like The Eminence in Shadow, which I’ll definitely be continuing) but the list is still super long. So brace yourselves for this, and let’s go.
Sequels
Vinland Saga, Season 2
Vinland Saga is metal as fuck. The story of Thorfinn is epic, and I’m very excited to see the continuation here.
The Misfit of Demon King Academy II
I was surprised by this one, actually. While the end of season 1 felt a bit rushed, I still enjoyed the series and the characters. I hope it compares to the good parts of season 1.
Ijiranaide, Nagatoro-san, 2nd Attack
I loved this series. Nagatoro-san might be a bully, but it’s just to hide her feelings. I can’t wait to see some dere moments as her and senpai’s relationship develops.
Shinka no Mi, Season 2
I know people are probably saying “what the hell is this doing here??”. I enjoyed the over-the-top antics, what can I say? Granted, I’ve also been reading the manga, and I can tell there’s some story here. I want to see where this goes, so I’m staying for the long haul.
New Series
I read the manga a while ago now and have been in favor of an anime adaptation for this. It’s finally here!! I can’t wait for this great rom-com.
Otonari no Tenshi-sama ni Itsunomanika Dame Ningen ni Sareteita Ken
The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten looks to be a very sweet rom-com, and I do love those. I’ve seen some hype floating around the internet for this one, so hopefully it’s good.
Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible seems like another cute rom-com. Not a lot to say here, so we’ll just leave it at that.
When this Trigun reboot got announced, I was excited. Then I saw the animation and was hesitant. Kind of sums up my feelings even now. The trailers have moments where the animation looks good, but other moments that look terrible. Only one way to know how good it is, you know? I’m sure the story will be good too, so there’s that.
Koori Zokusei Danshi to Cool na Douryou Joshi
The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague caught my eye not only because it seemed like a fun rom-com, but also because it seemed to have pretty humble origins. I love when small-time series get attention, so let’s check it out.
Tsundere Akuyaku Reijou Liselotte to Jikkyou no Endou-kun to Kaisetsu no Kobayashi-san
English title: Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Liselotte, or Tsunlise for short (thankfully we got a standard abbreviation already). This one… is weird. Like, it’s almost a “trapped in a video game” series, but not really? Basically, two characters are playing the game, and one of the characters can hear what they say, thus revealing things that should be secret to the in-game characters. Really unique, and it’s got a cute tsundere girl, so it gets a spot here.
Saikyou Onmyouji no Isekai Tenseiki
The Reincarnation of the Strongest Exorcist in Another World looks like a pretty standard isekai with an OP protagonist. I doubt it’ll be groundbreaking (though I have been wrong before), but if you’re like me and enjoy isekai, then probably worth a look.
I really struggled with whether to put this here or in the honorable mentions. In the end, I settled with putting it here. I’m still on the fence about gender-bender anime, but Fabiniku was good, so I’ll be checking it out.
Hyouken no Majutsushi ga Sekai wo Suberu
The Iceblade Sorcerer Shall Rule the World might be a bit generic, but I usually enjoy the “super powerful hero is hiding his identity” theme. Also, looks like man’s got some baggage in his past, so could be good character development.
Ningen Fushin no Boukensha-tachi ga Sekai wo Sukuu you desu
Apparently, Disillusioned Adventurers Will Save the World will probably be a lot better than the premise would imply. Having heroes that start at the bottom and have to overcome their own issues is usually the setup for a surprisingly good fantasy series. Animations seemed pretty solid too, but trailers are trailers, so we’ll see how the actual anime is.
I never, even in my wildest dreams, expected to put a series with a title like Sugar Apple Fairytale on an anime list like this. After watching the trailer and seeing the abundance of positive reviews on the novel, I’m absolutely intrigued. May end up being my favorite shoujo series this season, and a possible contender for underrated anime of the season as well (kind of like the very good, but often overlooked, Raven of the Inner Palace).
It was difficult to find info on this series aside from the trailer. That being said, based on what I saw, it looks super cool. I hope it lives up to my expectations.
Honorable Mentions
Almost there guys. Just a few honorable mentions to… well, mention.
Kaiko sareta Ankoku Heishi (30-dai) no Slow na Second Life – I almost put this above, but decided to move it down here last minute. The manga is decent, but I don’t know how well it’ll keep my interest as an anime. We’ll see.
Ooyukiumi no Kaina – Kaina of the Great Snow Sea seems like a really cool premise. But, like Trigun Stampede, the animation gives me pause.
Hikari no Ou – The Fire Hunter also seems to have a really cool plot. Has an older art style too, which is neat. Only reason I put it down here is it seems primed for a dark ending (which, you know, I’m usually pretty meh on).
Mononogatari – There’s two “no”s in there, don’t confuse it with Monogatari. I could see this being a good anime, but I just don’t know if it will jive with me and my tastes.
Spy Kyoushitsu – Another one that was pretty hard to place. I think it’ll depend on how much comedy versus action there is. Despite being in the honorable mentions, I feel like this one will surprise me with how good it is.
Isekai Nonbiri Nouka – From what I’ve read of the manga, seems like a slower paced, farming fantasy anime. I haven’t read far enough to know for sure how it’ll be, so to the honorable mentions it goes.
Benriya Saitou-san, Isekai ni Iku – Similar to the previous entry, seems like a slower series. Not inherently bad, but it’ll depend heavily on the characters and their interactions.
Okay, that’s it. We’re done! Woo! Holy crap, this post took way longer than I expected it would. And I had a very hard time placing a lot of these. What a season we got coming up. I honestly don’t know how I’ll have time for all these seasonals next season… Well, I’m sure I’ll figure things out. Okay, catch you in the next post.