10 Spring 2016 anime to look out for

Bryan Huang
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Screenshot of Bungo Stray Dogs promotional video (Photo: Youtube)

It’s spring time, which means for anime fans another season of possible gems plucked from the masses of the industry.

Here are 10 anime which may be worth a watch:

Gyakuten Saiban: Sono “Shinjitsu”, Igi Ari! (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney)

OBJECTION! The beloved Capcom game heads to the animated screen, where rookie defence attorney Naruhodou Ryuuichi (renamed Phoenix Wright when the game was released for the English market) aims to defy the odds and win his cases. Games to anime tend to be a mixed bag, but the comedic Gyakuten Saiban may just have enough in it to win fans over.

Koutetsujou no Kabaneri (Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress)

Steampunk meets zombies in Koutetsujou no Kabaneri, set in the midst of an industrial revolution where people rely on steam locomotives to transport goods and build stations to protect themselves from the undead. Called Kabane, the creatures are humans infected by the bite of a monster whose only weak spot, its heart, is protected by an iron layer.

Bungo Stray Dogs

Nakajima Atsushi, an orphan kicked out of his orphanage, has no place to go when a chance meeting with Osamu Dazai sets him on a path into the world of the supernatural. Dazai and his partner Kunikida are members of a detective agency which deals with cases the police and the military are unable to handle.

Sakamoto desu ga? (Haven’t You Heard? I’m Sakamoto)

Ever met that one person who does everything to perfection? Well in this anime, that person is the titular character, high school student Sakamoto. Regardless of the situation and however weird his actions are, everything Sakamoto does in this school comedy anime will be cool. Sounds similar to One Punch Man, if Saitama’s power was being cool.

Re: Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu (Re: Life in a different world from zero)

On first glance, this may seem like another one of those “boy from normal Earth goes to fantasy land” anime. Main protagonist Subaru is leaving a convenience store when he suddenly finds himself in the midst of fantasy humanoids, with no clue why he’s there. Except Subaru has one special ability - to rewind time by dying. Could we be in store for some Steins;Gate level of mystery?

Kuromukuro

What happens when a feudal Japanese samurai meets mecha? Kuromukuro may have the answer. Set in a world where an ancient artefact is discovered during the construction of the Kurobe Dam, researchers from all over the world gather to Toyama Prefecture, with their children studying at Mt Tate International Senior High School. From the trailer, it looks like the facility is a target for numerous attacks, but when you have a samurai piloting a mecha, it should be fine, right?

Joker Game

Set in the time just before World War II, Joker Game focuses on a spy training organisation known as “D Agency” (yes, that’s so original), led by a high-ranking officer from the Imperial Japanese Army. In a landscape of secret agents skilled in manipulation, one spy goes on a quest to uncover certain secret documents, and finds himself fighting against those in and outside of the organisation.

Boku no Hero Academia (My Hero Academia)

Unlike the other hero-wannabes, Midoriya Izuku lacks “Quirks”, superpowers which develop in childhood. But that’s not stopping Izuku, whose dreams of being a superhero are one step closer when he’s accepted by the Yuuei Academy, a training school for the best heroes in Japan, where his idol All Might is one of the teachers.

Mayoiga

A tour bus of 30 young men and women head towards Nanakimura, a village rumoured to be a utopia free of worldly burdens… but of course, things don’t go as expected. The group instead finds an uninhabited village with signs of life slowly ebbing away. If it’s an eerie psychological mystery you’re looking for, this might just be the one for you this season.

Kuma Miko (Girl meets Bear)

This comedy anime focuses on a middle school student who is also a shrine maiden. And she has a bear. Yes, a bear, which is her guardian and has the ability to talk to her. No, it doesn’t have flashy spells and explosions, no, it doesn’t have fancy mecha suits. It has a bear. Shouldn’t you at least give the talking bear a chance?