Winter 2018 Recommendations

Winter 2018 Recommendations / First Impressions

-Drop/Don't Watch = The general audience will probably not enjoy this show/it's predicted to not be good. Only watch if you really feel like spending time on it!

-3 Episode Rule = It's not too bad, not too great. Hard to tell. Watch the first 3 episodes to get a feel for it before deciding if you want to watch or drop it. Most of these will be listed under this tag.

-Watch = A well recommended show that most everyone could enjoy (no guarantees). It may be because of the stunning visuals, the immaculate story, or the vibrant soundtrack. Whatever it may be, you should consider watching this show.

(Sequel Alert!) = This is an alert to let you know that this is a sequel and there is prior content that you should watch before this if you already haven't.

Feel free to CTRL+F for your favorite genres (most are copied from the MAL page, some will have additional tags from my perspective of the show)!

These aren't really in a particular order, only in what comes out first / watch order. There will be some shows missing on this list that are airing this season, and that's because I know I'm not going to be watching them, therefore I will not voice an opinion on any of them.

*Disclaimer: All of these may or may not be accurate for unique individuals viewing this list. This is only my opinion on each show listed below, and does not represent the opinion of all viewers. I may love something, you may despise it. I may not enjoy something, you'll think it's perfect. That's how opinions work. They can be different per individual. You have been warned.*



1. Overlord II  --- Watch (Sequel Alert!)
--- If you've watched the first season, you already know this is quite enjoyable to watch. Another hit in the isekai world, but with a good MC and supporting characters that intrigue you at each turn.

Genres: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Game, Magic, Supernatural, Isekai

2. Sora yori mo Tooi Basho (YoriMoi, A Place Further than the Universe) --- 3 Episode Rule / Watch
---Madhouse's new original content with standard visuals. Not too awful to look at, not godly amounts of pretty. What is interesting about this thus far is the characters and the story. The show starts off with a easily relatable MC that also entertains with a great idea for a story: A journey to Antarctica. While it may be promising, I can see where this can go horribly wrong, so take a few eps to decides if this is the show for you. (P.S. Good, upbeat soundtrack thus far. +1 to that)

Genres: Adventure, Shoujo

3. Ramen Daisuki Koizumi-san --- Drop / 3 Episode Rule
---Cute girls. Good animation. Ramen. That's all this show is going to be. If you want more, you'll probably be left disappointed. But if you're okay with nonchalant shows like these, maybe try it out for a few episodes.

Genres: Comedy, Slice of Life

4. Yuru Camp△ --- Watch
---Cute girls. Good animation. Camping. That's all this show is going to be. If you want more, then you may actually get more. A CGDCT (Cute Girls Do Camping Things) show, this is bound to be one of the better shows this season. A great show to bundle up, get some hot food and/or snacks, and relax to.

Genres: Comedy, Slice of Life, CGDCT

5. Toji no Miko --- Drop / 3 Episode Rule
---It's like Kantai Collection but instead of shipgirls you get swordgirls. First impressions leaves a burning "average" feeling. Give it a few episodes if you're not really into that feeling.

Genres: Action, Fantasy

6. Grancrest Senki --- 3 Episode Rule
---Yet another fantasy world with magic-esque values setting. The first episode is paced kinda awkwardly and goes a little too fast, but it's nothing you shouldn't be able to understand. The characters are super blunt and vague starting out, so give it some time to see if it gets any better.

Genres: Action, Fantasy

7. Slow Start --- 3 Episode Rule
---This show is going to be the moe show of the season that you get every season. Cute girls, school life, pretty slow pacing. Characters aren't amazing, visuals are fairly standard. Good OP, alright ED. If you're into moe shows, try it out. If not, maybe pass on it.

Genres: Slice of Life, Comedy, School, CGDCT, Moe

8. Citrus --- 3 Episode Rule / Watch
---It's a yuri show. That's all you really need to know if you wanna consider watching it. Pacing is pretty fast too. Cute girls doing yuri things. Oh boy.

Genres: Drama, Romance, School, Shoujo Ai

9. Mitsuboshi Colors --- 3 Episode Rule
---Three young girls that are based on the three primary colors (red, blue, and yellow) live their daily lives as the group Colors. They go around the town making sure peace is held for its citizens and animals. What may be endearing to some is really boring to others (I'm personally not going to be picking this show up), so see if this is what you like from a SoL anime.

Genres: Slice of Life, Comedy

10. Gakuen Babysitters --- 3 Episode Rule / Watch
---The MC and his baby brother suddenly find themselves having to transfer to a new home due to losing their parents from a plane crash. The stipulation the MC is given is that he must work after school in the Babysitters Club. With good pacing, good animation, and a solid OP/ED, this may be the show for you if you want something to relax to. (Surprisingly, I usually absolutely despise children in anime and IRL, but these guys are pretty alright).

Genres: Slice of Life, Comedy, School, Shoujo

11. Kokkoku --- Watch
---With a interesting story to start off, you already have quality mystery elements and good pacing that makes you go "what the fuck is happening, I need to know more right now." Featuring an OP that feels like it's some EDM music out of 2010, and an ED that feels like the Japanese version of some catchy sad love song (see: She Will Be Loved by Maroon 5), you'll be left wanting more.

Genres: Mystery, Psychological, Drama, Seinen, Horror

12. Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san --- Watch
---A quality story of Nishikata, the hopeful fool who falls victim to Takagi's skilled teasing. A cute pair (that'll obviously go on for years in their lives) of pure comedy and embarrassment. Also, the OP is actually pretty nice. The ED isn't bad nor great, but right in the middle. If you enjoy quality SoL / Comedy shows, this is the one for you to try.

Genres: Slice of Life, Comedy, Romance, School, Shounen

13. Ryuuou no Oshigoto! (Ryuo no Oshigoto!, The Ryuo's Work is Never Done!) --- 3 Episode Rule
---The other shogi anime this season alongside Sangatsu no Lion 2nd Season. While the latter of the two is a a masterpiece in its own right, this show will most likely show the sides of shogi that Sangatsu no Lion doesn't touch too much upon: the actual matches (without the pretty visual story telling). Featuring a young but hardworking MC who's now in charge of a third-grade disciple, he'll have his work cut out for him. Depending upon how you receive the characters and how much you like shogi will determine if you'll want to watch this show or not.

Genres: Game, Slice of Life, Comedy

14. Dame x Prince Anime Caravan --- Drop
---I have no fucking clue what's going on, but it's something like AniPolitics, but presented really terribly. This is based on a visual novel, but I've never heard of it so I can't expect anything out of it. I would not recommend watching based on the first episode alone. The only good thing of this show is that the female MC is cute.

Genres: Adventure, Romance, Comedy(?), Visual Novel

15. Violet Evergarden --- Watch
---Words cannot express the amount of joy I feel after waiting over a year for this. It's finally here. With absolutely breathtaking art and visuals, KyoAni brings to us Violet Evergarden. A story about love, war, and emotions. Is all the hype really warranted? Maybe not. Is Violet the best character out of the gates? Maybe not. But the journey from now to the end is what matters. And I think everyone should partake in this journey.

Genres: Drama, Fantasy

16. Koi wa Ameagari no You ni (Love is Like after the Rain) --- Watch
---Please, be open minded when thinking about this show. Yes, I get the story of a 17 year old high school girl falling in love with a 45 year old divorced guy seems insanely sketchy at first, and may even be off-putting to some. But I personally believe that episode 1 was one of the best out of any shows I've watched in around a year. Studio Wit is producing a quality piece of work with some of the most gorgeous art (some may even say it rivals KyoAni's work on Violet Evergarden in some scenarios) I've seen in a while. With a fantastic main character, a non-overbearing feeling of melancholy, this is just a genuine love story. Please, please, please, give it a chance. Don't drop it just because of the synopsis of the show.

Genres: Romance, Seinen

17. Miira no Kaikata (How to Keep a Mummy) --- 3 Episode Rule
---A very entertaining thought of making what would normally be a really scary being into a tiny, chibi-sized ball of cuteness. With a rather unique plot, it's going to be very slice of life and usually smooth sailing through the show. This first episode felt like it took forever to get through, which may (or may not) be an indicator of how it'll feel for the rest of the season.

Genres: Comedy, Slice of Life, Supernatural

18. Märchen Mädchen (Fairy Tale Girls) --- Drop / 3 Episode Rule
---As far as the isekai genre goes, I'm usually pretty forgiving. I think isekai is one of my top 5 favorite genres. It's so fun to see a character go to a brand new world and learn new skills and adventure out from there. But Märchen Mädchen is... not quite that. Although it looks pretty alright visually, the story thus far is rather bland as is with most light novel adaptations. Even getting some ecchi shots in there within the first ep, it's only bound to go downhill from here. But if you like isekai shows, then you might as well give it a shot. (+1 for fhana OP)

Genres: Magic, Fantasy, School, Isekai

19. Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku (Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody) --- 3 Episode Rule / Watch
---Following up the isekai trend is Death March. Oh, how I've been waiting for this. Consider what I just said previously in the Märchen Mädchen impression. I think out of what's being published today in the isekai genre, Death March is among the better end of light novels (that being said, I've only read the web manga, so... take from that what you will. LNs and mangas are usually pretty similar in content). It's fun. It feels exactly like a game, as it should. While the characters or the story isn't entirely the greatest, I will admit, it's still entertaining to watch as someone who wholeheartedly subscribes to the isekai medium.

Genres: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Game, Magic, Isekai

20. Hakumei to Mikochi --- 3 Episode Rule
---A story about two 9 centimeter girls who live in the forest together. While it may sound interesting to some, it may be bland to others. True and true to the slice of life genre, the first episode follows into their lives about how they went on a journey to find an evening kite, or a separate story where they went to a shopping market. It doesn't offer immediate gratification from watching the show, but it does have some quality scenes of imagery and good feelings. Try a few episodes out to see if the pacing is right for you (pacing is what makes or breaks SoL shows).

Genres: Slice of Life, Fantasy, Seinen

21. Nanatsu no Taizai: Imashime no Fukkatsu --- Watch (Sequel Alert!)
---It's The Seven Deadly Sins (not the super lewd one tho). If you've already watched the first season, you might as well. If you haven't watched any part of this series yet, it may be worth investing in. It's better in action/fighting/story when it comes to that over similar shows such as Fairy Tail, but loses it's edge in comedy, ecchi, and poster animal (I hate Hawk with a burning passion).

Genres: Action, Supernatural, Fantasy, Shounen, Ecchi

22. Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens --- 3 Episode Rule
---Crossdressing, murder, cops, hitmen, fake hitmen, hitmen hitman, ramen, not really about ramen, holy fuck. Calm down. This show comes flying out of the gate with a Durarararararararararara-esque feeling mixed with some Death Note. It has a million fucking characters introduced right at the beginning along with one of the MCs looking like some Spike Spiegel rip off. The atmosphere of the show is entertaining, and it could potentially be an alright murder/mystery show. Potentially.

Genres: Action, Mystery

23. Killing Bites --- Drop / 3 Episode Rule
---Your edgy show of the season ft. ecchi induced half human, half-animal people fighting each other to death (or unconsciousness?). Basically borderline bestiality. Yeah... Wild. The show wasn't horrendous, but the story could use some work. Solid 5/10 first ep. Would not recommend, but if you're into that kinda thing, then be my guest.

Genres: Action, Sci-Fi, Horror, Ecchi, Seinen

24. Beatless --- 3 Episode Rule
---Sci-fi, robots, and other mecha-based stories can easily go horribly wrong from the start. Beatless starts out pretty well, alright visuals, good basics of animation (funnily enough by Diomedea), characters aren't immediately annoying the hell out of the viewer. I'm not too sure where the story will go from here, or how the pacing is concerned (some odd shifts in tone through the start), but at least it's manageable. Hell, even making a contract with the robot didn't involve kissing or some bullshit like that, so that's a plus. I look forward to what this has to offer, if anything.

Genres: Action, Sci-Fi, Drama, Romance

25. Dagashi Kashi 2 --- Watch (only if you've watched S1, otherwise don't bother) (Sequel Alert!)
---Dagashi Kashi season one came out two years prior in Winter 2016. The show, in my opinion, was very mediocre. A comedy show based around Japanese foods, snacks, and candies (thus, Dagashi Kashi). It wasn't horrendous by any means and actually had some funny scenes. But it didn't go much farther than that. Coming back in Season 2 is a short version (12 minutes, sharing a TV-broadcast timeslot with Takunomi.) with a new artist for the characters. So the amazing character that was Hotaru Shidare has now been changed. She doesn't look bad, per se. Just not nearly as good as in the first season. Alas, it's still somewhat fun to watch and actually pretty informational about some candy products that you might've tried before. I wouldn't really recommend going out of your way to pick this show up if you haven't watched S1, but it's there for you to choose.

Genres: Comedy, Shounen, Slice of Life

26. Takunomi. --- Watch
---Sharing it's TV-broadcast slot with Dagashi Kashi 2, this is definitely the more comfier of the two. A show of 4 girls living together in a share home in Tokyo, it revolves around them all eating or drinking. It's very plain and simple, but still very cute and easy to watch. I'd recommend it solely on the basis that most short animes never go above a 7/10 in ratings (this one is about a 6, which is pretty decent) and as a good change of pace compared to everything else this season.

Genres: Slice of Life, Comedy, Shounen

27. Darling in the FranXX --- Watch
---I've never been too big a fan on mechs and mecha anime, figurines, or the such. Sure, robots are really freaking cool, but it never put a spark in my heart like other toys or objects did. However, this show was thrilling to watch. Just within the first episode, the main mech you'll be seeing feels so very... alive. It's a fantastic feeling that Studio Trigger and A-1 put together in their original anime. With a daring premise, interesting ideals and characters, this is sure to be one of the better anime out of Winter 2018.

Genres: Mecha, Sci-Fi, Action