The amusement park known as Amagi Brilliant Park is no ordinary tourist attraction: its employees actually come from the fantasy realm Maple Land and depend on the energy from humans’ joy to live. Faced with imminent foreclosure, they recruit the narcissistic but entertainment-savvy high school student Seiya Kanie as their new manager to bring new life to the dying park. We’re big fans of how this anime constantly subverts our expectations, like revealing that the giant mascot characters are really just fairies who always look like that, even though one of them is clearly a rip-off of Bonta-kun from Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu (another series by the same original author). Don’t miss this one!

Here’s a high concept for you: what if fictional characters from all sorts of different media and genres suddenly came to our world to seek out the people who created them? That’s how Re: Creators starts, and it explores just about everything that could happen in such a scenario, from lighthearted comedy moments (including a truly majestic recap episode that breaks the fourth wall at every opportunity) to senseless tragedies borne from clashing ideals. While you’re watching, try to spot the real-world inspirations for each fictional character; some of them are even elsewhere on this list.

The Fate series focuses less on the nitty gritty particulars of extradimensional beings coming to our world and more on how kickass it would be to see grand figures like King Arthur, Alexander the Great, and Gilgamesh duke it out in a no-holds-barred battle royale. We recommend Fate/Zero in particular for its superb animation and storytelling, as well as for it (debatably) being the best place for newcomers to jump into this huge franchise. It also has some intriguing takes on historical and mythological characters, and heavily develops their relationships to each other and the modern human masters they serve. But beware – once you get invested in the world of Fate, it may never let you go...

From this very season comes Ya Boy Kongming, a delightful little show about the power of music and also ancient Chinese war tactics. Kongming, a brilliant tactician from the Three Kingdoms era of China, reincarnates in modern-day Shibuya and is instantly enamored with dance music culture – particularly the song stylings of struggling artist Eiko, whose beautiful voice and determined personality inspire him to devote his finely honed strategical genius toward ensuring that she becomes the star she deserves to be. It’s very sweet and wholesome, with the occasional dose of melancholy to remind us that Kongming is forever removed from the companions he once knew. Still, this celebration of song is something anyone will enjoy.

All hail the king of reverse isekai, The Devil is a Part-Timer! This iconic and utterly hilarious anime chronicles the adventures of demon king Sadao Maou, who suddenly winds up in Tokyo with no way to get back home. Along the way, he takes a job at “MgRonald’s” that he gets way too excited about, shacks up with his similarly displaced associates Alciel and Lucifer (who act like a neurotic househusband and a lazy freeloader, respectively), and occasionally faces off against his rival Emilia – the hero fated to defeat him in their original world, but who these days tends to act more like an abrasive buddy than a mortal enemy. Don’t forget to stay tuned for Season 2, coming at last in July of this year!