Introduction
Sexy anime boys! Isn’t that what everyone wants in their entertainment? Well, at least for the fujoshis and bishounen fans, the amount of quality sexy anime boys is directly proportional to our enjoyment of any given season. So, did Spring 2019 live up to everyone’s expectations and bestow upon us new hunks to love and write hundreds of doujins about? Let’s see!
1. Bakumatsu Crisis (2nd Season)
- Genres: Sci-fi, Action
- Air Date: April 5, 2018
This is the 2nd Season of Bakumatsu.
The time is the end of the Bakufu.
The future of Japan is troubled, and the era is a period of passionate men devoted to their ambitions as a rivalry of local warlords.
Shinsaku Takasugi is a lucky adventurer from Choushuu. Along with his partner Kogorou Katsura, they infiltrate a ship of the Naval Shogunate commanded by Yoshinobu Tokugawa. They are in search of a legendary treasure that gives one the ability to control time known as ‘Jinshingi pocketwatch’ (Chronometer). Shinsaku heard a rumor that the Shogunate are planning to use the Jinshingi to rule over the entire country. So, he plans to steal the secret treasure with the goal of destroying it.
‘Using this to rule over the country is boring. They have another way to take control!’ However, Shinsaku has the Jinshiki in his hands for just a brief moment of time before it is stolen by a mysterious woman in all black clothing. In order to get it back and finish what they started by stopping Tokugawa from ruling the country, Shinsaku and Kogorou chase after the woman to Kyoto where the Shogunate is. When they arrive, they see a strange figure and reigning deity, Susanoo.
They are greeted with a completely different city to the one they knew, and the way the people look bewilders Shinsaku.
Here, this is another Shogunate dominated by Toki Mugen, the masked Shogun (general). Sticking true to their convictions, they push onward to fight against the Shogunate loyalists in a new battle that goes beyond time.
What We Got:
Set in the tumultuous final years of the Tokugawa shogunate, the evil god Susanoo has found a mysterious “Chronometer” that allows him to alter time and rule Japan with an iron fist. Two young men desperately chase after the Chronometer so they can reset the timeline to its proper course, but they soon discover that the elusive device has a mind of its own!
This second season of Bakumatsu is, unfortunately, no better than the first. Studio Deen’s bland, unpolished animation fails do these attractive character designs justice, and the story can’t decide if it wants to be tense and serious or a meandering slice of life. But since this anime is based on a smartphone otome game, the hot boys at least get into some titillating situations, right? Nope, we don’t even get that.
We’d recommend you play the game instead of watching this if it was available outside of Japan, but Western bishounen fans are just out of luck here. Perhaps the best way to get enjoyment out of Bakumatsu is to listen to the OP and ED (which are better than they have any right to be) while flipping through some concept art. Or just ignore this show and move on.
Bakumatsu Crisis (2nd Season) Official PV
2. Bungou Stray Dogs 3rd Season
- Genres: Seinen, Mystery, Supernatural
- Air Date: April 12, 2019
This is the third season of Bungou Stray Dogs.
Atsushi Nakajima has nowhere to go. On the verge of starving, he has just been kicked out of the orphanage he was living in. He meets two very different and interesting men. The first is attempting to commit suicide by drowning himself. He is Osamu Dazai. The other appears to be neurotically flipping through a notebook while wearing glasses. He is Doppo Kunikida. They are part of a rumored “superpower detective agency” that deals with crimes and events that the normal police and army cannot handle. They are on the hunt for a human eating tiger that is disturbing the public and Atsushi just also requests to travel with them. Taking place in the city Yokohama, these men are those who have taken on the name of “bungo,” or literary master, and have embraced it. Each has their own different power that is revealed during combat. The curtains are now rising on these very strange “literary masters” who are about to have their own battle right now!
What We Got:
The Armed Detective Agency is back for a new adventure, facing off against their frenemies the Port Mafia as well as a new foe named Fyodor. The arc focusing on this criminal mastermind comes from a spin-off novel to the main series, where he’s the leader of a shady organization called Rats in the House of the Dead. What exactly is this sinister man’s ultimate plan...?
Although this show doesn’t give as much focus to its sexy boys as others on this list, Bungou Stray Dogs is still worth watching for both the story and the eye candy. New villain Fyodor has a cool sort of Ulquiorra look to him with a personality that hides sheer arrogance behind upbeat smiles, and our main cast is as pretty as ever. Fyodor’s story arc is well told, although it clashes somewhat with the earlier episodes that busy themselves with tying up loose ends that previous seasons left unresolved. But if you’re just here to see your favorite gang of detectives beat up a new enemy with superpowers inspired by classic literature, you’ll get your fill.
Bungou Stray Dogs 3rd Season Official PV
3. Diamond no Ace Act II
- Genres: Sports, Shounen
- Air Date: April 2, 2019
Second-year student Eijun Sawamura has finally made his debut at the Spring Senbatsu Koshien. He only has one goal: to be the best! The famous school marches towards resurrection. The steady advance of the Seidou high school baseball team starts now!
What We Got:
The Seidou High School baseball team faces its toughest challenge yet: the spring Koshien tournament, Senbatsu. It’s going to take a lot of training to stand a chance against their new opponents, but Sawamura, Miyuki, Furuya, and the rest of the crew is determined to win!
After four years without a new season of Diamond no Ace, we’re happy to report that Act II was well worth the wait. Madhouse’s animation is punchy and powerful as always, and the sound effects of baseballs whizzing through the air and slamming into mitts are so visceral that you can almost feel them through the screen! The story isn’t complicated and nobody has over-the-top super moves; it’s just a good, clean sports anime about attractive high school boys working hard to achieve their goals. And when the production is this solid, that’s all you really need.
Diamond no Ace Act II Official PV
4. Fruits Basket
- Genres: Shoujo, Fantasy, Romance, Drama
- Air Date: April 6, 2019
Tohru Honda is a high school girl who, after losing her only family member, her mother, lives in a tent alone. It turns out that the premises she pitched her tent on belong to the prestigious Soma family! He comes to live with the Soma family. Shigure Soma capitalizes on Tohru’s abilities to do chores, Yuki Soma is known as the prince of her school, and Kyo Soma sees Yuki has his rival! She lives together with them, but knows nothing yet.
You see, the Soma family has been bound by a curse for hundreds of years...
What We Got:
The Sohma family is burdened with a strange curse: whenever they hug someone of the opposite sex, they transform into an animal from the Chinese Zodiac. While it sounds funny on the surface, everyone seems to be hiding deep psychological trauma behind their vibrant personalities. But when a chipper high school girl named Tohru begins to live with cursed members Yuki and Kyo, their lives will be changed forever.
Fruits Basket’s character designs from the 2001 anime and early manga chapters are classic old-school shoujo: angular faces, large eyes, and inhumanly thin physiques. And while that art style admirably served its purpose in the ‘90s, we’re glad that the new anime updated it to modern standards because the art and animation are drop-dead gorgeous in every way, bringing Natsuki Takaya’s timeless tale to life like never before.
The all-new Japanese voice cast is spot-on for both comedic moments and the more serious scenes, as are the simuldub English actors (some of whom were kept from the 2001 anime and have clearly improved by leaps and bounds over time). And since this version sticks much closer to the manga storyline, we’ll finally get to see the darker subplots portrayed with the talent and care that they deserve. After all, those hard times make the romance so much sweeter in the end!
Fruits Basket Official PV
5. Mayonaka no Occult Koumuin
- Genres: Supernatural, Fantasy
- Air Date: April 8, 2019
Arata Miyako was supposed to be your average civil servant who was sent to work at the Ward Office of Shinjuku Ward. He went to work for the Department of Regional Midnight Exchange which is something that none of the workers in any of the 23 Wards of Tokyo know about. The work there is so solve the occult phenomena that occur with humans present. Together with his senior and section leader, Kyouichi Sakaki, he brings the occult aficionado Seo Himezuka along night by night to confront the beings that go beyond human and science.
What We Got:
Under the cover of night, an otherworldly realm exists where supernatural creatures from just about every mythology in the world live right under humans’ noses. Greenhorn worker Miyako Arata joins the Shinjuku Ward Office's Nighttime Regional Relations Department to serve as a translator for the monsters, hoping to keep peace between the two species. But is that even possible?
If you have a particular interest in the occult or you enjoy learning about unusual mythology that isn’t often explored in anime (like ancient Aztec monsters), Mayonaka no Occult Koumuin may hold some appeal for you. Otherwise, there isn’t much to recommend here. From the designs of the beautiful main characters, you’d think that they could’ve popped straight out of a male idol show, but the overly serious tone of the story and the uninspired animation just leave them feeling lifeless. What a disappointment...
Mayonaka no Occult Koumuin Official PV
6. Namuamida Butsu!: Rendai Utena
- Genres: Historical, Action, Fantasy, Bishounen
- Air Date: April 8, 2019
The pain of the four inevitables of human life (birth, ageing, sickness, and death) is something that anyone and anything alive will encounter at some point. There is but one way to be saved from them: enlightenment. At the height of conflict, a prince known as Gautama Buddha attained enlightenment and saved the world.
Time has now moved significantly past that and we are now in an age of decadence. Mara, the personification of worldly desires that bring about suffering, previously set out to hinder the buddha’s enlightenment, and now, in order to carry out its revenge against him has formed a contract with demons. Mara is now moving out to bring all of mankind under its dominion through worldly desire. Thus, a buddhist organization centered around buddhist teachings, the Thirteen Buddhas and the big two benevolent deities who protect the dharma, Taishakuten and Bonton, rise up in order to protect mankind while stopping Mara.
Their battle with Mara begins now!
What We Got:
How about a show about Eastern religion, but with hot anime boys? Namuamida Butsu personifies the Thirteen Buddhas as gorgeous men who protect the people of Earth from the negative emotions and worries that keep them from true enlightenment. But Mara, an evil spirit who made a pact with the devil, won’t make this task easy for them...
This anime suffers from many of the same problems as Bakumatsu: Crisis. It can’t decide if it wants to be a dramatic fantasy tale or a goofy slice of life, so it tries to be both and succeeds at neither. Incidentally, they’re both based on Japan-exclusive smartphone games about sexy men with wafer-thin personalities, so perhaps that sort of source material just isn’t easy to adapt into an entertaining anime. Either way, it’s just sad that such handsome and detailed character designs went to waste for this mediocre mess of a show.
Namuamida Butsu!: Rendai Utena Official PV
7. Robihachi
- Genres: Sci-Fi
- Air Date: April 8, 2019
It’s 0051 G.C. (Galaxy Century). Two residents of NEO TOKYO, Robby and a young boy named Hatchi, set off on a galactic adventure on a spaceship! They are headed for a planet of legend known as Isekandr where it’s said, if one visits, they will experience true happiness.
Disaster rains down all around them on their journey and they cause plenty of issues as they travel to each place…
What We Got:
Robby and Hatchi are complete opposites: Robby is a down-on-his-luck “freelance reporter” who’s constantly being chased by debt collectors, and Hatchi is a lazy teen genius who works for a loan shark and stows away on Robby’s spaceship. Together, they travel the Milky Way in search of a mythical planet that’s said to bring happiness, bumbling into all sorts of misadventures on their way.
With Shinji Takamatsu at the helm (an industry veteran who previously worked on Gintama, School Rumble, and Grand Blue), you know you’re in for some off-the-wall hilarity with RobiHachi. It’s not exactly the most intelligent, original, or high-budget comedy anime you’ll ever see, but Studio Comet clearly gave their all to create a fluffy Space Dandy-style road trip anime starring two sexy doofuses we can’t help but love. Check this one out if you need a good laugh after a rough day.
Robihachi Official PV
Final Thoughts
Spring 2019 was a bit sparse for quality bishounen content (with no dedicated boys love shows to be found), but we still got our fill of romance with Fruits Basket, action with Bungou Stray Dogs and Diamond no Ace, and screwball comedy with RobiHachi. Now let’s hope that Summer’s boys are just as hot as the coming season!
But hey, what did you think of these shows? Do you agree with our reviews? Who was your favorite seasonal husbando? Let us know in the comments, and thanks so much for reading!
Author: Mary Lee Sauder
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