A new season has arrived, and while we say goodbye to a fair share of good quality shows we now must watch everything at hand to distinguish the good Spring anime from the bad Spring anime. Sometimes you decide after watching a few episodes, sometimes it's all about a genre or a premise... and sometimes, like in this case, it's all about one character. Sure, Ao-chan looks capable enough to carry the show on her shoulders, but Midara na Ao-chan wa Benkyou ga Dekinai would be nothing without Ao's father!

One of the best anime moments from last week has to be meeting Hanasaki Horie, this baby-like erotic novelist with a passion for everything lewd. I bet you can remember a lot of pervs in anime, that's for sure, but how many of them would pervert their own daughter just to see her closer to the opposite sex?! That scene where Ao tries to stop her classmate's apparent sexual advances by telling him she hates this guy is truly memorable, not only for ending up as a love confession (that's kinda cliche, actually) but because of Hanasaki's role, that immediately makes us understand why Ao feels and acts as she does. Judging by the opening episode, this anime has the potential to become one of the most popular of the season, mixing a predictable plot with a lot of unexpected laughs. I guess having only 12 minutes per episode is a good thing for this kind of anime, but I can't but hope this little man confirms himself as the scene stealer he appears to be!

Episode 13 of Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari was so intense we don’t know where to begin! Naofumi is clearly framed in trying to hurt Mel-chan and kidnap via an altered video feed, which is weird this world has videos by the way. This incident causes the party to flee with Melty in an attempt at finding a way to a land outside of the king’s control. We do learn though that while the king has some power it’s ultimately the queen who has dominance over the land and originally wanted the king to treat the shield hero with respect and fairness. Following this revelation, Melty insists the party goes to meet the Queen and with no other options, Naofumi agrees but of course the path to such a move wasn’t going to be easy. The other heroes join a scouting party to find Naofumi and in tow is of course, Malty. Malty makes a bold claim that Naofumi has corrupted his party through brainwashing but the heroes realize something might be wrong with this claim seeing as how Malty was quick to attack her own sister with a damaging spell and watched as Naofumi protected her. Episode 13 was named the Devil of the Shield and we have to wonder if that points towards Malty who already seems to be ready to do more to our party as they barely got away from her attack. Maybe our Sword Hero who Naofumi trusts the most, will be able to shed light on who wants Naofumi so bad they're willing to set all of this up. Before I wrap this hot moment up though I will say that I like the new OP but kind of miss the original.

With the spring anime season finally here, Kimetsu no Yaiba’s first episode is one of the most interesting so far! The popular shounen series focuses on a young boy in the Taisho period named Tanjirou Kamado, whose relatively quiet life with his family is destroyed when they are all murdered by a demon. Tanjirou finds only his sister Nezuko is still alive, though she has been turned into a demon herself, so he sets out to discover a way to save her.

This initial episode was a lot of introduction to the world and its setting, with the events setting up a reason for Tanjirou and Nezuko’s journey. Tanjirou is such a sweet and naive character, it makes it so much more tragic when he returns to find his family killed. He cares so much about his family, and when he finds his sister still alive, she holds all his hope for a return to how things once were.

The story seems interesting enough so far, and it seems like it’s well-paced. Tanjirou and Nezuko’s character designs are beautiful, and the animation itself is gorgeous as well. Though this first episode was pretty predictable, we thought it was promising for the future. We’re hopeful to see how this series turns out!

Fruits Basket is finally back! This classic shoujo manga was one of the first I ever read and I’m so happy to see a new anime that promises to adapt the entire story, rather than the 6 out of 23 volumes that the 2001 version got through. The most impactful and beautifully written character moments are in these unadapted volumes, so hopefully this new anime will show people who only watched the original how great Fruits Basket really is.

In this first episode we’re introduced to Tohru Honda, a cheerful but parentless high school student who’s so afraid of burdening others that a family housing hiccup leaves her living in a tent in the woods. Her princely classmate Yuki Sohma and his older cousin Shigure live nearby, and once they discover her plight, they persuade her to stay with them instead. But the Sohmas hide a strange secret – they’re possessed by animals of the Chinese Zodiac and transform into them if they’re hugged by a member of the opposite sex!

So far, not much has changed from the manga other than the art style. Mangaka Natsuki Takaya herself asked TMS Entertainment to bring her old-school shoujo designs up to speed with the present day, and I think it’s a successful update. The iconic shots of Yuki summoning rats and Kyo crashing through the roof are still just as eye-catching as ever, and the gorgeous modern animation breathes fresh life into this familiar setting. I can’t wait to see what this new anime has to offer!

One episode in and Hitoribocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu is already one of the cutest anime to come out in a while. Just before starting middle school, Bocchi makes an agreement with her childhood friend to befriend all of her new classmates before the two of them can speak again. Despite her best efforts, all of Bocchi's plans to make friends easily fall apart. Things get even worse for her when she barfs during introductions. With some hard work and a few more mishaps, Boochi is able to make her first middle school friend Nako Sunao.

Overall the first episode of Hitoribocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu was everything you could possibly want out of the slice of life comedy anime. The episode started out slow, but once we got the Boochi and Nako section everything took off from there. I found myself smiling through the whole episode as the shy and awkward Bocchi tried her hardest to make a friend. The interactions between Bocchi and Nako were incredibly cute and heartwarming. The whole second half of the episode was fantastic and it saved the funniest moment for last. With great characters and a cute story, I can't wait to see more of this anime.