There are sequels that can be expected every year, for returning series or long-running shonen, just as there can be one or two hits each season that take the community by surprise. However, the Fall 2022 schedule proves once again that some seasons are forces to be reckoned with.
Many of the shows featured were announced ages ago, but to see the culmination of upcoming releases one after the other is truly something to behold. Bones is bringing back Mob Psycho for the third season, My Hero is back, and the true ending of Bleach is at hand, but there's so much more beyond that to be hyped for.
Mob Psycho 100 Season 3
Yuzuru Tachikawa returns to direct the third season of what has been considered one of the best animated series of the last decade. The returning staff at Studio Bones is a relief when sometimes sequels can shift studios like with Attack on Titan.
Mob Psycho Season 2 raised the stakes considerably for Mob and company, and it begs questioning if season 3 can raise the bar. Aside from the bombastic action, it's Mob's inspiring and relatable quest for self-betterment and gaining self-confidence that keeps people watching. Here's hoping for the best for everyone's favorite psychic.
My Hero Academia Season 6
When My Hero left off, it was "My Villain Academia," a daring arc that focused on the villains and Shigaraki's rise to new levels of power. Now, all the heroes and the students from UA Academy are united for a combined assault on the villains.
Manga readers of My Hero have certainly hyped up this new arc, though many have been skeptical of the anime's ability to properly adapt such a packed arc. This next chapter promises to be one of the most intense yet; a war between super-humans that might take more than a few casualties.
Two major sequels in one season might be asking a lot of Studio Bones, between this and Mob Psycho, but given their reputation, it's hard to stay too skeptical. Rest assured, the battles will be glorious and animator Yutaka Nakamura will probably be unleashed to produce some killer animation like all the best battles in the series.
Spy x Family Part 2
Spy x Family's manga was so beloved that the pressure to get the anime right must have been truly intense. And yet, it ended up being a huge success and has been universally praised. This joint venture between Wit Studio and CloverWorks will return for the second cour of season 1 in the fall.
The PV released June 25 has a much darker tone than previous trailers for the first cour, focusing on a dastardly bombing plot that sees the Yor family stepping in. The 13-episode continuation is coming in October.
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War
For its popularity and dedicated fanbase, Bleach seems to be one of those anime that is divisive among critics and fans alike. Namely, because Bleach never got its true ending adapted to animation, until now.
Announced last year, the "Thousand-Year Blood War" arc is coming in October with an as-of-yet unknown number of episodes and will give Bleach fans the true ending they've waited for. Studio Pierrot is producing the conclusion with Tomohisa Taguchi (Akudama Drive) as director and Shirou Sagisu (Evangelion, SSSS. Gridman) returning to compose the music.
Uzumaki
For some unfortunate reason, the works of Junji Ito are really hard to adapt. With such iconic artwork that is unsettling on its own, capturing that detail and terror in animation - or any medium - is really challenging. Shows like the Juinji Ito Collection were criticized for unsuccessfully bringing the stories to life.
When Adult Swim announced Uzumaki, it was extremely exciting because the trailer was so creepy. The artwork was all in black and white, the style actually seemed to match the source material, and Colin Stetson's score was terrifying.
But it's been a while and so little has been shared of this planned 4-episode series for Adult Swim that it could very likely collapse under the hype or worse, slip under the radar even if it's good. It was supposed to be released in 2020 but was delayed because of the pandemic, but hopefully, this project from Production I.G. USA will do Ito's work justice.
Urusei Yatsura
David Production is remaking Rumiko Takahashi's Sci-Fi comedy series with a new TV anime directed by Yasuhiro Kimura, Hideya Takahashi, and Takahiro Kamei. This is another special one, as Urusei Yatsura is the kind of name that even people who don't know what it's about could hear the name and think "oh yeah, that one."
Be an anime fan long enough and that name will register pretty quickly as a work of some great import and for good reason. This new adaptation captures the old designs so wonderfully and presents itself with such vibrancy that it could easily find a new fandom within younger generations of anime fans.
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury
A new Gundam is always appreciated, but this one has some larger importance as being the first one in the franchise with a female lead. It's sorta surprising that such a thing hasn't happened sooner, with the number of alternate timelines and wild departures from the usual "UC Timeline."
The description alone is the most Gundam-sounding thing ever:
A.S. (Ad Stella) 122―
An era when a multitude of corporations have entered space and built a huge economic system. A lone girl from the remote planet Mercury transfers to the Asticassia School of Technology, run by the Beneritt Group which dominates the mobile suit industry.
Her name is Suletta Mercury. With a scarlet light burning in her pure heart, this girl walks step by step through a new world.
(Source: Official Site)
Gundam's brand of political drama and its way of tackling the horrors of war has resonated with viewers regardless of the timeline or the creative team. This new series is directed by Hiroshi Kobayashi, who recently helmed Netflix's Spriggan. Given the times, it will be interesting to see how the story approaches corporations' economizing of life through a science fiction lens.
More so, it'll be exciting to see the first-ever female lead in such an acclaimed franchise take to the pilot seat of her own Gundam. Let's hope it's not just a one-off and the franchise's international appeal will lead to even more kinds of protagonists in future entries.
Suzume no Tojimari
Makoto Shinkai seems unstoppable after the success of Your Name and the subsequent success of Weathering with You, but can he strike gold a third time? Suzume no Tojimari is coming out on November 11 and tells the story of a girl who has to avert catastrophe by mysterious doors around Japan.
Shinkai has stated that the story of the film is inspired heavily by the events of 2020, a year wrought with no shortage of painful memories from which to draw. It remains to be seen what the message of the film will be, but if it can touch upon the emotionally devastating events of that year, it may just be his most emotional film yet.