Featured Articles

The 4 Most Promising Premieres of the Winter 2016 Anime Season

The winter season is here and there's a whole new batch of anime to watch. But which of the new shows are worth watching? We're here to tell you which anime have had the most promising premieres of the season.

by 5camp
Jan 17, 2016 8:48 PM | 34,488 views

Dagashi Kashi is one of the most promising premieres of the Winter 2016 anime season!

It's a new year, a new season, and with that comes a new batch of anime to watch. But what to watch? Obviously you'll keep up with the sequels to your favourite anime from yesteryear, but what about all those new titles you've never heard of before? You could go out there and watch all 20+ of the new anime, but who has time for that? You certainly don't! You've undoubtedly got far more procrastinating on the internet to do. So instead, why not let some poor sod like myself sift through the junk that Japan has served us this season and tell you which of them have had the most promising premieres.


Boku dake ga Inai Machi (Erased)

MAL Rated 8.77, Ranked #29 | Aired Winter 2016 | Produced by A-1 Pictures


Erased is one of the most promising premieres of the Winter 2016 anime season!

Isn't it nice when Noitamina pulls one out of the bag, particularly after they had a weak 2015? The timeslot with a stated goal to make anime for an audience different than the typical young male crowd had drifted away from that in recent years, so it's nice to see them return to this genre lately. The story is about a failing manga author who finds himself with the ability to travel back in time, normally just for 10-20 seconds at a time to prevent something bad from happening. But then something very dramatic happens (that I won't spoil) and suddenly he finds himself being catapulted back in time a lot further than usual. A LOT further. One of the most impressive things about this premiere is how fantastically well written and directed everything is. The highest praise you can give it is that it doesn't do a single thing wrong. There's not a single misplaced line or awkward scene or confused pacing. It's about as close to a perfect first episode as you can get. If the series can keep up that form then we have something special on our hands here.



Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu

MAL Rated 7.95, Ranked #571 | Aired Winter 2016 | Produced by Studio Deen


Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu is one of the most promising premieres of the Winter 2016 anime season!

While Rakugo might not be as lacking in flaws as Erased is (the pacing is a little off whack, probably due to the fact the first episode is re-cut from the OVA that aired a few months beforehand), it nevertheless is the anime I'm more excited about because of how unique it is. The story is set in the '60s and features a dude who has just got out of prison and decides he's going to study Rakugo. Rakugo is an old Japanese form of performance arts that's probably best described as "kneel-down comedy". During a Rakugo showing, a performer sits in front of an audience and, using nothing but a fan as his prop, tells them a story, often humourous. Don't worry if you have no knowledge of Rakugo. The first episode animates a full performance, which is one of the highlights of the whole episode. For the scene to work, they had to pay careful attention to body language, changes in the tone of voice, and all sorts of little animation quirks to give the performance the impact it was set up by the story to have. The level at which they knocked that scene out of the park shows how fantastically talented the staff behind this is and how great this anime could end up being.



Dagashi Kashi

MAL Rated 7.44, Ranked #1732 | Aired Winter 2016 | Produced by Feel


Dagashi Kashi is one of the most promising premieres of the Winter 2016 anime season!

Dagashi Kashi (or "Candy Crush" as some clever people have started calling it) is about a kid who has been told he has to take over his dad's old sweet shop in the middle of nowhere. Just as the son is trying to convince his dad that he wants to be a manga author instead, a very strange lady from out of town shows up and tries to convince him to follow in his father's footsteps. Dagashi Kashi could have been yet another forgettable shounen romcom, the kind of which Japan throws up several of every single year, but it manages to stand above its peers thanks to some genuinely hilarious characters. The girl from out of town is fantastic, from her profession of love towards the '40s era cartoon mascot character on the packet of crisps to her tale of how she came to town delivered in the form of a fantasy epic. But the real standout character is the dad, the man who looks like a Yakuza boss but squeals in glee when somebody expresses a love of candy like he does. Plus there's something endearing about the character designs, especially the slight cross-eyed look they give whenever they're excited by something.



Dimension W

MAL Rated 7.75, Ranked #925 | Aired Winter 2016 | Produced by Studio 3Hz


Dimension W is one of the most promising premieres of the Winter 2016 anime season!

Dimension W almost feels like it was specifically targeted towards western, English speaking audiences. Which is probably why Funimation is one of the companies on the production committee. The series features a bounty hunting adult male protagonist, a hot robot girl, and a cyberpunk future with unlimited energy technology inspired by Tesla. Yes this is the works and if that sounds like the kind of thing you've been crying out for Japan to make, you're in luck. The show is wonderfully animated and features the main character doing a little bit of breakdancing in the opening credits. The story is not much to write home about as of yet. The main character has picked up the robot creation of a famous scientist who has a grudge with the government and she's determined to follow him on his bounty hunter quests. Nothing too special. But when something looks this good in a genre we've been craving for, we're more than willing to give it time to get up a head of steam.

Related Articles

The Most Promising Premieres of the Spring 2016 Anime Season

The Most Promising Premieres of the Spring 2016 Anime Season

So the first episodes of almost every spring anime have aired but you haven't had the time nor the patience to sit through every single one to find out which ones might be worth following? Don't worry, because our writer has laid out which anime of the spring 2016 season have started strongly.
The Hottest Anime Adapted From Manga Spring 2016

The Hottest Anime Adapted From Manga Spring 2016

The Spring 2016 anime season will be on us sooner than you realize, and with that comes a whole host of eagerly awaited manga adaptations. If you're not up to date with the latest manga hits, we're here to give you a run down of the most eagerly anticipated manga being adapted next season.
Anime to Watch Before Their Sequels Air in Spring 2016

Anime to Watch Before Their Sequels Air in Spring 2016

The spring season is coming and you don't want to be left behind before it's even become. Now is the best time to get all caught up on the anime that have sequels airing next season so you can join in on the hype.
11 Epic Manga That Deserve to Be Adapted into Anime

11 Epic Manga That Deserve to Be Adapted into Anime

Waiting for your favorite manga to finally get its small screen debut can be tiresome, but when that moment comes, it's usually always worth the wait! Here are 11 manga series, filled with magnificent artwork and stories, that we hope will get their anime adaptations in the near future!
5 Anime Like Kaze no Stigma: Déjà Vu in a Good Way

5 Anime Like Kaze no Stigma: Déjà Vu in a Good Way

Kaze no Stigma is a funny and action-packed tale of magic, family, and revenge that came out in 2007. It may have been a rollercoaster of fun while it lasted, but what now? Worry not my dear friends, for we have here a list of five other anime like Kaze no Stigma to fill in that empty void.

All Tags Trending Tags

It’s time to ditch the text file.
Keep track of your anime easily by creating your own list.
Sign Up Login