March Comes in Like a Lion
An adaptation of the critically acclaimed March Comes in like a Lion was on the wishlist of many anime fans. Particularly those who enjoyed the josei genre demographic, or anime and manga for adult women, that Noitamina used to be known for airing. Indeed it was this author's other hit Honey and Clover that was the first anime to air in the Noitamina TV timeslot and its success is a huge part of the reason why the timeslot is still around today.
Not many people would have expected Shaft to be doing he adaptation though. Director Akiyuki Shinbo and his studio is known for stuff like Bakemonogatari or Nisekoi, not for the sort of low-key modern-day drama of young adults in broken homes, facing crushing expectations. Still, Shinbo is undoubtedly a hugely talented and experienced director, and he's working with truly excellent source material, so as unusual as this combo of director and manga may be the end result should still be fantastic to watch.
Drifters
How about this for a dream combination: The author of Hellsing has a new manga about historical super-powered warriors fighting an endless battle and its anime version will be directed by the same director who did Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. I am so on board this hype train.
The natural eye for cool and striking designs from the Hellsing author matches together so perfectly well with the penchant for the bombastic colour schemes and framing of Jojo's. The only slight worry is that the studio is Hoods Entertainment who are mostly known for Quasar of Stigmata (the boob sucking anime) and Manyuu Hikenchou (the boob mutilation anime). That said, a studio is just a name and all that really matters are the key staff, and they're all good so hey. I'm staying on board this hype train.
All Out!!
I love rugby. I'm Irish so it's one of few sports we are actually good at (the other being golf, and frankly I find posh people walking in fields with expensive sticks a bit boring). I'm not particularly good at rugby because I am your stereotypical nerdy anime fan so the word muscles to me means a tasty sea mollusk. But I will eagerly watch an anime about rugby, especially if it promises to be as solidly written as the manga is, and as well produced as Madhouse anime usually are.
I can't promise that this will be anything more than another shounen high school sports anime, so if you are bored of that genre then perhaps leave All Out off the 'Plan to Watch' list for now. But, what I can promise is that it'll be a really good example of that genre (baring any major screw ups with the adaptation).
Oh, and if you're on the fence ladies (and gay dudes), remember that rugby is a sport in which buff men in tight shirts wrestle each other and have an entire section in the game in which players shove their heads into their teammates rear ends.
Watashi ga Motete Dousunda (Kiss Him Not Me)
This shoujo reverse harem manga has been something of a cult hit lately, especially since the manga went up on Crunchyroll. Perhaps because it speaks to the dirty fujoshi inside of female fans. Those of you who, as soon as you see two guys even glance briefly at each other, instantly sparks a yaoi shipping lightbulb in your brain.
This main character is your self-insert, finding herself surrounded by all these gorgeous guys who she wishes would just make out with each other rather than engage in any princess fantasies of her own. It's admittedly a very wish-fulfillment type manga which can make it a little eyeroll-inducing at points (golly it sure is convenient that your self-imposed starvation diet after your favorite anime character died left you looking super pretty rather than a gaunt, hollow husk of a human being). But the main character is super entertaining which should be more than enough for most people.
Keijo!!!!!!!!
You know me, I'm something of a snob. I like my anime with thematic depth and serious adult discussions. I have Shouwa Era Rakugo Shinjuu locked in as my 2016 anime of the year. But every now and then the trash lover inside me rears its head at the sight of something stupidly brilliant enough to catch my attention.
Keijo!!!!!!!! (and yes the title really does have that many exclamation marks) is another one of those shounen sports manga adaptations. The big difference this time is that the sport in question is bikini butt wrestling. The author invented a sport in which ladies in bikinis ram their boobs and butts into each other on a platform on a swimming pool until their opponenta fall off into the water.
It's honestly quite entertaining in its own weird way due to it having the right mix of knowing just how dumb it is yet also taking its sport completely seriously. It's about as good as a manga about bikini butt wrestling could be. You can take that statement however you want.
