P.S. I've linked trailer (if applicable) in the titles of each series.

THE LIST

• Summer 2016:
• Amanchu! 
• Sweetness and Lightning
• BERSERK (2016)
• 
  
• Fall 2016
• Natsume Yuujinchou Season 5
• March Comes in Like a Lion 
• Classicaloid

Summer Series:

Amanchu! (J.C. Staff, Summer 2016)

ARIA is one of my all time favourite anime series. It's relaxing pace and generally gentle nature of all it's characters soothes the weary soul. When I heard that ARIA's (the manga is actually AQUA) author was getting another anime, helmed by the same director that did ARIA, you bet I was going to be all over that.

Set in the seaside town of Izu, it is, again, themed around water. Rather than being on the surface of the water in gondolas, Amanchu goes beneath the surface with diving. The manga is more humourous, but still captures the same charm and feeling that ARIA did. It retains most of the calmness of ARIA, while also framing the world with a constant sense of wonder. Amanchu's major difference is that, as I mentioned earlier, it strikes a much more comedic tone. Not enough to categorize it as a comedy, but if the anime translates all the goofy facial expressions that Amano (author) has drawn, I think it'll draw a laugh every time they come up.

Junichi Sato's become somewhat synonymous with "healing anime", calm and relaxing shows that just a really nice thing to have when the world isn't being nice.

I'm really excited to see this one, because I'm expecting the diving scenes underwater to be absolutely gorgeous. 

Sweetness and Lightning (TMS Entertainment)

I don't know a whole lot about this series, but from the little bit of the manga I took a quick look at, I think this one will be a heart warming and super sweet series.

It's about a single father raising his young daughter. They've been eating take-out due to his lack of cooking abilities, but that's where Kotori comes in. She ends up bumbling her way into helping him learn to cook and joining the small family for their dinners. It's a sweet and humourous look at two single-parent families coming together through food.

Also, please don't become a student-teacher romance. Please don't become a student-teacher.  romance.

BERSERK (2016) (Millepense, GEMBA, LINDEN Films)

This one starts at Gut's Black Swordsman time, long after where ever any other adaptation has managed to get to. I think I'd watch anything BERSERK related, but I am a little worried about this. First, this is a 3DCG series, like Knights of Sidonia and GOD EATER. They generally look odd with stiff, stilted animation and occasionally bad looking models, but I'm hoping that this season can overcome at least some of those issues. 

Also, Crunchyroll's locked this one down, so I figured, "why not?".

Fall Series

Natsume Yuujinchou Go (Natsume and the Book of the Friends, Season 5) (Brains Base)

The 5th season of one of the only shows that Brains Base has ever done a sequel(s) for. This is a series that I've enjoyed from the very beginning. While the first season struck a generally melancholy tone, it gradually became lighter and lighter as Natsume found friends he could open up to, while also growing to be more comfortable with his situation and self. 

Now in it's 5th season, I'm ready for more of the same old, same Natsume Yuujinchou stuff. Bittersweet encounters with youkai and humans. Melancholic stories of the tragedy of long life. Heart warming stories of friends and companionship. If Amanchu! is going to be the relaxing, calm series, Natsume is the feelsy one.

March Comes in Like a Lion (3 Gatsu no Lion) (SHAFT)

This award winning manga is penned by Umino Chika, who you might know from Honey & Clover, or maybe as the character designer for Eden of the East (Higashi no Eden). 

I don't remember much about the story, but I do remember it being a feelsy series. Also, this is being done by SHAFT, if that's any more incentive or not. 

CLASSICALOID (SUNRISE)

As a long time student of the classics, and a holder of a degree in music, this pique's my interest. Space-bishounen Beethoven, Mozart and Bach walk into town, dropping space mecha and stuff. I'm interested in how they integrate the music aspect, but I have the utmost confidence that we won't see a space Dvorak, Holst, Palestrina or Bartok. It's definitely going to be an experience...whether it's going to be a good experience or not, we're yet to see. I still don't know how I feel about this one, to be honest.