Requesting anime recommendations!

[jennaria]

So. Wife and I are going to Japan* next year. This is a Dream, Once-in-A-Lifetime Trip, so we are absolutely looking forward to this! We'll be able to see places that we've only seen in anime, and -

Well. Um. Small handicap there. Neither of us have watched much recent anime. Since, uh, a while. (What do you mean, YURI!!! ON ICE aired six years ago. :wince: We used to be otaku, I swear we were.)

Wife asked her students for suggestions, and I'm turning to y'all on the chance that you'll have suggestions - what are your recommendations for current (ish) anime? Or other Japanese media (...that I can find streaming, ideally)?

*Originally we were going to go in 2020, only then 2020 went and 2020'd all over the place. Fortunately, our tour company was willing to defer our everything until Japan opened back up again for tourists.

Comments

[senmut]

All I know is my kids were watching some volleyball sports anime back in July...

I have utterly failed at keeping up with anime in my declining years...

[jennaria]

I'm not doing much better. Had an instance recently of walking into an anime store, and realizing how few of the figures I recognized and/or cared about. (Although to be fair, part of that is my continuing lack of interest in Naruto, Bleach, One Piece, and Boku no Hero Academia.)

...that said, I recognized the anime you mentioned, even if I've never watched it, so I'm not totally out of the loop. Passive awareness via Tumblr for the dubious win?

[senmut]

Sounds like it! I was just amused because Sports Anime was the last anime fad I'd been aware of just prior to leaving LJ back when DW launched? And here my kids were into it, over a decade later.

[adrianners]

I wasn't even good at keeping up with new releases by the time YOI came out, but I have seen a couple recent-ish anime I can recommend:

The Great Pretender - International heist show. It was produced by Netflix and they took that money to hire native speakers for all the different languages! Also, Victor's seiyuu is one of the leads.

Spy x Family - A spy and an assassin get married as a cover, neither of them realizing the other also has a double life. Their adopted daughter? A telepath who hides her abilities so she won't go back to the orphanage. Hijinks ensue! If you've seen screencaps of a little girl with pink hair in cone-like barrettes, this is the show.

I haven't watched this one yet, but I keep hearing the new Gundam series, Witch from Mercury, is like Utena in mecha. Sounds promising!

Enjoy Japan! What season are you going? We're hoping to get there in the late autumn, but a lot of financial stuff will need to line up just right for that to be an option.

[jennaria]

Spy x Family I've heard good things about (and seen lots of gifs and screencaps on Tumblr), so that's definitely on the list!

The Great Pretender and Witch From Mercury I had *not* heard about, so I'll add them to my list!

We're going in early summer - not as picturesque as other seasons, but still Japan!

[enchanted_jae]

Wow, what an amazing opportunity!

[jennaria]

It's absolutely one of those things we're doing now because all the stars are aligned, and if we wait for some mythical Better Chance, who know which stars might get knocked out of alignment?

[inkstone]

Latest big & popular anime to watch would be:

Demon Slayer *
Jujutsu Kaisen
Chainsaw Man
Spy x Family as mentioned above

* This is arguably the biggest one.

[jennaria]

:takes notes: Thank you!

[dragonofeternal]

A recommendation that is both Not Recent and Actually Recent, may I suggest Shoujo Kageki: Revue Starlight? While the anime itself aired in 2018 (oh god the passage of time) the movie that completes the story only came out 2021 Japan/2022 US due to ~Covid~

It's directed by the guy who's the protege of the director of Utena, and that DNA is definitely on display in RevStar. It takes place in an all-girls theatre school, focusing on a group of girls who are mysteriously invited to compete in battles of song and sword for the position of "Top Star," which will allow the winner to claim whatever stage they desire.