These are the Spring Season 2023 anime which we are currently watching. All of the anime below are currently works in process, and have yet to complete so their endings could sink the entire enterprise. This remains to be seen. As of April 15, 2023 the following comments apply.
ANIME SERIES
Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku
Very powerful imagery matched with some power music. The initial few episodes looks promising, although the amount of blood graphically shed on screen may offput some fans. Hell’s Paradise might be the winner of the season solely due to its music and art alone. It tends to be a black comedy with a great deal of blood shed, which might put off some, but the work does not play like serious drama. The style is outstanding over all other seasonal work.
Skip and Loafer
Skip and Loafer is really super cute, Rom Com with some reference back to Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You. Pywackett Productions is in on Skip which is a super cute romance. The hand dance alone in the OP above is very much how the series plays so far.
My Clueless First Friend
Isolated girl who is teased and bullied by everyone because all the kids say she is cursed suddenly is saved by a Champion who fights for her because he thinks she is cool, when in fact he has no idea what is actually going down at this school. Cruelty and meanness don’t even register with him, and he brings her home where his older sister immediately falls in love with her. He soon brings her into his group of friends. Will Akane fall in love with her hero, Taiyō? Don’t hold your breath. Only question is will she melt down from all the love he pushes on her before she can confess?
Loving Yamada at Lv999!
Akane is dumped by her boyfriend, and becomes emotionally unstable, seeking revenge against him by pretending that she is now dating Pro-gamer Yamada. It has always seemed to me that if one really loved the other, even if dumped, why would you seek revenge? Did you love that person at all?
Neither MCs are particularly attractive. The guy is like a block of ice, and the girl exists in a whirlpool of emotions; but we will stay with it for now, and see how it develops.
Notice: Dropped this anime after EP 4. Akane and Yamada are making no progress in either their relationship or in their personal growth, both are obnoxious. And if the pairing is with two MC’s that one intensely dislikes, then there is no hope. Perhaps others might find this one enlightening in some way!
A Galaxy Next Door
Cute, cute, cute!!! Manga artist Ichirō who is the only support for his little bother and sister and is behind schedule and needs a support artist and so his editor sends him Shiori,who happens to be an alien with a stinger something or other in her backside. Shiori simply tells Ichiro that she is Princess of the Star People. Ichiro doesn’t even bat an eye, and asks her how her work is doing. But we are not dealing in reality here. This is for cute and to die for a world of cute so just roll with it, OK?
Otaku Elf
Elda, a 621 year old Elf, was installed in the Tokyo Takamimi Shrine by none other than Tokugawa Ieyasu during the Edo period. Present day, her Miko is Koito Koganei. Elda is somewhat lazy and has taken to Otaku culture, and plays games and reads manga constantly, much to the frustration of Koito. Elves were never divine creatures, so I don’t understand being worshiped in a shrine, but there it is. Sort of funny in that Koito fights with Elda to be a proper goddess. Will see how this one works out.
Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke’s Mansion
A serious Korean murder mystery where Raeliana is the murder victim, but she is reborn into a novel she just read. This gives her the advantage of knowing everyone’s agenda and motives which she uses to maneuver to a solution, because in the novel, she also will be murdered. Unfortunately everything she does changes the plot of the novel, and in this world, all the characters are snakes, and evil doers. The story is interesting in seeing how she solves her problems and discovers the actual murderer of her both in the past and in this new world.
Oshi no Ko (【推しの子】, “My Favorite Idol” or “Their Idol’s Children”; stylized as【Oshi No Ko】)
Not seen yet, but highly recommended by Otaku Spirit in the review above.
ANIME MOVIES
Suzume
April 14, 2023 USA IMAX
Saw this one on its opening day in the States and on an IMAX screen. Our reaction was similar to our reaction to Shinkai’s “Children who Chase Lost Voices”. Beautiful creation of a new world, but the story meanders through it all. Except Suzume doesn’t meander, she runs through this 2 hour work as if running across the entire country of Japan. Except for the speed level, sure seems like a similar work. Pywackett Productions was hoping for a return to something like “Garden of Words” and “Your Name.” but not even close. But it’s making money hand over fist, and Rotten Tomatoes has it in the 90’s for both critics and fans so who are we to criticize.