Music, monsters, and mammaries are all part of his video list.

Is it possible to have too much anime? Not so long ago, most fans would have said “What? No, of course not. Quit wasting my time with such stupid questions. I’m trying to watch anime here.”

But things have changed. Studios now crank out so much anime that even with conveniences like online streaming and digital recording, it’s pretty much impossible for even hard-core otaku to watch everything that comes out. What we need in this problematic paradise of plenty is someone to guide us through the labyrinth of new anime and help us find the gems. We need a caring big brother, or “aniki,” as he’d be called in Japanese.

We need Otaku Aniki.

Like a savior of legend, Otaku Aniki suddenly manifested one day in our office, born out of the intense fires of passion for Japanese animation that burned in the heart of our most intensely otaku Japanese staff member. In the past, he’s sat in rapture while watching Cowboy Bebop, Toradora!, A Place Farther than the Universe, and Steins;Gate.

But Otaku Aniki now has his eyes turned towards the future. With the spring 2019 television season about to start in Japan, Otaku Aniki has valiantly taken it upon himself (with the help of his assistant, a bikini-version figure of Fate’s Saber) to give us his top three recommendations for the upcoming anime season.

▼ Otaku Aniki’s superpowers include enthusiasm and English-speaking.

1. Carole & Tuesday (premiers April 10)

At the top of Otaku Aniki’s list is Carol & Tuesday, a new original anime from Studio Bones and director Shinichiro Watanabe. And how does Otaku Aniki feel about Watanabe, the director of Cowboy Bebop?

▼ “I LOOOOVE YOUUUU!”

Like Bebop, Carole & Tuesday takes place in a world where mankind has emigrated to other planets, but this is a story about Martian musicians, not space bounty hunters, and Otaku Aniki is onboard for what he’s sure will be a “cute and beautiful music anime.”

▼ Carol & Tuesday trailer

2. Sarazanmai (premiers April 11)

Another original anime from an esteemed director, this time it’s Kunihiko Ikuhara, creator of Revolutionary Girl Utena, who’s got Otaku Aniki excited. This time around, Otaku Aniki points to Ikuhara’s skill at crafting “dreamy and shojo manga world which also has satirical sharpness.”

▼ Please be careful not to cut yourself on the satirical sharpness of Kunihiko Ikuhara.

▼ Sarazanmai

With his love of surreal symbolism, it’s often a little hard to tell exactly what’s going on in Ikuhara’s anime, but the beautifully animated trailer lets us know this is a story of three boys in Tokyo’s Asakusa neighborhood who get transformed into kappa (water imps) and must collect shirikodama, a mythical organ found in the anus, from the bodies of kappa zombies.

3. Why the Hell are You Here, Teacher!? (premiers April 7)

Once again, it’s the pedigree of the director, in this case Hiraku Kaneko. Sure, he may not be able to match Watanabe or Ikuhara in pure stylishness of introspective intimacy, but Kaneko’s resume, which includes Qwaser of Stigma, Manyu Hiken-cho, and Valkyrie Drive -Mermaid-, show that he’s adept at handling boobs in copious quantities.

▼ Yes, Why the Hell are You Here, Teacher!? is the anime that’s promoted itself with 3-D, free-to-touch boob standees.


So there, you have it, Otaku Aniki’s plan for wonderful anime days this spring. As soon as he finished giving us his recommendations, he vanished into thin air, but maybe we’ll see him again someday…

After all, he left his Saber figure behind, and with his…intense personality, we’re not sure whether he could ever find a real-life girlfriend to take her place.

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