FEATURE: The Anime I’m Looking Forward to the Most in 2023
A new year is upon us, and with it comes a sprawling bounty of new anime premieres. Whether you’re limiting yourselves to the upcoming season or taking stock of the entire year, it can be a little intimidating running down the list of upcoming productions, and attempting to divine which are worthy of your limited leisure hours. Fortunately, I’ve been hard at work scanning previews and trailers to assemble a collection of the most intriguing prospects for the year to come. From long-awaited sequels to prestigious adaptations and even some originals, there’s a varied and exciting array of anime productions soon to arrive. Let’s run down some of the potential highlights of this year in anime!
Let’s start with something a little off the beaten track, but which nonetheless counts among my most anticipated shows of the coming season. The Fire Hunter’s early trailers immediately caught my attention, offering glimpses of a beautiful, melancholy world brought to life with rich animation and somber colors. Checking in on the show’s key staff offered some immediate exploration for the show’s unique tone: it’s a collaboration between director Junji Nishimura and series composer Mamoru Oshii, who’ve been working together since all the way back in Oshii’s Urusei Yatsura days. These titans of anime have been elevating whatever they touch for decades now, and The Fire Hunter is looking to be a worthy continuation of both their legacies. I know I’ll certainly be lining up for the first episode.
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While The Fire Hunter caught my eye by virtue of its staff credentials, other shows have the benefit of building off known and beloved source material. So it goes for NieR:Automata Ver 1.1a, an adaptation of what I personally believe to be the best-written videogame of all time. The original Automata is a masterpiece of transhumanist melancholy, and if this upcoming season’s adaptation can capture a fragment of its brilliance, we’ll be in for an immensely rewarding ride. Can the recursive, agency-dependent drama of Automata translate into a linear, non-interactive narrative medium? I can’t frankly say, but I’m eager to find out.
Splitting the difference between beloved source material and aesthetically captivating previews, this spring season will feature the adaptation of Hell’s Paradise, an Edo-era action drama about a group of condemned prisoners sent to retrieve the elixir of immortality. The manga’s enticing premise facilitates a variety of desperate battles and supernatural spectacles, and if the current trailers are anything to go by, this adaptation will ably capture both the intense action and otherworldly atmosphere of the manga. Grounding your larger-than-life action in historical specificity worked wonders for Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, and I’m eager to see how Hell’s Paradise brings its own distant world to life.
Though its arrival will undoubtedly be complimented by a touch of melancholy, I’m also eagerly awaiting the release of Pocket Monsters: Mezase Pokémon Master. The short series is billed as a final farewell to Ash as the protagonist of the Pokémon anime, meaning I’ll be saying goodbye to a character who’s been with me for basically all my life and who led one of the first anime I ever watched. I’m confident this final season will do right by him, but I can’t promise there won’t be any tears; particularly if we’re also saying goodbye to Team Rocket — Jessie and James are forever!
Of course, there are also the sequels. The year 2023 will be bombarding us with a staggering array of sequels, ranging from bombastic action spectacles to intimate character dramas. If you’re looking for gloriously animated fights in the coming year, I imagine JUJUTSU KAISEN’s second season has every intention of matching its predecessor’s fluid, imaginatively storyboarded action sequences. Meanwhile, the new Trigun adaptation will be representing the old guard of animated mayhem, bringing a new visual style to one of the ‘00s most iconic adventures. But if you prefer your action with a robust garnish of history and humanist philosophy, there’s no better place to turn than the second season of Vinland Saga, the continuation of Makoto Yukimura’s poignant manga masterpiece.
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Alongside the continuing action shows, this year will also feature the triumphant return of Tsurune, one of Kyoto Animation’s latest and greatest character dramas. The first season of Tsurune was an understated marvel of animation and direction, continuing the studio’s pursuit of realer-than-real vibrancy as expressed through shows like Sound! Euphonium, and also telling a poignant personal story in the bargain. Tsurune’s second season actually looks to be going above and beyond the aesthetic majesty of its predecessor, complimenting the original’s vivid use of color and symmetry with tricks of lighting and presentation that lend its every scene a dreamlike hyperreality. If you’re seeking the pinnacle of animated beauty, you can always bet on Kyoto Animation.
Or maybe you’re just looking for a charming, cozy adventure? In that case, I recommend to you one last sequel: the second season of BOFURI: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, so I’ll Max Out My Defense, about a girl who doesn’t want to get hit, and so she puts all of her characters’ stat points in defense. It’s breezy, it’s warmhearted, and it actually takes a pretty relatable approach to MMO drama — if you’re looking for something light and agreeable, BOFURI is your pick. No matter your animated interests, it’s clear that 2023 has something to offer to basically everyone. I hope you’ve found a show or two to look forward to among my selections, and please let me know everything else you’re awaiting in the comments!
Nick Creamer has been writing about cartoons for too many years now and is always ready to cry about Madoka. You can find more of his work at his blog Wrong Every Time or follow him on Twitter.
