Continuing Coverage: Re:Zero S3 (Resumes February 2025!)
Post Last Updated: December 22, 2024
Happy Holidays everyone! 😀 I’m happy to say I’m feeling a lot better since I’ve made the decision to drop everything and take the time to properly rest throughout December. It proved to be the right call, so I’m glad that I did! I’m very excited for the upcoming titles this season, a good handful of them are ones I’ve been anticipating since they’ve been announced! I expect to be only covering two shows, but if I feel like I can handle giving a third title a shot, I’ll give it a go and see how far I can get with it. Based on the early outlook of 2025 as a whole, it looks like it will be the year of the sequels for me! Here’s to hoping most of the series I’ve previously covered don’t all come out at the same time, otherwise I’ll be in a real pickle!!!
Shadow will be taking a break this season (but she will continue to cover Re:Zero when it returns), so it will just be me covering the titles from Winter Season. I decided to tinker a bit with the format of this Season Preview to make it as straight-forward as it can get. It will just be the list of shows that currently have my attention, which ones I’m very likely to be watching this season, and of course which ones I can guarantee to cover. And there will be no “Overall Thoughts” at the end, I didn’t see it having a point to include this time.
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If you wish to see the full list of the preview, you will be able to find it in Live Chart.
Resources: AniList, A.I.R, ANN, Crunchyroll, FanSub DB, LiveChart, MAL
Without any further ado, let’s get started!
The Apothecary Diaries Season 2
薬屋のひとりごと 第2期 | Kusuriya no Hitorigoto
Source: Novel | English Publisher: JNovel Club [DIGITAL] | SQUARE ENIX [PRINT]
Animation Company: TOHO animation | STUDIO OLM
Website: https://kusuriyanohitorigoto.jp/season2/
Premiere: January 10, 2025 (JST)
Genre: Drama, Mystery
Trailer: PV 1 | PV 2
Synopsis: The second season of The Apothecary Diaries. Maomao and Jinshi face palace intrigue as a pregnant concubine’s safety and a looming conspiracy collide.
❅
Eva: Man I’m soooooo hyped for this season, one of my favourite arcs is about to kick off (the latest in vol 10 took the crown from this one)! I’m super glad it’s getting 26 episodes treatment! Ever since the previous season ended, I’ve been having Apothecary Diaries brain-rot of just reading the series nonstop, allll the way to the latest webnovel fan-translations. Patience? What’s that? Never heard of her. Can’t wait to dive into this one!
Possibility of Blogging: Guaranteed
My Happy Marriage Season 2
わたしの幸せな結婚 第二期 | Watashi no Shiawase na Kekkon 2nd Season
Source: Novel | English Publisher: YenPress
Animation Company: Kinema Citrus
Website: X
Premiere: January 6, 2025 (JST)
Genre: Romance,
Trailer: PV 1 | PV 2
Synopsis: The second season of Watashi no Shiawase na Kekkon.
Miyo and Kiyoka’s love will be put to the test as trouble looms over them. Will they achieve the future they dream of?
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Eva: Yay my precious lovebirds are back! 😀 It’s been a little while since I last read the books (had to wait a while before I could buy Vol 7, which I FINALLY got yesterday!) but I still vividly remember a lot of the major events that will be happening this season. Miyo is slowly but surely getting more comfortable and more confident with herself! Yes there will certainly be a character that may test your patience this season, but rest assure they are by no means as bad, nor the shitty like the Saimori’s household and the stuck-up, prickly tsundere like Kyouka’s mother. Also a quick reminder to make sure you watch Episode 13 OVA!!! After months of waiting, it just recently came out on Netflix last month. It overs the last chapter of Vol 2, aka: a proper conclusion to the first season! So don’t skip it!!!
Possibility of Blogging: Guaranteed
Medalist
メダリスト
Source: Manga | English Publisher: Kodansha USA
Animation Company: ENGI
Website: https://medalist-pr.com/
Premiere: January 5, 2025 (JST)
Genre: Sports, Drama, Psychological
Trailer: PV 1 | PV 2 | PV 3
Synopsis: Tsukasa, whose dreams were crushed. Inori, left to fend for herself. These two share a dream…and their tenacity may be the only thing that sees them through. Their destination? The ice…on the world’s stage!
❅
Eva: Now I haven’t been keeping up with this manga, (I don’t know if it was a two years ago or longer since at this point, I’m pretty sure I checked it out when it first launched), but I really enjoyed it the bit of it I did read! It was very endearing! Honestly a part of me was really hoping they’d opt out of using the 3D models for the skating bits… But hopefully they’ll grow on me because I’ve just never been a fan of it unless it’s done really well. Anyhow it goes without saying I’m very for this one, and I‘m pretty sure the first episode is going to it hard for me to pass this up hahahaha!
Possibility of Blogging: 75%
ZENSHU
全修。| Zenshuu.
Source: Original
Animation Company: MAPPA
Website: https://zenshu-anime.com/
Premiere: January 5, 2025 (JST)
Genre: N/A
Trailer: PV 1
Synopsis: After graduating from high school, Natsuko Hirose starts her career as an animator. Her talent quickly flourishes, and she makes her debut as a director in no time. Her first anime becomes a massive hit, sparking a social phenomenon and earning her recognition as an up-and-coming genius director. Her next project is set to be a romantic comedy movie themed around first love! However, having never been in love herself, Natsuko struggles to understand the concept of first love, and as a result, she’s unable to create the storyboard, causing the movie production to come to a standstill.
❅
Eva: I’m really excited for this one! Right now I’m under the impression she’s probably not really dead, just super ill from overwork (though let’s be real, if she isn’t dead, then it most definitely almost killed her). This is definitely a title I’d look to consider covering if it clicks with me, but it’ll be competing with Medalist only for the third slot if I can pick up an additional title.
Regardless, I think pretty much the entire internet can agree it’s super ironic for MAPPA to be behind this one, especially with it title meaning “Redo everything”. I feel like most people are aware to some extent of how badly overworked the animators are– though it’s important to note this is not an exclusive problem to MAPPA’s studio, it’s just that they are the ones who have had the loudest buzz about it. It is a very serious problem that has plagued not just the the animation, but also the manga/webtoons, hell I’d even go as far to just say it’s the creative arts industry as a whole. And it’s sad, because it’s the artists/creators who make the magic happens!
Possibility of Blogging: 25%
You and Idol Precure ♪
キミとアイドルプリキュア♪ | Kimi to Idol Precure♪
PV COMING SOON
Source: Original
Animation Company: Toei Animation
Website: https://www.toei-anim.co.jp/tv/you-and-idol_precure/
Premiere: February 2025 (JST)
Genre: Magic
Trailer: PV 1 | PV 2
Synopsis: N/A
❅
Eva: Honestly I’m surprised we haven’t gotten an idol precure sooner, especially with regardless whether we liked it or not, they shoved it in our faces anyways. [STARES AT HUGTTO PRECURE] I’ll see how I vibe with this one, but I know for a fact I will not be picking this one up. I really got my work cut out for me in 2025, there’s so many sequels coming out that I’m really hoping that are decently spread out across the seasons so I can still have room to cover some new titles!
On the extra note: I do want to give a quick shout out to Wonderful Precure! I’ve recently resumed watching it on the whim, and oh my god, it has turned out to be really good! I’m actually a little sad I didn’t end up picking it up! I’ve been thinking about potentially doing a write-up about it, but I know I won’t have time for it anytime soon. Maybe it’ll be something to tackle some time in the distant future like I did with Heartcatch.
Mahoutsukai Precure!! MIRAI DAYS
魔法つかいプリキュア！！～MIRAI DAYS～ | Witchy PreCure!! ~MIRAI DAYS~
Source: Original
Animation Company: Toei Animation | Studio DEEN
Website: https://www.toei-anim.co.jp/tv/mahotsukai_precure2/
Premiere: January 12, 2025 (JST)
Genre: Action, Fantasy, Magic, Slice of Life
Trailer: PV 1 | PV 2
Synopsis: One of the anime projects to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Precure franchise, this will be a direct sequel of Mahoutsukai Precure! aimed for grown-up fans of the anime.
❅
Eva: You and Idol isn’t the only Precure coming out this season. Mahoutsukai! MIRAI DAYS, sequel is coming out too! It’s too bad I didn’t enjoy the main enough to finished it (I got up to ep 26, so half-way), but that isn’t stopping me from checking this one to see if it actually keeps me around! Heck, maybe it will motivation me to give the main series a second shot. On the side note, that thumbnail looks absolutely sick.
All I hope for these sequels they are churning out will be better than the half-assed Power of Hope. I can’t express how freaking disappointed I was in that one, ugh…. Actually, now I’m wondering if we’ll see it get a follow-up story for Go! Princess’ anniversary… That one is so dear to my heart, I’d hate to see them screw that up.
Anyway, I’m Falling in Love with You.
どうせ、恋してしまうんだ。| Douse, Koishite Shimauda.
Source: Manga | English Publisher: Kodansha USA
Animation Company: TYPHOON GRAPHICS
Website: https://koishima-pr.com/
Premiere: January 10, 2025 (JST)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Trailer: PV 1 | PV 2
Synopsis:
It’s July 1, 2020. Mizuha, a high school second-year, is having the worst seventeenth birthday ever. She’s missing her chance to get close to the older student she admires, and her parents didn’t even remember that it’s her birthday. Worst of all, there’s a new and unknown infectious disease making the rounds, so all her club tournaments and school trips have been cancelled.
She’s convinced that she’ll never have the dazzling youth that she’s always dreamed of… but then her childhood friend, Mizuki, suddenly declares himself a candidate to be her boyfriend.
This is a school youth story about four childhood friends who grew up like family, one being the heroine, Nishino Mizuha, and the four boys she grew up with whom she sees as family.
❅
Eva: I think I vaguely remember taking a peek at the first chapter early on because I do remember thinking it was nice to see a reference to the pandemic. I didn’t go beyond that though, so I’m interested in seeing how it goes. However I’ll be watching this with no particular expectations, mainly because the last few series I’ve read with love triangles/reverse harems that led to due to unsatisfying outcomes/conclusions (do note, that’s not always necessarily tied to second-lead syndromes). So hopefully this one will be better than the last few I’ve finished!
Flower and Asura
花は咲く、修羅の如く | Hana wa Saku, Shura no Gotoku
Source: Manga
Animation Company: Studio Bind
Website: https://hanashura-anime.com/
Premiere: January 8, 2025 (JST)
Genre: Drama, Slice of Life
Trailer: PV 1 | PV 2
Synopsis: On the picturesque island of Tonakijima with a population of only 600, Hana’s favorite pastime is reading literature to the island’s children. Her narration skills are second to none, and Mizuki, the president of the school’s broadcasting club immediately recognizes Hana’s ability to engage with others and draw them into her recitations. Invited by Mizuki to join the club, Hana embarks on a journey to discover her true love of reading — and maybe even change the course of her life along the way.
❅
Eva: Oh this actually looks quite intriguing! Count me in, I’ll definitely be watching this one this season!
Honey Lemon Soda
ハニーレモンソーダ
Source: Manga | English Publisher: YenPress
Animation Company: J.C. Staff
Website: https://honeylemon-anime.com/
Premiere: January 9, 2025 (JST)
Genre: Romance
Trailer: PV 1 | PV 2
Synopsis: In middle school, Uka Ishimori was nicknamed “Stone.”
In order to change herself, she enrolled in Hachimitsu High School, known for its culture of student liberty. Seated in at the desk next to her in the same class is Kai Miura, a coolly freewheeling boy with lemon-colored hair. In truth, Uka met Kai once in middle school, and decided to attend Hachimitsu based on a single word he said to her.To Uka, the popular Kai is a distant presence.
Yet somehow, Kai starts to look after Uka. With Kai encouraging her, Uka gradually begins to fit in with her classmates…
But…Uka’s world is gradually changing with Kai’s presence. —
Now, I am in the center of the endlessly spreading light.
❅
Eva: Even though I’m kinda iffy about how much this one is going to vibe with me, I’m absolutely here for all the shoujo goodness! So I am going to give this one a few episodes to see if it’s worth sticking around to watch till the end!
I Want to Escape from Princess Lessons
妃教育から逃げたい私 | Kisaki Kyouiku kara Nigetai Watashi
Source: Novel | English Publisher: JNovel Club
Animation Company: EMT Squared
Website: https://kisakikyouiku.com/
Premiere: January 5, 2025 (JST)
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
Trailer: PV 1 | PV 2
Synopsis: Leticia Dorman, daughter of a duke, is less than thrilled to be engaged to a crown prince. Betrothed since childhood and trained to be queen, she always hoped Prince Clarke would fall for someone else one day. So when he shows up at a ball with another woman, Lettie excitedly retreats to the countryside to start her new life—only for Clarke to appear, determined to win her heart.
❅
Eva: You know, I’ve been staring at this novel on JNovel Club for the longest time. And even after reading the preview, I’ve been unable to make up my mind whether I wanted to buy it and read it. Well vola, now I can see if it’s worth it!
SAKAMOTO DAYS
サカモト デイズ
Source: Manga | English Publisher: VIZ
Animation Company: TMS Entertainment Project
Website: https://sakamotodays.jp/
Premiere: January 11, 2025 (JST)
Genre: Action, Comedy
Trailer: PV 1 | PV 2
Synopsis: When Sakamoto meets Aoi, the convenience store clerk, it’s love at first sight — and just like that, he retires.
Sakamoto gets married, has a daughter, opens a mom-and-pop store in a quiet town, and completely transforms … into a plus-size man. To ensure a peaceful life with his beloved family, the legendary ex–hit man bands together with comrades to face off against the looming threat of assassins.
Note: Netflix Japan will be streaming SAKAMOTO DAYS a week ahead with a two-episode premiere on January 11, setting it one episode ahead of global release. + This will be a split-cour series!
❅
Eva: I have not read the manga, but this looks very entertaining, so I’ll be checking it out!
UniteUp! Uni:Birth Season 2
UniteUp! 第2期
Source: Original – Multimedia Project
Animation Company: CloverWorks
Website: https://uniteup.info/
Premiere: January 10, 2025 (JST)
Genre: Music
Trailer: PV 1
Synopsis: The second season of UniteUp!
PROTOSTAR’s journey continues as they face rivals and challenges, striving to shine in the competitive idol world.
❅
Eva: Unfortunately I don’t have any interest in covering the second season. The way it ended last time was very underwhelming and I wasn’t a fan of how it was resolved. The music and performances are great though, so I still plan to at least watch it and see if there’s any improvements made this time round!
And that’s what got my attention for this upcoming season!
What shows have caught your attention?
Compared to the mostly isekai/fantasy season that just finished, it seems this time it is romance season; I’m all in! A lot of intriguing animes, will have to choose for a change (except for Precure/UniteUp which I’m not following and Medalist because of CG, the rest have me excited).
😀 Yeah it’s great to see more romance, I can’t get enough of them! Hopefully they’ll be good!