Seasonal Anime Advisory (Spring 2022)

Are you a little behind on seasonals? Or are you the type to wait until the end of a season to binge a show in one sitting, preferably after reviews prove that the experience will be worth it? Aren’t there always a few too many anime in a season (those poor animators!)? Well fear not, your seasoned librarian-in-training is here to help you find your match of the season. I took a class on doing advisories, I promise.

Here’s a top 10 list of the most noteworthy anime from the ongoing Spring 2022 season. I promise there’s be something for everyone!

10. Salaryman’s Club

Studio: LIDENFILMS

Episodes: 12

Genres: Sports, psychological

Synopsis: A former NEET who was bullied in the past worked hard to become an accountant at a reputable firm, where his deskmate turns out to be his high school bully. What’s more – the bully doesn’t recognize him, and invites him to join the company’s exclusive badminton club! Over the course of weekly practices and seemingly friendly matches against other companies, Kousuke slowly learns that there may be more than what meets the eye to the club or his new friendships, and the stakes may be higher than they appear…

Similar Anime: Bungou Stray Dogs; The Great Pretender; FREE!

Recommended if:

• You like bishounen
• You want to be kept at the edge of your seat
• You like shows that make you think

9. Tomodachi Game

Studio: Okuruto Noboru

Episodes: 12

Genres: Psychological, horror

Synopsis: A high school student wakes up in a dark cell with four other classmates, where they are forced to play a series of “games” by a mysterious puppet. If nobody wins a given game, they all get punished. If they collaborate to win more than half of the games together, they can all go home unharmed. However, if one player excels at more games than anyone else at the end, they will be granted the one thing they wish for the most in life…

Similar Anime: Gantz; Liar’s Game; Squid Game

Recommended if:

• You are invested in game theory
• You imagine yourself succeeding in game shows
• You were really into Future Diary and Deadman Wonderland in middle school

8. The Executioner and Her Way of Life

Studio: J. C. Staff

Episodes: 12

Genres: Fantasy, romance, mystery

Synopsis: The royal executioner is known for her swift and merciless skill, but after the king was poisoned one day, she finds herself tasked to end the life of someone familiar – the kitchen maid who once offered her an extra dinner roll. Unable to harm someone with such an innocent face, the executioner runs off with the maid to search of the true culprit behind the murder.

Similar Anime: My Next Life as a Villainess; I’ve Been Killing Slimes For 300 Years And Maxed Out My Level 

Recommended if:

• You like non-isekai fantasy
• You enjoy wholesome stories about women
• You’re a light novel reader who cares about adaptation faithfulness

7. Birdie Wing: Golf Girls’ Story

Studio: Bandai Namco Pictures

Episodes: ?

Genres: Sports, comedy, supernatural

Synopsis: Two girls, the class representative and a transfer student from America, argue over whether to start a golf or badminton club in the second year of high school, and decide to settle the debate based on who hits their birdie the farthest. The transfer student accidentally hit the golf birdie so hard it went to outer space, and attracted the attention of space explorers from another galaxy, who decide to land on Earth and show a surprising interest in golf.

Similar Anime: Kandagawa Jet Girls; FLCL; Aldnoah Zero

Recommended if:

• You like bizarre comedies
• You enjoy diverse casts
• You calculate your angle and force when playing golf on Wii Sports

6. Skeleton Knight in Another World

Studio: Studio Kai, Hornets

Episodes: 12

Genres: Fantasy, adventure, isekai

Synopsis: A Japanese otaku wakes up in his favourite video game after passing out from 24 hours of gaming. However, he had been playing on a troll account, where his avatar was a skeleton and his skills and build were a joke. By chance, he saves a cute elf girl from a molester in the streets, who decides to join his party because he looks strong in his armour. Will she ever find out what a disappointment he really is?

Similar Anime: Redo of Healer; Overlord 

Recommended if:

• You’re an isekai anime completionist
• You are attracted to elf girls
• You’re a fan of talking animals that give poor advice

5. Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs

Studio: ENGI

Episodes: 12

Genres: Comedy, isekai, harem

Synopsis: A group of high school girls who always play otome games together after school find themselves transported to the world of their latest otome game, not as protagonists, but as the love interests! Instead of being attracted to the protagonist, they suddenly find themselves more interested in each other.

Similar Anime: Kiss Him, Not Me; My Next Life as a Villainess

Recommended if:

• You identify as a fujoshi/fudanshi
• You go for the otome game character whose hair colour is your favourite
• You ship side characters with each other as a hobby

4. 86 EIGHTY-SIX Part 2

Studio: A-1 Pictures

Episodes: 12

Genres: Space, mecha, military

Synopsis: After setting out from Mars to colonize 86 planets in the last season, the protagonist and his robot pilot friends get orders that they are to conquer 172 more by the end of the next year, including Planet Earth, the promised land. Is there a way out of the senseless brutality of war, or is it too late now to turn back?

Similar Anime: Mobile Suit Gundam: 00; Tanya the Evil

Recommended if:

• You like serious anime with relevant moral themes
• You’re a mecha fan
• You respect allusions to WWII

3. Ya Boy Kongming!

Studio: P.A. Works

Episodes: 12

Genres: Comedy, Music, Supernatural, Idol

Synopsis: A famous military tactician from ancient China is mysteriously teleported to a karaoke bar in Shibuya, where he is invited to team up with an aspiring idol in a karaoke duel. Little did he know that her true identity young Marlene Dietrich, who also randomly reincarnated in Shibuya just a week ago. The opponents they’re up against? Ryoma Sakamoto and Pope Pius XI (Alter). Is something wrong with this dimension…?

Similar Anime: Carnival Phantasm; Love Live!

Recommended if:

• You like history but didn’t pay too much attention in history class
• You’ve always wanted more older men in your idol shows
• You’re tone-deaf

2. Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie

Studio: Doga Kobo

Episodes: 12

Genres: High school, comedy, romance

Synopsis: A Tokyo teen looks forward to a more relaxing life after transferring to a suburban high school, only to have the miserable luck of sitting in the wrong seat on his first day, and finding a hidden gun in the desk. It turns out that his new seatmate, Shikimori, is not just the class cutie, but a secret yakuza leader. And she is willing to do anything to silence him.

Similar Anime: Nisekoi; My Bride is a Mermaid

Recommended if:

• You like your anime girls crazy and pink-haired
• You enjoy enemies-to-lovers fan fiction
• You think of yourself as a masochist

1. A Couple of Cuckoos

Studio: Shin-Ei Animation, SynergySP

Episodes: 24

Genres: Romance, magic, drama, harem

Synopsis: Koko, Kuku, and Kaka are three sisters descended from a long line of magical bird people. Each sister guards an egg, which can only be hatched by the body warmth of a male human. Strapped for cash, a classmate agrees to egg-sit for Kuku after accidentally discovering her secret, which triggers the jealousy of the other two sisters. Can a broke high school student become a full-time egg-sitter while studying for his university entrance exams? How does one handle love from three bird sisters all at once?

Similar Anime: Quintessential Quintuplets; Heaven’s Lost Property; True Tears

Recommended if:

• You like well-rounded harems with thoughtful character development
• You like cuckoos as a bird species, but prefer the familial dynamics of penguin colonies
• You root for the twintail girl in any given harem

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I hope everyone was able to find their Spring 2022 seasonal to catch up on. Which anime would you watch? Would you rank anything differently? Leave a comment below!

I’m sorry if I misdescribed anyone’s favourite anime. The titles, promotional images, and occasional tweet that I saw strongly suggest that they are what I said they are about, and I am quite confident. I’m sorry if you had expectations, although I am not responsible for them. Dating a scam artist might have had a bad influence on my content.

“Librarians are not allowed to read books, only book reviews.” – Anonymous kid quoted on a library Discord server