Seasonal Anime Advisory (Summer 2022)

Late to the Summer 2022 anime season? Fear not! This specially curated list features 10 titles catered towards diverse and exquisite tastes. Read on!

10. Fuuto PI

Studio: Studio Kai

Episodes: 12

Genres: Action, drama, comedy

Synopsis: Fuuto Kamome is a genius with a 9-year winning streak at the International Pi Memorization Contest. His talents are coveted by many, but Fuuto only wants to inherit his family’s billiards business and expand his knowledge of pi, and turned down every job offer he has received. One day, a headhunter from a major electric vehicle company from China kidnaps his sister in hope of coercing Fuuto into working for them and becoming the next Elon Musk. Fuuto’s perfectly calculated life is about to veer off course…

Similar anime: Durarara!; Tiger & Bunny

Recommended if:

• You fangirl over sweet BL moments even if they’re not cannon
• You like shows that cleverly reference current events
• Circles are your favourite shape

9. Engage Kiss

Studio: A-1 Pictures

Episodes: 13

Genres: Action, harem

Synopsis: A smart but reclusive otaku inadvertently discovers that he has the power to bring characters from his favourite video game to life by kissing the screen during pivotal scenes. However, he soon finds out that whoever he kisses to life considers herself to be engaged to him – only after already kissing 10 different characters and a few video game monsters just for fun. What will happen now!?

Similar anime: Date A Live; Princess Principal; A Certain Magical Index

Recommended if:

• You spend money to roll for your favourite gacha game characters
• You like your harems small and tight-knit

8. Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer

Studio: NAZ

Episodes: 24

Genres: Adventure, comedy, action

Synopsis: To make a good New York style cheesecake, you need a good hammer for crushing the graham crackers. This was the secret passed down from generation to generation in the Chisukeki family. One day, the devil overhears this secret and steals the biscuit hammer, bringing it to another dimension for his personal use. With the help of his childhood friend, a dimension leaper, a macrophage cell, and a baby komodo dragon, Kuki the apprentice cakemaker embarks on a journey to track down Lucifer and make him pay.

Similar anime: Space Battleship Tiramisu; The Devil is a Part-Timer!

Recommended if:

• You like smart, nerdy protagonists
• You celebrate platonic friendships
• You find it amusing when random elements are over-explained in a show

7. Vermeil in Gold

Studio: Staple Entertainment

Episodes: 12

Genres: School, harem, ecchi

Synopsis: After graduating from a traumatic high school experience, Nagisa Shiota gets a makeover and looks forward to a new campus life after enrolling in a jewellery design program at a prestigious technical college. Unfortunately, the attractive teacher with a dark sense of humour is anything but normal. Nagisa doesn’t think anything can faze him at this point, but this dearly anticipated sequel to Assassination Classroom is sexier than one might think.

Similar anime: Assassination Classroom; The Irregular at Magic High School

Recommended if:

• You like the sexy teacher trope
• You like it when the harem protagonist is actually smart
• You think gravity-defying body types are part of the point of anime

6. League of Nations Air Force Aviation Magic Band Luminous Witches

Studio: Shaft

Episodes: 12

Genres: Mecha, action, CGDCT

Synopsis: In an alternate universe, the League of Nation successfully averted WWII and brought about world peace – at the cost of extreme human experimentation. Nine teenage girls from different countries survived a series of brutal trials as the successful products of human-cat-airplane fusion. While Europe celebrates a decade of peace and prosperity, few are aware of the ongoing surveillance actions of the LoN Air Force Aviation Magic Band Luminous Witches. The truest heroes are always the unsung ones.

Similar anime: Sound of the Sky; Cyborg 009

Recommended if:

• You appreciate cute girl shows with a deeper underlying theme
• You’re an airplane nerd, but don’t mind slight historical inaccuracies

5. The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting

Studio: feel., Gaina

Episodes: 12

Genres: Slice-of-life, comedy

Synopsis: When you think of the yakuza, you’d normally think of stern older men with tattoos and maybe a scar or two. But after all the prominent adult figures were killed in a terrible shootout with a rival gang, this yakuza is left with rash and inexperienced young men who cannot survive a day in the complicated underground world on their own. Can the previous yakuza leader’s only daughter keep everyone under control as their new gang leader and caretaker?

Similar anime: Brothers Conflict; Bungou Stray Dogs

Recommended if:

• You follow specific voice actors and get excited about many big names in the same show
• You’re a fan of the glossy bishounen art style

4. Rent-a-Girlfriend Season 2

Studio: TMS Entertainment

Episodes: 12

Genres: Drama, science fiction

Synopsis: In face of a pandemic and a recession, rental services aren’t getting as much business as they used to. Just like the decline of Blockbuster, people are turning to cheaper, often virtual options for fake girlfriend alternatives. Girlfriend rental agencies have to keep up with the trends in order to survive. Is the answer V-tube and Twitch, or are the girls doomed to get replaced by AI in a world where people want to marry Hatsune Miku?

Similar anime: Time of Eve; Orbital Children

Recommended if:

• You like the idea of sci-fi in your rom-com
• You didn’t think the stakes were high enough in the last season

3. Love Live! Superstar!! 2nd Season

Studio: SUNRISE

Episodes: 12

Genres: Music, idol

Synopsis: The year is 2022, and a supernova is set to explode closer to Earth than ever before by the end of the school semester. With recent advances in technology, NASA was able to pinpoint the site closest to the explosion – the Yuigaoka Girls’ High School in Japan. How will the music-loving girls save their school this time? Love, friendship, and song will always find a way…

Similar anime: your name.; Symphogear

Recommended if:

• You are inspired by the many ways Love Live! girls manage to save their school against all odds
• You’ve been waiting for Love Live! girls to perform on an international scale

2. Parallel World Pharmacy

Studio: Diomedea

Episodes: 11

Genres: Dark comedy, seinen

Synopsis: A pharmacologist dedicated his life to developing miracle drugs, but died before generating any significant results. Upon his death, he found himself in a medieval fantasy world where everyone’s medical knowledge is rudimentary. In a world where the placebo effect hasn’t been discovered yet, our man makes it big selling high-priced candy disguised as magical pills that cure every disease in the world. Sometimes it’s just about giving firm handshakes and reassuring people with a dazzling smile…

Similar anime: The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.; Isekai Cheat Magician

Recommended if:

• You like the set-up of cute, innocent characters unwittingly partaking in unethical schemes
• Your sense of humour is dark and satirical

1. Prima Doll

Studio: Bibury Animation Studios

Episodes: 12

Genres: Horror, drama

Synopsis: Jun’s Spanish cousin Maria has always been a bit of a delinquent. After mysteriously going missing for 10 days, Maria returns a changed person, only…is she still a person? Curious about his now sweet and docile cousin, Jun visits her home, and is surprised to find his tía absent. He picks up a key that seems to belong to a wind-up toy outside of Maria’s room, and from the other side of the door, he seems to hear girls laughing…

Similar anime: Junji Ito Collection; Magical Girl Madoka Magica; Magical Girl Site

Recommended if:

• You admire horror that can deliver without the use of gore or drastic art style changes
• You love “deconstructions of the magical girl genre” and subversions of the classic harem

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Decided on your next watch based on this list? Leave a comment below to let me know!