Yes, we know that Southeast Asia runs on one season: Summer. But having the four Seasons calendar template makes it easy to segment our features. In this case, we’re focusing on upcoming anime releases that are due this month and onwards.

Here are our 12 personal picks of anime shows that will be out in this lukewarm period, in no particular order. Whether they’re brand new or re-releases from years past, they’re coming out anew this April and beyond, either on your favourite streaming service like Netflix or Crunchyroll, or on super ad-heavy sites like Otakustream.

Aside: although we’re looking forward to it, we’re not putting in Hisone to Masotan because we covered it a while back.

#12. Lupin The Third: Part 5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QYcM9Pplmc

The old-school criminal group is back, and now they have a computer hacker in the mix.

#11. Wakaokami wa Shougakusei

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qka85kzHNm0

Here’s a slice of life anime featuring a girl who lives with her grandmother in a rural part of Japan after her parents died in a car crash. Oh and somehow a kid ghost follows her around. We’re getting a Ghibli-vibe from production house Madhouse here; that’s a good thing.

#10. Aggressive Retsuko

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_Heke_oQMY

This slice of life comedy about a working red panda in a society filled with anthropomorphic animals looks quaint. Looks like something Adult Swim would have animated, which isn’t entirely a bad thing. Check out the show on the following Netflix link when it’s out April 20: https://www.netflix.com/title/80198505

#9.Caligula

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MKbRIL-Wbg

Nope, this anime has nothing to do with the deranged Roman emperor. Rather it’s a drama about a female AI -because Japan- who creates a digital school world so that her subjects experience high school again. This drama also features some high-level stuff like self-disclosure and self-discovery, and guys with giant gun barrels for hands too.

#8. GeGeGe no Kitaro (2018)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JqbHc9Polo

The classic Gegege no Kitaro series is now on its 6th new TV adaptation. You can’t keep a good supernatural action anime down, especially when it has Toei Animation money.

#7. The Perfect World Of Kai/Piano no Mori

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRVj2zFlpyM

Never count Gainax out! This music-slash-drama series on Netflix is about two pianists: one is a son of a famous musician who has to live up to his parent’s legacy while the other comes from a broken home and plays piano in a forest.

#6. Sword Gai: The Animation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-WIe-0MQkM

An action-packed tale of a guy whose right prosthetic arm is housing a legendary sword. Naturally he’s going to be fighting a lot. Check it out here on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/jp-en/title/80175350

#5. Isekai Izakaya: Koto Aitheria no Izakaya Nobu

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNSrp39pWdA

Animated by Sunrise, this anime is about a Japanese izakaya establishment called Nobu that houses an interdimensional portal to another realm. Which means that it will be frequented by an interesting bunch of people from different worlds/timelines. It’s going to be one of those animes with an interesting premise that talks about its alternate setting -in a pub setting- more than actually showing it.

#4. Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma: The Third Plate

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uEl3f8On1U

The third season of the most hypest(?) anime about food and cooking you’ll ever see. This anime release will be focusing on the Toutsuki Train arc.

#3. Fist Of The Blue Sky Regenesis/ Souten no Ken Re:Genesis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp6z9UFmAak

It’s the prequel to the manliest post-apocalyptic manga/anime series on the planet. The 3D animation here might take a while to get used to, but hopefully it’ll good in motion.

#2. Cutey Honey Universe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uH4GXSg5s4

Onegai…oneGAAIIIIII!!!

*ahem* This new version of Go Nagai’s pioneer anime/manga series focuses not only on one Cutey Honey, but five of them from different universes. Unlike the Devilman reboot, this one looks about as slick and as “traditional” as you can get animation-wise. You can check it out on Hidive. 

#1. Persona 5 The Animation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPHq9U9_nB8

It’s Persona 5 in animated form; the one show that every single anime/gamer fan is waiting for. In case you’ve been living under a rock, it’s about a bunch of delinquents called “The Phantom Thieves” -or “The Millennials” in my playthrough- who steal hearts in dimensional realms to reshape society for the better. Also, there’s some dating and demon-fighting in the mix. And a talking cat who dictates your bedtime.

In case you haven’t finished the game last year, you can just tune in to the entire episodic series when it’s out later this month. Try your luck here either on Hulu or on Crunchyroll.