I watch anime, something I have noted in several New Leaf Journal articles (see e.g., recommended series from 2011-2020, best anime series of 2021, studies on hair color in Oregairu (Iroha, Orimoto), Kimi ni Todoke, and My Senpai is Annoying). While I do not read much about anime, I have come across content over the years noting the popular series in Japan. Curiously, my tastes tend not to align with what is reportedly most popular in anime’s homeland, although that is not an absolute rule (I understand, for example, that Oregairu, one of my favorites, is popular in Japan).
SoraNews24, a website dedicated to publishing original Japanese news and reporting in English, posted an article listing the summer 2022 anime that one of one of its Japanese reporters, Mr. Seiji Nakazawa, projects will be hits (note the summer season is young and most series are only 1-3 episodes into their runs). Mr. Nakazawa, being a dedicated reporter, watched the first episode of 30 new anime series. That puts me to shame – I think I watched the first episode of 8 to 10 (I try to be a bit selective). I was curious to see if his six notables aligned with what I watched. To my surprise, I am actually following four of the six new series that he noted: Phantom of the Idol, When Will Ayumu Make His Move?, Call of the Night, and Lycoris Recoil. However, our tastes do not seem to always align – I only watched one of his four early fall 2021 picks through the end, takt op.Destiny, and I will say only that it was far from consideration for one of my honorable mention spots in my best anime of 2021 article.
What about the current season. Of the four shows that I am watching and that Mr. Nakazawa selected as likely to be hits, I am most fond of When Will Ayumu Make His Move? (adorable, and fitting in with a trend that you will likely find in my best anime series of 2022 article in a few months) and Call of the Night (very strong first episode, decent second, could go either way going forward).