Summer is finally in the rearview. The seasonal flip has happened, and we’re finally in the brisk months of fall—autumn, if you’re feeling fancy. With the change of the seasons also comes a new lineup of anime crowding your cumbersome backlog. As with last season, io9’s here to sift through the noise and cherry-pick new and returning shows we think might pique your interest that fit within the vein of what we usually cover—robots, dragons, and/or some crazy AI terrorizing shit—as well as some shows outside of those margins we plan to watch.
As a heads up, this season, as with many, is littered with isekai riffs on the same premise: a person gets reincarnated in a fantasy video gamey world, their unremarkable stats become their greatest strengths, and everyone swoons for them. To save everyone time, we’re gonna skip these shows unless their premise has more sauce than your average isekai.
Without further ado, here’s a rundown of shows worth watching this Fall.
The Apothecary Diaries Season 3
What it’s about in one sentence: Maomao and Jinshi try to resume their lives (and romance) in the rear palace after a rebellion, but rumors of an immortal iron maiden amid a famine upend everything again.
Black Clover Season 2
What it’s about in one sentence: Five years after its first season concluded, Asta and the Magic Knights launch a daring raid on the Spade Kingdom to rescue their captains from the Dark Triad.
Blue Box Season 2
What it’s about in one sentence:The budding romance between a rising star badminton player and a basketball ace heats up as the pair face new challenges on and off the court.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2
What it’s about in one sentence: David Martinez is dead, but Night City still burns as a new crew of edgerunners goes on intertwining adventures in the world of Cyberpunk 2077 that push them to the brink of their collective sanity.
Dark Machine
What it’s about in one sentence:Ajima, the strongest player in a popular esports game with real-world economic implications, is charged with protecting a mysterious girl from his subordinates using his giant mech.
Dragon Ball Super: Beerus
Premiere date:October 11 in Japan
What it’s about in one sentence: An “enhanced” remake of the 2013Dragon Ball Super film, Battle of the Gods, where Goku runs the dozens with Beerus, the God of Destruction, and Frieza.
Firefly Wedding
What it’s about in one sentence:A sickly noblewoman, Satoko Kirigaya, enters a marriage of convenience with an obsessive assassin, Shinpei Goto, and their bad romance slowly blossoms into something real.
Fool Night
What it’s about in one sentence:In a dystopian world plunged into eternal darkness, where humans can choose to undergo an operation to transform into plants for a stipend and help combat global oxygen depletion, two childhood friends reunite under the worst circumstances.
Hotel Inhumans Season 2
What it’s about in one sentence:Two concierges at a hotel exclusively for assassins do their damnedest to meet their clients’ needs—even if that includes disposing of evidence.
Magic Knight Rayearth
What it’s about in one sentence:A remake of a classic isekai where three teenagers are whisked away to a fantastical world where they must use their newfound powers to protect a princess and her realm from calamity as her magic knights.
My Happy Marriage Special Episodes
What it’s about in one sentence:After awakening her supernatural abilities, Miyo Saimori reunites with her fiancé, Kyoka Kudou, to live a cute domestic lifestyle before the demonic and familial forces that bind them push them into action once more.
Overgeared
What it’s about in one sentence: A video game in real-life anime, in the same vein as Solo Leveling, where a loser in both worlds named Grid lucks into unlocking a legendary blacksmith skill and accidentally becomes Earth’s most important player.
Psyren
What it’s about in one sentence:After receiving a card from a haunted payphone, a delinquent named Ageha gets dragged into a mysterious realm to save his childhood friend.
Ramparts of Ice Season 2
What it’s about in one sentence: Koyuki Hikawa and her close-knit friends continue their journey, breaking out of their shells to make the most of the halcyon days of their youth.
Ranma 1/2 Season 3
Genre: Action, Comedy, Romance
What it’s about in one sentence:The slapstick love story between the once-begrudgingly betrothed martial artists Akane Tendo and Ranma Saotome (who transforms into a girl when splashed with water) heats up as rival suitors vie for affection.
Steel Ball Run: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
Genre:Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Premiere date: *September 25 (Stage 2 of the show with weekly release drops)
What it’s about in one sentence:Two fast friends enter a cross-country race against fearsome and progressively bizarre superpowered horseback riders for a grand cash prize.
Tank Chair
What it’s about in one sentence:An assassin who uses a wheelchair and his rambunctious little sister take on deadly contract killings to awaken him from his comatose state by facing foes with bloodthirsty killing intent.
Tougen Anki: Nikko Kegon Falls Arc
Where to watch: Crunchyroll, Netflix
What it’s about in one sentence:A high schooler named Shiki Ichinose is dragged into the eternal war between demons and a secret society of superpowered humans after discovering he’s an oni.
Tokyo Revengers: War of the Three Titans
Where to watch:TBD, but likely Hulu
What it’s about in one sentence:Takemichi Hanagaki keeps going through it after his attempt to leap backward and forward in time to prevent his high school sweetheart’s death leads him deeper into the criminal underworld.
The Vermilion Mask
What it’s about in one sentence:An apprentice mask maker named Peru sets out to destroy every superpowered mask his mentor ever crafted to prevent the tragedy that inadvertently killed his friends and master from happening again.
Did we miss any shows you’re looking forward to? Be sure to put your fellow anime connoisseurs onto them in the comments. And, as always, good luck tackling this season’s helping of anime before the winter lineup rolls around the corner.
Want more io9 news? Check out the best movies and TV shows to stream this month and all the upcoming sci-fi, fantasy, and horror books that should be on your radar.
