Cheating in Video Games, Reincarnation Optional

I'm the Villainess, So I'm Seducing the Last Boss
https://akulas-pr.com/
Studio: Maho Film
Genre: Comedy
Premieres September 24th

Show Premise: 
See title.

Random Thoughts:
Wow. Reincarnated into a visual novel as the villainess and have to thwart the story? What a creative and unique premise. Certainly haven't seen that anywhere verbatim before. The promos make it clear that a lot of the humor is screaming too, so in between that and the pointy chinned sparkling boy harem, we are just seeing how much more blood there is to wring from this particular stone. And yet, I doubt that this will be the last of these.

Preseason Swing Rating: 

Unique idea, don't steal.

Reincarnated as a Sword
https://tenken-anime.com/
Studio: C2C
Genre: Action
Premieres September 28th*

Show Premise: 
See title.

Random Thoughts:
A web novel to light novel to anime about reincaration and slave demihuman girls? You don't say. It's a god sword with demigod powers too? Very bold direction. That said, the promos are quite slick, and it does appear to steer clear of immediately just giving him a human form and/or having a bevy of naked females take baths and rub themselves on him for no particular reason. This director is the same dude who was in charge of Tokyo Majin, so he absolutely knows his action choreography if he gets the budget for it, though he also was in charge of Fairy Tail, which was comically horrendous on a production front. Maybe it'll be one of the very, very few that avoids the worst tropes and trends that plague this subgenre, or maybe the marketing team just knows how to hide it.

Preseason Swing Rating: 
  
Why is it always cats? Why not a pointer?

I Only Raised My Faming Skills But That Somehow Made Me Strong
https://nouminkanren.com/
Studio: Studio A-Cat
Genre: Comedy
Premieres October 1st

Show Premise: 
See title.

Random Thoughts:
Yep, another one of the "I grinded/put all my points in X and now I'm a god" things, complete with the title up front to make no bones about it. Not even reincarnation or a VR world or anything either. Just a 'regular' fantasy world, rigidly ruled by RPG stats, complete with status screens and ghost narrator to explain them, because that's what fantasy means these days. It is, obviously, a harem as well. The promos are pretty badly produced too. I'm not sure what there is to be optimistic about here, if anything.

Preseason Swing Rating: 

Okay, but what about the cheat power apple worms?

The Beast Tamer Who Was Kicked Out of the Hero's Party Meets the Strongest Girl With Cat Ears
https://beasttamer.jp/
Studio: EMT Squared
Genre: Ugh
Premieres October 1st

Show Premise: 
See title.

Random Thoughts:
You see, he tames beasts, and that includes all animal girls, including all the animal girl demigods, whether cat, dragon, fairy, or god. Yes, he tames gods as part of his harem, because somehow, they fall under 'beast.' Truly the weakest and most useless power. What a twist of fate it is that the hero believed him to be the weakest but he is actually the strongest. And nobody ever realized this until now! Another technically not reincarnation, but an RPG world with RPG rules, though at least this one doesn't slap up status screens in the promo. Probably saving them for the eyecatchs or OP. The promos also make it clear that there will be minimal action, it will be poorly animated, but the girls will be constantly rubbing themselves on him. Keep on shooting for the stars, anime.

Preseason Swing Rating: 

Your detritus is here.

I Will Be the Mastermind in the Shadows!
https://shadow-garden.jp/
Studio: Nexus
Genre: Jiggling
Premieres October 5th

Show Premise: 
Dude is reincarnated in fantasy land with cheat powers, and makes up a grand conspiracy to his harem where he's secret Batman, but all of it is accidentally real.

Random Thoughts:
Also known as The Eminence in Shadow. Supposedly largely a gag light novel, but the promos instead seem quite focused on how jiggly the harem's breasts are, and don't have a trace of humor otherwise, though does seem to be selling its action bona fides. I'd be perfectly fine with an ensemble cast fantasy action show with an imbecile protagonist and a wry sense of humor, even one with tons of bad fanservice and every female having chronic back problems. I liked Horizon after all. I'm skeptical that this will actually be a satire or even focus on the action and not just lean into all the bad fanservice though.  

Preseason Swing Rating: 
 
With great power comes great jiggling.

Fantasy With Laser Swords

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch of Mercury
https://g-witch.net/
Studio: Bandai Namco Flimworks
Genre: Action
Premieres September 25th

Show Premise: 
Teenagers go to mecha school.

Random Thoughts:
What's being broadcast on the 25th is the episode 0 Prologue that was posted on the web back over the summer, but it'll pick right up with episode 1 the week after. I'm still not really a Gundam fan. It's always so corny and melodramatic to me, plus my general dislike of mecha in general. Sometimes things sort of click, characters or setting are zany enough, but Gundam never has. Regardless, it's nice to see Sunrise proper (not Xebec-Sunrise) making something other than goddamned Love Live. I understand that idols and gacha pays the bills, but what happened to all the memey original shows about oversexed teens engaging in utter nonsense? Granted, they did give this to one of those writers (Kabaneri, Valvrave, Guilty Crown, etc), so maybe it will check those boxes in between shilling for Gunpla. 

Preseason Swing Rating: 
 
Beware the oven gundam.

Ittoki the Ninja
https://ninja-ittoki.com/
Studio: Troyca
Genre: Action
Premieres October 4th

Show Premise: 
Dude finds out he's the heir to a ninja clan. Goes to ninja high school.

Random Thoughts:
This is an original, and the promos are a trip. Some are absolutely pure fanservice harem silliness. Some are 60 year old cyberninjas crying in the rain and 70 year old men declaring that they will be the ultimate ninja. I don't know how to square that circle. Somewhere between Metal Gear and Bay Watch? It certainly ain't Ikkitousen either though. Most of the promos are quite heavily action oriented and seem decent enough. Staff gives few clues either, as neither have done much, and half of Troyca's portfolio is Idolish7. I don't know, maybe?

Preseason Swing Rating: 

But still haven't discovered gun technology.

Legend of Mana – The Teardrop Crystal
http://mana-lom-tc.com/
Studio: Graphnica
Genre: Adventure
Premieres October 7th

Show Premise: 
Fantasy teenagers encounter magical gem people being hunted and on the verge of extinction.

Random Thoughts:
Weirdly, of all the fantasy shows this season, the one based on an actual, ancient PS1 RPG is likely going to have the fewest RPG elements in it. It may have the worst produced promos of them all though. It looks like a cheap children's show, which is a little weird for an adaptation of one storyline from a 23 year old game. Who exactly is the audience here that you're expecting to watch and buy this? Or is this some kind of elaborate tax writeoff scheme?

Preseason Swing Rating: 

May softlock your game if you sequence break.

Chainsaw Man
https://chainsawman.dog/
Studio: Mappa
Genre: Action
Premieres October 11th

Show Premise: 
Man is chainsaw. Fights demons.

Random Thoughts:
This certainly seems to be The Show as far as marketing and hype from the internet is concerned, and Mappa is usually a very solid action studio, and has done a fine job making solid promos. And adapting it was given to the same dude currently polishing off Summer Time Render. So, yes, there's a lot of reasons to be optimistic. But it is still a Shounen Jump thing, with all that entails. Over the top reactions, constant screaming, overly convoluted power stuff, and especially an obnoxious fanbase that'll be slavering "Just wait for the big twist!" forever and/or spamming whatever the obnoxious meme face(s) endemic to it are. At least frontload the good stuff this time, please, Mappa.  

Preseason Swing Rating: 
    
I'm already tired of hearing how super duper awesome it will be in 30 episodes.

Fantasy Without Laser Swords

My Master Has No Tail
https://shippona-anime.com/
Studio: Lidenfilms
Genre: Drama
Premieres September 30th

Show Premise: 
A tanuki moves to the city, but is unable to trick anybody. She finds a fox who does rakugo, fooling everybody, and insists on becoming her apprentice.

Random Thoughts:
At some point, somebody is going to have to explain to me why every Japanese artist in existence who has to draw an animal sees that as their chance to also draw a butthole. I assure you, animal anuses are not that prominent. I am looking at a corgi in my room laying upside down spread-eagled as I write this, and all genitalia is covered in fluff. Anyway, I suspect this considers itself at least lightly a comedy, but isn't dedicated enough to that to come up with jokes. Don't expect much in the way of actual rakugo either if it follows the source manga. People just travel to the sparkly dimension two lines in and then it cuts to the end so they can announce how much it changed their lives (without changing anything).   

Preseason Swing Rating: 

Seriously? Why all the buttholes?

The Raven of the Harem
https://kokyu-anime.com/
Studio: Bandai Namco Pictures
Genre: Drama
Premieres October 1st

Show Premise: 
A mysterious woman in the emperor's harem can supposedly solve any problem brought to her.

Random Thoughts:
This is another one of those supernatural mystery solving things like Natsume's Book of Friends, or In/Spectre, but with a Chinese court theme. An earring is haunted, she talks with the dead, bada bing, bada boom, the 1% has whatever's chuffing their craw fixed. Repeat. The promos are just dangerously pointy chinned people sashaying around, all the women with eyes the size of dinner plates, glowing like neon signs. I'm not feeling compelled. 

Preseason Swing Rating: 
 
Oh no. Not sad rich people.

A Novice Alchemist's Store Management
https://shinmai-renkin.com/
Studio: Engi
Genre: Drama
Premieres October 3rd

Show Premise: 
A girl opens an alchemy workshop.

Random Thoughts:
What? Could they not get Gust to sign off on Atelier Whatever and so just decided to do a totally copyright friendly version instead? This is even one of those web novel -> win some contest -> light novel things too, so, man, creativity really is dead. There are a couple shots in the promos of fighting bears and then butchering them for parts, but those were maybe three seconds of cheapness in a two minute ocean of lazy "girls exist and are gonna try their best." Nor does it make any attempt at comedy either, unless you count girls making faces to be such. Even for a knockoff, this is looking very half-assed.

Preseason Swing Rating: 
  
Make them fight a beholder and I'm in.

The Immoral Guild
https://futoku-no-anime.com/
Studio: TNK
Genre: Boobs
Premieres October 5th

Show Premise: 
Dude runs a guild of girls who are constantly being molested by monsters.

Random Thoughts:
Let's put it this way. Of the first ten light novel volumes, only three have something other than a girl tied up by some flavor of web, vine, tentacle, snake, or tongue. Slime bukkake fills in some of those three. I think it's better that I don't describe how much moaning is in the promos. But nobody should expect anything better from TNK. The least trashy thing they've made in the last decade is Blade Dance of the Elementalers.  

Preseason Swing Rating: 

Designed to stimulate gender fluid dynamics.

Obligatory High School Club Corner

Do It Yourself!!
https://diy-anime.com/
Studio: Pine Jam
Genre: Comedy
Premieres October 5th

Show Premise: 
Girls do shop.

Random Thoughts:
Another one of those technically 'original', but seemingly indistinguishable from any of the hojillion other "girls in a club" shows. The promos do have some animation flair, so it seems like the high point of this kind of schlock for the season, but that's a very, very low bar, and Pine Jam (Gamers!, Opera Girls, etc) is not a studio known for their artistic ambition. Has girls. They're in a club. I'm sure it'll recite some articles from Popular Woodworking, if that's your particular fetish.

Preseason Swing Rating: 
  
The last one of these was about making a mug, so moving up!

Akiba Maid War
https://akibamaidwar.com/
Studio: PA Works
Genre: Pigs
Premieres October 6th

Show Premise: 
Maids are in Akihabara.

Random Thoughts:
I honestly have no idea. It's an original, the promos are a bit weird, and the main splash image on its website has one of them holding a gun and a road flare against a backdrop of a UFO and a burning skyscraper. I couldn't tell you if this was a fanservice show about pig maids, they're secretly spies trying to protect the last panda, or it's all some kind of parody of… I don't even know what. It's PA Works though, and they're overdo for another in their banal series of "girls at work (but not really)" things, though this doesn't seem like it belongs in that category either. Maybe it's a bait and switch for a reboot of Burn Up. Makes as much sense as anything.

Preseason Swing Rating: 
 
Oink oink?

Loner Rock!
http://bocchi.rocks/
Studio: CloverWorks
Genre: Comedy
Premieres October 8th

Show Premise: 
Socially awkward girl joins a band.

Random Thoughts:
Also a four panel thing, with very, very little focus on music whatsoever. Which isn't to say that there's a big focus on the comedy either, as most of the jokes are just her going into connpitions every fourth panel of completely banal interactions or conversation. Jokes like "Let's have a party." "No, I'm tired and want to go home." The pinnacle of modern comedy. CloverWorks (formerly a part of A-1) has put a lot of effort into most of their shows lately, so maybe it'll at least look good? But most have also been plagued by production issues too, so maybe it'll just collapse in on its own lack of ambition within a week. 

Preseason Swing Rating: 
   
Oh, pardon me. You were telling a joke?

Blue Lock
https://bluelock-pr.com/
Studio: 8-bit
Genre: Drama
Premieres October 8th

Show Premise: 
Japan sets up a tortuous regimen designed to create the ultimate soccer player.

Random Thoughts:
Another one of those sports shows that amps up the melodrama to maximum without understanding that's the default. What if we do wind sprints… but if you're slow, YOU'RE BANISHED FROM SOCCER FOREVER!? Ooooohhhhhh. Man, the most recent sports show I remember watching had a dude go into PTSD fits for an entire episode from a bad round of Overwatch. Everybody obviously has their one special skill, one dude is really good at dribbling with his left foot, another has magic curving shots, so on and so forth.  Everybody has magic eyes seems to be the major difference between other sports shows here. Certainly not good animation if the promos are anything to go by.  

Preseason Swing Rating: 

What soccer looks like, apparently.

Four People and Their Lies
https://4uso-anime.com/
Studio: Studio Pierrot
Genre: Comedy
Premieres October 15th

Show Premise: 
Four girls living together each have a secret.

Random Thoughts:
Back when I started in with anime, a bunch of people living together are also a ninja/alien/telepath/has a penis… that was just assumed to be assumed while the actual premise was that the protgaonist was a secret crime fighting space diaper boy or they were all his sisters. Anyway, this is a four panel affair where, as usual, the joke is that they make a silly face. The main promo for it is almost 2.5 minutes long, and only maybe 10 seconds of that are animated. That's not generally a good sign.

Preseason Swing Rating: 

True variety and uniqueness.

Teenagers Being Melodramatic About Fake Relationships

The Bibliophile Princess
https://mushikaburihime.com/
Studio: Madhouse
Genre: Drama
Premieres October 6th

Show Premise: 
A princess who cares only about books agrees to a fake engagement so that she's left alone, but realizes she loves the dude after all.

Random Thoughts:
Bibliophile is actually a kind of bad translation of the title. It's more like Overworm, in the sense of Bookworm, but with extra worm. Yes, this needed to be explained, particularly because the official title is "Princess of the Bibliophile" which is even more wrong. It is also about the pointy chinned, glittering 1%, swanning about with the crippling ennui from having feelings but also being socially awkward. Truly a story for everyman. At least steamy romance novels inevitably have them getting plowed to comical euphemisms,not just… more sparklies and swanning around.

Preseason Swing Rating: 
 
What? No Disney animal sidekicks?

More Than a Couple, Less Than Lovers
https://fuukoi-anime.com/
Studio: Studio MOTHER
Genre: Comedy
Premieres October 9th

Show Premise: 
Teenagers are assigned to live together to practice being married. Two pairs are coupled up despite wanting to be with the others. Hijinks ensue.

Random Thoughts:
Comedy is really stretching it. It's mostly them role playing some husband/wife interaction for no reaspon, usually drawn so that the girl's underwear is in full view or even just fully naked in the shower, and then both go "OMG, I'm a teenager and horny! What are these feelings I have even though I don't like this person!?" Wash, rinse, repeat, over and over and over, camera creeping ever further and becoming more indistinguishable from a prostate exam. The promos are full of cleavage, screaming, and nosebleeds, so… that's what this is all about. Joy. 

Preseason Swing Rating: 

It's an erection. Get over it.

Love Flops
https://loveflops.com/
Studio: Passione
Genre: Drama?
Premieres October 12th

Show Premise: 
Dude has a multicultural harem.

Random Thoughts:
Again, the whole batch each being from different countries, and each their own gimmick, this feels like it would've been the assumed default while something far more wacky or notable is the actual premise. It's an original too (stretching the definition of 'original'), and all the promotional stuff is really selling it pretty hard as just bad fanservice harem tripe. Tripping and falling into crotches, wind blowing up skirts, falling down stairs and face straight into the vulva and other face into the frenulum, the works. Oh, and I'll also add that the Chinese one is his teacher, so we're hitting all the old school harem tropes. 

Preseason Swing Rating: 

Who dug up the dessicated skull?

Urusei Yatsura
https://uy-allstars.com/
Studio: David Production
Genre: Comedy
Premieres October 13th

Show Premise: 
Dude accidentally proposes to an alien girl.

Random Thoughts:
Yes, this show. From the 80s in the year of 2022, and still refusing to have any kind of official translation of its title. You have to respect that at this point. I've not watched or read the original incarnation myself, and never felt like it was something missing from my life. From what I gather, like most older anime, it was a very loose adaptation, and like all these reboots (that aren't of Tatsunoko properties), the emphasis seems to be that this time, they'll do a proper totally faithful adaptation. One would hope that they'd update the jokes for more modern sensibilities, but as I look over the other comedies this season, that's a damn strong argument to not, and David Production isn't exactly a studio know for their ambition or creativity. Or for maintaining any kind of production standards either for that matter.

Preseason Swing Rating: 
  
This used to be a modestly dressed heroine.