With the end of October upon us, new Fall anime is here. With so many new shows to choose from, I’ve decided to give you my first impressions and what to look for in the upcoming weeks.

Nanbaka

“Nanbaka” is the story of a group of prisoners who have escaped every prison they’ve ever been in until now. Nanbaka is a prison that’s known for being the most difficult for breaking out of. Each of the characters, Juugo, Uno, Rokku, and Nico, have a quirk or personality trait that makes them different as well as a skill to help them escape. The first episode introduced enough characters to enhance the story but not overload you with too many people to keep track of. As for the animation, the art, for someone who doesn’t read much manga, came from the use of bright and vivid colors in the animation, which reminded me of “No Game No Life.” The story is based off of the manga of the same name. If you haven’t watched the series yet, I definitely recommend it because the characters were humorous, the pacing was good and the plot looks like it should have some fun moments and ideas over the course of the series. Overall score: 8/10

Tiger Mask W

“Tiger Mask W” is about the world of wrestling and two people fated to face each other, each dawning a Tiger Mask. One of them inherited their mask while the other went through intense training to join “The Tiger’s Hole,” an organization that has control over the world of wrestling. Each person’s goal is the same, to take down the organization. The first episode introduced the audience to the main characters and the villain as well as some other supporting roles so that the audience understands where the story is headed and who the players are in the story. The anime is a retelling of an older series and, through the update, has garnered attention on websites such as Crunchyroll and other anime websites. The story is based off of the manga by Ikki Kajiwara. The anime has some good characters, though the story now appears very linear with little room for originality. However, with the idea of wrestling and the underlying stories between characters, the anime looks like it will pick up and get a lot more interesting over the course of the season. Overall score: 7/10

 Scorching Ping Pong Girls

“Scorching Ping Pong Girls” is a story about cute girls playing ping pong competitively. There is a new transfer student named Koyori who looks to be promising, and the story centers around her and the club as they play ping pong. The anime is your basic sports anime, so isn’t it just cute girls as the draw to the anime? Well, it may sound like ping pong would be uninteresting, but the story manages to make the sport more interesting. They comment on moves and make the characters look more intense as they play, similar to other sports anime. The series is based off of the manga by Yagura Asano. Overall score: 7/10

To Be HERO

“To Be HERO” is a comedic short about a toilet seat salesman who gets sucked into the toilet, gains superpowers from some weird old guy and must defend the world from aliens. From the description, it sounds very bizarre. However, the story does a great job at using that to make a really funny series. The first episode introduced the audience to the characters and gave people a taste of what’s to come with some fights and some of the running gags to be expected of the show, such as the daughter who rejects her father and kicks him out after he gets powers because his appearance changes. They also showed that he can only say certain things because his mind might think certain words, but he’ll say something entirely different. Overall score: 8/10

 Trickster

“Trickster” is the story of the boy detective agency. The agency solves cases in the year 2030. When Kensuke meets Yoshio, he finds that Yoshio yearns for death but can’t be killed. Yoshio has some type of mystical force that kills anyone and anything that gets close to him. Kensuke promises to kill Yoshio when he gets the ability to in exchange for Yoshio joining the agency. The anime looks to have a love premise between the two main characters, and the story in the first episode sets up a villain for the series as well as what we will be dealing with. The world is high tech in nature with large mechs and talking owls. It is definitely a show I was hesitant on at first but after watching further, it could end up being a really good series depending on the pace and plot line. “Trickster” is based off of the manga of the same name Overall score: 7.5/10

Magical Girl Raising Project

“Magical Girl Raising Project” looks like a cute anime for girls, but in no means is what it looks like. The anime comes off as a different take on the groundwork that “Madoka Magica” set up for the magical girl genre. In the story, there are 16 magical girls who are in charge of different districts. Each girl was granted the ability from a game that gave a small number of girls the ability to be a magical girl. While on the surface it seems alright, the character who bestows powers upon the girls says that there are too many magical girls and half of them need to die. When the story gets set up in the first episode, you know that the anime will be taking a darker turn. There is no way that it can compete with “Madoka,” but it looks to be a promising contender to try and reach the same popularity. Overall score: 7/10

All Out!

Tis’ the season for sports animes, and a new contender this season is rugby anime “All Out!” The story focuses on two freshmen who join the rugby team. The first is Gion, a small student who is extremely aggressive towards others when they call him short. The other is Iwashimizu, a tall but soft-spoken character. Both are recruited to join, but Iwashimizu declines, only to bring more character development to explain his hesitation. The story has a solid start and I’m excited to continue. “All Out!” can end up being the next “Free!” since it could end up with a lot of character development and a similar story progression, so I encourage sports anime fans to watch this franchise. Overall score: 9/10

Keijo!!!!!!!!

The next sports anime for this season is “Keijo!!!!!!!!” This anime focuses on girls knocking each other off of small platforms. The anime is the most male-focused series this season, due to its focus on ideal females who are athletic and do their sport in only a swimsuit. The series, on the surface, looks to be terrible and by all means is nothing special, but whereas it could’ve been poorly written and rely on fan service alone, it promises character development like other sports anime, proving that it should be given a chance by guys who might seem hesitant. It is not an amazing anime, but it has proven to be better than the initial expectation. Overall score: 7/10

Yuri!!! on ICE

“Yuri!!! on ICE” is the story of a Japanese male figure skater who aspires to be a professional but fails to make it past each competition he tries out for. Yuri is given another chance, though, when older Russian figure skater Victor comes to Japan to help train Yuri. In the first episode, you meet Yuri’s family and friends as well as get an understanding of why Yuri wanted to be a skater. The first episode is slower paced, but promises to get better with the introduction of more professional skaters from various countries and the possibility to see Yuri compete in an actual competition, so the audience can see figure skating rather then when they show Victor’s win. Overall score: 7/10

WWW.WAGNARIA

“WWW.WAGNARIA” is the prequel to successful anime “WAGNARIA.” The story focuses on a new diner and the quirky people who work there. The story is a lot similar to the original show, but the new characters promise more laughs and looks to live up to its predecessor. It is definitely worth a watch and could become the best anime this season. Overall score: 9.5/10

Although there is a lot of anime to watch and not enough time in the day, hopefully you can use this article to help narrow down your own personal list. Happy watching!

Collegian writer Kevin Avis can be reached at blogs@collegian.com or on Twitter at @kevinavis_626. Leave a comment!