A Fistful Of New Winter 2023 Anime To Watch

This new season of anime has two second seasons I’ve been looking forward to greatly — Vinland Saga and Tsurune. But, since this list is all about the new anime premiering this season, I won’t put them down below. Consider them highly recommended, however.

One anime not getting a deeper look in the list below is the controversial My Life as Inukai-san’s Dog. The first episode of the ecchi comedy lives up to the concerns people had about adapting the manga — it is basically bestiality almost-hentai just shy of actual visuals and situations that would get it an XXX rating if it was a US movie. If watching a teenage girl every episode get off “accidentally” through too close interaction with her dog (who is the reincarnation of a boy in her class) is in your wheelhouse, have at it. I try not to kink-shame but expect a little side eye.

In no particular order below are a handful of anime I liked enough after one or two episodes to commit to watching. Let me know in the comments what you think of the list, and what Winter 2023 anime you’re enjoying.

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Revenger
A good-looking traditional 2D animated series, Revenger is not listed as seinen, but it has enough death, gore and violence to easily fit in that category. It also has a great premise that has worked in live action shows like The A-Team — a group of exceptionally talented individuals take on dangerous jobs for people who can’t do the jobs themselves. Samurai Kurima Raizo is recruited into the existing team in the first episode, after he discovers he was tricked by a superior into killing his own to-be father-in-law. The studio Aji-Do is recently known for the excellent Ascendance of a Bookworm and the adorable Kakushigoto.

NieR:Automata Ver. 1.1a
If studio A-1 Pictures did nothing in its adaptation of the game than properly portray the action (and 2B’s booty) then this would likely be a success. It does both of those things, but it also captures the tone of the game in just the first episode. Well, it does so to some extent, but we’ll have to wait for the later episodes to see just how much of the truly deep philosophical elements of the game make it into the anime adaptation. It would take too long to list all of the big hit anime made by A-1 Pictures, but on the list are Kaguya-sama, Your Lie in April, Anohana, and many, many more. I think NieR:Automata is in good hands.

Handyman Saitou In Another World
It’s refreshing to see an isekai in which the main character has been given no overpowered special skills. Saitou, a talented but disrespected handyman from modern Japan gets transported to an RPG-like fantasy world and finds that his skills in basic metal repair and lock picking make him very valuable to the party of adventurers he has joined. Those party members are just as interesting and amusing as Saitou is reliable, and the first episode was funny and exciting. Studio C2C has a pretty average track record until the last few years, when it had hits like Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina, Tsukimichi -Moonlit Fantasy-, and last season’s hit Sword Dad — err, Reincarnated As A Sword.

Malevolent Spirits: Mononogatari
The latest anime to feature tsukumogami — objects used by humans that have developed their own spirit and awareness, which can often take on human forms — comes from Bandai Namco Pictures. Adapting the battle manga source, the studio uses CG animation to great effect. It’s not at the level of Chainsaw Man, but it is pretty much as good as the next anime on this list. It’s consistently of good quality, both in the fight scenes and without. Kunato Hyouma is the young, destined leader of a clan of exorcists who fight against dangerous tsukumogami, He hates all tsukumogami, even ones that aren’t harmful, and his grandfather sends him to live with a group that includes a college-age exorcist woman and the six tsukumogami that work for her.

Kaina of the Great Snow Sea
Coming from Polygon Pictures, the makers of Ajin and Knights of Sidonia, is its latest sci-fi epic 3D animated series, Kaina of the Great Snow Sea. After just one episode, I haven’t been as excited to discover more about an anime’s world since Gargantia On The Verdurous Planet. This is an original anime from mangaka Nihei Tsutomu, who created Knights of Sidonia and the excellent Blame!. Unlike the cyberpunk influences in his previous works, Kaina looks to be more like a far future dying Earth (or alien world) setting, in which the world is completely covered in deep snow under a canopy of ice miles above. The first episode brings together the main characters, Kaina, who lives in the ice canopy, and Liliha, who comes from the snow seas miles below. The animation is even better than the high quality of Knights of Sidonia, and unless you are a complete hater of 3D, you should really like it.