ARMS returns, Production IMS has a tough decision to make, and Diomedea gets busy.
Absolute Duo
8-bit
8-bit has been gung-ho for light nudity the last two years, and even their non-nude series almost invariably contain ecchi themes. Anytime they make an anime it’s worth monitoring.
That said, the light novel for Absolute Duo appears to be mildly ecchi at best, similar to Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance . I haven’t been able to track down tankobon for the manga spinoff, but the print manga version contains blank boobs.
Possibility for nudity: Low, but I wouldn’t rule out anything 8-bit does until it’s official. They are big fans of BD changes for nudity.
Yuri Kuma Arashi
SILVER LINK
Who needs the pedobear when you can have the yuribear?
While many other anime production companies have bailed on nudity in anime in recent years, SILVER LINK has been one of the very few big companies to embrace it. This is a TV original series, so content is a total wildcard.
That said, this isn’t your usual SILVER LINK production, but rather the latest TV original creation from famed anime-auteur Kunihiko Ikuhara. For those who don’t know, Ikuhara created and directed Revolutionary Girl Utena and Mawaru Penguindrum . Utena is known for having some racy yuri content, though if memory serves it was non-nude (blank boobs).
The production crew has very few SILVER LINK veterans, instead using nearly the exact same group that created Penguindrum a few years back for Brains Base.
Ikuhara’s previous works had yuri themes, and in this case the word ‘yuri’ is right there in the title.
Possibility for nudity: Low. While full blown nudity is somewhat doubtful, the character sketches suggest this will be an ecchi anime in nature.
Kantai Collection: KanColle
Diomedea
KanColle is based on the online card game of the same name which borrows heavily on themes previously used in series like Strike Witches or Girls und Panzer . Nubiles and nerdery, that’s the genre in a nutshell.
Diomedia has only just barely done nudity before. They slipped a random nude girl scene into Noucome on BD. Diomedea had previously been known as Studio Barcelona, a company which animated Chocotto Sister and Kodomo no Jikan , each of which had brief frontal nudity.
Possibility for nudity: Low. Based on a card game, I doubt they’d do anything too raunchy, and Diomedea is hardly a company like Xebec or ARMS. They certainly didn’t inspire much confidence with the bait and switch ecchi anime that was Trinity Seven either. I’d love to be wrong, if Kancolle channels Strike Witches it would make the Winter season a winner no doubt.
Shinmai Maou no Testament
Production IMS
From the same ero-sensei who created Hagure Yuusha . While the Testament ‘s light novel is limited with nude content the way nearly all light novels are, the manga version is an unabashed fap-fest. Similar to many ecchi light novels such as High School DxD , the true intent of the series is revealed in its more permissive spinoff works.
There is just one problem. Production IMS has never once animated for nudity before. Their production resume is littered with Date-A-Live type shows that flirt with nudity but never deliver. To this point, Production IMS has basically been Production No.9’s partner in crime against ecchi. A blue-balls tag team.
But hey, there’s a first for everything. Well maybe. It certainly helps that the script is being handled by the same guy who wrote the scripts for High School DxD , FREEZING , Elfen Lied , Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou , Ikkitousen , Kakyuusei , Kenzen Robo Daimidaler , Mezzo DSA , Queen’s Blade , Sekirei and even Zero no Tsukaima .
Possibility for nudity: Moderate. I know this is reaching, but I have a decent feeling about this one. Production IMS generally has high quality animation, but the previews for this series make it look like a low end production similar to the Rescue Me! OVA or perhaps Seikoku no Dragonar . Shows with lower production values tend to be less frightened of boobies, so I would consider this to be a good sign.
That, and being scurred of some measly areola would be a massive fucking betrayal to the source material. Who would pick up a series like this just to wimp out?
Juuou Mujin no Fafnir
Diomedea
Based on the light novel of the same name.
Possibility for nudity: Moderate. The Diomedea caveat applies here as well, but it’s worth noting that the manga version of Juuou Mujin no Fafnir contains nudity, in fact it actually opens with a frontal nude scene in the first few pages.
Seiken Tsukai no World Break
Diomedea
Amazingly, this series has no relation whatsoever to Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance , despite the incredibly similar art style, ecchi content, and nearly identical series names.
Possibility for nudity: Low. Too much like Blade Dance , which was a complete waste of time.
Diomedea is cranking ’em out this season.
Isuca
ARMS
ARMS is back after taking the Summer and Fall seasons off. It’s been tough living as an ecchi fan without them, especially since the last two seasons were incredibly weak for ecchi content.
While the other titles this season seem less than stone cold locks for nudity, Isuca is a series ecchi fans can bank on. The Isuca manga is a titty fiesta complete with harem, action, and even furry elements. It’s hard to draw a good comparison, but Cat Planet Cuties or To Love-Ru probably come the closest. Not in terms of story, but in terms of checking all the same boxes.
ARMS has gone for nudity in roughly 75% of their anime productions, even taking liberties to do so in many cases. They have struggled with sales in recent years and have been frankly a bit desperate to crack the code, going for pretty much any novelty idea they could think of, and when that failed, they went back to series that had tie-ins with past ARMS successes. Sadly, everything they’ve tried the last three years has failed, with each commercial failure more brutal than the last.
Isuca is a big departure from the last several ARMS efforts and gets back to their roots. I expect this anime to be a fairly blatant fanservice vehicle similar to Ikkitousen or Samurai Girls , though perhaps with a bit more of a fun harem vibe to it similar to High School DxD or To Love-Ru .
This series shares the same director as Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee . Series composition is handled by the same guy who did series composition or script writing for Kanokon , R-15 , Rail Wars , The Sacred Blacksmith , Shuffle , and Yuushibu . (That’s quite the resume.)
Possibility for nudity: Guaranteed!
…
Overall, this looks like the first season to have a no-doubter FC worthy anime since the Spring season of 2014. It could be two such anime if Shinmai Maou no Testament lives up to its source material. There tends to be at least one surprise anime every season that comes out of left field as well. Hopefully that trend continues.
I’m not especially optimistic about Kancolle , but if it pays off this could be a potentially great ecchi season.
The Fall season started decently strong, but ultimately disappointed. This season has a similar hit or miss feel to it, but the presence of an intriguing ARMS anime pretty much ensures this season won’t be a waste.
