Nude service went into hibernation for the winter. Will ecchi series snap out of it this Spring? Yes, but only just barely.
Series not worth expecting anything from, but should be mentioned anyway
Gakusen Toshi Asterisk 2nd Season
A-1 Pictures
Asterisk is back for its second cour. It would be a huge shock if season two had nudity, but it will of course provide the same kind of shonen action and mainstream friendly tease service that season one brought about.
Gakusen Toshi Asterisk 2nd Season 2nd
Seisen Cerberus: Ryuukoku no Fatalite
Bridge
Based on an RPG and animated by a studio not known for nude service, it’s hard to hold much optimism here. The various PVs (and character designs) hint at some casual fanservice.
Bakuon!!
TMS Entertainment
I’m always on the lookout for new manga to collect for future compilation projects. Many times over the past couple years I’ve encountered manga that were super sexy but just never quite went far enough. I’d always think that if the next volume showed nipples, it would be like stepping into heaven.
Some examples of these kinds of manga that were made into anime over the past year: Yamada-kun to 7-nin no Majo , Shokugeki no Souma , and Shimoneta .
Bakuon!! is from this same subset of ultra-tease manga, but unlike so many of the others, it’s based on a heavily moe theme with an entire cast of loli-type characters, like a sexy version of K-On! on motorbikes.
Odds are stacked against this anime having nudity, but if Bakuon!! can stay true to the manga source then expect some seriously sexy non-nude content.
Onigiri
Pierrot Plus
Onigiri is based off an MMO game that achieved a decent amount of internet hype and attention for its unabashedly sexy content. In the hands of certain production companies, an Onigiri anime adaptation could be cause for real excitement.
Unfortunately, it’s being handled by a company that isn’t known for doing nudity pretty much ever, and the character designs have been softened a bit to be less erotic than the originals.
Still, I wouldn’t expect the fanservice level of this anime to be a total zero, so if you like casual service with a minuscule chance of being more, then this show could be for you.
Netoge no Yome wa Onnanoko ja Nai to Omotta?
Project No.9
Nobody seems to do tease better than Project No.9, a company that had been dormant for 18 months before popping back into the anime season lineup with Shoujo-tachi wa Kouya wo Mezasu last season.
Of course, we all remember Project No.9 for their highly influential trolling anime ImoCho , an anime that seemed to inspire an entire year’s worth of fake censorship shows. Project No.9 also did the sexy but mostly tame Momo Kyun Sword , a show that only snuck in one well hidden areola sighting on the BDs.
Their latest effort is based on a sexy light novel with illustrations by Hisasi. The PVs for this show look gorgeous. Nipples are probably unlikely, but I really have to hand it to Project No.9, the art quality in their shows is consistently impressive and it’s hard not to respect the quality of their work.
For as much as I raged against ImoCho and Momo Kyun Sword for all the censorship trolling they did, both of those anime were actually decent enough to finish without getting bored. It would be really cool if Project No.9 broke into nude ecchi some day as they are under-rated as an animation studio, in my opinion.
So you’re telling me there’s a chance? The long shots:
Magi: Sinbad no Bouken
Lay-duce
The previous two seasons of Magi included token frontal nudity. Whether that trend continues in season 3 has yet to be seen.
It’s interesting that this series shifted from A-1 Pictures to a new anime studio called “Lay-duce.” They don’t have much of a resume yet, but considering that A-1 Pictures’ track record for nudity was pretty limited, it’s hard to say if changing studios is a bad thing.
Wagamama High Spec
AXsiZ
With eroge adaptations there is always a chance, but lately we’ve seen a long string of eroge adaptations opt to be non-nude. There hasn’t been an eroge / VN adaptation to have nudity since the Grisaia Trilogy concluded around this time last year.
Wagamama High Spec‘s visual novel doesn’t release for another month, so it’s hard to say much about the source material and how it might impact the odds for nudity in the anime.
The anime episodes are just five minutes long, which probably hurts the odds.
AXsiZ is a new studio who’s best known work is Koukaku no Pandora .
Wildcards. These shows could be AMAZING or they could be soul-crushing disappointments
Hundred
Production IMS
After struggling to find success for years, Production IMS scored a big win with the Shinmai Maou no Testament series in 2015. Both ShinmaiMaou seasons likely turned a profit, and it seems high time for IMS to start exploring similar light novel prospects in the hopes of replicating such success.
Light novels tend to make for unpredictable anime adaptations as their lack of illustrations allows for increased creative license when it comes to servicing viewers. The illustrations from the novels show pretty much all the girls in tight fitting, revealing battle suits, not to mention there is a heavy does of breast groping. It seems the entire point of this series is to get the blood flowing for pervy viewers.
All of these are reasons to get excited, and if the art style seems familiar, it’s because Hundred and ShinmaiMaou share the same artist.
Unfortunately, the premise of Hundred gives reason for pause, as it is pretty much another generic magical battle academy story similar to Absolute Duo , Gakusen Toshi Asterisk , Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry and Saijaku Muhai no Bahamut . The PVs for Hundred paint the picture of a safe mainstream friendly anime that seems destined to avoid adult content despite featuring an outrageously lecherous premise.
I’m guessing Hundred won’t deliver, but here’s hoping the journey to find that answer will at least be a fun one.
Series where nudity is fairly likely.
Big Order
Asread
If it seems like there is a resemblance between the two shows, its’ because they are both from the same mangaka/artist and were also adapted by the same animation studio.
Mirai Nikki was what got me to make compilation videos in the first place, so personally it’s pretty cool seeing a spiritual successor of the series come along almost four years to the day when Mirai Nikki aired its final episode.
Big Order has already had a pre-airing OVA release earlier this year, and that OVA included several superfluous nude scenes on disc extras. Pointless nudity was a pretty big part of Mirai Nikki as well, so it seems reasonable to expect the nude scenes to continue (albeit broadcast censored) on Big Order‘s TV airing.
It’s still unclear how many episodes this series will run. Hopefully it will be a two-cour series like Mirai Nikki was.
Asread is one of my favorite animation studios, as they have a rare ability to seamlessly integrate nude scenes into their shows without distracting too much from the story or comedy aspects. Mirai Nikki and Shuffle! both featured several pointless nude scenes and it didn’t make those series any less gripping or poignant. Asread also added several nude scenes to Yuushibu without distracting too much from the comedy, characters, and slice of life elements. It reminds me of the good old days when it seemed like almost any anime could have a nude scene and nobody would bat an eyelash.
Overall thoughts on the Spring 2016 season
It’s looking about 99% certain at this point that the Winter 2016 season will go without a single nipple sighting in any of its TV series. It will become the first anime season in over a decade to manage such a low standard. Not that I was counting or anything…
The Spring 2016 season will be just a little bit better, but if Big Order ends up avoiding nudity for whatever reason, it’s actually possible that we could have back to back seasons without nudity right after snapping a streak of 40+ consecutive seasons of having at least some nude content.
The good news is that the Summer season will be an average ecchi season at worst and the Fall season is still TBD. If nothing else, this Spring season will help us pass the time until the Summer when we’ll get to find out if Masou Gakuen HxH can save 2016 all by itself.
