Sword Art Online

Director: Tomohiko Ito (Occult Academy)

Studio: A-1 (Idolm@ster)

Airing Date: July 7, 2012

While light novel adaptations are no surprise to anime offerings of recent years, what's less common is for a single light novel author to get two works adapted in a row! And with both works bearing such similar premises And by two different, high-profile studios! Reki Kawahara must be happy to have so much interest in his particular brand of futuristic videogame sci-fi craziness.

Like this season's Accel World, Sword Art Online takes place inside a virtual-world online game, except here it pulls a .hack-like twist of having a bunch of players stranded in the eponymous game, forced to climb a Babel-esque tower to finally get themselves logged out. Worse still, all the game's players have been trapped in SWO since launch. That sucks. Even worse, the game features the most permanent of permadeaths: die in the game, die in real life.

Elliot Gay's Japanese students were practically enamored of Accel World, and piqued his interest in Sword Art Online. So he fought me for it, and ended up with the score!

Hagure Yuusha no Estetica

Director: Rion Kujo (A Heat for All Seasons)

Studio: ARMS (Ikki Tousen, Queen's Blade)

Airing Date: July 6, 2012

Another entry in the surge of videogame-themed TV series, Estetica is at least not centered around an online game this time, but instead the kind of meta question nerds ask each other when they're bored, in this case "What happens to an RPG hero when the game's over?"

ARMS' answer? High School. Yup, once the quest is done and the Evil Lord vanquished, the hero goes back to class. Strangely enough, that idea seems mildly realistic. Certainly real-life soldiers and heroes of all stripes go back to school (though university in most cases) once the fighting's ended.

That said, it's doubtful that Akatsuki Ousawa (who sounds more like an "anime-RPG" hero than the traditional Dragon Quest-alike featured in anime that want to show a videogame) will be looking forward to a careerer in business or air conditioner repair (though that would be an amazing series if done right). Instead, he'll be caring for the daughter of the Demon Lord he just vanquished! Hijinks will ensue.

I'm certainly intrigued by the premise, though the series' ARMS pedigree risk its turning out more like Queen's Blade and Ikki Tousen. That means it might be a boobs anime.

Campione!

Director: Keizou Kusakawa (Sekirei)

Studio: Diomedea (Squid Girl, Astarotte's Toy)

Airing Date: July 6, 2012

If I were lazy, I'd lazily sum up this show as "a sports anime for people who'd rather watch a fantasy anime", but really, the only sporty thing about this is that protagonist Godou Kusanagi plays baseball catcher and clean-up batter real well. Then he gets recruited into a war between two deities, though more by virtue of his being on vacation in Italy at the time than for his sporting skill.

Strangely enough, this premise reminds me more of DOG DAYS, except more serious and action-oriented.

Expect Josh Totman to check out this show's pitch, and if it's good, go to bat for it.

DOG DAYS'

Director: Junji Nishimura (DOG DAYS)

Studio: Seven Arcs (DOG DAYS)

Airing Date: July 7, 2012

Speaking of DOG DAYS, the second season of one of the the world's least offensive late-night anime is airing this season.

Like Campione!, DOG DAYS' - that apostrophe tempts me to call it DOG DAYS PRIME - involves the dimensional theft of a sporty young man to participate in a fantasy-land conflict. Except this time, it's between two nations of animal-eared adorables, one faction of which is called - get this - the Republic of Biscotti.

Our Super Sentai specialist Salvador will be evaluating if this show's hero is worth stuffing into some spandex.

Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere II

Director: Manabu Ono (Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere)

Studio: Sunrise (Accel World)

Airing Date: July 7, 2012

I watched the first season of Horizon when it aired, from start to finish, and every time I sat down to write a recap I was forced to begin with the line "I still don't know what's going on." Because I didn't. Horizon is one of the most, if not the most, narratively dense pieces of fiction I've ever had the dubious fortune to experience. And not necessarily in a good way.

That said, I'll still be watching this season, in the hopes of finally finding out what's going on and maybe, just maybe, determining if it's worth my time after all.

Thankfully, I wasn't alone in my abject confusion, and do have a few newly-discovered resources for helping with the knowing of what's going on.

Kokoro Connect

Director: Shin Ohnuma (Baka and Test)

Studio: Silver Link (Baka and Test)

Airing Date: July 7, 2012

"Boys and girls get together to magically swap genders and experience life on the other side" sounds like a ripe premise for porn, but Kokoro Connect is not that. Early showings have reportedly pigeonholed Silver Link's new show as a mixture of Haruhi and K-ON!. A videogame adaptation is already in the works.

Given that our own Brad Rice liked the former and more or less despised the latter, we'll have to see if his kokoro can connect with the show this season.

Dakara Boku wa H Dekinai

Director: Takeo Takahashi (Yosuga no Sora)

Studio: Feel (Kiss x Sis)

Airing Date: July 6, 2012

The title of Feel's new show basically translates to "So I Can't Be Horny". I think you might have an idea what's in store.

That said, there may yet be something to hope for. Feel can deliver the goods when it comes to horny shows, and a well-executed horny show is at least better than a badly executed one. The show also bills itelf as a comedy, starring a young, very horny guy forced to forgo his hornball energy to sustain Death herself. Which, for a guy who loves being horny, is kind of a bummer. Hijinks are likely to ensue.

Due to his near-masochistic compulsion to watch trashy shows each season, Brad has got the hots for watching this.