Here are the most exciting anime releases to watch out for in Spring 2022.
Spring 2022 is stacked with big anime releases, featuring the debut of long-awaited adaptations like Spy x Family and returning juggernauts like Kaguya-sama: Love is War. If you’re a big fan of rom-coms, good news! A good chunk of the Spring season will be dominated by highly anticipated rom-coms, but there’s plenty of anime to suit everyone’s tastes. Here are all the anime we're looking forward to watching this Spring.
Aharen Is Indecipherable (April 2)
Aharen is Indecipherable follows Reina Aharen and Raidou Matsuboshi, two high school students who seem miles apart in personality. The soft-spoken Aharen has difficulty judging proper distance and personal space. Raidou seems menacing at first, but in reality, is a kind person with a boundless imagination. The duo strikes up an unlikely friendship when Raidou picks up Aharen’s eraser for her, and she decides that this means they’re best friends.
This isn't the only slice-of-life romcom coming out this month about people who can’t communicate. In fact… I think that describes a good half of this list.
Komi Can’t Communicate Season 2 (April 7)
Komi Can’t Communicate is one of the most wholesome slice-of-life anime out there right now. The series follows Shouko Komi, a young high school student who has trouble building connections with other people due to her extreme social anxiety. When fellow classmate Hitohito Tadano realises that she isn’t as snobbish as he’d been led to believe, he decides to help her accomplish her ultimate goal: making 100 friends before graduating from high school.
The road to 100 friends is a long one, but Season 2 brings Komi one step closer. This is a great pick for anyone looking for a warm coming-of-age story with a dash of romance.
The Demon Girl Next Door Season 2 (April 8)
If you’re looking for a comedic urban fantasy series, this should fit the bill. The Demon Girl Next Door follows Yuko Yoshida, a 15-year-old girl who discovers that she’s descended from the Dark Clan when she wakes up with horns and an actual tail. Her mother reveals that their demonic family has long since been cursed with poverty, and the only way to reverse the curse is by defeating a magical girl descended from the Light Clan. Yuko finds a magical girl to defeat in Momo Chiyoda, an aloof classmate with incredible powers.
Through a series of mishaps, however, Yuko and Momo become friends instead of enemies - but that isn’t going to stop Yuko from trying her best to be the best demon she can be and bring her family out of poverty. Don’t give up, Yuko!
Love After World Domination (April 8)
What’s that? You wanted more rom-coms? Fudou Aikawa is a superhero known as Red Gelato, leader of the hero squadron Gelato 5. Desumi Magahara is the villainous leader of an organisation called Gecko, hellbent on ruling the world. The two often have to come to blows in massive superhero battles, but it’s all for show. Fudou and Desumi secretly pursue a forbidden love, trying their best to make a relationship work despite their hectic schedules and public personas of hero and villain.
Spy x Family (April 9)
Twilight is a secret agent working tirelessly to prevent extremists from sparking a war with the neighbouring country of Ostania. To infiltrate the school of a politician’s son, he has to go undercover by getting married and adopting a child to make up a pretend family. He adopts six-year-old Anya as his daughter and finds a faux wife in Yor Briar, a seemingly absent-minded office worker - hiding his real intentions from them.
Unbeknownst to him, neither Anya nor Yor are who they seem to be. Yor is a lethal assassin known as the Thorn Princess, marrying Twilight to throw suspicion off herself. Anya on the other hand, is an esper with the ability to read minds. Anya can see through her parents’ lies, but decides against telling them about each other. Why ruin the fun? As the trio carries out their own secret agendas, they slowly realise that their new family is a pretty precious thing.
Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie (April 10)
Izumi’s in a relationship with Shikimori, someone who’s pretty sweet and fun to be around. When the circumstances call for it however, Shikimori’s dark side pops out and she almost acts like a completely different person. Don’t worry, though. Izumi loves it.
Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 3 (April 11)
Book lovers unite! Ascendance of a Bookworm follows a college student named Motosu Urano, who was once a simple college student striving to become an official librarian. Unfortunately, a disastrous earthquake brings those plans to a devastating end when all her precious books crush her to death. Grim, I know, but there’s a twist! With her dying breath, Urano wishes to read as many books as she’d like wherever she ends up next.
She then finds herself reincarnated as a 5-year-old girl in a medieval world, where books are a rare commodity and few people want to read in the first place. Undeterred, Urano decides to surround herself with books anyway - even if she has to make them herself.
Kaguya-sama: Love is War Season 3 (Sometime in April)
The best rom-com anime is back, and it’s about time. Titled ‘Ultra Romantic’, this season continues the dramatic love story of Kaguya Shinomiya and Miyuki Shirogane, two high school students working together at Shuchiin Academy’s student council. The two clearly have feelings for one another, but both are far too proud to outright confess their love. The two students end up pulling off mind games and schemes in increasingly convoluted attempts to get the other person to confess.
There’s a lot of hype going into this season, with manga readers claiming it’s set to adapt one of the best arcs of the source material yet.
The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 (Sometime in April)
The Rising of the Shield Hero didn’t exactly get off on the right foot with viewers in its divisive first season, but remains the most anticipated Spring 2022 release according to Myanimelist. This anime follows Naofumi Iwatani, who takes up the Shield Hero mantle after being transported to another world. Unfortunately, the Shield Hero happens to be the weakest out of the four summonable heroes, so he’s got his work cut out for him. Season 2 continues the Shield Hero’s story, as he journeys across a fantastical world with his trusty companions.
Science Fell in Love, So I Tried to Prove It Season 2 (Sometime in April)
Two students at Saitama University like each other, but decide to put their mutual attraction to the test - literally. Ayame Himuro confesses her feelings for Shinya Yukimura, but the latter wonders if he reciprocates her feelings. The two then commit to enacting various scientific experiments designed to figure out if they actually love each other, but can scientific theory actually be applied to such an emotion? Hopefully, the two draw a conclusion from all their experiments this season.
This anime might get lost in the riptide of rom-coms coming out in the Spring season this year, but remains one of the best ongoing anime in its genre. If you like rom-coms, you should check it out! Or maybe you just want to know what else is coming out in March 2022?