Rito’s Thoughts

Rito Yuuki prizes his sister Mikan. From the anime series To Love-Ru Darkness

Spring Anime Season 2014 shows to check out

Winter has finally ended, and while I certainly won’t miss the lower temperatures, it will be hard to part with the brothers and sisters in Mikakunin de Shinkoukei (Engaged to the Unidentified), Toaru Hikuushi e no Koiuta (The Pilot’s Love Song), and Mahou Sensou (Magical Warfare). However, the changing of the seasons also brings with it a new batch of shows and siblings to keep an eye on, and here are three that I’ll be checking out.

Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei

“The Irregular at Magic High School” revolves around the idea that magic is a technical skill and that magic users must attend high school and college in order to understand and nurture it. Within this system, Miyuki Shiba is a high-achieving star student, whereas her older brother, Tatsuya, is considered an underachiever. However, like in real life, there’s much more to education than simply acing a test.

I read this manga last year and was immediately drawn into it, not just because of the relationship between the siblings and the story, but also the way magic itself is explained. As an audience, we’re accustomed to the idea of it just being there as some mystical, unknowable force, but the series treats it like a science, really delving deep into what makes these supernatural powers tick. If the anime does as good of a job as the manga explaining it, then you’ll feel like a student of magic itself. Highly recommended!

No Game, No Life

Sora and Shiro are a brother and sister who don’t go to school and don’t have jobs; they’re shut-ins who are so good at playing games they’re the subject of urban legends online. One day, they’re summoned to an alternate world where a Godlike figure has declared that everything is decided by games and humanity has been pushed to the brink by other races because of it. What better scenario could they ask for?

Unlike Magic High School, I’m completely unfamiliar with the series, but I’m always up for watching a brother-sister duo fighting against the odds together. As gamers, they’re no doubt each others’ greatest rival, so I expect they’ll occasionally battle one another. Of course, when they’re working in synch, there’s no stopping them.

Hitsugi no Chaika

The fantasy adventure series, Chaika: The Coffin Princess, is also new to me, so I’m again summarizing series info I’ve read elsewhere.

Former solider Toru Acura is just wandering through a post-war world with his adopted sister, Akari, when they encounter a young sorceress carrying a coffin. In the hopes of finding new meaning to life, he decides to follow her.

The series promises assassins and bounty hunters and bears. Oh my! Sorry, that bears part probably isn’t true, but I love a good solid fantasy anime like Log Horizon, Scrapped Princess, and Sword Art Online. I hope it’s great.