With the fall season having begun, all new kinds of anime have started airing, but just for this article, we’d like to pay homage to Summer 2022’s line-up. In our opinion, this season had some brilliant anime to watch, and it’s challenging to pick a few from all of them. Nevertheless, here are our picks of the bunch!
Call of the Night (Yofukashi no Uta)
The story is about an adolescent boy with insomnia who meets a vampire, slowly discovering and learning about things together as he tries to become a vampire too! It touches on themes such as love, narcissism and friendships, just to name a few. Pair it with a brilliant art style and catchy tunes, and you get one of the contenders for anime of the season.
This was one of the few anime from Summer 2022 that I’d admittedly never heard of before, but it pleasantly surprised me with the calm and relaxing vibes I got while watching it! Mixed with a few splashes of humour and tension, the show is delightful to watch, so much so that I continued reading the manga right after the show ended.
More information about the show can be found on its MyAnimeList page. Be sure to check out the playlist from Creepy Nuts as well, the band who sang the opening and ending for Call of the Night!
Classroom of the Elite Season 2
After a long five-year wait, Classroom of the Elite has returned with Season Two, and to much fanfare. Continuing where it left off in Season One, it promised an exciting return to action after ending on a cliffhanger, and it delivered; thrilling me to no end. This was one of the anime I would eagerly wait for every new episode every week, and it was one of my personal favourites for the season.
Season Two continues the story of the main protagonist, Ayanokouji, and sees him masterminding a plan against the antagonist in Class C, Kakeru Ryuuen and his gang, all while hiding in the shadows. But when things go south, he shows his prowess to single-handedly take down all of them, cementing his Class D as a force to be reckoned with.
This made the ending of the season all the more satisfying and more than made up for the disappointing animation quality, which was rather prevalent at times throughout the show. Overall, the show is a great watch, complemented by a catchy opening as the cherry on top!
You can watch the show over at Bilibili, and below you can listen to the show’s electric opening!
Lycoris Recoil
Lycoris Recoil took the anime community by storm with dazzling animations and lovable characters. Set in a futuristic Japan where crime rates have been lowered due to the efforts of a syndicate group called DA, the main protagonist, Takina Inoue, is transferred out due to an act of insubordination, much to her dismay.
However, her new partner-in-crime, Chisato Nishikigi, has other things in mind, and the show sets off to showcase the chemistry between the two, and how there is so much more to life than just “taking them”. The show has underlying messages of living your best life every day and living for yourself, not others.
Some may just write this off as another one of those “cute girls doing cutesy things” type of show upon looking at stills, but I’d say give it a watch. It surprised me with how well-animated it was and how they managed to have you build emotional connections with the characters. As the icing on the cake, the soundtrack is a banger to top off another contender for “Anime of the Year”!
So if you want to give the show a shot, you can watch it on Netflix or Bilibili, and also vibe to the soundtrack below!
Overlord IV
Another show that has gone quiet for a few years, Overlord finally returns with Season Four after a four-year break, and I was excited to watch this. Of course, readers of the light novel knew what was going to happen, but it’s always lovely seeing it animated.
Season Four continues the story of Ainz Ooal Gown as he tries to solve the resource shortage of his newly established “Sorcerer Kingdom”, of which his solutions were to either take over the Re-Estize Holy Kingdom or establish friendly relationships with them. Naturally, the King refused, so you can probably guess what happened next.
If you like stories about overpowered characters, Overlord is a great watch for you. They also have excellent character development for the other characters, meaning that they all significantly impact the story, making the story not boring at all. The only downside to the series is that the animation can be rather disappointing at times, but no worries, you won’t be let down by the show’s overall quality!
Now hopefully, we don’t have to wait another four years for the next season…
Overlord IV is available on Bilibili, and you can look at the show’s MyAnimeList page to catch up on the story from the previous seasons.
The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting
For fans of wholesome anime, this is the pick of the bunch for Summer 2022! The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting tells the story of Kirishima Tooru, tasked with caring for the youngest daughter of the Sakuragi Household, Yaeka Sakuragi. Along the way, he goes from being considered “The Demon of Sakuragi” due to his yakuza exploits to mellowing out because of Yaeka.
The show invokes a lot of emotions in the viewer, as we watch Tooru learn to be happier and enjoy life more as a whole, while Yaeka becomes more expressive as she overcomes her mother’s traumatic incident. The pair have great chemistry, and most of the things that they do together will have you going, “Aww….”
Overall, this was my comfort show throughout the entirety of Summer 2022. I also really hope there will be a Season Two, just because I want to continue watching the pair’s adventures together because of how wholesome they are.
The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting is available on Bilibili, and you can look at the show’s MyAnimeList page to find out more about it!
Honourable Mentions
Here’s some anime that didn’t quite make it onto our list due to how they pale in comparison to some of the top shows from this season. But, we still feel that they deserve a mention for how they managed to execute their plots fairly well, and are still great choices if you want to extend your anime binge list further!
My Stepmom’s Daughter is my Ex!
Don’t let the name of this show scare you, because there’s nothing lewd about it. It tells the story of Mizuto Irido and Yume Ayai and how they went from lovers to…siblings? A rivalry starts to brew as both refuse to admit to being the younger sibling (both are the same age); at the same time, they also start to get influenced by lingering emotions between them that never died in the first place.
The overall theme for the show was nothing too new, it’s essentially a typical rom-com, but it gets interesting at times throughout the show, while adding some decent slice-of-life moments in between. This made the overall watch not too bad, just not good enough as the others that made the list, but the opening for the song was really good!
So as a whole, it’s a decent anime to watch to pass the time, but there are better shows out there. If you are curious about the show, you can watch it over at Bilibili; you can also listen to the opening song below!
Harem in the Labyrinth of Another World
For something that does live up to the name, Harem in the Labyrinth of Another World is one show that provides it. Deep down, we all know that we are degenerates and what better anime is there to get you hot and heavy for Summer 2022 than this? But while many may watch the show for its “plot”, its actual plot is very intriguing.
Michio Kaga is a guy who finds himself stuck in the world of a cheap online fantasy game. After learning about how the world works, he uses the “cheat” skills he has acquired to earn money from labyrinths in order to gather a posse of girls to build his harem.
While the story sounds generic, the show does a great job setting up the world and how it functions — it takes its time to build things up rather than immediately going into the gratuitous. The show does eventually get into the ‘action’, but it is the set-up that elevates the enjoyment.
Harem in the Labyrinth of Another World has a censored version available on Bilibili, where you can take in the various ‘plots’ worry-free.
What do you think of our anime picks for Summer 2022? Have other recommendations to share? Drop us your take on our socials on Facebook, Instagram or even TikTok!
Visuals courtesy of Bilibili.
