Second Emulation

Anime Spring 2025: What's Hot on Crunchyroll

• Shawn Juarez • Episode 80

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Ever wonder what makes an anime season truly exceptional? The secret lies in balance, and Spring 2025 is shaping up to deliver exactly that. Breaking from the typical isekai overload of recent seasons, Crunchyroll's upcoming lineup offers something genuinely refreshing—a harmonious blend of continuing favorites alongside bold new originals.

The highly anticipated Fire Force Season 3 returns after leaving fans dangling from that jaw-dropping Season 2 cliffhanger. If you've been following the subtle breadcrumbs connecting this series to Soul Eater, you're in for a treat as these connections finally start taking meaningful shape. Meanwhile, My Hero Academia fans can satisfy their heroic cravings with "Vigilantes," a spin-off exploring the grittier side of heroism through characters operating outside the sanctioned system—think of them as the Daredevils to All Might's Superman.

Among newcomers, "Beginning After the End" stands out despite animation controversies. This isn't your typical reincarnation story—our protagonist was already a ruthless dictator king in a fantasy world before getting his second chance. Two hidden gems deserve special mention: "Catch Me at the Ballpark" offers a charming slice-of-life romance between a weary salaryman and a beer vendor at a baseball stadium, while "Hero X" introduces a fascinating concept where heroes' powers are directly tied to public trust and perception.

To enhance your anime experience this season, I've created a shared anime list where you can see what I'm watching, make recommendations, and potentially join watch-alongs. The link is in the episode description alongside our social media handles. This spring truly offers something for everyone—whether you're seeking action-packed sequels, thoughtful new premises, or heartwarming slice-of-life stories. What shows are you planning to watch? Share your picks in the comments and let's build our anime community together!

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Speaker 1:

Hi, hello and welcome to Second Emulation. Oh my God, you guys. I'm so excited for you to listen to this episode, like it's gonna be so good. Your amazing host is about to take you on a deep dive into all things movies, anime, gaming and pop culture. Seriously, it's like the best way to spend your time. So grab your favorite drink maybe a latte or something cute and get ready to have the best time. Okay, love that for you. Here's your host.

Speaker 2:

Hey everyone, welcome back to Second Immolation Podcast, the show where we dive into the latest anime news and reviews. I'm Sean, your host, and today we're going to be talking about Crunchyroll's lineup for Spring 2025 anime season Plus. I'll be sharing my anime list watch list with you so you can follow along with us and see what shows I'm watching and if you have any recommendations, you can also just ping us on there and I'm excited to do a breakdown of new shows, hidden gems and what you should be adding to your watch list. So let's get into it. This season, crunchyroll is actually going to be pretty much stacked. There's going to be some recurring animes that are continuing into the spring and some new ones. This is including Fire Force Season 3, which is a highly anticipated sequel or continuation of Fire Force Season 2, which is, for those who might not know, a little bit, theorycraft happens to be the precursor for soul eater and I'm excited for this. This season, having just coming off solo leveling season two, I am very much looking and hungry for a new anime, some recurring ones and maybe some new ones that I never really thought I'd be watching. So let's dive into it.

Speaker 2:

Overall, this season, we're actually looking at a mixed blend of isekai's fantasy along with some slice of life and some comedy. So normally for those for previous seasons the ratio kind of is a little skewed. When it comes to anime we get a lot more isekais and comedies and slice of lives. Really are they really don't hit as they normally do. This one is a very, very good mix blend as we're not getting so much isekais where it's like I died, I was reincarnated as a x, y and z type of creature, because god only knows that some of those type of animes or isekais can get boring pretty quickly and I myself have A good chunk of isekais and because they have that fantasy Genre to them. A good one that I feel Is my favorite so far has been Jobless reincarnation and I want to say Overlord, and also, which I'm excited is for the next season, will be Shield Hero Rising, season 4.

Speaker 2:

But for those who are unfamiliar, isekai's are just essentially fantasy-type novels where the main character dies or he's transported into a fantasy-type world. Sometimes they're coupled with, like him, some kind of harem where he just has a party of just all females, and they do these type of animes by don't by the dime of a dozen. So every season there's like a you know, a collection of new isekais. Some people call them isekai slosh because they're just so easy to do the template and the trope just write themselves, and so you get a whole bunch of those like one shots in the mix with like good quality anime. I feel like this season is gonna have a lot for everyone, as they're going to be maybe like a good chunk of reoccurring anime that I feel like if you've been keeping track with it, you'll probably just continue and excited for the next season. But it does have a lot of potential because there's a lot of animes that get their first shot like it within a season and, based on the good reception, they either are green lit for a season two and you normally get that a lot the ones that keep reoccurring already have a foundation and a fan base behind it and so they're just essentially they're not really going anywhere. They're just continuing their seasons and it's very hard to find like a good jam, one that's going to be ongoing, that doesn't really already have a fan base.

Speaker 2:

I did mention that there were a lot of isekais this this time around, I believe, with solo leveling ending. What we're seeing now is just more of a continuation of anime that have already been simulcast file. Fire force is essentially a sequel, but it's continuing. We're also seeing ronnie kenshin continuing just a pad to keep the masses engaged and to whet the appetite. We're seeing a spinoff series of my hero academia, which, for those who are ben jones in for the next season, this will help whet your appetite for that anime, for that my, for the my academia hero fix that you've been looking for, because I know a lot of fans have been like craving that type of content since it ended and anything they can get their hands on would surely satisfy and sate their hunger. Now I want to spotlight three animes that I just deep dived into for the spring season, for this year, and there's there's three that stood out to me that are sports anime, correction.

Speaker 2:

This anime that I caught my eye I did see some marketing for it and it intrigued me because I will premise it is a form of isekai, but it's not like the type of isekai that I was expecting. And this is going to be the beginning. After the end, this is an action adventure, fantasy, an original series from studio a cat. The story follows a mysterious death. King gray is reborn as arthur lewin on the magical continent of decathin. Although he enters his second life as a baby, his previous wisdom remains. He begins to master magic and form, forge his own path as years go by, by seeking to correct the mistakes of his past life. Now, just by reading that alone that kind of like Off the glance You're thinking, okay, it's just your normal isekai, the same template, and I would have to say To an extent, yes, but I think what differentiates this From any other isekai Is that the main character Was in his own fantasy type world, the.

Speaker 2:

The character who who becomes arthur lewin. He is actually a king in a fantasy type world, sci-fi fantasy type world where they use swords and have assassins, and so it's kind of weird because you're seeing through flashbacks of his life prior he was a dictator and and performing mass genocide and colonization and for him to corrupt, die and be brought back into the world where he has none of those advantages in his life. Very interesting. The story is a little bit confusing just because they don't know what they want to be in animation. I want to say the animation can be a little bit under deserving at times when it comes to action, and I know people over social media have given this anime a lot of hate, kind of like the blue lock season 2 has got with their animation, and I want to preface this that sometimes the animation studios can be overworked and underpaid and in order to push out content for us to consume can be troubling, but for this anime, the for the height that it got, I can see it being destroyed as a result of this, because there are people who want to petition to get another studio to take up the animation and do I believe it will succeed? Probably not. Will it succeed? Probably not, but I just want to set people's expectations for this anime that you are going to get some weird animation. I think, being a longtime anime fan myself, is that if you like the story, you can endure watching this. Drown out the noise of people saying that this is shitty. It's still an enjoyable anime. It has a good story. I'm hoping that this is one that will get picked up for a season two, but who knows, it's already it's. It looks good, but I'm I'm waiting to see and want to see what comes of it.

Speaker 2:

All right, so my second anime pick that I've noticed is going to be my Hero Academia, vigilantes. This is an action, fantasy, adventure and sci-fi. The story follows Koichi, who is a dull college student who aspires to be a hero but has given up on his dream. Although 80% of the world's population has superhuman powers called Quirks, few are chosen to become heroes and protect people, while everything changes for Koichi when he and a pop step saved by the vigilante knuckle duster get recruited to become vigilantes themselves. Yeah, that's. The analysis is weird. At the end I was trying to have to do a double take to figure out like what that meant, but this is one that I feel like is highly anticipated when it was announced and just seeing more content for it to promote it.

Speaker 2:

This is your series to jump onto if you're looking for any my hero academia content. Now, vigilantes do exist in my hero. They're not on the, they're not so much in the spotlight as people who have quirks, but then you would think of them as like ground level type heroes like your daredevils and your loot cages. They are more on that ground. They don't. They're not superhuman by any sense, but they normally get the job done. Think of them like your everyday batmans or batmans and robins. I know that's a wrong comparison to use, but I just want to get set the stage and the expectations that this anime is not going to be like focusing on the characters that we know, but a new core of characters that hopefully people will love. Now it is looks like it's taken on the same animation style as my hero and I think this is going to be very interesting. This is from what I've heard and read, that this whole series, the manga, has been already completed for my Hero Originates, so we could get a continuation when the season's done if it has a good following, and I believe that any type of my Hero content is going to be very good.

Speaker 2:

Finally, my third anime is going to be Fire Force, season 3. So this is going to be continuing. Tokyo's burning and the citizens are mysteriously suffering from spontaneous human combustion all throughout the city. Responsible for snuffing out this inferno as a fire force, and Shinran is ready to join the fight Now as a part of the campaign eight, he'll use his devil footprints to help keep the city from turning to ash, but his past and burning secret behind the scenes could set everything ablaze. Now this is a continuation of an anime fire force which only had two seasons and then just never continued. It had a brute. A brute, an immediate like cliffhanger type, and season finale 2, which alluded to its connection to soul eater. And, for those who don't know, there's actually been confirmation from the producer and creator that this is in the same universe and is a prelude to Soul Eater. So that is very exciting and I'm very interested to see how the season is going to play out. A lot of fire force fans are rejoicing because anything where they can continue the storyline is much needed. I feel like things weren't left off and a lot of cliffhangers were set in the season two, so hopefully we get a true type of conclusion with the third season going forward. Now.

Speaker 2:

What I also found is, I believe to be some hidden gems are actually going to be under the radar. One is going to be an anime called catch me at the ballpark. This is gonna follows a synopsis read. To escape his heart tiring job, the weary murata finds escape at the nearby baseball stadium. While the games are thrilling, hits ryuko, the gairu, as cold as beer she serves, but secretly a sweetheart who keeps him coming back as a first regular. Marata discovers the warmth behind her frothy demeanor and their hilarious heartwarming encounters light up the ballpark, maybe even their hearts. So this is like a comedy slash romance.

Speaker 2:

It's also like a sports anime. The main character is essentially a concession stand person at the ballpark. Who's who serves beer? Now, it's interesting because there's always a sports anime that comes out, and this is, I think, a unique take. Though it is, I guess you can call it a sports anime, but it doesn't really focus on sports. It focuses on the people who come to enjoy the sports and the concession stands of the people who serve the drinks, and I thought it was really cool because I ended up finding out that the female character who serves beer this actually does exist in Japan, where they the I guess I can call them beer girls carry backpacks of like beer that they can dispense from their gun, from a gun, and then they put into a cup for you, and so that's something I did not know and I learned. I was like, oh, that's interesting, more convenient than you getting handed a beer can and they have to carry that with them. Nope, they just carry a backpack. That's all set up for them to dispense beer with their little dispensing gun, and I found that very interesting.

Speaker 2:

The second hidden gem, I think, is going to be a hero x, which is a action and fantasy. The story follows in a world of brilliant heroes. It is the trust of the fans that turn heroes into superheroes. If a hero loses the people's trust, they lose their special abilities. Trust value is collected, quantified and used to determine a hero's ranking displaying on their wrist. Every two years, the top heroes go to a tournament to fight to determine new trust values and earn their ranking.

Speaker 2:

I feel like this is going to be an interesting watch because the concept is very different than anything I've seen and it does also tap into something new where it's essentially the belief that in your hero contrary to, like my hero, academia, where everyone wants to be and they trust, they put their faith in in to be a hero x that essentially what's happening. To quantify, to become a hero and gain your abilities the fans had them essentially have to manifest you into existence and truly believe and ascent. You are that construct of their belief and what you do. So your abilities hinge on the perception of the people around you and their faith in you and their trust. I think that's a very interesting concept approach being a superhero and just seeing how you could be in the. You could be in the midst of saving someone and all of a sudden bloop, your power goes away because people just don't believe in you anymore. That is truly harsh and again it's an interesting take, very, I want to say. It's the opposite of my Hero and everything that show has built the grounds on for like characters like All Might, like characters like all might. So I feel like the this one is going to fly under the radar for a lot of people who are going to look at it. Oh, it's just another superhero. I digress. I feel like you should give this a chance. I'm looking forward to watching it and I think you should be too, if you're into, like you know, also looking for like my hero type. I feel like this can fill the void a bit and also provide a new perspective on something that's never been done in anime, I feel, for the superhero genre.

Speaker 2:

Now, I mentioned in the beginning of the episode that I will be doing an introduction to my anime watch list and I will. So we I've created or have in my anime watch list, which I'll be providing the link in the episode description for all animes that we review or that I watch, and you can follow along and provide recommendations and we can even engage and have conversations along in regards to different anime and you can see where we're at for anime and the ones that I mentioned in this episode I'm actually going to add to my watch list, and so fire force is going to be, season three will be added. I'm going to be watching the beginning at the end and I think, catch me at the ballpark guys, I'll be watching as well. I think all of them I'll actually be watching. They'll be on my anime list.

Speaker 2:

Now, the reason for creating an anime watch list is that before I used to create lists through crunchyroll and that wasn't really I find useful, because only me and my partner could utilize that and there is no way to share my list with anyone. So I feel, as part of my initiative to try something new and maybe do set up and do watch alongs for those who might be interested in doing an anime watch along, this might be the best approach and maybe not even a watch along. Maybe you want to see what I'm watching. You'll be able to see that and review all anime that I have seen or going to see and, if you have recommendations, if there's something that you would like me to watch. That's an anime. You can provide a recommendation to us through my anime watch list and we'll give it a good old college try. Now, mind you, any recommendation that you do send us may end up being an episode we talk about when our anime reviews. Now that's also a key thing.

Speaker 2:

I want to mention that some of the anime that will be on this list will be ones that we will talk about now. I haven't updated this list in a while, but I'm diligently working on getting it updated so it is current for this season. I want to hear from you what are what animes are you guys watching? Are there any on your watch list? Or are there some that you just bantered into death, know and just forgot about and wish it died a horrible death? Those are things I want to hear from you guys.

Speaker 2:

I know I'm talking to a mic and I enjoy everyone who takes the time to listen new and current listeners, thank you. But I want to hear what are some of your anime hot takes? What are some of your anime picks? What are some of your anime picks? What are some of your favorite animes and do you have recommendations? There's no wrong answer there. Again, you can all our. My anime list is going to be provided in the episode description along with our socials. So if you want to see what we're watching, and watch with us and watch along, let us know, You'll see it displayed there.

Speaker 2:

With that being said, the platform time I used to have funimation and then funimation kind of sunset, and was acquired by cruncher roll, and I know there are other avenues in watching anime. I just prefer to pay for it myself and just have it accessible. I can watch it on my phone, on my console, just anywhere that is accessible. And I know that the other avenue for anime is HiDive, and I did try them out for a bit, but I just couldn't get used to the UI system and then their content of anime to watch didn't seem very particular or a huge library. Now, mind you, they did have anime, some stuff I didn't recognize, just a lot of stuff that never even heard of, and so I feel like the catalog for them is just we need to have content available. We'll just pick anything and do deals and have it there. So I feel like they have more. So anime, maybe that was done in the 90s, that there were one-offs, and so if you're wanting to watch, like the current stuff for anime, I I would say Crunchyroll, or if you have other avenues to watch, it, please do. But me personally not saying I'm trying to force you to use Crunchyroll, but that's my preference of how I watch my anime and been happy. How you watch your anime it's up to you and I believe I believe, trying to think, I think that will bring this episode almost to a close.

Speaker 2:

Now, with the spring season lineup for anime on christian roll, I did select the five that I Now there is a huge list of anime which I'm going to also include in the episode description. That way, if you want to peruse the lineup, you can. There's a lot more anime that's going to be releasing for the spring that I didn't have time to go over or pick. I just picked what I felt might be a good gambit across the spectrum of anime from different genres. Now I will. So if you want, you can actually peruse that list as well, which they'll have everything from new that simulcast to what they picked and what's going to be like in rotation for this season.

Speaker 2:

I'm also going out of my comfort zone with certain animes here. I feel like Catch Me at the Ballpark is like a slice of life, and I normally don't watch slice of life animes, so that's going to be something new, because for me personally, slice of life animes can be slow in their startup and I can lose interest very quickly if you know the story isn't engaging, but this really caught my eye, so I'm going to give it the old college try and see if the story is up to par or ends up being a stinker as this episode comes to a close.

Speaker 2:

I want to thank you for tuning in to this episode of Second Immolation. If you enjoyed the show, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review and share it with your friends. Show. Don't forget to subscribe, leave a review and share it with your friends. You can also follow me and the podcast on our social media, which is also going to be in the link in the episode description. And if you have any recommendations and updates, don't forget to check out my anime watch list. The link, as I mentioned, will be in the episode description, with our social media, so we can watch shows together. So again, thank you again for listening and I'll catch you in the next one. All right, bye.

Speaker 1:

Okay, wow, that was so much fun. Your host totally nailed it right. Like, how amazing was that. Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode, because, honestly, why would you? And if you loved it, leave a review or like tell your friends, it's like the nicest thing ever. Thanks for listening and remember stay fabulous, stay emulated and I'll see you next time. Bye.