I can remember a lot of good anime seasons, but this is one for the books – especially if you like shoujo anime. Normally, the longer this list is means that everything was kind of “ok, but not great” and I find it hard to choose what I enjoyed more than anything else.
However, this season, this list is long because I enjoyed everything much more than usual. Even the ecchi and isekai series had very charming aspects to them.
The strength of the season is also surprising given that there are a few distracting subsequent seasons. Any other season and Bleach’s sheer quality this season would have flash-banged everything else into obscurity.
Instead, new shows also have to compete with surprisingly still consistently amazing quality of My Hero Academia, returning darling Spy X Family, and recently controversial but still very much beloved Mob Psycho 100. And yet, a lot of hype was still built for the quality new content.
Anyway, if you want to know our favorite shows of the Fall 2022 anime season that you should make time to watch this winter, head on down below.
Best Fall 2022 Anime
Chainsaw Man
After his father’s death left him with a pile of debt, Denji and his pet devil Pochita struggle to pay it off. However, after the yakuza kills him, Pochita fuses himself with Denji’s corpse and he awakens as a Chainsaw Devil.
Found by government devil hunters, Denji is brought in to hunt other devils on an experimental squad where he is finally able to pursue his simple teenage dreams of eating good food and spending time with a cute girl.
Why It Is Worth Watching? – Everyone was excited for it before it even aired. Even with some awkward CGI that that evened out as the series went on, it was still everyone’s darling, but why?
Well, it has characters on the more unique side than most shounen action anime. It really nails home that devils are indeed not heroic beings even if they are on the side of good.
Plus, watching some guy slip around and fight in another creature’s puddle of guts just for a chance to cop a feel of some boob later is… New.
I like new.
Bocchi the Rock
Having social anxiety but still wishing to make friends, Hitori Gotou started learning the guitar to help lure people into talking to her.
Years later, she has amassed great guitar skills, but is in high school with still no friends. One day, she happens to meet an outgoing girl who just so happens to need a guitarist for her band.
Gaining the nickname Bocchi, Hitori is recruited in and puts her heart into improving her stage skills to make the band a success.
Why It Is Worth Watching? – Music shows are easy to love and “girls with social anxiety” is vying for “girls who aggressively tease” for the modern anime trope spotlight.
What Bocchi the Rock does really well is showcase social anxiety in a comical and cute, but not dismissive or belittling way.
Furthermore, as it juxtaposed a character with social anxiety beside a character with standard introversion, it really highlights the differences between them.
Akiba Maid War
Nagomi Wahira has always admired the cute girls who work in maid cafes, and as such, she has decided to move to Akihabara to become a maid!
While she gets a job at the Ton Tokoton maid cafe, she discovers that after one normal day with her more mature and also newly employed co-worker Ranko Mannen that things are not what they seem.
She and Ranko are sent to run an errand to a rival maid cafe, and it ends up as a complete blood bath as she and Ranko get caught up in the violent maid wars of Akihabara.
Why It Is Worth Watching? – It’s maid cafes that act like yakuza families. They are two quintessentially Japanese things that you think would not go together, but they did it anyway.
Again, it’s something wholly unique among anime plot and done in a way that is fun to watch.
Raven of the Inner Palace
Within the imperial palace, the emperor lives with his consorts. One such woman is the Raven Consort, who does not perform night time duties and remains in solitude.
This Raven Consort, a title currently held by the young Liu Shouxue, is charged with handling spiritual matters brought to her – everything from finding lost items to sending on spirits. It is even said that she can perform curses.
After living her days often undisturbed, she is visited by the young emperor Xia Gaojun, whose visits become even more frequent as the pair bond and she assists him in unraveling the spiritual mysteries of the inner palace.
Why It Is Worth Watching? – There are not a ton of anime that take place in large imperial palace-style places where an emperor lives among his consorts. However, that, while unique, isn’t the charm.
The charming thing about The Raven of the Inner Palace is that it is often about solving small supernatural mysteries which are interesting, but there is an overall mystery that is building as well.
It draws you in as good mystery series should, but also gives shoujo fans small moments of nice character interactions as well.
Shinobi no Ittoki
After the death of his father, Ittoki Sakuraba didn’t really think too much of his mother, uncle, and even childhood friend being extra protective of him. However, when a second year girl asks him out on a date and tries to kill him, he learns the shocking truth.
His mother, uncle, childhood friend and so many people around him are actually ninjas of the Iga clan that defend him, the son and heir of the previous chief, against the Koga Clan that seeks to destroy them in vengeance for killing their own clan chief.
For his own safety and to hone his skills, he is sent to the prestigious Kokuten Ninja Academy, but the intrigues of the ninja world are just beginning.
Why It Is Worth Watching? – This is my hot take for the season. It is actually a bit of a ride in terms of plot quality so I can see why many dropped it after its first few episodes. However, to do recommendations, I always watch at least six episodes, and it surprisingly got better.
I liked its take on modern ninjas. I didn’t like that it became about going to a ninja school where the average main character near-immediately got a harem. I liked that there was betrayal in his harem.
Ultimately what I like about this series the most is the overall story unfolding alongside the “ninja school” story about a growing plot in the larger ninja community. It kept me coming back, and what’s more I continued to like how it developed.
Bibliophile Princess
Ever since she was a child, Elianna Bernstein has preferred the company of books to people. As such, when she is proposed to by Crown Prince Christopher, she believes that she is just a temporary fiancee to protect the royal family from the schemes of other noble families.
Yet, when Christopher appears to be getting closer to another girl, Elianna looks up from her books and realizes that she is not as indifferent to him as she thought. What’s more, Christopher was never anything other than in love with her either.
Why It Is Worth Watching? – The first few episodes of the Bibliophile Princess play out very much like the ending of a shoujo romance. This leaves the rest of the plot open to explore new ideas.
It doesn’t really push the boundaries very far, but it is still a very charming albeit simple shoujo romance.
I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming The Final Boss
Being constantly ill, a girl passed her time in the hospital playing otome games. However, one day she wakes up in the world of the game she was playing. What’s more, she wakes up as Aileen Lauren Dautriche, the villainess of the game.
After childhood friend and crown prince Cedric publicly breaks up with her for the game’s protagonist, Aileen makes moves to avoid the tragic future that results in her death.
She decides to propose to Cedric’s half-brother, Demon King Claude who, if left alone, would transform into a dragon and off-handedly kill her in the game.
So begins her quest to tame him.
Why It Is Worth Watching? – While this series has a fraction of the characters of the extremely similar My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom, it does have something that that show lacks – clear romantic progression.
No wholesome bisexual harem, but you get romantic payoff with the same style of protagonist and a surprisingly demure, yet charming demon lord.
What were you favorite shows from the Fall 2022 season? Let fans know in the comments section below.
