Recommended for everyone who is starting a new life! Akiba Research Institute's professional reviewers have selected 4 anime to watch in spring, the season of encounters and partings!

Writers, musicians, celebrities, and other "professional reviewers" who have a lot to say about anime are posting their reviews one after another.

This time, we asked them to select and review anime recommended for the spring season of encounters and goodbyes. If you are curious about what kind of anime the excerpts from the reviews are about, please read the full text at the link below, and after watching the full-length anime, please write your own reviews as well!

Shinichi Yanamoto / Writer

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Freelance writer who loves the outpouring of individuality and power. Author of "Super Shit Games" and "Super Nintendo Entertainment System" (both co-authored). He also writes articles on games for Akiba Research Institute.

Active in the subculture scene, including anime and games, Mr. Arjamoto's reviews are truly strong style! He is an anime fan's choice for anime fans, and no matter which anime he reviews, you can't go wrong with any of them.

SHIROBAKO

(Review excerpt) "SHIROBAKO" is one of those anime that I find myself returning to every spring.

In a nutshell, it is a story about work in the anime industry, but it is also a story about the main characters who jump into a new world and grow as members of society and as human beings, and it is a work that should be seen by students and newcomers to society. (omission) Living as a member of society is a difficult thing. Even if you like it, even if you think you have talent, even if you do your best, you are still relative to the yardstick of achievement (which is determined by who knows who), and you cannot advance as you would like. Still, it is the ideals and initial feelings we had that day that sustain us, and it is because of these that we can do our best. This is an anime to watch in the spring, when new things begin.

OVERMAN King Gainer

(Review excerpt) Yoshiyuki Tomino, the director of "Mobile Suit Gundam," strongly aimed for entertainment in this work, but there are some parts of the world setting and character modeling that make you feel a sense of excitement. For example, the stance on Exodus varies from person to person, with some people preferring to live in a stable domeopolis. Even these people are inevitably involved in an exodus that moves an entire city. They say that change is painful, but what about those who do not need change? (omission) People tend to be afraid of change and to be lenient in painful circumstances. However, if one has the courage to take a step forward, there is at least some possibility there. Growing up is not about belittling or denying who you were before. We must step out of the frozen ground, where the wind and snow are blowing, and into an ideal world full of greenery. This film is an exodus from our past selves, a Hakutomino that will give us courage when we see it in the spring when the environment changes.

Iriksan Samejima / comedian, DJ

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The "non-frieza" of the comedy duo BAN BAN BAN, Ichirokuso started the anime song DJ event "Anime Song Disco" in 2010, playing anime songs at various venues both in and outside of Japan. He is a member of Yoshimoto Kogyo.

Mr. Samejima, who is active as a comedian, is also the leader of the anime song DJ event "Anime Song Disco. He meticulously checks out anime each season and incorporates respect for the full-length anime into his DJ performances. His reviews are written in a unique style, basically recommending anime to his mother. What? You're recommending this to your parents? to a review that will make you cry, check out his ever-changing style of writing that will move your heart!

A Place Farther Than the Universe

(Review excerpt) Mom. Have you seen this? I'd like you to take a look if you want. It's really good. Do you know it? It's an anime called "A Place Farther Than Outer Space." It's really good. I really want people who want to start something to watch it, and I think it's the kind of anime I want my mother to watch. The synopsis is, roughly speaking, "Four high school girls go to the South Pole! The synopsis is, in a nutshell, "Four high school girls go to the South Pole! They have arrived at the South Pole! Yes, the goal! We have achieved our goal! Yay!" But that's not what it's about. The goal is to say, "Suck it up! I want you to do what you want to do. (omission) Now, I want you to do what you want to do. I think she has sacrificed a lot of things. I want to hear your mother say, "Suck it up! I think this work reminds me once again that I need to be more filial to my parents, and I also think this work will give courage to those who take a step forward. If you make the right effort, the day will surely come when you can say, "Suck it up! If you make the right effort, the day will come when you can say, "Suck it up!

Natsuki Sakamoto / Musician

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After playing in bands such as Chirinuluowaka, She Her Her Hers, and Over The Top, Sakamoto has participated in various music productions as a studio musician and producer, including Creepy Nuts, DE DE MOUSE, HOME MADE Family, reGretGirl, Acid Free Girl Sayuri, Shiori Niiyama, Hoshimachi Suisei, Minami, and many others.

Active at the forefront of the music industry, Sakamoto is no stranger to anime; in 2023, "Mouichipon! He worked with Subway Daydream on the arrangement of the OP theme "Stand By Me. Since he has actually worked on anime songs, his reviews also use anime songs as a hook. The review is a must-see, as it reminds us once again of the relationship between the main anime and anime songs!

Toradora!

(Review excerpt) Whenever I feel graduation or going on to higher education in town, I always remember the last episode of "Toradora! s final episode. I don't know of any other story that has such a beautiful ending, such emotional involvement with the characters, such a sense of loss that transcends the two-dimensional barrier, and such a diverse final scene filled with "tears". (omission) The theme songs are equally evergreen and brilliant. The song "Orange" is particularly popular, as evidenced by the fact that a special PV was produced to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the release of the original work. (omission) When you want to take a light step into a new school year or a new environment, you can let it all out once and for all with "Toradora! How about taking a fresh start and letting it all out once and for all with "Toradora!