First Look at the New Titles for the Summer of 2025

July brings yet another new batch of anime.  Here are the initial thoughts on the premier episodes of the titles that attracted my attention. 

Detectives These Days are Crazy

    Nagumo Keiichiro was a famous detective in his youth but has lost his touch as he ages.  Tha is until he is forced to hire a perculair high scholl girl named Mashiro-chan.  Mashiro wants to be a great detective herself and has traind hard to aquie various skill she belives will benefit her future career.  Will this nw blood put some spark in Keichiro's life and work?

    I am a fan of gag manga and this one is quite strange but nothing too out of the ordinary.  Its an aburdist comedy that could be likended to...what would happen is Conan grew up (again) and started to be a terrible detective.  Mashiro is perhaps the most interesting character so far but i do look forward to moe weird tales of stupidity from this show.

The series is being simulcast on Crunchyroll. 

Nyaight of the Living Cat

    One cat developed a mutation that would allow it to turn anyone who it touched into a cat as well as spread the ability to other cats...patient zero in the nyandemic.  Now, humans have a much different reality in which they either do everything they can to avoid the worlds more prolific hunter or join their ranks.

    This is a weird half serious entirely ridiculous post apocalyptic anime directed by the legendary Takashi Miike.  I don't know if this is a story that can really carry its self through an entire season of episodes instead of an hour OAV or something...but we're about to find out either way.

The series is being simulcast on Crunchyroll.  

With You and the Rain

    On a rainy day an unnamed woman finds an abandoned...dog?  It particularly agreeable aura leads her to bringing it home.  Unsure if it really is a dog she goes with it and decides to let it live with her.  Lucky for her it understands Japanese and can write to communicate ideas with her.

     Its clearly a tanuki...but so far the world of the story is presented to us as if no one knows of the existence of tanuki.  This may be one of the cutest iyashikei I have ever seen and I can't wait to see more of it!! 

The series is being simulcast on Crunchyroll. 

Hotel Inhumans

    In the underground there is a hotel that specializes in assissting those who murder for their profession.  The hotel provides all of the tools nessicary to assist their cliantel in their complicated wark environment.  The first episode is a boy turned killer by the gang holding his sister hostage.  Just as he is on the cusp of buying her freedom, the new head of the gang decides hes no longer needed.  In a last ditch effort he arrives at the hotel, seeking their support in finding his sister.

    So there is this great drama series called Death Parade about a limbo where the recently dead are judged based upon their deeds while alive.  The limbo is an upscale coctail launge where the staff assist the dead in reaching their judgement.  Hotel Inhumans felt similar to that fantsastic show, but instead of the recently dead its those that live shadow murderous lives gthat happen to be stuck it problematic situations.  This show is no where near as compelling as the older one and there is just too high of a moe level to make it any better.  I may give this one another two episodes before passing final judgement though....but its not looking good. 

The series is being simulcast on Crunchyroll. 

Watari-kun's *** is About to Collapse

    Watari is a high school student who only cares about his 10 year old sister, especially after their parents died two years earlier.  They are lucky enough to stay with a woman in her late 20's and live a relatively serene existence.  That is until a girl from his past returns and turns his life upside down.

    This is mash up of the old neighbor girl that you were close with returning and a dark secret story smashed into one.  Not sure what to make of this.  Watari absolutely dislikes the girl from his past, since the day she disappeared from his life she destroyed his families ample garden.   Now the girl has returned and refuses to tell him why shes obsessed with him or what was up with the garden murder and her disappearance.  Le sigh...we will give this one a few episodes but so far its not very engaging.  It seems like the only reason you would want to continue this story is to find out the secret shes hiding.  the characters are not very interesting and did I forget to mention there's a love triangle already established?

The series is being simulcast on Crunchyroll. 

Rent a Girlfriend season 4

    We dive right back into the story as Kazuya tries to get back into routine with the start of the new semester.  The emotional damage and stress of making the movie for Chizuru's grandmother took a huge toll on both of them...especially after her grandmothers death.  Ruka wants more attention from him after all the leeway she gave over the summer.  He doesn't know how he will let her down easily while he has his eyes only on the girl hes not sure he can get.

    Well, we are back here again.  Interesting start to the fourth season with Kazuya masturbating.  They did a half way decent job of refreshing that audience with a bunch of the main characters and the most recent/relevant plot points as we move into the continuing waltz of  Kazuya being a weak bitch.  At this point I'm in it until the end, but I'm not happy about it.

The series is being simulcast on Crunchyroll. 

Dan Da Dan season 2

    We pick up right were we left off in season 1 as Momo is about to have a bad time at the hot spring.  Things get worse when relatives of the people attacking her are giving Jiji and Okarun the 3rd degree.  All in the name of the giant serpent god.

    Welcome back Dan Da Dan...but I do miss the Creepy Buts opening from season 1.  Science Saru still comes with the high intensity animation and directing.  Let's goooooo!!!!

The series is being simulcast on Crunchyroll. 

Rascal Does Not Dream of Santa Claus

    Sakuta is in college now, same as Mai, but he still doesn't get to spend a lot of time with her.  The campus keeps an eye on him as their relationship is well known.  Even if he can't see the most beautiful woman on Earth as much as he wants, he's gathering more people around him.  But even though they are young adults, they still can't outrun problems brought on by the final throws of puberty.

    This is defiantly the series on the top of my anticipation list.  The Rascal Doesn't Dream Series has been a favorite since the original series came out and I'm 1 volume off from being up to date with the English releases of the original light novels.  I always say this, the story just improves on its self with each successive arc.  Can't wait to see how much the second TV show covers.

The series is being simulcast on Crunchyroll. 

The Summer Hikaru Died

    Yoshiki's best friend Hikaru went missing on the mountain near their small town.  When he returned a week later something was different.  Months later, after continuing his life as normal, Yoshiki asks Hikaru if he's the real one.  Hikaru then admits that his friend is dead and he has inhabited that body, experiencing life as a human for the time being.  It retains all of the dead boys memories and experiences but every new thing brings wonder and emotion.  The new Hikaru wants nothing more than to be with his best friend Yoshiki...threatening to kill him if that changes.  Yoshiki doesn't understand whats going on and fears the thing puppeting his friend but goes along with it, because at least his friend is still there...even if its not the real Hikaru.

    This is a highly anticipated adaptation of a well regarded horror manga.  I have been picking it up since it launched but have only read the first volume, wanting to wait for the anime to come out instead.  The production company has stated they want to enhance the terror in the story compared to what the manga elicited.  We shall see...its really hard to make manga or anime scary by any stretch.

The series is being simulcast on Netflix. 

City the Animation

    Set in an average city in modern Japan we follow the mundane exploits of various semi interconnected characters as they go about their ordinary lives.  But these eternally positive individuals are anything but ordinary and the way they approach life can sometimes be a bit...weird.

    This is the second anime adaptation of a manga by the genius behind Nichijou.  It could take place in the same universe?  But we really don't know.  All we are doing is sitting down and learning about the weird quirks and mundane adventures of our cast.  My soul is ready!!!!!!!!  Bring on the normal weird.

The series is being simulcast on Amazon. 

My Dress Up Darling season 2

    We jump right back into the lives of Marin and Gojo and their awkward relationship.  he first episode sets us up for cosplay work that Gojo decides to do for her based on a ridiculous action comedy series where the main characters where bunny-girl suits.  The episode ends when the series began, with Gojo in the depths of his self doubt when Marin invites him for a Halloween gathering.  Gojo is still petrified by the rejection from his youth for being into dolls and accessories.  But this group of peers seem to crack that shell when they don't see any issue with him doing Marin's makeup.

    Aside from the obvious sexualization concerns over its 15 year female lead, this is a fantastic and beautiful show about growing up, building confidence and finding yourself.  I am very happy for this to return and wonder what the road will look like as our lovable almost couple journey onward. 

The series is being simulcast on Crunchyroll. 

See You Tomorrow at the Food Court

    This is an unformulated show about two girls from different schools that don't fit in.  Aside from the obvious appearances saying they shouldn't click, they try to meet up each afternoon at a local mall food court to idly chat.

     I enjoyed this first episode significantly more than I expected.  The main characters and they banter remind me not only of how I was with my friends as a teenager...but honestly, how we still are.  Its a fun and endearing look at two people who are conformable with each others company and don't put on a fake face.  I hate to admit it...but I see way to much of my self in Wata,

The series is being simulcast on Crunchyroll. 

Bad Girl

    First year high school student Yuu has a crush on a third year who helps enforce the schools rules.  In order to gain her attention she decides to start acting like a delinquent.  Unfortunately she is too much of a unconscious and well behaved person that she's only pretending to be bad...and her definition of delinquency is rather...mundane.

    This is a yonkoma comedy that doesn't work hard to hide being yuri bate.  I'm not sure if its fun enough to keep watching though...ill give it a few more episodes but so far its not really that compelling. 

The series is being simulcast on HiDive 

April Showers Bring May Flowers

    Hana is failing at making any friends in high school.  She is painfully shy and has low self esteem.  Her school life becomes...complicated, when the most popular boy in class discovers a secret.  Or at least what she thinks is a secret.

    This is yet another entry into the long line of ugly duckling becoming the object of affection of the model student.  At least this one is goofy but these tend to be pretty painful for how self abusing the main characters are.  We shall see how long this one lasts and if it can offer any merits other than the MC being voiced by the beloved Hayami Saori. 

The series is not legally streaming anywhere that I am aware of. 

The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity

    Wataru has always been feared for his features.  It has caused him to accept this as his disposition but he just wants to get through life with as little fuss as possible.  A chance meeting with a girl at his families cake shop opens up his eyes to a different outlook when she doesn't see anything wrong with his looks or personality.

    Yet another black sheep and a princess romance...except this first episode was really good and the characters, especially Rintaro are more compelling than you normally see in this type of story.  I am not sure what about it has spoken to me....but I'm actually excited to watch this show, even though I've sene a dozen other titles exactly like it.

The series will be available on Netflix upon completion...sadly.

Solo Camping for Two

    Gen finds his one escape from the pressures of life, solo camping, utterly ruined by a surprise companion in the energetic Shizuku.  The younger woman forces herself into his life, joining him on his camping adventures, in order to become more adept at camping herself.

     Iyashikei normally center around adolescent girls, but this one deals with a middle aged man and presumably a 20-something woman.  Not sure if it will have enough innovation in its story telling to elicit any interest though...as Yuru Camp has pretty much set the bar for camping iyashikei.

The series is being simulcast on Crunchyroll.

Can a Boy-Girl Friendship Survive?

Can a Boy-Girl Friendship Survive? (男女の友情は成立する？（いや、しないっ!!）) Is a 12 episode slice of life romance based on the light novel series by Nana Nanana.  The anime original aired during the Spring of 2025.

    Natsume Yu has a dream, a dream shared by his indisputable best friend Inuzuka Himari.  That dream is to open a store selling jewelry and accessories centered around preserved flowers.   Yu has a deep love and appreciation for the beauty and hidden meanings of the floral world and over time has developed a method to preserve that for 'eternity'.  Himari became enamored with his vision and eye for detail when they were in middle school during an exposition.  She decided then and there that she would be his assistant in every way possible, putting herself before his dream.  In the process of this arrangement she demands that they be best friends as she has no interest in romance.  Yu, focused on his goal with all of his attention, gladly accepts the arrangement and pushes forward with his vision.  As they near the end of their high school career...things begin to shift in their relationship that begin to cause problems with the shared goal.

    hings become complicated when a girl who Yu encountered earlier in his life, by the name of Enomoto Rion, transfers to their school.  She was the first girl he fell in love with and she has mutual feelings for him.  Unfortunately for her, he has moved on and is focused exclusively on he and Himari's goal.  The arrival of a rival puts Himari on edge and she struggles with letting Yu know her true feelings for him.  To complicate things even more, a long time friend of Rion's is stirring the pot, causing all manner of drama, hoping for his friend to get her wish.  All of the adults around them understand that Yu is going to need to reassess his goal and try to make him understand that hes far from the potential he needs to be successful.  As older, more experienced individuals, they try to convince the kids to slow life down a little and enjoy the time they have.  But can Yu really chose the path that will be the best outcome for him?

    Terrible title, somewhat likeable character but really annoying tendencies and muddled internal conflicts.  This story had a lot of problems and self imposed set backs that made the story struggle.  Everything comes down to Yu and Himari refusing to accept the future together that makes sense and has the highest chance of success.  Instead they are focused on a naive sense of professionalism that increasing emotional turmoil impacts the quality of.  Himari is the most problematic character, but I still really enjoyed her as a character, even though I wanted to slap her everything she fucking things up by being too indecisive.  Consistently she would begin to reveal her true feelings and intentions with Yu then blow everything off as a joke, then stress about what Yu really thought about her.  She sabotaged herself at every opportunity.  She didn't need any of the obstacles that other people intentionally put in her way to stop her from being true to herself and Yu, she did that as much as she could.

    Yu as well was so focused on a flippant promise he made with Himari that he didn't even consider how she could have either changed her mind or been lying the entire time.  The distractions did little to impact him compared to what his internal dialogue did.  Literally the entirety of the drama in the story was self inflicted by the main characters.  Everything else, all of the opposition from outside players, had little to no impact on the outcome of their plight...it was all self inflicted.  The story can be summoned as self sabotage the series.  Yet, the characters did not truly learn from their stupidity and in the end they win.  Sorry...did I spoil the series...be honest you aren't going to watch it.  The only reason I continued to watch it was because I did like the characters outside of their relentless sabotage.  Himari was a fun character, brash, forthright and unapologetic.  Unfortunately, Yu was a bit of a wet paper bag and the relationships between all of the other characters barely resonated.  I guess....pass on this story?

The series is available on Crunchyroll.   

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes

 My Hero Academia: Vigilantes (ヴィジランテ -僕のヒーローアカデミア ILLEGALS-) is a 13 episode super hero series based on the manga of the same name by Furuhashi Hideyuki.  The first season aired during the Spring of 2025.

    Himawari Koichi is a college student in the city of Naruhata who wishes his quirk was good enough to be selected to be a hero.  His ability allows him to glide across surfaces when making three points of contact.  Due to his own internal limitations, he is only able to do the speed of a brisk walk while using his quirk.  Not willing to let his dream of helping others go to waste, he moonlights some nights as Nice Guy, going around the neighborhood being helpful.  Giving people directions, picking up trash, taking photos for tourists, etc.  One night he encounters a girl who performs as a street idol being harassed by three delinquents.  Koichi tries to intervene but the boys relentlessly beat him.  Before they assault the girl, Pop Step, a man falls from a building into a pile of garbage and begins to beat the delinquents.  The man...a masked and muscle bound bruiser, calling himself Knuckle Duster, acts as a vigilante.  He sees promise in Koichi and makes him his apprentice.

     Knuckleduster begins to give the young man lessons on fighting and street smarts, all the while scoffing as the hero association and their lack of attention to the crimes that happen all of the place.  Knuckleduster is the rare person who doesn't gave a quirk, instead he uses brute force and tenacity to enact his own brand of justice.  Pop Step, intrigued by the two vigilantes, begins to participate and hang out as well.  The three of them get dragged into a conspiracy by unknown villains to spread a drug that rapidly enhances the users quirk as well as enhancing any latent rage, leading to instant villains with devastating effect.  

    I have never been a fan of the original My Hero Academia, from the character design to the fact it is 'just' another massive shonen action series that's probably way to long for its own good.  But that's unfair as I have never watched it and understand very little of its world.  Something about the trailer for Vigilantes spoke to me in a way that MHA never did.  It made me think of the comic books of my adolescence, the early 90's 'golden' age of American super hero comics.   These days calling me a fan of super heroes would be a blatant lie.  Its just not my thing.  I did X-Men back in the early 90's due to the cartoon.  That lead me into the underbelly that was Image comics.  Beyond that...I could really care less for super heroes.  Never liked Batman, but I have watched almost all of the movies.  Ive watched all of the MCU out of...curiosity...a desire to be informed when hating on it?  So with that entrenched negative reaction to super heroes, I really did enjoy this first season and am happy to see it get a second one.

    This story works really well isolated from any knowledge of MHA in general.  The small cast is well developed to be the thing that carries the story.  There is a story, largely a lose association of events that not all of the cast is aware of.  Out of the new characters for the story, Knuckle Duster is the only one that knows the full extent of how everything is connecting.  The story is well put together, with nothing really being pointless, all culminating into a climax as the season reaches its head...a climax that two of the three characters had no idea was even occurring.  The series was fantastic, but in no way has convinced me to dive into the original.  I do eagerly await the second season in 2026!!

The series is available on  Crunchyroll. 

Lazarus

 Lazarus (ラザロ) is a 13 episode original anime by Watanabe Shinichiro in conjunction with Adult Swim.  The series originally aired during the Spring of 2025.

    The year is 2050 and the world has become a better place due to a miracle drug called Hopna by a once in a generation genius named Dr. Skinner.  The drug eliminate all pain for those who take it and it quickly becomes an integral part of society.  Shorty after its release, Dr. Skinner disappears from the world.  When he next surfaces, in the form of a video message broadcast throughout the world, he comes as a portent of doom.  Dr. Skinner feels that the gift he has bestowed upon humanity has been squandered.  No one has decided to change the fate of the species for good, instead continuing business as usual.  Since, as he feels, humans have shown little reason to continue running the planet, he has enacted a kill switch in his medicine...or perhaps it was there the entire time.  He warns the world that soon everyone who has taken hopna will suffer a generically encoded fatality.  He has left it up to humanity to save themselves and find him in 30 days in order to get the antidote.

     Under the direction of the NSA a rag tag team of specialists is put together to form LAZARUS to track down Skinner.  This disparate group offers unconventional talents to the task.  Axel, broke out of prison when offered clemency in exchange for being a part of LAZARUS.  He possesses unnatural balance and aptitude for parkour and has been serving over 800 years for routine prison breaks.  .Doug takes on a lead role within the group and has a cold calculating demeanor and excellent marksmanship.  Chris is a bit of wild card who is running from her past.  Leland is a teenage tech wizard who specializes in drone piloting.  Eleina is one of the best hackers on the planet.   Together they begin to methodically track down any clues as they race against the clock to save humanity.

     Few anime directors carry the respect and gravitas as Watanabe Shinichiro.  His name attached to a project ensures it will get a lot of eyes on it.  Lazarus is no exception and the excitement for a new series by the famed creator of Cowboy Bebop and Space Dandy was well earned.  Unfortunately Lazarus fell short of expectations.  The premise of the story is straightforward and easy, group of misfits are put together as a team to track down a man who is hiding really well but also wants to be found.  They have a limited time to find him and unlimited resources to accomplish their goal.  Where does that leave the narration?  In many heist stories, as this is essentially a heist story, it leaves the meat of the story to build the characters up for the audience.  They may be on the wrong side of the law in many cases but through the course of the story they become lovable and sympathetic characters that the viewer wants to succeed.  In the case of Lazarus and their goal of preventing the extinction of humanity there are really only two outcomes; success or misdirection.  Its implausible that the ending of the story would lead to the death of 99% of humanity.  So their success is guaranteed from the beginning.  What does that leave?  Determining what characters survive until the end?

    Since the success of the venture is encoded into the threat presented to them all that's left is to build compelling characters and/or a compelling environment.  I strongly feel that Lazarus failed to deliver on both.  The course of the story, especially the first half, has the team fruitlessly chasing one dead lead after another, never getting any closer to their goal.  During the course we get some background context about the lives of the team but never enough to be impactful.  Axel, the face of the series, is barely discussed and in the last few episodes, when his past becomes pivotal in a new narration, his role in the events are merely coincidental instead of impactful.  He just happens to be a random survivor of a project that becomes the real plot of the story...too late to make any difference.  This plot diversion even diminishes the climax of the team trying to find Skinner and save the world of Hopna.  Largely the series felt like a critique of modern society by Watanabe.  The early episodes, where the team was spinning its wheels, focused on different problems humanity openly ignores.  Inequity, global warming, tech-bro hubris, etc.  Yet all of that just feels like window dressing for a series that doesn't tell an interesting story in any manner.

The series is available for streaming on HBO. 

Kowloon Generic Romance

 Kowloon Generic Romance (九龍ジェネリックロマンス) is a 13 episode mystery series based on the manga of the same name by Mayuzuki Jun.  The anime aired during the Spring of 2025.

     Kujirai Reiko goes about her mundane life in the dense accumulation of humanity that is the Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong.  She works for a small realty firm, helping the towns residents find the perfect place to lay their head.  When she begins to develop feelings for her coworker, Kudo Hajime, things begin to become less mundane.  While visiting a tea house she see's a picture of what appears to be her and Hajime but she does not remember anything about it.  For that matter, she really doesn't have any memories.

    She learns that she is a different person than the Reiko that came before her.  That Reiko wore glasses and was engaged to Hajime.  Sinister forces are moving in the background, she and her world are part of their unknown plan.  Somehow it is tied to a pharmaceutical company the Hebinuma Group and her encounters with its young co-director leaves her skin crawling.  With the help of a fiend she decides to investigate the strange circumstances around her environment, struggling to understand a woman she resembles and her connection with the people around her.

    What really drew me to this series was the author, who did the fantastic slice of life romance, After the Rain, but I really had no idea what to expect.  The first episode clearly established that something was...off...and it wasn't going to be a straightforward girl falls for boy story.  Instead we get a well executed near future sci-fi story about revenge, pain and regret.  The only thing that can be relied on is that nothing is as it appears on the surface.  Everyone has their side that they keep to themselves and much of that controls Reiko's existence and fate in their hands.  Reiko may be the most sympathetic cool character in anime, or one of them.  Instead of being a trope her calm and collected personality makes a lot of sense when you begin to unravel her past.

    This was a very satisfying story and series.  The artwork is a bit odd, at least with the character designs but that doesn't mean its not jam packed with beautiful people.  I have heard that the manga is a bit more...explicit.  So if that's not your thing maybe steer clear of that but do greatly enjoy the anime.  I will have to check out the manga at some point, to see what was different in the story between both versions. Either-way, this was a fantastic watch and i can't wait to see what else she has in store for the world in her next manga.

The series is available on Crunchyroll 

mono

mono is a 12 episode slice of life anime based on the manga of the same name by Afro.  The series originally aired during the Spring of 2025.

     Following the graduation of a senpai she highly regards, Satsuki falls into a depression.  She and another 2nd year student, An, are the only remaining members of the Photography Club.  Unwilling to let her senpai's legacy be forgotten they forge a plan to save the club by merging it with the Cinema Club, absorbing its few members as well.  The newly minted CinePhoto Club now has to figure out what it wants to do.  Sakurako, the former president of the Cinema Club, suggests that they actually do the things the club would suggest.  Satsuki decided to buy a used action camera and ends up befriending a lazy manga artist named Haruno in the process.  Haruno decides to 'sponsor' the club and the store her grandmother runs becomes a de-facto club room over summer break.

    The CinePhoto club joins Haruno on trips researching things for her manga, which leads to them taking gastronomical tours all around  Yamanashi Prefecture.  Their focus on capturing film and photo for their club activities falls by the side as they enjoy a summer they will never forget and befriend a handful of other weirdos associated with Haruno.  As the Summer comes to a close they realize they didn't really produce anything they could use for their clubs projects...instead they ate way to much food and climbed a lot of mountains and drove many miles with Haruno and her friend Kako.

    I went into this series blind, not realizing it was by the same author as the modern classic, Laid-Back Camp.  It took a few episodes and some fun cameo's to even learn that this manga exists in the same world as that one!!  I was already hooked before that realization based purely on the character design and sheer joy of the narration.  Its interesting how quickly the series switches its focus from being about a few weird kids trying to save their club to a travel vlog of sorts, showcasing many delightful events and sites in central Honshu.  One things for sure, these kids have a lot of expendable income...especially with how much food they consume at restaurants along the way.  The other thing is...their parents are very much absent from their lives!

    The characters are lovable with amusing designs and antics.  Laid-Back Camp feels like a warm fluffy scarf while mono feels like a neon colored tank top.  The hi-jinks and antics are upfront and center as the band of misfits wander around the country side.  Even the resident responsible adult, Haruno, feels like a kid willing to get up to trouble at the drop of a hat.  Yet they don't do anything remotely dangerous of problematic...well except for the episode where two of them bomb a massive hill on long-boards.  Instead they move from one mundane adventure to the other but bring a level of energy that makes it seem like something extraordinary.  The best way to sum up the series and its tone...making mundane and normal tourism feel as exotic and exiting as visiting an active volcano.  This was a fantastic series and greatly overshadowed a similar themed series, ZatsuTabi, much to that shows detriment.  Two for two, Afro knows how to tell a really fantastic fluffy iyashikei story!!

The series is available on Crunchyroll. 

Apocalypse Hotel

 Apocalypse Hotel (アポカリプスホテル) is an original 13 episode sci-fi series produced by CyberAgent and Cygames.  The series originally aired during the Spring of 2025.

     In the 22nd century, humanity has fled Earth, escaping a deadly virus.  One hotel in Ginza, Tokyo, still operates due to the diligence of its renaming robot staff.  Yachiyo, a humanoid customer service model, is the acting-acting manager of the hotel and runs it with efficient professionalism.  Over the century many of the robotic staff have fallen into disrepair and the half dozen or so remaining staff do their best to keep the guest-less business open and ready for humanities return.  After a century of working their shifts without any patrons, an alien arrives and stays for a few days.  Yachiyo does her best to interact and communicate with this new life form but is unsure if she is able to impart upon it their gratitude and dedication after it leaves.

    They do not see another guest for fifty years until a ship crashes and the occupants claim to be humans.  Their ruse is uncovered quickly and their identity as space tanuki is revealed.  The family fled their home world in search of safety.  They stumbled upon a derelict ship from Earth, with no survivors, and used the knowledge gleaned to find Earth.   Since they are able to communicate with Yachiyo they are able to help her improve the hotels abilities to engage with other species who may visit from space.  Infact...they decide to settle down on Earth and their daughter Ponko begins working t the hotel.  Over the centuries, with the long lived tanuki's help, the hotels reputation grows in a galactic sense, bringing in species from all walks of life to enjoy the robot crews dedication to service, all will hoping for the return of humanity.

     With the 2025 Summer season, we have seen a single series over the past 3 cour focusing on a hotel.  Tasokare Hotel from the Winter season, this one for Spring and the pending Hotel Inhumans for the Summer.  By and far, this one is the best of the three.  It is the only original story out of the three, and once again shows how good Cygames is at content creation.  Yachiyo is a fantastic character and the takunki family was a great addition to the central characters, further carrying on the plot in unusual directions.  Instead of being episodic focused on dealing with different alien species each week, it meanders between different concepts that build up the stories background.  I never would have imagined we would see the formation of a taunki space program.  At one point they go through a decades long process of establishing a whiskey distillery for the hotel.  The antics pile on right up to the very end.

     A story that features no humans does a really good job of imbuing humanity in them. The pacing and directing are fantastic as building the world and making you love its few recurring figures.  Comedy, sorrow, wonder, excitement...this series has it all.  We really need more original content in the anime production landscape.  It feels like there has been more of them recently, with Astro Note and Zenshu.  All three of these titles should prove to everyone that original content should be encouraged and sought after as bringing high quality and fantastic stories to the medium.  Apocalypse Hotel is one of the best anime that has come out in 2025 so far and I highly recommend it to many fans of the medium.

The series is available on Crunchyroll.