Though Cartoon Network's FLCL Progressive got an early start on the Summer 2018 anime season, things dont't officially kick off in Japan this weekend.
On the first of July, the Sumer 2018 anime season officially kicks off in Japan. It's usually one of the weaker anime seasons of any given year but 2018 might be an exception as several fan-favorite franchises are returning for a new run of episodes.
Overlord, Attack on Titan and Gintama are all premiering new episodes in July. Then there's the new Dragon Ball Heroes promotional anime that will feature some dream match-ups, including Super Saiyan 4 vs Super Saiyan Blue. And we're not even going to include the Spring anime that are continuing into the summer like My Hero Academia and Persona 5 the Animation.
Summer will also bring several new shows, like Sirius the Jeger, Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs and a special OVA for Blood Blockade Battlefront.
Click the next button below for Anime Mojo's guide to the shonen anime series of Summer 2018 and for some key info on each title's staff and where it will be streaming abroad.
Overlord III
Overlord is back for a third anime season! The Studio Madhouse anime will premiere on July 10 and run for 13 episodes. The anime is based on the ongoing light novel series from Kugane Maruyama and the artist, so-bin that first began back in 2012.
The first two seasons of the anime were simulcast and simuldubbed by Crunchyroll and Funimation and the third will follow suit.
Synopsis: An official synopsis for season 3 has not been released yet.
Dragon Ball Heroes
Hype if pretty strong for the new promotional anime for the Dragon Ball Heroes trading card game, despite the fact that the series won't be canon. Not much is known about the episode count but any Dragon Ball anime is better than no Dragon Ball anime.
At the very least, it will make the wait for Dragon Ball Super's continuation via the upcoming anime film in December all the more tolerable.
So far, there are no details on where the anime will be streamed and it's possible that it will just be a net anime. We'll keep you posted with further details when they're released.
Synopsis: Trunks returns from the future to train with Goku and Vegeta. However, he abruptly vanishes. The mystery man ‘Fu’ suddenly appears, telling them that Trunks has been locked up on the ‘Prison Planet’, a mysterious facility in an unknown location between universes.
The Group searches for the Dragon Balls to free Trunks, but an unending super battle awaits them! Will Goku and the others manage to rescue Trunks and escape from the Prison Planet?
Attack on Titan Season 3
Thankfully, Attack on Titan fans won't have to wait as long for season 3 as Studio Wit made everyone wait for season 2. The new season premieres July 23 and will have a full 24 episodes.
Attack on Titan is another anime that's currently part of the Crunchyroll x Funimation simulcast/simuldub partnership.
Synopsis: After recovering Eren and Historia, the recruits are put under the care of Levi. Stuck out in the middle of nowhere, Hange subjects Eren to a series of experiments in an attempt to find out more about his ability. But when their link to the secrets behind the wall is murdered, the squad must move out and find a new refuge. Except, a figure from Levi’s past has his own plans to stop them.
Gintama: Silver Soul Arc 2
After concluding the Porori Arc last fall, the Gintama anime will return on July 9 for the conclusion of the Silver Soul Arc, the final arc of the manga. The episode count for the Bandai Namco Pictures adaptation has not been revealed but it's thought that this will be the final season of the long-running show.
North American streaming rights are currently owned by Crunchyroll.
Synopsis: A synopsis for the second part of the Silver Soul arc has not been released yet.
Sirius the Jaeger
Now, we're looking at our new anime series premiering this Summer. Tenrou: Sirius the Jaeger is an original anime series from Studio P.A. Works that will run for an unknown number of episodes after premiering on July 12.
A North American streaming home for Sirius the Jaeger has yet to be announced but its first episode will be premiering next week at Anime Expo in Los Angeles so expect word to drop sooner rather than later.
Synopsis: Imperial Capital, 1930.
A strange group of people carrying musical instrument cases landed on Tokyo station. They are called the “Jaegers”, who came to hunt vampires. Amongst them, there stood a young man with striking serenity and unusual aura. His name is Yuliy, a werewolf whose home village was destroyed by vampires. Yuliy and the Jaegers engage in deadly battle over a mysterious holy arc only known as “The Arc of Sirius”.
What truth awaits them at the end…?
With eternal affinity and spiral of conspiracy entwine, the highly anticipated action-thriller anime begins!
How Not To Summon A Demon Lord
It wouldn't be a new anime season without a new isekai anime. Based on the light novel series from Yukiya Murasaki and Takahiro Tsurusaki, the Ajia-do Animation Works anime adaptation premieres July 5.
The manga is a fairly popular Shonen Jump title and will definitely be one to keep an eye on. Crunchyroll and Funimation have already announced that they'll be splitting simulcast and simuldub duties.
Synopsis: In the MMORPG Cross Reverie, Sakamoto Takuma is so powerful that he is lauded as the "Demon Lord" by other players. One day, he is summoned to a world outside his own - but with the same appearance he had in the game! There, he meets two girls who both proclaim themselves to be his Summoner. They perform an Enslavement Ritual to turn him into their Summon... but that's when Takuma's passive ability <> activates!
Instead, it is the girls who become enslaved! Though Takuma may be the strongest Sorcerer there is, he has no idea how to talk with other people. It is here he makes his choice: to act based on his persona from the game! "Amazing? But of course... I am Diablo, the being known and feared as the Demon Lord!"
So begins a tale of adventure with an earth-shakingly powerful Demon Lord (or at least someone who acts like one) taking on another world!
Yuuna And The Haunted Hot Springs
Based on the ongoing Weekly Shonen Jump manga series from Tadahiro Miura, the Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs anime from Studio Xebec will premiere on July 14.
Crunchyroll and Funimation continue their dominance of the summer season with this title.
Synopsis: Homeless and haunted by ghosts, high schooler Kogarashi thinks his luck has finally turned when he finds Yuragi-sou–a cheap boarding house that was formerly a hot springs inn, now full of super sexy, scantily clad female tenants. If Kogarashi can use his spirit abilities to banish the ghost that haunts the inn, he can even live there rent-free! But when the ghost, a beautiful teenage girl named Yuuna, appears before him, Kogarashi takes pity on her and is suddenly not so sure about the exorcism.
Will he help save Yuuna from becoming an evil spirit? And what supernatural secrets do the other boarders hold?
Muhyo & Roji's Bureau of Supernatural Investigation
The upcoming Studio Deen anime is based on an old 2004 Weekly Shonen Jump manga series from Yoshiyuki Nishi. The series premieres August 13 for an unknown episode count.
Synopsis: Are you a victim of unwanted spirit possession? Is there a ghost you need sent up and away...or down to burn for all eternity?
If the answer is yes, then you need Muhyo and Roji, experts in magic law. Serving justice to evil spirits is their specialty.
Blood Blockade Battlefront & Beyond OVA
Rounding out our list of Summer 2018 shonen anime series is a special OVA for Blood Blockade Battlefront. The second season of the Studio Bones anime wrapped last December but there's a 24-episode OVA that will be bundled with the release of Volume 5 of Yasuhiro Nightow's ongoing manga.
The anime was previously simulcast on Crunchyroll and a dub was streamed on Funimation. There have been several past instances where OVA's were later added to Crunchyroll so there's a chance that the special, limited edition OVA might show up there.