Anime With Popcorn

Crunchyroll has announced its Summer 2025 anime lineup, so here is what I plan to watch and review this season.

Lord of the Mysteries

“In a steampunk world of secrets and gods, Klein dives deep into occult power and peril.” – Crunchyroll

Lord of the Mysteries is a Chinese web novel, which I’m all for. I love web novels and Solo Leveling didn’t disappoint. I really hope studios continue to make web novels into anime.

The premise of the show is a little interesting. Going into researching this show I had no prior knowledge of the plot. Steampunk world with gods, horror and mystery? Sign me up.

Also, one thing to note, LOTM is one of only two anime scheduled to release in June. All the other anime in the Crunchyroll Summer 2025 anime lineup are scheduled to release in July.

The availability of the web novel and comics online give this an even more exciting factor. I could possibly continue reading the story after the season has concluded.

I have not actually watched anything B.CMAY PICTURES has produced, but I do recognize The King’s Avatar so I’m not too worried about the quality of animation.

Unfortunately, at this time the Japanese Dub and English Dub casts are unannounced, so I do not have any insight on what they may bring to the table.

The only thing that confuses me is why this anime isn’t being marketed heavily by Crunchyroll. They posted the lineup with almost no work towards showing it off. The trailer looks stellar, and the fans of the web novel/comics seem to be ecstatic. Hopefully this isn’t a bad omen for what is to come.

Gachiakuta

“Framed and cast into a trash-filled abyss, Rudo fights monsters and the system that dumped him.” – Crunchyroll

I have never heard of this show, which is surprising seeing that it is a JUMP production. On top of that, being animated by bones films, the animation company behind My Hero Academia, hits me by surprise.

A few sources I have read say it’s possible for it to become “a possible contender for best new gen anime.” Which is impressive since this is the author, Kei Urana’s manga debut.

Without looking at the art or animation, the plot seemed to me to have similar vibes Alita Battle Angel as far as the floating city and the slums down below. We’ll see how it turns out though.

I plan to watch this in both English Sub and Dub, but at this time only the Japanese cast is released. I’ll be looking forward to how Aoi Ichikawa performs. I have relative peace of mind knowing this isn’t his first main character role.

Turkey! Time to Strike

“Mai leads the Ikkokukan High School Bowling Club as they fight for victory in the final days of summer!” – Crunchyroll

I absolutely love sports anime. Especially when they are about a sport that I don’t play or watch professionals play. I find myself watching bowling when I go to my local sports bar but don’t actually follow it. About all I know how to do is tally the scores, and I only learned that because Middle School taught me.

To top off my nostalgia, this is animated by BAKKEN RECORD, whose parent company, TATSUNOKO PRODUCTION, founded them in 2019. For those who don’t know, Tatsuo Yoshida, the founder, is the creator of Speed Racer which I was obsessed with in middle school. So, it’s a nice treat of information I learned while researching.

It’s only going to be available in English Sub, but that won’t stop me from enjoying it. I watched all of Kuroko’s Basketball subbed so I’m not worried.

The cast looks fairly stacked. Kana Ichinose being one of the more notable VA’s that I know from titles like Doctor Stone and Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. Though, I look forward to seeing how Yuuki Tenma performs with her relatively low experience compared to her castmates.

Kaiju No. 8 Season 2

Now I won’t go into too much detail about this anime since it’s a second season. At this time, I have not posted a review of the first season, but I did watch it and loved it. I plan on creating a full season review before the release of the second season.

I have high hopes for this since the first season did so well and had many affiliations and awards. I hope it continues to make its run for best new gen anime.

Final Thoughts

These are my Crunchyroll anime to watch this season. I only have four anime that I plan to watch but I’ll be breaking down each episode to provide honest insights and episode-level ratings throughout the season. I also plan to add more to this list based on comments and recommendations, so if you have anything you are looking forward to don’t hesitate to comment or message me directly on here or socials. I look forward watching the new season releases with you.