This year’s April anime lineup is full of story-heavy, aesthetically pleasing series, and I’d be doing a disservice to my birth month if it didn’t shed some light on a few of my favorites.
I chose to list four must-see series I’m obsessed with this month. Each series has a great plot, beautiful visuals, and great episodes that will keep you excited for the next installment.
While several more series will be released this month, I’ve focused on a handful from the Crunchyroll and Netflix catalogs that have at least two episodes. So now, in no particular order, my top four recommendations from the April series are…
“Birdie Wing: The Story of Women Golfers”
Currently streaming on Crunchyroll
Current episodes: 3
According to IMDb, “Birdie Wing,” a coming-of-age story that follows Eve and Aoi Amwashi, two golfers who come from totally different backgrounds and have opposing styles of play, will revolutionize the world of golf.
I discovered anime around the same time I started playing competitive golf almost ten years ago. Since then, anime and golf have remained important parts of my life, oscillating between things I held in high regard and passing interests that I keep coming back to. However, no matter where they fall on my radar, I will always find ways to include them in a conversation.
With all of that in mind, a golf anime with a female lead warms my heart more than words could express. I can sit back and enjoy the tender love and care that Bandai Namco Pictures puts into the animation of golf courses, club swings, and ball trajectories. I can talk about my favorite sport while watching anime!
I highly recommend watching the pilot at the very least. This first episode had me packing up my Callaway clubs and heading out to the driving range the next morning.
“Spy x Family”
Currently streaming on Crunchyroll and Hulu
Current episodes: 2
IMDb describes “Spy x Family” as a spy on an undercover mission who marries and adopts a child as part of its cover story. His wife and daughter have their own secrets and the three of them must work to keep everything together.
There’s not much about “Spy x Family” that I can say without spoiling too much, but I will say that the characters are very well written and interesting on their own. This series has just the right amount of wellness and action to keep you on your toes.
“Tiger & Bunny” Season 2
Currently streaming on Netflix
Current episodes: 10
“Tiger & Bunny,” played by Netflix, is about a veteran hero named Wild Tiger who is chosen to team up with rookie Barnaby Brooks Jr. in a world where superheroes have patrons and are stars of their own reality show. The second season begins mainly after the events of the movie “Tiger & Bunny: The Rising”.
“Tiger & Bunny” is one of those gems I found on Hulu that was wild enough to grab my attention but goofy enough to make sure it wasn’t too intense. I initially thought it was a dead fandom that would never get a sequel because it was released over a decade ago. Still, when I saw that Netflix had renewed it for a second season, I dropped everything to watch it again and get excited about the new episodes.
I was pleasantly surprised at how the new season stayed true to the more streamlined art style of the first. Aside from a slightly brighter color scheme, the new season felt like a smooth transition from the old. The story was exciting and kept me and my brother guessing every episode.
I also thought it was good that the first season premiered in 2011, the year of the rabbit, while the second season premiered in 2022, the year of the tiger.
“Kaguya-sama: Love is War” Season 3
Currently streaming on Hulu
Current episodes: 3
According to IMDb, “Kaguya-sama: Love is War”, or “Love is War” for short, focuses on Shuchiin Academy two outstanding students, Kaguya Shinomiya and Miyuki Shirogane, each of whom is on a mission to be the first to extract a confession of love from the other.
The episodic comedy of “Love is War” is easy to watch and come back to again and again, and since it’s season three, there’s a nice balance of recurring jokes and new antics to keep you entertained.
Interestingly, I started watching “Love is War” from season 2 to season 1 by accident last year, and it still made sense because the anime is comedy-based and has quite a few flashbacks to fill in its gaps. I love that this series works as one cohesive story, but can also be enjoyed in pretty much any order due to the series setup. My favorite joke in the series is how one of the leads, Shirogane, is horrible at anything but academics and has to go through intense training to be decent enough to save face.
This concludes my list of my top anime recommendations for April. Of course, there are still some new series due to air later this month and even more for the summer. If there is an anime that you think should have been on my list or that you can’t wait to see, feel free to leave comments!
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