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Now in the final month of the Winter 2019 season, it’s almost time to start looking ahead at what anime series and movies are coming in the spring. However, before then, there’s plenty of excellent shows you should be catching up on right now. Between everything on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Crunchyroll, Funimation, Hidive, and VRV, these are the anime that we think you should spend March catching up on.

Back in January, I described The Price of Smiles and The Magnificent Kotobuki as “keep an eye on this” recommendations, but both–especially The Price of Smiles–have proven they’re worth watching as much as the anime listed below. Unlike the other anime on this list, these two are original stories that aren’t based on pre-existing literature or media.

The Price of Smiles subverts expectations by presenting itself as a feel-good, cute anime, but is actually an emotional account of the cost of war. The anime follows two women that fight on opposing sides of the same conflict, with one being a 12-year-old princess who must lead her people after the death of her parents and the other a common foot soldier who just wants the war to end so people can be safe again. The Magnificent Kotobuki, on the other hand, is more light-hearted. The series follows a team of fighter pilots who sell their services as bodyguards for a trading company. You won’t find much drama in this anime, but the series does have its occasional emotional gut-punch and it captures the feeling of aerial dogfights with its CG animation amazingly well. The Price of Smiles is available on Crunchyroll and VRV, while The Magnificent Kotobuki is available on Hidive and VRV.

The Promised Neverland is one of the best series this season, which comes as little surprise considering it brings to life one of Shonen Jump’s better manga. This pulse-pounding thriller is best experienced without prior knowledge of the plot, so don’t read up on it before diving in. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed. The anime ups the tension of the manga with some stellar shots, which frame the characters in strange angles. It really sells the idea that everyone is being spied on at all times, and that something is very, very wrong with the orphanage that main characters Emma, Ray, and Norman call home. The anime, unfortunately, does little to fix its source material’s poor portrayal of black women. However, it does wonders in bringing Emma, perhaps the best female protagonist Shonen Jump has ever had, to life. The Promised Neverland is available on Crunchyroll, Funimation, Hulu, Hidive, and VRV.

If you haven’t already, you should also catch up on Mob Psycho 100 II, which is the second season to one of 2016’s most popular anime. Made by the same folks behind One Punch Man, this series continues to deliver more hilarious misadventures of the young boy who’s one of the world’s most powerful espers. The beautifully wholesome nature of this season’s plot is already shaping up to be one of 2019’s best stories. This show is a must watch. Mob Psycho 100 II is available on Crunchyroll and VRV.

Anyone who knows a story that’s focused on a beloved pet can probably guess almost every plot point My Roommate is a Cat explores. However, despite the cliche nature of the anime’s story–a socially awkward man finds the push to open up to others after adopting and befriending a stray cat–the show is still quite compelling. Through the anime, we see the same set of events through both the perspectives of the main character and his feline friend, and it allows for moments of both hilarious misunderstanding and heartfelt connection between the two. They’re both lost souls that learn to love again by being together. Yes, it’s super cheesy, but it’s also absolutely worth watching. My Roommate is a Cat is on Crunchyroll, VRV, and Funimation.

In terms of action-focused series, check out Dororo, which is a remake of the 50-year-old anime of the same name. Taking place in feudal Japan, Dororo is about a ronin outfitted with prosthetics after his eyes, nose, ears, tongue, skin, and limbs are all ripped out of his body by demons. Despite being a rehash of a half-century-old story, this series breathes fresh life into its narrative with well-animated action sequences and adjustments to the backgrounds of certain characters. Although it hasn’t managed to reach the same heights as Devilman Crybaby–which won Anime of the Year in the Crunchyroll 2018 Anime Awards–Dororo is another great example that classic series can be modernized for the better. Dororo is an Amazon Prime Video exclusive.

Although its story is a little bit out there in comparison to the other anime on this list, Boogiepop and Others is another great series you’ll want to catch up on. This new series has nothing to do with the first Boogiepop anime–instead it follows the original light novels. This makes it an excellent jumping in point for anyone who’s missed out on the past two decades of this critically acclaimed supernatural series. You’re going to have to trust me on this recommendation. Just get through the first episode–I know it’s boring–and keep going. This anime seems dull and uninspired at first, but Boogiepop leaps between multiple points of view pretty much every episode to slowly deliver bits and pieces of its spooky narrative. You’ll need to watch at least the first arc to realize there’s way more to this story than a high school girl with an androgynous-looking split personality, her boring boyfriend, and a cannibalistic serial killer. Boogiepop and Others is on Crunchyroll, VRV, and Funimation.

Below, we’ve listed every anime that’s airing in the United States this season, just in case you plan on catching up on absolutely everything. If you happen to be caught up on everything–kudos to you–check out our recommendations of what to watch from last season. There are some really good series in there for some weekend binging.

Where To Watch Winter 2019 Anime (US)

Movies And Short Film Anthologies

• Dragon Ball Super: Broly — Select Theaters
• Godzilla: The Planet Eater — Netflix
• I want to eat your pancreas — Select Theaters
• Made In Abyss: Journey’s Dawn — Select Theaters (premieres March 15)
• Modest Heroes — Select Theaters
• My Hero Academia: Two Heroes — Funimation (releases March 26)

Action And Adventure Series

Slice Of Life And Comedy Series

Romance And Harem Series

Thriller, Drama, And Supernatural Series

Science Fiction And Fantasy Series

The Division 2 is on its way and we’ve gotten an exclusive first look at one of its gear sets, the True Patriot. In the first game, gear sets were special pieces of equipment that would give powerful bonuses if you collected and equipped all four pieces. They became especially important to the end-game content as Ubisoft continued to develop the game as a live service, and they’re back for the sequel.

The True Patriot is a support set that comes with three different kinds of debuffs: red, white, and blue. Red is the centerpiece of the debuff set, as it causes any enemy impacted by it to do less damage. The white debuff grants extra armor for any allies that hit an enemy painted with the red debuff. Similarly, the blue debuff speeds up your skill refresh for hitting enemies with the red debuff. Once you have all three going at the same time, the set of debuffs begins spreading to nearby enemies as well.

Not only that, but it looks awfully cool too. You can get a lengthy look at the set, along with its skills in action, in the video above. The Division 2 is coming to PC, PS4, and Xbox One on March 15.

Freddy Funko As Jamie Lannister

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Pokemon Sword and Shield were revealed this week as the next Pokemon games for Nintendo Switch. However, it seems the games were teased in 2018–just nobody noticed at the time.

Pokemon director Junichi Masuda tweeted an image of himself back in October holding everyday objects posing as a sword and shield. Of course, it was unlikely anyone could have figured out at the time he was referring to the new Pokemon games, but it’s still amusing to look back on this now-obvious clue.

Pokemon Sword and Shield are to be released in “late 2019.” The games are set in a new region named Galar, which looks to be similar in appearance to Britain. The three starter creatures were shown off in Nintendo’s Pokemon Direct presentation; they are a grass monkey named Grookey, a fire bunny named Scorbunny, and a sad water lizard, Sobble. Gameplay was shown in the Direct but was not detailed extensively, though it seems like the new games will bring back random encounters, among other things. We’ve rounded up the big takeaways from what we’ve seen so far to help you get a handle on what to expect.

For more on the generation eight Pokemon games, check out our thoughts on the strange symbols seen in the trailer. Alternatively, take a look at our list of all the Pokemon seen in Sword and Shield so far.

This weekend’s free Steam deals include two space-inspired adventures. The first is Space Engineers, an open-world game where you explore the galaxy and build spaceships, outposts, space stations, and more, all while gathering resources to survive. The game left Steam Early Access yesterday after more than five years, and not only is it 20% off on Steam, you can play it for free this weekend.

Space Engineers combines engineering and construction gameplay with themes of survival and exploration. The developers created a “realistic, volumetric-based physics engine,” which basically means this game is similar to Minecraft in that everything you see can be used, altered, or destroyed.

“Space Engineers is inspired by reality and by how things work,” the developers shared on the game’s official website. “Think about modern-day NASA technology extrapolated 60 years into the future. Space Engineers strives to follow the laws of physics and doesn’t use technologies that wouldn’t be feasible in the near future.”

Both single and multiplayer modes are available, and a four-pack of the game is 20% off as well if you want to explore the galaxy with friends.

Buy Space Engineers on Steam — $16 (20% off until March 4; free to play for the next two days)

Offworld Trading Company is another game to check out this weekend, as its multiplayer mode is now permanently free. The game is about space economic warfare, where you strategize around supply and demand to ultimately gain dominance over every other player’s trading company. From resource management to black market sabotage, the game requires you to make quick, difficult decisions that can make or break your strategy.

In our review, we gave Offworld Trading Company a 9/10, and it also made our list of the top games of 2016 as one of the best strategy games of the year. Even though direct combat plays no role, the gameplay is far from boring, with real-time multiplayer matches that are intense.

“Matches are vicious, and the scales often tip dramatically,” wrote GameSpot’s Edmond Tran. “Nobody would have ever thought a game centered around capitalism could get your heartrate up so high, but Offworld Trading Company succeeds with its truly unique, wonderfully-executed concept.”

As a plus, the core game is also 70% for the next week, so if you decide you’re a fan after trying free multiplayer mode, you can snag the game for just $6 until March 7.

Buy Offworld Trading Company — $6 (70% off until March 7; free multiplayer mode)

Nintendo is releasing a new set of playable characters for Mario Tennis Aces. Beginning today, March 1, the mayor of New Donk City, Pauline, is making her debut in the Switch tennis games, while two classic Mario villains will join the roster in the next couple of months.

As with Aces’ previous DLC characters, players can unlock Pauline by playing at least one match in the game’s Online Tournament mode this month, while everyone else will automatically get her after April 1. As you can see in the trailer above, Pauline is a speedy character, and her Special Shot has her delivering a powerful smash from atop New Donk City Hall.

Pauline arrives alongside Aces’ 2.3.0 update, which also kicks off a new Co-op Challenge called Shy Guy Train Tussle. Following Pauline, two more classic Mario enemies will be added to the game’s roster: Magikoopa and Dry Bones. The former will be available in April, while the latter is set to arrive in May.

This marks Pauline’s first appearance in a Mario sports game, but she’s actually one of the earliest characters in the Mario series. She’s best known for being the damsel-in-distress in the original arcade Donkey Kong game, a role she’d later reprise in the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series. Most recently, she made an appearance in Super Mario Odyssey and even canonically sings that game’s theme song, “Jump Up, Super Star!“

Nintendo has introduced a number of new characters to Mario Tennis Aces since its launch last June, including Shy Guy, Diddy Kong, Petey Piranha, and Luma. The most recent addition was the classic Super Mario 3 mid-boss Boom Boom, who joined the roster in February.

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