It’s a big TV week! By that I mean there are a lot of bangers for me this week.
Kaiju #8 is some of the most fun I’ve had with a new manga in a short time, and the first glimpses of the anime promise that it will continue to be so. The sympathizer brings Park Chan-wook back to TV, and the result is a smart, clever show about a spy abroad. And Falloutthe long-awaited adaptation of the game series of the same name, is here and rightly so!
All that and Shogun still going, Sandy soil airs on Hulu, Sugar is Sugaring (or at least investigating a curious LA case), and Elsbeth is still back!
Here are all of this week’s biggest TV premieres and finales.
New shows on Netflix
Heartbreak High Season 2
Genre: Teen drama
Date of publication: 11 April
Showrunner/creator: Hannah Caroll Chapman
Form: Ayesha Madon, James Majoos, Chloé Hayden and more
Heartbreak high introduces fresh blood for the second semester: a sports teacher, a mysterious attacker and some hotties to hang out with. That should make the race for head of school a little more complicated, and yes, abandon any hopes for a peaceful semester.
New programs on Max
The sympathizer
Genre: Spy thriller (via drama)
Date of publication: April 14, with one episode
Showrunners/creators: Park Chan-wook and Don McKellar
Form: Hoa Xuande, Toan Le, Robert Downey Jr. and more
The captain (Hoa Xuande) did not want to flee to America with his general (Toan Le) after the end of the Vietnam War, but he does what he has to do as a North Vietnamese factory in the South Vietnamese army. Now living in a refugee community, he struggles to balance his current connections with his loyalty to the Viet Cong in this new series co-created by legendary filmmaker Park Chan-wook.
New programs on Prime Video
Fallout
Genre: Post-apocalyptic Video Game Adaptation (Funny)
Date of publication: April 12, with all episodes
Showrunners/creators: Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner
Form: Ella Purnell, Walton Goggins, Aaron Moten and more
Are Fallout! Taken from the well-known Fallout video game series, and set in the Fallout universe (everything that happens here is technically canon, even if we don’t see how it directly intersects with the games).
It’s hard to determine the tone of this world, but… Fallout has all that and many more tricks up its sleeve. Plus: this Brotherhood of Steel armor! Neat as hell; I’m not over it.
New shows on Apple TV Plus
Franklin
Genre: Historical biopic
Date of publication: April 12, with three episodes
Showrunner/creator: Tim Van Patten
Form: Michael Douglas, Assaad Bouab, Noah Jupe and more
Based on the book by Pulitzer Prize winner Stacy Schiff A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America, Franklin depicts one of the biggest gambles of Benjamin Franklin’s career: a secret mission to France in December 1776 to convince the French monarchy to support America in the growing war. Should be easy for someone who specializes in electrical experiments and has no diplomatic training!
New shows on Syfy
Chucky Season 3B
Genre: Horror (evil doll)
Date of publication: April 10
Showrunner/creator: Don Mancini
Form: Brad Dourif, Zackary Arthur, Jennifer Tilly and more
Chucky is back!!! The best program on television finally returns after an endlessly long (Ed. remark: only about five months) hiatus in the middle of season 3. The killer doll ages quickly, as he tries to reverse his curse by killing as many people as he can in the crazy White House. But will the Hackensack kids stop Chucky before he kills Devon Sawa again? …Probably not, but there’s always next season!
New shows on Crunchyroll
Kaiju #8
Genre: Kaiju shonen
Date of publication: April 13, with one episode
Studio: Production IG
Kafka is an ordinary boy living in a world where Kaiju attack the city on a semi-regular basis. It’s how he makes his living, as part of the cleanup crew sent to dispose of the Kaiju body after the defense team enters. And that’s exactly how he has an unfortunate run-in with a Kaiju that fucks everything up – and kicks him off. one of the most exciting anime adaptations of the year.
Black Butler: Public School Arch
Genre: Fantasy
Date of publication: April 13, with one episode
Studio: Clover Works
Weston College: Britain’s most prestigious public school and one that is completely insulated from any intrusion, be it government mandates or family contact. Ciel Phantomhive is desperate to find out what’s happening to him, so he signs up to get closer – and try to find out what happened to the missing students, while also enduring the horrors of the school .