Star Trek: Prodigy season 2, Tower of God season 2 and more new TV this week
If you’re in the States, this week is the 4th of July. If you’re not in the States, this week is just the 4th of July — happy 4th to anyone who gets to celebrate the day, no matter what, no matter where! No surprise there, but: I think we should all celebrate by watching TV. Especially if you’re into anime, there’s a lot of premieres this week on Crunchyroll, meaning you can enjoy a flood of new programming all weekend long (or regular!)
Here are the best new TV premieres (and just one few of the anime previews) this week.
New shows on Netflix
Star Trek: Prodigy
Genre: Star Trek (animated YA adventure edition)
Date of publication: July 1, with all episodes
Showrunner/creator: Kevin and Dan Hageman
Form: Brett Gray, Ella Purnell, Jason Mantzoukas and more
child prodigy survived the cancellation (read: was in production on season 2 when it was dropped by Paramount) and moved to a new network (read: was subsequently picked up by Netflix). That means if you liked what Child prodigy in Season 1, you’ll probably enjoy it if it makes its way to Netflix.
New programs on Max
Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants
Genre: Docuseries, sports drama
Date of publication: July 2nd
Form: The players and staff of the New York Giants
The New York Giants are entering their 100th season. That’s a big accomplishment, but they (like all NFL teams) won’t settle for anything less than a Super Bowl berth. Will they get it? Who knows — but at least now we can see what they say during the offseason.
New Shows on Crunchyroll
Nier: Automata Ver1.1a Season 2
Genre: Sci-fi action
Date of publication: July 5, with one episode
Studio: A-1 Images
Fans of the Kidney: Automatarejoice: The gorgeous anime adaptation of the hit game is finally returning this summer with a second season after the long and arduous development of the first. Hopefully A-1 Pictures has ironed out all the details for this new season so we don’t have to wait to soften or even months between episodes.
The second ‘cour’ (the term for an anime production block that usually has between 10 and 14 episodes) will begin immediately after the first, with 9S having discovered the shocking truth behind Project YoRHa after defeating the alien robots Adam and Eve alongside 2B. We’ll have to wait until July 5th to see how many Nier: Automata Ver1.1a will deviate from the story of the original game. —Toussaint Egan
Tower of God Season 2
Genre: Fantasy action
Date of publication: July 7, with one episode
Studio: The Answer Studio
There’s a six-year (in-universe) gap between seasons, and though we’ll be following Bam, Rachel, and the rest of the crew from Season 1 – along with their rankings! — season 2 also brings in some new protagonists. Meet Wangnan and Jyu, who are a little further along in the Tower levels than we’ve seen so far. Time to find out what new challenges this mysterious tower can bring!
My deer friend Nokotan
Genre: A slice-of-life comedy
Date of publication: July 7, with one episode
Studio: White Studio
Based on the 2019 manga by Oshioshio, My deer friend Nokotan is a comedy that revolves around the misadventures of Torako Koshi, a former “Yankee” (read: delinquent) girl trying to keep up her appearance as an ideal student at her new high school. That becomes considerably more difficult after she rescues Noko Shikanoko, a self-described “deer girl hybrid” who begins following Torako and getting up to all sorts of antics.
The trailer looks ridiculous, with realistic CG images of deer juxtaposed with Noko’s chibi-like appearance. There’s even a nice look back at the end of 1984 Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, which sees Noko lifted above a marching herd of deer while surrounded by an aura of light. We’ll see how the series holds up when it premieres this weekend. -AT
Wistori: magic wand and sword
Genre: Fantasy action
Date of publication: July 7, with one episode
Studio: Actas, Bandai Namco Images
Based on the fantasy adventure manga by author Fujino Ōmori and illustrator Toshi Aoi, Wistori: wand and sword centers on Will Serfort, a young student who enrolls in a prestigious magical academy in hopes of realizing his dream of becoming one of the most powerful magic users in the world. However, just like My Hero Academia‘s Izuku Midoriya or Solo leveling‘s Sung Jin-woo, Will faces a crucial roadblock: he can’t cast even the simplest spells to save his own life!
That won’t stop him though, as he descends into the dungeons beneath the school to slay vicious monsters as an alternative way to earn academic credits. He is so NarutoRock Lee is not so much a fearsome talent in taijutsu, but an absolute beast when it comes to sword fighting.
I’m not familiar with the source material myself, but I’m intrigued by the fact that Tatsuya Yoshihara, who previously worked as an action director on the 2022 film Chainsaw Man and the main director of the final season of Black Cloveris the director Wistori: Wand and SwordThat means audiences can at least expect some great action scenes. -AT