Zooiest Upcoming Anime Shows
Yowza! Or should we say, yaozooey?
Anime fans everywhere this week have been pouring frame-by-frame over the new trailers that have been released by some of our favorite studios over the last few days, teasing the shows that they have scheduled to release later this year.
Here at Zooey Dot Pub, we've been lucky enough to get review copies of some of the (possibly) zooey titles that we knew our community would be the most interested in, and now we're here to give you the scoop. Or should we say, the ζcoop?
Obviously, zoos have been wondering: are these studios really going to be brave enough to cash the check that these trailers are writing? Some of these upcoming shows seemed to be teasing that there might be some zooiness in the background for keen-ζighted obζervers to ζpot. There are even one or two shows where it seemed like the zooiness might be front and center, although the zoo community has been right to be skeptical until we actually see it for ourselves, because often times in the past, zoo representation has been subverted in myriad ways.
Let's just say, we're really excited to share what we saw.
Without further awoo, here's as much as we can tell you without breaking our agreements, from the shows that we've had the time to sit down together and watch so far.
My Teacher Is Also My Dog And My Girlfriend?
Just from the title, this one SCREAMS zooiness. It's a premise as old as time: a dog misses her human while the human is away attending university, and so the dog tries on some disguises, and then goes and replaces the human's psych professor and also goes and flirts with him as a fellow "student" just to get as much bonus time with the human as possible.
What really stands out in THIS take on the old tale, is that even while disguised, the dog (Udon, an athletic Corgi with unique black flower patterns in her coat) is still four-legged, and still doesn't speak out loud in English (or in Japanese, depending on if you're going dub or sub on this one). Even while taking on the role of Ayumu's professor, Udon still appears as a dog: Ayumu just doesn't know that it's HIS dog. Even while Udon flirts with Ayumu as "Nashi," Udon is still a Corgi, albeit a Corgi in a fashionable hoodie that conveniently hides her fur's identifiable patterns.
And what that leaves us with here is not just a show where a boy gets hit on by a girl who actually turns out to be his dog, like we've seen a thousand times before. Here, right from the jump, Ayumu knows that it's a dog he's enamored by. (If you do watch this show for yourself, pay attention to the colors on the necklace that Ayumu starts wearing sometime around episode 3 😏)
This isn't just "boy meets girl who turns out to be a dog." This is "zoo meets dog who turns out to be a dog he already has a history with." And the difference is palpable. In the best way.
Lastly, there is one thing that should be noted that might not be apparent just from the trailers, and that is just HOW MUCH screentime in this show is dedicated to Udon, rather than Ayumu. From her daily physical training regimen, to her navigating the social dynamics of academia that she has found herself in as a professor, future fans of this show may make the argument that Udon is the protagonist here, despite the title of the show being something that is obviously said "from Ayumu's point of view." The title may make it sound like the human is center stage, but this is a show that knows who its real star is.
If you couldn't tell, we're putting this one down as a must see. It's first in the article for a reason: it is THE show that we wanted to make sure you knew about.
Sleepy Vampire's Castle
True to the title, this one has overwhelmingly been discussed as seeming like it'll be a bit of a yawn-fest. The trailers promise a less-than-fascinating look into the day-to-day lives of folks living in a castle beset by a vampires, who spends most of her time sleeping, and thus doesn't actually do much to effect the castle's goings-on. The yawning was indeed audible in the audience during our lil ZDP viewing party, and not because we were immersed in the story. (Hey, we're just being honest, our contracts to get our paws on the review copies of these shows didn't say we had to be nice to all of them.)
The only thing in the trailers that sparked a little bit of intrigue, among zooey trailer-watchers, was a brief shot where Adalbern (who is described in promotional material as the castle's sword smith) shares a seemingly flirtatious look with a black canid of some kind (unnamed).
We're not allowed to say too much about what DOES happen in any of these shows, but one thing we can say is that if you were hoping to learn more about Adalbern and this canid by watching the debut season, you're going to be sorely disappointed. Belfort & Lupin is 1,000,000,000,000% more worth your time if you want a gay castle-y dog-y animated series in 2025.
Hip Hip Wolf
Guns. Assassins. Revenge. Demons. Mayhem. Bestiality?
This one is not for the faint of heart. In the very first scene, someone uses one of those prank handshake buzzer things, you know the ones where you offer to shake someone's hand, but you actually have a little gadget in your palm that gives the other person a little shock when they touch it--someone uses one of those but it makes the other person full explode, they are just a smoking pair of boots afterwards, and the room now has a fresh new coat of red paint. This show is SCARY.
But, if violent shows are your thing, then this is a VERY zooey one to sink your teeth into. The silent protagonist, a nonbinary red-head assassin who wields a sniper rifle fitted with seven bayonets, gets special demonic powers from sinning. While out doing assassin work, they are constantly littering, slapping crosses off of homeowners' walls, and double-parking in handicap parking spaces without having a permit to even park in a single handicap parking space. The bulk of their sin energy, though, is gained at home, with their romantic partner, a grey wolf.
Can there be sin if only pleasure is added to the world? Or is a shared ecstasy only sinful because an observing, abandoned god is screaming out in jealousy?
The fact that the grey wolf speaks only in raps while also kind of doing a Scooby Doo voice is a low point of every episode.
Yowza!
What potentially-zooey upcoming anime would you like us to dig into in the next round of hype coverage? We've still got review copies a-plenty over here, but only so many hours in the day, and we wanted to cover the upcoming shows with the biggest buzz first. But let us know if there was one we didn't do that you wanted to see more info on! And as always, bark bark bark bark bark bark bark bark bark!
Article written by Alissa Dogchurch and Eggshell Ghosthearth (April 2025)
Find Alissa and Eggshell wherever fine books are sold (They are not the authors of the fine books or anything, Alissa will just be there reading the fine books and Eggshell will be there smelling them)