Chaika: The Coffin Princess
Directed by Soichi Masui
Produced by BONES, Kadokawa Pictures
Voice cast: Chika Anzai, Junji Majima, Yuko Hara, Chiwa Saito, Iori Nomizu, Kazutomi Yamamoto, Kenzuka Satou, Saeko Zogo, Shuta Morishima, Yoshimasa Hosoya, Yumeha Koda, Takaya Hashi, Yui Makino.
Air dates: Streaming Wednesdays at 1:00 p.m. CDT on Crunchyroll

Let’s say your father died a violent death and his killers had scattered his body parts all over the world, and you were on a quest to gather his remains together in order to give him a proper funeral. Now, let’s say you don’t remember much of what happened up until your father’s death, but everyone is saying he was an evil magical emperor who was utterly defeated in a world war, and a corps of warriors is chasing you, bent on preventing his remains from being gathered together again. One more complication: Let’s just say you’re not the only offspring of the late emperor with the same aim in mind. It seems that everyone in the world is against you, except for two saboteurs and a dragon that hides in the guises of a little girl and a cat. That’s the set up for Chaika: The Coffin Princess, now currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Captain Earth
Directed by Takuya Igarashi
Mechanical Design by Shinji Aramaki, Takeshi Takakura, Takeyuki Yanase
Produced by Bones, Shochiku
Voice cast: Miyu Irino, Hiroshi Kamiya, Kenichi Suzumura, Maaya Sakamoto, Rikiya Koyama, Rina Hidaka
Air dates: Streaming Saturdays at 1:00 PM CDT on Crunchyroll

The Giant Robot is another venerable trope that’s consistently run through the medium of Japanese animation for at least the past half-century. Starting with Tetsujin 28-go in the 1960s through Mazinger-Z, Macross, Gundam, Patlabor, Evangelion, and so many others, it seems that the concept of large metallic beings with super-sized fists ready to kick ass and take names is one that shows no sign of losing its legs anytime soon.

Case in point: Captain Earth. The storyline begins straightforwardly enough with, almost as a matter of course, the stereotypical high school sophomore. Daichi Manatsu (voiced by Miyu Irino) lives away from his family who live on Tanegashima Island, where his father died in a space accident when he was a child.