For those of us who love anime, 2014 is destined to be an exciting year. So what are some of the highlights that lie in wait?

Sword Art Online Season 2

Sword Art Online Season 1 had loads of anime fans talking when it first aired in 2012 and quickly built up a huge following. Set in the year 2022, a gamer with the in-game handle 'Kirito' joins thousands of players online in the newly released Sword Art Online game, a type of virtual reality online RPG. Unfortunately he quickly learns that they are trapped in the game and if you die in the game, that’s tickets in real-life too.

The anime deals with a lot of emotions such as the characters’ frustration at being trapped, the fear of death, and loss over people that died, but also love and the determination of Kirito to save everyone.

Season 2 looks set to be a joyride, as there are rumours that it will cover the ‘Phantom Bullet’ story arc, set in yet another game called Gun Gale Online, where players fight with guns rather than swords. Give Season 1 a go and you might find yourself looking forward, like the rest of us, to Season 2.

Sword Art Online is released by the studio A-1 Pictures.

Attack on Titan Season 2

Action fans that like swords and war strategy might just love Attack on Titan. It is an anime set in an almost medieval futuristic setting, with most of mankind killed off by a race of giants called Titans. Whatever is left of humanity must survive and fight.

Attack on Titan had fans on the edge of their seats last year, due to suspenseful scenes where humans had to fight off Titans, sometimes against incredible odds. The anime is well drawn with a totally addictive soundtrack. Attack on Titan fans are all waiting with bated breath for its second instalment later this year around August, and there is a rumour that the ending will be different from the original manga.

Attack on Titan is released by the studio Wit Studio with the production cooperation of Production I.G.

Mushishi Season 2

The beautiful Mushishi takes place on an alternate world where there are supernatural beings called Mushi . These creatures can look like anything, some like shadows, smoke or even bugs, and they can cause problems without meaning to. The Mushi-shi (Mushi Master) is able to restore the balance when this happens.

This well drawn anime follows some of the cases a Mushi-shi named Ginko works on. It is an anime full of lessons to be learned that can be applied even to us and each episode ends with a feeling that you learned something wise here by enjoying a story. It is a monster-an-episode series so if you are in the mood for different stories each episode this is the anime for you. This is a must see and soon the second season will be here too, which will showcase more interesting cases for Ginko to solve.

Mushishi is released by Animation Studio Artland.

Fairy Tail

With already 175 episodes and a movie under its belt, Fairy Tail is ready to return in April after a bit of an hiatus. This fantasy anime about a guild of mages features Lucy Heartfilia, a celestial wizard who ran away from home and met up with Natsu Dragneel and his flying cat companion Happy, that happens to belong to the guild she admires most: Fairy Tail.

The main characters struggle through quests, anything from finding a lost book to fighting an evil sorcerer guild, with lots of humour and character building along the way. Be ready for unbelievable and addictive characters, and great story plots such as our friends ending up on an alternate world where science and not magick rules.

Fairy Tail is released by the studio A-1 Pictures and Satelight.

Space Dandy

Space Dandy promises to be an exciting new IP, being very new with only two episodes so far (at date article was written). It is about an alien hunter named Dandy, a sort of 'dandy in space' that is accompanied by his robot assistant QT and a space cat named Meow. The anime is set way into the future and Dandy takes it upon himself and his team to find species that are not known yet.

From first looks it seems as if this anime is both funny and strange, but be warned that there is adult content featured.

Space Dandy is released by the studio Bones

And even more...

There are of course loads more too look forward to than just these five. Other new anime to keep an eye out for includes Strange +, Kill la Kill, Gundam Build Fighters as well as Tokyo Ravens.

About our contributor: Allen Simpson is a blogger and a published poet who has a deep passion for anime. He is also co-owner of AnimeFanatika, a reliable source of information on Anime providing fans with the latest news, reviews and goings on in the industry. Visit their Facebook page and become a Fanatik today. Sugoi!