How the time flies. It wasn’t too long ago I was writing the preview for the last season and yet it’s nearly over. However while Summer was a season of surprising quality, fall looks to be weaker. There still could be some hidden gems here as my usual methods of checking source material came up short but I don’t see Fall being a season to remember. That said, even a bad season can have one good or even great anime.

As usual Straw poll is below to vote on what you want me to cover. Three animes are covered, two my choice, one yours. Voting ends by the time second episodes start airing. One of my Choices is One Punch man and the other undecided. Should my second choice anime be top voted of the Strawpoll, I will cover the second highest show on the poll.

http://strawpoll.me/5522575

First is the sequels, as usual if you liked the previous season then by all means continue. Otherwise I will save time and not cover them.

The sequels I don’t care about

Aikatsu! 4
Diabolik Lovers More,Blood
Haikyuu!! 2
Soukyuu no Fafner: Exodus 2
Yuru Yuri San☆Hai!
Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka??
World Trigger: Isekai Kara no Toubousha
Noragami Aragoto
Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo R 2

Series I don’t look forward to

Brave Beats

The story follows Hibiki Kazaguruma, a sixth grader who meets an amusing little robot named Bureikin while coming home from school one day. Bureikin, a dancer from an alternate-dimension dance world, challenged the dance king for the throne and lost. He has been deprived of Dance Stones (the stones of dance power) and sent to the human world. To restore his power, bureikin must collect all the Dance Stones scattered around Earth.
Meanwhile, the Dance Stones cause chaos on the human world. To retrieve the Dance Stones, Bureikin fuses with Hibiki and transforms into a Dance Hero.

It would be a huge surprise if this turned out to be remotely good. At most a harmless kids show, at worst a bad kids show. Still either way it’s likely going to be better than Teen Titans Go. Sigh…it’s sad when you see something you loved turned into a complete joke.

Concrete Revolutio: Choujin Gensou

The stage is set in “another Japan” as a banquet of diverse superhumans unfolds… In an imaginary “age of gods” about 20 years after the war, Japan has grown and developed by leaps and bounds. What if all the superhumans ever written about in fictional stories existed at the same time? Superhumans who came into existence through different circumstances, and who are special in different ways — Titans from outer space, lifeforms from a mystical world, phantoms and goblins from ancient times, cyborgs created by scientists, relics that rose out of the ruins of ancient civilizations, and the list goes on. One segment of these superhumans makes no secret of their existence and has gained popularity in society. Others cloak their identities and fight in secrecy. There are enemies of superhumans as well, organizations that operate in the shadows. The Japanese government has taken many measures to secure peace and order. One is the establishment of an organization under the Ministry of Health and Welfare — the Overpopulation Research Laboratory, a.k.a. the Superhuman Bureau. Their mission is to identify and approach superhumans, then oversee and safeguard them. One member of the Superhuman Bureau, Jiro Hitoyoshi, is protagonist of this series.

I actually thought for a moment when watching the trailer that this might be trying to portray a chuunibyou disillusion as the premise and is about chuinbyou characters like KyoAni’s chuuni show. However it doesn’t look to be the case. Bones seemed to have picked up a bit from Blood blockade battlefront but this show I don’t hold much hope for. Mainly because it’s penned by Shou Aikawa. A man who’s currently writing one of the worst titles of the current season, Chaos Dragon and whose output is either great to outright terrible. Currently his writing has not been very good lately though perhaps I am just still angry over him ruining Red Dragon. The artstyle is odd to say the least and the animation is bones usual vibrant movement but I can easily see this being another Bones flop.

Garo: Guren no Tsuki

Producer Masao Maruyama announced at animation studio MAPPA’s Otakon panel that the second Garo: Honoo no Kokuin television anime series is slated for this October. Unlike the first Garo anime, this series will be a jidaigeki (period drama) set in the Heian period. It will have a female protagonist.

Studio Mappa is a pretty interesting studio. While Bahamut and Zaku no terror were far from perfect, they still were rather unique series. This too looks interesting but it has a big problem. Shou Aikawa. Yes, Aikawa is doing series composition for two series and that’s bad news in my book. Of course it depends on how much control he has but there’s also the issue of the director mainly being experienced in Shounen shows. A female protagonist is a good thing in my book but a show like this needs a mature feel. With these two at the helm I doubt it will be able to provide that. The series has four other script writers, all of which don’t have much experience with this kind of show.

Onsen Yousei Hakone-chan

The story follows Hakone, a hot spring spirit who descended to a spa resort on Earth. However, with her long slumber, she looks like a little girl on the outside. (The “Yousei” in the title is a wordplay on the Japanese words for fairy and a young child.) The high school boy Touya stumbles across her at a hot spring and ends up joining Hakone in retrieving her original powers.

Studio doesn’t have any heavy hitters, this is the director’s second anime and there’s really no potential in the story. It’s really about the hijinks of a hot spring spirit who can vomit hot spring water. Other than That I expect a good bit of fanservice.

Dance with Devils

The story revolves around Rikka Tachibana, a female second-year high school student who attends Shiko Academy in Shiko Town. She enjoyed her school life while living with her mother Maria, but one day, that balance fell into ruin. The anime is a story of Rikka being loved and being attracted to demons.

I would like to give Brains base the benefit of the doubt and assume there’s more to this that meets the eye. However from looking at it, despite it being an original series it looks to be exactly what it looks like. An age old bargain bin reverse harem. The staff haven’t worked on anything notable and I am highly skeptical this will bring anything other than a bunch of pretty boy devils fawning over a girl with no distinct desirable features.

Taimadou Gakuen 35 Shiken Shoutai

The school action fantasy is set in a world where people with magic powers are close to being wiped out. Just as the balance of power and military might had once shifted from swords to sorcery, it shifts once again to guns. Takeru Kusanagi goes to “AntiMagic Academy,” a training facility for Inquisitors of Herectics who crack down on the dwindling threat posed by magic users. However, Takeru cannot use guns at all and can only fight with a sword. As a result, he is relegated to the 35th Test Platoon, the motley “small fry platoon” for poor students. One day, Ouka Outori, the ultra-elite pistol master who already has her qualifications for witch-hunts, joins the platoon.

I am tempted to add a category for generic light novel anime so I don’t have to repeat myself ad nauseum. Main is in a group where he’s the only guy and all the girls in the team are romantically interested in him or are going to be. Main also happens to be a secret badass as usual. There’s accidental boob groping, walking in on a girl in a state of undress, poor humor and one dimensional villains.

Kamisama Minarai: Himitsu no Cocotama

Cocotama are tiny gods born from the thoughts and feelings of objects that people use with great care. The fact that Cocotama wear part of the egg they hatch out of as underwear is proof that they are still apprentices. The Cocotama use a mysterious magic, and they train hard to be of use to humans and to become full gods. They live inside human houses and stealthily move around to help humans find things they have lost, although they make many mistakes.

Gah, it’s so sweet it makes me want to puke. Truth be told there’s nothing really offensive about this one. It’s a fluffy kids show made by a company who does kids shows. It’s simply just not for me. Even as a kid I wouldn’t watch this.

Hidan no Aria AA

A young girl idolizes the world-renowned S-ranked butei Kanzaki H. Aria and plans to follow in her footsteps. However, her test grades her out as only an E-rank! All is not lost, however, as Aria agrees to give her some pointers. Can Aria help this newcomer become a first-rate butei?

In the bargain bin of Light novel adaptions Hidan no Aria would be the one at the bottom with the 90% off price tag. The first season was terrible with storytelling that would make even the worst writer shake his head. Coming across as a poor knockoff of Shana with no interesting characters and a story involving the descendants of famous characters that is just downright ridiculous. Aria lost all semblance of suspension of disbelief when the main heroine was confirmed to be the descendant of Sherlock Holmes. God, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle must be rolling in his grave. I remember a arc involved the characters facing off against Count Dracula for crying out loud. And if I remember, I heard something about how later down in the novels a man survives four bullets to the heart. This is just terrible tripe that might only qualify as so bad it’s good. Yet here I am, a man who would kill for a another season to Spice and wolf or Kino’s Journey, staring at a sequel to what may be one of the worst anime to grace the medium. Life can be cruel and unfair.

Lance N’ Masques

The battle action novel series revolves around Youtarou Hanafusa, a young man who is part of the last remaining order of knights in the 21st century, “Knights of the World.” As he fights as the mysterious Knight Lancer, he must hide his identity behind a mask.

The author of this piece of work wrote scripts for animes such as Campione, Gj-bu, Aki-Sora and a harem involving girls who are transformed soda cans called Akikan….I highly doubt I need to continue.

K Return of Kings

In modern Japan, where history has strangely overlapped with reality. There, seven “Kings” with great superpowers existed. Along with their clansman to whom they shared their own power with, the kings each formed clans. Order bound by blue, red flames that cause chaos, irregularities that shine in white, and reforms branched off into green. The Kings, each with their own abilities, now… With “jungle” once again jumping back into action, the fates of the various Kings are brought together.

The disappointments continue. K was a poor attempt to cash in on a anime which targeted every demographic it could and yet focus on none. The story was a mess, the characters were dull and fanservice laughable. It always just made me laugh seeing two male characters fight yet get their faces within kissing distance. Thats not just me assuming, the way those scenes where shot it’s obvious just who they were pandering to. When you are targeting both the shounen crowd and Fujoshi’s in one scene, I think its time to rethink the plan. People felt it had good animation but in my opinion it felt like average animation put into Photoshop, layered with Photoshop filters and blue hues. I knew a sequel was coming and just as I thought back then, it doesn’t deserve one. Gohands haven’t been doing the best either as their last anime Copelion was a truly legendary train wreck to behold. Frankly for the cool city filled with wacky badass characters senario, we already have another season of Durarara coming. I don’t think we need the poor second cousin who’s desperate for attention.

Owari no Seraph 2

A direct continuation from the first season. The story takes place in a world where an unknown virus has killed the entire human population except for children under 13. Those children were then enslaved by vampires. The manga centers on Yuichiro Hyakuya, a human who dreams of becoming strong enough to kill all vampires.

I haven’t taken the care to continue watching the first season beyond two episodes but from what I heard it reached a level of terrible that’s downright laughable. Nothing worth your time.

Owarimonogatari

A display from the Shosen Book Tower book store in Tokyo has revealed that NisiOisin’s three-volume Owarimonogatari novel will be adapted into a television anime. The display also reveals the anime’s October premiere date.

If you seen a Monogatari series anime then you likely know what you are in for. Heavy amounts of dialogue, fanservice galore and highly stylised Shinbou limited animation madness. I have never really been a fan of the series as I see it more of a harem being hidden under mountains of pointless dialogue and utterly nonsense visual metaphors. I find the series exhausting more than anything as attempting to follow the spitfire conversations for more than two episodes is mentally draining. This looks to be the final season of the series and with that I say so long and thanks for all the headaches.

Rakudai Kishi no Eiyuutan

The “school sword action” story revolves around Magic Knights, modern magic-users who fight with weapons converted from their souls. Ikki Kurogane goes to a school for these Magic Knights, but he is the “Failed Knight” or “Worst One” who is failing because he has no magical skills. However, one day, he is challenged to a duel by Stella, a foreign princess and the “Number One” student. In this duel, “the loser must be obedient for life.”

The best comparisons for this would be Sword art Online or Mahouka. So like Mahouka we have a magic user who’s known for being the weakest when he’s actually the strongest Gary Sue fantasmo. And like SAO it has the odd choice of deciding the main heroine in the first arc and then subsequently adding more girls to the harem afterwards, even though it’s pointless. The protagonist has some odd saying of boasting about how he will beat people with his weakness which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. It might be translation issue or simply a poor attempt at being cool. Other than that it’s the usual fare for Light novel plots.

Gakusen Toshi Asterisk

In the previous century, humanity was attacked by an unprecedented disaster… The impact “Invertia.” The whole world was destroyed. However, humans acquired a new potential…”The Genestella.”

Originality is something that is near impossible to achieve. Even if you do come up with an uncommon idea, chances are you with be making use of a good amount of tropes on the TvTropes archive. But there are ways to make tired stories feel fresh and it is evident when you didn’t really try. As an example of not trying here we have Gakusen Toshi Asterisk, a by the numbers light novel story. This has been seen a dozen times and you know what’s the ultimate proof of this? See Rakudai Kishi no Eiyuutan up above? Both that and Asterisk start off exactly the the same, no joke. The first episodes of these shows will be near identical with its setup. Though regardless of which is first to do this idea, which is neither of them,I pick out this as the lazier of the two. Within its first chapter it sets up a Shounen hierarchy with an elite group known as page ones (they are definitely running out of names for these groups) and barrels of exposition which is essentially the same as other stories but with different terminology for the same things. If you want this kind of story you will likely be watching the above series. This one isn’t really worth your time.

Shingeki! Kyojin Chuugakkou

The school comedy story is set in a junior high school and centers on the original manga’s characters such as Eren and Mikasa as they battle with Titans. The spin-off incorporates gags while using Shingeki no Kyojin’s story and notable scenes as its basis.

Nobody asked for this. Did anyone ask for this? I certainly didn’t ask for this, I didn’t see anyone else ask for this. Who was it that watched Attack on Titan and said “You know what would make this show better? If we set it at a high school!” Well let it never be said that I don’t give things a chance because I read the first two chapters of the manga. And it is awful. It’s just so cringe inducingly awful. The setup is basically that Titans are now bullying upperclassmen and taking things from the show and attempted to get a laugh by making the reasons stupid. For example, Eren still wants to kill all the Titans but not because one ate his mother. Instead a Titan stole his lunch when he was a kid and ate his cheeseburger. Yes people, that the golden comedy we are in for. Even if you were a fan of the show I highly doubt you would want to see this. The only value it has is taking familiar characters and seeing how they do in a school setting and doubt even fans are interested in that.

Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha Burst

The second season of Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha.

Sigh…I hate it when I am right. Somewhere deep down in my gut I knew this would get a second season. It’s just the kind of show that just gets lapped up. I can dismiss this as garbage, not recommended.

Hokuto no Ken: Ichigo Aji

The spinoff centers on a fun version of the Holy Emperor Souther as he tries to find ways to become friends with Kenshirou, demonstrates his party techniques, and sometimes plays with the Gosha Sei.

I have yet to check out Fist of the north star but I don’t think this would serve as a good introduction. It’s certainly a very…fruity show. Well for a show like this, it all comes down to the comedy factor.

Star Mu

The story starts when Yuuta Hoshiya enters Ayana Academy, a school focusing on show business activities, specifically music. The academy has a group of the three students with the highest grades in the musical department, and they are known as the Kao Kai (Cherry Blossom Flower Association). This organization stands at the top of the pecking order within the academy.

It’s the first work by a new anime studio with a team who don’t have anything under their belt. That line is becoming the new mantra for this season. Well the director did do Tsubasa but that’s really it. I don’t really expect much as this really looks to be a title made to earn some starting money.

Valkyrie Drive: Mermaid

Part of the Valkyrie Drive project which will include a console game, a smart phone game and an anime. The “beautiful girl sexy battle action” anime is set on five artificial islands.

It’s hard to make a good anime, potentially harder to make a good game. Attempting to make both at the same time and a phone game is just a recipe for disaster. Anime Game adaptions don’t have the best record either. But all hope was lost on the words “beautiful girl sexy battle action” the trailer had girls getting strong weapons and power through the magic of yuri. From the looks of things they need to get intimate with a girl to turn them into a weapon to use for combat. The target audience is clear and it’s a lost cause.

Osomatsu-san

The series follows the characters from the Osomatsu-kun manga after they’ve become adults.

I checked out the Osomatsu-Kun manga and found it to be a gag manga about six identail sixuplets. The humor was on the level of a Garfield or Archie comic so unless this anime is taking on a more mature tone this will be some squeaky clean comedy show. Comedy in anime is already a miss for me so this holds no interest.

 

Series I am middling on

 

Comet Lucifer

The story takes place on the planet Gift, where precious crystals called Giftjium are buried in the earth. A young man named Sōgo lives in Garden Indigo, a prosperous mining town. Sougo’s hobby is to collect rare crystals. One day, he gets wrapped up in a riot caused by his classmates Kaon, Roman, and Otto, and he loses his way until he finds a lake deep under the ground’s mining ruins. There, he meets a mysterious girl with blue hair and red eyes that gaze straight ahead. The story follows the adventure of what happens after this meeting.

Anime like this are the most troublesome for me. No source material, staff have only partially worked on some big name series and a trailer that explains absolutely nothing about what the shows about. That said it was a interesting and admittedly nice looking trailer. The animation studio is 8bit however, and I still haven’t forgiven them for those botched adaptations of Grisaia. Their output doesn’t inspire much confidence with such knockout titles as Infinite Stratos, Absolute Duo and Walkure Romanze. The best things on their portfolio is Aquarion Evo and Tokyo Ravens which were admittedly decent. No anime fan wishes for bad anime and I would like to hold hope that they can bring something great to the table. After all it does have a good artstyle and could be fun.

Komori-san wa Kotowarenai!

The manga revolves around middle school student Shuri Komori, who is too kind and is unable to say no when someone asks her for a favor. However, she has gained various amazing abilities as a result.

The main impression I got of this from reading the manga is that it’s a poor man’s Lucky Star. It’s a 4 koma manga whose main gimmick is that the lead character cannot refuse anyone’s request. Because of this she’s become really strong from carrying things, really smart from helping people with their homework, etc. That’s really all there is to it. I didn’t find the comedy funny but there nothing really horrible about it. It’s harmless mild entertainment.

Kidou Senshi Gundam: Tekketsu no Orphans

300 years after a great conflict between Earth and Mars known as the “Calamity War,” a woman named Cordelia sets out on a journey to Earth to speak for the independence of the Martian city of Chryse, which is under the control of the Earth government. Escorting her is the private security company CGS members Mikazuki Augus and Orga Itsuka. When a group named Gjallarhorn attacks CGS and Cordelia, Orga sees this as a chance to rebel against CGS and launch a coup. Mikazuki and Orga are thrust into a new conflict. To fend off Gjallarhorn, Mikazuki rides an old mobile suit from the Calamity War, powered by a nuclear reactor, the Gundam Barbatos.

This is a complete oddity in my eyes. My impression of the Gundam series as a whole is something that was never really my thing. The series advertises itself as a mecha combat show when it’s more a political thriller with some Mecha combat and the age old “War is bad” preaching. Still what makes this entry of the series so strange is who’s writing it. The writer of the series happens to be Mari Okada, a writer well known for Anohana and series often focused on teenage adolescent slice of life shows. She does happen to have other more varied series under her belt but is mainly known for shows surrounding teenage angst. I for one do not think Okada is a bad writer, as a matter of fact she can be a very good one provided that you can keep her under control. But this is the first time she’s been anywhere near a Mecha series and while Gundam has its share of love problems and angst she may have difficulty incorporating love troubles as the cast is predominantly male…well unless homosexuality is involved. Okada could turn it up to unbearable levels of ridiculous melodrama. However this is a show that’s different from her usual fair and If she is planning to use this to expand her writing skills into other genre that’s something I can respect. But another concern is that the director has only experience with slice of life romance so this could really end up being a unGundamlike Gundam show.

Heavy Object

The science-fiction war action story revolves around Objects — powerful, massive weapons that change the course of warfare — and Elite Object pilots. An odd Elite girl named Milinda meets Quenser, a student who aims to become a Object mechanic, with the soldier-in-training Heivia on a snowy battlefield.

On the surface Heavy Object sounds like a show with high potential. A series detailing the adventures of a group who find ways to exploit weaknesses to beat what are essentially Metal Gears. But then you take a look at the adaptor JC Staff and the original writer Kazuma Kamachi for that excitement to drain away. Kazuma is most well known for his Certain Magical Index series which may in fact be one of the titles to birth the Light novel formula used in every single unimaginative LN adaption to date. It is also the series which beat the Light novel formula to death and the author has been pushed to make two other protagonists to cover the fact that he has been remaking the same story arc again and again. Having read the first volume of the Light novel, I can say Heavy Object suffers from the same problems as his other works. Lame humor, characters defined by a gimmick and an endless conga line of girls falling in love with the protagonist. What could save this is the Metal Gear battles(Or..sigh…Heavy Objects) as it is interesting in how normal people find ways to take down giant robots.

Ore ga Ojou-sama Gakkou ni “Shomin Sample” Toshite Gets-Sareta Ken

In a hidden school surrounded by mountains, young ladies of good families are taught everything a high class lady needs to know. They are also completely cut off from the outside world, keeping them sheltered and innocent. However, a problem has come up recently—more and more graduates are failing to cope with the modern world after graduation. To deal with this problem, they’ve decided to kidnap a male commoner student, and enroll him as a student. They hope that this will be a gentle way to introduce the girls to the outside world. Kagurazaka Kimito is chosen for this dubious honor, mostly because he seems utterly average. However, the school leaders also seem to have concluded he’s a homosexual with a muscle fetish. When Kimito hears that the alternative may be castration (to protect the girls’ purity), he eagerly plays along with this misconception. Now he’ll just have to survive the attention of many high class young ladies that are completely out of touch with the world!

I have read the manga for this one before the anime announcement and overall found it to be decent. The focus of the show is more on comedy than harem hijinks and that comedy is actually pretty funny at times. The main bulk of the story has to do with a commoner club which is set up to introduce normal things to high class girls ignorant of the world. Naturally hilarity ensues as they misunderstand or take too well to foreign concepts. There is fanservice but it actual is a fairly enjoyable story with characters which are different from the usual stereotypes. With the right execution it could be a very watchable anime.

Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiruu

The novel series revolves around Shoutarou Tatewaki and Sakurako Kujyou. Shoutarou is a normal high school student with a serious demeanor who likes to show off his girlfriend Sakurako. Sakurako is an extraordinarily beautiful woman in her mid-20s from a rich family who loves “beautiful bones.” The two live in the city of Asahikawa in Hokkaido, and they get involved in various incidents regarding bones.

This has a promising hook but a few things have me concerned. It’s seems that romance may overshadow the “incidents regarding bones” seeing how much of the synopsis focuses on it. That isn’t inherently bad but requires your two main characters to have good onscreen chemistry. Spice and wolf has proven that a good character dynamic can carry the show even when the topic of said show is generally dull. In this regard the main male lead doesn’t inspire confidence having the general “average male high school student” design. The main female lead so far only has a gimmick of loving bones which looks to be something that will grow tiresome quickly. Other than that I predict the typical Sherlock and Watson relationship in regards to solving cases. But there are some pluses however, as it is a light novel adaption and from the looks of things has a notable absence of a harem.

Utawarerumono: Itsuwari no Kamen

When I came to, I realized I was standing in the middle of a vast, snowy plain I knew nothing of. I didn’t know how I got there. And to add to that, I couldn’t remember anything, not even my name. I stood there, dumbfounded at my absurd situation. But then, as if to spite me further, a gigantic monster suddenly appeared, an insect-like creature that began to bear down on me. I tried desperately to run, but it cornered me into a hopeless situation. It was then that the girl appeared. Her name was Kuon. It was this beautiful girl, who bore an animal’s ears and tail, who saved my life.

I have watched the first episode of the first Utawarerumono anime and played the game/Visual novel which was a strategy game in the same lines of Fire Emblem. The game itself was decent with mediocre gameplay and a good enough story. It did have difficulties juggling what were slice of life hijinks and strategy gameplay. My biggest issue with the game was the deeply weak villains whose motivations barely went beyond being evil because they have high status. The director of this new anime has a large resume with some highs(legend of the galactic heroes, Katanagatari) and a lot of lows(School days,Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai!) But my overall worry is this. This anime is based on a game that comes out at the exact same time as it’s airing. It’s clear that the anime is for the sole purpose of pushing game sales so how much effort is put into may be questionable. Making a good anime and a good game is hard enough one at a time but making both could make the two lesser. The game itself reminds me of Fire Emblem Awakening which I loved so it interests me but the anime I feel has a lot of hurdles to overcome. Tears to Tiara was anime of a game made by the same company and was done pretty well. But even so it was a decent anime at best. At most I see this being an average watchable anime that won’t really impress.

Young Black Jack

Young Black Jack is a prequel to Osamu Tezuka’s classic manga series about a brilliant maverick doctor who practices without a license.

Biggest concern here is that the one who penned the manga happens to be the same Mangaka behind Wolf Guy:Ookami no Monshou, which was…well a mess of rape and gore. But he also seems to be behind Akumetsu, a seinen manga which seems to have a positive reception from what I see. So I highly doubt this will be tamer than Osamu Tezuka’s Black Jack manga, rather chances are the dark themes and gritty storytelling are going to get amped up. Which isn’t a bad thing in itself but dark storytelling requires a good writer or it ends up simply juvenile. I don’t have any experience with the original Black Jack manga though I have heard of the character but this could act as a decent introduction to the series. The animation studio seems very traditional having a majority of their works be Osamu Tezuka manga adaptions. I hope their animation is not also suck in traditional ways as there isn’t really a need anymore for speed lines and drawn out scenery shots. Or the heavily overdramatic overacted nature of old school anime. The amount of info on the series is limited so really it could go any way on this, still the concept of the manga intrigues me and I am always up for some dark themed stories.

 

Series I do look forward to

One Punch Man

The manga revolves around the titular super hero who has trained so hard that his hair has fallen out, and who can overcome any enemy with one punch. However, because he is so strong, he has become bored and frustrated with winning all his battles so easily.

In Shounen anime the common theme is the drive to be the very best. The best fighter, best cook, best monster collector, etc. But what would happen if you actually became the best? If you really were the strongest guy around who could beat anybody with one punch? Well enter Saitama, the hero of this story who shows us just how exciting being the best is. Namely being bored out of his skull because he hasn’t had a challenging fight or anything that requires him to go all out. One Punch man can be comparable to the manga Ratman or the anime Tiger and Bunny. It involves hired superheroes and the disasters which face the city. Disasters which Saitama usually solves instantly without anyone really knowing about it. This story isn’t a deconstruction of the Shounen genre but it is a highly entertaining and a funny action story. Madhouse does have its work cut out for them though. The manga is based on a webcomic with poor art, but the manga’s art is top class having been drawn by Yusuke Murata, best known for Eyeshield 21. The art of the manga is so good that there are pages of intricately drawn scenes which when put together in gif format can form some pretty impressive animation.(Look here to see: http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2013/03/06/chapter-of-one-punch-man-manga-turned-into-incredible-animated-gif) Madhouse is a trustworthy adaptor so I can easily see this being the highlight of the season.

Subete ga F ni Naru

The story of the original Subete ga F ni Naru novel revolves around Souhei Saikawa, a member of the Saikawa Research Lab. He goes on a vacation held by the lab, and Moe Nishinosono, the daughter of his mentor, joins the group on their vacation despite not being a part of the lab. There, the two end up finding a corpse. The two work together to solve the mysteries of what becomes a serial murder case.

This and Sakurako make difficult shows to talk about as neither have source material that’s translated. The anime is based on a novel published in 1996. So I briefly checked out the first episode live action drama series made about the novels. What we have here looks to be a quite traditional murder mystery which I do quite adore. Nothing really makes you think more than a well written whodunit story. Though the beginning of the episode was very surreal hinting at the possibility of a supernatural element. I admittedly skimmed the episode mainly because I didn’t want to spoil myself on the show and secondly because the acting was pretty terrible. Most notable thing about the animation staff is that the director of Elfin Lied and Denpa Teki na Kanojo is directing this. Other than that genuine murder mystery is always welcome in my book, as long as it’s not the type of no thought required mystery Ranpo Kitan is showing. Truly good mystery stories require a clever writer that can make use of misdirection and setup. From my light viewing of the drama it looks as though this series will be presenting the viewer with the ingredients to solve the mystery themselves. The question is whether the characters can be interesting while presenting the mystery itself. A common problem with classic murder mystery is that the presentation of the mystery is first and foremost, thus the characters are limited in characterisation as their characters must remain enigmatic enough to be suspected. In this regard they can come across as plot devices for exposition about the mystery rather than genuine characters. I wonder if this story can dodge that particular problem but even if it can’t, this genre is one that is far too lacking in anime media.