A new year means new anime and I can say that this year looks to have a better lineup than the last. There are quite a few hopefuls this season. I can see a number of these turning out to be surprise hits. That is of course if they are handled properly. Of course there is the usual trash that gets made every season but at least I can look at the season and be glad that there isn’t a incest focused anime. Maybe that annoying fad has finally died out.

As I said before, I am not psgels. So the anime preview this time will go a little differently. I don’t really see the value of checking the staff unless there’s someone remarkably notable. My impressions here are mainly based on Promo impressions, my view of the source material and either the authors or studios previous work. Also some animes have impressions from myself and co-writer K-Off.

One final thing to add. This season I will blog three anime. Two will be if my choosing. I leave the third in your hands. The link below leads to a poll which contains each anime in this season. (Fate is excluded because I will blog that no matter what. And unfortunately I had to remove a few sequels/not a chances and such as the poll has a limit of 30 choices but I got most of them in there) Whatever wins I will blog no matter what. So of course I trust that you won’t make me blog something like NiseKoi….yeah that would be far too cruel……have mercy….please.(Don’t use bots either. This is just a bit of fun guys) You will also notice options for a kaleidoscope if you would prefer I give an small opinion on everything. The polling closes on the air date of the first anime of this season. That’s about twenty days from now.

http://strawpoll.me/3924048

Let’s get started.

 

Series that I Don’t Look Forward To

Ameiro Cocoa

A guy who works in a restaurant that “cool” and “handsome” guys go to? I think I see where this is going.

Baby Steps 2

Season 2 of Baby Steps.

A sports anime I have not seen the first season of and likely nowhere near an end goal. Marvelous.

Battle Spirits: Burning Soul

Buy our toys.

Diamond no Ace: Second Season

The second season of Diamond no Ace.

The same as baby steps 2. But with less interest.

Duel Masters VSR

The 11th Duel Masters series.

The first (or shall we say second if you count the zero series) is not going to be beat at this point. The 11th try is not the charm.

Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka?

The story takes place in the town of labyrinths, Orario, also called “Dungeon.” Bell Cranel is a newbie adventurer that admires “Having a fateful meeting with a person of the opposite gender.” One day during an adventure, he is attacked by a Minotaur. Close to destruction, he is saved by a top-class female adventurer, Eyes Warenstein. He falls in love with her at first sight, and begins actions to become an adventurer that is on her level. He later encounters Hestia, a god called a “Lolita god” due to her stature who falls in love with him.

I read the manga and found it to be like the growing popular genre of Reincarnation/other world novels. Unfortunately it is an example of the problems of that genre as a whole. Namely overpowering a protagonist by handing him a power that makes him untouchable. In this case it’s extra silly because this power is given to him because he got a crush on a girl. Imagine watching Dragon Ball where instead of Goku gaining strength throughout the series, he gets super saiyan right from the start. This is just poor wish fulfilment writing. Which will likely be very popular.

Etotama

The manga’s story revolves around Nya-tan, the cat of Chinese astrology who wants to become a member of the Chinese zodiac. Nya-tan is simple and suffers from memory loss, and she tries various foolish ways to become a member. She meets Takeru Tendo, a high school student who lives alone in Akihabara, and becomes a freeloader at his house. Little by little, she gets closer to her goal

Cat girls, dog girls, bunny girls…if you got a animal girl fetish it’s likely here. With what looks to be the same story every harem has. Girls gather around and fall for a faceless plank who made no effort at all. But this time it’s animal girls. Which likely has been done before but will still sell anyway. Enjoy your fruitless fantasy there buyers.

Grisaia no Rakuen

The Grisaia no Rakuen visual novel continues the Grisaia no Meikyuu visual novel’s main route and concludes the trilogy. It also includes a prologue following the five heroines as they arrive at Mihama Academy.

8-bit have you not done enough damage? You butchered the first season and even topped it off by adding the base equal of hentai with fan service specials. Can we not just had this over to someone who actually cares about the source material? Listen people. If you somehow enjoyed the first season then go and buy the games. A kickstarter to bring Grisaia’s first three games to the west was recently funded. (Yours truly was a backer) You will get something ten times better than anything these poor adaptations can give you. You even get better porn than these could give you. Don’t want porn? Well these are also going on Steam with sex scenes removed. Just don’t do the disservice of experiencing them with this anime.

Kaitou Joker 2

Second season of Kaitou Joker.

Didn’t watch the first season. No interest in the second.

 

Koukaku Kidoutai Arise: Alternative Architecture

A TV anime version of Ghost in the Shell: Arise. The first eight episodes are an edited version of the four movies while the last two are new content.

When the arise OVAS are good why is it that I am not looking forward to this? Simple. Because this is the OVAS chopped up into an anime series. I am not interested because I already seen it. There are a few new episodes getting into this but I don’t think it justifies the series.

 

Kyoukai no Rinne

As a child Sakura Mamiya mysteriously disappeared in the woods behind her grandma’s home. She returned whole and healthy, but since then she has had the power to see ghosts. Now a teenager, she just wishes the ghosts would leave her alone! At school, the desk next to Sakura’s has been empty since the start of the school year. Then one day her always-absent classmate Rinne Rokudo shows up, and he’s far more than what he seems!

From the creator of ranma 1/2, Inuyasha, and Urusei Yatsura. You know what those series had in common? A ton of episodes that went absolutely nowhere. Sure she was also behind something like mermaid forest but this story sounds to me like Inuyasha 1.5. In this day and age I think her storytelling style would be dated and uninspired.

 

Nagato Yuki-chan no Shoushitsu

This spin-off of the Haruhi Suzumiya series takes place in the world of the “Disappearance” arc of the original novels, focusing on the high school life (and romance!) of a tentative and bashful Yuki Nagato quite unlike the one you’ve come to know and love through the usual exploits of the SOS Brigade… but no less charming! As the shy head of the Literature Club, Nagato has had a hard time recruiting members. Her close friend Ryoko Asakura supports her in this. Drafting Kyon, she eventually meets up with Haruhi Suzumiya, Tsuruya, Mikuru Asahina and Itsuki Koizumi, and has to put up with their hijinks while trying to romance Kyon. Asakura seems ambivalent about the latter prospect.

So it’s Haruhi without aliens, time travelers or espers. So Haruhi with anything remotely original removed. What’s the point of this exactly? It’s like taking Attack on titan and putting it in a school setting…wait that exists. Well like Soul Eater without soul eating…oh right, Soul Eater Not. I don’t get the fascination of placing the characters in much blander setting. If we are going to switch genres then why not have fun with it? K-on: zombie apocalypse or Csi To love-ru. I even saw a Web comic that takes the characters of gurren lagann and puts them in a buddy cop story. That turned out to be far more entertaining than this has any chance of being. I get that the draw of this is emotional Yuki but that is only special because it’s rare for the character to have emotion. A kuudere without kuu is just another character entirely.

 

Nisekoi 2

Season 2 of Nisekoi

Somewhere around the time To Love-Ru finally gave up pretending to not be softcore porn and start putting out, a gap was made in the cocktease category of manga. That gap was then filled by Nisekoi, a soulless harem which spends it’s time teasing story development only to pull right back into the status quo and harem hijinks. All to promote the japanese dream of having five constant teases in love with you whom you cannot touch or enter any meaningful relationship with. I have actually read Nisekoi completely up to date. Why?…good question. Don’t really know myself. There’s really nothing here than more Nisekoi.  More plot less, go nowhere Nisekoi.

 

Punchline

The series follows Yuuta Iritatsu, whose spirit has been separated from his body.

K-Off’s Opinion: So from a quick glance, it seems like Yutaka Uemura is in charge of this show, so it’s definitely one reason to be hopeful about it–he’s worked as a unit director on a Gurran Lagann movie, but the kind of premise found in Punchline is stupid and honestly should be retired (it’s about a boy who will destroy the world if he sees underwear). Yutaka Uemura worked on seriously enduring shows with a long-lasting fanbase like Gurran Lagann and Blood+, but he’s not alone with MAPPA (who he’s now with) when it comes to consistently creating shows that will be as contemporary and irrelevant in a year or a few months as possible. With the exception being Kids on the Slope (which was co-produced with Tezuka Productions) in 2012, MAPPA has since churned out shows with a lot of initial potential, like Terror in Resonance, Shingeki no Bahamut, and Garo, which ultimately ended up being “meh” shows that I haven’t even gotten the need to go back for and watch seriously. Oh, and I won’t even talk about Teekyu here. So, although I don’t have a very positive outlook for anything MAPPA puts out anymore, I can guarantee that Punchline will be an entertaining watch for some of you–Bahamut and Zankyou had great production values and were initially really entertaining, although Punchline will definitely be far worse than some of the excellent over-the-top comedies that have been released over the years. This isn’t going to be your Level E or One Punch Man, Uemura.

 

PriPara 2

In season two of PriPara the story continues with Laala and her friends Mirei and Sophy, who are part of the “SoLaMi♡SMILE” PriPara idol unit, which is rising in popularity. In the PriPara amusement park, a new zone called “Dream Theater” has opened, and it’s said that when a fateful five-man team filled with charm that performs there, a new event called the “PriPara Dream Parade” will be held. However, it is not known which five people make up this team, and the PriPara idols scramble give the greatest performance in the new zone.

This would make one great horror anime with all these mutants with huge dead soulless eyes. Like walking into the doll section of a shop and seeing them stare at you. Really unnerving. Well it isn’t a horror anime but a sequel to a magical girl show. So I couldn’t care less.

 

Re-Kan!

An anime adaptation of the manga Re-Kan! has been announced. The manga centers around Hibiki Amami, a girl who can see ghosts and other supernatural phenomena in her surroundings. The stories follow her daily life with both her friends and the otherworldly.

The second series in this season about a girl who sees ghosts. However without the notable creator and a worse studio. Even if that wasn’t so this sounds like a run of the mill slice of life comedy.

Shokugeki no Souma

The anime adaptation of the Shokugeki no Souma manga that centers on Souma, who works with his dad at his family’s restaurant. His dad is a culinary master, and he often hosts cooking battles with his father. His father then enrolls him in an elite culinary school that is very difficult to enter, and the graduation rate is only about 10 percent.

I gave the manga of this a shot just recently. The story pretty much is made up of anything you seen in a shounen jump manga. A protagonist who is aiming for a goal with an unspecified road.(King of the pirates, Hokage, etc) Has a hidden talent and works hard. Challenging an elite group to a series of one on one battles. But I feel it has a hidden agenda. Actually scratch that. It’s not hidden but out in the open. For example, the first chapter has tentacle groping fanservice. The sad thing is that isn’t a joke. Girls who eat the protagonists food usually tend to become overly sexually excited and fanservice images are used to describe the foods flavor. Like “it’s as if I am being groped by angels.” That my friends, is a direct quote. Gentlemen, this manga is most certainly not about food.

 

Show By Rock!!

Metropolis of music, MIDICITY. A kitty girl wearing gothic lolita clothing named Cyan is scouted by Maple Arisugawa, the president of a music agency. From there, she meets Chuchu (a pun off of the sound that rabbits make) the honor student rabbit girl, a net geek dog girl named Retoree (from “Retriever”), and an alien sheep (?) girl named Moa. Together, they form the band named “Plasmagica,” and aim for the top of the world.However, the path there is long and tough, and keeping in high spirits is important. By battling against other strange bands, Plasmagica slowly grows toward a top-grade band. In the end, they’ll be a band that becomes the driving force of MIDICITY’s music industry… Maybe? Gonna be a music millionaire!

Etotama with music apparently. The synopsis with various animal puns is enough to make me retch.

 

Triage X

Mochizuki General Hospital boasts some of the most well-trained (and well-endowed) nurses in town. But though these ladies spend much of their day battling disease, their after-hours are spent fighting a very different sort of sickness… Under the leadership of the hospital chairman, a handful of staff members and local teenagers form a group of mercenary assassins, targeting the “cancers” of society and excising those individuals before their wickedness spreads.

It’s always a bad sign when your main heroines ass is more prominent in the promo image than her face. But it does get the message across well. I don’t even have to watch this show to guess what it’s about.

 

Urawa no Usagi-chan

An original anime to advertise Urawa City in Saitama, Japan. The project features eight anthropomorphic girls representing the stations in the prefecture, which have “Urawa” with their names.

An original anime to advertise Urawa City in Saitama, Japan by making the train stations into cute girls…well it might be slightly educational at least.

 

Uta no☆Prince-sama♪ Maji Love Revolutions

The third season of Uta no☆Prince-sama.

This is essentially a harem anime for females. So it’s just as worthless.

 

Series I am middling on

Denpa Kyoushi

An anime adaptation of the manga which centers around Junichirou, a young man obssesed with manga, anime and games. He was a young genius who published papers in the journals Nature and Science when he was only 17. However, after graduating college, he became a NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) absorbed in his anime blog. Unable to watch Kagami throw away his life, his sister Suzune gets him to work at the Ichou Academy she attends. The head of the school’s board, Koyomi Hiiragi, assigns Kagami to his new life as a teacher.

It’s a poor man’s Great Teacher Onizuka with a Otaku nerd instead of a gangster. That one sentence pretty much encapsulates this series as a whole. Now there nothing wrong with being a poor man’s GTO. Many manga have tried to be that and failed. Denpa Kyoushi does at least succeed in being a little entertaining. However I feel something is lost when instead of an uneducated gangster teaching life lessons through his personal experiences in life, we have some prodigy genius too into otaku culture to use his talents for anything meaningful doing the same thing. Still with the right execution this can be a watchable show.

Digimon Adventure tri

The Digimon Adventure 15th Anniversary Event announced that the characters of the first Digimon Adventure anime are returning next spring. The video shown at the end of the event described the main character Taichi as being 17 years old in high school with his Digimon partner Agumon. The sequel series will tell a “new story” “for all the ‘DigiDestined’ in the world.” “Now, [once] again, the adventure evolves.”

Digimon Adventure. That brings me back. I really liked this show as a kid and well quite a number agree that it’s a good show. Even the likes of Chiaki Konaka was a fan. They even let him write my favorite season of the show, Digimon tamers. Not sure what they were thinking letting the guy behind serial experiments lain, Texhnolyze and ghost hound of all things write a kids show but hey good for them. The big question here is whether this new show with its new cast can capture the magic of the show. Well I am willing to give it a chance for nostalgia sake.

K-Off’ Opinion: Growing up I was a little too old and therefore missed out on the whole Digimon/Pokemon hype of the early 2000’s, and only got into Digimon Adventures through playing Pokemon sometime before college. Strangely enough, as I grew older I began to strongly dislike Pokemon and appreciated Digimon Adventure’s comparatively deeper storyline, and this show will hopefully capitalize on why that was so.  If Digimon Tri does for the outdated Digimon series that Pokemon Origins did for Pokemon, I’ll be perfectly content.

 

Eikoku Ikke, Nihon o Taberu

Based on the book which follows Booth, his wife Lissen, and two kids Ansger (6) and Emil (4), on their 100-day trip to Japan as they try a wide variety of Japanese foods. Booth was inspired to make the trip by Shizuo Tsuji’s book, Japanese Cooking, A Simple Art.

I am willing to give this a chance for being different

Gintama°

A new TV anime of Gintama was announced at Jump Festa 2015.

How many seasons of this can there be at this point? Well it’s more Gintama for those who want it.

Gunslinger Stratos: The Animation

A.D. 2115—the island nation once called Japan is now known as the “17th Far East Imperial City Management District.”
The citizens were promised a life of peace in exchange for some of the comfort they were used to having. People believed their lives would never change and tomorrow will be the same as today. No one suspected the impending doom which their society was about to face.
“Degradation”—a rare disease which led to the total disintegration of the human body to a mere pile of sand was slowly but surely spreading throughout the world.
Tohru Kazasumi, an ordinary student becomes embroiled in a multi universal battle between his world and the parallel world of “Frontier S (Stratos).” This meant that Tohru must fight himself from an alternate world.
Their futures collide as their paths cross. Will both worlds ever find peace?

Video game adaptations are usually tricky business. Off the top of my head the best one I can think of is Gungrave. Story wise this does not look promising though Gen Urobuchi is credited for the story. Though I would hold my hope till I see how much he’s involved. But it may be able to deliver on the action front if it can keep the animation it has in the an promo up for a full cour.

Hello!! Kiniro Mosaic

The second season of Kiniro Mosaic.

I seem to remember a few people talking about the first season saying it was good. Maybe the second will show me why.

Hibike! Euphonium

The anime begins when Kumiko Oumae, a girl who was in the brass band club in junior high school, visits her high school’s brass band club as a first year. Kumiko’s classmates Hazuki and Sapphire decide to join the club, but Kumiko sees her old classmate Reina there and hesitates. She remembers an incident she had with Reina at a brass band club contest in junior high school…

So this is an anime where a group of girls join a club about music and if the promo is any indication, hijinks ensue. KyoAni…didn’t you make this anime already? I have long lamented KyoAni’s lack of ambition. So much like their other work this is likely forgettable fluff. But very pretty animated forgettable fluff.

High School DxD BorN

The third season of High School DxD.

My credibility as a blogger has likely plummeted with this. But hear me out. We all know that every season has to have that show. You know the one. The fanservice harem supernatural battle show that is a near carbon copy of the ones that came before. They are a necessary evil in this world. But the one thing that bugs me about these shows is how each one acts like it’s presenting something new and different. But then you have show like High school DxD which just said that it wanted to present a story with some action and nudity. And I find a certain charm in its honesty. This show isn’t trying to be anything more than what it is. Instead of censoring the fanservice they just show it. Instead of trying to present some been there done that story with complete seriousness it just doesn’t take itself very seriously. If we have to have this kind of garbage every season I at least would prefer it to be as enjoyable and honest as this. The first two seasons where a guilty pleasure of mine. The third is likely going to follow.

Houkago no Pleiades

So it’s a magical girl series from Gainax with a pink haired lead with a short blue haired friend, a blond girl with curls and…a long black haired girl…wait a second. Is this a Madoka wannabe? It’s only an inkling as the trailer shows no darkness but I find it odd for Gainax to come in with a magical girl show when the only other magical girl show they did was Petite Princess Yucie. Other than that this has some good animation and looks decent enough. But I am on to you Gainax. I wait for the traditional Gainax ending too.

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha ViVid

The manga takes place four years after the JS incident in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS, and stars Vivio Takamichi, a fourth-year elementary student at St. Hilde Academy of Magic. Vivio has learned to conjure her adult form and has received her own Device — named Sacred Heart — from Nanoha, and has promised Nanoha to never use either for mischief. Then a mysterious magical fighter appears and targets Vivio.

Seven Arc’s is notable absent for this entry for the Nanoha series. Possibly to prepare for dog days season four. Though I hope not. With the success of Madoka, Mahou Shoujo was given a revival which to be perfectly honest has been rather disastrous. The Madoka wannabes have been all equally awful so I for one would like to see another take on the other notable magical girl series. And with the director of the best season of Nanoha (Nanoha As) at the helm here this could be a return to form for the series. I for one would look forward to girls learning about the power of friendship by blasting each other to bits with weapons of mass destruction.

Mikagura Gakuen Kumikyoku

The story of the original light novels and manga revolves around high school girl Eruna Ichinomiya, who enters the Mikagura Academy dreaming of a boarding school life filled with beauty. However, Eruna finds out that in the culture clubs, there is a rule that battles that are fought with special powers decide a club representative’s treatment. Through various circumstances, Eruna becomes a representative of a club, and is thrown into the fray.

Why is it always a school? Why is it always a club? Do the japanese truly value their school life so much? Cause I remember school and I truly wish I didn’t. My life got a whole lot better once I left school and I never looked back. Now when I have to listen to someone prattle on and on I can at least say I am getting paid for it. Still even with the most stereotypical of settings a show can work if the plots good enough.

Narudoma

The “unorthodox hard surreal gag” comedy centers around the narcissistic (narushi na) Hagito and the masochistic (domazo na) Kei. Together they are “Narudoma.”
Hagito is a handsome yet pitiful man with a loli complex. Anytime, anywhere, a mirror is his constant companion. Surrounding him are a host of highly idiosyncratic characters: the diehard masochist Kei, the unnaturally strong yet girlish Totono, the exceedingly stylish working stiff Saitou, and the extraordinarily negative Roku. Even the one normal guy has his own issues

Comedy has never been a strong point for me in anime. This does have good points of having a wacky setup of characters but if this is the kind of comedy where one person does something stupid and then another points it out, then this will not be very amusing.

Ore Monogatari!!

Takeo Gouda is a giant guy with a giant heart. Too bad the girls don’t want him! (They want his good-looking best friend, Sunakawa.) Used to being on the sidelines, Takeo simply stands tall and accepts his fate. But one day when he saves a girl named Yamato from a harasser on the train, his (love!) life suddenly takes an incredible turn!

Points for having a protagonist who isn’t an average high school student. I read the first three chapters and can say I found it an rather heartwarming story. Its by no means a masterpiece but I can see myself putting time into it despite my utter despise for the Shoujo genre. The one thing that worries me is that the chapter I stopped at essentially capped off the story. I don’t see how it could continue after that and still be entertaining.

Owari no Seraph

The story takes place in a world where an unknown virus has killed the entire human population except for children. 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.

The warning signals are abundant. I see a school setting with potential haremettes in the mix. Not to mention with the protagonists declaration to kill all vampires I cannot help but be reminded of Attack on Titan. It also does not help that the animation studio making this are the ones who made Attack on Titan. This could be the first of the Titan wannabes. While I find vampires to be downgrade, the animation in the promo is impressive and I wish that this will at least break out on its own merits. However I am highly skeptical that it will do so.

Plastic Memories

This story takes place in a future not too far away when androids that look exactly like humans begin to spread across the world. The android production company SA Corp. produced Giftia, a new kind of android that has the most amount of emotion and human-like qualities out of any other model ever seen. However, due to problems in technology, the androids have a service life, and once they pass that, they… Well, it gets pretty bad. For this reason, SA Corp. creates a terminal service in order to retrieve Giftia that have gone past their service life. A new employee at the terminal service named Tsukasa Mizugaki forms a team with the Giftia Isla to retrieve the other androids, but…

This show has a premise with a large amount of potential but several warning signs. The first being that the cover image is of a cute girl. The promo does not inspire hope either. This is my wishful thinking that this may turn out to be more than it appears.

Yamada-kun to Nananin no Majo

Ryu Yamada is a second year student at Suzaku High. Ryu is always late for school, naps in class and gets abysmal grades. His life is a dead bore. The beautiful Urara Shiraishi, on the other hand, is Suzaku High’s brightest student. One day, without explanation, their bodies are swapped! Ryu ends up in Urara’s body, and Urara in Ryu’s.

I have read up to date with the manga and found it passable. The nature of the witch powers is somewhat interesting and the comedy can hit the occasional funny joke. I have dropped it and picked up the story a couple of times mainly due to dwindling interest. Its from the same author who did Yanki-kun to Megane-chan which is another manga I was mildly interested in but dropped and never looked back. So the main problem is whether the anime can keep people’s attention for a full season. In truth even if it succeeds I see this as an anime that you will enjoy but won’t leave an impact on you.

K-Off’ Opinion: Now around this time last year, I picked up reading the manga for Yamada-Kun to Nananin no Majo, and found it a pretty below average shonen comedy. I ultimately ended up dropping it pretty quickly because it was just too formulaic, not to mention it also turned terribly stale after 2-3 arcs into the story. So, I predict this show being somewhat watchable for the first few episodes and drying up pretty soon afterwards.

 

Series that I Do Look Forward To

Arslan Senki

The mangas story: In the prosperous kingdom of Pars lies the Royal Capital of Ecbatana, a city of splendor and wonder, ruled by the undefeated and fearsome King Andragoras. Arslan is the young and curious prince of Pars who, despite his best efforts, doesn’t seem to have what it takes to be a proper king like his father.
At the age of 14, Arslan goes to his first battle and loses everything as the blood-soaked mist of war gives way to scorching flames, bringing him to face the demise of his once glorious kingdom. However, it is Arslan’s destiny to be a ruler, and despite the trials that face him, he must now embark on a journey to reclaim his fallen kingdom.

Well it’s high fantasy manga by the author of fullmetal alchemist based on a series of novels called The Heroic Legend of Arslan. Do I really need to say more? I read the first two chapters of the manga and find it very promising. My only issue is that the manga and novels are both still ongoing so this likely will not have a satisfactory ending in one cour.

 

Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works 2nd Season

The 2nd season of ufotable’s adaptation of the Unlimited Blade Works route of Fate/stay night. Set to air in April 2015.

Well now. For what possible reason could I be looking forward to this show? The high production values? The story? The fact that I have been a long time type moon fan and the first season was the very reason I started blogging here in the first place? Yes I think it should be rather obvious. This season will be the climax filled end the holy grail war. So naturally I am blogging it and naturally I am foaming at the mouth in anticipation.(That promotional image is also truly artistically beautiful)

 

Kekkai Sensen

A breach between Earth and the netherworlds has opened up over the city of New York, trapping New Yorkers and creatures from other dimensions in an impenetrable bubble. They’ve lived together for years, in a world of crazy crime sci-fi sensibilities. Now someone is threatening to sever the bubble, and a group of stylish superhumans is working to keep it from happening.

Bones has been in a slump ever since “Heroman” and I do want them to come back with something. Kekkai earns points for having what looks to be no teenagers in the cast and the promo has style. True the super powered team facing a monster threat is hardly original but maybe with some Bones character building this could work.

K-Off’ Opinion: The idea behind this story seems pretty similar to that of every anime in its genre, save for the slightly more interesting premise of mixed fantasy which takes place in New York City–which is my home city. I don’t know anything about this manga as I hadn’t heard about it until now, but it’s supposedly written by the author of Trigun so I can at least hope for some semblance of originality. I know Bones is perfectly capable of producing quality anime, so I’ll have to withhold judgment for later, although honestly the only reason I’m even looking forward to this anime is because it takes place in NYC.

Lupin III (2015)

The story of the new series will take place in Italy and San Marino.

I never watched the original Lupin the third. I have seen the Mine Fujiko anime and while Okada had her usual over dramatic breakdowns in it, I found myself intrigued to see the original show. Its also referenced everywhere within anime and manga so being an anime veteran I feel it is my sworn duty to watch it. Then I see it has well over two hundred episodes and the same reason as to why I have not watched one piece to this day comes up yet again. That episode count is daunting and I have never seen a show that had that many episodes that retained it’s quality throughout. So I am hoping this 2015 version can give me the cliff notes as to what the big deal is.

 

Sidonia no Kishi: Daikyuu Wakusei Seneki

Season 2 of Sidonia no Kishi.

The first season of Sidonia had the element of surprise. I expected nothing of it and was given so much more. The second season does not have that luxury so can it deliver again? There were sidestepped pitfalls in the first season that the second could very well fall into and become something inferior. There are plenty of ways this can go wrong. Yet I hope that is not the case. The first season left threads that could lead to exciting developments this season. I hope that they can tie up these threads with care. I also hope the CG animation has improved to prevent those uncanny valley moments.

Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. Zoku

Second season of Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru.

The first season of Yahari took a cynical approach to a tired concept. It was a refreshing show. However there are few shows that managed to retain quality with a second season. Even fewer that managed to surpass their previous seasons. What I hope for here is more of the main characters cynicism and observations. What I dread is a growing harem of girls and romantic antics that eclipses the plot.