Author: psgels

Gunslinger Girl – Il Teatrino – 07

by psgels, posted in Gunslinger Girl - Il Teatrino


I’m getting more and more convinced that there is no such thing as a main character, or a main group of characters for this series. The girls are definitely not the ones who receive the most airtime. Heck, in this episode they yet again didn’t appear at all, and the focus shifted to Franca, as we get to see her background, why she met Franco in the first place, and how she got her code-name Franca in the first place.

It seems that she spent her college-years with none other than Patricia, Marco’s ex lover. Franca was actually the one who introduced Patricia to Marco. Oh, and her name was Catherina back then. It turns out that at one point, her father died and she wanted revenge. For that, she sought the help of a guy named Franco, son of a famous bomb expert and who helped his late father many times in the past. When she met him it seems that he had lost any motivation for the passion that his father once had.

I’m not sure what happened in between, but the two stuck together. When at one point, a bunch of old friends of Franco ask him what Franca’s name is, and instead of answering “Catherine”, he replies with “Franca”. This was all eight years ago, and both of them have matured greatly since then. It really feels like two lost souls have found each other, and grew, depending on each other. Even though Franco doesn’t show it, it does seem like his encounter with Franca gave him a reason to live again.

Sure, the story of the girls is nice and all, but the adults are really stealing the show for this series over and over again. I just love how this can quite possibly be one of the very few series that has important characters of all possible ages, except perhaps of high-school-age (the most annoying age anyway), depending on how old Pinocchio is. I really like how this series has tried to make every single character count, and it succeeded pretty well at this. I’m not sure why, but I always tend to like series with lots of important characters.

Pinocchio also developed a bit this episode. This probably was the first time he showed any emotion towards anyone other than his uncle. In the week he spent with Franco and Franca he barely said anything, and just kept to himself most of the time, but after saving Franca, he did show a few signs of friendliness. During said incident, Franca also got pretty beaten up, so Pinocchio’s uncle decided to give her a visit. When Pinocchio sees him again, it becomes clear that he really wants to mean something to his uncle, and he wants to be complimented.

Oh, and on a side-note: the animation for the OP changed to the traditional method. Again, it’s pretty well done, and it seems to consist out of a combination of recycled cells and original animation. Ah well, at least you can see that the creators are trying, despite the limited budget. Franco’s typing at the beginning of the episode was just bad…

Gundam 00 – 19

by psgels, posted in Mobile Suit Gundam 00


This was probably the first real character-based episode of Gundam 00. The story has become a tad dull for the past few episodes, but thankfully the characters are making up for it. One of the things I like about them is how the creators know that their ideals are cheesy, and because of this, the characters themselves realize this too. The way this is used has become pretty interesting.

The fight unfortunately ends with both sides retreating, after Tieria realizes that the thing that Nena altered in Veda was the data in Nadleeh. Johann also reveals that he’s been watching the Gundam Meisters through Veda all along, and that Setsuna was involved with the organization that killed Lockon’s parents. We see the head of the United Nations (forgot his name) smile as this happens, and he also mentions that Stage 3 has begun now. He claims to be just an observer, but it seems that he knows every detail of the complot.

One thing that surprised me was how Nena was actually surprised when she saw Nadleeh, even though she was the one who hacked into Veda… The episode ends with a bunch of people, entering a mysterious base in Antartica. I’m not sure what was up with that, but we’ll probably learn this in a few episodes. The plot had better get moving fast now.

On a side-note: I did like how Lockon didn’t go all emo when he found out that Setsuna was affiliated with the ones who killed his parents.

Perfect Blue Review – 87/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews


Perfect Blue: take a random episode of Paranoia Agent, remove all traces of humour whatsoever and extend the result into a ninety-minute movie. I originally thought that this series would be more like Tokyo Godfathers, but instead we get a story about paranoia, schizophrenia and hallucinations. And While I liked Tokyo Godfathers better, Perfect Blue is a very capable movie as well.

Satoshi Kon knows how to build up his story, and this is even apparent in his first major movie. It starts with a simple case where an ex-idol is being stalked by an obsessed fan, and the series turns more and more into a psychological horror-series afterwards. Like expected, the biggest purpose of this movie is to dive into the mind of its main character, and it succeeds pretty well at this. Mima is a terrific character, and even though she may freak out, she’s far away from an emo teenager in the middle of puberty.

This movie does have its problems, though. It feels like a few of the side-characters weren’t used to their full potential. While I can understand why Satoshi Kon decided not to show much of the background of the major bad guys, it would have been interesting to see more of the reasons behind their actions, and their backgrounds. The ending also felt a tad too abrupt, and an extra minute would have done wonders on it. A little more involvement with the police would also have been desired. Quite a few people get killed, but you hardly ever see the cops.

Overall, I agree with the general opinion for this movie: Perfect Blue is great, but it’s not Satoshi Kon’s best work. Still, if it’s paranoia you want, then you should definitely give it a chance. With a terrific soundtrack and a gritty, realistic setting, away from the usual idol-stereotypes you see in anime, this movie won’t leave you disappointed.

So, after this, there’s just one movie and one OVA left that I want to check out. I think it’s pretty obvious which ones I saved for last, but I’m not going to say which they are just yet. 😉

Porfy no Nagai Tabi – 07

by psgels, posted in Porfy no Nagai Tabi


By request of Chris, I’ve decided to write full and detailed summaries for Porfy from now on. It’s the least I can do for this series.

The episode starts with Porfy, thinking back about the previous episode, and more specifically Alecia. Ever since she left, she’s been on his mind, and this is getting on Mina’s nerves. She then shows Porfy a letter that just arrived from Alecia, and she starts teasing him with it. Aneke then tells both of them to go outside because of the fuss they cause. In the end, the letter tells Porfy and Mina how they’re the first friends that Alecia has ever had, and how she had a great time with both of them. She also invites both of them to come to Italia once, so that they can play. Porfy is so caught up in this that he hardly notices how one of the goats is about to eat the letter. 😛

Porfy then leaves Mina and runs to Christopher, wanting to show the letter to his father. Then a customer arrives who mistook the service station for a gas-station, and believes that there should be gasoline at a station like this. This has a really big impact on Porfy, seeing a customer leave his father disappointed like that. He then suggests his father to also install some kind of gasoline tank for his customers. The sooner the better.

That afternoon, the family makes another trip to the city. Christopher is going to try and get his hands on a gasoline pump, while Porfy, Mina and Aneke go to a movie while they wait. Christopher borrowed another car for the trip, and he picks up his family. On the way to the city, they come across Zaimis, who is running errands with who looks to be his mother, and Porfy tells him how they’re going to see a movie. Mina then says that she’ll bring a small souvenir for him.

When they’re in the city, Porfy gets distracted by random cars as usual. Then the cars arrive at the theatre and Christopher drops Porfy, Mina and Aneke off. The movie was… cheesy. Remember that this is Greece in the 1950s, and apparently even then the movies weren’t what you’d call top-notch. What’s interesting is that it was an actual live-action movie. Did the creators actually go and film it, or did they just grab a random Greek movie from the shelves? I suspect the latter, though I do admit that it’s an interesting way to save budget. The story is about a rich boy who falls in love with a poor woman, but they break up in the end due to their differences in social status.

In any case, Porfy and especially Mina were really impressed by the movie. It was probably the first time they saw one, and I can imagine how awesome it must look if you’ve never seen it before. Mina also starts comparing the female heroine with Alecia. *wink wink*. When they exit the theatre, Christopher also comes back from his errands. He didn’t succeed in buying a gas pump, but h tries to keep this hidden from Porfy. Afterwards, Mina buys a red pencil for Zaimis as the souvenir, after which all four of them have dinner at a local restaurant.

Mina notes how the food is delicious, but it’s nowhere near as good. Of course, after hearing this Porfy just has to say the same, even though he had his mouth full at the time. When the dinner is over and Christopher is probably washing up or something similar, Aneke runs into an old friend of hers. Apparently, this friend didn’t yet know that Aneke married someone as poor as Christopher, and once she finds out, she quickly tries to find an excuse to leave.

Mina then starts comparing her parents to the couple in the movie, as Aneke too married a poor guy, even though she belonged to the upper classes. The last thing that Christopher needs to do in the city is refill the gas of the car that he borrowed, and during this process Porfy looks like a small kid in a candy-store.

During the drive back to Simitra, Porfy and Mina fall asleep on the back couch of the car. Porfy then has a dream of how he in a cool costume refills the gasoline for all the different cars (after all, it looked like a very simple task for him to do). He wakes up just early enough to overhear Aneke and Christopher talk about how the gasoline pump will be impossible. It’ll just cost too much money. Porfy clearly becomes upset, and even tries to suggest that Aneke’d borrow some money from her rich family.

When they reached back home, Porfy is still disappointed. Aneke tries to comfort him a bit. She also explains how she and Christopher decided that they wouldn’t depend on the money from her family after they married. It really had it coming. Porfy had a huge imagination, so it was only a matter of time until this would go out of control and he’d start demanding unreasonable things like a gas pump. It was Christopher’s dream to own a local garage, and something tells me that he’s already happy enough with just that, while Porfy’s ideals are a bit bigger than that.

I must say, though, that the creator went really into the mind of a child for this production. That’s one point where this series is already better at than Les Miserables. In terms of drama it may be very light and all, but the amount of realism is overwhelming. Porfy and Mina behave just like how real children would in this situation, and even Ghibli doesn’t come close to the level of realism for this series.

The Dog of Flanders Review – 93/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews


Yes, you’ve read the rating right. I hardly ever give a movie a rating above 90/100, because of the limited time they have to work with, and this is the highest rating I’ve ever handed out to a movie. I knew that this was going to be a good movie because of the stories I’ve heard about the original novel, but I never expected that it would be THIS good. The Dog of Flanders has left me in an emotional wreck, and I honestly say that it’s been the best movie I’ve ever seen.

The people from Nippon Animation are true gods when it comes to adaptations. They always remain faithful and they always get the best out of their source material. If the source-material is such a tear-jerker as this one, the results really turn out amazing. This movie is heart-wrenching, from start to finish. It never shows any moments of weakness, and when one grievingly sad scene ends, you can be sure that it’ll be followed by an even sadder scene next.

The story makes perfect use of the amazing characters. No character feels incomplete, they all have their own subtle backgrounds, they all well-developed characters with their own well-defined roles. Even the small side-characters have a personality, and they work so incredibly well with the main characters. The only thing that isn’t absolutely stellar about this movie are the visuals. After all, it has been animated by Nippon Animation, and it dates back from 1997, so the art style does look simple.

But that should be no reason to not check out this movie. Over the past few months, I’ve watched a lot of different movies, and I kept nitpicking on how they always came out flawed somehow, and how each movie, despite its good points, didn’t quite make it to become truly memorable. This is why I often prefer TV-series. But a Dog of Flanders is different. It’s a true masterpiece, and it’s a real shame that so little people seem to have watched it. Both AniDB, Anime News Network and MyAnimeList have just thirty people who voted for it. If you’re looking for a sad story, then The Dog of Flanders should be the first on your list to check out.

Shion no Ou – 17

by psgels, posted in Shion no Ou


This episode was meant to build up for the next one. But with Shion no Ou, this isn’t a bad thing at all. This episode was yet again awesome, and now that this series is nearing its finish it’s getting more amazing by the minute! Seriously, this series has some of the best character-studies in a long while, and at the moment, I’m certain that it’ll end up being one of my favourite series of 2008, even though we’re only half past February.

And really, the animators were on fire for this episode, after the really weird shots of the previous one. It’s really interesting to see that the creators too have realized that the animation needs to be better, and they’re actually improving themselves. I’ve only seen this phenomena in one other series: Mahou Shoujotai. I don’t think I need to say anything more. It’s not like the animation this episode was really crisp or smooth. It’s even messier than usual, but it’s detailed and imaginative. Those were some really interesting poses, where you can see that the animators put some thoughts into them. Some were exaggerated, but others looked SO natural, like how Satoru tilted his head when Shion approached him.

And boy, the story. I’m getting more and more the feeling that Satoru is some kind of huge red herring, standing in front of the real killer. The amount of depth that he and Shion got in this episode is almost unbelievable. This episode starts with Hani-meijin winning over Hisatani, and the second half of the episode is dedicated to the match between Shion and Satoru.

It actually turns out that Shion met Kazuki, when her parents were alive. She hears this from Satoru, during the match. In exchange, she starts crying for her, wondering who it was that handed her her first shougi-pieces at such a young age. I don’t think that Satoru could have expected that other people cared about Kazuki apart from him.

That’s not the only thing that Satoru tells her. He also tells him that she actually once convinced him to stop playing Shougi, and that because of her, he organized the tournament in the first place. It also seems that she died, the day after Shion’s real parents died. Also, for some reason, Satoru also tries to make her remember the incident, and because of this he also shows her his memorial, the same as Shion’s.

Shion then recalls another part of her memory, where she’s playing shougi with her father as a child, where he actually inspires her to keep playing shougi. Shion then realizes that that was the reason why she became a pro in the first place. After the match progresses a while, Satoru leaves the room to eat a bit of lunch. Before he leaves the room, he asks Shion about the night of the murder. Apparently, it took a while before the police arrived, but Shion never screamed for help. She just cried for her parents, if I understood things correctly.

This makes Shion recall that night a bit more clearly, and the night with her father as well. Guess what? It turns out that these two nights were the exact same night. The reason why Shion kept playing shougi was BECAUSE OF WHAT THE KILLER SAID to her! In her mind, she changed this image to be her foster-father. One interesting detail is that Shion held the other king in her hand that time, and she didn’t want to give it up.

Seriously, the potential for the finale for this series is overwhelming. Hands down, Shion no Ou has become my favourite series of the Autumn-season, and Ghost Hound is going to have to be amazing if it wants to have any chance to change this.

True Tears – 07

by psgels, posted in True Tears


Oh boy, this series just keeps delivering. This time, it’s the time for Noe to get some major development. You don’t often anime where people date each other, even though one of them is in love with somebody else (except when said person wants to manipulate the other, or the anime is called Saiunkoku Monogatari, of course), and here in True Tears, we’ve got two of these couples now.

Shinichiro is still in love with Hiromi, but now that the two are possible siblings, there’s no way that they’ll ever become a couple. And to try and forget this, he finally asks Noe to start dating him. It’s here where he finds out that Noe has really been in love with him. Then, when he tells this to Aiko, she finally loses it. I guess that she was fine while Shinichiro had no official girlfriend yet, as she could lie to herself a bit. But now that he’s actually dating someone, it’s much harder to just try and ignore this.

This was also a major episode for Shinichiro himself, as with that kiss, he must have figured out that Aiko likes him too. In one episode, he was forced to see that there are more sheep in the ocean than just Hiromi (I think I got that proverb wrong, but I don’t care at the moment). What would really be interesting for this series is to see it break away from its harem roots, and have Hiromi seriously fall in love with Noe’s brother. That would be quite interesting.

Shigofumi ~ Stories of the Last Letter – 07

by psgels, posted in Shigofumi ~ Stories of the Last Letter


This episode goes back to Fumikas background, as we get to know her father a bit more. Kaname’s meets up with his old school-friend, whose sister seems to be an admirer of Fumika’s father, who turns out to be a famous novelist (his name is Kirameki Mikawa, by the way). The sister also works for a newspaper-company, and coincidentally at the same day where Kaname pays a visit, she got an assignment to interview Mikawa. Coincidentally, at the same day Fumika also gets another Shigofumi from one of his obsessed fans who committed suicide because of one of his books. Yes, this was a tad too coincidental…

Thankfully, the rest of the storytelling more than made up for this. Mikawa is really messed up in the head, which is probably also why his books sell so much. He lives in a really eccentric house, full of glass, and because of the themes he uses in his books, people commit suicide. Apparently, this seems to happen more often, because he seems to have turned burning the Shigofumi he receives as some kind of weird ritual, and I can imagine how you can go crazy because of this as a daughter. I guess then at one point, he did something unforgivable to her, so she shot him. I’m not exactly sure why she ended up in a coma afterwards, but I suspect that the future episodes will shed light on this.

Interestingly enough, because apparently the guy didn’t die when Fumika shot him, Fumika plans to shoot the guy yet again. However, thanks to some meddling by Kaname she loses her gun, Mikawa picks it up, and mercilessly shoots his daughter instead. Now, I really wonder what will happen. She obviously won’t die completely, otherwise we’d have a bunch of very boring final episodes, but the matter isn’t so simple that she’ll either die or keep living. Her Shigofumi-form may be immortal, and just come back to live as long as her body in coma remains alive. It could also cause her coma-body to wake up again.

Those were some pretty interesting camera-angles, by the way. Especially when Mikawa was in the picture, the entire frame became more and more distorted, probably symbolizing his own twisted personality. What would be interesting is an episode, dedicated to the guy’s past. How did he become the famous writer anyway, and how did he find a woman, crazy enough to marry him and have a child? One thing I like about Shigofumi is that although it reminds me of a bunch of other series, it really managed to set itself apart from all the other series with its type of storytelling.

Spring Season Preview

by psgels, posted in Seasonal Previews

Incidentally, this is my 1600th post, so I thought that it would a good time for the upcoming spring-season preview, and the line-up is looking quite interesting. There are a lot of science-fiction series, and no hentai-game adaptations at all. That’s probably the first since years now. Apart from that, Gonzo and Production IG both have three series to come out, and there are relatively few garbage-looking series. I can’t wait till April starts. 🙂

+ Not Really Looking Forward To +
Kanokon

Summary: Kanokon`s story revolves around Kouta Oyamada, a young first-year high school student who moves from the country to the city and thus transfers to Kunpo High School. On his first day at his new school, a beautiful second-year female student named Chizuru Minamoto asks him to meet her alone in the music room. When he arrives, she reveals her that she is in fact a fox deity and from that day on the two hang out together. Nozomu is a first year female student at Kouta`s school, she is in fact a wolf deity and in love with Kouta, and a rival of Chizuru for Kouta`s affections. – (Taken from AniDB)
Thoughts: The promo-art features the main guy who has his head stuck in the well-endowed bosom of the lead girl. That can’t be a good sign, can it? A fox deity in love with the main character? Come on, please.

To Love-Ru

Summary: The story is about Yuuki Rito, a high-school boy who cannot confess to the girl of his dreams, Sairenji Haruna. One day when coming home and sulking in the bath-tub a mysterious, nude girl, appears out of nowhere. Her name is Lala and she comes from the planet Deviluke, where she is the heir to the throne. Her father wants her to return to her home planet so she can marry one of the husband candidates, but she decides that she wants to marry Rito in order to stay on Earth. Commander Zastin has been ordered to bring Lala back and has already battled Rito. He reports to the emperor that Rito would be suited to marry Lala, after hearing Rito say that marriage is impossible unless it is with the person you love (Rito was actually defending himself but Zastin and Lala thought he was defending Lala). With this speech, Lala truly falls in love with Rito and decides that she wants to marry Rito. Her father decides that, if Rito is able to protect Lala from her fiances, then he can be her fiance, but if Rito cannot protect Lala from her other fiances, Lala`s father will kill Rito and destroy Earth. – (Taken from AniDB)
Thoughts: Well, this is going to be interesting. [/sarcasm] How many series where the main guy gets to be the boyfriend of a princess of a princess of a country do we have anyway? The director also probably won’t be of any help, seeing as he’s behind the numerous Rockman-series and Busou Renkin, although he did direct Overdrive as well.

Zettai Karen Children – (new)

Summary: It’s the 21st century, and the number of ESPers continues to increase. They are active in the military, diplomacy, politics, and in other places. They hold the key for global competition. A country that controls ESP can control the world! However individuals who posses higher that Level 4 are less than 3% of the population. There are only three Level 7 people who have government contracts. These three are Kaoru, Aoi, and Shiho, ten-year old girls, who work for B.A.B.E.L. With the guidance of Kouichi, a twenty-year old genius, they catch criminals and evil ESPers.
 – (Taken from Manga-updates)
Thoughts: At first look, this may hold potential, but upon further inspection it quickly becomes clear that this is a rather pointless series, which yet again gives a bunch of kids superpowers to bust up bad guys. The director will be the guy from Moetan and Getsumen to Heiki Mina, so I don’t see this one having any chance of success.

Monochrome Factor

Summary: Akira Nikaido is a typical slacker high school student who thinks he has a normal life–until a mysterious man called Shirogane appears and tells him to meet him at the school that night. He is sceptical but goes anyway…and gets attacked by a shadow monster! Shirogane convinces him that the balance between the human world and the shadow world has been distorted, and that Akira must become a shin–a creature of the shadow world–in order to help restore the balance. – (Taken from Baka-updates)
Thoughts: Well, nothing special here, just your ordinary shounen-premise from the creators of Loveless and Robby to Kerobby. The only interesting series in their repertoire seems to be Chrono Crusade, but I’ve never seen that one.

Nabari no Ou

Summary: Rokujou Miharu was a seemly reluctant junior high student living in his own world. However, within him, lurked the ultimate power of Nabari, “Omnipotent”. To possess such supreme weapon, the Wolf Pack of Iga swore to bring Miharu back to Iga village. On the other hand, Miharu’s English teacher, Kumohira sensei, and classmate, Kouichi, were the Banten ninjas whose mission was to protect Miharu. A war waged over the ownership of “Omnipotent” thus started. To survive, Miharu must enter the hidden world Nabari, to become the king. – (Taken from AniDB)
Thoughts: Well, the title is a bit less subtle than Shion no Ou. In this case, the main girl just wants to become the ‘king’ of Nabari. It also doesn’t help that she’s voiced by the ever-squeaky Rie Kugimiya and directed by none other than the director of Yugioh. Seriously, setting all of the other cast-members aside, can something good really come from him?

Neo Angelique Abyss

Summary: See below
Thoughts: Oh god… not another one. XD For those who don’t know, there have been two Angelique tv-series before, in 2006 and 2007. Their premise was basically take a girl, and let her meet a bishie for every different episode. I can’t believe that the premise has been so popular that a third season had to be made. I mean, the personality of the girl was fine, but the guys were stereotyped as hell, and now the creators are planning to add nine more of them (totalling up to 27 bishies in three seasons… oh god…).

Kyouran Kazoku Nikki

Summary: ???
Thoughts: No real story synopsis is known yet, but I’ve got a strange feeling that it’ll be about a certain family called Kyouran (kazoku = family, nikki = diary), with in the lead part the blue-haired girl. I’m not yet convinced, though. Comedies like this one often stay just funny for a bunch of episodes, without really standing out. The director did Chokkoto Sister and Myself; Yourself before, which neither were that funny.

+ Shows With Small Potential +
Code Geass – Lelouch of the Rebellion II

Summary: Well, the second season of the currently infamous Lelouch. It seems that he’s going to be taking on the world this time, against Suzaku after a previously unmentioned plot-twist probably saves both of them after the cliff-hanger ending of the first season.
Thoughts: One thing that’s interesting is Code Geass’s time-slot. It’s not going to be taking over that of Gundam 00, and instead it’s reallocated to five O’clock, where mostly kid’s shows take place. I hope that this’ll stimulate the creators to go for an actual plot that makes sense, instead creating an as big sensation as possible.

Golgo 13 – (new)

Summary: Duke Togo, or as he is more widely known, “Golgo 13”, is a M16 bearing assassin who will take on any job for the right price. Anyone can hire him, including private citizens and world governments. If he’s not bedding women he’s infiltrating a hostile country, waiting hours for the perfect shot in the most extreme conditions. Golgo 13 is just as adept in the urban jungle. Those who deal with him must make sure not to cross the Duke or they might find themselves the target of his rifle. – (Taken from Anime News Network)
Thoughts: I’m not really sure what to think of this one… apparently, it’s the attempt to recreate a classic manga named Golgo 13, which sounds more like a cheesy mecha-show than a show about an assassin. In any case, there will probably be lots of explosions in this series, but will there be any other substance?

Blassreiter – (updated)

Summary: Set in the near-future, in a town in Germany. There have been incidents of dead people coming back to life, transforming into “grotesque shadows”, and attacking people. Living people show up who can transform themselves into demons whenever they want. They used to be regular humans, but when they gained this power to transform, people rejected them and called them demons. But they still use their powers, each for his own reason. However, they cannot deny their fate: to fight in a deadly battle royal with others who have turned into demons. – (Taken from Anime News Network)
Thoughts: This one seems to be more like bad Gonzo, instead of the good one. So far, I didn’t see any sign to point to the opposite, and this again seems to prioritize flashy action above a nice plot and characters. Especially considering that it’s directed by the notorious director of Gantz. Ah well, at least it’ll look pretty.

Kamen no Maid Guy

Summary: Fujiwara Naeka is a typical 17 year-old high school student. Or so we thought. She`s really one of two surviving heirs of a tycoon who has the right to inherit his mass fortune when she turns 18 in half a year. Fubuki, a young and beautiful maid, and Kogarashi, a big burly maid guy with a mask, have been assigned to keep Naeka and her brother Kousuke safe from those who would plot their demise, and to steal the fortune she would inherit. – (Taken from AniDB)
Thoughts: The premise sounds crazy enough to actually work, provided that the creators don’t delve into fanservice whenever they get the chance. Unfortunately, the director doesn’t look too good, as he directed Princess Resurrection, Strawberry Panic and Saint Beast before this one. Pleaaase… don’t screw this one up.

Hoshi no Umi no Amuri – (new)

Summary: Solar wind causes an increase in skin cancer in the future, but a new race of “adapters” is born — all of whom appear to be exotically-dressed young girls, for some reason. – (Summary by Hashihime)
Thoughts: So, this is a three-episode OVA, done completely in 3D CG. It seems to be a project, mainly by the director of two shows I’ve never seen: GaoGaiGar and Brigadoon. The graphics so far look pretty interesting, but there’s also a very big chance that this will turn out to be one of those lazy moe-shows.

Wagaya no Oinarisama – (updated)

Summary: Tenko Kuugen, the thousand year old demon/yokai fox that served as their guardian god for hundred of years, able to use all sort of spells, but has a extremely mischievious personality, playing all sort of pranks, until finally the Mitsuji family sealed it up, until present day, when a situation forced them to free it, after the crisis, it quit it’s job and became the guardian god of the Takamichi family, extremely smart and curious, it was able to figure out modern world technology, and learn to blend in, but has a personalty of doing as it pleases, it’s too old to remember it’s original gender, so it has both male and female form. but doesn’t hate the Mitsuiji for sealing it up. likes the Takamichi brother and will protect them at all cost.

Thoughts: What? Another Spice and Wolf? Apparently, Wagaya no Oinarisama is translated to Our Home’s fox Deity. It’s based on a series of seven light novels, but looking at the synopsis, I can’t really say I’m eager to see this. The director isn’t really anything special. His works vary from Sky Girls and Bottle Fairy to Love Hina and Zero no Tsukaima. The series composition is done by Reiko Yoshida, who thankfully does have a lot of experience. My prediction is that this will be a nice series, but it’ll never stand out.

+ Interesting-Looking Series +
Soul Eater

Summary: Based on a shounen manga by Ookubo Atsushi serialised in Shounen Gangan. Set in the Shinigami technical school for weapon technicians, the series revolves around 3 groups of each a weapon technician and a human weapon. Trying to make the latter a “Death Scythe” and thus fit for use by the Shinigami, they must collect the souls of 99 evil humans and 1 witch. – (Taken from AniDB)
Thoughts: While the premise doesn’t really sound that exciting, do note that this is going to be animated by Bones, and the director of Ouran High School Host Club and Ashita no Nadja. Let’s hope the guy won’t make the same mistakes as he did with Ouran. Thankfully, he’s backed up by the guy behind the series composition, who worked on Gintama, Ooedo Rocket, Simoun and Full Metal Alchemist, and the art-director of Zombie Loan. Yeah… this can go both ways.

Macross Frontier

Summary: Macross F is set in around 2070A.D.. F denotes “Frontier”; “Frontier” stands for the migration fleet which is the setting of the story. The story is about the fleet`s encounters with space monsters (or things to that effect) while on its course. It is planned to be a TV series with Kanno Youko handling music, Kikuchi Kouji as director and Kawamori Shouji as general director. – (Taken from AniDB)
Thoughts: Well, the first episode aired a bunch of months ago. The graphics looked really pretty, but I remember being a little disappointed by the story so far. Let’s hope that the rest of this series will fix this.

Amatsuki

Summary: Based on the shoujo manga by Takayama Shinobu, serialised in Comic Zero-Sum. History isn`t Tokidoki`s strong subject. He`s even forced to do make-up work at a high-tech history museum to bring up his failing grades. After losing an eye to a virtual reality monster in an Edo-period simulation, he finds himself unable to leave the game. Could it be real? – (Taken from AniDB)
Thoughts: After all the serious samurai-dramas of 2007, it’s time for a more light-hearted one. Still, the director of Chevalier will be animating it, which makes two series for him in one season. It also turns out that Studio Deen will be the animation-company, so perhaps they can find something interesting with such a rather weak premise.

Nijuu-Mensou no Musume

Summary: The story revolves around a female thief named Chico, who is the spiritual successor to the Kaijin Niju-Menso (The Fiend with 20 Faces) thief character created by famed suspense and detective novelist Ranpo Edogawa. (Edogawa is a pen name for Taro Hirai; when written in Japanese family-name-first order, it spells out a Japanese pun for the name of the American suspense and detective author “Edgar Allen Poe”). – (Taken from AniDB)
Thoughts: This is one of these series where I have no idea what to expect. The director directed two shows before: Futakoi and Muteki Kanbanmusume. The promo-art looks very nice, but on the other hand I’ve never really been into phantom-thief-anime. On yet another hand, Natsuko Takahashi and Reiko Yoshida are working on the screenplay, and both are two very talented and experienced writers.

Druaga no Tou – The Aegis of Uruk – (updated)

Summary: It is said that every few years, there is what’s known as the “Summer of Anu.” During that summer, thanks to the divine protection of the sky-god Anu, all of the demons in the tower lose their power. The country of Uruk has begun an invasion of the tower in order to suppress the demons. They’ve built up positions inside the tower, with their sights set on getting to the upper levels. The Uruk army knows that this is the third Summer of Anu-a perfect time to launch a mission to suppress the monster Druaga once and for all. The army soldiers aren’t the only ones in the tower, though. An enitre city called Meskia has formed inside the tower’s first floor. It plays host not just to soldiers, but also to adventurers who have heard rumors about a legendary treasure called the Blue Crystal Rod, which is said to rest at the very top of the tower. With all these different groups in the mix, each with its own agenda, one can only guess how things will play out during this unusual summer. – (Taken from Hikari no Shiawase)
Thoughts: Now this is more like it. It’s been a while since I watched a good fantasy-adventure, and this might very well be it. Looking at the promo art, this doesn’t look uninspired, and the backgrounds look like a lot of attention was spent on it. Interesting fact: the director of Last Exile will be behind it, and even though I’ve yet to see that series, I’ve heard nothing but raves about it. But then again, he also worked on Gatekeepers and Brave Story, so perhaps I’m cheering too soon. Still, now that I’ve seen the premise, I must say that it looks very interesting.

S.A

Summary: Hikari Hanazono, the main character, has always been second to Kei Takishima. While Hikari considers Kei a rival and somewhat of a friend, Kei loves Hikari. Everyone knows this, but she is too dense to notice. Their wrestling loving fathers first introduced them to one another when they were 6 years old. Assuming that she was the best in wrestling, young Hikari challenged Kei to a wrestling match only to be thoroughly defeated by him. Ever since that fateful incident, Hikari swore to beat Kei in school grades, a sporting event – anything. To do this she has enrolled in the same school as Kei since elementary. Now she attends Hakusenkan, an ultra elite school, that costs her carpenter father a lot of money. Hikari and Kei are the top two students in the school, with Kei holding firmly to that number one position. – (Taken from Anime News Network)
Thoughts: I must say, that for a high-school drama, this seems like a solid one. But then again, Gonzo is going to be animating it, which means that the series has a high chance to be rewritten from its original manga. Let’s hope that the director is up to the task, because his only directing-experience was as assistant director of Tenpou Ibun Ayakashi Ayashi. The other people behind the screenplay and series composition are a bunch of random names, who worked on both good and bad series.

Allison to Lillia

Summary: The series will be a compilation of the two manga “Alison” and “Lillia and Treize,” both original works by Shigusawa Keiichi (Kino no Tabi). The series will take place in a country split into two factions in a 1940’s-like world, that have been repeatedly warring with each other for over 100 years. The first half will involved Alison and her male friend Treize who will set out from an orphanage in order to search for a “treasure” to end the war. The second half will take place after Alison and Will find the “treasure,” and the war ends, in an era where a united state is possible. Lilia, a mother of two daughters, as well as Treize’s girlfriend, will play an active roll in the second half. – (Taken from Myanimelist)
Thoughts: Finally another period-anime. I’ve missed them, and this one looks to be quite interesting, combining two manga together that were produced by the mangaka of Kino no Tabi. The only problem is that Madhouse will be animating them, as they’ve been quite notorious lately with their adaptations (in my opinion, much more than Gonzo), but at least the animation will look great. It also helps that the director of Mokke will be behind this series.

Kure-nai

Summary: 16-year-old Shintaro Kurenai is a Mediator – a specialist in settling squabbles between people. Despite his youth and easygoing nature, he is a man of some skills when it comes to protecting both his clients and his client’s interests. And then one day, he is approached by the daughter of a rich and powerful family asking him to be her bodyguard, which somehow ends up with him having a seven-year-old fan, landlord and self-proclaimed fiancé. Shintaro Kurenai finds himself living in run-down tenement with Murasaki Kuhouin (his new 7-year-old apprentice and landlord) and several other eccentric ladies. His childhood friend (Ginko) acts as his Mediator booking agent. Then there is his (adopted) older sister and martial arts teacher, Yuuno, who does not like to see her Kurenai troubled by any of the difficulties of his Mediator assignments. And Yuuno’s younger (7-year-old) sister, Chi-chan (Houdsuki Chidzuru) also seems to take a troubling worry when her ‘onii-chan’ gets beaten up by Yuuno or his assignments. – (Taken from AniDB)
Thoughts: My first reaction when I read the premise: “what?!” Still, on further inspection I do have to say that this weird of a premise does have potential. It’s animated by Brains Base (the ones who did Baccano!), and directed by the director of Red Garden, who also did a bunch of random episodes for Ergo Proxy, Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto, Freedom, Master Keaton, sola and Zegapain and he produced Millenium Actress. What the creators need to pay attention to is to not market this series for the paedophiles, but instead just go with regular storytelling. In that case, this could become very interesting.

Junjo Romantica – (updated)

Summary: Misaki is suddenly having some unexpected and odd problems. What started as a need for some college entrance exam tutoring has somehow led him to being romanced by a suave older man who also happens to be his big brother’s best friend. Confused by all of his brand new emotions, Misaki struggles to deal with his suddenly very odd life. And if that wasn’t enough, his suitor, Usami, has plenty of issues of his own. A man-child who decorates his room in giant teddy bears and toys, Usami is a famous novelist who also writes steamy boys’ love novels on the side. When Misaki cracks open one of these books and reads sentences like “Misaki licks every inch of Usami’s hot body”…well, let’s just say that all hell breaks loose. And if one couple isn’t enough for you, Junjo Romantica focuses on three different sets of lovers, each with their own compelling stories. – (Taken from Anime News Network)
Thoughts: Okay, after hearing the horrible things about the manga, I’m forced to adjust my opinion a bit. This series still looks interesting, but actual YAOI may be a bit too much. Especially considering how the director of Higurashi will be working on this one…

Chi’s Sweet Home

Summary: The story centers around a kitten who gets lost after walking out into the real world for the first time. A boy named Yohei Yamada discovers her, but the Yamada family’s apartment building prohibits pets. After failing to find a new home, the Yamadas decide to defy the rules and raise Chi themselves. Most of Chi’s coming-of-age stories revolve around the Yamadas or the cats, dogs, and the occasional rabbit that live in the neighborhood. – (Taken from Anime News Network)
Thoughts: At first, this may seem like an ordinary kiddie-show, but take a look at the people who’ll be animating it. The director was the episode director of Death Note, Gungrave, Beck and Paradise Kiss, and to make matters even weirder, he was the assistant director on Tokyo Tribe 2 and Shigurui. What the heck is such a manly director doing with a series that revolves around a lost kitten? This is just making me really curious to see whether he’ll combine the gore of Shigurui with the cuteness of this concept. 😛

+ Definitely Looking Forward To +
Vampire Knight

Summary: Yuki`s earliest memory is of a stormy night in winter, wherein she was attacked by a vampire… And then rescued by another. Now 10 years later, Yuki Cross, the adapted daughter of the headmaster of Cross Academy, has grown up and become a guardian of the vampire race, protecting her saviour, Kaname, from discovery as he leads a group of vampires at the elite boarding school. But also at her side is Zero Kiryu, a childhood friend who’s hatred for the creatures that destroyed everything he held dear, is now determined never to trust them. This coexisting arrangement seems all well and good, but have the vampires truly renounced their murderous ways, or is there a darker truth behind their actions. Is Kaname`s infatuation with Yuki the beginning of a forbidden romance, or is it something in her forgotten past that draws him to her. Because in this world of secrets, nothing is as it seems. And the price of misplaced trust may even be worse than death. – (Taken from AniDB)
Thoughts: Well, the premise sounds less interesting than Zombie Loan, the first series that came to my mind when I saw the promo-art. Still, it does hint at an interesting plot to follow, if handled well. The director of Pretear has been assigned as the director here, and he’s up for an interesting task to bring this manga to live. At least the series composition will be good, as it’s handled by someone who worked did the screenplay for Popolocrois, Red Garden, Aria, the series composition for True Tears, Sasami Mahou Shoujo Clup and the script for a lot of episodes of Simoun.

Kaiba – (new)

Summary: A sci-fi love story set in a world where digitization of memory made physical death obsolete. A world where memories can be stolen and altered, and replaced in a new human body. Kaiba wakes up in a room without knowing who he is. He has a pendant with the photograph of a woman he does not remember. After being attacked all of a sudden, he has to flee to space, meet various people, and rediscover the world. “Even without my memories, I love you…”. – (Taken from AniDB)
Thoughts: Oh god, I almost mistook this for a children’s show, but this turns out to be quite a capable, if not unconventional science-fiction series, in the same vein as Himitsu – Top Secret and Real Drive. The director will be the one from Mind Game and Kemonozume. Both indeed were flawed, but still very entertaining indeed.

Bus Gamer

Summary: Bus Gamer was a short-lived manga series, created by Kazuya Minekura. It currently only exists as a single volume ‘Pilot Edition’ due to difficulties in serialization. It follows the story of three young men hired by a mysterious company to participate in a business game, a way for companies to gamble against each other for corporate secrets. An illegal dog-fight conducted in strict secrecy, the Bus Game is a battle simulation game where gamers are selected by various corporations to compete three-on-three on a battleground which is usually inside Tokyo. The teams are divided into “HOME” and “AWAY”. The “HOME” team is given a disk containing their corporation’s secret files to protect while the “AWAY” team attempts to steal the disk. The “AWAY” team wins if they are able to steal the disk within the given time limit where the “HOME” team wins if they are able to keep their disk safe. – (Taken from Wikipedia)
Thoughts: Bus Gamer sounds to be like the better version of Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji. While the latter disappointed, I must say that a game like this has quite a bit of potential for entertainment, if the characters who participate in it have been chosen right (and not just a bunch of superhumans). The director is a relative newcomer, and this is the first time he’s taken up the director’s seat. The only thing that I’ve seen about him is the storyboard he did for xxxHolic episode 4, which was the one about the fortune-tellers. I must say that that was quite a thought-provoking instalment, so I’m interested to see what he can do on a full series.

Itazura na Kiss

Summary: It was love at first sight for Aihara Kotoko as top student Irie Naoki delivers a speech on the first day of high school. After 2 years of secret admiration, “I don’t want it” is the rejection she gets when she plucks up enough courage to hand him a love letter. Dejected, Kotoko vows to give him up. By a twist of fate, Kotoko’s house collapses; her dad and her put up at a friend’s place, who happens to be Naoki’s father. And thus, life with Naoki begins and Kotoko’s love for Naoki rekindles again. Much laughter ensues when scatterbrain Kotoko makes her countless advances (supported by Naoki’s wacky mum) on ice-cold Naoki who hates girls and is a genius at practically everything from studies to sports. The story spans >10 years where we see their relationship slowly development despite their many differences and romantic hurdles. This series was such a hit that it was made into a 9-episode Japanese live-action dorama. – (Taken from Anime News Network)
Thoughts: I must say that the shoujo-series are a bit more creative to get a guy and a girl in one house than the shounen-series. A collapsing house, I must admit that I didn’t see that one before. One major plus for this series is that it takes up ten years. That is a REALLY good way for some quality character-development, as demonstrated by Kaze no Shoujo Emily. To make matters even better, the director of Toward the Terra has taken up the director’s seat for this series. I really like how the guy has been animating rather old mangas that never got the series-treatment they deserve. The music will also be done by the guy behind Mononoke, Jigoku Shoujo, Toward the Terra and Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi henge. In other words: quite a solid shoujo-series.

+ Top-5 Looking Forward To +
Himitsu – Top Secret

Summary: The story takes place five decades from now, when brain scanners have been perfected to the point that the government can retrieve up to five years’ worth of memories from people’s minds — even if they are dead. The investigators of the National Research Institute of Police Science’s 9th Forensics Laboratory must weigh the ethical choices in the ultimate invasion of privacy as they delve into people’s minds to solve crimes. – (Taken from Anime News Network)
Thoughts: Now this is an interesting premise! This is going to be a pretty thought-provoking ride if handled well. Unfortunately, the director doesn’t have that much experience, and he’s only done Rocket Girls before, and a few episodes of Master Keaton. Let’s hope he learned from his past experiences, because this is one premise that shouldn’t be wasted.

Library Wars

Summary: Based on a light novel series. In the year 2019, the explosion of information and misinformation became a direct threat to society. In a daring decision, it was decided to create a new government agency dedicated solely to information management. Now some thirty years later, the government still monitors and controls information, suppressing anything they find undesirable, but standing against their abuses of power are the libraries, with their special agents called ‘the book soldiers.’ – (Taken from AniDB)
Thoughts: I must say that this is one interesting and daring premise. It’s another series by production IG, so I’ll definitely be looking forward to this one. The director behind it is also currently working on Wellber no Monogatari, one of my favourite series of the shows that currently air. Here’s one potential underdog.

Crystal Blaze

Summary: A corner of near-future Asia. A world where through the manipulations of national governments, freedom and eqality have been established as mere pretenses. “The Trash City” Lags Town, an assemblage of all peoples composed of those whose lives have burned out. This tale, playing out in the symbol of false glory, Lags Town, is a near-future detective story shown through gun action and sexy action. The Lags Town Jack-of-all-trades “S&A Detective Agency”. Its members are Shu, who stands against the powers that be through pulse-pounding incidents even though it’s forced him out of society, and Akira, a complicated, beautiful young man. And the young detectives-in-training, high school girls Manami and Ayaka. Unfulfilled, Shu lives day-to-day as a detective, when he meets the amnesiac heroine Sara. Investigating an incident which rocks Lags Town, he takes new steps forward with friends who accept his past. That drama plays out in a hard-boiled and stylish detective story, symbolised by the Smith and Wesson model 29 and the ’80 Trans Am. – (Summary by Mandoric)
Thoughts: Anime News Network labelled this one as mystery, so how could I ignore it? It’s been a while since a pure mystery-series showed up, and I’m hungry for more of my favourite genre. The director has been around for a long time, and he assisted in the directing of They were 11, and his latest work was Saikano. He also did a bunch of episodes of Mahou Tsukai Tai, which should give enough experience to work with this series. The animation-company did Soukou no Strain before, and while the cast behind it is not stellar, they give me enough reason to look forward to this premise.

Real Drive

Summary: The story takes place in 2061, 50 years after humanity developed the “Net society” that depended on information networks despite their security issues. To improve security, a new network called Meta Real Network — or “Metal” for short — was developed. People`s personal memories are reduced to information and placed within “protected virtual stand-alone organic cyber enclaves called bubble shells” online. The result was a virtual “explosion” of creative freedom as people felt safe enough explore instincts and desires on Metal that they would not otherwise explore in real life. This “friction” between the Metal`s alluring lack of restrictions and rules-bound reality led to trouble and incidents that investigators known as “cyber divers” must handle. Masamichi Haru is one such cyber diver. – (Taken from AniDB)
Thoughts: Ah, the new potential epic by Production IG. The director of Chevalier is behind it, animating another manga by Masamune Shirou. I’m not saying that nothing can go wrong, but the potential is incredibly high for this one.

xxxHolic: Tsugi

Summary: Yuuko is a witch who grants people’s wishes, but in return the person has to give up something precious. Watanuki Kimihiro, a man who has visions, encounters Yuuko and she promises to get rid of the spirits that torment him. In return Watanuki must work in Yuuko’s shop and help her grant other people’s wishes.
 – (Taken from AniDB)
Thoughts: Now this is what I’ve been waiting for! Production IG is on fire for this season, with three major series planned. Of course I’m looking forward to the second instalment of xxxHolic, as the first one was absolutely terrific. I can’t wait to see Watanuki’s antics again.

Saiunkoku Monogatari – 75

by psgels, posted in Saiunkoku Monogatari


There are three episodes left. Then, what the heck is a recap-episode doing here? This shows more and more that the creators just need to take a break for a year, and get their budgets and planning fully sorted out, because right now it seems that they just can’t keep up with their own schedule. Unfortunately, the planning-department of Madhouse just isn’t as good as that of for example Nippon Animation, which basically showcased Les Miserables without any break or recap at all, and looks to do the same for Porfy no Nagai Tabi.

The only new scenes are of Ryuuki, developing and reflecting on his own actions. Thankfully, this made the episode not a total waste of time, but this remains lazy on the creator’s side. Thankfully, the development that Ryuuki went through was very good, and the episode prepared really well for the final three episodes.

My main worry is that Madhouse has become infamous for screwing up slightly with their adaptations. For most part, they adapt faithfully, but when it comes to the details, you can always see cut corners. This isn’t like Gonzo, where they basically rewrite more than half of the original source-material; with Madhouse, the changes just feel lazy. Just a few examples:
– Shigurui: Entire final chapters left unanimated, with no intention to do so either.
– Devil May Cry: turned into random plotless fillers.
– Claymore: went with an original story after episode 21 and changed from an engaging plot to a cheesy final battle.
– Death Note: a rushed second half with many pages omitted.
– Gunslinger Girl: no intentions to animate the plot-heavy second half of the manga, so they went with their own ending.
– Pet Shop of Horrors: Just four chapters animated, no information on main character whatsoever.

I think you can understand my worries. Right now, Saiunkoku Monogatari really needs a second season, but I can’t help but fear that Madhouse will screw up with the little details again, and it’s such a pity to see this happen, right when we’re about to hit such an rumoured excellent part of the original novels.