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Fate/Zero Season 2 Review – 86/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Fate/Zero




Fate/Zero was one of the big titles of the past Spring Season. It already had an incredibly solid first season, and this promised to only get better as it fired off. And yeah, the second season indeed ended up trumping the first and using its build-up. I have some qualms with it, but really: this was an incredibly well made series.

In a season with so many series that stood out with their visuals, Fate/Zero stands among the best: its consistency is amazing: characters stay amazingly on-model, even after 25 episodes and there is a ton of eye candy with brilliant use of CG. The director, Ei Aoki is a guy who started in Photography, and it shows: just about every frame in this show looks good. To put this into a perspective: in a season with three Satelight series airing at the same time, this second season alone the eye candy surpasses that of all three of them combined.

The plot continues off where the first season left off and contains a number of very satisfying climaxes that are surrounded by an interesting plot that just keeps taking turns. There are a few issues with this plot, though, most notably that you really need to be familiar with the Fate Franchise, otherwise some plot points won’t make any sense. This series may be just a prequel to Fate/Stay Night, but even then there were events that happened before this series that this series refuses to line out.

Like the first season, this series again does a wonderful job to melt the setting from the European middle ages and the ancient middle east together, putting Chivalry on one hand and conquests on the other. The two mesh greatly as they clash, on top with the Fate franchise’s interesting system of magi and mages.

Now, as for the characters. I do feel that I need to clarify myself a bit after claiming that the emotions feel empty, and things indeed are a bit more nuanced than that. The cast of Fate/Zero definitely has a number of characters that are developed really well throughout the series. The second season in particular contains some really heavy scenes that show many of them completely breaking down and there definitely are a lot of big emotions in this series. What I feel like the creators could have done better is flesh out these characters. This series puts a lot of time into battles and explaining the actions of its characters, but not so much on the touches that make their characters more human or show them in different emotions. Balancing these scenes out could have been done better: when this show builds up, it’s usually very slow (there in particular is an arc devoted to the background of just one character that takes up 2 whole episodes, but in the end is a bit too focused on explaining why he is involved in the story and a bit too little on creating a dynamic character). I feel that this could have been built up a bit better and because of that things don’t come together at the end as well as I hoped.

This series is a bit overhyped, but still, Fate/Zero remains an excellent series. Even though some plot twists come from nowhere if you’re not familiar with the Fate franchise like myself, it’s a big recommendation and there really is nothing like it around. This series pushed what can be done with animation further and the people of Ufo-Table have really grown into a powerhouse of a studio at this point.

Storytelling: 8,5/10 – Great action-packed climaxes with many interesting plot twists that are best enjoyed when you’re familiar with the Fate franchise.
Characters: 8/10 – Excellent development and loves to make its characters break down.
Production-Values: 9.5/10 – The consistency of the amount of eye candy in this series is amazing. 25 episodes and it still manages to look amazing with very few weak points.
Setting: 8,5/10 – Great themes, blends different settings together really well. Make this a full 9/10 if you’ve seen Fate/Stay Night.

Suggestions:
– Kara no Kyoukai
– Berserk
– Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica

Medaka Box Review – 79/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews

If you’re wondering what’s up with the delays: well, right at the busiest time of the season for me (Thursday when the series start to end and I have to write reviews for all of them) my laptop decided that it didn’t like internet anymore, and I’ve been running around trying to get to fix it.

Anyway, Medaka Box: there are exceptions, but in general I tend to dislike shounen jump adaptations: they’re too long, too dragged out, and almost always are badly paced. Whether Medaka Box will also fall into these pitfalls is hard to say at this point because this first season is only 12 episodes long and a second season is on its way that’s supposed to be about the meat of the real series, but on the other hand this was awfully close to an entire season dedicated to introductions.

So here is the premise: Medaka is perfect at everything. Very often this is is a bad thing, but the unique thing about Medaka Box is that it realizes this, embraces it and plays with it. What does it mean to be perfect? Is it really possible to be perfect? What about the people around you? It’s these questions that make Medaka Box worth watching, and make it more than just your average shounen jump series that are all about fighting.

The problem with this series is the way in which it’s set up. This first season consists mostly of episodes that in terms of premise aren’t that different from Sket Dance: someone has a problem and the lead cast solves it, and that someone gets added to the cast of characters. These arcs try to be interesting, and they do their best to outline the backstories of the characters they focus on, leading up to some sort of character-development at the end. But ultimately they end up rather boring.

It’s a combination of the way in which all these stories are meant to just be introductions, along with how most characters are pretty shallow when they first appear, added on a formula that the series sticks to a little too eagerly. Most of the characters only get interesting after their introduction arcs when they aren’t the main focus.

So why do I still consider Medaka Box worth watching? Well, there is one particularly epic arc in the second half of the series that does let go of all these formulas and shows the series completely changing genres and making great use of the build-up of the earlier duller episodes, both in terms of its characters and its themes. This was where the series really starts toying with shounen conventions and subverting them. This really was interesting and shows a lot of the potential that could possibly be within the second season.

So yeah, let me get back on this one. I mean, the original manga is written by NisiOisin, a guy who is infamous for wasting ungodly amounts of time, but I can’t deny that when he gets down to business he can write some very interesting stuff; even the dull episodes did have interesting ideas behind them. And the energetic Gainax behind the wheel does balance out with his dialogue more than what I’ve usually seen from his adaptations.

Storytelling: 7,5/10 – A season of introductions. It’s building up right and all, but there is only one arc that really makes use of it. That arc is excellent though.
Characters: 7,5/10 – Again, Medaka Box has good characters that do play around with shounen tropes, but it doesn’t use them enough. Yet.
Production-Values: 8/10 – The animation in this series is inconsistent: there are times in which you’ll be wondering what happened to Gainax’s usual animation. The points where it does show itself though make up for it.
Setting: 8,5/10 – This series has really – < interesting ideas and concepts, waiting to be fully explored in the second season.

Suggestions:
– [C]
– Heroic Age
– Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin

Osamu Tezuka’s Buddha Review – 87,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews

Ah, Medaka Box can wait. First there is a movie I want to talk about: Buddha. It’s been a while since a movie really made me go “wow”.

Of course, I am a big fan of Osamu Tezuka. Next year it’ll be fifty years since the debut of the anime Astro Boy, and his stories still stand out as unique. Some of the movies and series that are adapted from his works stand among my favorites. The reason why this movie surprised me however was because of how it started; not every adaptation of Osamu Tezuka is brilliant, and a lot of them are either too childish or just too silly to properly enjoy, and the Buddha movie starts as the latter. The opening scene had a point to it, but it’s just so bizarre with some of the weirdest acting by animals that it made a very nasty opening for this series.

And after that though, this movie completely delivers. The storyline really is typical Osamu Tezuka, as it shows a very liberal interpretation of the man who would later be Buddha. The movie has the st-up that many other works by the God of Manga have: many different characters who all have their own stories that sometimes intertwine, a story that only shows its true self once it has been going on for more than half an hour (heck, Buddha isn’t even born yet in the movie’s opening 30 minutes), lots of time-skips and most importantly: tons and tons of character-development.

All of those things make his stories unique, but the character-development really stands out: just about every important character goes through a complete change that is meaningful and well built up. Buddha is no different here. I still can’t believe how much change the creators managed to put in just two hours.

It also shouldn’t be surprised that there are huge Buddhist themes in this movie. Osamu Tezuka has used them in some of his other stories, Hi no Tori notably featured some brilliant insights in both its good sides and bad sides. Buddha meanwhile is a more positive look on the faith, which brings me to what really caught my attention about this movie, because everything else about it is completely and utterly dark.

Seriously, don’t let the looks fool you. This movie is full of abuse, death, pain and suffering. Its characters are constantly struggling to get better lives, only to suffer huge life-changing set-backs. There are some huge karma themes in this movie, as with some of Tezuka’s other works, but I can’t recall any other work that has so many of them. This movie also has some incredible plot twists that just keep pushing this further and further. Serioulsy, this movie is 2 hours long and hardly ever takes things slow. It always manages to find something interesting to throw at its characters.

Toei also put some really good animators on this movie. At first it might not seem that way because there are plenty of rushed and simple shots, but some of the fight scenes have really smooth animation. In particular there is one huge battle scene between two armies that manages to bring every soldier to life, on top of having completely fluid animation that on top of that has some really creative and dynamic animation.

Now, is this the best adaptation we’ve seen from Osamu Tezuka? No, but that’s because it’s competition is just so damn strong: most of these adaptations just seem to fit perfectly into the movie format, while I feel that Buddha was a bit rushed here and there, especially in the beginning, plus some of the acting can get a bit weird at times. Nevertheless, the creativity of this movie is really something to be praised. Best movie of the year so far.

Storytelling: 9/10 – Just keeps the plot twists coming, and manages to weave a ton of different storylines together.
Characters: 9/10 – Amazing character-development, as expected from Osamu Tezuka.
Production-Values: 8,5/10 – The animation is inconsistent, but when it’s good, it’s really good.
Setting: 8,5/10 – Very creative, uses its Buddhist themes really well, but there are also a few things here and there that are portrayed a bit too silly.

Suggestions:
– Metropolis
– Hi no Tori – Uchuu-Hen
– Hi no Tori – Houou-hen

Some Quick First Impressions: Kingdom

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Kingdom

Short Synopsis: Our lead character has a very bad case of constipation.
The producer of this series… screwed up badly. It’s a sad case of being crippled by your own ambition. I mean, it is impressive that he managed to land this series 38 episodes right from the start. The thing is, that he didn’t seem to realize that he didn’t have enough budget to actually animate all those. The result? CG. Tons of CG. This goes further than you can imagine, to the point where this becomes a CG animated series that has occasional 2D scenes in them. It looks horrible: both styles are ugly and they don’t mesh at all, not to mention the bad case of constipation that every single character seems to have. Beyond that, this episode suffered from a chronic case of melodrama. I mean I understand that series that are focused on combat are meant to be hot blooded, but this show just goes way over the top. This double episode (yes, this is a double episode) did have some nice ideas,but they don’t really come to their right in such a melodramatic shounen execution.
OP: J-Rock, neither bad nor good. But are they serious in that that protagonist is going to end up fighting entire armies on his own?
ED: An unimpressive ballad.
Potential: 10%

Berserk – Golden Age Chapter I – The Egg of the High King Review – 85/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews

So, things have been very quiet in terms of movies. However, starting from now, we’re in for a year in which the line-up is going to be the best in many, many years. And what a wonderful way to start this streak of awesome movies than with Berserk’s remake. Remake anime are tricky. I hate them if they don’t add anything, or are nothing more than a glorified recap. With those things, you can just as well watch the original thing, making them completely redundant. When they’re done well though, I just can’t complain. Berserk’s movie is one of the best examples of that.

It adapts the same story as the TV-series, but the tone and execution are so completely different, and both adaptations have their own merits. The TV-series was dark, subdued and incredibly gloomy, using is long length perfectly to set its atmosphere. It let everything play out very slowly, and as a result was a tad padded out here and there. The movie however has a much brighter colour palette, its pacing is much faster, and rather than the gloomy atmosphere, it creates the atmosphere of an epic fantasy series. This also really reflects in the soundtracks: the TV-series had Susumu Hirasawa’s magic do a very depressed and dark score. The movie instead is full of choirs and orchestras, having a much more bombastic feel.

And then there are the visuals. On one hand we have the TV-series, which has the better art style of the two (outdated? Hah, I disagree; I have more problems with most anime characters nowadays looking too similar), creating some stunning designs and images, at the expense of a lot of still frames. Then there is the movie, which really excels in its animation. The TV-series had some amazing consistency, while the movie is much more experimental, even though it had to make some sacrifices for that.

Because yeah, if there is one complaint that you’re going to hear about this movie, then it’s the fact that the creators had to resort to CG for the actual character models. And really, for character-models done in CG, this really is one of the better examples of combining 2D and 3D, but it still stands out. The creators definitely prioritized movement over looking consistent, and it shows: the movement in this show feels very smooth and natural. The fluidity of the scenes is great.

Where this movie also stands out is a specialty of the director that Studio 4C got for this movie: Toshiyuki Kubooka, who previously directed Remaining Sense of Pain from Batman: Gotham Knight. He already showed there a great knowledge of human anatomy that he used in his gore, and he also uses this very effectively in this movie, giving a real edge to the combat scenes.

So, is this movie on par with the Television Series? I can’t say that yet, as it only adapted, what? The first ten episodes or so? They haven’t even reached the part where Berserk gets really, really good, but even then this movie had my constant attention and it was excellent at both building up and delivering solid action scenes, and it still has really good acting. It’s all really well balanced, but yeah: the downside is less time to flesh out some of the characters. Especially the side-characters suffered from this.

Storytelling: 9/10 – Managed to condense the Berserk storyline to movie-format. Wonderful balance and really went with its own direction.
Characters: 8/10 – The creators did a great job in bringing the characters to life. Unfortunately, the movie is only an hour long, and some side-characters suffered from this.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Really, the only reason why this isn’t a 9 is because of the CG. Perhaps the budget isn’t as big as some other movies, but the sense of aesthetics of this movie makes it a visual feast nonetheless.
Setting: 9/10 – Still maintains that unique take on the medieval setting here.

Suggestions:
– Berserk
– Rurouni Kenshin – Tsuiokuhen
– Vampire Hunter D – Bloodlust

Welcome to the Aniblog Tourney

by psgels, posted in Special Articles

Well it has taken a bit longer than expected, but it’s finally Star Crossed’s turn to go up in the aniblog tourney. You can find the link here:

http://aniblogtourney.wordpress.com/2012/06/01/round-3-group-1/

Also please be sure to check out the blogs I’m up against: 8thsin Fansub Anime Blog, Amaenbou Dane~ and Shameful Otaku Secrets.

For the ones who came here for the first time: welcome. I’m the kind of writer who tries to cover as much as possible. Be my guest and have a look around.

May Summary

by psgels, posted in Monthly Summaries

What sets this season apart: the sheer amount of great series out there. Seriously, the amount of interesting shows that push boundaries is the best in at lest two years. Now all that’s left is a bunch of great finales: a lot of the series in this seasons will end next month, and a lot of them have quite a bit of potential to end wonderfully.

#23 (25) – Medaka Box – (7/10) – Medaka Box is dangerously close to being one of those “meh” series. What I mean by that is that it’s going to end within one month, even though it hasn’t really done much so far. It has introduced plenty of things with potential, but those were just introductions: it hasn’t really done anything with them because these will very likely be used later on in the series. So yeah, this show is mostly building up to parts that aren’t going to be animated. This is why I really dislike shounen jump series.
#22 (22) – Saint Seiya Omega – (7,4/10) – I’m on the verge of dropping this show, and then episode eight came and was slightly interesting. My main problem with this show is its characterization: it’s all too wooden and one-sided, especially that main character is a one-sided hot blooded idiot and the villains other than that golden saint are all terribly uninspired and stereotypical.
#21 (23) – Sankarea – (7,6/10) – Sankarea is that really annoying series of the season, that has flashes of brilliance, intermixed with flashes of incredible annoyance. Pretty much what Nisemonogatari was last season. Sanka Rea is a pretty interesting character to watch, especially considering the state she’s in. Shenever she takes up the center of attention, this show is great. The cousin however, is annoying. The classmates are annoying. This show also wastes too much time on random fluff. I understand that characters need to get fleshed out, but the balance of these scenes feels missing.
#20 (12) – Phi Brain – (7,75/10) – Oh boy, Phi Brain surely took a hit to the suspension of disbelief this month. I mean, it’s the series nature to be over the top and rather stupid at times, however what it pulled this time is so vital to the overall storyline and characters that it’s really hard to overlook. I really hope that there is more to it, because Freecell, you’re very close to becoming a very pathetic villain here.
#19 (21) – Jormungand – (7,9/10) – If I had to point out one point at which Jormungand, it’s the characterization. I still can’t exactly point out what it is, but most characters fail to capture my interest, there are a lot of very similar characters walking around, or characters who are carbon-copies of other characters or who just try too hard. It’s strange, but for a show that’s supposed to be about gun delaying, I miss this lack of tension.
#18 (20) – Aquarion Evol – (8,25/10)

Aquarion Evol continues to balance between a tense storyline and a heap of cliches, in a pretty bizarre way. It’s over the top and some of the twists are great entertainment to watch. There are characters who really shine here, but on the other hand we have Mikono: the main female character… who didn’t really do anything over the series other than get kidnapped.

#17 (19) – Hunter X Hunter – (8,25/10)

We are now at a point of explanation and exposition. It’s a point that also made me tired in the original 1999 series, so watching it in recap is… annoying. On the other hand though: the thing it’s building up to will be something really special. I usually hate remakes that do nothing but recapping, so it has to say something that I’m still stuck with this show after 30 episodes. Nen is very original, and I hope that this show’s success inspires future shounens to also put a lot of attention to detail and creativity in their settings.

#16 (14) – Shirokuma Cafe – (8,25/10)

The bizarre thing with this series is that the jokes are incredibly corny, yet consistently enjoyable. The Polar Bear and the Penguin are the standout characters here. The penguin is great to watch and gets great stuff out of the rest of the cast, while the Polar Bear has some awesome deadpan humour.

#15 (9) – Nazo no Kanojo X – (8,25/10)

In this day and age in which everything is just trying to get more and more fanservice in, it’s great to see a series that puts so much restraint in it. It’s a really good way to flesh out the characters, and I like how they grew closer together a lot here.

#14 (4) – Zetman – (8,25/10)

This month was not as impressive because the budget decreased, but the creators still are trying to make this show as expressive as they can with their limited means. The pacing also actually slowed down in order to have some mid-season build up and extra tension. It really depends on that ending whether this show will work or not.

#13 (24) – AKB0048 – (8,4/10)

Oh, AKB… I want to hate this show. I really do. But it’s such a charming series. It’s obviously pandering, but some scenes are played so straight that I wonder whether they are partially meant as a criticism as well. The cast of this series is huge, and what me impressed the most within these first five episodes is how well it gave every single one of these characters a bit of detail and info, keeping a great balance between all of the characters.

#12 (17) – Hyouka – (8,4/10)

What I like about Hyouka is that the long dialogues are about something. It’s well acted and consistently interesting, which really is a breath of fresh air after all those Shaft-series that attempted the same thing but couldn’t hold my attention. The animation still is very excellent and even though most mysteries are about mundane things, I do find myself drawn in.

#11 (8) – Tsuritama – (8,4/10)

Tsuritama is building up to something. I feel that that finale is going to be the major factor for me in evaluating this series, because it is clear that it has like a deck full of aces hidden in its sleeves and socks. There was one episode that really showed that potential and it was awesome. Now finish things properly!

#10 (18) – Poyopoyo Kansatsu Nikki – (8,4/10)

You know what? Poyopoyo actually is the best show about owning cats that I’ve seen. In fact, if you don’t count movies (Night on the Galactic Railroad, Tamala 2010 and the Cat Returns were awesome), this pretty much is the best cat chow I’ve ever seen. It’s all just so relatable, and the pacing is just perfect for five-minute episodes. I know it sounds weird and all, but I’m consistently enjoying this show.

#9 (15) – Legend of Korra – (8,4/10)

The romance in this series isn’t really that interesting. Everything apart from that though is really good. Especially since there are no anime about politics at the moment, this really fills my hunger for the Spring Politics Series. The villains are very credible and a great threat for Korra, and the creators made good use of how out of place she is.

#8 (11) – Kimi to Boku – (8,5/10)

Kimi to Boku really blossomed in its second season. Every episode is standalone, but they nearly all created some very impressive character-development, both for the main cast and for the cast of side-characters.

#7 (13) – Eureka Seven Ao – (8,5/10)

Eureka Seven Ao’s charms are hard to define. In any case they’re different from what made the first season great. It’s the great acting, along with some surreal parts and very good directing that makes it really entertaining to watch, but I think that it’s the acting that really put this series above most other mechas of the past few seasons: kids are treated like kids. There are tons of different parties active, all with their own goals.

#6 (5) – Lupin The Third – (8,5/10)

This show has class. I know it’s a bit weird to say that of a series with so much nudity, but what makes this show so interesting is how well Mine Fujiko is portrayed, along with the guys around her. It’s the storytelling here that really stands out with a great direction.

#5 (7) – Natsuiro Kiseki – (8,6/10)

Every episode of Natsuiro Kiseki so far has been dedicated to character development. We’re now at the point where the rock takes a step back, so that we can really focus on the four main characters, and this series still pushes them into situations in which they’re forced to grow. This show does an amazing job in showing their worries and despite that having them act believably.

#4 (6) – Mouretsu Pirates – (8,6/10)

You know, I’m really enjoying Mouretsu Pirates at the moment. I said it before, but with this, it’s pretty much the best non-sequel to have come out the past winter season. The past arc is especially fun and and this show also gets more and more creative with its storylines.

#3 (3) – Fate/Zero – (8,6/10)

This really has been a month of build-up for Fate/Zero, but what build-up there was was really, really dark. A ton of characters got extra backgrounds, changed, and moved into some really harsh plot twists. A few of these scenes were a bit too harsh (apparently they were better built up in the novels, but this is an anime first and adaptation second), but it nevertheless is excellent and dark stuff.

#2 (1) – Uchuu Kyoudai – (9/10)

Really, there are two stand-out series this season. Both of them rock because of their characterization, but both do this in completely different ways. Uchuu Kyoudai is briljant at fleshing out its characters: Mutta’s inner monologues are really sharp, and the rest of the side-cast all fits incredibly well with each other.

#1 (2) – Sakamichi no Apollon – (9/10)

Yes. To say that this show is good would be a huge understatement. This series manages to capture its characters in a unique way and it does it with so much detail and believability that is un-matched by only very few other series. The way this show plays with emotions and awkwardness is exquisite. Add that to the excellent animation (including the parts that aren’t rotoscoped but actually animated) and Yoko Kanno’s awesome soundtrack, and you’ve got a winner. Definitely the best Noitamina series since Ano Hana.

Summer Season Preview – Movie & OVA Edition

by psgels, posted in Seasonal Previews

I’ll be honest here: in terms of OVAs the upcoming season will suck. The continuation of the Tales of Symphonia anime is the only thing noteworthy coming out. On top of that there will also be very little original content: nearly everything is based off on some franchise or the other. I am not sure what it is, but producers seem to get more and more scared to put out movies and OVAs with an original premise.

However, and I don’t say this often: in terms of movies the upcoming season has the potential to become one of the best of the past decade. This season has four movies coming out that have the potential to be incredible due to the staff involved in all of them. Of course things still need to air and all, but really: it has been a long while since there were so many of these movies at the same time coming out.

Franchise Movies and OVAs

Comments: These are the OVAs and Movies that either just keep coming out, or that are a small release. Squid Girl and Rinne no Lagrange for example are getting OVAs that probably won’t be more than just random side-stories. The key here will be whether or not they’re fun to watch, it’s that simple. There is also an OVA of that Esthetica series by Arms coming out, which I don’t care about in the slightest. And bizarrely enough there will also be a Code Geass OVA. In which they’ll do exactly the same as what Kuroshitsuji did a few years ago in having everyone play cameos in Alice and Wonderland. That Kuroshitsuji OVA really was not good. Did the producers really look at that and said: “yeah, we can do that too”? As for the movies, Naruto is getting a new one, and it looks really dull and generic again. At least with Blood Prison I could imagine what it’d be about.

Ongoing OVA and Movie Series

Comments: There are lots of on-going OVA and Movie series coming out this season. To start with the OVAs: The Tales of Symphonia episode is especially looking interesting and more Azazel is always nice. Beyond that though, To Love Ru, Hakuouki, To Heart and Seitokai Yakuindomo all get more OVAs which I don’t care about, and let’s net get started on KissXSis. Kimi no Iru Machi and Holy Knight also both get continuations, but the first episodes of both these OVAs were really bad and cheesy romance, and not really worth it to continue. Also hell yeah! Berserk’s second installment. From what I heard of first impressions, it’s supposed to be amazing, but filled with ugly CG. Well, let’s see if the second movie will be able to improve on that, but regardless I am really looking forward to it. Yamato’s second movie will also arrive, and based on the first episode that was pre-screeened a few weeks ago we’re in for a very solid science fiction show with a lot of nostalgia value. Nanoha’s second movie though.. I am not looking forward to that one. Unlike the two above, those movies are just simple recaps with very little value on thir own. The only point about the first movie was that now Nanoha’s story could be viewed in movie format. There is no way in which that’s going to work for Nanoha A’s. The story is just to big for that.

Asa Made Jugyou Chu!

Summary: “The story revolves around Yuuki Kagami, a boy who enrolls in the academy of his dreams as a honors student — and is mistakenly put in the girls’ dormitory where boys are prohibited. Faced with the possibility of having to leave the school, Yuuki has to dress up as a girl in the dormitory. On top of things, he ends up rooming with the female teacher Ayana Kakinozaka, who has to watch over him.” – (Taken from ANN)
Type: OVA
Director: Hiromitsu Kanazawa
Screenplay: Hiromitsu Kanazawa

The Positives: Yeah…
The Negatives: It’s pretty much porn from Gohands again, this time with the director of Princess Lover.

First-Glance Potential: 0%

Tight Rope

Summary: “The story follows two childhood friends, Ryuunosuke and Naoki. Ryuunosuke is the heir to a crime family, but Ryuunosuke fell in love with Naoki and would rather spend every day with him. Just before his high school graduation, Ryūnosuke suddenly renounces any claim to his family legacy. “ – (Taken from ANN)
Type: Two Episode OVA
Director: ?
Screenplay: ?
Other Notable Staff: Isaku Natsume (Original Creator)

The Positives: You could probably guess by the picture, but this will be a shounen ai OVA. Nothing is known about this yet and who will end up handling it.
The Negatives: That’s a very emo sounding premise you’ve got there, guys… Granted, it is a kind of premise that could work well when in the right hands. But I really doubt that these hands are right. Especially with a two episode OVA like this.

First-Glance Potential: 10%

Eiga Jewelpet Sweets Dance Princess

Summary: “The story of the film is set in Sweetsland, a country next to Jewelland. Ruby and the other Jewelpets are celebrating the birthday of the princess with dancing. However, during the preparations for the birthday party, a mysterious object appears from the skies. In the object is a Sweetspet boy, whose identity is unknown. “ – (Taken from ANN)
Type: Movie
Director: Hiroaki Sakurai
Screenplay: Takashi Yamada

The Positives: Studio Comet. Are you serious with the staff you gathered for this movie? The director of Kodocha, Les Miserables and and Geijutsuka Art Design Class, together with the writer of Ojamajo Doremi, Heartcatch Precure, Marie&Gali, Shion no Ou and Yumeiro Patissiere? The people who can totally make this premise work if they try?
The Negatives: And here is the ting with these two: if they try they can deliver some very charming and incredible series. If they don’t then the result is random fluff without much value. I have no idea what’s going to happen when both of them come together, though…

First-Glance Potential: 50%

Fairy Tail Houou no Miko

Summary: “The film revolves around a mysterious girl named Éclair who appears before Fairy Tail, the world’s most notorious wizard’s guild. She lost all of her memories, except for the imperative that she must deliver two Hououseki (Phoenix Stones) somewhere. The stones may spell the collapse of the magical world, and Natsu, Lucy, and the rest of the Fairy Tail guild are caught up in the intrigue” – (Taken from ANN)
Type: Movie
Director: Masaya Fujimori
Screenplay: Masashi Sogo
Other Notable Staff: Yasuharu Takanashi (Music)

The Positives: Fairy Tail fans, be delighted because this movie has a really good director assigned to it: Masaya Fujimori directed You Are Delicious a movie which was good on so many levels. The story is original so I think even I am going to take a peek at what he did here.
The Negatives: The scriptwriter is the same as for the TV-series, which I hope will work out because the annoyance of the characters lead me to quickly drop the show.

First-Glance Potential: 70%

Toshokan Sensou: Kakumei no Tsubasa

Summary: “In a slightly different time-line than ours, the explosion of information and misinformation came to be considered a direct threat to society. In a daring decision, it was decided to create a new government agency dedicated solely to information management. Some thirty years later, in 2019, 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 ANN)
Type: Movie
Director: Takayuki Hamana
Screenplay: Takeshi Konuta

The Positives: The director and screenplay writer are the same as for the Toshokan Sensou TV-series, so if they did have some sort of vision that was cut off at the really incomplete ending of the TV-series, then this is the place to show it. Toshokan Sensou does have potential. The TV-series did not find it, but it also did not cut it off. The director in particular is very volatile: he made some awesome stuff and some dull stuff, often in the very same franchise. Anything could happen at this point.
The Negatives: Still, before the advent of Guilty Crown, Library Wars was my least favorite installment of Noitamina, especially after the Armed Librarians came, and did everything that it should have been. If I had to give the movie one advice: pick one plot, and develop it. The TV-series was all over the place and therefore didn’t really do anything quite well. Keep your focus here.

First-Glance Potential: 70%

Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki

Summary: “Hana is a 19 year old student who falls in a “fairy-tale like” love with a ‘wolf man’, over the course of the 13 year story Hana gives birth to two children – older sister Yuki, and younger brother Ame or ‘Snow and Rain’. At first the family quietly lives in city trying to hide their wolf heritage, but when the ‘wolf man’ suddenly dies Hana makes the decision to move to a rural town, far from their previous city life.” – (Taken from ANN)
Type: Movie
Director: Mamoru Hosoda
Screenplay: Mamoru Hosoda, Satoko Okudera
Other Notable Staff: Takaaki Yamashita (Animation Director)

The Positives: Mamoru Hosoda (Summer Wars, Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo)’s next movie looks really interesting. It’s closer to Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo again, and looks to be a very personal story, about a grown woman and a mother, of all things. That really isn’t something you see everyday, and with these writers on board it’s bound to become really interesting
The Negatives: Hmm, my only concern would be that the focus would lie too much on the children, and there are enough movies about kids already. But heck, with these creators they’ll end up balancing things really well.

First-Glance Potential: 100%

Blood-C – The Last Dark

Summary: “Tokyo has enacted the Youth Protection Ordinance, minors are forbidden to be out at night, and the internet is policed however, Sirrut, an underground rebel organization, has declared war on Fumito Nanahara. Sirrut uses the internet to try and find information in cyberspace, and they discover something more gruesome, TOWER, a mysterious organization behind Fumito that is rumored to be conducting experiments involving human beings, and alluding to people being…eaten.” – (Taken from ANN)
Type: Movie
Director: Naoyoshi Shiotani
Screenplay: Junichi Fujisaku, Nanase Oukawa
Other Notable Staff: Naoki Sato (Music), Kazuchika Kise (Character Design, Chief Animation Director)

The Positives: If you want to know why I’m looking forward even more to this than compared to the TV-series, just watch this video. That is the third opening for the Blood+ TV-series, and the guy who directed it will direct the new Blood-C movie. It is a gorgeous and very artistic opening, and if you look at some of the other episodes he’s worked on, like Sengoku Basara’s second episode, or Chevalier’s eighteenth episode, the amount of passion he puts in his direction and visuals is just completely stunning. He already showed that he is a very clever director with the cute romance OVA Tokyo Marble Chocolate, but here he gets to direct a full fledged action movie. Written by Clamp who have shown that they had huge guts with their complete re-imagination of the Blood franchise. Yeah, I’m really looking forward to this one.
The Negatives: Overall the direction of Production IG has taken after Blood-C has worried me. I really hope that this wasn’t caused by Blood-C’s backlash, but ever since they have been so incredibly safe. First Guilty Crown and the Prince of Tennis, now Shining Hearts and Kuroko no Basuke. And it’s such a pity, because these guys need to go back to their days in which they took huge risks and delivered on some of the most imaginative and bold series out there. I really hope that this movie won’t be the last of that side of theirs that we get to see. Have some balls, IG!

First-Glance Potential: 100%

Code Geass – Bokuko no Akito

Summary: “” – (Taken from )
Type: 4-Part Movie Series
Director: Kazuki Akane
Screenplay: Kazuki Akane, Miya Asakawa
Other Notable Staff: Ichiko Hashimoto (Music), Shuuichi Shimamura (Chief Animation Director)

The Positives: I have been looking forward to this for so long. For those new to this blog: Kazuki Akane is like, my favorite director ever. He directed three of my most favorite anime ever (Noein, Escaflowne and Birdy the Mighty Decode). I don’t care whether he’s doing the Code Geass sequel next, it’s an original story in any case so this can be taken anywhere he wants. He has been working on this for years now, and I’m really psyched what he is able to do with this franchise. The staff isn’t a dream team, but together they can do some really interesting stuff.
The Negatives: Miya Asakawa did write the Mars Daybreak, a show with some very flimsy plot twists, so she does need guidance because her scripts on Noein, Birdy the Mighty Decode and Overman King Gainer were amazing.

First-Glance Potential: 100%

Summer Season Preview

by psgels, posted in Seasonal Previews

The upcoming season, there will be 25 series in total. A healthy number for a Summer Season. There will be interesting stuff to watch, however, it really looks like it will not live up to the currently excellent Spring season. The reason is the amount of series that have the potential to stand out. On a first look, I could only spot two series that had that, both Josei. The rest of the series all have their perks, but not enough to really set themselves apart in the way that the current season has done by looking different, unique or in any other kind of attempt to break a mold. I’m a bit pessimistic about this season, but that may also be because while I was compiling this list and gathering the right links on Anime News Network, I kept getting bombarded by ads for the Armed Librarians. I tried, but it’s hard to not subconsciously compare things to that after a couple of hours…

In any case though: this is a big season for Josei. I don’t think we ever got three josei series in just one single season. Beyond that, the science fiction and fantasy genres also have some interesting stuff coming out. The bad shows meanwhile are exactly the bloody same bad shows that we get every single season, unfortunately. AIC is the studio with the most series coming out, unfortunately. Sunrise, Studio Gokumi, Dogakobo and JC Staff also have multiple series coming out.

Again, this list is mostly about a quick look at premises, staff members and production companies. I have no idea how the original source material for these series are, because I haven’t read them.

Dakara Boku wa, H ga Dekinai

Summary: “The main character of the story, who lost his “erotic spirit” by making a contract with a beautiful Goddess of Death, struggles to regain that spirit back. Ryousuke cannot enjoy himself while living with the Godess of Death Risara under a contract, because he gave up his erotic spirit under the deal. He cannot get excitement from watching girls and wonders if his adolescent days are over. “ – (Taken from ANN)
Director: Takeo Takahashi
Series Composition: Naruhisa Arakawa
Other Notable Staff: Cher Watanabe (Music)

The Positives: Japan, why do you keep making these shows?
The Negatives: From the creators of the anime Yosuga no Sora… yeah you know the rest.

First-Glance Potential: 0%

Kono Naka ni Hitori, Imouto ga Iru!

Summary: “The story centers around Shougo Mikadono, the son of an industrial magnate named Kumagorou Mikadono who passed away. As a final wish, Kumagorou gave Shougo a condition before Shougo can inherit the family legacy — find a female mate at school. Shougo transfers into a school to fulfill that condition. However, he learns that he has a younger sister who was separated at birth. He does not know what his long-lost sister looks like, but she happens to be one of the students at his new school. “ – (Taken from ANN)
Director: Munenori Nawa
Series Composition: Go Zappa

The Positives: There are other series out there…
The Negatives: These incest shows just keep getting more desperate.. Plus, the director of KissXSis pretty much tells where this one’s going.

First-Glance Potential: 0%

Oda Nobuna no Yabou

Summary: “The historical romantic comedy follows a modern-day high school boy named Yoshiharu Sagara who is transported to Japan’s Sengoku Jidai (Era of the Warring States) — except the well-known warriors of the era are female. Oda Nobuna, a cute girl who happens to be a warlord, nicknames Yoshiharu “Monkey” and takes him under her wing. “ – (Taken from ANN)
Director: Yuuji Kumazawa
Series Composition: Masashi Suzuki
Other Notable Staff: Yasuharu Takanashi (Music)

The Positives: No.
The Negatives: No.

First-Glance Potential: 0%

Hagure Yuusha no Estetica

Summary: “The story follows an international training organization named Babel which protects the young people returning from another world. A wayward hero named Akatsuki has come back to the real world from a world of sword and magic called Areizaado, along with beautiful girl who is a demon king’s daughter.” – (Taken from ANN)
Director: Rion Kuji
Series Composition: Ryunosuke Kingetsu
Other Notable Staff: Kayo Konishi (Music), Yukio Kondo (Music)

The Positives: Interesting music choice with the soundtrack composers of Elfen Lied. Ryunosuke Kingetsu also is good… when he works for Ufo-Table. He adapted Manabi Straight, Tales of Symphonia and Futakoi Alternative.
The Negatives: It’s really a shame that this is one of the worst companies out there, Arms, which really won’t allow him to take the liberties necessary to make this premise work. That result lead to the horribly bad Samurai Girls. No, we want fanservice and stupidity here. That’s what sells. The director of the incredibly stupid Asu no Yoichi only reaffirms this.

First-Glance Potential: 0%

Ebiten: Kouritsu Ebisugawa Koukou Tenmon-Bu

Summary: “The story centers around Itsuki Noya, a boy who wishes to join his school’s astronomy club (tenmon-bu). However, he actually entered the similarly named Tenmon-bu — a club for fujoshi (female otaku) interests.” – (Taken from ANN)
Director: Hideki Okamoto
Series Composition: Yuuko Kakihara
Other Notable Staff: SCA-ji (Original Creator, Script)

The Positives: The original creator is working on the script so you can’t whine that it won’t be faithful.
The Negatives: Otaku jokes by AIC and the director of Sengoku Otome and the adapter of Sora no Otoshimono. Blegh, absolutely nothing of interest here. Moving on.

First-Glance Potential: 0%

La storia della Arcana Famiglia

Summary: “The story follows Arcana Famiglia, a self-appointed organization with mysterious powers that has protected a small Mediterranean island from pirates, foreign countries, and other threats. The only daughter of the family’s “Papa,” Felicitá, will be married to the next head of the family in two months — and the successor will be decided in a competition that Felicitá herself will take part in.” – (Taken from ANN)
Director: Chiaki Kon
Series Composition: Masanao Akahoshi

The Positives: At least until you start looking more carefully, it doesn’t look that bad.
The Negatives: Chiaki Kon, get back from directing bad bishie fiction to actually direct proper series again. You are a good director when you actually try. Or were.

First-Glance Potential: 0%

Yuruyuri ♪♪

Summary: “Right after starting middle school, Akari Akaza joins the Amusement Club which is composed solely of her two childhood friends, Kyouko Toshinou and Yui Funami. Chinatsu Yoshikawa, Akaza’s classmate, becomes a member after finding out about the dissolution of the Tea Club. The Amusement Club, situated at the tea room facility since the Tea Club disbanded, has no clear purpose, being free for the girls to do whatever they want.” – (Taken from ANN)
Director: Masahiko Oota
Series Composition: Takashi Aoshima
Other Notable Staff: Yasuhiro Misawa (Music)

The Positives: Well, this still is handled by right people: the director and scriptwriter of Minami-ke and Mitsudomoe. These guy know what it is to be funny. What’s more, Mitsudomoe’s second season was also pretty much better in every way compared to the first season. Hmm…
The Negatives: But really: the first season of Yuruyuri lost my interest within two episodes. I gave up on it when it turned out to be nothing… but bad lesbian jokes. Over and over. And they want to make a second season of that. Is there really enough material for that?

First-Glance Potential: 10%

Hakuouki Reimeiroku

Summary: “Based on Idea Factory’s romance adventure game: Yukimura Chizuru has come to Kyoto looking for her father, a doctor who has gone missing. While there, she witnesses a fight between an Oni and the Shinsengumi. Taking her into custody, the Shinsengumi debates on what to do with Chizuru when they discover that she is the daughter of the doctor they are also looking for. The Shinsengumi then takes Chizuru along on their search after the missing doctor, from adventures to adventures.” – (Taken from ANN)
Director: ?
Series Composition: ?

The Positives: Well, so with this, Hakuouki has three seasons, two OVAs and two movies coming up. Fans of the series: is it really worth so much airtime?
The Negatives: I’m getting tired to keep having to talk about Hakuouki in these previews. All that is to say about it has been said by now.

First-Glance Potential: 20%

Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate

Summary: “Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate follows the protagonist Yūki Ōjima, who attends Takafuji Private Academy a large school with over 6,000 students. Yūki is a member of the Food Research Club along with seven others, including his childhood friend Chisato Sumiyoshi. The members leisurely spend their time in the club not doing much activities. When the election of the next student council president comes up, the front runner Satsuki Shinonome proposes that clubs that have no merit should be sorted out and abolished. The Food Research Club seeks advice from the current student council president Yakumo Mōri, who suggests Yūki run in the election as an opposing candidate. Yūki learns about the issues facing the school and decides to run in the election.” – (Taken from ANN)
Director: Toru Kitahata
Series Composition: Katsuhiko Takayama
Other Notable Staff: Elements Garden (Music), Hiroaki Gouda

The Positives: Katsuhiko Takayama isn’t the best scriptwriter, but he can churn out good adaptations if he wants. The director is new. He did work as a unit or assistant director before (notably on the Big O and Argento Soma), so this will be his first chance to show what he can do on his own.
The Negatives: Unfortunately, this is AIC again. And unfortunately, some of the other works that the director worked on more recently… were Haganai and Ookami Kakushi. Combine that with that dull harem premise and we’ve got another show that very suspiciously looks like all those other uninspired school romance comedies that don’t try to stand out.

First-Glance Potential: 20%

Muv Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse

Summary: “In the year 1973, alien species known as BETA (Beings of Extra Terrestrial origin which is Adversary of human race) came to invade earth. During the next 30 years, they have conquered most of the Eurasian continent, effectively decreasing the world population by billions. In response to their unique behavior, a new type of mobile mechanical humanoid weapon was developed, known as Tactical Surface Fighter (TSF). In the year 2001, elite pilots from around the world start to gather at a UN base in Alaska named Yukon to participate in the Prominence Project. This project is a joint effort between Russia and America on research and development of next generation of TSF. The job of the pilots is to test the prototypes, which occasionally involves pitting them one against another… “ – (Taken from ANN)
Director: Takayuki Inagaki
Other Notable Staff: Yumiko Hara (Character Designs), Kouki Yoshimune (Original Creator)

The Positives: Satelight is behind this series (seriously, these guys are really packing out for 2012), so it’s bound to be action-packed and very pretty to look at. The premise with the right execution has the potential to become a nice mecha epic.
The Negatives: Terrible director… agh. We’re talking about the guy behind some of the most blatantly bad and stupid fanservice series as Rosario to Vampire, Baby Princess, Koharu Biyori and Marginal Prince. The bad character designs also really hint that this will be very focused on pandering to its audience. Let there at least be a good scriptwriter behind this, because I don’t see how letting this guy take the reins will lead to anything successful here.

First-Glance Potential: 30%

Kokoro Connect

Summary: “The teen comedy follows the strange phenomena at the Yamahoshi Academy’s Culture Club, starting with the five male and female club members switching bodies with each other. “ – (Taken from ANN)
Chief Director: Shin Oonuma
Director: Shinya Kawamo
Series Composition: Fumihiko Shimo

The Positives: That’s interesting here… after collecting one of Shaft’s sub directors, Silver Link has now also recruited one of Bee-Train’s sub directors. Let’s hope that he can show himself off here more than what Oonuma Shin did. Fumihiko Shimo adapted Air and Clannad for Kyoani. This definitely is a stronger team that what we usually see from Silver Link.
The Negatives: Speaking of which, Oonuma Shin: you are not Shinbo. You never will be, and you are far from knowledgeable enough to act as a chief director at this point. Come back when you learn a thing or two about good acting.

First-Glance Potential: 50%

Campione!

Summary: “The “battle fantasy” story follows an ordinary high school student named Godou Kusanagi who kills a god and claims its powers. As a result, Godou becomes a Campione who slays other gods.” – (Taken from ANN)
Director: Keizo Kusakawa
Series Composition: Jukki Hanada
Other Notable Staff: Masakazu Ishikawa (Character Designs), Susumu Mitsunaka

The Positives: Jukki Hanada: very solid, especially improved over the past year with his work on the script of Steins;Gate and Level E. Keizo Kusakawa meanwhile is an average director, but if the source material is good he can give it a pretty good portrayal.
The Negatives: Which leads me to the premise of that source material. It sounds really really corny, in a bad way.

First-Glance Potential: 50%

Binbou-gami ga!

Summary: “The story revolves around Ichiko Sakura, a girl whose blissful life comes from her bountiful “happiness energy” — gained by sapping that energy from other people. To restore the balance, the Binbō-gami (Poverty God) Momiji Binbada attempts to eliminate her.” – (Taken from ANN)
Director: Yoichi Fujita
Series Composition: Kento Shimoyama

The Positives: Okay, so you have the director of Gintama, the guy who took over after episode 100 doing a new TV-series. Personally that was for me the point where Gintama started to decline, but with this concept it’ll be interesting to see whether he can bring another comedy to life.
The Negatives: Kento Shimoyama is currently doing a horrible job with Rock Lee’s script. And before he adapted Bleach. I’m not sure whether that will work well.

First-Glance Potential: 60%

Dog Days’

Summary: “In the land of Fronaldo, the Republic of Biscotti has been aggressively attacked by the Lion Kingdom of Galette. Facing potential defeat, Princess Millhiore summons a hero who can save the country. What she gets is Izumi Shinku, a middle-school boy from Japan. Awaiting him in Fronaldo is the task of becoming hero enough to defeat his enemies while learning the peculiar rules of battle in this strange new world.” – (Taken from Dog Days)
Director: Junji Nishimura
Series Composition: Masaki Tsuzuki
Other Notable Staff: Masaki Tsuzuki (Original Creator)

The Positives: If there is any series this season where I have the most conflicted feelings for, then it’s this one. The first episode of the first season was terrible. The premise of this show is an insult to warfare. And yet, this is Seven Arcs: they have shown plenty of times that their second seasons are much better than their first seasons. On top of that, they changed directors here… into one of my favorites: Junji Nishimura. He doesn’t always hit the right mark, but when he hits, he hits HARD.
The Negatives: So yeah, I’m stumped here. This can either be great, or just plain mediocre and a waste of time. Agh! Fans of the first season: give me reasons to pick up this show!

First-Glance Potential: 60%

Joshiraku

Summary: “The story follows the behind-the-scenes dressing-room conversations of a group of female (joshi) Japanese verbal show (rakugo) performers.” – (Taken from ANN)
Director: Tsutomu Mizushima
Series Composition: Michiko Yokote

Other Notable Staff: Kouji Kumeta (Original Creator)

The Positives: Kouji Kumeta is the original creator of Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei. It’s going to be interesting to see this without having Shinbo all over it. Tsutomu Mizushima is a great director for this type of show, teamed up with Michiko Yokote like they did with Squid Girl. . Backed up by Squid Girl, this seems like it’ll be a solid comedy.
The Negatives: The genre of “gather a bunch of cute girls and have them talk’ is very over-saturated. The creators will really have to try to set themselves apart.

First-Glance Potential: 70%

Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon 2

Summary: “In a distant future, Japan is divided into feudal territories, which have been conquered and are ruled by outside countries. The flying city-ship Musashi, which holds the remnants of the Japanese, is being targeted and has no choice but to keep its people safe by going to war. With the fate of the world resting on its hands, the students of Musashi may hold the key to victory.” – (Taken from ANN)
Director: Manabu Ono
Series Composition: Tatsuhiko Urahata
Other Notable Staff: Tatsuya Katou (Music))

The Positives: Well, here we get Horizon’s second season. It’s a series with a huge amount of creativity. This was up to the point where it got lost in its own convolution at times, and the battles just make no sense whatsoever, but it’s still going to be interesting where this show plans to go. Everything about this series is huge, and even though the character designs still are pretty terrible, there also will be a lot of stuff to look out for.
The Negatives: The source material for this series is HUGE. Will 26 episodes even be enough to do justice to everything?

First-Glance Potential: 75%

Moyashimon Returns

Summary: “College student Tadayasu Sawaki has a unique ability. He can see and communicate with bacteria and other microorganisms. Hijinks ensue. Sawaki Souemon Tadayasu is a freshmen in Tokyo agriculture university. He has a unique ability that worth the value of a 1 million yen electron microscope: to see microorganism with naked eyes. Together with his childhood friend, Kei, he begins a new and carefree life as a student.” – (Taken from )
Director: Yuichiro Yano
Series Composition: Natsuko Takahashi
Other Notable Staff: Takefumi Haketa (Music)

The Positives: Only four series in Noitamina have ever gotten sequels: Nodame Cantabile, Honey and Clover, Mononoke and Moyashimon. These really are the big ones who made the timeslot what it is today. Moyashimon out of those for is the least impressive, but it’s still a very solid and quirky comedy. Plus the characters are of college age, which is always a plus.
The Negatives: Now, a sequel in Noitamina is a very special privilege. What does this series hope to add to Moyashimon that hasn’t been said already?Just having “More of the same” will not be quite enough for Noitamina’s standards, you know?

First-Glance Potential: 75%

Arve Rezzle

Summary: “In this cyber science-fiction story, a boy named Remu goes to take back the soul of his little sister, who disappeared in net space. “ – (Taken from ANN)
Director: ?
Series Composition: ?

The Positives: Very little is known about this anime, and I do suspect that it’ll eventually end up getting delayed at this point, but still: I am intrigued by this premise. It’s simple, but if the creators develop it right it can become an interesting science fiction series.
The Negatives: At this point I can only say: Zexcs. They unfortuantely aren’t the most stable production company out there.

First-Glance Potential: 80%

Kingdom

Summary: “In the Warring States Period of ancient China (475-221 BCE), Shin and Hyou are war-orphans in the kingdom of Qin. They dream of one day proving themselves on the battlefield. One day, however, Hyou is taken to the palace by a minister. Winding up on the losing side of a power-struggle, Hyou manages to return to the village, barely alive. Shin then meets a boy who closely resembles Hyou, Ei Sei. For now he is the king of Qin; later he will become the emperor Shi Huangdi.” – (Taken from ANN)
Director: Jun Kamiya
Series Composition: Naruhisa Arakawa

The Positives: I am keeping my eye on this for one reason: Jun Kamiya’s direction of the Third made a huge impression on me, and that series still is among my favorite anime ever. Of course, afterwards he went on to direct Penguin no Mondai, but on the other hand his direction on Hikaru no Go was also amazing. I’m looking out for what he can do though because he definitely knows how to handle a good story. Naruhisa Arakawa is the kind of scriptwriter who is mostly working on random moe shows (and very bad ones at that), but he does strike me as someone who can also deliver a good story when he sees one, as evidenced from his work on Spice and Wolf, Legend of Black Heaven,Seraphim Call and Sentimental Journey.
The Negatives: Now, I am a fan of historical series. Strangely enough, the series based on Chinese history are a large exception to that. It probably has to do with anime’s tendency to make a complete mockery of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but I’ve yet to see an anime about Chinese history that really caught my interest.

First-Glance Potential: 80%

Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita

Summary: “The story is set several centuries into the slow decline of mankind. Earth has now become the realm of “fairies” — 10-centimeter-tall (about 4-inch-tall) creatures with remarkable intelligence and an appetite for sweets. The human protagonist of the story serves an important duty as the international arbitrator between the fairies and humans, and she returns to her former hometown of Kusunoki. She chose this job because she thought it was an easy job she can do, even when she is as old as her grandfather. However, she learns that her job is anything but simple when she meets the fairies. “ – (Taken from ANN)
Director: Seiji Kishi
Series Composition: Makoto Uezu
Other Notable Staff: Kou Outani (Music), Kyuuta Sakai (Character Designs, Animation Director)

The Positives: Oh my god, an AIC promo that actually looks pretty? Seriously, I hate these guys with passion, but I have to admit here: this series actually looks very interesting and genuine. It’s got a potentially great pair of director and writer, and the ever awesome Kou Outani is perfect for this kind of series.
The Negatives: Seiji Kishi and Makoto Uezu. Both two people who can be incredibly good (Angel Beats, Seto no Hanayome, Sunred, Uchuu Kyoudai) or incredibly bad (Persona, School Days, Akaneiro ni Somaru Saka, Tayutama…), regardless of source material. This is either going to be great, or a complete disaster. And seriously.. why of all people, THESE two for a very cute and innocent looking series? Their styles are about the complete opposite.

First-Glance Potential: 80%

Tari Tari

Summary: “The story centers around five Japanese high school students who are too young to be called adults, but who no longer think of themselves as children. Wakana Sakai once took music lessons, but she withdrew from music after losing her mother. Konatsu Miyamoto is a positive-thinking girl who loves singing and spends time after school at the vocal music club. Sawa Okita is a spirited archery club member who dreams of becoming a horse rider. Taichi Tanaka is a chronically late badminton team member who lives with his college student sister. “Wiin” just transfered into Wakana’s class after 12 years abroad in Australia. Music brings Wakana, Konatsu, Sawa and the others together into an ensemble during their last summer in high school. “ – (Taken from ANN)
Director: Masakazu Hashimoto
Series Composition: Masakazu Hashimoto
Other Notable Staff: Shirou Yamaguchi (Music), Kanami Sekiguchi (Character Designs), Kazuki Higashiji

The Positives: So here we have PA Works’ new production, and the visuals immediately strike resemblance to Hana Saku Iroha. The character designer and animation director indeed is the same woman, and she really has been the visual ticket of many of PA Works’ series. This will also be completely original, and about what to expect of the plot: we’ve got the director of the Professor Layton movie behind this one, both behind the direction and the series composition. I have no idea what to expect of that, but if he has one vision then this could tun into a very interesting high school drama.
The Negatives: I have one issue with how the premise of this show is written: you’re describing the characters as stereotypes. Do not do that. Just create their characters, give them traits, but don’t immediately put them into one cube.

First-Glance Potential: 80%

Rinne no Lagrange Second Season

Summary: “Madoka is the lone member of her school’s Jersey Club. She is one day recruited by a mysterious girl named Lan to pilot the robot “Vox” and protect her city from space invaders. They are joined by a third girl, Muginami, who has a different goal than Ran. Meanwhile, they still don’t know their enemies’ true goal, or what “Rinne” might be.” – (Taken from ANN)
Chief Director: Tatsuo Sato
Director: Toshimasa Suzuki
Series Composition: Shuuratou Suga

The Positives: Well, with this we get to see the second half, and seeing as how Tatsuo Sato is on a roll with Mouretsu Pirates currently, it would be great to see how his work with Lagrange will turn out. The first season was definitely building up to something, and it’s up to the second one to really deliver.
The Negatives: Overall I do consider Rinne no Lagrange to be a bit below Mouretsu Pirates, mostly because of how the setting is really quite simple. This is something that the new season will need to improve on. Otherwise though, it was a very neat version of a mecha series with some good acting.

First-Glance Potential: 80%

Sword Art Online

Summary: “The story revolves around a boy named Kazuto “Kirito” Kirigaya who enters a virtual-reality, massively multi-player online (MMO) world called “Sword Art Online.” There is no escape from this world unless the player clears the game, but “game over” means the death of the player.” – (Taken from ANN)
Director: Tomohiko Ito
Other Notable Staff: Yuki Kajiura (Music), Takayuki Nagashima (Art Director), Yusuke Takeda (Art Director), Tetsuya Kawakami (Animation Director), Reki Kawahara (Original Creator)

The Positives: I’m looking forward to Tomohiko Ito’s next work. Occult Academy was a flawed, but very fun and interesting series to watch, and this series seems to be in the same vein. A lot of interesting people seemed to be gathered around him, including several talented Bones animators, and of course Yuki Kajiura behind the soundtrack is also a very big plus here.
The Negatives: Now, this was created from light novels, the same from the creator of Accel World, which I didn’t really like. It was too forced, there were many uninteresting characters. My big fear is that she is only very good at creating an interesting setting, while ignoring everything else. Let’s hope that Sword Art Online will be different.

First-Glance Potential: 80%

Chouyaku Hyakunin Isshu: Uta Koi

Summary: “The story is a “super-liberal interpretation” of the Hyakunin Isshu anthology of poems that were written between the 7th and 13th centuries in Japan. The anthology features 100 romantic poems from 100 different poets such as The Tale of Genji’s Murasaki Shikibu. The poems are also used as the basis for the karuta card game. “ – (Taken from ANN)
Director: Kenichi Kasai
Series Composition: Tomoko Konparu
Other Notable Staff: Aki Tsunaki (Character Designs), Yasunori Mitsuda (Music)

The Positives: Now this is a really interesting one to look forward to. With Chihayafuru we already got to see the 100 poems that were compiled together for the Karuta card game. Now here we have a story that is actually based on the subject of these poems. I am not sure whether the two series collaborated in any sort of way, but this show is perfect as a different look at these poems here. And then the people who are in charge of this: Kenichi Kasai is a wonderful director when he has the right source material (just look at Nodame Cantabile, Honey and Clover, Aoi Hana, and Tomoko Konparu is an excellent scriptwriter with series as Les Miserables, Nana, Nodame Cantabile, Kodocha and the Hi no Tori movies on her name. These are the perfect people to adapt this manga!
The Negatives: Yasunori Mitsuda has yet to compose anything noteworthy, and mostly did soundtracks for Inazuma Eleven. Does he have the talent to give this series a great soundtrack? It’d be great if he did.

First-Glance Potential: 90%

Natsuyuki Rendezvous

Summary: “the story of a love triangle between Hazuki, a young man who works part time at a flower store, Rokka, the widow who owns the store, and the ghost of Shimao, Rokka’s deceased husband.” – (Taken from ANN)
Director: Kou Matsuo
Other Notable Staff: Haruka Kawachi (Original Creator), Junichiro Taniguchi

The Positives: The big reason I’m looking forward to this one: Kou Matsuo. For those who don’t know: in producing his series he tends to record the voice acting before the animation process. The result of this leads to some absolutely fantastic voice acting. The best examples of this are Red Garden and Kurenai. I really hope that he will do this again for Natsuyuki Rendezvous, because it is a wonderful effect that he makes a brilliant use of. The creators also got a wonderful animation director here with the animation director of Madoka Magica and Ookiku Furikabutte’s visuals.
The Negatives: Dogakobo? Don’t they only do bland moe shows?

First-Glance Potential: 90%