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2010 Summary Part 1: My Top 20 OPs and EDs

December 7, 2010 by psgels, posted in Top 10 Anime, Yearly Summaries

For my 2010 Summary, I’ve been planning four posts: three small ones and one big one. Here’s the fist small one, the rest will come at the end of this month.

2010 saw an intereting trend for OPs and EDs: there were a lot of well produced ones with very detailed animation and that went beyond simply showing a bunch of characters in cheesy poses. For me, a good OP is original, has a great song, and has something with which it captures my attention. Likewise, I consider an ED a great one when it can retain my attention even when the episode it closes off is already finished.

Continue reading “2010 Summary Part 1: My Top 20 OPs and EDs” →

Zettai Shounen Review – 87,5/100

December 4, 2010 by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews

I’m fan of a lot of different genres, but personally my two favourite genres of anime are science fiction and mystery. Zettai Shounen is a typical example of the latter. Mystery definitely is a tricky genre that’s easy to screw up with, but when done right it can produce some of the most unique series. Zettai Shounen is definitely not for everyone, but at the same time it’s a wonderful example of the mystery genre done right.

First of all though, if you were expecting a fast-paced story, action, or a series that treats its viewers like idiots or people with a short attention span, then go and look somewhere else. A lot of the characters in Zettai Shounen are teenagers, a large theme of this series is adolescence, but at the same time the series treats them with a surprising amount of maturity. Most of the series just consists out of people talking with each other, whether in person or through a phone. These conversations can be short and to the point, but they can also take up half an episode. If you hate series with lots of talking, stay away from this one.

And yet, that’s also the beauty of this series. The thing that makes Zettai Shounen unique is that the mystery is actually fairly simple, yet the conversations that the characters have about it is what makes it deep and complex. Every character in this series has a different way to relate to the mysterious phenomenons that pop up throughout the series and everyone interprets it in a different way.

This is a series by Tomomi Mochizuki, which leads to a wonderfully realistic portrayal and dialogue. The characters all act naturally and far away from stereotypes; there’s nothing overly moe and instead the creators created this wonderful down to earth atmosphere that really draws you in.

This all leads to a truly excellent cast of characters. Aizawa Ayumu is a terrific lead character, unlike just about any other male lead I’ve seen. The relationship he has with his father is especially amazing, but just about half of the cast here in this series sets itself apart and stands as a unique and captivating character. I really loved characters like Miku, Wakkun, Sakakura, Okaka-baba and even the minor side-characters like an old man and his dog with a hat on leave their impression. There is A TON of character development in this series, and the cast gladly makes use of it.

This is a series that’s divided in two halves. The interesting part is that both halves have completely different focuses, and even the lead characters switch (only two regular characters of the first half return as regular characters of the second half). Personally I liked the characters of the first half a little better, but both halves have more than enough to make them worth watching, and the second half especially is where the character development starts shining.

What really sold me over this series however was that it knows exactly how to build up. Instead of wasting time, it’s constantly either trying to develop the characters or flesh out its setting, and it makes everything come together wonderfully during its rare climaxes. Both halves of Zettai Shounen have got some awesome endings that make wonderful use of the build-up that’s been handed to them.

Zettai Shounen is both a very relaxing, and very deep series. It’s skillfully constructed and the dialogue, in what form it may be, is constantly as sharp as a knife. The one thing you shouldn’t do with this series is get impatient, because then you’re missing the entire point of the story, but I really recommend this for any mystery-fan who doesn’t mind quiet stories.

Storytelling:	9/10 – Quiet, yet very sharp. Excellent dialogue, great sense of build-up that it manages to use really well.
Characters:	9/10 – The characters are charming yet flawed, they’re consistently enjoyable to watch and receive a ton of meaningful development throughout the series.
Production-Values:	8/10 – Dreamy soundtrack, undeniable visual style, though the CG can get intrusive at some points.
Setting:	9/10 – Realistic and down to earth, yet deep.

Suggestions:
– Ghost Hound
– Dennou Coil
– .Hack//Sign

November Summary

November 30, 2010 by psgels, posted in Monthly Summaries

In this month, there have been a lot of different series that impressed me. Especially my top 5 for this month is very close, with each of those series being amazing in its own way. Now, this season does have its share of flops, but for every disappointment, this season also came with a surprise, and that’s what I like about this season.

The main problem with this season is the series length. I’m currently watching 24 series, only seven of them will continue past December. That’s way too little. Granted, there are some series that are currently scheduled for a good length, but there still are too constrained by their series length.

#25 (29) – Iron Man – (5,75/10) – Well, the good news: Iron Man has gotten slightly better: it has an actual plot now. The bad news is that the plot is so ridiculously corny that you could feed an entire orphanage for a month with the cheese it produces. I mean, it’s good to have a villain who has a backstory for once, but the way it was written was just way too sloppily.
#24 (21) – Yosuga no Sora – (6,5/10) – Now this has just become porn. I’m glad that this show doesn’t shy away from the fact that teenagers can have sex and all, but when it boils down to the lead characters running from one girl to the other, just to have sex with her (followed by a convenient reset-ending), then it’s just become softcore porn. Dropped.
#23 (19) – Togainu no Chi – (6,75/10) – I really fail to see the point of this series if it’s just going to have 13 episodes. Right now, eight episodes have passed and this still is a forgettable series, full of hammy acting and bad directing. And really, the plot might actually have been very nice, but the entire show is just ridiculously cheesy. The worst offender is that guy who keeps sprouting these nonsensical lines that are supposed to be symbolic.
#22 (13) – Marie&Gali – (7,25/10) – When some of the scientific explanations turn out to be actually wrong, things have really gotten down hill. This episode continued to pretty much repeat jokes that have already been used by previous episodes, so they lost a lot of their charms.
#21 (16) – The World God Only Knows – (7,25/10) – Here’s my problem with this series: it’s currently overshadowed by a ton of other series in every single way. the conquests are shallow and there are tons of better character studies out there. The characters are dull and forgettable when you look past their gimmicks, the voice acting is unimpressive at best, and so the only reason why I’m still watching it is for the entertainment value, and yet there are so many series this season that are funnier than this show. The best episode of this series still is the one with the broken game, but apart from that this has been just mediocre.
#20 (23) – Arakawa Under the Bridge – (7,5/10) – Still haven’t dropped this, and I have to admit: the characters can be quite interesting. If this was a regular drama, I probably would have loved it. Still, it’s a comedy. And I still don’t find it funny. Perhaps it manages to get a chuckle out of me every two episodes or so, but that’s way too little considering the huge amounts of jokes and antics the creators throw at the viewer.
#19 (22) – MM! – (7,5/10) – This show… should just have ended at episode four. Seriously, it’s a complete mess now, full of random fillers that don’t really progress the characters in any way and contain a fair number of scenes in which the characters start acting ridiculously out of character. And yet, I really have to admit that this is a huge guilty pleasure for me. I laughed like crazy at episode eight, episode seven was also completely hilarious. This show has gotten ridiculously stupid at this point, but at the same time it has not lost its charms, which is more than I can say than for a large amount of other moe and harem series.
#18 (18) – Fortune Arterial – (7,75/10) – The big problem with this series is that when it’s fleshing out its cast, it’s really dull and cheesy. It’s nothing bad, but still pretty much like your average antics you see in a moe show. And yet, the main storyline is actually fairly good. I’m surprised, but the characters have actually developed fairly well, the plot is not too ambitious yet very focused on the main characters, and aside from a few strange decisions that the characters made to increase drama, I’m fairly impressed here.
#17 (11) – Nurarihyon no Mago – (7,75/10) – Here’s the thing: the new and added content for this show was usually really good, and yet then there came a bunch of episodes that completely ignored some of the supposed awesome parts of the manga. I just don’t get that. Also, the fact remains that the overall story of Nurarihyon no Mago still isn’t the most impressive one and there likely isn’t going to be a second season considering the low DVD sales.
#16 (20) – To Aru Majutsu no Index – (8/10) – The nun arc showed a lot about the different fractions of the catholic church, but at the same time it was a bit boring and not very interesting. The following arc was actually very good, and it lacked everything that annoyed me of Railgun. The new arc excels in the chemistry between the different characters, but there’s just too much pointless fanservice at this point.
#15 (7) – Katanagatari – (8,25/10)

And finally we’re nearing the finale of this thing. The penultimate Katanagatari episode was neither the best of the worst instalment of the series, but it still has the addictive dialogue that made this anime so enjoyable. At the moment my biggest concern is that the main villains are rather flat, so I hope that the final episode can still make something out of them.

#14 (12) – Bakuman – (8,25/10)

Okay, so instead of the manga making process, this month has mostly focused on the romance. Obviously I’m curious to the point at which they actually start making a manga, but the romance itself has gotten much better since the early episodes: it’s moving at a steady pace, not exactly annoying and gets some interesting scenes out of the different characters.

#13 (15) – Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru – (8,25/10)

As a bit of a combination between slice of life and a comedy, it has worked surprisingly well. It’s especially the way in which it manages to portray its characters that’s surprisingly down to earth, and yet it can be quite funny and quirky at times. It’s also quite creative, and finally in a good way for a Shaft series again.

#12 (6) – Shinryaku! Ika-Musume – (8,25/10)

There are a few segments that aren’t as funny as the others, but it’s not like this series has run out of material by far. The has been plenty of new and fresh hilarity within this series and Squid Girl remains as adorable as ever. The only thing is that unfortunately, the animation budget has ran out, so the animation isn’t as good as it once was.

#11 (9) – Tantei Opera Milky Holmes – (8,25/10)

Seriously, the jokes in this series are good. It never ceased to amaze me how well and effective this series makes fun of both itself and other series of its genre, and it’s got some amazing comedic timing. The acting still is completely over the the top, but that’s a huge part of the charms of this series. The best jokes still are the first four episodes (nothing has still beaten the sarcophagus), but this month has provided enough other material to laugh at.

#10 (17) – Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt – (8,25/10)

In this month, Panty and Stocking did what I really hoped it would do: pack some variety. Some episodes packed some very creative action, others went more into the parody direction, episode 9’s second half was really charming, and I also really enjoyed the zombies and transformers. The sex and toilet jokes is just a gimmick, what’s really impressed me about this show is its creativity, and that’s something it definitely showed in this month.

#9 (14) – Yumeiro Patissiere – (8,25/10)

The title of this show is wrong. It should be “Yumeiro Business Consultant”. Sure, it’s less catchy and all (although I’d argue that that would make this show even more awesome), but this is pretty much what Ichigo and the other lead characters have been doing over the past nine episodes: helping other characters set up a successful shop, guiding others to get their certificates, and travelling to all kinds of different places in the process. And yes, this is a shoujo series, proving that you can very much make a good shoujo series without resulting in the usual cliches. Take that, Kaichou wa Maid-sama!

#8 (13) – Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu – (8,5/10)

Finally! After sixteen episodes, Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu has finally gotten awesome. The plot finally has gotten interesting, the characters finally have developed, the scenario finally manages to hold my attention again. Seriously, a ton of characters who once were really annoying have suddenly become very interesting to watch. That’s a really good sign here. Just too bad that it took so long to get there.

#7 (10) – Otome Youkai Zakuro – (8,5/10)

The characterization of this series really turned out to be excellent: the different couples play off each other really well with some actual genuine tension between them. They suffer from their romantic cliches, which prevent their relationships from really developing, but beyond that they’re really well portrayed. The most intriguing is definitely Zakuro’s past.

#6 (3) – Star Driver – (8,5/10)

The thing with Star Driver is that every time I think that I know what’s going to happen next, this show does something completely different. It’s so delightfully unpredictable, and the story definitely got a lot of new dimensions during the past month. On top of that, the characters are also getting neatly fleshed out here, so all that’s left for this series now is to actually start using all of this build-up.

#5 (2) – Letter Bee – (8,75/10)

Nichi’s arc was amazing, creative and really gave a new dimension to the plot, but beyond that, the Sylvette episode also rocked. It’s been a really excellent month for Letter Bee, where also the visuals turned out to be more stunning than ever. I really hope that it can keep this up.

#4 (4) – Shiki – (8,75/10)

This was an excellent month for Shiki, and it is at this point where it really set itself apart as a unique horror series. The entire month was just full of despair: just when you thought that things couldn’t get any worse… they do. The decisions that the characters make just keep surprising me.

#3 (8) – Shinrei Tantei Yakumo – (8,75/10)

I’m not sure how many people still are liking this series, but I currently love it: the random stories have gotten actually a lot more solid in this month,but the series really started shining when the main storyline popped up. The latest arc has given a ton of depth to just about every important character. The soundtrack also has become as amazing as you’d expect from a Bee-Train series, the direction has become a lot more solid. It’s really now obvious that the creators were trying to rush through the beginning chapters in order to give these important stories enough time in the space of 13 episodes. It’s risky decision, but it worked out wonderfully.

#2 (5) – Kuragehime – (8,75/10)

Kuragehime turned out to be an amazingly fun series to watch the cast is incredibly dynamic, and the series really shines when it mixes the energy of all kinds of characters with each other, brilliantly making use of all of the flaws of the different characters.

#1 (1) – Heartcatch Precure – (8,75/10)

In this month, Heartcatch Precure went on a hiatus, showed a bunch of light-hearted intermezzos and showcased an episode that surpassed itself yet again. Perhaps it wasn’t as consistent as the previous months, but this series really never ceases to amaze me. The work it put in this month is really making sure for this series to not lose itself in its own epicness in the finale, so they were episodes well spent.

Mahou Shujo Lyrical Nanoha The Movie Review – 77,5/100

November 26, 2010 by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews

So yeah, this turned out to b a recap. Or to be more specific: a retelling of the first season with nearly the exact same plot and scenario (with one major exception, but more on that below), condensed into two hours. The graphics got a major overhaul, and you can pretty much consider this as the cleaned up bite-sized version of Nanoha. It doesn’t take much risks, it does just what it’s supposed to do, but there are much worse recap movies.

Let’s start with the good parts here: the animation. I had to confirm this by rewatching some scenes of the original series (it’s been six years since I watched the first season), but the movie really put in effort to get rid of all of the chunky animation, still frames and deformed faces that riddled its counterparts. The dialogue and scenarios, which were excellent in the TV-series, were simply left alone. It makes flow of the movie a lot more dynamic.

Still, the movie did cut away pretty much four hours of footage, and that does hurt; especially on the titular character Nanoha. It cuts away a lot of the building up to make this movie much more action-packed than the TV-series, but in its turn it also skips much of Nanoha’s characterization: she no longer feels like just an ordinary girl: she just runs into Yuno, he gives her her magical powers and she’s like “okay”, without ever questioning him. These things happen more often in the movie, and that introduces cheese. Because of that, this movie just isn’t as good as the TV-series.

Also, there is one part of the movie that contains actual new footage. I won’t spoil exactly what part that is, but nevertheless I really appreciated that part. It wasn’t exactly vital to the plot, and yet it gave some new depth to one particular in this movie, and it also made the person in question a much more interesting character.

My general stance on recap movies is that I hate them unless they prove me otherwise. I believe that just retelling the same story again is lazy and that they should have come up with something more interesting, yet they can be good movies with the right execution. Nanoha’s movie did convince me, even though it’s not as good as its TV-series, because I can see what the creators wanted to do with it: Nanoha definitely looks better than ever now, and now you can also watch the first season during a random movie night with friends. If you’ve got more time than that though, I still recommend going for the TV-series.

On a side-note: the StrikerS Movie should prove to be very interesting, because of how much time its television series wasted on pointless build-up. The second Nanoha movie, which most likely is going to recap A’s will also fail to really condense the same story into just two hours: it’s just way too complex for that. StrikerS however really could use some overhaul.

Storytelling:	8/10 – Sacrifices build-up for a much better flowing story.
Characters:	7/10 – Skips fleshing the characters out, which ultimately bites the back with cheese, especially Nanoha becomes too static and perfect. Fate’s story still manages to shine, though.
Production-Values:	8/10 – For movie standards it’s perhaps nothing special, but for Nanoha’s standards the graphics really got a massive overhaul.
Setting:	8/10 – Ah, back when Nanoha’s setting still wasn’t so unnecessarily complicated (I’m looking at you, StrikerS).

Suggestions:
– Air The Motion Picture
– Card Captor Sakura
– Blue Drop

First Lustrum: Star Crossed Five Year Anniversary

November 21, 2010 by psgels, posted in Special Articles

Today, Star Crossed is celebrating its first lustrum: it’s already been five years ago since I made my first posts here (very fanboyishly crappy posts, if I may confess). Like all previous years, I always do these anniversary posts with some statistics and amusing search terms:

General Statistics:
Up till now, I’ve made 3822 posts and regularly blogged 139 different television series.
The site has been received 5147999 unique visitors, which consist out of 2912603 first time visitors and 2235716 returning ones. This year alone the site got 863064 first time visitors and 891717 returning ones, and this was the first time since the creation of the site that the amount of returning visitors was larger than the amount of first time ones, so I really want to thank everyone for coming back here.
27075 comments have been posted (again, many thanks to everyone who posted one).

Top-10 Most Accessed Series of the Past Year:
10. Aoi Bungaku
9. Baccano!
8. Les Miserables – Shoujo Cosette
7. Darker than Black – Ryuusei no Gemini
6. Heartcatch Precure
5. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
4. Durarara
3. Ergo Proxy
2. Armed Librarians – The Book of Bantorra
1. Full Metal Alchemist – Broptherhood

Top-10 Most Accessed Posts:
10. Full Metal Alchemist – The Blind Alchemist OVA
9. Top 25 Favourite OPs
8. Full Metal Alchemist – Brotherhood – 41
7. My Top 20 Favourite Anime
6. Autumn Season Preview
5. Summer Season Preview
4. Full Metal Alchemist – Brotherhood – 52
3. Darker than Black Review – 87/100
2. 2000-2009 – Decade Summary Part 1
1. Top 10 Anime (The old one)

Top-20 Google Keywords: (aside from the obvious ones as “psgels”, “star crossed” and variations of “top 10 anime”) (aka. the internet is weird)
20. heroic age review
19. tono to issho
18. full metal alchemist brotherhood 51
17. pandora hearts review
16. full metal alchemist brotherhood 41
15. angel beats review
14. casshern sins review
13. towards the terra
12. mouryou no hako
11. hen zemi
10. school days review
9. darker than black ova
8. clannad review
7. eden of the east review
6. xxxholic rou
5. that anime blog
4. blassreiter review
3. hakuouki – (Why? I only blogged three measly episodes…)
2. aoi bungaku
1. darker than black review

Amusing Search Terms (people are actually searching for these things?)
hi you are under arrest for watching anime since all anime are child pornography acccording to us immigrations – One reason why I’m glad not to live in the US…

how much is star crossed anime blog worth – Eh, believe me: not much.

training with hinako psgels – You really want me to review that thing? O.o

bleach manga writer commit suicide – Is this just wishful thinking or something?

anime like junjo romantica heterosexual partners – Eh… doesn’t that defeat the entire purpose of that series?

identical twin boy and girl – How is that even possible?

anime jesus milk alchemy -fullmetal – I honestly have no idea what this guy was hoping to find…

does 16+74=100?
what is 82.5% out of a 100
85 reversed is 58 – Just a sample of the completely moronic math questions that people actually dare to ask Google… and who somehow end up redirected to this site.

i went to saw a sea – You would have needed a pretty big saw in order to be able to do that…

leo leo leo leo goddammit – dammit, leo leo leo

laaa la la laaa la la laaa la la laaa la la la la laaa summer hit – Did you seriously think that typing that into google would give you the title of that song?

famous girl with a p in frontname and h in lastname – Again, Google is no crystal ball or anything…

how to stop congratulation you won – Get a decent spam blocker!

how old should i be to wathch ginga denseta weed – That really is a hardcore series, you shouldn’t watch it when you’re young.

iai am told by a medium that she sees me as a medium with strong powers but i dont know it what should i do – Eh, run away from her as fast as possible. And stop being so damn gullible.

please i want a message,dere dis girl i might she has been refusing my friendship so i want a messege dat will blow her mind. – This is one of the weirdest ways to search for pick-up lines I’ve ever seen…

why do christians think anime is evil for? – Probably the satanic messages.

why is it that everytime i have confrontations with my husband i’m always the one to blame? – Because you keep asking Google for it.

how to have anime legs – Why would you want that?

is there any anime that has stories in the episodes
how would katanagatari look if it was drawn – Pointless questions are pointless

85 differents asses, 85 differents flavours
“high things” things-things sexy anime
i got a potato put in my pussy (anime)
gay anime hard yaoi blog
anime metal penis – You people have dirty minds. And these aren’t even the most disturbing results that I ended up finding. Cannot unsee!

when a guy send his bodyguard to watch me what does it mean – It means that you’re in trouble.

why am i darker than what im supposed to be – Uh, because you spend too much time sunbathing?

+i rather be woman than black – …

oh, good lord! it’s unbelievable. it’s horrible. i can’t understand the reason for such cruelty – Me neither!

can kids under 18 buy hetalia – Oh lord… talk about overreacting.

how to start a dollars gang?
how to make dollars site durarara – You know you’re too much of a Durarara fan when you actively start searching for these things on Google.

how do i entertain my hyper dog in the morning
this dog is definitely on some kind of drug
anime were dogs get hit – These results all appeared at different times, but it would be amusing if they were made by the same person…

do you need to wear makeup as sebastian from kuroshitsuji – When you’re Sebastian, you don’t need any makeup to look good.

anime with mass suicide superpowers – “I will now use my superpowers to kill myself in a completely overblown fashion!”

people are so realistic – Don’t you agree?

how are you doing? i’m just bored about to watch an anime… sora no otoshimono.. anyways i hope we can be friends and all. ^^ – Did this kid seriously confuse Google with some kind of instant messenger?

star crossed anime – psgels vegetarian – I am not a vegetarian. I like meat.

i see you keep a bee – Keeping a single bee takes up a lot of work.

if a gemini calls you crazy and goes cold for no reason – I seriously have no idea what that means.

how to write an email to yu aida – The author of Gunslinger Girl? Eh, find out his email address and send him a message?

is italy in hetalia gay – Take a guess…

fucking spoons! how do they work? – Yes, who are the bastards who designed these things?

i want to be a pretty cure – Good for you.

making money blog transmute alchemy – Do you seriously think that that’ll work?

if you are 5 or 82, there is something you can do…. – I don’t want to know that “something” you’re referring to…

is it wrong to watch yuri anime – Yes. Lesbians are evil and should be banned from television!

asdffgmj – How did you end up here?

9/11bombers still alive – Yes, they crashed two airplanes into the Twin Towers and walked away from the rubble without a scratch.

code geass is true story? – Whahahahahha! Good one.

Winter Season Preview – Movie and OVA Edition

November 14, 2010 by psgels, posted in Seasonal Previews

As usual, with every seasonal preview I also realize a preview that discusses the upcoming movies and OVAs (the ones who are slated for December, January and February in this case). Note that it usually takes nine months for the movies to actually get released, but this seems like a good place to look forward to them. Most of the interesting stuff this season consists out of TV-based movies and OVAs, but in that department there really is a lot of neat stuff. Here is a list of everything you can find on this preview:

This list will NOT cover:
– Live-action (so no Gantz Movie)
– Simple episodes of series of OVAs or Movies that have already debuted (I do not want to repeat myself about Queen’s Blade’s OVAs over and over again). This also includes Tales of Symphonia and Break Blade. Exception to this is when the distance between the different instalments of these episodes is really big or significant (like with the Macross Frontier movies for example) or when they’re completely different from each other like the Votoms Trilogy.

Satelight, Xebec, Sunrise and Madhouse also have some great ambitions in terms of the movies and OVAs here. The season isn’t as full with movies as the current Autumn season, but there still are quite a number of interesting ones to check out.

Isshoni Training 026: Bathtime With Hinako and Hiyoko

Summary: Do you really want me to write this down?
Type: OVA
Director: Shinichiro Kimura
The Positives: The pain will stop once you turn your media player off.
The Negatives: I’ve just lost my faith in people ever stopping to release crap OVAs.
First-Glance Potential: 0%

Dreams C Club Pure Songs Clips

Summary: It’s based on an XBox 360 Dating sim: The anime will recreate the heroines of the game with two-dimensional graphics for the Dream C Club Pure Songs Clips, a two-volume DVD/CD collection of character songs and music videos. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: A bunch of animated music videos.
Director: Sasa Fujisawa
Other Notable Staff: Mayumi Watanabe
The Positives: I’m blank.
The Negatives: The sample that they put on their main website looks and sounds utterly terrible. Is this entire project going to be full with that crap? What a cheap cash-in!
First-Glance Potential: 0%

Goulart Knights

Summary: The story begins after mysterious creatures named “Archons” suddenly appear in the world. Humanity faces the threat of annihilation from these creatures. Only the “Chalice,” the source of humanity, can defeat the powerful Archons. So, the humans assemble an Archon-slaying unit from fighters who have the ability to bring forth the Chalice to fight. The ones chosen to fight the Archons with the Chalice as their weapon are called Goulart Knghts. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: OVA to promote a newly formed boy-band.
The Positives: It’s a completely original story, so it could possibly go anywhere with the right writers.
The Negatives: But ah, who am I kidding here: it’s just there to promote four random guys as a cheap cash-in. Their music sounds completely generic and the premise sounds as if it were written by a twelve-year old, there is no way that this is going to work.
First-Glance Potential: 0%

Ah Megami-Sama

Summary: Keiichi Morisato is looking forward to university life. But in reality, he has no luck in anything, and he has trouble with clubs, love, etc. The truth is that he has an unlucky star above his head. One day, Keiichi is stuck watching the dorm while his sempai are away, and has a mountain of chores to do to boot. But Keiichi is a good-natured person, and is set about doing his duties. As he is about to finish his final chore, he makes a phone call to his sempai. But the words that came through the receiver are, ‘Goddess Help Line.’ Shortly afterwards, a beautiful goddess named Belldandy appears in front of him from the mirror of his room. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: OVA, Shipped with a Manga Volume
Director: Hiroaki Gouda
The Positives: Is this one still going on?! Ah well, it’s got the same director and likely also the same staff behind it, so if you liked Ah Megami-sama’s previous anime instalments then you’ll like this one.
The Negatives: How much can you squeeze out of a premise like that anyway? At the moment, there are already 42 different volumes of Ah Megami-sama’s manga. Is it really that good of a story that it warrants such a long running time?
First-Glance Potential: 20%

Fortune Arterial OAD

Summary: – (Taken from )
Type: Original Anime DVD, bundled by manga volume
The Positives: Thankfully Fortune Arterial’s story turned out to be pretty good…
The Negatives: ..but what can they do with just one episode, meant to “commemorate the fact that it got made into an anime”? Most of the useless fluff of Fortune Arterial’s anime was hard to watch anyway, so are they really planning to make an entire episode with just nothing but that or something?
First-Glance Potential: 30%

Bleach – Jigoku-hen

Summary: The Jigoku-Hen subtitle signifies that the story takes place in a place unvisited by Tite Kubo’s original manga, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary next year. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: Movie
Director: Noriyuki Abe
Other Notable Staff: Kubo Tite (original creator, supervision)
The Positives: It’s only a movie, so the battles can’t drag on for as long as they did in the series. Kubo Tite is actually supervising the production of the movie, so it’ll probably be adding something to the world of Bleach, rather than being a pointless random side-story.
The Negatives: There really is a good and a bad Pierrot. The bad Pierrot is what I consider to be Naruto and Bleach, and Naruto at least has some good character-development. Bleach started off as a hilarious series, but after thirty episodes it started to drag on its fights on and on. After ninety episodes, I finally gave up on it. Furthermore, just look at the promo art here: all of the characters look like they’re incredibly constipated!
First-Glance Potential: 30%

Yuri Seijin Naoko-san

Summary: The surreal gag manga follows a quiet, timid girl named Misuzu whose older sister Naoko is returning from studying aboard. However, when she hurries home to meet her sister, Misuzu instead encounters Naoko-san, the strange alien from Yuri-sei (Yuri Planet) who loves eroticism, yuri, and girls. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: OVA Included with Manga Volume
Notable Staff: All we know is that Ufotable will be producing it.
The Positives: The manga has been running for five years, so that must mean that there’s at least enough material for such a premise, right?
The Negatives: But really: are people running out of ideas or something? The “Yuri planet”… there is so much wrong with that and I can only hope that the creators realize this as well…
First-Glance Potential: 30%

Princess Resurrection OAD

Summary: Hiro Hiyorimi is a boy who has just moved to the city to meet his sister. While walking down the sidewalk, he is suddenly hit by a car (crushed by construction beams in the anime). On the verge of death, he is seen by a young woman clad in gothic clothes. She then resurrects him, leaving him alive in the hospital morgue. He wakes up confused over what happened, only to encounter the woman again as she eliminates some wolf creatures. She addresses Hiro as “her servant” and introduces herself as “Hime” (Japanese for Princess). The story then follows Hiro as he assists Hime in killing creatures that have been sent by her siblings to attack her. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: An Original Anime DVD
Director: Keiichiro Kawaguchi
Storyboard: Keiichiro Kawaguchi
Other Notable Staff: Kukido Sadakata (Character-designs, Animation Director)
The Positives: The original TV series was completely generic (or at least the first two episodes were, before I gave up on it), but the staff behind the OVA is completely different here. The visuals seem a lot more interesting with the same character-designer from Shikabane Hime.
The Negatives: The director is really generic, with his only good work Zettai Karen Children (and perhaps also Hayate the Combat Butler, but I didn’t really like that one either). His other works include Yutori-chan, Moetan, Kowarekake no Orgol, Nyan Koi and Getsumen to Heiki Mina. I really don’t think that he can make this story any less generic than its anime counterpart.
First-Glance Potential: 40%

Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu OVA

Summary: Advanced placement into a school of higher grade proof-reading is determined by the results of the Promotion Test strictly for class type. Ranging from A class with the best facilities anyone can offer all the way down to F Class which is composed of low dining tables, rotten tatami mats and other worn out facilities. Students can change classes by competing using the Examination Summons Battle system or ESB. Students summon characters with their equivalent test mark scores and use them to compete with other classes. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: 2 Episode OVA
Director: Shin Oonuma
Series Composition: Katsuhiko Takayama
Other Notable Staff: Kouji Azuma (Art Director)
The Positives: Katsuhiko Takayama’s work on Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru, Ga-Rei Zero, Hantsuki and the first seasons of ef and Natsu no Arashi was very solid. Same goes for Shin Oonuma on Pani Poni Dash and Natsu no Arashi and ef’s first seasons, and finally he can do something without Shinbo.
The Negatives: I didn’t like the TV-series of Baka to Test much, though. It felt like it wasted all of its best jokes in its first episode, and quickly got repetitive and annoying afterwards.
First-Glance Potential: 40%

Inazuma Eleven: Saikyō Gundan Ogre Shūrai

Summary: The main character, Endou Mamoru, is a very talented goalkeeper and the grandson of one of the strongest goalkeepers in Japan, who died before he was born. Even though his skills are incredible his school lacks a real soccer club as the 6 other members don’t appear very interested even in training. But as soon as a mysterious forward called Gouenji moves to Endou’s town, the young goalkeeper sets out to find and recruit members for his soccer team. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: Movie
Director: Yoshikazu Miyao
Series Composition: Atsuhiro Tomioka
Other Notable Staff: Akihiro Hino (Original Creator)
The Positives: I didn’t watch Inazuma Eleven (heck, it’s been going on for two years now and there’s still no end in sight), but I can really see this work as a movie here: it’s basically just an incredible cheese-fest in which a bunch of kids use the most ridiculous powers while playing football: this can really work as an over the top brainless action movie.
The Negatives: Atsuhiro Tomioka has no sense of pacing! Just look at Good Witch of the West, Makai Senki Disgaia and Zombie Loan: all of them could have been so much better if they were actually paced properly.
First-Glance Potential: 40%

T.P. Sakura ~Time Paladin Sakura~ Jikuu Boueisen

Summary: The project is a spinoff from the developer’s D.C. ~Da Capo~ franchise and features the Sakura Yoshino character as a seemingly ordinary third grader with secret special powers. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: OVA
Director: Takehiro Nakayama
Series Composition: Naoki Tozuka
Other Notable Staff: Makoto Koga (Character designs, Animation Director)
The Positives: They did get a pretty experienced guy as the animation director. His works include Aria the Animation, Sola and a bunch of Cardcaptor Sakura episodes. The director has also never directed an anime before, so this could be interesting, as he worked on quite a number of interesting projects. The scriptwriter meanwhile did write a bunch of episodes of Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou, so perhaps he’ll be able to put the same charms into this OVA.
The Negatives: I’m getting a bit tired of the milking of that Da Capo franchise, though. And if you’re going to start with a spin-off, please to an imaginative one instead of such an uninspired mahou shoujo knock-off.
First-Glance Potential: 50%

Morita-san wa Mukuchi

Summary: The four-panel manga follows the everyday life of a high school girl named Mayu Morita who is exceedingly gentle and thoughtful, to the point that she does not say much of anything to anyone. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: OVA (2 episodes have been confirmed), bundled with Manga Volume
The Positives: Nothing is really known about who is going to adapt this manga or anything, but the premise could turn into a gentle slice of life series.
The Negatives: I’m not exactly sure what’s up with the promo images, by the way. They just were there on the main website of this OVA, but I hope that they look a bit more… detailed than just that…
First-Glance Potential: 50%

Mirai Nikki

Summary: High school 2nd year, Amano Yukiteru, is a boy who has problem making friends. He thinks of himself as a bystander and will always write down everything he sees in a cell phone diary. Tormented by solitude, Yukiteru began to imagine things like a friend called Deus X Makina who is apparently the Lord of Time & Space. Seeing Yukiteru’s miserable state, Deus gives him a new ability. His diary will now record events that will happen in the near future. Yukiteru is then forced to participate in a game which the winner will become Deus’s successor. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: Pilot OVA bundled with Manga Volume
Director: Naoto Hosoda
Script: Katsuhiko Takayama
Other Notable Staff: Eiji Hirayama (Character-designs)
The Positives: Everything is pointing to the fact that this is a pilot, meant to test whether or not Mirai Nikki will work as an anime. The premise of a diary that predicts the future does have a lot of potential in the right hands. Katsuhiko Takayama is a pretty good adapter, considering his works on Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru, Natsu no Arashi and ef.
The Negatives: The director and character-designer of Shuffle worry me a bit, though.
First-Glance Potential: 60%

Mai no Mahou to Katei ni

Summary: In the story, eight-year-old second-grader Mai Tatsumi uses magic to understand her family’s feelings. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: 30 Minute OVA
The Positives: This one isn’t listed on Moonphase yet, but I decided to include it anyway. An OVA either for kids or nostalgic adults, it seems promising anyway, especially since it’s from PA Works.
The Negatives: But then again, the exact adaptation staff is not known yet, so it could really be a flop as well.
First-Glance Potential: 70%

Kara no kyoukai Final Chapter

Summary: Mikiya Kokuto finds himself intrigued by two things. The first is by Shiki Ryougi a beautiful, yet rather unsociable, girl and the other is the strange series of violent deaths that start occurring in his town. As he attempts to get closer to Shiki, he soon learns that the two are connected and that there are many supernatural forces at work which could very likely get him killed as well. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: 30 Minute BD OVA
Director: ???
Script: ???
Other Notable Staff: Kinoko Nasu (Original Creator)
The Positives: More Kara no Kyoukai is of course always welcome, even though I have absolutely no idea what it’ll be about.
The Negatives: I mean, the movies were fairly conclusive, weren’t they? This Final Chapter isn’t even a movie, but an OVA, and it is shipped along with a 60-minute recap of the first seven Kara no Kyoukai movies.
First-Glance Potential: 80%

Macross Frontier – Sayonara no Tsubasa

Summary: Macross Frontier marks the 25th anniversary of the Macross anime franchise. It is a direct sequel to the first Macross series and Macross 7 and follows the lives of Alto Saotome, Ranka Lee and a pop idol named Sheryl Nome on board the Macross Frontier colonization fleet. After the war against the Zentradi aliens, Humankind has spread across the universe in order to ensure its survival. The Macross Frontier fleet is part of a effort to spread and maintain the culture of humanity. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: Movie (Part 2 of a Do You Remember Love-esque remake)
Director: Shoji Kawamori (Yes, he’s actually directing on his own this time)
Screenplay: Shoji Kawamori, Hiroyuki Yoshino
Other Notable Staff: Yoko Kanno (Music)
The Positives: The first Macross Frontier Movie was a really big surprise: it was much shorter than the TV-series, but actually much better: it was much more streamlined, the graphics were even better, the characters were nowhere as annoying. It’s now up to Sayonara no Tsubasa to continue this trend to make it really work and not give us the cop-out ending that the TV-series treated us with.
The Negatives: Hiroyuki Yoshino wrote the scripts and scenarios of Mai Hime and Mai Otome, Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny, Sora no Oto, Seikon no Qwaser, Denpa-Teki na Kanojo, Dance in the Vampire Bund and assisted in the series composition of Code Geass R1 and R2. Holy crap: when this guy is good, he really is great; when he’s bad, things become a trainwreck!
First-Glance Potential: 80%

Votoms Finder

Summary: Votoms Finder will center around Aki Tesuno, a guard for scrap salvagers and a pilot of a robotic mecha called an At or Altro (as opposed to VOTOMS’ trademark Armored Trooper mecha). – (Taken from ANN)
Type: Movie (second of a trilogy)
Director: Atsushi Shigeta
Script: Mayori Sekijima
Other Notable Staff: Junichi Hayama (Character designs, animation and art director)
The Positives: The fun part of the three Votoms movies of course is the fact that they’re going to be completely different. The Votoms Franchise has really gotten itself a unique conclusion when it already was a unique series, and this movie will detail more of a side story in the universe of Votoms. The director also has his first shot at directing something, and before this production he only worked as an animator and animation director before. I’m really interested what he’s able to do with this franchise. Mayori Sekijima meanwhile also wrote the Soultaker, Zegapain and Gad Guard and adopted Skip Beat, Pandora Hearts and le Portrait de Petit Cosette, so this should prove to be really interesting.
The Negatives: But yeah, the thing remains that Ryousuke Takahashi isn’t going to be involved with this one, while he was the big reason that Votoms became so good. Junichi Hayama behind the visuals doesn’t seem like the most solid choice, and you can see that in the rather cheesy promo art. Mayori Sekijima also did adapt a bunch of flops.
First-Glance Potential: 80%

Fafner: Dead Agressor: Heaven and Earth

Summary: – (Taken from )
Type: Movie
Screenplay: Tow Ubukata
Other Notable Staff: Angela (Theme Song Performance)
The Positives: I have not watched the original Fafner in the Azure, but I’m really looking forward to watching it, as it sounds like an awesome action series. The same goes with this movie, and I’m very interested in what Xebec can do to it. Especially because Tow Ubakata also wrote the original stories of Mardock Scramble and Le Chevalier d’Eon.
The Negatives: Okay, so he also was the one who wrote the series composition of Heroic Age. That’s about the only reason why I’m a bit cautious about it, but as soon as I get the chance to watch the series of Fafner, I’m going to track this one down.
First-Glance Potential: 90%

Tailenders

Summary: The destiny of Tomoe Shiro, a formidable racer with a very promising career, experiments an U-turn when a serious accident puts his life at stake. He recovers miraculously, though, when his heart is replaced with the engine of his own racing car. However, because of that very reason, race regulations demote him to the category of a mere mechanical part of the vehicle and is deprived from the right to participate as a pilot in regular races. Only in a far away colonial planet, along with a multitude of other charismatic pilots also vetoed from participating in regular competitions, he will be given the opportunity to race for his pride and the money of the prize. And so this exciting rally starts!! – (Taken from ANN)
Type: 28-Minute Movie
Director: Picograph
Producers: Anime Innovations Tokyo
The Positives: Oh god, I love Anime Innovatitons Tokyo already: this premise sounds even better than Cencoroll’s. Here’s hoping that they’ll be able to do many more projects after this.
The Negatives: They’re like Studio 4C, though: very creative and innovative, but their projects are often really short. This one is just going to be 28 minutes, and I’d love to see them sponsor some actual TV-series.
First-Glance Potential: 90%

Supernatural the Animation

Summary: Two brothers, Sam and Dean Winchester, team up to find their father, John, who went missing on a hunting trip. However, their father isn’t a typical hunter: he hunts supernatural creatures like ghosts, vampires, and various demons and he’s trained his sons to do the same. Along the way, Sam and Dean save innocent people, fight creatures and ghosts, and collect clues to their father’s whereabouts. – (Taken from Wikipedia)
Type: 22 Episode OVA
Director: Atsuko Ishizuka, Shigeyuki Miya
Script: Sumino Kawashima, Akemi Moriyama
Other Notable Staff: Shusei Murai (music), Takahiro Yoshimatsu (character-designs, animation director),
The Positives: Holy crap! Where to start: Shusei Murai was the one who composed Mouryou no Hako’s haunting soundtrack, there are a ton of people who worked on Aoi Bungaku who are going to return for this one, including the directors of Kokoro and Hell Screen and the Spider’s Thread, Sumino Kawashima did some amazing work on the screenplay of Hashire Melos and a bunch of Himitsu the Revelation episodes and to top things off we have the character designer of Trigun and Ooedo Rocket in charge of the animation. On top of that, with 22 episodes this is promising to become the longest OVA since Legend of Galactic Heroes or something, and the creators will be animating the best episodes of the TV-series, along with some completely new ones. This really is one to look out for.
The Negatives: I have not watched anything of the Supernatural series. Would that be a disadvantage, or an advantage? Do the creators plan to create a standalone story here, or are they just going to end up animating a bunch of random episodes?
First-Glance Potential: 90%

Armored Trooper Votoms: Koei Futatabi

Summary: At an oasis, Chirico (the main character of the VOTOMS series) will reunite with his old friend Gotho and other characters after 32 years. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: Movie
Director: Kazuyoshi Takeuchi, Ryousuke Takahashi
Script/Storyboard: Masashi Ikeda
Other Notable Staff: Masanobu Nomura (Art Direction)
The Positives: Hell yeah, I’m a big Votoms fan here, and based on the way that the Gen-ei hen is playing out, the creators are intending this to be the movie to conclude the entire franchise. Unlike the first two movies of the trilogy, this is one that Ryousuke Takahashi will be involved in as the director, which only makes things even better.
The Negatives: Why the heck is the director of Cluster Edge writing the script?
First-Glance Potential: 90%

Winter Season Preview

November 12, 2010 by psgels, posted in Seasonal Previews

The upcoming Winter Season will suck? Hell no! In fact, I see no way in which it isn’t going to be able to be better than the Winter of 2010. I’m actually very much looking forward to it.

I’d like to call it the season of mysteries: there are a ton of series that really can go anywhere, from bad to awesome. There are a lot of question marks in this season, but at the same time there are very few series that are completely hopeless at first sight. There are also 21 series, which is the highest of a small season since Winter 2009. What really intrigues me about this season how just about every series has the potential to become something really interesting.

It’s most of all a season for teenagers and romance, but there is a wide variety of different genres with action, science fiction, slice of life, mystery, historical, comedy and mahou shoujo. There also are a ton of different animation producers involved with just one series, ranging from the old veterans like JC Staff, Madhouse and Production IG to a lot of newcomers like David Production, Bridge and 8-Bit. Busiest will be Studio Deen (3 series) and Studio Pierrot (if you include shows carrying over from previous season, they’ll be working on a whopping six different series). The studios who impressed me the most while composing this preview were David Production, Pierrot, Shaft, 8-Bit and Xebec, the studios who impressed me the least were Zexcs, Studio Deen and Madhouse. Surprisingly absent are still Satelight and Sunrise.

The biggest problem with this season is that there are A TON of teenagers: only two series revolve around adults, and one of them is Wolverine. It’s also a season of rather generic character-designs, but instead there are a ton of interesting art directors, plus some of my favourite music composers are also involved here.

As usual, I tried to collect the information about each of the airing series, followed by a number of personal impressions. I don’t claim to be right with any of these impressions, especially considering how I have not read the source material of any of them. I can only comment on what I’m familiar with, which is the people who are going to adapt these stories, animate them and give life to their characters. If you want an impression of the source material of these series, I suggest you to find some sort of blog whose owner does read manga/games and light novels.

Oniichan no Koto Zenzen Suki Janain Dakara Ne—!!!

Summary: I refuse to write this down.
Director: Keitarou Motonage
Series Composition: Koyuri Ouba
The Positives: The director is mostly crap, but he is currently directing Katanagatari, which shows that he can really adapt a good story.
The Negatives: Just… no.
First-Glance Potential: 0%

Cardfight!! Vanguard

Summary: It’s a series based on a children’s card game.
Other Notable Staff: Jam Project (OP)
The Positives: At least we’ll be getting an energetic and hot blooded OP.
The Negatives: Seriously, how long are they going produce these cheap Yugioh rip-offs?
First-Glance Potential: 0%

Starry Sky

Summary: The heroine, Tsukiko, enrolled to a school that was recently changed from all-boys school to co-ed. Since the area where the school is conveniently rural and the rather exclusive curriculums the school has, up until now the heroine is the only one female who enrolled to the school. – (Taken from ANN)
Director: Nobuhiro Takamoto
Series Composition: Makoto Nakamura
The Positives: Um, the series composition guy worked on at least a bunch of good series (the Air and Clannad movies, the Snow Queen)
The Negatives: OH GOD NO! Not Nobuhiro Takamoto! How many more series must he ruin after Hatenkou Yuugi, Ookami Kakushi and 07-Ghost? I liked his work on Sasami Mahou Shoujo Club, but after that this guy completely lost it. How does he still get work? And in fact, why does Studio Deen still go with this stupid of a premise?
First-Glance Potential: 0%

Haiyoru! Nyaruani: Remember My Mr. Lovecraft

Summary: The story centers around Nyarlathotep, a formless Cthulhu deity who can take on the shape of anyone it wishes, but particularly the shape of a seemingly ordinary silver-haired girl. Mahiro Yasaka is a normal high school student who is chased by aliens one night, until “Nyaruko” saves him. – (Taken from ANN)
Director: Azuma Tan
The Positives: A couple of months ago, they made an OVA about this one. Apparently it was popular enough to warrant an actual TV-series. It’s also entirely done in flash.
The Negatives: I have not watched those OVAs, but with flash they do sound rather cheap. The producers also haven’t really worked on anything notable, and their only other experience is from a bunch of forgettably dull children’s comedies.
First-Glance Potential: 20%

Wolverine

Summary: Born as James Howlett and commonly known as Logan, Wolverine is a mutant, possessing animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities, three retracting bone claws on each hand and a healing factor that allows him to recover from virtually any wound, disease or toxin at an accelerated rate. – (Taken from Wikipedia)
Director: All we know is that Rintaro directed the pilot.
The Positives: The trailer, indeed, looks amazing. Why can’t Rintaro direct the entire series?
The Negatives: Usually, I’d be really looking forward to this series. But yeah: Iron Man. Both Iron Man and Wolverine were made in a time in which Madhouse concentrated just about all of its talent on finishing the movie Redline. All I’m asking for now is for this show to at least not have the same sloppy script that Iron Man has. Is that too much to ask?
First-Glance Potential: 30%

Beelzebub

Summary: The story follows the “strongest juvenile delinquent”, Oga Tatsumi, a first year in “Ishiyama High” the school for delinquents. One day while sleeping next to a river he sees a man floating down it, he pulls him to shore and the man splits in half revealing a baby boy. This boy is the son of the demon king and he has been chosen as the one to raise it with the baby’s demon maid Hilda. The story follows his life with the child and at the delinquent school. – (Taken from ANN)
Director: Nobuhiro Takamoto
Series Composition: Masahiro Yokotani
The Positives: I really like that Studio Pierrot is finally doing a lot of other projects again aside from Naruto and Bleach. The manga is also supposed to be hilarious, so I’m intrigued.
The Negatives: But dear god, could they perhaps have chosen a bit of a better staff to do it? Nobuhiro Takamoto has no idea how to correctly adapt a source material (that was at least my impression from watching his adaptations) and why is he doing two shows this season? Masahiro Yokotani isn’t really much better with his work on World Destruction, Maria Holic and Reideen (though granted his smaller works are a bit more interesting).
First-Glance Potential: 30%

Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?

Summary: The story centers around a lazy high school boy named Ayumu Aikawa who gets killed during a spate of mysterious serial killings. However, Ayumu is resurrected as a zombie by a necromancer girl named “Yuu” (Eucliwood Hellscythe), who Ayumu had just met before dying. Ayumu reawakens in a world surrounded by “masou shoujo” (magically equipped girls) and vampire ninja. Ayumu is assigned the duties of a masou shoujo by a magical warrior girl named Haruna. – (Taken from ANN)
Director: Takaomi Kanesaki
Series Composition: Makoto Uezu
Other Notable Staff: Shigeru Morita (script), Machida Touko
The Positives: This show has a pretty interesting scriptwriter: he did research on the settings of various mecha series (what the heck he’s doing at a mahou shounen/shoujo like this I don’t know, though).
The Negatives: The rest of the staff is a bit of a mess, though: the director only directed Macademi Wasshoi before, the series composition is written by a guy whose works range from Katanagatari and Tentai Senshi Sunred to Akane-Iro ni Somaru Saka, Amaenaideyo, School Days, Seikon no Qwaser and Tayutama, while Machida Touko worked on series ranging from GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class and Muteki Kanbanmusume to Allison to Lillia, Ookami Kakushi and Lucky Star. Sure, it’s not a complete recipe for disaster… but it’s quite close.
First-Glance Potential: 40%

Suite Precure

Summary: The Eighth Precure Series.
The Positives: Nothing is really known yet, so all we can do is wait until they announce the staff. If it is as good as Heartcatch Precure though, then we’re in for something awesome.
The Negatives: Toei is getting notorious for its sequels, though: a good example of this is Marie & Gali 2.0 and Digimon Xros Wars: the fact that they made one great series says nothing about its sequel.
First-Glance Potential: 50%

Houkago no Pleiades

Summary: By Gainax and Subaru – The Pleiades is the English name for the star cluster that the Japanese call “Subaru” — the origin of the car maker’s name and six-star logo. – (Taken from ANN)
Director: Shouji Saeki
Other Notable Staff: Hiroshi Kato (Art Director)
The Positives: I really am not sure why a famous car brand is targeting otaku of all people. Still, it holds potential. The director did direct some of the best parts of FLCL, plus the art director is an incredibly experienced guy. That also really helps.
The Negatives: I have not seen “This Ugly Yet Beautiful World” and “He is My Master”, but I’m a bit concerned here, as they’re considered the two worst things that Gainax produced.
First-Glance Potential: 50%

Dragon Crisis

Summary: Kizaki’s story begins when a high school boy named Ryūji is dragged by his cousin Eriko to rescue a girl from black-market dealers. The blue-eyed “girl” turns out to be a dragon who is inexplicably fixated on Ryūji — following him even when he is bathing and sleeping. Ryūji has to protect the girl from the black-market dealers and others. – (Taken from ANN)
Director: Hideki Tachibana
Series Composition: Hideyuki Kurata
Other Notable Staff: Masashi Ishihama (character-designs, animation director)
The Positives: We’re getting a pretty interesting animation director here paired up with Studio Deen: Masashi Ishihama previously directed the animation of Read or Die and the Girl who Leapt Through Time, along with a ton of other interesting stuff. Hideyuki Kurata also still intrigues me, even though his works from the current season (Ore no Imouto and TWGOK) failed to live up to his standards. He did write Now and Then, Here and There, Brigadoon, Kamichu and Sasameki Koto, after all.
The Negatives: I do fear that Hideyuki Kurata is putting too much on his plate, though. And as with The World God Only Knows, he’s again stuck with a mediocre director, as Hideki Tachibana’s only other direction experience was H2O…
First-Glance Potential: 50%

GOSICK

Summary: The novels are set in 1924 in the small Alpine country of Sauville, where Kazuya Kujo studies abroad at the Saint Marguerite Academy. Kazuya joins forces with Victorique, a girl with deductive powers that rival Sherlock Holmes’, to solve mysteries. – (Taken from ANN)
Director: Hitoshi Nanba
Series Composition: Mari Okada
Other Notable Staff: Kotaro Nakagawa (will do the music)
The Positives: Mari Okada is an excellent scriptwriter: she’s got guts, she’s solid and is overall pretty dynamic…
The Negatives: …but Holy Hell is she busy this season. I mean, if Otome Youkai Zakuro goes on for two seasons she’ll be working on four series at the same time. What the heck? I’m also not really fond of the whole premise and the punny title (Gosick, Gothic, har har). Plus, we’re getting the director of Heroman. Yeah.
First-Glance Potential: 50%

Kimi ni Todoke Second Season

Summary: Kuronuma Sawako is nicknamed Sadako due to her resemblance to the girl from the Japanese horror movies “The Ring”. Shunned by her classmates, her life starts to change after she befriends Shōta Kazehaya, a very popular boy in her class. Kuronuma Sawako’s one wish in life is to make friends. That’s a difficult proposition when everyone who meets her cowers in terror. She admires her classmate, Kazehaya-kun, a popular, easygoing and 100% refreshing guy who is nice with everyone, even with her. – (Taken from ANN)
Director: Hiro Kaburaki
Series Composition: Tomoko Konparu
The Positives: Granted, Kimi ni Todoke is a very pretty shoujo series: Production IG really put in effort to make the first season look as crisp as possible, and this trend will likely continue onto the second. The script itself will also be pretty good, becuase Tomoko Konparu has a ton of experience as a writer on series as Les Miserables, Kodocha, Nodame Cantabile, Genji Monogatari Sennenki and Ashita no Nadja.
The Negatives: The problem though is the whole set-up of this series: it’s just such a cheesy shoujo flick where hardly anything out of the ordinary happens. It could be much worse, though. I’m definitely looking forward to this series more than Starry Sky.
First-Glance Potential: 50%

Freezing

Summary: The story revolves around Kazuya, a boy who lost his sister in humankind’s fight against beings from another dimension. He enrolls in Genetics, a military academy for combat training against the dimensional beings. There, a group of girls known as “Pandora” prepare to fight the unknown enemy. – (Taken from ANN)
Director: Takashi Watanabe
Series Composition: Masanao Akahoshi
Other Notable Staff: Satoru Kuwabara (Art Director), Seiichi Morishita (Director of Photography)
The Positives: I’m intrigued by that art director: his style is the complete opposite of what you’d expect for such a generic-sounding fanservice fighting series. Same goes for the director of photography. In fact, everything about the staff here is intriguing: the direction and the series composition guy have both made series that range from awesome to incredibly dull: Takashi Watanabe directed Boogiepop Phantom, Starship Operators and Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou, Masanao Akahoshi adapted Letter Bee, Soukou no Strain, and co-wrote Zone of the Enders.
The Negatives: But yeah, Takashi Watanabe also directed Shana, Lost Universe, Ikkitousen and Slayers Revolution, while Masanao Akahoshi also was behind the adaptations of Railgun, Viper’s Creed and Ikkitousen Great Guardians. Add to that that ACGT is just about the most generic you can get in terms of graphics, and you’ve got yourself a series that really can go anywhere.
First-Glance Potential: 50%

Hourou Musuko

Summary: Shuichi Nitori appears to be a shy and quiet preteen boy, when he transfers to a new school he quickly makes friends with the tomboyish Yoshino Takatsuki who sits next to him. It soon becomes apparent that both Shucihi and Yoshino are more than simply a sensitive boy and masculine girl, they both are transgendered. Together they decide to take the first steps toward becoming the people they want to be. – (Taken from ANN)
Director: Ei Aoki
Series Composition: Mari Okada
Other Notable Staff: Takako Shimura (original creator), Akira Ito (Art Director)
The Positives: The source material which was written by he author of Aoi Hana really makes such a dull sounding premise worth watching. The art director of Baccano and Durarara also promises a lot of interesting things here. Mari Okada as the scriptwriter should really be able to get the best out of that source material…
The Negatives: …if she wasn’t so goddam busy. I’m also not sure whether the director of Girls Bravo is good on a cross-dressing series, but his work on Ga-Rei Zero shows that he can do much more than blatant fanservice.
First-Glance Potential: 50%

Mitsudomoe 2nd Season

Summary: Newly hired elementary school teacher Satoshi Yabe is assigned to class 6-3, room of the extremely problematic Marui triplets: Futaba, Mitsuba, and Hitoha. Newly hired teacher Satoshi Yabe is terrorized by his new students the Marui triplets. Satoshi Yabe alias Yabe-cchi is just starting his new life as an elementary school teacher. On his first day of work he falls in love immediately with the natural airhead School Nurse, little does he know that in his assigned class the law is made by the Marui triplets. Can Yabe-cchi survive this ordeal or will the three sisters get the best of him … – (Taken from ANN)
Director: Masahiko Outa
Series Composition: Takashi Aoshima
The Positives: 8 episodes! That means that they have really put some thought into how much material they still have left. The whole staff of the first season will also be working on the second season. It had its flaws, but when it was funny, it really was hilarious.
The Negatives: Still, there are very few comedy sequels that actually manage to be as good as their predecessors. The first season was already getting repetitive, so how will the second season solve this?
First-Glance Potential: 60%

Infinite Stratos

Summary: Infinite Stratos (IS), a weaponized exoskeleton system, has become the dominant tool of warfare and conflict. Unfortunately for the men in society, only women are able to operate Infinite Stratos… with very few exceptions. One of those exceptions is ORIMURA Ichika, an orphan raised by his older sister who is herself a famous IS pilot. When his compatibility with IS is discovered after he accidentally touches an IS at the age of 15, he’s given a scholarship and enrolled in a school that specializes in training IS pilots. Which of course means an… interesting life surrounded by girls for this shy, unassuming boy. – (Taken from ANN)
Director: Yasuhito Kikuchi
Series Composition: Fumihiko Shimo
Other Notable Staff: Hikaru Nanase (Music), Chinatsu Houjo (script/screenplay), Shunichiro Yoshihara
The Positives: Fresh blood: 8-Bit finally decided to adapt their own series, which is always nice. The character-designs are terrible, but the background art is going to be gorgeous, not to mention that Hikaru Nanase is one of my favourite composers. The director of Macross Frontier needs to pay attention to not dabble into romance too much, but I’m very interested in what he can do without Shoji Kawamori’s influence. Plus, we have the guy who wrote the adaptations of Air and Clannad.
The Negatives: Though granted, Fumihiko Shimo did write a bunch of stories I did not like, like Burst Angel and Gravion… Not to mention that the premise at first sight reeks of those two. I’m willing to give this one the benefit of doubt at this point, though. It seems ambitious enough for that.
First-Glance Potential: 60%

Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica

Summary: Madoka is an kind, friendly, but ordinary second-year middle school girl. She wonders aloud what she should do if she can grant whatever you may wish through magic. – (Taken from ANN)
Director: Akiyuki Shinbo
Series Composition: Gen Urobuchi
Other Notable Staff: Yuki Kujiura (Music), Takashiro Kishida
The Positives: Shinbo again, but really: for the first time since bloody ages he’s actually directing again, instead of slapping his name on top of an already existing director again. Plus, the character-designer of Noein? Yuki Kajiura behind the music? I’m definitely intrigued here. On top of that, we’ve got the series that is written by the original creator of Phantom, who also wrote the series Blassreiter. This might just well be the series to really remove the bias I currently have about Shinbo.
The Negatives: So really, don’t screw this one up, Shinbo. It’s a mahou shoujo, but this feels like it’s going to be the most unique Shaft-series since ef (it’s certainly is the first Shaft series that I’m actually looking forward to since a LONG time). Don’t ruin this by making it a flimsy Tsukuyomi Moon Phase clone or something.
First-Glance Potential: 70%

Fractale

Summary: The story is set on an island at the far reaches of a continent where the “Fractale System” is on the brink of collapse. A boy named Kurain embarks on a journey to search for Furyune — a girl who disappeared, leaving behind only a pendant. Kurain will eventually learn the secrets of the “System.” – (Taken from ANN)
Director: Yutaka Mamamoto
Series Composition: Mari Okada
Other Notable Staff: Isao Hayashi (Mechanical Designs), Yuusuke Tanaka
The Positives: Very interesting people behind the designs, and I must admit that this is one of the more interesting premises of the season. Mari Okada also really helps…
The Negatives: …but again, she’s so incredibly busy this season. The director of Kannagi has potential here, though he does have a tendency to focus too much on moe. But then again, the story here seems a lot more interesting than with Kannagi.
First-Glance Potential: 70%

Yumekui Merry

Summary: It’s about a high school boy named Yumeji Fujiwara who has the mysterious power to see other people’s dreams or nightmares. One day, he meets Merry, a beautiful girl who came from the world of dreams. – (Taken from ANN)
Director: Shigeyasu Yamauchi
Series Composition: Hideki Shirane
Other Notable Staff: Masahiro Fujii (Character Designer)
The Positives: When I first read the premise, I didn’t think much behind it. But SHIGEYASU YAMAUCHI!? The director of Casshern Sins? This guy can even make crap like Kyou, Koi wo Hajimemasu be good.
The Negatives: The scriptwriter is… mediocre. He neither wrote really bad nor really good series. We’ve also got the character-designs of Zero no Tsukaima…
First-Glance Potential: 70%

Rio – Rainbow Gate!

Summary: It’s a Pachinko Game Adaptation from Xebec.
Director: Takao Kato
Series Composition: Mayori Sekijima
The Positives: Mayori Sekijima also wrote Zegapain, the Soultaker, Gad Guard, Petit Cosette and adapted Pandora Hearts, Skip Beat and the Samurai Pizza Cats. The director meanwhile also adapted Pandora Hearts. Who says that Pachinko adaptations can’t be awesome?!
The Negatives: Though granted, the director also did To Love-Ru, Megaman and Buso Renkin while Mayori Sekijima also wrote Hero Tales and Kaze no Stigma. Ah, but who cares, this really looks like another one of those rare Good Xebec series.
First-Glance Potential: 80%

Level E

Summary: Tsutsui Yukitaka is a freshman who has finally convinced his parents that he is ready to live on his own. When he arrives at his new apartment, he is surprised to find that someone has arrived before him; A young man who claims that he is an alien and that he is suffering from amnesia. A series of short stories involving aliens on Earth. – (Taken from ANN)
Director: Toshiyuki Kato
Series Composition: Yukki Hanada
Other Notable Staff: Yoshihiro Togashi (Original Creator), Kunihiko Ryo (Music), Itsuko Takeda, Yasufumi Soejima (3D Director, Visual Concept).
The Positives: This is BY FAR going to have the most interesting production values of the entire season. I mean, the creators composed an entire dream team here: we have Studio Pierrot and David Production animating a manga with art looking completely unlike what you’d expect from the mainstream, the character-designer designed for Blue Drop, Ristorante Paradiso, Mirage of Blaze and the Galaxy Railways, all of which are completely different. Not to mention that the guy behind the visual concept was also the guy behind the textures of Gankutsuou, along with the CG of Last Exile, the Book of Bantorra and the background art of Ritsorante Paradiso. If that isn’t going to be stylish then I don’t know anymore. Add to that, the director of Full Moon wo Sagashite and Maria-Sama ga Miteru’s fourth season (he also storyboarded a bunch of Simoun, Bantorra and Hunter x Hunter episodes which included some of the best episodes of those series), while Yukki Hanada wrote and adapted Kuragehime, Red Garden, Sola, Chobits and Rozen Maiden, and this becomes definitely the series I’m looking forward to the most this season.
The Negatives: Yukki Hanada, granted, did also write a bunch of mediocre series, like Idol Master Xenoglossia, H2O, the Girl who Leapt Through Space SA and Yozakura Quartet. Oh, and this is from a part of the creators of Mission E.
First-Glance Potential: 90%

Kimagure Orange Road – I Want To Return To That Day Review – 87,5/100

November 11, 2010 by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews

It’s strange: you can pretty much predict what’s going to happen in this movie if you watched the TV-series and the OVAs. They just kept building up and up to this bubble, which finally bursts in “I want to return to that day”. But heck, this is one of the closest things you’ll see to a perfect movie: anything more or less and it would only have made the movie less memorable. Kimagure Orange Road already set a number of standards in the romance genre that have not been matched ever since, but this movie really is brilliant: it’s one of the best, if not THE best romance movies I’ve seen.

The TV-series were incredibly annoying: the movie is anything but. Gone are the silly hijinks and the annoying teenaged antics. Instead, this movie fleshes out its cast with some really realistic dialogue. I’m really amazed: I already thought that the TV-series was down to earth when it wasn’t annoying, but the movie just adds in a whole new layer of realism, which really allows the characters to shine.

Most romances tend to get a little cheesy because they want to try to be too dramatic and do too much in too little time, but this movie is completely different from that. The characters act subtly and don’t try to create more drama than what’s necessary. Because of that it has a full hour to develop the relatively simple premise of his movie, and it really results into a wonderful conclusion to the Kimagure Orange Road franchise. It should be noted though that you really need to have watched the TV-series if you want to touch this thing: otherwise you’ll just be left in the dark.

This movie can be compared to Tenchi Muyo In Love 2, but even with that kind of a movie, expect even more realism and less forced drama here. The pacing of this movie is slow, but if you managed to sit through the TV-series, then patience shouldn’t be an issue here. It’s really been a while since I watched a teenaged romance that was this grounded in realism.

Storytelling:	10/10 – Grounded in realism, both the quiet and the dramatic parts. Simple, yet extremely effective, with a wonderful ending.
Characters:	9/10 – Uses the main characters from the tv-series brilliantly, and gives them a very satisfying conclusion that many, many modern romances can learn a lot from.
Production-Values:	8/10 – The best animation from Kimagure Orange Road so far.
Setting:	8/10 – Do note: the telekinesis from the TV-series is completely gone. But then again, it has no point in this movie anyway and would only have ended up as an annoying cock-block.

Suggestions:
– Umi ga Kikoeru
– Anne no Nikki – The Diary of Anne Frank
– Bokura ga Ita

Honey and Clover II Review – 87,5/100

November 11, 2010 by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews

It’s interesting how I decided to watch this right after Aria The Origination: in essence they are very similar series in the way that they both are meant to wrap up and conclude their respective prequels. The big difference is that while Origination had a positive outlook, Honey and Clover II is bleak. Where the first season’s main focus was slice of life and describing its characters, the second season is all about its drama.

And what a great drama it is! It retains the excellent dialogue that flowed through Honey and Clover’s first season and uses that to conclude all of the major plotlines that the first season left hanging. There isn’t really a main character in this season: there are about ten characters who get equal screentime to close off their characters. It’s a bit more rigid than the dynamic first season, but it leaves hardly a moment wasted and even though it only has half of the airtime as its prequel, it still closes off each character satisfyingly.

A lot of people predicted that I’d rate the second season even higher than the first, but in my opinion, I consider the first series to be better. The second season had a lot more drama which really made for strings of powerful episodes (especially the ending), but the first season was also wonderful in how easy it was to relate to it as a slice of life series, along with the way it described its characters.

In the second season, the characters do lose a tad of those charms, mostly because it spends so much time on developing them, rather than fleshing them out. On top of that, I also feel like the second season could have been a bit more dynamic: to me it felt like the creators were running down a bit of a checklist, especially with the big “Hagu twist”. They’re minor details, I know; but for me the way in which the first season both developed and fleshed out its cast at the same time is something for which I just can’t give its sequel the same rating. It remains a brilliant character-study, though.

Storytelling:	9/10 – Trades in the dynamics of the first season to a focused character-study that leaves hardly any scene wasted.
Characters:	9/10 – All of the characters develop here wonderfully, even though they lack a tad of their charms from the first season.
Production-Values:	8/10 – A bit less impressive than the first season, but it still is pretty sweet to look at.
Setting:	9/10 – Still thanks to the first season incredibly solid portrayal of the final years of college.

Suggestions:
– Aria The Origination (after watching the first two seasons of course)
– Asatte no Koukou
– Aoi Hana

Aria the Origination Review – 85/100

November 10, 2010 by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews

The first half of Aria the Origination is pretty much the same as Aria the Natural, perhaps with a bit more focus on the characters and a little less on the setting. It was pretty much as good as it always was, but I still was left wondering why this series was held with such a high regard. Then the second half came, and I understood. Talk about saving the best for last.

The main purpose of Aria the Origination is to take all of the build-up that the previous Aria seasons put into the characters, and make everything come together. It’s here where the character-development really starts to become apparent, and it couldn’t have closed off this franchise in a better way. It’s only thirteen episodes long, and yet it contains some of the best Aria Episodes you’re going to run into.

Oh, and the graphics also got a bit of an upgrade: the animation is quite a bit more detailed and fluid throughout the series and you can easily see that the creators got themselves a bigger budget for this one, although it has to be said that the animators do try a tad too hard during the dramatic scenes. That’s about the only real complaint I have about Aria’s Origination.

Looking back, as a franchise Aria is neither the best slice of life or Sato Junichi series I’ve seen: I still think that I liked Windy Tales (which pretty much did everything Aria did in one fourth of the same time), Kaleido Star and Strange Dawn (both emotional roller-coasters) better. But still it stands out as a really good and charming series with excellent characterization that just gets better as it goes on. Aria the Origination remains a wonderful conclusion that deserves to be watched.

Storytelling:	9/10 – Brings a ton of build-up together wonderfully with morals that tie in really well with the characters.
Characters:	9/10 – Origination is all about the characters, and they give the series a wonderful conclusion.
Production-Values:	8/10 – Even better, though the animators try a tad to hard during a few dramatic scenes.
Setting:	8/10 – Much less of a focus compared to Natural, but still it’s a solid backdrop for the characters.

Suggestions:
– Windy Tales
– Honey and Clover
– Beck – Mongolian Chop Squad