Category: Other:

I’ve noticed that with most seasonal previews, movies and OVAs tend to be largely ignored. That’s why I decided to come with a preview, entirely dedicated to them. Sure, in the case of the movies it’s probably going to take nine months before we can actually get the chance to check them out, but this seems like a good point to look forward to them either way.

This post contains previews for the upcoming movies and OVAs that are scheduled in June, July and August as indicated on Moonphase. I’ve left out the porn and the continuing ones such as Negima and Break Blade. Aside from that, the order is mainly based on my preference: the ones I’m looking forward to the most are at the bottom, and the least interesting ones to me are at the top here.

The trend seems to be kids’ movies, but certainly not in a bad way. There are a ton of interesting looking family-movies scheduled with excellent staff behind them. There are also quite a few continuations of franchises, ranging from short to long and ambitious OVAs and CG movies. Anyway, I hope that this list is going to be useful for some people. I had a lot of fun making it in any case.

Shin Koihime Musou OVA

Summary: Kashin is afflicted with a disease that will turn her into a cat if an antidote is not found, and Kada is still seeking the Crucial Ways to the Key of Peace, so he entrusts Kanuu’s group to go seek the ingredients for an antidote. At the same time, Choujou is plotting something between the Kingdoms, and Kashin may have been only the first in a line of dominoes set to fall. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: One or a bunch of OVAs next to the TV-series.
Why you should look forward to it: I don’t get the director, Nobuaki Nakanishi: he actually did some pretty good stuff in the nineties: a few WMTs, Mahoujin Guruguru. What happened to this guy?
Why you should not look forward to it: Seriously though, how long do they still think that they can keep milking this thing out?
First-Glance Potential: 0%

Metal Fight Beyblade VS Taiyō Shakunetsu no Shinryakusha

Type: Kids’ movie.
Why you should look forward to it: If you’re under the age of 11.
Why you should not look forward to it: It’s a beyblade movie.
First-Glance Potential: 0%

Pocket Monster Diamond & Pearl: Genei no Hasha Zoroark

Summary: Celebi sees Raikou, Entei, and Suicune fighting in the future in an attempt to stop this from happening, Celebi then travels to the past. Ash encounters a shadowy figure that looks identical to how he looks, but the other appears to be evil. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: Movie (The thirteenth one already)
Why you should look forward to it: More pokemon.
Why you should not look forward to it: More pokemon.
First-Glance Potential: 0%

Zettai Karen Children

Summary: In a world where ESP is common, only three people have them at the highest possible level – Level 7. Those three are the special ESP team, The Children. The Children work for BABEL, a special ESPer organization committed to stopping crimes before they happen. Kouichi Minamoto is assigned to watch over them, and he’ll need to, because three superpowered ten year olds are a problem on their own. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: An OVA for the series, whether it’s a continuation, side-story or one-shot isn’t known yet.
Why you should look forward to it: To be honest, when I dropped it (it just wasn’t funny and the characters and premise were just stupid for my tastes), I did not expect this show to go on for 52 episodes. Zettai Karen Children is at least a franchise that gets enough time to show off, and for the characters to actually grow up.
Why you should not look forward to it: Obviously, I do assume that you need to have seen those 52 episodes in order to get this OVA, something which was very hard for me considering how boring the early episodes of the TV-series were.
First-Glance Potential: 30%

Abnormal Physiology Seminar

Summary: In the story, Nanako Matsutaka has been assigned to the Abnormal Physiology Seminar, even though she herself is a rather ordinary person with no abnormalities in particular. On the other hand, her classmates, including the college upperclassman Komugi Musashi, have just about every abnormal condition to speak of. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: One-shot OVA bundled with a manga-volume.
Why you should look forward to it: The staff itself is decent. Nobody stands out, but it’s got the director of the first season of Hidamari Sketch (aside from Shinbo, I guess)
Why you should not look forward to it: Takamitsu Kouno is behind the script, and his work unfortunately only ranges from mediocre moe series. This is going to be yet another one of those slice of life comedies.
First-Glance Potential: 30%

Hiyokoi

Summary: Hiyori, a small and timid girl, goes to school for the first time in a year since an accident left her hospitalized. Follow her as she struggles with her social skills, tries to make friends and maybe even a little bit more…? – (Taken from Myanimelist)
Type: Movie
Why you should look forward to it: This movie still is a big mystery at this point, but it’s quite rare for such a shoujo manga to be actually adapted into a movie of all things. It looks very cute in either case.
Why you should not look forward to it: But at the same time it’s also very typical: weak girl (probably weaker than ever here) who is being taken care of by a strong guy who is very popular. It’s standard shoujo fare. Can the movie-format really make this work?
First-Glance Potential: 40%

Kyou, Koi wo Hajimarimasu

Summary: Self-conscious Tsubaki Hibino enjoys hairstyling, but doesn’t think that style suits herself. When she arrives at her new high school, she is immediately teased by her delinquent-like classmates for maintaining such an old-fashioned look. That’s not the worst part — the top student of the grade, Kyouta Tsubaki, not only shares the same name as her, but is also an arrogant, promiscuous playboy. After Tsubaki cuts Kyouta’s hair in defiance, he ominously threatens to steal all of her first experiences. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: Seems like a one-shot OVA that gets shipped along with a volume of the manga it’s based on.
Why you should look forward to it: It’s got an interesting director: Shigeyasu Yamauchi, whose other works include a bunch of Dragonball Z Movies… and Casshern Sins, and he also co-directored the first Digimon Movie. Enough hints that the manga will be portrayed accurately here.
Why you should not look forward to it: But yeah, it’s just one episode of a much, much longer shoujo series. Still, the mangas seem to be selling quite well. Perhaps this hints at a full blown adaptation somewhere in the future. In that case, if the director remains the same things could get interesting.
First-Glance Potential: 40%

Black Rock Shooter

Summary: Not sure, but it seems to be based on some moe karaoke character called Hatsune Miku.
Type: OVA, though the exact format doesn’t seem to be known yet.
Why you should look forward to it: Ordet is a newcomer as an animation-producing company, founded by Yutaka Yamamoto (among others) after Kyoani fired him. This is going to be their first full fledged production, and it’s always good to see new people here. The director also is usually just a storyboarder or a key animator, so there’s probably going to a lot of eye candy here.
Why you should not look forward to it: I never really understood what that “Vocaloid”-thing was all about though. Can you really make an OVA out of a karaoke program? Ah well, with enough imagination it’s possible I guess.
First-Glance Potential: 50%

Gunpla Builders

Summary: The main character of the story is Haru Irei, a boy who becomes a “Gunpla Builder” after a fateful encounter with the Beginning Gundam plastic model. (In real life, Bandai is producing a Beginning Gundam model kit in 1/144 scale, but has not set a release date or price.) Rina Noyama is an always cheerful girl who, like her friend Haru, is a big fan of Gunpla. Haru’s pal Kenta Sakazaki is a boy who loves Gunpla and gives advice to Haru about building them. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: Movie
Why you should look forward to it: Just… no.
Why you should not look forward to it: Sunrise… just surpassed itself. Seriously for god’s sake, raping your own franchises over and over is one thing, but stop hogging all of those awesome directors for these pointless side-stories of yours, who you’re probably not even going to give the freedom they need to really make something awesome. First there was Kazuhiro Furuhashi, then my favourite director ever Kazuki Akane, and now also Kou Matsuou, the director of Red Garden, Rozen Maiden and Kurenai, along with the rest of an all-star cast. Sunrise is like that rich dorky kids who keeps paying all of the cool kids to stay around him. These people should be working on so many better shows, compared to the same Sunrise Mecha franchises that should have died by now. Apologies for this rant, but I’ve gotten even more tired of Sunrise than I already was after finding this out.
First-Glance Potential: 50%

Ginmaku Hetalia: Axis Powers – Paint it, White

Summary: The movie will adapt Hidekaz Himaruya’s Hetalia – Axis Powers web manga, just as the two earlier television seasons did and the upcoming new television season will in March. The film will retain the same main staff and cast from the television version, including director Bob Shirohata and the animators at Studio DEEN. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: Movie
Why you should look forward to it: I have no idea what to expect of this, really. I mean, Hetalia consists out of short one-minute sketches. Are they going to keep this up for sixty entire minutes or something? In any case, the creators did an interesting job of epic-ifying the main cast in the promo image there.
Why you should not look forward to it: The reason why Hetalia works is because the episodes are just five minutes long. I’m too afraid that those sixy minutes will be more like a test of patience instead.
First-Glance Potential: 60%

.Hack//Link

Summary: The .hack//Link game is intended as the final chapter in the popular .hack franchise. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: Seems to be a 3D CG Movie, though not certain.
Why you should look forward to it: Well, so the .Hack franchise is finally coming to a conclusion with this one. It’s an incredibly diverse genre with just about every visual medium used to tell its story in: games, anime, movies, CG, manga, OVAs. It’s a bit of a shame that the finale can’t get a TV-series, but nevertheless this should be watched for its ideas.
Why you should not look forward to it: Having said that though, I’ve given up on trying to follow the entire continuity of this franchise. Leaving alone the different anime that got produced, I have not watched any of the other canon. Will the movie also be worthwhile to the ones who aren’t fully known to the entire franchise?
First-Glance Potential: 60%

Honeybee Hutch The Movie

Summary: The original anime followed a honeybee named Hutch who survives the destruction of his beehive by wasps. Hutch embarks on a journey to find his mother. The film will have a new story that deals with interactions with humans, as well as a new girl character named Amy. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: Remake Movie.
Why you should look forward to it: Aww, this brings back memories. I remember how the original anime was shown on Dutch TV when I still was a kid. I disliked it though: Hutch looked rather stupid. Still: the creators are actually giving a totally new story to this movie. Hell yeah, remakes like this rock.
Why you should not look forward to it: Tetsuro Amino… isn’t this guy a bit busy right now? I mean, he also has to direct Shiki at this point.
First-Glance Potential: 70%

Kurenai OVA

Summary: Based on a series of light novels, Kure-nai is about the adventures and misadventures of 16-year-old Kurenai Shinkurou. Shinkurou is an authority in settling disputes between people, and finds his life turned upside down one day when he is assigned as a bodyguard for Kuhouin Murasaki, the daughter of a powerful plutocratic family. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: A One-shot OVA bundled with a manga-volume
Why you should look forward to it: Awesome to see more of this. It’s not known whether the original director is also going to come back to handle this series, but I really hope he does, because it’ll mean that we get more of the amazing voice-acting, in which the voices get to be recorded before they actually get animated.
Why you should not look forward to it: At the same time though I also hope that this isn’t one of those “screw the people who haven’t read the manga”-OVAs, but that it’s also going to be for the fans of the anime.
First-Glance Potential: 70%

Black Lagoon – Roberta’s Blood Trail

Summary: The story revolves around a typical Japanese businessman who gets caught up in the escapades of modern-day pirate mercenaries off the Asian shores. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: 5-Episoded OVA
Why you should look forward to it: I just love how the director of this series, Sunau Katabuchi, has other than this series mostly been working on cute and innocent anime. He’s the director of Princess Arete, for Christ’s sake. 😛 In any case, I absolutely loved the first season of Black Lagoon. It’s going to be awesome if he can get back on track here.
Why you should not look forward to it: But yeah, my big problem with the franchise is that the second season kind-of lost focus of what it was about, and it dropped the interesting theme of modern-day pirates to instead focus on random action arcs. Either that, or I just was overreacting back when I watching. That tended to happen a lot back then.
First-Glance Potential: 70%

Loups Garous

Summary: Virtual reality. Murder. Werewolves. And teen girls! In a future where nothing is as it seems, can old legends come true? In the near future, humans will communicate almost exclusively through monitors, making real interaction a rarified and weak occurrence for those living in a near totalitarian society. In this new world of communication, children are only allowed to interact personally on school grounds. So when a serial killer starts slaughtering junior high children the communication routes go under further surveillance. And despite all the safeguards put in place to avoid physical interaction, the killer’s latest victim turns out to have been in contact with three young girls: Mio Tsuzki, a certified prodigy; Hatsuki Matsuno, a quiet but opinionated classmate; and Ayumi Kono, her best friend. And as the girls get caught up in trying to quell curiosity under such terrorist scrutiny, Hatsuki learns that there is much more than meets the eye of their monitored communications. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: Movie
Why you should look forward to it: It may be about teenagers, but it’s definitely an interesting premise for a horror movie that we’ve got here. It’s done by production IG. Junichi Fujisaku (Blood+) will direct it, but the best thing is the original creator: Natsuhiko Kyogoku, who also wrote Mouryou no Hako.
Why you should not look forward to it: Trans-Arts, responsible for a lot of the less impressive works of Production IG over the past few years. The director also has screwed up a few times when it comes to series composition, so let’s hope he can see the general picture with this movie.
First-Glance Potential: 80%

Colorful

Summary: The “heart-warming comedy” follows a person who finds himself trapped outside the normal endless circle of life and death. Thanks to “winning” a lottery in the angel world, the protagonist is brought back to inhabit the body of a 14-year-old boy — who is planning to commit suicide. Thus, the protagonist begins a new life. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: Movie
Why you should look forward to it: At least I’m glad that at least a part of Sunrise is trying out interesting concepts. This movie is definitely based on an idea that kicks ass. Keiichi Hara is going to direct it, which seems like a solid choice after Kappa no Coo to Natsuyasumi. The scriptwriter of Nodame Cantabile is also going to help.
Why you should not look forward to it: Movies shouldn’t advertise themselves as a “heart-warming comedy”. Let the viewers determine instead. 😉
First-Glance Potential: 80%

Ai no Kusabi

Summary: On planet Amoi, a great society has developed, creating a computerized city called Tanagura, ruled by supercomputer Jupiter. The populace is almost entirely male and is based on hair color; silver and/or blonds are the elitist, ending with dark/black haired as the bottom of society, often known as “mongrels”. Blondies keep “pets”, young boys kept for a few years, especially made for performing sexual actions for the Blondie’s voyeurism entertainment. Blondies aren’t suppose to keep pets for long or interact sexually with pets, but one blondie named Iason Mink has kept a pet named Rikki, for years and is rumored to sleep with him. Iason refuses to let go of Rikki, even with Jupiter’s disapproval. Rikki fights with his emotions and society problems, unable to decide what to do about his old friend/lover Gai (Guy) and their gang. Iason is obsessed with keeping Rikki, and Rikki doesn’t know what to do; fight against him or surrender to him. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: Really long OVA: 13 episodes.
Why you should look forward to it: This has been delayed quite a few times by now, which seems to indicate that the creators really want to take their time to make this one turn out well, rather than trying to rush things. They even got the director of the original Ai no Kusabi OVA (released in 1992) back, Katsuhiko Akiyama, even though he hasn’t been involved into any anime during the past ten years, and Rieko Yoshihara, who created the novel that this show is based on is also involved everywhere, from the series composition to the screenplay. Yaoi it may be, but this seems much better than the regular bishie shows we get to see. Oh, and have I already mentioned that the characters are designed by Naoyuki Onda, who also designed the characters of Ergo Proxy, Blassreiter and Gantz? He’ll also be doing the animation direction.
Why you should not look forward to it: AIC may not be the strongest animation company though, and that does show in the character-designs: they just don’t look as good as on the promo of the 1992 OVA of Ai no Kusabi.
First-Glance Potential: 80%

Karigurashi no Arrietty

Summary: The Borrowers is a children’s fantasy novel by Mary Norton about tiny people who “borrow” things from humans and keep their existence unknown. The central characters are the Clock family: Pod, Homily and their spirited teenage daughter, Arrietty. First published in 1952, it won the Carnegie Medal for that year, and was selected in 2007 by judges of the CILIP Carnegie Medal for children’s literature as one of the ten most important children’s novels of the past 70 years. – (Taken from Wikipedia)
Type: Movie (adaptation of this classic novel)
Why you should look forward to it: A novel adaptation by Ghibly. What’s not to look forward to here? Hayao Miyazaki will even be planning out the movie, but the direction is in the hands of Hiromasa Yonebayashi. I’m not sure who he is, but he worked on the animation of various movies such as the Yamadas, Gedo Senki, Howl’s Moving Castle, Jin Roh, Spirited Away and even series as Monster and Serial Experiments Lain. New talent is always interesting to watch.
Why you should not look forward to it: Well, I guess it’s a children’s novel, so those looking for a story about adults shouldn’t look here.
First-Glance Potential: 90%

Welcome to THE SPACE SHOW

Summary: A tiny mountain village in a remote woodland region. Five primary school kids have come together in this idyllic spot in order to spend their summer holidays at a camp. At first the children enjoy carefree days amidst unspoiled nature far away from adult supervision. But their life changes dramatically when they come across what they believe to be a small dog, badly in need of help. The creature – known as Pochi – turns out not to be a dog at all but an alien on an important mission. It seems there is a mysterious substance on earth that is coveted throughout the universe. Pochi had almost found it but was so badly injured during a fight that he had to give up his search. Thanks to the children’s help, the alien survives – and decides to reward them generously. “Where would you most like to travel?” is the question Pochi puts to his rescuers. Their answer is prompt, if vague: “As far as possible!” Pochi suggests they try the moon first of all, and so, the alien whisks away the kids to the satellite next door. This marks the beginning of an absolutely amazing adventure. During the course of their travels they discover that the substance coveted throughout the universe is in fact also integral to Japanese cuisine – and it just so happens that one of the kids has some of this mysterious substance in his pocket.
– (Taken from AniDB)
Type: Movie of two hours and 16 minutes.
Why you should look forward to it: The title really has something cheesy yet awesome here. And take a look at who’s producing it: Koji Masunari, the director of Read or Die and the incredibly charming series as Kamichu and Risky Safety. I’m predicting an incredibly charming family movie here with a ton of imagination. To make things even better, Yoshihiro Ike, one of my favourite composers, will be doing the soundtrack. The screenplay will be done by Hideyuki Kurata, who also wrote the Excel Saga, Now and Then, Here and There, Read or Die, Sasameki Koto and Brigadoon. It’s also going to be the first movie of A-1 Pictures to produce. If that isn’t the formula of an awesome family movie then I don’t know any more.
Why you should not look forward to it: I’m blank on this one, though I guess it remains a movie about a bunch of kids.
First-Glance Potential: 100%

Okay, a few statistics first: this season has 18 tv-series. In comparison, the previous season had 31 of them while the past winter-season had 17. Out of these 18, there are five sequels. Nine (!) shows are going to focus a lot on moe and fanservice. Yeah… it’s going to be another dry and meagre season.

What strikes me the most about this season however is that from first glance, series either look extremely interesting, or extremely shallow. There’s hardly any in between. We have a number of really strong titles and strong staff making their appearance… while in the meantime AIC just surpasses itself with its sheer amount of mindless moe shows. I’ll probably be able to blog six of these series, which thankfully should still be possible.

Leaving the moe for what it is, this seems to me a season of action, horror and the supernatural. Horror finally returns, while action also is present in a ton of flavours, from the light-hearted and stupid to intense zombie-slaying to hot-blooded samurai duking it out.

Studios that are surprisingly absent are Sunrise, Bones (who’ll only have Heroman this season…), Bee-Train (Usually they go for one series a year… not this time though and I wonder why), Satelight, Shaft (the first time in what feels like ages in which Shinbo isn’t spamming something).

La campanella della benedizione

Summary: The original fantasy adventure game from Windmill Oasis is set in a port city known as the “treasury of the world” for the great riches that pass through it. The city is in the middle of preparations for a special harvest festival for the mysterious energy source known as Ēru, as a “Day of Shooting Stars” lights up the night skies. Leicester Maycraft is a young item technician who lives in the city as part of the Oasis adventurers clan. On the “Day of Shooting Stars,” one shooting star lands near a party that Leicester attends. When Leicester searches for where the shooting star landed, a girl appears before Leicester and says, “You are my Papa!” – (Taken from ANN)
Why you should look forward to it: Watch this one for the awesome background artist: Yuuko Sugiyama. She worked on Millennium Actress, the xxxHolic Movie, Nausicaa, Kemonozume and Ghost in the Shell’s second gig.
Why you should not look forward to it: It’s basically AIC and its cute girls again, and the rest of the staff doesn’t really promise anything to deviate from the many stereotypes that plague the genre. It’s directed by Mariko Fujita, whose previous character-designs were just forgettable moe. It’s only going to have 12 episodes, so there’s also hardly any chance of it developing into something interesting along the way.
First-Glance Potential: 10%

Seitokai Yakuindomo

Summary: Takatoshi is a new student in the recently gender-integrated high school. He’s asked to join the student council as the vice president. Thus begins his days as the only normal boy among 3 female student council officers… – (Taken from Myanimelist)
Why you should look forward to it: Again, the show may seem like crap, but at least it’s going to have awesome backgrounds: Masanomu Nobura previously worked on series as Arjuna, Boogiepop Phantom, Gad Guard, First Squad, the Tsubasa OVAs, Votoms and Now and Then, Here and There.
Why you should not look forward to it: From the creators of Princess Lover, we get an new show that sparkles with originality as brightly as its predecessor. It’s yet another one of those silly school comedies that probably won’t even be funny.
First-Glance Potential: 10%

Asobi ni Iku Yo

Summary: The story centers around Kio Kakazu, a high school freshman living in Okinawa. During a memorial service for one of his family ancestors. A mysterious girl with cat ears appears before him indroducing herself as Eris and claiming that she is an alien. However She be more troubling than he first realizes. – (Taken from ANN)
Why you should look forward to it: The series composition seems solid here: Katsuhiko Takayama was behind some of the most solid shaft series, along with Ga-Rei Zero and Hantsuki. He doesn’t seem to be good with long series, but there’s no way that this show is going to run past 13 episodes anyway.
Why you should not look forward to it: AIC, for crike’s sake. Try doing something else than recycling those shallow romantic comedies of yours. I mean, in the past four seasons how many of them have you churned out by now? Looking at the staff, this doesn’t seem like the director is going to be able to make this one stand out. I predict that it’s not going to be funny and instead just mindlessly annoying.
First-Glance Potential: 10%

Strike Witches 2

Summary: The year is 1939 – it was then that the Neuroi appeared. Nobody knows where they came from or what their ultimate agenda is, but the fact remains that their attacks drove people out of their towns and cities. In order to take arms against them, humanity develops a new anti-Neuroi weapon called the “Striker Unit.” Using the power of magic to fight against the monsters, this new device enhances and amplifies the power of female magic-wielders. To use this device, young witches from all over the world have been brought together to form an elite task force unit called the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, commonly known as the “Strike Witches.” – (Taken from ANN)
Why you should look forward to it: What’s a Striker Unit and why is it behind the series composition? The director, Kazuhiro Takamura in any case is still the same, so you should expect much of the same.
Why you should not look forward to it: The thing is that while it was serviceable, it was also extremely forgettable. I don’t want to sit through the same thing again. And seriously, AIC. FOUR freaking moe shows in one season?
First-Glance Potential: 20%

Legend of Legendary Heroes

Summary: The story revolves around Raina Ryūto, an apathetic student who always dozes off at the Roland Imperial Special Academy. One day, Raina and his classmates get caught in the war waged by the opposing Kingdom of Esutabūru, and he loses many friends. After the battle, Raina goes on a quest on behalf of the Roland Empire and Emperor Shion Asutaaru, even as the darkness that has enveloped the land has begun to consume the empire. – (Taken from ANN)
Why you should look forward to it: Under a capable staff, this show would rock.
Why you should not look forward to it: But alas… ZEXCS is running away with this one. Itsuro Kawasaki is the epitome of mediocrity: his shows area all completely forgettable, have a few nice points here and there but only stand out in their shallowness. I feel that this is going to end up like Chrome-Shelled Regios: full of potential that he refuses to focus at.
First-Glance Potential: 20%

Mitsudomoe

Summary: The story centers around the comedic misadventures of the Marui triplets of sisters in sixth grade. – (Taken from ANN)
Why you should look forward to it: Bridge, the animation company is completely new. It’s always interesting to see fresh blood amongst the anime producers.
Why you should not look forward to it: It’s from the creators of Minami-ke and *gulp* Yoake Mae Yori Ruri Iro Na -Crescent Love-. Gah, run away!!! Seriously though, it’s another slice of life comedy. With those shows being a dime a dozen, I’m only giving this show a chance if it proves that it’s actually funny.
First-Glance Potential: 20%

Kuroshitsuji II

Summary: One of the noble families of England – Phantomhive, has a butler, Sebastian Michaels. He has unquestionably perfect knowledge, manners, talent with materials. martial arts and much more. But for some reason, he serves a 12 year old master… – (Taken from ANN)
Why you should look forward to it: Wait, didn’t the lead character change compared to the first season? The director and series composition guy also changed. The series composition guy doesn’t even seem to be listed at Anime News Network, while it’s going to be the director’s first job at directing a full blown anime. It can go either way now.
Why you should not look forward to it: But I got bored of the series anyway. I found the first few episodes that I sat through formulaic and boring, the characters weren’t that appealing and I had little reason to keep watching. Was I wrong?
First-Glance Potential: 20%

Digimon Xros Wars

Summary: Story currently unknown, but seems be revolved around theme of Digimon armies, set to unveil battles like those of the Sengoku period[2]. – (Taken from Wikimon)
Why you should look forward to it: Nothing is known about it, however we should note that Toei has been in an interesting trend this, in which it revitalized its franchises like what happened to Heartcatch Precure. If it’s executed as well as the first season, then we could be in for something interesting.
Why you should not look forward to it: But yeah. It doesn’t really help that it looks like your average Beyblade promo. If you weren’t familiar to the Digimon franchise you’d just dismiss this another one of those silly shounen series. I liked the first season, but really did not like how the second season butchered it, so I want to see this work first before getting enthusiastic.
Update: Okay, the staff has been announced, and it’s… average. Riku Sanjo will be doing the series composition, and he’s the manga artist of Dragon Quest, Beet the Vandel Buster and MD Geist. The interesting part is the director, though: it’s the guy behind the Master of Epic anime, the director of Hikaru no Go, and a whole bunch of random adventure series. Can he bring this series to life?
First-Glance Potential: 30%

Sekirei ~Pure Engagement~

Summary: Minato Sahashi is extremely intelligent, yet due to his inability to cope under pressure has failed the college entrance exam twice. As a result he has been branded an idiot and loser by many. One day after talking to his yet again disappointed mother he comes into contact with a girl named Musubi who was under attack. The girl runs but takes him with her and soon finds that Minato, while unknown to him, is an Ashikabi, one of the mysterious set of masters that have the genetic trait that can become partners with some of the 108 cute girls, buxom women, and bishōnen called “Sekirei”. The reason for the partnership allows the Sekirei to use all their power to win in the competition held by the mysterious MBI corporation. – (Taken from ANN)
Why you should look forward to it: The same staff, so it should be pretty much the same as the first season. The director has had his hits and misses, and Sekirei was somewhere in between: often not funny, but it had its charms.
Why you should not look forward to it: But yeah, that’s the problem. After two years, I nearly completely forgot what this show was about. Everything about it was forgettable, so I’m not sure whether I want to watch more of it.
First-Glance Potential: 30%

Amagami SS

Summary: The original game centers around a second-year high school boy who find himself uneasy during Christmastime due to an experience in the past. However, this year at Christmas, he gets his last chance to ask out a graduating female senior named Haruka Morishima — or one of several other classmates. The story of the anime will be arranged in an omnibus format, with each heroine getting her own version of the story animated. Each heroine will sing her own version of the ending theme song. – (Taken from ANN)
Why you should look forward to it: The director: Yoshimasa Hiraike; while I didn’t like Working, I liked some of the other shows he did (Kaleido Star’s second season, Solty Rei) a lot. The script writers also seem solid, having worked quite a few different series ranging from bad to good. AIC’s moe series either don’t try at all, or are actually quite interesting. My guess is that this show is going to belong to the latter category.
Why you should not look forward to it: I don’t think this show will stand out in the production-values though. Toshiyuki Omori may have worked on a ton of soundtracks, none of them were really memorable. The character designer also doesn’t have a lot of great designs on his name, same with the art director And yeah, it remains another one of those romance shows. I’m getting tired of those, unless they’re done really well like some of the current season’s series.
First-Glance Potential: 40%

Tono to Issho

Summary: The manga follows the humorous exploits of generals during Japan’s tumultuous sengoku (Era of the Warring States) period. – (Taken from ANN)
Why you should look forward to it: I thought that this was just going to be a one-shot OVA. This really changes things, though we still don’t know anything about what this show is going to look like. The director, Mankyuu is also a complete mystery.
Why you should not look forward to it: But is it really going to be a good comedy that will be funny for more than two episodes? I really have no idea.
First-Glance Potential: 40%

Osaka Hamlet

Summary: “Osaka Hamlet” tells the story of the Kubo family and their life in Osaka. The mother (Keiko Matsuzaka), a hospital attendant by day, a club hostess at night — raises three sons with their uncle (Ittoku Kishibe). There is Hasanori – the skinny-but-spunky sixth-grader who likes to cross-dress, Yukio – the punkish junior-high-schooler who becomes fascinated with “Hamlet,” and Masashi – the high-schooler who falls for a an older woman with a father fixation. – (Taken from AsianMediaWiki) – Sorry, but at the time when I wrote this, the official website was down… so the images from the movie that was made about this will have to do. ANN has a small screenshot of the character-designs.
Why you should look forward to it: Hardly anything is known about this show at this point, other than that the manga it’s based on won a bunch of awards. Sounds promising!
Why you should not look forward to it: These character-designs can either be good or bad. It’s either a sign for a cheap series in which the creators aren’t even trying, or an attempt to move away from the mainstream of anime and instead focus on the characters. The acting is going to make or break this series.
First-Glance Potential: 40%

Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi

Summary: The story centres around Ryouko Oukami, a high school freshman girl known for her fierce looks, unusual canine teeth when she smiles, and wild demeanor. (Her family name is homonymous with the Japanese word for “wolf.”) Ringo Akai is a short high school freshman girl with seemingly cute, angelic looks but a dark demeanor. (Her name is a Japanese wordplay on “apple” and “Red Riding Hood.”) Together with their odd friends, the two fight to change the world, one issue at a time. – (Taken from ANN)
Why you should look forward to it: It’s a red riding hood parody. It’s going to be just another moe show, but at least it’s going to be a solid one with the direction of Yoshiaki Iwasaki; he’s very experienced and worked on shows as Bottle Fairy, Love Hina, Sky Girls and Wagaya no Oinarisama, which I actually quite liked.
Why you should not look forward to it: I’m not that sure about the series composition though: Michiko Itou. Her works range from Letter Bee to Queen’s Blade and from Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou to Kimikiss. They were all quite flawed.
First-Glance Potential: 70%

Sengoku Basara Two

Summary: In the bloody Warring States period of feudal Japan, many generals fought in an endless struggle for power, but one man proved to be too big a threat – The dark lord Oda Nobunaga. Sanada Yukimura and Date Masamune, two young warriors from different regions who become heated rivals, begin to form an unlikely alliance with the rest of the generals to take down the Devil King. – (Taken from ANN)
Why you should look forward to it: A new director, this sounds promising. The problem with the first season was that it was just too forgettable. However, with the prime-time slot of anime, and Kazyua Nomura who will be directing for the first time, my interest is piqued again. This guy is someone who can do everything: writing, planning, animating, drawing. He’s been behind some amazing episodes. Plus, he was the animation director of some episodes of Mahou Shoujotai. I just can’t ignore that. ^^;
Why you should not look forward to it: The thing remains however, that I expected better from Production IG. Such a hot-blooded series is nice and all, but the first season was completely forgettable. Will the second season really be better?
First-Glance Potential: 70%

High School of the Dead

Summary: The world is over taken with a deadly “disease” that turns people who get bitten into the living dead. In Japan, a group of students and the school nurse stick together and try to survive the wide spread chaos. – (Taken from ANN)
Why you should look forward to it: The director of Death Note? Okay, that’s the last thing I saw coming from a fanservice show like this one. Still, I’m very glad with this: this guy is unique, and he’s bound to make this into a ride that’s even more intense than Rainbow is at the moment. Sure, it’s brainless zombies, but this guy can make that awesome. And god, the series composition also is amazing: Yousuke Kuroda, who did the series composition of shows like Phantom, Infinite Ryvius, Ookiku Furikabutte, Honey and Clover and the script of Tribun. I was NOT looking forward to this show before writing this preview. But now, I’m eagerly anticipating it.
Why you should not look forward to it: There’s not going to be any eye candy here though. Most of Madhouse’s best visual people are currently working on Yojou-han and the Marvel trilogy, which is reflected in the character-designer, Masayoki Tanaka, who did the character-designs for shounen flicks as Hitman Reborn and Toradora.
First-Glance Potential: 80%

Occult Academy

Summary: The horror and school comedy story of Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin revolves around mystery and supernatural cases at Occult Academy, a fortress-like academy city. – (Taken from ANN)
Why you should look forward to it: As the third Anime no Chikara series, this is a show that can go in any direction. A relative newbie and inexperienced director (Tomohiko Ito) will lead the project. The series composition will be amazing: it’s done by Seishi Minakami, whose works range from beyond awesome (Birdy the Mighty Decode 2(!!), Shigurui, Asatte no Houkou, Paranoia Agent, Rescue Wings, Boogiepop Phantom, Paprika) to surprisingly mediocre (Railgun… G-On Riders…). Takahiro Chiba will direct the animation, like what he did with a bunch of episodes of Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex, Baby Blue, Kamichu, Naruto, Read or Die and Otogizoshi. The art director will kick even more ass: Yusuke Takeda produced some beautiful backgrounds at Real Drive, Seirei no Moribito, True Tears, Eden of the East and probably Standalone Complex as well. A-1 pictures will animate it, with Xebec as assistance.
Why you should not look forward to it: It really screams an incredibly solid cast. But will it be the right premise for it? I mean, it’s going to be a horror comedy on a school between a bunch of teenagers. These people should be working on something much more interesting.
First-Glance Potential: 80%

Shiki

Summary: During a fiercely hot summer in Sotoba, a peaceful and quiet village with a population of 1300 people, a series of bizarre deaths begin to occur. At the same time, a strange family moves into a long abandoned mansion in the region. Hospital dean Toshio Ozaki cannot figure out the cause of death in the deceased, initially suspecting an epidemic. As investigations continue between the hospital staff and the residents, it turns out that the village is being attacked by vampires. – (Taken from ANN)
Why you should look forward to it: Noitamina. For 22 episodes. Finally the timeslot goes for two seasons again! Finally we get some good horror again. The original source material was written by Fuyumi Ono of the Twelve Kingdoms and Ghost Hunt, which is bound to rock. The promo art here realy looks gorgeous. Daume as an animation company doesn’t look the most solid, but the rest of the visual staff certainly does: Masanori Sakaki (of the cinematography of Petit Cosette) will be the director of photography and the art direction will be done by Ichirou Tatsuya of Chevalier and Zettai Shounen. The music will also be excellent with the composer of the soundtrack of Toward the Terra, Mononoke, Jigoku Shoujo and Wagaya no Oinarisama behind the wheel.
Why you should not look forward to it: The problems are going to be the main staff members though. The director Tetsuro Amino has worked on a lot of series, but none really stand out; especially the ones he directed. The series composition guy (Kenji Sugihara) also just worked on a bunch of mediocre series aside from Minami-ke and Sola where he just did the script for a few episodes.
First-Glance Potential: 80%

Nurarihyon no Mago

Summary: Rikuo Nura, is 3 parts human and a quarter Demon, lives in a house of spirits with his grandfather, The current clan head of the Nura youkai. Rikou is set to be the next clan head, despit the fact he dilikes his demon side. He soon come to terms with his demon blood and decides to take his position as young master of the Nura house. However there are those who will certainly not allow it to be easy. – (Taken from ANN)
Why you should look forward to it: With Studio Deen it’s always a bit of a question whether they can get the right staff or not. But this show actually has the DIRECTOR OF SIMOUN behind the direction! It’s still one of my favourite series out there, so I just have to look forward to this. Natsuko Takahashi is a very prolific and talented writer who really is at her best with a great series, and as for the music: I don’t think I’ve ever seen a composer with more soundtracks done than Kouhei Tanaka (includiging Angelic Layer, Betterman, Gad Guard and Overman King Gainer, this could be interesting). As for the visuals, the character-designs are going to be done by one of the best designers of the unrealistic ones: Mariko Oka: she also did the character-designs of Jigoku Shoujo, King of Bandits Jing, Ragnarok and Ghost Hound).
Why you should not look forward to it: It’s a shame that they couldn’t get to tackle an original story though, but the manga has potential if it’s going to continue past 13 episodes. It will, RIGHT?!
First-Glance Potential: 90%