Eureka Seven Ao – 06

by psgels, posted in Eureka Seven Ao

Eureka Seven Ao’s best episode yet. Seriously, this episode marked a huge change from the first five episodes. It starts off like a completely different series when we suddenly move to Peru and Myanmar for some side-stories, only to turn over to Ao again with a message that lives really are on the line in this series.

And I must say that that death really made impact. It made great use of red herrings of the girls introduced last episode. I did not expect that so early on in the series. It took a second watch-through to make out what exactly went on during their deaths, but this was very tightly written.

Then we also get to see what looks to be the main villain of this series. His scenes were completely standalone from what happened in the rest of the episode, but the creators did succeed in making him seem menacing, and feel like a threat. Next up will be giving him flaws, motivation and background.
Rating: **+ (Excellent+)

Lupin III – Mine Fujiko to Iu Onna – 07

by psgels, posted in Lupin III - Mine Fujiko to Iu Onna

Unlike the previous episode this again was a fairly straight-forward episode centered around just one of the members of the side-cast. But it really made upfor that with the backdrop it chose: a very loose version of Cuba’s role in the cold war. I’ve said before that I love it when anime takes place in a place other than Japan, and even though this episode was full of Japanese references with taht samurai, it’s still very refreshing to see a country like Cuba pop up here.

This episode was this weird thriller about this over the top prevention of World War 3. It’s obviously heavily simplified with a lot of creative liberties taken, but the suspense for this episode was really well done Mine Fujiko again had some great interplay with the people around her, which overall again lead to a very enjoyable episode.

At this point of the series though, we should start seeing more things about the overarching plot, mostly about Mine Fujiko’s issues. The creators do have some sort of ending planned, but the only hints about that that we’ve seen so far are about her troubled past. We’ve entered the second half now, so it’s time for this show to evolve.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Tsuritama – 06

by psgels, posted in Tsuritama

Tsuritama’s true colours have finally come to the surface. After all of the build-up, it definitely was great for the stakes to be raised, things to change, and that legendary water dragon to come into play. And I love the way in which it did so.

The big reason why I was a bit apprehensive about Tsuritama’s direction was balance. Putting a lot of time into build-up is nice. However when you don’t get to the point that you’re actually building up to then all that buildup is for naught. This episode showed that the creators definitely have things in store for the second half. The question is how far they’re willing to go.

Nevertheless, the change felt very natural because of all of the build-up: we got to see Yuki learning to fish, the characters getting to know each other, and now that they’re sufficiently advanced they start heading into the parts of the waters that house that water dragon. The change was made even better with how that dragon also loved to use brainwashing. It’s here where the direction really shined again. The past episodes didn’t really take advantage of Kenji Nakamura’s talents as a director, but this episode really made up for that with the vibrant colours, great camera angles and creative action. The Enoshima dance indeed was wonderful.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Sakamichi no Apollon – 06

by psgels, posted in Sakamichi no Apollon

Yeah, with this it’s yet again apparent that this show is a step above most other shows about teenagers. The bond between Sentarou and Kaoru is unique. This episode was quiet, but chock full of touches that bring tension to their relationship. It’s hard to describe, but most series with relationships like this have very clear borders between how characters behave: first they’re bickering for a while, then they are laughing for a while, and then comes a moment of being heart-warming. The changes in mood are all very simple. Here though, the tone that these guys use towards each other changes constantly. One moment they’re having fun, the other Kaoru’s jealousy plays up again. There are so many subtly different sides to how they act toward each other.

Including things I can’t recall having ever seen before. Like the point where Sentarou sternly lectures Kaoru talking down on that new kid with the mushroom haircut. That really hit me in a way that I don’t think anime has reached before. It’s also a scene that said so much about the two of them, which eventually culminated into the ending. I love how Kaoru was portrayed there and how he knew very well that he acted really childish, not knowing how to really get along with people due to the way he was brought up.

The rest of the cast also changed. Aside from perhaps the three new characters, but they were a great catalyst for change as well, even though they were a bit weird at first. The Jun subplot really got interesting at the end of the episode with that cliff-hanger, while Ritsuko is also visibly changing constantly after what happened to Kaoru with her.

Overall, at this point it really looks like Apollon is Noitamina’s big hitter of 2012. It has such a refinement that is unmatched and I doubt will even be matched by the shows that will follow this year, only if Matsuo Kou manages to surpass himself with Natsuyuki this can perhaps be changed.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Summer Season Preview – Movie & OVA Edition

by psgels, posted in Seasonal Previews

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

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

Franchise Movies and OVAs

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

Ongoing OVA and Movie Series

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

Asa Made Jugyou Chu!

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

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

First-Glance Potential: 0%

Tight Rope

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

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

First-Glance Potential: 10%

Eiga Jewelpet Sweets Dance Princess

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

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

First-Glance Potential: 50%

Fairy Tail Houou no Miko

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

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

First-Glance Potential: 70%

Toshokan Sensou: Kakumei no Tsubasa

Summary: “In a slightly different time-line than ours, the explosion of information and misinformation came to be considered a direct threat to society. In a daring decision, it was decided to create a new government agency dedicated solely to information management. Some thirty years later, in 2019, the government still monitors and controls information, suppressing anything they find undesirable, but standing against their abuses of power are the libraries, with their special agents called ‘the book soldiers.’” – (Taken from ANN)
Type: Movie
Director: Takayuki Hamana
Screenplay: Takeshi Konuta

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

First-Glance Potential: 70%

Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki

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

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

First-Glance Potential: 100%

Blood-C – The Last Dark

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

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

First-Glance Potential: 100%

Code Geass – Bokuko no Akito

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

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

First-Glance Potential: 100%

Zetman – 07

by psgels, posted in Zetman

The conclusion of this arc is fairly straight-forward. After all of the tension created in the previous episodes, this episode is all dedicated to a big fight against the remaining Player Brothers,in order to balance things out. The main point that this episode tried to make was probably restoring the bond between Jin and Kouga, andpushing Zetman’s factors to a new level, to the point where his Zet factors don’t drop.

The fight was up to Zetman’s standards, though not the best of the series. After all of the rush in the early episodes, I’m pretty surprised how straight-forward and fairly slow-paced this episode was. It’s interesting how this show is the most interesting when it’s building up.
Rating: * (Good)

Hyouka – 04

by psgels, posted in Hyouka

People actually do research i this serise. People do background checks and look through records very carefully to piece together the puzzle of what happened. It really has been ages since the last “lots of talking” series that was done right, a genre I’m a huge fan of. It’s not the best among them, but just seeing such a series hit the mark again is very satisfying.

What this series still lacks the most compared to the best of the genre is emotion. It’s all very neutral and composed. That’s wonderful as a build-up, and this series can use it, because it’s 21 episodes long. The next step will really be to go wild. But this will come into the picture later on in the series. For now, I loved how each character took his or her time to present what he/she found and the theories he/she had based upon it, and how they all conflict together.

Still, I cannot for the love of me imagine how they would turn this into 21 episodes, or at least without resorting to lots and lots of random stories. This episode looked like it solved about half of the mysteries in this series. THe end of the episode seemed to suggest that about one more episode, perhaps two, would be enough to cover the rest and the deeper meanings behind it, and yet it is the main mystery of this series.

What I also really like is how even though the characters look like the typical idiot teenagers you see everywhere, they actually quite aren’t. Houtarou is at times used as a writer’s vehicle for formulating the right theories, but the rest of the characters feel human in the way they investigate and try to formulate theories, they’re flawed but they really try to use their heads and think over all sorts of possible scenarios. And even Houtarou was wrong in this episode (or at least that is very much hinted).
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Aquarion Evol – 20

by psgels, posted in Aquarion Evol

Really Aquarion, this is more like it. Finally your plot is developing significantly. Ideally this episode should have been earlier, allowing for more time for all of the things to develop, but this was nevertheless glorious.

I am really surprised at Andy by the way. He started out as the typical best friend: the guy who is just there to support and never stands out. And here his subplot with Mix has actually been quite interesting. I feared that it’d turn into yet another kidnapping story, but the twist of reversing her gender was really used well here. The real main characters, Amata and Mikono meanwhile served in this arc as support characters: finding out what’s going on, helping others. That’s actually quite neat and I’m glad that unlike Macross Frontier, Shoji Kawamori actually allowed this. It allows for much more interesting character dynamics if the roles of these characters aren’t so constrained.

This episode also finally turned into that emotional roller-coaster that the first episodes had been promising. Just about every character acted differently in this episode and there was a wide variety of emotions all coming together. Finally! The most hilarious of which was Yunoha and her sudden out of place male speech patterns.

And that glorious music! Seriously, my opinion of Yoko Kanno increased significantly after listening to this soundtrack. Her best work still is Cowboy Bebop, but this really is a good contender for second place. The action in this episode also was better than usual, and the interesting thing is that this was not because of an increase in budget, but rather better directed fights and a better use of shots and colours. Especially that Andy scene was a very interesting visual idea.

And then there is Fudo with his donuts again. And the weird thing is that his symbolism all oddly makes sense. It’s completely silly, but rather than being pointless symbolism for the sake of having silly symbolism, it does fit in to the context. This show is weird.
Rating: **+ (Excellent+)

Summer Season Preview

by psgels, posted in Seasonal Previews

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

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

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

Dakara Boku wa, H ga Dekinai

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

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

First-Glance Potential: 0%

Kono Naka ni Hitori, Imouto ga Iru!

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

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

First-Glance Potential: 0%

Oda Nobuna no Yabou

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

The Positives: No.
The Negatives: No.

First-Glance Potential: 0%

Hagure Yuusha no Estetica

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

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

First-Glance Potential: 0%

Ebiten: Kouritsu Ebisugawa Koukou Tenmon-Bu

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

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

First-Glance Potential: 0%

La storia della Arcana Famiglia

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

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

First-Glance Potential: 0%

Yuruyuri ♪♪

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

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

First-Glance Potential: 10%

Hakuouki Reimeiroku

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

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

First-Glance Potential: 20%

Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate

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

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

First-Glance Potential: 20%

Muv Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse

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

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

First-Glance Potential: 30%

Kokoro Connect

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

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

First-Glance Potential: 50%

Campione!

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

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

First-Glance Potential: 50%

Binbou-gami ga!

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

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

First-Glance Potential: 60%

Dog Days’

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

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

First-Glance Potential: 60%

Joshiraku

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

Other Notable Staff: Kouji Kumeta (Original Creator)

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

First-Glance Potential: 70%

Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon 2

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

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

First-Glance Potential: 75%

Moyashimon Returns

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

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

First-Glance Potential: 75%

Arve Rezzle

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

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

First-Glance Potential: 80%

Kingdom

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

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

First-Glance Potential: 80%

Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita

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

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

First-Glance Potential: 80%

Tari Tari

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

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

First-Glance Potential: 80%

Rinne no Lagrange Second Season

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

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

First-Glance Potential: 80%

Sword Art Online

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

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

First-Glance Potential: 80%

Chouyaku Hyakunin Isshu: Uta Koi

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

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

First-Glance Potential: 90%

Natsuyuki Rendezvous

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

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

First-Glance Potential: 90%

Phi Brain – 31

by psgels, posted in Phi Brain

Okay, so in the end the whole brainwashing subplot was all just a build-up. It wasn’t meant to give depth to the entire cast with its formula, but instead it was meant to show the Orpheus order as a formidable foe, explain what they were doing and why they were doing it. The fact that two side-characters got fleshed out was just a neat side-effect.

Instead this has very much the tendencies of a mystery story: inbetween the puzzles it really slowly continues to reveal a bit more about the Orpheus order. This episode was about Cubic again, who always struck me as the least interesting member of the cast. He’s genuine, but in comparison to the rest of the characters he lacks something. It probably has to do with how he is this series’ plot device: if something needs to be explained, he just goes “science!”, and things somehow become clear. This episode was about this too. The punchline of this episode was that he lost, yet he did manage to gather “data” which will somehow be of importance later. It’s all very vague, in a series that thrives on math.

In any case, this seems to be an arc in which the Orpheus order will show a bit more about their true characters; a way to flesh them out, in having a tournament-style match-up. I do wonder why Nonoha forced herself into the picture though, especially when Jikugawa would have been a much more sane choice to bring along. Right now she has no role in this series. Her role in the first searon was clear: support Kaito as he was having the living brains kicked out of him. Right now though.. Kaito doesn’t really need help… yet.
Rating: * (Good)