Spring Season Preview

+ Not Really Looking Forward To + Nagasarete Airantou “Touhouin Ikuto runs away from home at the age of 14 and jumps onboard a ship. He falls off into the ocean and drifts for 5 days until he is swept up in a storm. He wakes up on Airantou, an isolated island inhabited, coincidentally, by girls roughly his age who have never seen a boy before. After being thwarted in his attempt to escape by the fierce whirlpools that surround the island, he decides to accept his fate and remain. One boy to an island of girls? Let the fighting — err, I mean fun, begin!” – Unless the characters decide to REALLY make fun of themselves, then I think that this is going to be the worst show of the season. -_- Keitai Shoujo This appears to be an OVA. The exact synopsis hasn’t been translated yet, but it seems to be based on one of those cell-phone games in which you have a virtual girlfriend, whom you have to buy gifts with real money, in order to keep her pleased. Um… yeah. Exciting. *cough* Hayate The Combat Butler “With a debt of 1.5 million, 16-year old Hayate Ayasaki’s parents sell him to the yakuza to pay it off. Not wanting to be cut up and sold on the black market, Hayate escapes from the yakuza thugs, and finds a very rich girl by the name of Nagi wandering in a park at night. Deciding to kidnap the girl for ransom money, Hayate’s kidnapping speech was wrongly taken as a confession of love to Nagi. She finds out about the debt, and, feeling sorry for Hayate, pays it off, as long as Hayate will be her butler until he pays off the 1.5 million (which will take about 40 years).” – My initial verdict still stands, and the concept remains crappy. Just another one of these popular moe-shows. Kono Aozora ni Yakusoku wo “This is a heartful school adventure at a high school on the isolated island. They are enjoying their life there, sometimes reacting against each other. – (taken from Himeyashop) – Heartful it may be, but it’s also a harem and hentai-game adaptation. Yawn. Idol Master Xenoglossia You can count on Sunrise to transform a game in which you have to manage your own idol into a mecha-anime. While that is a definite improvement, the trailer makes me suspect that we’re dealing with another one of those unrealistic moe-shows, in which teenage girls are the only ones who can pilot the mechas without a good reason. Shinkyoku Soukai Polyphonica “The story’s about Folon, who’s studying to be a “spirit contractor” of some sort in a famous school. He meets two new students, the twins Prinesca and Perseti, who are eager to become just like him. Folon, however, is pretty much your average “wimpy good-for-nothing” protagonist. That’s until one night, while the twins accidentally meet Folon who was practicing his arts by himself, he was able to summon a powerful entity who almost killed them and destroyed a good part of the school’s insides. Good thing though, that Folon was able to calm the entity down with the use of his “commedia” (it’s a tad like F/sn’s Mana). It’s then revealed Folon already summoned the entity long ago, and his practice that night reawakened it. The spirit’s name was Cortikarte, and when Folon was still a kid, she made a “contract” with him allowing her to feed off Folon’s “commedia” while providing assistance to him in any way. Though, it has been a long time since Folon properly gave her any, so she was summoned now… in a red-haired loli’s body. The school didn’t punish Folon for destroying a part of the school, as the spirit that he summoned was quite a high level one, and was eventually given a chance to graduate. Some time later, Prinesca and Perseti were accepted into the school. All the freshmen were supposed to have a sempai to guide them, and the one that they chose was poor Folon. Not to mention that Cortikarte was now living with him , and also has begun to treat Folon like a slave… which is a total reverse of what was normal (Spirits are supposed to obey the wishes of their Masters, not the other way around). Thus starts Folon’s life with his new kouhai, his Contract Spirit and the numerous other people around him in the academy.” – summary by meganeshounen – Well, it’s obvious that I’m not really interested in this anime about a girl with an almost unnaturally large amount of hair, who gets to treat our main character like a slave (*wink wink, nudge nudge*). How many times have we seen that again? Kotetsushin Jeeg “The story of Kotetsushin Jeeg takes place fifty years after the original and features a new cast of characters—primarily the new main character Kenji Kusanagi (voiced by Daisuke Ono), a high school student who becomes Kotetsushin Jeeg to fight the sudden reappearance of “Haniwa Genjin” (“Phantom Gods,” or clay robots) from the Yamatai Kingdom ruled by Queen Himika. Other characters include Tsubaki Tamashiro (voiced by Kana Ueda) and Kyo Misumi (voiced by Susumu Chiba). New versions of the Build Base (commanded by Senjiro Shiba, whose relation to Steel Jeeg’s “Machine Father” is unknown) and Big Shooter will also appear.” – Taken from Wikipedia – Another remake of an ancient mecha-series, like Reideen and Giant Robo. I’m not really enthusiastic about it though. Mostly because of the main character. He just looks way too much like your standards shounen-hero. -_- Lucky Star “The story portrays the lives of several school girls attending a Japanese high school with a very loose humour tone. The serialization began with the four main characters in the first year of high school. As the years progress, they move onto their second and third year. Konata, nicknamed “Kona-chan” by her friends, gets bored easily when something doesn’t interest her. She can be smart, but she hates studying so her grades are a bit uneasy. However, she is an expert in pulling an “all-nighter”. In contrast to her studying habits, she loves video games to the extent that she can compete against Kagami on knowledge of games. In addition to video games, she loves anime which is also due to her father’s influence along with the games. Her father also buys ero-games for himself, so she is able to play and enjoy them as well. In fact, When she became 18, Konata was overjoyed since she could now go buy and play ero-games legally. Tsukasa is the younger fraternal twin sister of Kagami and lives in a six-member family household with her parents. She is in the same class as Konata though isn’t good at studying or at sports, but excels in cooking. Kagami is the older fraternal twin sister of Tsukasa. In school, her grades are excellent as studies very hard. She was even the class president of her class in her first year. She is in a different class than Konata and Tsukasa, but she frequently comes to their class during lunch time to eat with them. Additionally, Kagami chose the humanities course in her second year so that she could be with her friends, but she was the only one separated into a different classroom; the same occurred in her third year. Kagami, seldomly referred to as “Kagamin”, is a bit egotistic, but is somewhat weak in cooking.” – Taken from Wikipedia – Strange to see that there isn’t a website of this series, despite it’s being produced by Kyoto-animation. I guess web-design isn’t their strongest point. Ah well, this time, they seem to be doing a slice-of-life series. Ah, it could be interesting, it could be boring. sola Oh, great. A harem. Just when I thought they were gone, one comes, sneaks up and kicks me from behind. Touka Gettan Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabi seemed to be very good, from the things I heard about it. That may be nice, and I’m definitely going to check that series out, but that doesn’t mean that I’m looking forward to Touka Gettan, as it’s another one of those Hentai-game adaptations. + Shows With Small Potential + Kaze no Stigma “The Story is about the Guy, who got kicked out of his fire Clan because he had no talent. 4 years down the road he comes back to Japan and has power to manipulate the wind, and on his return to Japan he is a Suspect in a murder.” – (summary by evil-samurai) – You know, the art on the covers of the light novels looked interesting, but the art of the anime took a huge step back. It’s a bit of a disappointment, the art looks just way too standard. Nothing seems to stand out. Ah well, let’s hope the story is better. Kishin Taisen Gigantic Formula “The human race has recovered from the cataclysmic disaster now known as the “Equator Winter”. Now, each country begins to battle one another with robots to establish the new world order. A 13-year-old boy and 14-year-old girl operate Japan’s robot. Now begins their robot battle.” – (taken from AnimeNfo) – Ah, yes. The anime with 14 different people behind its mecha designs. That should be interesting, but I’m really worried whether the creators did right to put a bunch of high-school kids in charge of saving the world with one of these mechas. Saint Beast “In the ancient past, the Highest level of angels, the Six Saintly Beasts reigned supreme as the beast kings. Two of the Saint Beasts disobeyed Gods order and was sealed away in a Hellish place. Now after thousands of days and nights, the barrier has weakened and they escape. So the remaining four must go to Earth and stop them from causing trouble.” – Taken from Anime News Network – This seems to be a prequel to a 2003-series. It’s strange, because I didn’t see anyone talk about this. Heck, it doesn’t even have its own thread on Animesuki. I can guess why, as it seems to be screaming “bishounen”. ^^; Darker than Black “Suddenly anomalous field impossible to analyze appears in Tokyo. As if they responded to the field named “Hell’s Gate”, people that have new powers and completely different from the current human begins appear. They have lost their minds and sometimes kill people cruelly. People call them “Contractor” with fear.” – (taken from AnimeNfo) – “The main character, Hei is some super top-class agent, at ‘The Organisation’. He’s one of the best in this group of people with supernatural powers, called “keiyakusha”. As such he’s an invaluable member of The Organisation. He seems to be a solitary guy who won’t allow others in his heart. Currently he is posing as a timid Chinese university student called Li Shun Sheng. The seemingly lead female, Yin is a support staff in Hei’s team. She seems normal but she’s got absolutely no emotions at all and is sometimes called “Doll”. She’s also blind, but her other senses have been honed to such a level that she can… instantaneously understand the physical situation around her for a radius of 50m.” – (Translated by wao) – Okay, the concept sounds interesting, but that main character… Can he be something other than “perfect”? Lovely Complex “Koizumi Risa, current height 170 cm. Her surname is translated to “small river”. A girl taller than most other girls her age. Otani Atsushi, current height 156 cm. His surname is translated to “big valley”. A guy way below the average height of a high-school boy. They’re both known all around school as the comedian duo for looking like nothing but funny while standing beside each other. Due to this fact, they’ve been on one another’s bad side ever since they first met. One day, a new transfer student shows up and he happens to be very tall! Koizumi immediately gets interested in this boy and Otani suddenly proposes a silly idea to Koizumi. The idea is that they are to help each other out to get their respective love interests by all means! Koizumi undoubtedly agrees to this but as in all other shoujo mangas, things never turn out the way people want it to.” – Ah, the shoujo-romance series of the season. While I like a good shoujo-series, I’m not too much of a fan of the slice-of-life romances. Not because they’re bad or anything, but mostly because they’re just boring because nothing happens. Let’s hope that this one will be more than just a love-story. Overdrive “The story centres around a boy who aims to become the number one bicyclist in the world.” – (taken from manganews) – I’ve never been a big fan of sports-anime, but the strange thing is that I’ve never really had a good reason to. I did see one anime-movie about cyclists, though: Nasu – Summer in Andalusia. That movie showed me how directed sports anime can be. I hope that that won’t be the case here. Princess Resurrection “The story centres on the character of school boy Hiro Hiyorimi who is struck by a car in an accident. Unbeknownst to him, his life is saved by a princess of darkness who feeds him her blood immediately after the incident.” – (taken from Anime News Service) – This will be a really bloody series, but I have no idea whether it’ll be good or bad. Ah well, there’s only one way to find out. + Interesting-Looking Shows + True Tears ” Dreams, hopes, and aspirations … are things that all people draw their visions of what the “future” may hold for them. Some are pastel-coloured; others are darker in hue; still others shine radiant and unblemished like the hands of the rain. What are my dreams? What are my hopes? What do I aspire to become? These are questions that the characters of this story ask themselves. But must all of them turn at last to weeping? Must they all harbour such darkness under the shadow of the wings of their hearts? Some of them carry the wounds of the past with them still, the burden causing them to lose sight of their dreams. Others see insurmountable walls between them and the things they dream of, causing them to walk away and give up. And still others — worst of all — have forgotten what it is to dream altogether. And so they smile, smile warmly and widely, in order to hide away the darkness and pain in their hearts … in order to shut out the future itself. But the moment a girl should step forth and say “no more” — that is the beginning and the end.” – Taken from Insani.org – I have absolutely no idea what this is going to be. It looks like a very sad harem, but this one actually seems to have potential. Maybe, perhaps maybe it’ll turn out good. Devil May Cry “The game revolves around P.I. (Private Investigator) Dante and his one-man devil hunting agency “Devil May Cry”, which he runs in hopes of finding and killing the demons that killed his mother. Dante also has a twin brother named Vergil, whom we however learn little about during the course of this first game in the series. The story alludes to The Divine Comedy in the game’s areas (roughly resembling and representing inferno, purgatorio, and paradiso) as well as in some of the character names; however it is purely an aesthetic similarity, and indeed the game borrows from a very wide range of sources for inspiration. After a less than proper introduction, a woman named Trish, who bears a striking resemblance to Dante’s mother, convinces Dante to help her defeat Mundus, the Emperor of the Underworld, who is the leading antagonist of the game. The duo then sets off to Mallet Island, where Mundus’s resurrection is about to take place, and where the majority of the game plays out.” – I like the dark-gothic undertones, but the question will remain whether this is going to be aimed at the mainstream or not. It could become another shounen-flick, but then again, it could also become very interesting. Gegege no Kitaro “Kitaro is a yokai boy born in a cemetery, and aside from his mostly-decayed father, the last living member of the Ghost tribe. He is missing his left eye, but his hair usually covers the empty socket. He fights for peace between humans and yokai, which generally involves protecting the former from the wiles of the latter. Kitaro has an assortment of strange weapons at his disposal, including: remote-controlled geta sandals a detachable hand, also remote-controlled, a magic chanchanko vest which can protect its wearer from danger, Spiny hairs which can be shot like arrows and another hair which can serve as an antenna for detecting spirit activity.” – taken from Wikipedia – This one probably never will become popular. Heck, I’m sure of it. Apparently, character designs like this are a turn-off to many people. Still, I’m willing to give this one a chance, as the weapons used by the different characters look very promising and creative. Oh! Edo-Rocket “Year 1842, 12th year of the Tenpô era. To the twilight of the Edo era, we follow the steps of a Master bomb disposal expert and his young friend in Tokyo where fires of artifices became illegal with the eyes of the imperial capacity. While the reforms of Mizuno Tadakuni make devastations in main Japon. The bomb disposal expert receives one day a strange request of a young woman of the name of Sora: to carry out a fireworks which will rise to the skies in order to awake the population tokyoïte.” – Taken from Sonhex – This looks like a fun little show, but probably destined to be unpopular. Still, a story about the Tenpou Era about fireworks can turn out to be pretty interesting. 🙂 Seto no Hanayome Nagasumi visits his grandmother near the sea during the summer. While visiting, he goes for a swim, and drowns right after entering the water. Fortunately for him he is saved by a young mermaid. Later as he tells the story to his family, a young girl named San appears at his home and begs Nagasumi to marry her. She’s followed by two large thugs and they take both him and his parents to San`s home under the sea. If that wasn’t strange enough, it turns out San`s parents are mob bosses. Nagasumi is left with the choice of either death or marrying San. He chooses to marry a mermaid. This would likely be that, except San`s father and some members of the mob are not exactly thrilled to have Nagasumi courting San and are determined to bring an end to their relationship–or him. And there is also the matter of keeping it a secret that San is a mermaid.” – taken from AniDB – This one’s being anticipated by a lot of people, and I can imagine why. After all, it’s got everything, a mermaid, mob bosses, marriages, drowning, angry parents. Hitohira “A transferred student Asai Mugi is a painfully shy girl. She is so shy that she can’t speak when she becomes seriously nervous. However, for some reason, she is spotted and recruited as a member of drama club.” – Taken from AnimeNfo – I’m a lot more positive about this show after watching the trailer. There were no signs of fanservice-based character-designs, and I didn’t see anything that hinted at the girl falling in love or something. I suspect that this will turn into a school-based show. While it’s not my favourite genre, a series about a shy girl, can definitely turn out interesting. Blue Dragon “Blue Dragon follows Shu and his friends as they find themselves capable of manifesting their actions through surprisingly powerful shadows. Not long after, the main cast sets off on a grand adventure that, in true RPG fashion, determines the fate of the world.” – (summary by Mr. Sephiroth) – Yup, like expected, this is probably one of the first times in which character designs actually turned me off. It’s such a shame, as I’m really looking forward to this series. Damn you Akira Toriyama!! Gurren Lagann “In the future, people are digging holes in the ground. They build houses and have domestic animals there. They have been living secretly fearing occasional earthquakes and roof-falls for hundreds years. Jeeha is one of such villages. One day, a boy, Shimon, is digging holes to expand their village. He happens to find a small shining drill. On the other hand, Kamina is a guy who believes there is the ground over the village, and he made a gangster to break the ceiling to get out from the hole. In those days, the ceiling falls down due to an earthquake, and a big robot falls. Kamina becomes sure that there is a world over them. Then, to be reckless, he begins to fight against the robot. At the moment, someone also comes from the above. It is a girl Yoko with a rifle in her hand. She is following the robot. However, only she can do is to keep the robot from going. Then, simon shows what he found in the ground to Kamina and Yoko. It is a mysteries robot whose body is only a face.” – Taken from AnimeNfo – You know, I expected this to be just another shounen-flick, but the trailer which can be seen on the official site and youtube actually looked kind-of nice. The art style of the characters definitely looks interesting, the only worrisome element is the main female side-kick. -_- The Skullman “There are mass murders and catastrophes all over Japan, committed by a masked/caped psychic madman called the Skull Man, and his shape-shifting aide Garo (named after the manga ninja Garo created by Sanpei Shirato), who can turn into various powerful mutant monsters. The calamities caused by the Skull Man are investigated by the Tachiki Detective Agency, with the help of a young man named Tatsuo Kagura, the son of a yakuza in the Kagura Clan.” – Taken from Monir – The concept still sounds interesting, and there isn’t really anything new I can say about this one. It’ll become a great anime about an anti-hero, period. Claymore “The setting of the story features a fictional world where towns are abundant and Humans live in coexistence with demons called Yoma. The Yoma consider humans as their main source of food, and are capable of concealing themselves among human society until they strike. In response to this horrific threat, a group of skilled warriors formed a un-named organization for defending against the demons. Due to their immense Claymore weapons, the people came to call them “Claymores”. To combat the demons, the “Claymores” have willingly infused themselves with demon flesh and blood, becoming half-human hybrids. The organization hires out their warriors for profit, answering calls from needy villages. The story of Claymore follows the adventures of a beautiful Claymore warrior named Claire, as she fights demons and struggles to hold on to her humanity.” – Also referred to as the “female Berserk”. While that doesn’t say anything to me (I only managed to see the first two episodes of Berserk). So far, the things I read about it sound very interesting. + Definitely Looking Forward to + Heroic Age “Answering the call of the “Gold Race”, all the sentient races launch into space. The human race is the last to launch, and are thus known as the “Iron Race”. Much time has passed since then, and humanity is threatened with extinction at the hands of the more dominant “Silver Race”. In order to save her people, Queen Deianeira sets out on a journey to a galaxy far away, following the prophecies of the Gold Race handed down by the royal family. Then, she meets a boy named Eiji. Their encounter will change the fate of the universe… – Taken from AnimNfo – I’m impressed. Both the newly arrived website and the description have an epic feeling. I like that. The character designs really look interesting. Which reminds me, I need to finish Fafner someday. Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha Strikers I loved the original two series, mostly due to its deep character studies. Strikers plays a few years after A’s, with Fate and Nanoha who’ve grown up. The series also is going to have 26 episodes, as opposed to the usual 13. I wonder what kind of changes that will make to the formula of the first two seasons. Koutetsu Sangokushi It’s interesting, I know nearly nothing about this show, but for a strange reason, it looks very interesting. And hey, it’s got the guy behind Master of Epic on the staff, can’t go wrong with that, can you? ^^; Flag Second Season “In 20xx, a civil war broke out in a small country in Asia is getting hard in spite of dispatch of UN forces. But a picture taken by accident in the battle field accelerates the peace process. It is a picture of a flag. Although they are enemies, they cooperate together to fly it in a sanctuary, and the flag becomes the symbol of the peace. However, just before the peace agreement is achieved, the flag is robbed by an armed extremist group in order to obstruct the truce. UN decides to send SDC (Special Development Command) and a cameraman to record their activities. The cameraman is Shirasu Saeko. She is the cameraman who took the picture of the flag. At first they think the mission is easy because they wear latest armed suits, HAVWC (High Agility Versatile Weapon Carrier), but they get in trouble by unexpected attacks.” – Taken from AniDB – It’s been almost three months ago that the second instalment of this series started airing in Japan. Unfortunately, this was on a paid channel, so the chance of raws appearing soon was nihil. Fro the first season, the first raws came when the DVDs were released, which was about three months after the original airdate. Based on this, we can probably expect the second season somewhere in half-April. I’m looking forward to it, as the first season was one of the most realistic war-themed anime I’ve seen. Tetsuko no Tabi “This is a slightly odd sort of manga: basically the “story” is that a manga artist is asked by her boss to accompany him and a travel-writer on various train trips around Japan and draw a manga about it. The kicker though, is that it’s completely non-fiction — the creator really did go on all these trips, and the manga simply records what happened, with no embellishment. There’s a little disclaimer at the front that says “This is non-fiction, so I apologize for the lack of drama,” and indeed, it mostly is just about them riding trains from place to place, waiting on platforms, etc.; there’s none of the silly artificial melodrama that sometimes accompanies info-manga. Despite the disclaimer, however, it’s really very entertaining.” – This probably is going to be the Spring-anime with the most original concept. I have no idea how this is going to turn out, but I can’t wait for it. ^^; Shining Tears “In the beginning of the story, an elfen girl named Elwyn finds Xion washed up on the shore of a river. She checks if he’s still alive and as she looks, a ring fell by the water. As Elwyn tried to take it, Xion was on the verge of death so she took him quickly to the village doctor, Pios. When Xion wakes up, he finds himself in The Heroes’ Hearth, the tavern of the town Heroes’ Way. He is then confronted by Pios and Elwyn, questioning him on what happened. He would say he can’t remember and even vaguely remembers his name. The two introduce themselves to him and he finds both his hands with two strange rings. They wouldn’t come off his hands as Pios tries to investigate the rings. The two then explain that the rings could possibly be the Twin Dragon Rings, the legendary rings of power. Discarding the thought, Pios investigates more on the rings as Xion falls asleep.” – taken from Wikipedia – Ah, another RPG-adaptation, and another fantasy anime. If the director doesn’t mess up, this one can promise to be great. Romeo x Juliet I haven’t read the entire novel, but I have read bits of it during classes, and I know the general storyline. It’ll be interesting how Gonzo will portray this, as it seems that the story will get a few fantasy-elements. It’ll be interesting if the characters talk just as poetic as they did in the novel. ^^; Wellber Monogatari ~ Sisters of Wellber “10 years since the great war, tensions were mounting within the country of Wellber, which was barely capable of keeping peace, as war could commence at any time with its neighbouring country, Sangatras. In order to avoid warfare, the king of Wellber, Haidel planned on marrying off his daughter, Princess Rita, to Sangatras` Prince Guernia. However, Rita stabbed her groom to be and ran away. Infuriated, Sangatras` King Ranbahnhof threatens to wage war unless Rita is captured and publicly executed within 14 days. In order to avoid the worst case scenario, Rita decides to head for the neutral country of Greedom. Meanwhile, the woman thief Tina sneaks into Castle Wellber, seeking its treasures, when she happens to witness the stabbing of Guernia by Rita. Whether it be by coincidence or necessity, Tina receives information that the “Wasp Man” she was after is in Greedom, her sworn enemy who took the life of her parents. Tina agrees to become Rita`s bodyguard as they head out to Greedom. Shouldering their fate and destiny, the two meet, leave, and set out on their journey. What awaits them is war or peace, vengeance or death…” – Taken from AniDB – I love a good fantasy story, and something’s telling me that Wellber Monogatari is going to be one of them. Seirei no Moribito “Once every 100 years, a Water Fairy implants an egg into a person who then becomes the Guardian of Fairies. This time, the responsibility falls on Chagumu, the second prince of the New Yogo Kingdom. Chagumu’s life isn’t easy. The king finds Chagumu an inconvenience and attempts to have him killed. As a result, the queen asks a female guard, Valsa, to protect Chagumu. In addition to this, beings from another world, known as Nayugu, constantly attack him in order to eat the egg carried in Chagumu’s body.” – Taken from AnimeNfo – Another very interesting-sounding fantasy-series. If this one actually manages to turn out well, then the spring-season will be something to look forward to a lot for all the fantasy-fans. 🙂 Kamichama Karin “Kamichama Karin is about a 7th grader named Karin Hanazono. Her parents and beloved cat, Shi-chan recently died, she’s getting horrible grades and is forced to live with her aunt. One day, Karin meets a young, orphaned, 7th grade boy named Kazune Kujyou, and discovers that her mother’s ring has the power to transform her into a goddess. She soon moves in with Kazune and his cousin Himeka. She and Kazune, who has godlike powers of his own, have to fight to protect Karin`s ring and Himeka from the evil intentions of Kirio Karasuma (whom Karin calls Mr. Glasses Man), who is also divine. The trio embark on crazy adventures and go on trips along the way. They also meet new friends and people, such as Micchi, who may know a lot of information not only about the divine transformation of the gods and goddesses, but also about Kazune-kun’s long lost father…” – Taken from AniDB – This series will probably be more than enough for my dose of cuteness for the spring-season. The story itself sounds very fun and interesting, despite a bit childish. But that never stopped me from watching a series anyway. ^^ Saiunkoku Monogatari Season 2 I guess it won’t be a surprise that I’ll be watching this. ^^; + Top-5 Looking Forward to + Towards the Terra “Light-years from Earth, where every aspect of life is controlled by the great master computer, if you are a Psychic (called a MU) you’re dead. Hunted tirelessly, the MU have been hiding for centuries from the general populace.” – taken from Anime News Network – I don’t know what it is, but I’m really attracted to this anime. I’ve been getting more and more interested in science-fiction anime lately, and this one seems like a great epic story. Definitely something to look forward to. Kaze no Shoujo Emily “Emily Starr is sent to live at New Moon Farm on Prince Edward Island with her aunts Elizabeth and Laura Murray. She makes friends with Ilse Burnley, Teddy Kent, and Perry Miller, the hired boy, who Aunt Elizabeth looks down upon because he was born in ‘Stovepipe Town’, a poorer district. Each of the children have special gifts. Emily was born to be a writer, Teddy is a gifted artist, Ilse is a talented elocutionist, and Perry has the makings of a great politician. They also each have a few problems with their families. Emily has a hard time getting along with Aunt Elizabeth, who doesn’t understand her need to write. Ilse’s father, Dr. Burnley, ignores Ilse most of the time because of a dreadful secret concerning Ilse’s mother. Teddy’s mother is jealous of her son’s talents and friends, fearing that his love for them will eclipse his love for her. As a result, she hates Emily, Teddy’s drawings, and even his pets. Perry isn’t as well off as the other three, so his Aunt Tom once tries to make Emily promise to marry Perry when they grow up, threatening that unless Emily does so, she won’t pay for Perry’s schooling.” – (taken from Wikipedia) – I’m still in love with this concept. The characters are promising to become really great if they’re going to be carried out well. 🙂 El Cazador de la Bruja “It’s about a girl named Elis, who finds herself on the run from the so called Hunters of the underground society due to being a suspect of a murder. She meets up with a bounty hunter named Nadi who offers her help and guidance to pursue the truth of her past. For some reason the Hunters are now after her as well.” – summary by Monir – The director of .Hack//Sign, .Hack//Roots, Popolocrois, Tsubasa Chronicle and the sister-anime of Noir and Madlax, the music of Yuki Kajiura, what more could you want? Bokura No “On a typical day during a summer vacation, a group of 15 children discovered a mysterious man living in a seashore cave, along with his high-tech gadgets. The man claimed to be a game developer creating a video game with 15 giant robots defending Earth from alien invaders and asked those children to test the game for him. The kids agreed happily at first, but soon they began to find the game horrifying, not only because of its realism but also for the first fatality among them happened right after their first victory. Worse yet, they had no idea how to stop or leave the ‘game.’” – No, GONZO, you can’t do English, so don’t even bother! For those who are wondering what I’m talking about, visit the official site of Bokura No, and you’ll understand. I seriously hope that the series isn’t going to feature the same quality of Engrish, because the concept is way too awesome to ruin. The combination of lots of different, normal children, being forced to play with mechas in a really realistic, gritty view. Sounds awesome. *pokes Gonzo once more and threatens with knife* Dennou Coil – A Circle of Children “It is the year 202x in the mysterious city of Daikoku. Kokonogi Yasako is a 6th grader in elementary school. The Kokonogi family, which includes Yasako, her little sister, and their parents, are a typical family. They move to Daikoku where Yasako’s grandmother lives. It is a historic city with many shrines and temples. Daikoku is also a special political district that has the latest computer facilities.” – Taken from AnimeNfo – This is the series I’m looking forward to the most. It’s still a bit of a wait before it arrives, as it’s scheduled to start airing in the middle of May, but it sounds and looks so interesting that I’m willing to wait that long. The graphics will be done by people who also worked on Beyond, which means that it’ll probably be a visual treat, and don’t forget that this seems to be the child-project of one man. That’s always good for consistency. 🙂 + Blogging List + The question for each season always remains: which shows to blog. For the upcoming season, I’m probably going to blog a whole lot of different series. I can’t exactly say which ones yet, I’ll decide for each series after watching its second episode whether I’ll be blogging it or not, thanks to my handy system of the quick first impressions. Still, I can give a small indication. 100% – 90% Chance of blogging There’s one show I’m definitely going to blog: Saiunkoku Monogatari. I got so far into the series already, it would be a pity to abandon it at this point. And hey, ever since I started blogging it, it’s been one of the biggest contributors in terms of readers to Star Crossed. Dennou Coil also has a really good chance of being blogged. 90% – 60% Chance of blogging With the other series, it’s going to be difficult to decide. Overall, I’ve blogged a lot of different shows in the past year, but I have found that shows with a degree of mystery or a complex story have been really fun to blog. Towards the Terra and Bokura No seem like two series which will be excellent for my inner-mystery fanboy. 60% – 40% Chance of blogging I’m also really enthusiastic about the upcoming fantasy-anime. Seirei no Moribito, Wellber Monogatari, Romeo x Juliet and Shining Tears are all proving to be very interesting. El Cazador de la Bruja also has an iron cast behind its anime, so blogging about could turn interesting. 40% – 25% Chance of blogging Akazukin is going to finish in March, which will eliminate my main dose of cuteness for each week. Kamichama Karin sounds like a very decent replacement for this. If the story has a bit of mystery in it, then I’ll be really happy. Kaze no Shoujo Emily will prove a challenge, as I haven’t blogged that many quiet series, apart from Mushishi and Asatte no Houkou, perhaps. I also really have no idea what’ll be worth blogging about Tetsuko no Tabi, but it’ll be interesting to find out. I also know a bit too little about Koutetsu Sangokushi and Heroic Age, but they seem blogworthy, from the things that I saw. And of course any hidden gem that I managed to overlook. ;)]]>