As usual, with every seasonal preview I also realize a preview that discusses the upcoming movies and OVAs (the ones who are slated for December, January and February in this case). Note that it usually takes nine months for the movies to actually get released, but this seems like a good place to look forward to them. Most of the interesting stuff this season consists out of TV-based movies and OVAs, but in that department there really is a lot of neat stuff. Here is a list of everything you can find on this preview:
This list will NOT cover:
– Live-action (so no Gantz Movie)
– Simple episodes of series of OVAs or Movies that have already debuted (I do not want to repeat myself about Queen’s Blade’s OVAs over and over again). This also includes Tales of Symphonia and Break Blade. Exception to this is when the distance between the different instalments of these episodes is really big or significant (like with the Macross Frontier movies for example) or when they’re completely different from each other like the Votoms Trilogy.
Satelight, Xebec, Sunrise and Madhouse also have some great ambitions in terms of the movies and OVAs here. The season isn’t as full with movies as the current Autumn season, but there still are quite a number of interesting ones to check out.
Isshoni Training 026: Bathtime With Hinako and Hiyoko
Summary: Do you really want me to write this down?
Type: OVA
Director: Shinichiro Kimura
The Positives: The pain will stop once you turn your media player off.
The Negatives: I’ve just lost my faith in people ever stopping to release crap OVAs.
First-Glance Potential: 0%
Dreams C Club Pure Songs Clips
Summary: It’s based on an XBox 360 Dating sim: The anime will recreate the heroines of the game with two-dimensional graphics for the Dream C Club Pure Songs Clips, a two-volume DVD/CD collection of character songs and music videos. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: A bunch of animated music videos.
Director: Sasa Fujisawa
Other Notable Staff: Mayumi Watanabe
The Positives: I’m blank.
The Negatives: The sample that they put on their main website looks and sounds utterly terrible. Is this entire project going to be full with that crap? What a cheap cash-in!
First-Glance Potential: 0%
Goulart Knights
Summary: The story begins after mysterious creatures named “Archons” suddenly appear in the world. Humanity faces the threat of annihilation from these creatures. Only the “Chalice,” the source of humanity, can defeat the powerful Archons. So, the humans assemble an Archon-slaying unit from fighters who have the ability to bring forth the Chalice to fight. The ones chosen to fight the Archons with the Chalice as their weapon are called Goulart Knghts. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: OVA to promote a newly formed boy-band.
The Positives: It’s a completely original story, so it could possibly go anywhere with the right writers.
The Negatives: But ah, who am I kidding here: it’s just there to promote four random guys as a cheap cash-in. Their music sounds completely generic and the premise sounds as if it were written by a twelve-year old, there is no way that this is going to work.
First-Glance Potential: 0%
Ah Megami-Sama
Summary: Keiichi Morisato is looking forward to university life. But in reality, he has no luck in anything, and he has trouble with clubs, love, etc. The truth is that he has an unlucky star above his head. One day, Keiichi is stuck watching the dorm while his sempai are away, and has a mountain of chores to do to boot. But Keiichi is a good-natured person, and is set about doing his duties. As he is about to finish his final chore, he makes a phone call to his sempai. But the words that came through the receiver are, ‘Goddess Help Line.’ Shortly afterwards, a beautiful goddess named Belldandy appears in front of him from the mirror of his room. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: OVA, Shipped with a Manga Volume
Director: Hiroaki Gouda
The Positives: Is this one still going on?! Ah well, it’s got the same director and likely also the same staff behind it, so if you liked Ah Megami-sama’s previous anime instalments then you’ll like this one.
The Negatives: How much can you squeeze out of a premise like that anyway? At the moment, there are already 42 different volumes of Ah Megami-sama’s manga. Is it really that good of a story that it warrants such a long running time?
First-Glance Potential: 20%
Fortune Arterial OAD
Summary: – (Taken from )
Type: Original Anime DVD, bundled by manga volume
The Positives: Thankfully Fortune Arterial’s story turned out to be pretty good…
The Negatives: ..but what can they do with just one episode, meant to “commemorate the fact that it got made into an anime”? Most of the useless fluff of Fortune Arterial’s anime was hard to watch anyway, so are they really planning to make an entire episode with just nothing but that or something?
First-Glance Potential: 30%
Bleach – Jigoku-hen
Summary: The Jigoku-Hen subtitle signifies that the story takes place in a place unvisited by Tite Kubo’s original manga, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary next year. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: Movie
Director: Noriyuki Abe
Other Notable Staff: Kubo Tite (original creator, supervision)
The Positives: It’s only a movie, so the battles can’t drag on for as long as they did in the series. Kubo Tite is actually supervising the production of the movie, so it’ll probably be adding something to the world of Bleach, rather than being a pointless random side-story.
The Negatives: There really is a good and a bad Pierrot. The bad Pierrot is what I consider to be Naruto and Bleach, and Naruto at least has some good character-development. Bleach started off as a hilarious series, but after thirty episodes it started to drag on its fights on and on. After ninety episodes, I finally gave up on it. Furthermore, just look at the promo art here: all of the characters look like they’re incredibly constipated!
First-Glance Potential: 30%
Yuri Seijin Naoko-san
Summary: The surreal gag manga follows a quiet, timid girl named Misuzu whose older sister Naoko is returning from studying aboard. However, when she hurries home to meet her sister, Misuzu instead encounters Naoko-san, the strange alien from Yuri-sei (Yuri Planet) who loves eroticism, yuri, and girls. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: OVA Included with Manga Volume
Notable Staff: All we know is that Ufotable will be producing it.
The Positives: The manga has been running for five years, so that must mean that there’s at least enough material for such a premise, right?
The Negatives: But really: are people running out of ideas or something? The “Yuri planet”… there is so much wrong with that and I can only hope that the creators realize this as well…
First-Glance Potential: 30%
Princess Resurrection OAD
Summary: Hiro Hiyorimi is a boy who has just moved to the city to meet his sister. While walking down the sidewalk, he is suddenly hit by a car (crushed by construction beams in the anime). On the verge of death, he is seen by a young woman clad in gothic clothes. She then resurrects him, leaving him alive in the hospital morgue. He wakes up confused over what happened, only to encounter the woman again as she eliminates some wolf creatures. She addresses Hiro as “her servant” and introduces herself as “Hime” (Japanese for Princess). The story then follows Hiro as he assists Hime in killing creatures that have been sent by her siblings to attack her. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: An Original Anime DVD
Director: Keiichiro Kawaguchi
Storyboard: Keiichiro Kawaguchi
Other Notable Staff: Kukido Sadakata (Character-designs, Animation Director)
The Positives: The original TV series was completely generic (or at least the first two episodes were, before I gave up on it), but the staff behind the OVA is completely different here. The visuals seem a lot more interesting with the same character-designer from Shikabane Hime.
The Negatives: The director is really generic, with his only good work Zettai Karen Children (and perhaps also Hayate the Combat Butler, but I didn’t really like that one either). His other works include Yutori-chan, Moetan, Kowarekake no Orgol, Nyan Koi and Getsumen to Heiki Mina. I really don’t think that he can make this story any less generic than its anime counterpart.
First-Glance Potential: 40%
Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu OVA
Summary: Advanced placement into a school of higher grade proof-reading is determined by the results of the Promotion Test strictly for class type. Ranging from A class with the best facilities anyone can offer all the way down to F Class which is composed of low dining tables, rotten tatami mats and other worn out facilities. Students can change classes by competing using the Examination Summons Battle system or ESB. Students summon characters with their equivalent test mark scores and use them to compete with other classes. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: 2 Episode OVA
Director: Shin Oonuma
Series Composition: Katsuhiko Takayama
Other Notable Staff: Kouji Azuma (Art Director)
The Positives: Katsuhiko Takayama’s work on Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru, Ga-Rei Zero, Hantsuki and the first seasons of ef and Natsu no Arashi was very solid. Same goes for Shin Oonuma on Pani Poni Dash and Natsu no Arashi and ef’s first seasons, and finally he can do something without Shinbo.
The Negatives: I didn’t like the TV-series of Baka to Test much, though. It felt like it wasted all of its best jokes in its first episode, and quickly got repetitive and annoying afterwards.
First-Glance Potential: 40%
Inazuma Eleven: Saikyō Gundan Ogre Shūrai
Summary: The main character, Endou Mamoru, is a very talented goalkeeper and the grandson of one of the strongest goalkeepers in Japan, who died before he was born. Even though his skills are incredible his school lacks a real soccer club as the 6 other members don’t appear very interested even in training. But as soon as a mysterious forward called Gouenji moves to Endou’s town, the young goalkeeper sets out to find and recruit members for his soccer team. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: Movie
Director: Yoshikazu Miyao
Series Composition: Atsuhiro Tomioka
Other Notable Staff: Akihiro Hino (Original Creator)
The Positives: I didn’t watch Inazuma Eleven (heck, it’s been going on for two years now and there’s still no end in sight), but I can really see this work as a movie here: it’s basically just an incredible cheese-fest in which a bunch of kids use the most ridiculous powers while playing football: this can really work as an over the top brainless action movie.
The Negatives: Atsuhiro Tomioka has no sense of pacing! Just look at Good Witch of the West, Makai Senki Disgaia and Zombie Loan: all of them could have been so much better if they were actually paced properly.
First-Glance Potential: 40%
T.P. Sakura ~Time Paladin Sakura~ Jikuu Boueisen
Summary: The project is a spinoff from the developer’s D.C. ~Da Capo~ franchise and features the Sakura Yoshino character as a seemingly ordinary third grader with secret special powers. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: OVA
Director: Takehiro Nakayama
Series Composition: Naoki Tozuka
Other Notable Staff: Makoto Koga (Character designs, Animation Director)
The Positives: They did get a pretty experienced guy as the animation director. His works include Aria the Animation, Sola and a bunch of Cardcaptor Sakura episodes. The director has also never directed an anime before, so this could be interesting, as he worked on quite a number of interesting projects. The scriptwriter meanwhile did write a bunch of episodes of Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou, so perhaps he’ll be able to put the same charms into this OVA.
The Negatives: I’m getting a bit tired of the milking of that Da Capo franchise, though. And if you’re going to start with a spin-off, please to an imaginative one instead of such an uninspired mahou shoujo knock-off.
First-Glance Potential: 50%
Morita-san wa Mukuchi
Summary: The four-panel manga follows the everyday life of a high school girl named Mayu Morita who is exceedingly gentle and thoughtful, to the point that she does not say much of anything to anyone. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: OVA (2 episodes have been confirmed), bundled with Manga Volume
The Positives: Nothing is really known about who is going to adapt this manga or anything, but the premise could turn into a gentle slice of life series.
The Negatives: I’m not exactly sure what’s up with the promo images, by the way. They just were there on the main website of this OVA, but I hope that they look a bit more… detailed than just that…
First-Glance Potential: 50%
Mirai Nikki
Summary: High school 2nd year, Amano Yukiteru, is a boy who has problem making friends. He thinks of himself as a bystander and will always write down everything he sees in a cell phone diary. Tormented by solitude, Yukiteru began to imagine things like a friend called Deus X Makina who is apparently the Lord of Time & Space. Seeing Yukiteru’s miserable state, Deus gives him a new ability. His diary will now record events that will happen in the near future. Yukiteru is then forced to participate in a game which the winner will become Deus’s successor. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: Pilot OVA bundled with Manga Volume
Director: Naoto Hosoda
Script: Katsuhiko Takayama
Other Notable Staff: Eiji Hirayama (Character-designs)
The Positives: Everything is pointing to the fact that this is a pilot, meant to test whether or not Mirai Nikki will work as an anime. The premise of a diary that predicts the future does have a lot of potential in the right hands. Katsuhiko Takayama is a pretty good adapter, considering his works on Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru, Natsu no Arashi and ef.
The Negatives: The director and character-designer of Shuffle worry me a bit, though.
First-Glance Potential: 60%
Mai no Mahou to Katei ni
Summary: In the story, eight-year-old second-grader Mai Tatsumi uses magic to understand her family’s feelings. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: 30 Minute OVA
The Positives: This one isn’t listed on Moonphase yet, but I decided to include it anyway. An OVA either for kids or nostalgic adults, it seems promising anyway, especially since it’s from PA Works.
The Negatives: But then again, the exact adaptation staff is not known yet, so it could really be a flop as well.
First-Glance Potential: 70%
Kara no kyoukai Final Chapter
Summary: Mikiya Kokuto finds himself intrigued by two things. The first is by Shiki Ryougi a beautiful, yet rather unsociable, girl and the other is the strange series of violent deaths that start occurring in his town. As he attempts to get closer to Shiki, he soon learns that the two are connected and that there are many supernatural forces at work which could very likely get him killed as well. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: 30 Minute BD OVA
Director: ???
Script: ???
Other Notable Staff: Kinoko Nasu (Original Creator)
The Positives: More Kara no Kyoukai is of course always welcome, even though I have absolutely no idea what it’ll be about.
The Negatives: I mean, the movies were fairly conclusive, weren’t they? This Final Chapter isn’t even a movie, but an OVA, and it is shipped along with a 60-minute recap of the first seven Kara no Kyoukai movies.
First-Glance Potential: 80%
Macross Frontier – Sayonara no Tsubasa
Summary: Macross Frontier marks the 25th anniversary of the Macross anime franchise. It is a direct sequel to the first Macross series and Macross 7 and follows the lives of Alto Saotome, Ranka Lee and a pop idol named Sheryl Nome on board the Macross Frontier colonization fleet. After the war against the Zentradi aliens, Humankind has spread across the universe in order to ensure its survival. The Macross Frontier fleet is part of a effort to spread and maintain the culture of humanity. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: Movie (Part 2 of a Do You Remember Love-esque remake)
Director: Shoji Kawamori (Yes, he’s actually directing on his own this time)
Screenplay: Shoji Kawamori, Hiroyuki Yoshino
Other Notable Staff: Yoko Kanno (Music)
The Positives: The first Macross Frontier Movie was a really big surprise: it was much shorter than the TV-series, but actually much better: it was much more streamlined, the graphics were even better, the characters were nowhere as annoying. It’s now up to Sayonara no Tsubasa to continue this trend to make it really work and not give us the cop-out ending that the TV-series treated us with.
The Negatives: Hiroyuki Yoshino wrote the scripts and scenarios of Mai Hime and Mai Otome, Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny, Sora no Oto, Seikon no Qwaser, Denpa-Teki na Kanojo, Dance in the Vampire Bund and assisted in the series composition of Code Geass R1 and R2. Holy crap: when this guy is good, he really is great; when he’s bad, things become a trainwreck!
First-Glance Potential: 80%
Votoms Finder
Summary: Votoms Finder will center around Aki Tesuno, a guard for scrap salvagers and a pilot of a robotic mecha called an At or Altro (as opposed to VOTOMS’ trademark Armored Trooper mecha). – (Taken from ANN)
Type: Movie (second of a trilogy)
Director: Atsushi Shigeta
Script: Mayori Sekijima
Other Notable Staff: Junichi Hayama (Character designs, animation and art director)
The Positives: The fun part of the three Votoms movies of course is the fact that they’re going to be completely different. The Votoms Franchise has really gotten itself a unique conclusion when it already was a unique series, and this movie will detail more of a side story in the universe of Votoms. The director also has his first shot at directing something, and before this production he only worked as an animator and animation director before. I’m really interested what he’s able to do with this franchise. Mayori Sekijima meanwhile also wrote the Soultaker, Zegapain and Gad Guard and adopted Skip Beat, Pandora Hearts and le Portrait de Petit Cosette, so this should prove to be really interesting.
The Negatives: But yeah, the thing remains that Ryousuke Takahashi isn’t going to be involved with this one, while he was the big reason that Votoms became so good. Junichi Hayama behind the visuals doesn’t seem like the most solid choice, and you can see that in the rather cheesy promo art. Mayori Sekijima also did adapt a bunch of flops.
First-Glance Potential: 80%
Fafner: Dead Agressor: Heaven and Earth
Summary: – (Taken from )
Type: Movie
Screenplay: Tow Ubukata
Other Notable Staff: Angela (Theme Song Performance)
The Positives: I have not watched the original Fafner in the Azure, but I’m really looking forward to watching it, as it sounds like an awesome action series. The same goes with this movie, and I’m very interested in what Xebec can do to it. Especially because Tow Ubakata also wrote the original stories of Mardock Scramble and Le Chevalier d’Eon.
The Negatives: Okay, so he also was the one who wrote the series composition of Heroic Age. That’s about the only reason why I’m a bit cautious about it, but as soon as I get the chance to watch the series of Fafner, I’m going to track this one down.
First-Glance Potential: 90%
Tailenders
Summary: The destiny of Tomoe Shiro, a formidable racer with a very promising career, experiments an U-turn when a serious accident puts his life at stake. He recovers miraculously, though, when his heart is replaced with the engine of his own racing car. However, because of that very reason, race regulations demote him to the category of a mere mechanical part of the vehicle and is deprived from the right to participate as a pilot in regular races. Only in a far away colonial planet, along with a multitude of other charismatic pilots also vetoed from participating in regular competitions, he will be given the opportunity to race for his pride and the money of the prize. And so this exciting rally starts!! – (Taken from ANN)
Type: 28-Minute Movie
Director: Picograph
Producers: Anime Innovations Tokyo
The Positives: Oh god, I love Anime Innovatitons Tokyo already: this premise sounds even better than Cencoroll’s. Here’s hoping that they’ll be able to do many more projects after this.
The Negatives: They’re like Studio 4C, though: very creative and innovative, but their projects are often really short. This one is just going to be 28 minutes, and I’d love to see them sponsor some actual TV-series.
First-Glance Potential: 90%
Supernatural the Animation
Summary: Two brothers, Sam and Dean Winchester, team up to find their father, John, who went missing on a hunting trip. However, their father isn’t a typical hunter: he hunts supernatural creatures like ghosts, vampires, and various demons and he’s trained his sons to do the same. Along the way, Sam and Dean save innocent people, fight creatures and ghosts, and collect clues to their father’s whereabouts. – (Taken from Wikipedia)
Type: 22 Episode OVA
Director: Atsuko Ishizuka, Shigeyuki Miya
Script: Sumino Kawashima, Akemi Moriyama
Other Notable Staff: Shusei Murai (music), Takahiro Yoshimatsu (character-designs, animation director),
The Positives: Holy crap! Where to start: Shusei Murai was the one who composed Mouryou no Hako’s haunting soundtrack, there are a ton of people who worked on Aoi Bungaku who are going to return for this one, including the directors of Kokoro and Hell Screen and the Spider’s Thread, Sumino Kawashima did some amazing work on the screenplay of Hashire Melos and a bunch of Himitsu the Revelation episodes and to top things off we have the character designer of Trigun and Ooedo Rocket in charge of the animation. On top of that, with 22 episodes this is promising to become the longest OVA since Legend of Galactic Heroes or something, and the creators will be animating the best episodes of the TV-series, along with some completely new ones. This really is one to look out for.
The Negatives: I have not watched anything of the Supernatural series. Would that be a disadvantage, or an advantage? Do the creators plan to create a standalone story here, or are they just going to end up animating a bunch of random episodes?
First-Glance Potential: 90%
Armored Trooper Votoms: Koei Futatabi
Summary: At an oasis, Chirico (the main character of the VOTOMS series) will reunite with his old friend Gotho and other characters after 32 years. – (Taken from ANN)
Type: Movie
Director: Kazuyoshi Takeuchi, Ryousuke Takahashi
Script/Storyboard: Masashi Ikeda
Other Notable Staff: Masanobu Nomura (Art Direction)
The Positives: Hell yeah, I’m a big Votoms fan here, and based on the way that the Gen-ei hen is playing out, the creators are intending this to be the movie to conclude the entire franchise. Unlike the first two movies of the trilogy, this is one that Ryousuke Takahashi will be involved in as the director, which only makes things even better.
The Negatives: Why the heck is the director of Cluster Edge writing the script?
First-Glance Potential: 90%
Mirai Nikki going to require a lot of suspense of belief Psgels. The manga had so many plot holes that you could call it Swiss cheese. Not to mention that the author tried to make it about mind games but wasn’t smart enough to pull it off. However I will give it credit for producing the most triumphant yandere in the history of manga and anime.
The supernatural tv show was actually very good. Episodes were hit and miss due to each episode having a different director but some of the stories were really great. It was good enough for me to buy the first four seasons. However if this will translate well into anime…I guess we will just have to see.
This winter season there are definitely more movies and OVAs that I look forward to watch than there are tv-series.
btw I hope you won’t watch Fafner: Dead Agressor: Heaven and Earth before the tv series, there seems to be a strong connection between them.
The Supernatural anime will be a reimagining of the first 2 seasons of the TV series if I recall correctly. I’m pretty much a fan of the original and since it seems to aim for a standalone experience I guess it will be enjoyable for both newcomers and people like me.
To sum it up for you: Supernatural basically depicts the road trip of the Winchester brothers who hunt demons and everything related. There’s a fairly diverse underlying plot that connects everything and always has its climaxes in the different seasons’ finales and the focus gradually shifted to the overarching plots with each new season. A lot of time is spent on developing the main characters and the story sometimes really makes you wonder whether Eric Kripke and his staff where actually inspired/influenced by anime…
I don’t know in what manner Madhouse will structure the overall content of the first 2 seasons, but I dare to say I can’t imagine you not enjoying it. Due to both the original and the fact that Madhouse is responsible for the anime.
Problem is that they’ll just release all 22 episodes at once which of course turns out to be expensive… I hope they decide to stream it somewhere after they’ve gained enough money. Which they already achieved solely through preorders if I’m not mistaken… Anyway it’s not that expensive when you consider it would most likely cost you even more if they released several discs with just a few episodes periodically.
Meh, hardly anything to look forward to, except for the Fafner movie… Some of the OVAs/movies I’ll check out only because I watched/am watching the tv series (BakaTest, Fortune Arterial, Macross Frontier), but I’m not really expecting much from them;
As for the upcoming Bleach movie… well, considering how the three movies up to now have all been a pain to sit through, and how the manga has been a fighting-and-fanservice fest lately, to the point where I have a hard time remembering what the plot was even about, I believe it’s wiser not to expect anything special from it, even if Kubo Tite is involved with the project;
So yeah, I look forward to the Fafner movie the most, since I loved the tv series (though I would call it anything BUT an action series, lol), and you mentioning Heroic Age in “the negatives” doesn’t deter me in the slightest, since I happen to love this one as well (it’s one of those rare cases when I completely and utterly disagree with your review of a series);
As for the Supernatural OVAs, all the awesome staff involved, that you mentioned, really made me look forward to it as well, even though I’m not much of a fan of the original series…
Awesome..quite a solid line-up of OVAs. I really can’t believe i’m looking more forward to them than the actual tv broadcasted series of the season. Good stuff indeed.
wow love love love!!
and as for the kara no kyoukai final chapter i think they’re probably animating the epilogue of the novels that they never fit into the last movie! if it is about the epilogue, then its gonna be awesome!
The Fafner movie made my day. I think it’s going to be a compilation movie, though.
Really looking forward to Supernatural the Animation. Never heard of it before now, but it sounds interesting.
Well Supernatural The Animation is what the Marvel Anime should’ve been.
OMG, a Fafner Movie !! I loved the TV series and the OVA. And yeah psgels, you should really watch them both 🙂
And if it can reassure you, I didn’t like Heroic Age either, so…
On a side note: go watch Planetes
I’m quite eager to read your review of Fafner in the Azure tv series. It’s definitely not original as far as mecha plots are concerned but it was certainly well executed. It takes itself a bit too seriously and it’s crammed full of dramas but let see what you’ll make of it. 😉
It’s nice to see you’re optimistic about Kara no Kyoukai, most of the Votoms spin-offs and even the second Macross Frontier movie…though I can’t deny it’s also a bit annoying to be reminded about some of your most closed-minded and sloppy comments or reviews here and there, but I guess that comes with the territory. Nevertheless, I hope it will still be interesting to read your reviews for the upcoming season, even if I’m bound to disagree with at least a couple of them in the process.
“Is it really that good of a story that it warrants such a long running time?”
Yes. I dunno why, but I love Ah My Goddess since I’ve been a kid and to this day still enjoy reading the stories.
“Mirai Nikki going to require a lot of suspense of belief Psgels. The manga had so many plot holes that you could call it Swiss cheese.”
Definatly (though I’d argue it’s not nearly as messy as mangas such as “Lost + Brain” and “Doubt”)but I think suspending my disbalief was well worth it,watching these characters (and not just yandere queen Yuno,but really all characters) interact is very entertaining to me,as long as they’re on screen,I’m happy.Mirai Nikki is a series that knows when to take itself seriously and when not to,as should the viewer..
And I think the series stays fresh with the different types of “diaries” that are introduced,you don’t fall in a routine,and lastly even if it takes time there is character developement.
For someone such as psgels who hasn’t read the manga:even if you’re not blown away by the pilot and a series is announced,you should still consider watching the series,remember this is a pilot,it’s going to expose the basics of the concept but the real fun starts later in the manga.
I’d say t’s a cross between Battle royale,death note and eden of the east.
The Supernatural anime seems really neat. I’m a semi fan of the original. Ah Megami Sama can be good when it wants to be as seen in the fantastic movie and the Urd episodes from the 1st season. Too bad they choose to keep going back to the beginning of the manga when the characters were still generic.
Mirai Nikki and BakaTest 🙂
Forgeting Angel beat OAD?
Kind of baffled that they’re releasing a Fafner movie after all this time. I enjoyed the original despite recognizing that it wasn’t very good. My god, the angst……
The last few seasons have been disappointing, and this is no exception- Mirai Nikki is the only show that’s even remotely intriguing right now.
Fafner in the Azure was quite a mixed bag. There were some really exceptional episodes and some horrible ones. It also suffered from pacing issues but the final episodes tied up a lot of loose ends while introducing new plot devices that made the whole thing much much more confusing. Still, it was one of the better mecha releases back in the day even though I hated the character designs by Hisashi Hirai. And some episodes were really powerful so as to bring a lot of people to their knees. There was a Fafner one episode OVA which was essentially a prequel so for this movie if ever it is a recap I hope they make it as emotional and powerful as the TV series.
Future Diary is brainless entertainment and as such, it is GOOD. Also, yes, best yandere character ever.
Also, as much as I hate to say it, especially to you, psgels, for the love of god, give Ah! My Goddess a chance before you bash it. You only watched the first episode of the second season if my memory serves correctly. It’s not really a harem, it’s a slice of life and while it’s not the most amazing thing out there, it’s good enough for me to warrant such a long run.
Honestly, I scrolled down the post, looking for your Mirai Nikki (Yuno, pfft. Minene animated, fuck yes) opinion, and that was it. That’s really all I’m interested in this season. Well, maybe Supernatural as well, after reading your positives on it.
Anything else, I’ll wait for viewer opinions.
“Minene animated, fuck yes”
Minene is cool,”pirate” minene with the eyepatch is even cooler,sadly doesn’t look that we’ll see that in the OVA
If you haven’t watched Fafner in the Azure the TV series, I strongly suggest you watch it now. The timing of “HEAVEN AND EARTH” is 2 years after when the anime finishes in the TV series, and 6 years in real time. Time washed away and grit and made true beauty shine. Fafner the TV series is one that makes its audience really feels it. 6 years has past and the impression of the cast turns to full and grew deeper when the time goes by. More importantly, this movie is set to be the end of the whole series, and the 2 yr/6 yr has its self meaning to its theme/characters/audience, which is something you will never experience as a new viewer. Oh, and there is a lot of subtle and puzzling pieces in the TV, which needs time to digest. Don’t worry about the OVA though. It’s a lot more straight forward and can be completely viewed as its own. But it will definately be a hugh loss if you miss it.
And as for Tow Ubukata, although he is the series composer for Heroic Age, he didn’t write every episode except for the first and toward the end of the story. That maybe why the end of Heroic Age manages to roll itself up and turns out to be a lot better than the first half(which is a similar situation with Fafner…= =).