I’ve always wanted to do one of these full previews, but usually there are some comprehensive guides out before I even start. This is my first time, be gentle! Anyway, a lot of information comes from MAL and ANN, but in (perhaps) a nicer format. I will be completely freed from my current series come Spring, but I think 6 series was a bit much for me this season. Fortunately, I’m not super excited about the choices available, so I’ll probably pick up 3-4 series to post about in Spring.
This post ended up being a ton of work to put together, so I am skipping stuff that I will definitely not watch and continuations (Dragonball Z Remastered, Konnichi wa Anne, Hayate no Gotoku 2, Cross Game, Rainbow Nisha Rokubou no Shichinin, Marie & Gali, Robo Crosser, Bakugan Battle Brawlers, Metal Fight Beyblade, Fight Ippatsu! Juuden-Chan!!, and Sugar Bunnies Fleur).
We love fridge magnets
Title: Full Metal Alchemist 2
Episodes: 51
Air Date: April 5, 2009
Producers: Bones
Summary: (Likely to be a faithful manga adaptation, this will be a remake of the first series)
Edward and Alphonse Elric try to revive their mother using Alchemy, and fail horrifyingly. Years later, Edward becomes a “State Alchemist” and with Alphonse, the two brothers set out to find a way to restore the damage done by their crime.
Reaction: This is one of those series that I am torn about. I figure this will draw a lot of readers (especially over time), and I hear the manga story is tighter. Although the first series aired about 5 years ago, I still remember most of the details. Also, this will likely be a long commitment, and in blogging 4-cours can seem like an eternity. I do want to see if the budget will be as high as a series of this caliber deserves.
Watch: Yes
Blog: Maybe
[ MAL | ANN ]
As the temperature rises, so do the hem lines
Title: Shangri-La
Episodes: 24
Air Date: April 5, 2009
Producers: Gonzo
Summary: Global warming has turned Tokyo into a tropical city. To reduce the temperature of the city by 5°C (9°F), it is being reborn as the world’s largest forest city. Despite the flow of refugees to the new city, Atlas, there are few who can actually live there, and anti-government guerrillas are attempting to stop the forestation.
Reaction: So this is one of the series that Gonzo is using its now-precious manpower on. My main question is: Are the anti-forestation, anti-government guerrillas going to fight the pro-forestation, pro-government gorillas? This anime is based on the manga by Ikegami Eiichi, and the character designs are by Last Exile artist Range Murata. I am always drawn to series with great art, so I am looking forward to some gorilla warfare. I’d really like for this to be a less-confusing Last Exile in the jungle.
Watch: Yes
Blog: Yes
[ MAL | ANN ]
Lost My Music
Title: K-ON!
Episodes: 13
Air Date: April 2, 2009
Producers: Kyoto Animation
Summary: (An adaptation of the 4-koma manga)
The story follows four girls who try to rescue their high school’s light music club, but they are all novices who cannot even play instruments or read music.
Reaction: KyoAni series always elicit strong reactions, and this one looks to continue the pattern. The character art looks cute, as expected, but I have found that 4-koma series tend not to lend themselves to episodic summary posts. There also seems to be one girl with thick eyebrows, which always totally drives me away. Wake me up in 5 years when the girls re-form as a DMC-esque band.
Watch: Yes
Blog: No
[ MAL | ANN ]
Naked amnesiacs are the best amnesiacs
Title: Eden of the East
Episodes: 11
Air Date: April 9, 2009
Producers: Production I.G
Summary: 3 months after the failed terrorist attack “Careless Monday,” Saki Morimi, a young woman in the USA on her graduation trip, runs into trouble outside of the White House. She is saved by Akira Takizawa, a mysterious naked man without his memory, owning only a gun and a mobile phone stored with 8,200 million yen.
Reaction: Hmm, usually naked men with guns don’t save lost young women, but this is anime. In that case, helloooooo sugar-daddy! The promotional art is reminiscent of Honey & Clover (Chika Umino did the character designs), but I don’t think that there is any connection besides the similar artwork. I’m not thrilled by the description, but I always give a chance to 1-cour series.
Watch: Maybe
Blog: Maybe
[ MAL | ANN ]
Use the Moonsault Press!
Title: Guin Saga
Episodes: 26
Air Date: April 5, 2009
Producers: Satelight
Summary: “The seal will be broken after many years.” In the land of Nospherus, four heroes embark on a path of destiny that will weave a new legend. The story follows Guin, a powerful swordsman with a leopard head, the adolescent royal twins Remus and Rinda, and the young and ambitious mercenary named Istvan.
Reaction: Because I am incredibly shallow, I would have a very hard time taking Guin seriously for a whole season. There’s also a monkey girl and some Black Lagoon-esque twins. I don’t know, this doesn’t feel like something I’d be interested in, although it is based on some epic novels apparently. I noticed that Guin is not wearing any shoes, and this seems unrealistic to me.
Watch: No
Blog: No
[ MAL | ANN ]
Mustache Man is like a porcupine
Title: Sengoku BASARA
Episodes: 12
Air Date: April 1, 2009
Producers: Production I.G
Summary: An adaptation of CAPCOM’s action-adventure game franchise, described as some as a “Japanese Dynasty Warriors.”
Reaction: I can never stand these large-scale epics, because there are inevitably way too many characters to keep track of. I took a look at the initial character list, and while there wasn’t a LoGH-sized list of names, the characters had some funny-looking designs. At least not all of the characters have been replaced by girls in a piss-poor attempt to piggyback off the franchise name. Although the cast and staff have some impressive names, I figure I’ll pass this one by and not look back.
Watch: No
Blog: No
[ MAL | ANN ]
Big guns vs. big boobs
Title: Valkyria Chronicles
Episodes: 26
Air Date: April 4, 2009
Producers: A-1 Pictures, Sega
Summary: In a fictitious continent reminiscent of 1930s Europe divided in two by the Empire and the Federation, the Empire has set its sights on invading a small neutral country called Gallia – situated in between the two great empires. Welkin and his fellow soldiers of the Federation’s 7th Platoon are engaged in the battle.
Reaction: The weirdest thing about the official website isn’t that it looks sorta like a newspaper, but that the characters blink on their profiles. The character art looks pretty decent, so I might pick this one up. I’m not usually into war series, but I do want to know if the Federation can take down Emperor Roman Puffypants and his bitchy, big-boobed assistant.
Watch: Yes
Blog: Maybe
[ MAL | ANN ]
Summoning Playboy bunny, BRB
Title: Pandora Hearts
Episodes: 25
Air Date: April 2, 2009
Producers: Xebec
Summary: Oz Bezarius, heir to one of the duke houses, has turned fifteen. At his coming-of-age ceremony, however, he is cast into the prison “Abyss,” only to be saved by a “chain,” Alice, a bloodstained black rabbit. He seeks to explain what happened and what the organization known as Pandora wants with him.
Reaction: The art looks ok, but the description sounds really boring. This kind of emo stuff mixed with wannabe-Alice In Wonderland themes doesn’t sound promising, but you could say the same about Rozen Maiden. The manga was a bit creepy and pretentious, but I could see the anime being an average series. In some ways, it felt like a Victorian Shakugan no Shana with an extra helping of pretty-boys.
Watch: Maybe
Blog: No
[ MAL | ANN ]
Like Chris Paul, I think I'll pass
Title: Basquash!
Episodes: 26
Air Date: April 2, 2009
Producers: Satelight
Summary: On the planet Earthdash, its inhabitants gaze on its moon and the technoligically advanced lunar city of Mooneyes with awe. Dan JD, a boy living in Rollingtown on Earthdash’s surface, gets caught up in Bigfoot Basketball — a fast-paced sport played with giant Bigfoot robots.
Reaction: At first I was really excited that it was an anime series about basketball, but then I realized it was mecha basketball =(. And why make it Earthdash? Just call it Earth. That is like saying I live in Pennsylvaniadash and I gaze upon the advanced city of New Yorkeyes. Of course even though this is about robo-basketball, the lead mechanic is still an annoying, short, loud-mouthed kid. I fully expect this show to be an unmitigated disaster.
Watch: No
Blog: No
[ MAL | ANN ]
Aw damn, you just got peacocked
Title: Saki
Episodes: 25
Air Date: April 5, 2009
Producers: Gonzo
Summary: The story centers around Saki Miyanaga, a timid freshman girl who has never enjoyed the Asian tile game of mahjong. However, another freshman brings her into their high school’s mahjong club and into the competitive world of mahjong tournaments.
Reaction: Oh god, mahjong. I don’t usually like sports/games series, and nothing I’ve seen makes me think Saki will be any different. This was a curious choice for Gonzo, but perhaps many anime fans like mahjong. How many more boring games can they make anime series out of? How long before we get robot mahjong?!
Watch: No
Blog: No
[ MAL | ANN ]
Before I watch, I'm going to need more wine
Title: Ristorante Paradiso
Episodes: 11
Air Date: April 8, 2009
Producers: David Production
Summary: A restaurant in Rome is visited by Nicoletta, who lives in the countryside with her grandparents. Her divorced mother abandons her after remarrying, and so Nicoletta goes to the restaurant owned by the new husband of her mother, and ends up apprenticing there among a kitchen staff of colorful characters.
Reaction: Who the heck is David Production? I see they worked on two episodes of Code Geass R2. I also see that the website menus are in Italian so neither Japanese nor English fans can really read them. This is based on a manga series, and I could see it being a sweet slice-of-life series, but nothing about the series interests me at all.
Watch: No
Blog: No
[ MAL | ANN ]
I feel like I'm forgetting something...
Title: Queens Blade
Episodes: 12
Air Date: April 2, 2009
Producers: ARMS, GENCO
Summary: The story follows a competition to decide the next Queen. The strongest warrior will rule the country and expand it. The contestants need to be older than 12. They need not be human, intelligent, or even of that country. The rules for the tournament: murder is allowed. Any weapon can be chosen.
Reaction: I have a low initial opinion of this series, even though it has quite a franchise (of game books… what?) behind it. I suspect this will lure in fans of the franchise, and will offer up a mediocre anime series. There is a very good chance this will be a poorly animated show about exploding shirts and bouncing breasts.
Watch: No
Blog: No
[ MAL | ANN ]
You're not fooling me a second time
Title: Natsu no Arashi
Episodes: 13
Air Date: April 5, 2009
Producers: SHAFT
Summary: (From the creator of School Rumble)
It centers on a boy named Hajime Yasaka who meets an older high school girl named Sayoko “Arashi” Arashiyama in an old town coffee shop. “Arashi” happens to have a secret that Hajime learns one fateful summer vacation.
Reaction: Like Hinano, I resent Kobayashi Jin for dragging out School Rumble for ever and ever and then giving us a lame ending. Combine the generally mediocre character art with Shaft’s propensity for weirdness, and I have no interest at all in this series. Never ever call this number again.
Watch: No
Blog: No
[ MAL | ANN ]
Had a really hard time shaving this morning
Title: Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~
Episodes: 26
Air Date: April 2, 2009
Producers: Bee Train, GENCO
Summary: In the American underworld, Mafia leaders are being killed one after another, with rumors of “Inferno” and the organization’s top assassin “Phantom” circulating around them. A boy traveling alone in America becomes involved in one of these incidents and unexpectedly encounters Phantom.
Reaction: Oh Bee Train, I wish I knew how to quit you. I thought this general theme was supposed to be a completed trilogy now, and yet this sounds just like all the others. I’ll still probably get tricked into watching and slogging through the slow middle section.
Watch: Maybe
Blog: Maybe
[ MAL | ANN ]
It says, "You gonna get raped..."
Title: Hatsukoi Limited
Episodes: 12
Air Date: April 11, 2009
Producers: J.C. Staff
Summary: The story begins when middle-schooler Arihara Ayumi receives a love letter from a very large and intimidating high-schooler, Zaitsu Misao, asking her out. It also follows the stories and everyday lives of the other high and junior high school girls in her life.
Reaction: While there are some definite silly fanservice elements in this manga, I could see this being a fun, light-hearted love-comedy. Shows with lots of couples and triangles tend to be fun to blog, and the character art looks pretty good. I’ll have to see how desperate I am for romance, but I’m willing to give this show a shot.
Watch: Maybe
Blog: Maybe
[ MAL | ANN ]
Bondage, James Bondage
Title: 07-Ghost
Episodes: 25
Air Date: April 6, 2009
Producers: Studio DEEN
Summary: Barsburg Empire’s Military Academy is known for training elite soldiers with special abilities. Teito Klein passes the final exam, but suddenly finds himself an escaping convict from the empire. Finding shelter in the church, he seeks to uncover the mystery behind his exile, his past, and the “Ghosts” that protect the church.
Reaction: The trailer felt so incredibly CLAMP-ish, right down to the two bishies who have to fight, even though they really just want to make sweet sweet love to each other. I believe 95% of the characters are male in this show.
Watch: No
Blog: No
[ MAL | ANN ]
Bra's supposed to go under your shirt, dude
Title: Tears to Tiara
Episodes: 26
Air Date: April 5, 2009
Producers: Oriental Light and Magic
Summary: Riannon is set to be sacrificed to appease resurrected demon lord, Arawn. As her brother attempts to rescue her, Arawn defies those who resurrected him and frees Riannon from her captors, leading to her admiration for him. Arawn acts as a leader and assembles a party of companions.
Reaction: As soon as I read the description, I immediately knew that this had to be based off an RPG, and I was right. I pretty much never watch these RPG conversions, and nothing I saw on the website changed my mind. I like how they call it a “party” when they really mean a “harem.” Also, that brother probably feels really inadequate right about now. I bet he can’t mack on any of the floozies companions in the group in front of his sister.
Watch: No
Blog: No
[ MAL | ANN ]
At least I'll never get fat or pregnant, right?
Title: Asura Cryin’
Episodes: 13
Air Date: April 5, 2009
Producers: Seven Arcs
Summary: A both lighthearted and serious school action story revolving around Tomoharu Natsume, a boy who has been haunted by a ghostly girl who seems to be his childhood friend.
Reaction: Not too much information out there, although this is based on a series of light novels. The story sounds pretty weak-sauce, but I can’t say I’ve ever heard of a dead childhood friend being the lead girl before. Watch she’s not really dead, but in a coma. This kinda reminds me of those horrible Gray’s Anatomy episodes where Izzie went around having ghost-sex all the time.
Watch: No
Blog: No
[ MAL | ANN ]
We ran out of oil
Title: Hanasekeru Seishounen
Episodes: 39
Air Date: April 5, 2009
Producers: Studio Pierrot
Summary: The story surrounds a political mystery involving a small middle-eastern country. A powerful industrialist directs his daughter to pick a husband from three chosen candidates. They enter her life, impressing her with their uniqueness, and they all leave an outstanding impression on her.
Reaction: 3-cours of this stereotypical stuff? Ugh, no thanks. When I see the promo, I can’t help but think how hilarious it would be if all the bishies were redrawn in the style of Kaiji. Those chins really are a slippery slope. It’s pretty cool that the heroine’s name is Kajika Louisa Kugami Burnsworth, which is one of the longest names I have ever seen in anime. This story would be more fun if the guys were all jackasses, and the daughter still had to pick one at the end.
Watch: No
Blog: No
[ MAL | ANN ]
Wolf and Spicy
Title: Tayutama -Kiss on my Deity-
Episodes: 12
Air Date: April 5, 2009
Producers: Media Factory
Summary: There is a legend of a guardian deity named Tayutayu which has been lost over time. Mito and his friends discover a mysteriously patterned relic on the school grounds and at the new year opening ceremony, a mysterious girl, Mashiro, appears before Mito. Mashiro is somehow tied to the relic and Tayutayu legend.
Reaction: The description sounds terrible, just like the description of Kannagi. More importantly, however, I don’t really like that style of art. Naturally, this is based on an eroge, and there are plenty of cute little animal-blobs and moe-blobs. The trailer had tentacles and mediocre art. Then again, I’m pretty desperate for a 1-cour series to round out my blogging, so I’ll give this one a darkhorse chance. Also, a few commenters have mentioned that the game was enjoyable.
Watch: Maybe
Blog: Maybe
[ MAL | ANN ]
This series has a lot of hair in it
Title: Shinkyoku Soukai Polyphonica Crimson S
Episodes: 12
Air Date: April 4, 2009
Producers: Diomedea
Summary: “Dantists” play music and communicate with Spirits who live alongside humans. Tatara Phoron is a Dantist in contact with a spirit, Corticarte Apa Langranges. The new series focuses on Corticarte and ties into the Polyphonica Crimson S light novel adaptation set during the Academy years of the storyline.
Reaction: I guess this is related to a show from 2007 that I didn’t watch. Since I don’t remember anyone talking about the prequel when it aired, I think it’s safe to say that I won’t be checking out the sequel either.
Watch: No
Blog: No
[ MAL | ANN ]
L is for Loser
Title: Gokujou!! Mecha Mote Iinchou
Episodes: ?
Air Date: April 4, 2009
Producers: ?
Summary: About an outstanding freshman and a kind and well-known chairman. Everything is easy for her, except for the three rebellious boys who disturb the whole class, and she must handle their trouble. Eventually she goes from trying to keep them in line to seeing the good in them.
Reaction: This looks like a typical shoujo, right down to the crappy art. Sounds like this girl totally failed in her police duties and ended up being converted by the opposition. Also, is that a ham-ham I see?
Watch: No
Blog: No
[ MAL | ANN ]
Related posts:
48 Comments
Oh shit, really? A fellow Pennsylvanian in the blogosphere? Don’t see many from around here :p
>Saki >Gonzo
I missed that part
Well, still, it has Ueda Kana as the main character, so I’m going to give this one a shot.
Sounds sexy! And necrophiliac-y~
Tears to Tiara is packed full of awesome seiyuu, but I’m not expecting much. Still, even if it’s total crap, I’ll probably watch it if the seiyuu I like have prominent roles :p
I really ought to just get around to making one of my own posts like this so I can stop leaving the same comment on everyone else’s blog, but that’d take effort…
I thought it would be easy to put one of these previews together, but it was pretty much the hardest post I have ever written. I had to add a bunch of stuff to my CSS stylesheet to get the captions to display right, and then the WP image uploader bugged out on me. For some reason, after the post got to a certain length, adding any captioned images would cause the entire post to disappear until the
code was stripped out.
I ended up solving the problem by using the image uploader in the visual editor mode to insert images. Totally sucky, but you gotta do what you gotta do. This post took hours and hours of tedious work, whereas my normal preview posts (no pics, just one-liners) only take a few minutes to whip out.
That’s where my schneizeleffort would kick in and I’d say screw it all. Likely I’ll just make a post going over what I think I’ll check out or something. Screw trying to make it fancy and have pictures and silly stuff that’s actually useful! :p
By the way, you said you’d be completely freed of your shows come Spring, but isn’t Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo supposed to be 24 episodes? I thought I remembered MAL saying it was 24 (maybe 26?).
Wow, SoraKake is gonna drag on for 2-cour? That is kind of a depressing thought actually… ANN only has 13 episodes, but MAL says 26.
I never quite dug the WP image caption system. I like how it looks, but I found the code gets totally jacked up if you don’t use the WP visual editor… and the visual editor mangles any existing HTML. It’s like a vicious cycle. So I ended up using unstyled tables, but you probably could get a similar look if you css style the tables, no? I’m not sure if that’s any more or less work in the end though.
I’m also torn about FMA. I really liked the old series, and I’ll probably watch the new series… but I’m gonna get very annoyed if it starts feeling a little too familiar.
Otherwise, yeah, the spring season’s pretty weak. I am looking forward to Pandora Hearts though… because in my head, I keep thinking Kingdom Hearts. Something tells me I’m going to be very disappointed when the time comes.
Aaah *exhales*
I’m both hopeful and scared about Phantom of Inferno. The original source – a visual novel from Nitroplus – is arguably the best game of this kind ever translated into English (my personal biased opinion, but on the objective count, I’d at least put it in the top3). But is Bee Train the right way to do it?
The first attempt to do it (an unspeakable OVA) was such a catastrophe that the hardcore PoI fans refuse to acknowledge its existence. I’m really excited to hear that the show is given a second chance… but I’m afraid that the standard Bee Train “stylized” approach might be inadequate here. The story itself is a bitter and gritty action drama… of young characters tossed into a shadow world against their will, trying frantically to survive and eventually to escape. The realization that what they’re doing is murder and thus inherently wrong is an integral part of the atmosphere. Bee Train, on the other hand, has a tendency to glorify mystical combat prowess, which would alter a key element of the setup here. I guess you can still do it this way, but…
I also wonder if going for the normal 2-season setup would be wise. It would basically force the story to extend the “normal” Inferno missions in the middle (going with the “glorified violence” aspect again), while the real strength of the story are the beginning and particularly the ending.
If they can pull a proper conversion off, this might become a classic (sadly, unlikely). If they manage to do the Bee Train standard, it should become an entertaining 7.5/10 show, which will be good enough for me to watch. I just hope they won’t botch it like the first attempt.
Tayutama: I’ve played one path of the game (the Shizuka Itou doctrine demanded it), and it was very very entertaining with a very satisfying ending. Unfortunately, since Mifuyu’s path won’t be chosen for the anime, and since the PV was pretty disheartening, I don’t expect all too much out of this.
The game shouldn’t be underestimated, it was quite successful in Japan. However, it would come as a major surprise to me if it got a good anime.
I know exactly what you mean about Bee Train. I generally like their series, but I get so frustrated while watching. I feel like most other studios would do a better job with the titles, especially if they shortened the series to cut down on the excessive
flashbacksnoir. I may pass on blogging this series if I end up picking up FMA2 to blog.Kabitzin: Did you play the game yet? Or are you deliciously unspoiled?
I am completely unspoiled.
Completely unspoiled? Ah… lucky guy.
Anyway, if they pull this off correctly, we’ll get some delicious mean cruel drama in the end, with some hard choices which will make the ending in KimiNozo look like a trivial decision between a burger and a hotdog in a fastfood restaurant
Shangri-La’s so going to be the best show of the decade. If it isn’t, GONZO’s probably going to die financially and in people’s minds. It has all the awesomeness Last Exile had in its premise, and Range Murata. Nobody can go wrong right!!??
Btw, if you realise, Saki is basically fanservice. It fits into the Strike Witches-type show Gonzo is making as well. Saki’s going to be popular for sure. Also, most Americans can’t play Mahjong but it’s really really fun.
The spring lineup looks really godly.
Fanservice and mahjong seems an odd combination to me. Do they lean over to put down their tiles or something?
My friends have the manga, they show lots of panties and I think she’s a loli-style chara or something. Not exactly sure.
Saki herself is kinda loli by default (she’s like in middle school if memory serves), IIRC the fanservice tends to be supplied more by her bit older sort-of rival in the mahjong club who has the Most Common Superpower (and whose name I can’t be arsed to look up in the scanlations ATM)…
How I miss the luxury of watching trying out and everything under the sun. I guess only FMA for me for the time being. Who would guessed that King got his own anime?
The logical progression from wearing your underpants over your spandexes, I guess…
Must remember that line.
Guin’s lack of footwear shouldn’t be much of an issue given that judging by his He-Man-meets-Village-People fashion sense he dwells in climes where such is very much optional, but it vaguely worries me the lines of his loincloth would seem to suggest he, like our good friend Leopard from SoraKake, is missing some essential parts… and I rather suspect he doesn’t have the benefit of Leopard’s Plug and Play system architecture to remedy the matter.
…
*cough*
…I’ll shut up now.
Well, Guin looks like he already has the Gold Orb Warmer on. All he needs is the Girl Who Leapt Through The Jungle to complete him and maybe he can go buy some shoes at Payless.
Perhaps your theory explains why he has a leopard head…
07-Ghost is obviously made for teenage girls, just like both seasons of Junjou Romantica did last year. At least there is no ‘true’ yaoi shows this year so far.
I wish 4th season of Maria-sama ga Miteru have 26 episodes instead of 13 so I will have something to watch in this spring.
ROFL
Thanks for the previews. There are lot of shows I’ll try to watch, especially hatsukoi and eden
Great preview, your hard work is much appreciated.
I’m going to watch Queen’s Blade for the articles, I mean, dialogue. At least for one episode. Ahem.
“Kajika Louisa Kugami Burnsworth” does not even come close to “Henrique Martino Borges De Arantes E Olibeira” from Legend of the Galactic Heroes.
Yeah, but if he impressed her with his uniqueness and they got married, I bet she would pull into the lead.
Oh Natsu no arashi is by Shaft? LOL okay instant FAIL. I may not even give this a chance now.
I guess I’m going to have to go forward assuming SoraKake will continue into Spring. In order of preference, the series that I’ll most likely be blogging are:
Shangri-La
Valkyria Chronicles
Hatsukoi Limited
FMA 2
Phantom
I’ll have to take a look at the episode counts and first episodes before I make a decision, but I will probably pick 3-4 from the above group. Eden of the East also has a small chance of being blogged, simply due to the short length.
You and your annoyance about SHAFT. :P
But there is a difference! It’s a guy and a girl instead of two girls! :O
At the moment, FMA 2, Shangri-la, K-On, Saki and Queen’s Blade (\o/) are shows that I know that I’ll follow. Maybe Ristorante Paradiso as well. :3
I also forgot about Hayate 2 and Cross Game. :O
Oh man, I keep forgetting Hayate 2 is finally coming! Soooooo yea, FUCK YEA!!! TITS!!! =3
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I don’t hate SHAFT, but there are certain things they always do which don’t work well in every series.
Well, I’d say that’s more on Shinbo and his style than on SHAFT as a studio. If he wasn’t at the helm (or supervising the product as in the ef series), than I think that they might do things a little differently. That being said, Shinbo’s the director for Natsu no Arashi, so it’s kind of a moot point if you don’t like his directorial style. I eat his stuff up, so I guess I’ll put this show on the list of potential stuffs to watch as well. Need to get through Maria+Holic first. :P
I’ll be following the first four series you posted, but everything goes sort of down-hill after Guin Saga (lol Monkey Girl… they could have at least gave her some tits!
)
YAYNESS!!! Despite being Mahjong, its looks sort of cute. I’ll give the first 3 episodes a try. Btw, didn’t Ender write a post about the manga? Maybe it was some other mahjong/sports manga. ai di kei mai bi ef ef Jil
Did somebody say tits? Cause this series is deff gonna be TITS!!! You just wait and see! (I’m gonna be mad pissed if this series is ass… but with only 11 episodes, what da ya got ta lose?) Show ▼
*fidget fidget* OH… why?… WHY ME!!!… can’t… RESIST! *goes into song*
I’LL BE A DAAAAANNNTIIISSSTTT!!!! (you’ll be a Dantist!) YOU HAVE A TALENT FOR CAUSING THINGS-*EXPLODES*
FINALLY!!! Sum Hamtaro pR0n! *fapfapfap* (btw, in that Hamtaro wiki that you linked, you know that Hamtaro plushie all the way that the end of the page?… I have it… Ah, sweet childhood memories! I… I didn’t use it for anything like THAT though! Just to let you know!
)
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Arg, shoulda known I wouldn’t get through this post without messing up.
Who is Ender? J/K, I think he wrote about pingpong or something. I don’t read the wussy manga that he does
it was ping pong, ma bad son =3 but I remember another blogger talking about it along time ago. hmmmmm guess we’ll never know
I figure Queen’s Blade is worth a look at least, as it sounds like it might turn into the next Ikki Tousen if it can pull off a sufficiently gleeful attitude. And also because Nanzaki Iku’s cracktastic QB: Hide and Seek has me in stitches every time I read it – if the anime manages to be even half as entertaining as that manga, well, I’ve wasted a few hours of my life on worse…
… *NOSEBLEED* SOUNDS PRETTY KINKY MAN!!! I’m thinking of watching it too, mostly because of all the nice figurines they have *nosebleed again*
Eh, Hide and Seek has to be the *least* kinky QB-related manga on Baka-Updates… seeing as how the others are outright H-doujins, though, that’s not saying much of course… ^_^;
I find it very amusing, however, but then I’ve found that Nanzaki’s art style and sense of humor appeal to me; YMMV.
Before I clicked the link, I thought you guys were talking about kinky quarterbacks. How disappointing…
Sorreeee…
‘Fraid I don’t follow the shounen-ai/yaoi side of things – the über-pointy chins that for some reason seem to be de rigueur in the genres annoy the Hell out of me for some reason. You’ll have to ask someone else for tips to meet your sweaty hawt football hunk secks needs.
Good preview! I like it when it’s short and sweet like this, a lot of blogs like to make their previews too complicated.
My thoughts:
FMA2 – I never really thought the first one was nearly as good as everyone said it was, definitely not my favorite BONES anime by a longshot. I also note this has a different director, although I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing as this new director Yasuhiro Irie seems to have done the animation for a lot of really great shows.
Shangri-la – your description made me think of Toshokan Sensou for some reason… I hope it doesn’t feature weird politics that make no sense like TS.
Eden of the East – I have high hopes for this show, too bad it’s only slated to be so short. Kenji Kamiyama is an amazing director, even if his shows tend to have a lot of talking it’s usually pretty insightful and his action sequences are usually incredible.
Valkyria Chronicles – As long as it’s not as stupid as Strike Witches or Hellana Axis Powers that would be good… but who knows?
Queens Blade – I saw it the first time when it was called Seikirei, and it really wasn’t good.
Hanasekeru Seishounen – I agree with your analysis Kabitzin, although Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge kind of sucked even if I mysteriously watched the whole thing.
Tayutama -Kiss on my Deity- – Needs more apples and Horo.
07 Ghost – You’re right, looks very CLAMPish!
I’ll be watching the Lump of Sugar game adaptation for obvious reasons (and not really expecting it to be good), but more importantly, I just realized that this season is going to save me the time of playing through Phantom of Inferno and Tears to Tiara.
Unless they completely changed the setting, Welkin’s brigade should be with Gallia and not with the Federation. The Federation’s role is quite limited, actually.
@Epi: it’s nothing like Hetalia, don’t worry.
Looks like the only shows worth watching next season are Valkyria and Phantom. Well, Tears to Tiara and Asura Cryin’ would be the guilty pleasures.
There’s so many new series I’d really like to watch from the list >.<
Was never a big fan of FMA, but will definitely not miss FMA2.
Valkyria Chronicles was said to be one of the best rpg on the ps3, so I’m definitely going to give it a try.
I downloaded a few chapters for Saki but haven’t had the chance to read them yet. Guess I’ll just catch the anime instead XD
The phanter guy in Guin Saga reminds me so much of King from Tekken…
I think I am most excited about Shangri-La and Valkyria. The others are in the air depending on series length and awesomeness of the initial episodes.
Looks like FMA, Hatsukoi Limited, and Shangri-La for me, and then maybe one or two more from the rest. I’m trying to leave some room for the Summer 2009 (Already thinking ahead lol).
Yeah, I always have to look at episode counts before deciding, because I would have to have to skip a whole season because I had over-committed in the previous season. FMA2 is such a long commitment, but I am leaning towards picking it up.
I read that Tayutama preview without looking at the name first and was like, “They’re redoing Mamotte Shugogetten?”
*needs to remember to push out his spring preview*
Anyways, I’m looking forward to quite a few of the shows next season. FMA, Shangri-La, and Valkyria Chronicles are three of the biggest titles for me and will be at the forefront of my new blogging schedule.
HAY! Don’t be bashing my favorite genre :p Some of us LIKE the big eyes….
And not all shoujo art is crappy….T_T
MMM HMMM YOU CAN SAY THAT AGAIN!!! =3
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[...] 4, 2009 at 8:15 pm · Filed under Miscellaneous ·Tagged spring 2009 preview Well, everyone else seems to be doing one, and since I’m bored, I figured why the hell [...]
[...] other previews that I found helpful include these here: Metanorn, Simplicity, Sea Slug Team, and jp/hinano [...]