Spring 2007 Anime Preview: Part 1

It looks like it’s finally time for the Spring anime season previews. Or at the very least, it’s good to use as filler since I’ll be out of town for a week. For this preview, I take a look at Hitohira, Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann, Gegege no Kitaro, Hayate the Combat Butler and Seto no Hanayome.

Hitohira

From the trailer that I watched, it looks like Hitohira is about some girl who can’t talk. I’m pretty sure “mute” and “can talk” are on the list of moe charm points, and this girl seems pretty moe to me. She seems to be pretty close to her friend (yuri!!!) who’ll probably help her to learn to speak up. The character designs look really cute, and the possible (only suggested?) yuri means I’ll be watching.

There’s also a Hitohira manga. Too bad it’s a seinen or I might be able to read it.

Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann

Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann has a long and confusing name. It also has mecha. I guess that the only real redeeming quality of this anime is that it’s being done by studio Gainax. When I think of Gainax, I think of WTF endings and unmet expectations. Maybe though, just maybe they’ll make a kickass anime outta this.

The character designs do look pretty cool, and I expect the animation quality to be excellent since it’s Gainax. I’ll definitely watch the first episode at least.

Gegege no Kitaro

I wouldn’t mention this anime, except that it’s sort of a classic. This will be the fifth season of Gegege no Kitaro. The anime first aired in 1968. The only reason I know about this anime is because my Japanese teacher let us watch it in class one day. We also watched Doraemon and some other show I can’t remember. Good times!

Hayate the Combat Butler

Hayate the Combat Butler, or Hayate no Gotoku, seems to be the anime that everyone is buzzing about. It’s about this kid who has been sold to the Yakuza because of a really huge debt. He kidnaps a rich girl to pay it off, but sort of fails. Then the girl’s family pays the debt for him and forces him to be a butler! This sorta reminds me of the plot of the sitcom within a sitcom on Seinfeld. You know, where the uninsured guy gets into an accident and then he has to be Jerry’s butler?

Anyway, the art looks nice and the general consensus is that the manga is win, so I’ll watch this anime for sure.

Seto no Hanayome

According to Anidb, this anime is about some dude being saved by, and then marrying a mermaid. And the mermaid’s dad is a mob boss. I guess you can’t really knock it for being unoriginal… This is apparently a Gonzo anime, or at the very least, Gonzo has something to do with it. So expect the animation to look good.

I can’t really say I’m too excited for this anime, but hey, I’ll watch it anyway.