Category: Preview

I’ve taken some time out of my busy Skyrim playing schedule to watch a bunch of the 2012 Winter anime. So far I’ve seen High School DxD, Moretsu Pirates, Nisemonogatari, Papa no blah blah blah Ikinasai, Recorder and Little Kid, Kill Me Baby and Amagami SS+. Oh, and the one about the round cat.

The last anime I watched in its entirety was Madoka, which I thought was pretty good, despite the annoying finish. I’d like to watch more new anime, but I also don’t want to get suckered into watching bad shows. If anyone has suggestions on last season’s series that were good, lemme know.

Here’s some random thoughts on this season’s anime thus far:

High School DxD

Did the censorship practices for anime change severely since the last time I watched? Back in my day we’d see steam/lens flares and we’d like it! While there is something to be said for holding things back, I think probably the only reason anyone is watching this show past episode 1 is the fanservice. I thought the animation was pretty low quality, but you can always compensate with nips.

Moretsu Pirates

Of all the shows I’ve watched thus far, Moretsu Pirates has some potential. I haven’t watched the second episode yet, but I have a feeling this could be interesting enough to keep my attention. The animation is solid and there’s a “cool meganekko” which can’t hurt. Also, hot pirate mom.

Nisemonogatari
I was really puzzled by this one. Then I realized it was a sequel to Bakemonogatari. I figured it started “in medias res” so it should be slightly confusing. I didn’t realize I was watching it “in medias in medias res.” INCEPTION.

Just Do What Papa Says!

At first I thought this was a heartwarming anime about a college student finding his true self, and a couple trying to find family with their mixed parent kids. Then the college student got babysitting duties for his unrelated nieces who want to bone him. Wah wah. While I like some characters (the big boobed senpai who seems to be some kind of performance artist), most of them are pretty messed up. This show could be interesting to watch for its awkwardness, but part of me really doesn’t want this thing on my hard drive at all.

Kill Me Baby

Aside from having the worst OP in the history of OPs, Kill Me Baby is actually pretty good. I lol’ed at the part where dumb girl eats the crepe instead of distracting the bear with it. Also, the Engrish “Kirru me, bebe” is pretty hilarious. I think this show could get old fast, given the low number of characters, but whatever. Maybe I’ll watch it until it bores me.

Amagami SS Plus

Amagami was a rare anime that I actually finished watching, so it totally makes sense for me to watch this followup. I was hoping they’d do something crazy like have Junichi (is that his name?) date ALL of the girls at once and come up with the compromise that they all need him, and he needs all of them. Instead they’re just starting where they left off in each girl’s arc. So far I watched the first two episodes. It’s nice to see the characters in a somewhat stable relationship instead of fumbling around and having misunderstandings all the time. There isn’t much tension to provide though, since we already know they live happily ever after. Hopefully this means they will just load up on Morishima fanservice.

Round Cat is Round

A drunken office lady finds a round cat. That’s about it. It’s only 3 minutes, so why not watch?

Recorder and Lando Calrissian

This show is only 3 minutes long as well. But it’s also stupid as hell and I’m not going to watch it.

So that’s it for my current season views. If you have any suggestions, please hit me up in the comments!

So I’m putting new anime series into Anime Nano. And while I do so, I’m just rapidly looking at their websites to make sure they’re not OVAs, second season, lame shows, etc. I thought I’d use this as a chance to up my post count, so here’s my extremely biased/misinformed preview of the Winter 2009 anime!

Maria+Holic

Is this some kind of crossover between Maria-sama ga Miteiru and xxxHolic!? It has a maid and a girl with an eye mole who may or may not be voiced by Hirano Aya. Is she even popular anymore? Looks like it’ll be a bore!

Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo

There must be a motif in Japanese about girls leaping through things. Time, the sky, etc. Also, I looked at the JDict entry for “kakeru” and there’s like a million uses for the verb! I’m familiar with the use of “kakeru” as casting some kind of spell (mahou wo kakete). Anyway, this anime involves space, which usually means I probably won’t watch it. Not that I’ve had time to watch anything while in grad school…

VIPER’S CREED

This looks like the badass series of the season. What with the all-caps treatment of the title and tough dude and CG Mech things.

Asu no Yoichi

If this series has any level of fanservice, I expect jpmeyer to make the following comment:

Asu no Yoichi? More like Assu no Yoichi!

Kurokami

This one already got licensed. What the hey!?

Kemono no Souja Erin

This one has some characters in tunics. Boring!

Chrome Shelled Regios

Sounds like some kind of breakfast cereal.

RIDE BACK

Hot girl on a bike/robot. Seems like a winner to me!

SakuranBOY DT

This looks like a gag show. I’d totally watch the first episode since I like dumb/weird comedy.

Hetalia Axis Powers

Is this like Mao-chan except with boys? Or maybe they’re big and just super deformed on the website. Oh well. Whatever.

While adding some Summer series to Anime Nano from Moetron’s seasonal list of awesomeness, I noticed this new “anime” called Akiba-chan. It’s slated for release in late July.

It’s basically a CG series using figures as the characters. Either that or it’s actually using stop-motion animation. I can’t really tell from the description. The process is called “Figumation” but I’m assuming it’d all be CG, kinda like that Hatsune Miku Nendoroid video.

Akiba-chan also looks like it’ll be a kid’s show. As I’ve learned from shows like Animal Yokocho, kid’s shows can be pretty entertaining (and easier to understand raw). Plus the figures just look really cute. It probably won’t get picked up, but if I can find some raws for Akiba-chan I might check out a few episodes to see what it’s all about.

Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpucho 2: Electric Boogaloo

This is the second season of that one anime I only bothered watching one episode of it. Reader response seemed to indicate that it got better. But I’m so backlogged as it is that I doubt I’ll be able to catch up, let alone watch a second season.

Soukou Kihei Votoms Pailsen Files

Soukou Kihei Votoms Pailsen Files features mecha and a ton of manly men. Just check out the promotional PVs.

A little too much testosterone for my tastes. Then again, why did I complain about Sky Girls anyway?

Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan 2

A lot of people didn’t like Dokuro-chan, but I loved it. It was from the same director of Jungle wa Itsumo Hare… and it featured tons of over the top violence! And fanservice! I think people just didn’t “get” it.

Anyway, I’m really looking forward to this one. Pi-piru-piru-piru, Pi-piru-pi!

Zero no Tsukaima ~Futatsuki no Kishi~

I really liked the first season of Zero no Tsukaima. I hardly ever finish anime series. It’s like my weakness. But I finished Zero no Tsukaima, which shows you how much I liked it. Not much else to say here. I’m sure Louise will be just as tsundere, and the guy (I can’t remember his name, so I’ll just call him Yuji) will be just as… um, worthless?

Shigurui

According to Anidb, the title also means “Crazy For Death.” What!? It’s a period drama, which means I’ll end up saying I might watch it, then I won’t. I never like the art designs enough to chance these series.

Baccano!

I had enough patience to translate that Baccano! is about some kind of immortal life giving sake, and it takes place in New York. It’s based on a light novel series, and the illustrations look really sweet. Seems like the production values on this one are going to be high.

The New York of Red Garden was pretty funny, so I’m looking forward to how Baccano! does New York.

Moetan

Moetan is that series of Japanese books that teach otaku English. Or at least, crazy Engrish phrases. I’ve wanted the book for a really long time now, but I’m too lazy to get off my ass and order it. I think I could probably reverse engineer it to learn Japanese.

Anyway, now Moetan has an anime out this Summer. I believe it’ll be a laugh riot for all the wrong reasons. Subbed or unsubbed, I think this’ll be the anime to watch, at least for me, of the season.

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei

The English translation of the plot for Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei makes about as much sense as the original Japanese! But I really like the art I’ve seen so far. This looks like it might resemble NHK, with a guy trying to commit suicide (well, Satou tried once) and a girl trying to save him. Seems cool; I wanna see it.

Mononoke

Ooh, I remember reading about “Mono no Ke” when I was reading The Tale of Genji last Summer. According to this livejournal, Mononoke is spinoff from Ayakashi about a medicine seller who kills monsters (the mononoke) with a sword. But he has to find out about the history of the monster before killing it.

Sounds really interesting. I hope it keeps my interest, unlike the original Ayakashi.

Sky Girls

Why do loli girls always make the best mecha pilots? I never saw the original OVA. Some people might find the whole mecha musume thing to be cute, but I think it’s kinda creepy. I actually think I remember watching part of the OVA, actually. But it was creepy, as I recall.

Potemayo

At first glance, Potemayo looks like a kid’s show. But I checked the story section of the website, and there’s a ton of kanji! From what I could read, it seems to be about a middle schooler’s love triangle?

The main deal maker for me is that this anime is being done by J.C. Staff, which is my favorite studio. The designs look pretty neat and colorful. So I’ll watch this, probably even if it doesn’t get subbed.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai

This is a continuation of the original Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni anime, which is licensed now. I never actually finished watching the original series, though it had me interested for a while. The resets got old.

I do give Higurashi props for making a pun for it’s second series, though.

Doujin Work

Doujin Work is based on a 4-koma about a girl who’s just discovered the wonderful world of doujin! So it’s like a cross between Comic Party and Lucky Star, I’m guessing. But Comic Party was lame, and Lucky Star is nothing without Hirano Aya and Kyoani.

I typically like anime based on 4-koma, but I don’t like doujin centered anything. Hmm…

Zombie-Loan

Zombie-Loan is about Frank the zombie. He’s trying to get an auto loan, but all the banks keep rejecting him because he’s dead. He vows to be the strongest zombie in the world, and this anime chronicles his journey.

Okay, not really. Zombie-Loan has something about a guy who has died, and so he makes a deal (let’s call it a Zombie-Loan) to live again, and repays his Zombie-Debt by killing other bad zombies. Did I mention zombie? Zombie.

Mushi-Uta

Mushi-Uta. I’m going to take a stab at translating the title at the risk of sounding dumb, and say it translates to “Bug Song.” My translations are always funny anyway.

This is an anime based on a light novel and (I think) a manga from Shounen Ace. I think the plot has something to do with killer bugs, but don’t quote me on that. Chances of me watching this: pretty slim.

Code-E

Code-E is about a transfer student that can control electromagnetic waves. The trailer contains bad CG meteors! But who cares? The main character is a cute meganekko, and that’s enough to make me watch just about anything. Bring on the meganekko!

Also, the theme song has a lot of high trumpet notes, which is a plus since I play lead trumpet.

Kenko Zenrakei Suieibu Umisho

Umisho is apparently about a transfer student (wait, didn’t I just write that?) who joins a school’s strange swimming team. She has a tendency to go skinny dipping. Enough said. Actually, I’m really digging this art, and girls in school mizugi are starting to grow on me. I have a feeling this’ll get subbed. So I’ll watch it.

School Days

School Days is another anime based on a game. It’s the one that has a bunch of fun bad endings where the girl you jilted takes revenge on your current girlfriend, as documented by jpmeyer.

That video was AWESOME, so there’s no way I’ll miss this.