Random Curiosity

「CALLING YOU」
“Calling You”

If this were any episode but the last, I would’ve been more okay with the long drawn-out scenes where Sumika is desperately trying to get in touch with Ushio. Likewise with the ones where Ushio’s eagerly awaiting Sumika’s phone call. The pacing was as usual, but this is the finale and I wanted to see something happen!

It’s time for the Fourth Annual Reader’s Choice Poll!

This year, we’re changing the poll in a few key ways:

The criteria for a series being included on the regularly broadcast series list is that it had to have been a complete TV series that ended in 2009. The general idea here is that you can’t really judge a series until it’s over, and that means that fans of shows like Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood will have to wait until next year’s poll. The criteria for a series being included on the OVA/ONA/movie list is just that it has to have been released in 2009 on DVD or online. This means that Summer Wars does not qualify this year. Still, if there’s anything you think that deserves to be put as an option on either list that isn’t already there, then feel free to email me, and I’ll add it.

These polls will close on Friday, January 1st, 2010 at approximately 08:00 AM GMT.
I’ve extended voting 24 hours. These polls will now close on Saturday, January 2nd 2010 at approximately 08:00 AM GMT.

「ぼーいｘれでぃ」 (Booi x Redi)
“Boy versus Lady”

What do you get when you put the director, character designer, studio, broadcast station, and leading seiyuu behind Kanokon together again? Ladies versus Butlers (…apparently). Here, we get an early special premiere before the series’ official start in January and it looks like Xebec and AT-X will focus a fair bit on the service side again, albeit not nearly as much as before.

With the new year almost upon us, it’s also time to look at the new series that will be premiering this Winter season! As usual, I’ll try to watch the first episode of as many shows as I can within certain parameters (in other words, not those kiddie shows), and what I list here are the chances of me actually blogging something based on my initial impressions from promotional material. However, even if I list the chances for a show as good or guaranteed, it doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll stick with it for more than a few episodes unless it actually is good.

By no means does this list reflect every single anime series that is going to be aired, though I did try to be as comprehensive as I could. Check out MOON PHASE for an entire listing, syoboi’s calendar for specific airtimes, and Fansub Wiki’s Fall 2009 page for who’s tentatively subbing what.

Technical Note: All times are given in a 24-hour, relative-day format where times are extended to show which day they belong to. For instance, Friday morning at 1:30AM would become Thursday at 25:30 to show that the episode aired late Thursday night.

Dance In The Vampire Bund http://www.vampirebund.com/ Premieres on January 7th, 2010 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Thursdays at 09:00 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-5): Wednesdays at 19:00 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, MyAnimeList, syoboi The first of SHAFT‘s two Winter series, and arguably the series I’m most excited about out of this entire list, is Dance In The Vampire Bund. It’s about the princess of all vampires and her bodyguard as they establish a new kingdom in Japan and all the challenges and dangers they run into with humans and with other vampires. The main girl is a bit like Nagi from Hayate, but instead of a comedy, this is a dark and much more mature series with a dose of politics and plenty of backstabbing. I could barely put down the manga because it was such a fun and interesting read, and hopefully SHAFT will do a good job with it. Odds I’ll Blog This: Guaranteed

Katanagatari http://www.katanagatari.com/ Premieres on January 25th, 2010 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Mondays at 25:10 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-5): Mondays at 11:10 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, MyAnimeList, syoboi From the author of Bakemonogatari comes a story about a guy who is the head of a sword style family that doesn’t use swords. He and his sister live on a remote island until a woman arrives asking for his help gathering 12 swords made by a legendary swordsmith. The original light novels were written one a month for twelve months, and in that same vein, the anime will have one episode a month for twelve months. The anime adaptation, however, is not being produced by SHAFT and is instead being done by WHITE FOX. That shouldn’t be a bad thing since they did some pretty nice work with the anime adaptation of Tears to Tiara, and the promo videos also show off the music that composer Iwasaki Taku (who also did Gurren Lagann and Soul Eater music) has contributed. All of that means that there should be a lot to look forward to with this series over the next year. Odds I’ll Blog This: Good

Note: This is a rather long and fairly comprehensive list of January shows. Much much more after the jump, including a bunch of promo videos.

「空の女王（オトシモノ）」 (Sora no Joou (Otoshimono))
“The Queen (Thing that Fell) from the Sky”

I hate to say I called it, but there was really no other way I would’ve wanted things to conclude here. With the arrival of the Gamma Angeloid harpies and their Prometheus weaponry, Nymph’s master decides to toy with her until the bitter end. Tricked into believing he’s worried about her, Nymph cooperates with them but asks that they let her try to convince Ikaros into returning to the Synapse.

「君たちキウイ・パパイア・マンゴーだね。」 (Kimitachi Kiui Papai Mangoo Da ne.)
“You Guys are Kiwis, Papayas, and Mangos.”

It’s the return of Hajime’s spicy food pranks. This time it’s a “Cutie Kiwi-chan” topping out at two million scovilles, which would make it two times hotter than the hottest pepper in the world, the ghost chilli. This isn’t quite the way I imagined them to conclude the second season even though it’s similar to the first’s, but the salt guy did get his salt!

Summary:
After returning home from the encounter with Pride, Hawkeye is on edge when she gets a phone call from Mustang.

「約束の大地」 (Yakusoku no Daichi)
“The Promised Land”

After the Christmas episode last time, it’s nice to see Niche clinging onto Lag’s arm again. Here, she accompanies him on a routine letter delivery which eventually mends the relationship between the sender and the recipient. Things were somewhat episodic, but at least Niche demonstrated some expert melee circle strafing for us.

Show Spoiler for Bleach Chapter 387 ▼

Summary:
At the request of two of Kuroko’s classmates, Mikoto agrees to be a swimsuit model.

 

Show Spoiler for Naruto Chapter 477 ▼

「雨を見たかい」 (Ame wo Mita kai)
“Have You Seen the Rain?”

A day at school during the summer break turns into a full-out scavenger hunt after a sudden downpour. While the rain manages to cool down the unbearable heat wave, the Girls Club finds themselves taking an unexpected dip in the school fountain before it’s all said and done.

Summary:
When Suou finds Shion collapsed, Shion explains that it’s because he paid a reasonable remuneration.

「闇夜の暁 a sötét hajnal」 (Anya no Akatsuki)
“Dawn of the Dark Night”

There was no deux ex machina to give us a good ending, but the whole parallel worlds bit had its fair share of conveniences. The previous episode turned out to be a complete fake-out, with the majority of it being the bad outcome Kakeru foresaw with his Eye of Aeon.