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うらやまし urayamashi
美しう成て utsukushuu natte
散る紅葉 chiru momiji
Sorry for going all Garden of Words, but fall is definitely the envied big sibling of all other anime seasons. With 40+ offerings, hopefully all of you will find at least one show to immerse yourselves in, maybe while sipping tea as the leaves fall. Fantasy, sci-fi, supernatural, and sports fans can rejoice, as offerings like the watery Nagi no Asukara, post-disaster COPPELION, the surreal Kyousougiga (finally), and baseball epic Ace of Diamond fill the board as the dominating genres this season. Many series are also returning this fall, with shows like Magi, Kakumeiki Valvrave, and IS: Infinite Stratos returning to meet popular demand. Other interesting shows include the darkly themed pupa, Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio ~Ars Nova~, which will make heavy use of 3D CGI, and quite possibly the most ecchi offering this season, wrestling anime Sekai de Ichiban Tsuyoku Naritai!. But enough from me, let’s get this preview on the road! Welcome to Random Curiosity’s Fall 2013 season preview, built by sweat, tears, and the rustling of the fall leaves.
As a quick reminder, most entries are divided into two paragraphs:
- A brief introduction to the series and its premise, often with the starring cast of characters.
- The writer’s impressions, expanding on the plot and highlighting specific points of interest.
That said, we’ve allowed individual writers to mix things up if they think another way will work better, so the format may differ slightly from writer to writer.
This season we’ll continue to use the Expectation Levels we implemented last season, as reception to the new system seemed positive. As always, remember that these reflect our own subjective excitement level for each show and do not necessarily reflect how shows will pan out. For more information check out the overall impressions section at the bottom, which includes an expanded explanation of each category and a list of all shows by expectation level.
Disclaimer: Way back in the ancient era of 2012, it was one robot-god that did the previews: Divine. Unfortunately, none of the current writers are nearly as amazing and divine as him, so we’ve divvied up the majority of writing among seven of his disciples (Kairi, Guardian Enzo, Takaii, Seishun, Zanibas, Zephyr, and Stilts) in order to maintain the quality of this preview. Hopefully we can point out what to look for in a series as well as Divine did. We are in your care once again, dear reader.
Disclaimer #2: Please note that this list does not reflect all the series airing this coming season (such as the new Pokemon season). It is meant to be as comprehensive as possible, but omissions have been made in regards to shows that stray from the anime norm or seem to be oriented towards young children. Please check out MOON PHASE for complete listings, syoboi for specific air times, and Fansub DB for a list of potential subbers for each series.
Thanks to everyone who worked on writing and the grueling behind-the-scenes back-end work necessary to make this preview a reality once more. Here they are, in case you want to give them your thanks and/or cookies.
- Cherrie, Kairi, and Zephyr took care of the “intel” (links, air dates, episode lengths, series/movie/OVA lists, etc).
- Seishun and our tech guy Xumbra encoded the PVs using black magic.
- Cherrie gathered and cleaned all the beautiful images.
- Cherrie, Zanibas, and Zephyr formatted the post and made sure your browser wouldn’t crash because of it.
- Stilts proofread and edited the post for any sneaky mistakes.
Last but not least, thank you dear reader. If not for your continued readership and Facebook/Twitter/G+ shares, we wouldn’t find the energy to move forward with this program. We are glad to be of help to you, and we hope this helps you become a more informed watcher as you dive into another season of anime!
P.S: Since one of our previewers this time, Guardian Enzo, does his own preview as well as working on this one, we felt it would be a nice nod to post his own preview here. Go check it out if you want the unique insight that Enzo brings to the field!
Technical Note: the list is ordered by the date and time that the shows premiere. The links in the schedule will take you to a series’ corresponding entry and the “Top” links on the right will bring you back. You can also use the back/forward buttons in your browser to jump between links you’ve clicked. 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.
* Jump to OVA/Movies.
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Preview by Kairi The Shinmoto siblings, Chiko (Yamamoto Nozomi) and Chika (Ohsaka Ryouta), are a pair of narcissists, whereas the Saitou siblings, Mao (Ishikawa Kaito) and Mako (Kayano Ai) are somewhat mysterious. As a result of their similarities, the Shinmoto and Saito kyoudai are all friends, sharing an otaku lifestyle under the life motto that “those of a feather should stick together.” Based on a manga by Shin Shinmoto, SSB is definitely one of the quieter entries this season. There’s not a lot of information available as far as plot and staff goes, but I got that slice-of-life vibe so common among shows that feature the everyday lives of high school students. I think there’s definitely charm to a premise like this one, where the relationship is between siblings and friends at once rather than focusing exclusively on one, and I have a gut feeling that the dynamic, being of the josei denomination, might be a tad more profound and realistic than it might otherwise. If anything, this sounds like a pleasant sort of comedy, and well worth giving a chance.
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Preview by Kairi At a certain night school for celebrities, there’s a rumor that vampires exist among the student body. Komori Yui (Suegara Rie), an optimist with a penchant for the supernatural, is a second year transfer to this particular school as a result of her father’s job. Somehow she finds herself living among those very rumored vampires, the six Sakamaki brothers, who crave and demand her blood and make her everyday life a sadistic endeavor. Lately it seems that we’re getting an otome game adaptation every season or so, which is always good news for fans of the genre. Personally, I don’t have very high expectations for Dialover, if only because of the poor track record I hold with reverse harems. Vampires are also something I tend to stay away from as far as premises for romance shows go, so I’m somewhat apprehensive to see how this series handles itself. So far, I’m at least glad to hear that the female lead has been assigned a personality, though I do have to wonder how risqué an otome game about sadistic vampires is willing to be, or how much that allows for character development. Nevertheless, it would be nice if the series did overcome those tropes and limitations and work on creating real characters instead of character types, as the genre is wont to do. If it does this could be worth a look, as long vampires and harems are your thing.
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Preview by Stilts After Miss Monochrome debuted as a 3D virtual singer at Horie Yui’s March 2012 “Horie Yui wo Meguru Bouken III ~Secret Mission Tour~” concert, the character took off. Created and played by Hocchan herself (that’s Horie Yui’s nickname, for you non-seiyuu buffs), Miss Monochrome has since appeared in a range of merchandise and even a social network game. Now she’s getting an anime as well. True to her name Miss Monochrome dislikes all color, and dreams of changing the world into her ideal monochrome paradise. Now she’s working at becoming a best-selling idol. Each episode will be five minutes long. Am I the only one going “Uhh…what?” I’m a pretty big fan of Horie Yui – I blame for Divine for that, she’s long been his favorite – but the idea of basing an anime on a gimmick a seiyuu thought up for one of her concerts is worrisome at best. This will only be a short, so it’s not like it will take much to watch an episode or two and see if it’s any good, but the uncertain origins coupled with weak characterization – so far Miss Monochrome’s dislike of color is about the only thing noted about her, and that’s not exactly a strong basis to build on – have me more than a little skeptical. The idol thing + Miss Monochrome’s origins practically ensure some Hocchan singing during the show, so there’s that. For this one I’ll fall back on my old standard for shorts – if this at all interests you, each episode will only be five minutes long, so there’s little stopping you from checking it out. A little Hocchan might be exactly what you need.
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Preview by Zephyr The year is 2016. Following the meltdown of a nearby nuclear power plant in Odaiba, the Japanese government is forced to relocate its capital and evacuate Tokyo. Despite this, over 90% of Tokyo’s citizens perish following the incident, and the city becomes a ghost town. Two decades later a sudden distress signal leads to the deployment of “Coppelion,” a special forces unit within the Self Defense Force. Composed of three high school girls in Fukusaku Aoi (Hanazawa Kana), Naruse Ibara (Tomatsu Haruka), and Nomura Taeko (Akesaka Satomi)–all of which have been genetically engineered to withstand radiation–the girls are sent to the city to find and retrieve any survivors. Amidst a city reclaimed by nature and filled with nothing but the remnants of the past, the girls find themselves searching for people that shouldn’t exist, all the while unraveling the mysteries of a land long abandoned by mankind. Having been initially delayed following the meltdown of Fukushima’s nuclear power plant, I’m surprised GoHands received the go ahead to reboot this adaptation–especially considering the new developments regarding that same reactor. With that said, I’m glad they’re doing so, because the first few chapters of the manga were promising. There’s nothing quite like the surreal backdrop of high school girls walking across a radioactive wasteland to pique one’s interest. Combine that with its sci-fi components, it’s philosophical relevance regarding nuclear reactions, and the obvious fact that the city holds more than meets the eye, and everything culminates in a series that could get going in a hurry. The lack of information regarding the staff does curb my enthusiasm, but at the very least the seiyuu choices are superb. Ultimately there’s a fair amount to like in GoHands’ adaptation of Inoue Tomonori’s seinen manga. This is a show most viewers should keep in mind for the fall season, especially if you’re a fan of the Sci-Fi or Action genres.
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Preview by Stilts Straight from KyoAni’s light novel division comes an adaptation of the dark high school fantasy Kyoukai no Kanata. The story follows high school second-year Kanbara Akihito (Kenn), a normal-looking boy who is actually an immortal half-demon whose heritage caused him to be ostracized from his underworld peers. One day Akihito meets first-year Kuriyama Mirai (Taneda Risa) when it looks like she’s about to jump off the school roof. Mirai also feels isolated due to her ability to manipulate blood, which is as unique among underworlders as it is feared. Along with friend and Akihito’s fellow club member Nase Mitsuki (Chihara Minori) and her chronically cold older brother Nase Hiroomi (Suzuki Tatsuhisa), disturbing events begin to unfold after Akihito saves Mirai. I consider myself something of a KyoAni skeptic, but it’s hard not to be excited about this one. Finally they’re not doing some hyper-moe slice-of-life show, but a dark fantasy where KyoAni’s skill at atmosphere and pacing ought to come in handy. We’re also finally getting some serious action out of them again, the first time since…Full Metal Panic? (Unless you count those Chu2koi action scenes, which were good, if sadly brief.) The staff is chock full of KyoAni veterans, including director Ishidate Taichi (Clannad After Story, Hyouka, K-ON!), script writer Hanada Jukki (Chu2koi, Steins;Gate), and character designer–okay, they look like all KyoAni characters, but that’s not a bad thing. Don’t expect them to completely discard KyoAni’s normal bag of tricks, though – at least one of the promos included their standard moe comedy stylings. Really though, the big draw of Kyoukai no Kanata is finally getting a story that looks like it “deserves” KyoAni’s talent. They can do pulse-pounding action, dark drama, and the delicate characterization that makes it all work, but will they? If I were to guess, I’d bet a lot of us will be tuning in to find out.
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Preview by Stilts The hyperactive, frenetic, and frequently insane world of Kyousogiga is back with a full-length television series at last! In the ‘Mirror Capital’ Kyoto, ruled over by a monk (Suzumura Kenichi), a demon (Kitamura Eri) and a priest (Nakahara Shigeru), Koto (Kugimiya Rie) continues her search for the rabbit that will allow her to return home to her mentor, Inari (Ishida Akira). Along with the two spirits A (Hidaka Noriko) and Un (Shiraishi Ryoko) – and with the occasional appearance of the powerful and enigmatic Lady Koto (Hisakawa Aya), a youkai who resides within our heroine – Koto wreaks havoc throughout the city, causing extensive frustration for Shouko (Saito Chiwa). There will be ten episodes with three 7-minute chapters each, along with two recaps and one special episode. Kyousogiga is an energetic, entertaining, and mind-boggling spectacle – it’s as simple as that. Well, perhaps simple isn’t the best way to put it – this time last year Moomba likened Kyousogiga to FLCL, and I think this still holds true. While the plot is frequently convoluted, it makes up for its lack of sense with style, flair, and beautiful animation. This is one of those stories that only anime can truly tell, as it takes all the unique strengths of animation – the bright colors, the stylized character designs, the fluidity of action and form – and shows us a nonsensical and fantastic world that hums with life even though it’s about as far from realistic as can be. If you enjoy seeing an anime do what only an anime can do, or watching some of the most inventive and spectacular action sequences you’ll ever see, check this out. The most disappointing thing about the last season was that it aired as low definition online streams, but that problem has (finally!) been rectified. Kyousogiga is unique, entertaining, and totally crazy – and when it slows down it can be downright touching to boot. I will absolutely be tuning in.
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Preview by Zephyr Born from the collaborative effort between P.A. Works and ASCII Media Works is the original series Nagi no Asukara. Set in a universe where all of humanity once lived in the sea, the world is now home to two types of people: those who chose to leave the sea (the land-dwellers) and those who chose to stay (the sea-people). Following the closure of their undersea school, childhood friends Sakishima Hikari (Hanae Natsuki) and Mukaido Manaka (Hanazawa Kana) find themselves forced to attend school on land. Joining them are two other friends in Hiradaira Chisaki (Kayano Ai) and Isaki Kaname (Ohsaka Ryota). Together they find their lives changed as their new school life starts with a fateful encounter. Once in a while there are series whose staff are so good it makes you can’t help but want to see how it works out. And with P.A. Works, Okada Mari (AnoHana, Toradora, Hanasaku Iroha), and Buriki (Haganai and Denpa Onna character designs) all coming together to work on an original project, Nagi no Asukara is one of them, at least for me. Sure, P.A. Works hasn’t exactly been at the top of their game and Okada has produced terrible scripts on top of her good ones, but there’s a “magical romance” vibe this series gives off that is quite attractive. It’s reminiscent of the well-received AnoNatsu from over a year ago, a notion further reinforced by both Ray and Yanagi Nagi performing themes for this series. It remains to be seen whether this series ends up as promising as the promos seem to indicate, but I would keep an eye out to see how this develops, as it just might end up being a dramatic romance that sweeps everyone off their feet. Either that or it’ll be the series that makes everyone rage quit–that’s just the kind of variance this staff can give.
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Preview by Zanibas The plot for Outbreak Company comes off as surreal and crazy. Imagine your “professional otaku”, with his insights and knowledge on the topics of anime and moe, being shipped off to a fantasy world–containing loli princesses Petrarca Ann Erudanto III (Fuchigami Mai) and maid Myuseru Foaran (Mimori Suzuko)–to be the ambassador of “moe” to this new land. That’s the plot, where the ambassador is Kanou Shinichi (Hanae Natsuki), whose job is to spread the good news and glory of moe. On top of spreading the word of the d’awwwww, Kanou has to deal with the inevitable social conflicts that aris–wait…social issues? And I thought this sounded like an ecchi comedy in the making! At first I had my doubts, and I still have some, but with studio Feel at the helm, I have more confidence in this show’s ability to pull off the ridiculous and thoughtful simultaneously. Their track record in saving Minami-ke and producing some pretty good romance/romantic comedies has earned my respect–it’s a risky project, but I have confidence in their success. The plot intrigues me enough to definitely give this show at least half a season, to see if the so-called “social issues” actually end up becoming as profound as they hint. The staff looks weak in terms of experience, but the seiyuu on board are fresh and successful. Joining the above will be the voices of Dekomori and Rikka reunited again, as Uesaka Sumire and Uchida Maaya voice the characters of Hanaiman Erubia and Koganuma Minori respectively. Be on the lookout for this show if you’re looking for something different, because this might just be the dark horse of the season.
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Preview by Stilts After a publisher change and a two-year wait, the harem/mecha stylings of Infinite Stratos are back for a second season! In the near future, a Japanese scientist created powerful combat exoskeletons known as “Infinite Stratos” (IS). What could have led to war instead lead to peace, as the nations of the world signed the “Alaska Treaty” and distributed existing IS technology among themselves equally. The IS have had one major effect on society, though – since IS can only be piloted by women, there has been a power shift as women came to dominate society over men. That is until it was discovered that 15-year-old high school boy Orimura Ichika (Uchiyama Kouki) can pilot IS too. Now Ichika is the only guy in the prestigious international Infinite Stratos academy, which includes an abundance of beautiful (and powerful) young women like Shinonono Houki (Hikasa Yoko), Cecilia Alcott (Yukana), Lingyin Huang (Shimoda Asami), Charlotte Dunois (Hanazawa Kana), Laura Bodewig (Inoue Marina), and new this season, student council president Sarashiki Tatenashi (Saito Chiwa) and her younger sister Sarashiki Kanzashi (Mimori Suzuko). Infinite Stratos is one of the best harem anime I’ve ever seen. That’s a bold claim, but I stand by it. The trick lies in how interesting, varied, developed, and above all viable all the haremettes are. Usually the winner is blindingly obvious from the beginning, but while there’s still a favorite to win, she’s not the one with the special nickname, nor was she the one who took Ichika’s first kiss. Yes, Ichika is as dense as a brick like so many other harem protagonists, so if that annoys you then be prepared – the girls practically throw themselves at him and nothing seems to stick. It has a really good sense of humor though, so even when I’m shaking my head I’m usually laughing too. As a bonus, the mecha combat is actually quite good – I could name shows that beat it, but it’s definitely upper tier when they focus on the fighting. The same studio (and director) are working on this season, and all the cast from season one are returning, so if you liked the first season then this is an easy choice. If you haven’t watched season one and you like harem anime, you owe it to yourself to watch it now. It was one of the greats, and I expect this season to be more of the same.
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Preview by Zephyr Armed with ex-GAINAX members and the creators of Gurren Lagann, Studio Trigger (Little Witch Academia, Inferno Cop) comes in with their first original TV anime series, Kill la Kill. A battle action series, the story revolves around a high school where uniforms give students special powers and the Student Council president Kiryuin Satsuki (Yuzuki Ryoka) rules by force. However, the arrival of transfer student Matoi Ryuuko (Koshimizu Ami) threatens to change the status quo. Armed with a unique scissor-shaped sword, it’s kill or be killed as the school heralds the beginning of a new calamity. Kill la Kill has been eagerly anticipated by many since its announcement, and it’s easy to see why. The pedigree behind Trigger (and this series) speaks for itself. Director Imaishi Hiroyuki has been working on anime since Evangelion, both he and script writer Nakashima Kazuki were behind Gurren Lagann, and the studio’s Little Witch Academia was so well received that it’s getting a fan-funded sequel in the future. This might be the first TV series the studio is releasing, but it’s far from the first for its staff. From the art and the story to the star-studded staff, there’s plenty to be excited about regarding Kill La Kill, which makes this perhaps the series to watch this coming season. In fact, I’d go as far as saying it’s bound to impress one way or another–whether with its unique style, its entertainment value, or because it represents the potential of one of the fastest rising studios out there.
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Preview by Kairi Tada Banri (Furukawa Makoto) has just started law school and gotten himself lost even before orientation begins when he meets and befriends a fellow freshman, Yanagisawa Mitsuo (Ishikawa Kaito). However, Mitsuo isn’t just an ordinary law student; he has run off to Tokyo in the hopes of shaking off his past, a very beautiful and seemingly “perfect” past by the name of Kaga Kouko (Horie Yui), who’s followed her childhood friend and fiancé (despite his attempts to escape) and enrolled in the same school. From the author of Toradora comes this romantic comedy about the “golden time” that is the college experience. I’m probably an anomaly in that I really like J.C.Staff as a studio (Stilts edit: no you’re not, I do too. And so does Zani!); I like their projects and I like most of their shows just fine, even if they’re not as fancy as others studios. Yet J.C.Staff is only the icing on the cake when it comes to Golden Time. As a huge fan of Toradora and Takemiya Yuyuko’s work, I’m excited to see this project come to life. I don’t necessarily expect excellence or an instant classic, but I do expect a solid series, especially since it’s so rare that we get to see protagonists older than high school age. That J.C.Staff is in charge only makes me feel more confident that this will be pretty enjoyable, if only because the studio has a knack for depicting social lives and friendships in a fairly entertaining and insightful way. Whatever happens, we can at least expect some good humor and romcom antics.
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Preview by Seishun A.C.G.T’s adaptation of Im Dall Young’s sci-fi action manhwa is returning for a second season. Set in a futuristic world where Earth is constantly at war with the Novas, an alien race from another dimension, the story follows the exploits of the genetically-modified female soldiers known as Pandoras, as well as their male Limiters who employ a support power called “freezing”. In West Genetics Academy there’s a powerful but unapproachable (thanks to her haphephobia) Pandora known as the “Untouchable Queen”, Satellizer L. Bridgette (Noto Mamiko). Against the advice of his friends, Aoi Kazuya (Ichiki Mitsuhiro) decided to aid Satella in her many tribulations, both as a potential love interest and her Limiter during battle. They are joined by an excellent supporting cast, which includes the feisty Rana Linchen (Hanazawa Kana), the happy-go-lucky Chiffon Fairchild (Inoue Marina) and a slew of Pandoras voiced by a team of all-star female seiyuu, including Kitamura Eri, Kugimiya Rie, Koshimizu Ami, Ueda Kana, Asakawa Yuu and Kaida Yuuko, just to name a few. The many conflicts that ensued, both from inter-Pandora politics and the ongoing Nova attacks, drive most of the action and drama of this series. For those of you who saw the first season, you should know what to expect. Freezing is more than just an excuse for fanservice – the beautiful, busty female warriors are one of its key attractions, but Freezing also boasts a compelling sci-fi setting chock-full of character drama and action-packed thrills. Both the physical action and the verbal strife are nothing short of brutal – Pandoras have to cope with getting their limbs chopped off, their throats slit, and even their eyeballs gouged out! The first season ended with a victory for the Pandoras in the 10th Nova Clash, a highly intense battle that pitted Satella against Cassie Lockheart, one of the top five Pandoras in the world, and if anything the second season should be even more entrancing, as one of Freezing’s most gripping and elaborate storylines is next. The all-star cast is also set to expand further as the rest of the world’s top five Pandoras make their formal appearance. I have high hopes for this series and there’s certainly more than enough going on to keep me watching for another season.
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Preview by Zephyr From the team of SILVER LINK and Connect (the animators behind Mawaru Penquindrum, Prisma Illya, and To Aru Kagaku no Railgun S) comes the adaptation of Mikumo Gakuto’s Strike the Blood. An action fantasy series, Strike the Blood revolves around the legend of “The Fourth Primogenitor.” Supposedly a source of great calamity, the Fourth Primogenitor is also rumored to be the most powerful vampire in existence. As it turns out, the legends are true, and the Fourth Primogenitor is none other than high school student Akatsuki Kojou (Hosoya Yoshimasa). To observe and eliminate him if necessary, an organization known as the Lion King send an attack mage named Himegari Yukina (Taneda Risa). Also known as a Sword Shaman, she arrives at Saikai Private Academy wielding the strongest of all anti-Primogenitor spears, the “Schneewalzer” (or Snow Waltz). I’m interested in seeing how this series develops. As the winner of numerous awards (including Japanese Sci-Fi Rookie of the Year in 1999), creator Mikumo Gakuto brings a notable resume to the table. Considering that two of his previous works (Asura Cryin’ and Dantalian no Shoka) have received anime adaptations as well, it’s safe to say he’s done something right when it’s come to source material. But as with any adaptation, a good pedigree doesn’t guarantee a great anime, especially when you consider that Chief Director Sano Takao and Director Yamamoto Hideyo have little experience in those roles, and Yoshino Hiroyuki (Guilty Crown, Gundam Seed Destiny) is behind the screenplay. The former two (along with SILVER LINK and Connect) do have extensive experience in animation however, which may be all they need in this case. It’s still up for grabs whether or not they do a faithful adaptation and if Strike the Blood is as good as Mikumo’s previous works, but there’s definitely enough of a historical precedent to make this series worth keeping an eye on.
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Preview by Stilts It’s a renaissance of Maou and/or Yuusha light novel adaptations, and YuShibu is next in line to join the party. The story revolves around Raul Chaser (Koumoto Keisuke), a boy who did not become a hero because the demon lord was defeated just before his hero exams. With his dreams dashed, Raul is now working at a magic shop in the capital. One day, none other than the vanquished demon lord’s daughter Phino Bloodstone (Tadokoro Azusa) comes in looking for a part-time job! So begins the fantasy work comedy of a former hero-in-training and the daughter of the demon lord. If you read the premise and immediately thought of Hataraku Maou-sama!, you’re not alone. The Maou/Yuusha thing is becoming so common as to border on cliché, but I admit I’m fond of it. I like seeing old foes trying to get along, and it’s a solid setting that can be very good when done well. The work angle also provides fertile ground for comedy, as this past summer’s Servant x Service proved so well. That said, I’m not calling this as a sleeper quite yet. The staff and cast either have unimpressive resumes or are practically new, though it is being animated by asread, which can do a very good job when they’re given good source material – Mirai Nikki comes screaming to mind. It comes down to the source material, and what little I could get my hands on was…okay. I laughed a few times, there was some solid romantic potential, the characters were likable…it was fine. If this doesn’t seem like a swimming endorsement, that’s because I’m not sure what to think yet. I underestimated Hataraku Maou-sama! and it blew me out of the water, but I’m not ready to assume all Maou/Yuusha shows are going to be hits quite yet. If you like fantasy romcoms, definitely tune in. For everyone else I can tell you I’ll be watching, and I’ll leave the rest up to you.
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Preview by Stilts From the creator of the Maoyuu Maou Yuusha novels comes a new trapped-in-a-fantasy-MMORPG anime, Log Horizon. The story starts when 30,000 Japanese gamers are trapped in the fantasy online game Elder Tale. Join loner spellcaster Shiroe (Terashima Takuma), his old friend and tank Naotsugu (Maeno Tomoaki), the beautiful ninja Akatsuki (Kato Emiri), and the rapier-wielding cat creature Nyanta (Nakata Jouji) as they join together to form the guild Log Horizon and try to survive the sword-and-sorcery world that is now their reality. One of the reasons Sword Art Online was so disappointing (to me; you’re welcome to your own opinions) was because the setting had such great potential which the characters and story didn’t live up to. Here we have another gamers-trapped-in-a-fantasy-MMORPG story, and I’m pretty optimistic it will go better. First of all, the source material was written by Touno Mamare, the original author of the Maoyuu novels, and whatever flaws the anime adaptation had the source material (and manga based on it) are innovative, interesting, and just roundly well done. Secondly it seems lighter in tone, both from what I saw in the promo and because the characters apparently aren’t in danger of dying in real life. There also appears to be more focus on the party – rather than Shiroe running around alone, he’s always mentioned along with his friends and guildmates, and it was this group dynamic that I most missed in SAO. There’s also the fact that Shiroe is a spell-caster, which I like because A) nuker is my default role in MMOs (blow em all up, bwahaha!), but because B) it’s harder for a glass cannon to run off and try to be an invincible hero. If even Lina Inverse traveled with a party, I doubt this guy can go it solo! It remains to be seen whether Statelight and their staff can pull off a good adaptation, but the fundamentals look good. Bottom line, if you’ve ever played a fantasy MMORPG – which should include roughly all of you – then you should watch at least a few episodes of this show. It’s based in a world we’re all familiar with – let’s see if they can do it right.
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Preview by Enzo I’ve already covered two cours of Little Busters! here on RC, so my feelings about the series are well-established. There was always something about the innocence and the focus on loyalty and friendship that appealed to me, and while the first season had its ups and downs, I stuck with it even as it was bombarded with complaints from viewers who never got over Kyoto Animation not being chosen to animate it, or who were just turned off by the stylistic differences between it and the likes of Clannad and Kanon. That first season was effectively a prologue though, and now the real story begins with Refrain. I haven’t played the VN but I know things are going to get much darker (the preview makes no “secret” of that), and the tonal change can be pretty jarring. This had already started to happen by the end of the first season, in fact. I think it goes without saying that if you haven’t played the VN or seen the first season, you should do one or the other before watching Refrain, or it won’t make a whole lot of sense. For viewers like me the challenge is going to be avoiding the weekly barrage of spoilers about “the secret of this world” that are sure to follow every episode, as they did in the first season. If you’re not a fan of Key but enjoy drama built around friendship, I’d give Little Busters! a chance – I think it’s quite unique even among Key series.
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Preview by Stilts Taking place ten years after the original series, White Album 2 centers around college junior Kitahara Haruki (Mizushima Takahiro) and his relationships with Ogiso Setsuna (Yonezawa Madoka) and Touma Kazuki (Nabatame Hitomi) in the light music club. Love, music, and drama are in the air in this visual novel adaptation. First things first: the original White Album anime did not have a particularly good reputation. Uneven animation, slow pacing, and not-particularly-likable characters lead to Omni dropping it from coverage before the first cour was finished (yes, the original aired that long ago!). That said, from what I hear of the White Album 2 visual novel it was apparently an improvement over the original. Now it’s up to the team at Satelight to show us whether they can adapt it correctly. The staff is lacking in experience but the main seiyuu cast is back from the visual novel, and they’re all seasoned anime vets, so no problems there. What else to say… Honestly, this is a dating sim adaptation that gives no outward signs of breaking the mold, save for perhaps having fewer heroines than usual (only two). If you like romance stories or dating sim adaptations, this should be right up your alley, and fortunately you don’t even have to worry about watching the original. For skeptics, I would wait to hear the initial reactions. It could end up being an unexpected gem, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it gets lost in all the other dating sim adaptations instead.
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Preview by Zephyr After four years, Hajime no Ippo returns with a third season. Once again led by Madhouse Studios, Hajime no Ippo: Rising continues the anime adaptation of Morikawa Joji’s boxing manga of the same name, which has now eclipsed 100 volumes since its 1989 debut. As with its previous iterations, the focus remains on Makunouchi Ippo (Kiyasu Kohei), a bullied student turned boxer trying to reach the top of the boxing world. Joining Kiyasu will be Takagi Wataru, Namikawa Daisuke, Fujiwara Keiji, and Koyama Rikiya, all of who will reprise their respective roles as part of the main cast. Sadly, Utsumi Kenji (the voice of Kamogawa Genji) passed away this past June, and it is unknown who will take over his role for this third season. Well, what can I say? It’s without a doubt that fans of this series are excited for this sequel, and it’s been a long-awaited one to say the least. There still isn’t much information regarding the exact content that will be covered this time, but with the a majority of the cast and staff returning for this new season, it’s safe to say that fans won’t be disappointed with Hajime no Ippo: Rising, especially considering it will be at least 26 episodes. Still, keep in mind that this is a third season, so if you’re reading this and you haven’t read the manga or watched the previous iterations, be sure to catch the first two seasons and two OVA’s before you give this a glimpse.
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Preview by Seishun A second season of Kuroko no Basuke is coming at us courtesy of Production I.G. A story about high school boys and their fervent passion for basketball, Fujimaki Tadatoshi’s Shounen Jump serialization centers on Kuroko Tetsuya (Ono Kensho) and Kagami Taiga (Ono Yuuki), two first-years at the Seirin High School basketball club. Kagami, an intimidating six footer, is a powerhouse of raw talent who stands in stark contrast to Kuroko, who is short, slow and somewhat flimsy. While seemingly unremarkable, Kuroko is actually the Phantom Sixth Man of Teiko Junior High’s “Generation of Miracles”, and a unique player who excels solely in the support roles of passing and stealing. The yin and yang relationship between Kuroko and Kagami is at the heart of the story, as their friendship, teamwork, and an assortment of entanglements – both on and off the court – drive most of the action and character drama of the series. This is especially so when their path crosses with the core members of the “Kiseki no Sedai” – Kise Ryouta (Kimura Ryouhei), Midorima Shintarou (Ono Daisuke), Aomine Daiki (Suwabe Junichi), Murasakibara Atsushi (Suzumura Kenichi) and Akashi Seijuro (Kamiya Hiroshi)! Kuroko no Basuke’s popularity is beyond doubt – more than 24,000 copies of its BD/DVD have been shipped and a whopping 8 million copies of its manga were sold in 2012, a figure that dwarfs even the likes of Naruto. The series has been frequently associated with a large fujoshi following – hardly a surprise, considering its large cast of bishounen and a storyline that draws attention to “bromance” so very often! Spin this any way you like, the charm of this series extends beyond its pretty boys – Kuroko no Basuke is a very well-written sports shounen story. The series has a lot to offer, whether it’s action-packed thrills, comedic gags, slice-of-life, or the drama that surrounds each and every player. Speaking as a devoted fan of the genre, I wouldn’t think twice about calling Kuroko no Basuke one of the best – it’s right at the top along with the likes of Slam Dunk and Captain Tsubasa. The first season ended on a high note, an intense inter-high match that pitted Kise and Aomine against each other – tears for the former and cheers for the latter. With the entire production team making a return, I expect the same high-quality presentation in its second season. Akashi and Murasakibara, the yet-to-be-introduced “Kiseki no Sedai”, are set to receive their share of the spotlight. Character drama has always been one of the series’ strongest suits, and their appearance will almost certainly bring the buzz and exhilaration to a whole new level.
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Preview by Stilts Tesagure! Bukatsumono is a CG anime that centers around the extracurricular activities of students. It will be made using the freeware “MikuMikuDance” CG software, which has previously been used to animate shows like Chokkyuu Hyoudai Robot Anime and gdgd Fairies. CG animation is starting to become more and more common, as smaller creators use software like MMD to do what would take entire teams of animators working the old way. Look at the anime-styled webseries RWBY, which is animated using a similar program. That said, “animated a different way” isn’t a major draw. The plot and characters seem like an afterthought, which is worrying to a story-focused guy like me. It could be the best animated CG show ever, and it’ll all be for naught if the story isn’t good. RWBY drew me in with fantastic action sequences that made me willing to forgive any awkward animation, while this show is promising…the same thing we always get, just animated differently. I may check out the first episode out of curiosity, but unless someone tells me it’s a really good show than I can’t imagine myself jumping all in. I’ve been wrong before, though.
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Preview by Takaii I’m not the biggest fan of sports manga because of just how ridiculous things can get, but Diamond no Ace (also called Daiya no A) is probably one of the best things I’ve seen in a long time. But before we get into anything related to the story or how GAR all the characters are, have you seen the powerhouses behind this adaptation? With big names like Madhouse and Production I.G. handling the important parts AND a long-running, successful manga to draw material from, I can’t imagine this show being anything less than awesome. But if you ask me whether I liked the story, I would say I freaking loved it. You have a headstrong protagonist who understands the importance of friends and building relationships, some random stranger who quickly befriends him, and tons of questions surrounding just what makes the main character so awesome. Tack on a possible love interest that’s too shy to do anything plus lots of profanity being thrown around and what more could you ask for? And let’s not forget that, at least in the manga, there’s a scene where they use bitch-slapping to make a point. And trust me, when bitch-slapping is done correctly it’s just so satisfying to watch.
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Preview by Zanibas Magi returns for a second iteration, aptly subtitled The Kingdom of Magic. The wandering trio–Aladdin (Ishihara Kaori), Alibaba (Kaji Yuki), and Morgiana (Tomatsu Haruka)–continue their quest as they journey to the distant magical country of Magnostadt to hone their skills. Though the usual cast of characters will still play crucial roles, such as Sinbad (Ono Daisuke), Ren (Hanazawa Kana), and Judal (Kimura Ryouhei), new characters such as the Magi of Magnostadt and the various characters associated with the Magicians will take center stage. SID will be back to perform the first OP, while Aqua Timez–known for performing some of Bleach’s OPs–performs the ED. Magi has been gaining fans for quite some time, with its wide audience appeal, large dynamic cast, great seiyuu appeal, and overall fresh setting. Fans and followers of the first season should definitely check out the progress of the Magnostadt arc, though it may be hard for newcomers to catch up with 25 episodes before the current season. The main concern lies with A-1 Pictures’ handling of the show, in regards to animation quality and story integrity. Viewers who watched the first season are well aware of how terrible the animation was handled towards the end (I still cry for Morgiana’s dance), and manga readers were irked by the original-style ending, which created many plot holes for the second season to fix. Overall, Magi is still a fairly good show and still worth checking out, but be prepared for any inconsistencies that may arise.
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Preview by Zanibas Though some may disagree with the quality of this show, the timeslot ratings for Phi Brain have been consistently good; as such, NHK and Sunrise are pairing up once again to bring “Puzzle Time” back for a third season. The plot revolves around Daimon Kaito (Saito Chiwa and Asanuma Shintaro), a puzzle-solving “Einstein” who, with his companions, fights against various evil organizations who use puzzles to wreck havoc on the world. Central to the new season will be two new rivals, Reitzell (Chihara Minori) and Enigma (Nakata Jouji), who, if past seasons are any indication, probably have connections to Kaito in some way. So begins an adventure with more puzzles to be solved. Newcomers will probably have a hard time getting into this show–it’s said the characters take a while to warm up to, and with two previous seasons to tackle, this third season will mainly appeal to its existing viewers. Fortunately, with Sunrise doing its usual job there shouldn’t be any surprises as compared to previous seasons, so continuing fans should have no worries about shifts in the production.
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Preview by Zanibas One only needs to look at the PV to know where this is going. Saw it? Good. This is going to be one of the sexiest offerings this season, titled Sekai de Ichiban Tsuyoku Naritai!. Courtesy of ecchi specialists from ARMS, the show revolves around Hagiwara Sakura (Taketatsu Ayana), an idol who’s turned to pro wrestling because her friend and fellow idol, Miyazawa Erena (Asumi Kana) was hurt by an overly aggressive Kazama Rio (Tomatsu Haruka). Vowing to avenge her friend, Hagiwara enters the pro-wrestling spotlight to climb the ranks and beat down (in a sexy manner of course) the provoking Kazama. Past its sexy nature, this show has a lot going for it in terms of the cast. Besides the big three above, you’ve got HanaKana, the Kitamura Eri, Satou Rina, Kanemoto Hisako, and many more after that. Imagine: scantily clad wrestlers, voiced by some of the best in the industry, directed by a man that has experience in both the hentai and ecchi genres, Kujou Rion (Hagure Yuusha no Estetica). Even if the plot ends up shallow, as long as ARMS can keep up production values I’m sure many people will enjoy this portrayal of a very physical sport.
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Preview by Stilts Note: since it hasn’t even been a season since we last previewed this show, below is a copy/paste from the Summer preview. Have no fear – I checked out Season 2, and everything is still valid. Teekyuu is a comedy sports short about four girls in a tennis club. There’s the main character (and the only sensible one) Oshimoto Yuri (Watanabe Yui), the bizarre Shinjou Kanae (Mimori Suzuko), sempai Takamiya Nasuno (Narumi Kyoko), and the perverted Bandou Marimo (Hanazawa Kana). Each episode is two minutes long. After watching the first season, my immediate reaction was “What the hell were they smoking?” Overdose on sugar, down a bunch of speed, chug a dozen energy drinks, and maybe you’ll just begin to approach the craziness of this show. Personally, it wasn’t for me. The jokes flew so fast and heavy that sometimes I didn’t realize a joke was done until I was three jokes away. The animation is also a bit lacking. It does fit the drug-fueled tone the show is going for, but it ended up striking me as haphazard and sloppy, even though I assume it’s a stylistic choice rather than studio Mappa cheaping out. In the end, with a two minute comedy short only one thing matters – is it funny? For me, it was not. Not even perverted HanaKana was quite able to do the trick. The good news is that at two minutes per episode, if absolutely anything interests you about this show then there’s little excuse for not giving it a try. Who knows, it just might be your thing!
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Preview by Stilts The Yozakura Quartet anime franchise is getting a reboot with this season’s Yozakura Quartet ~Hana no Uta~. Sakurashin is a town where supernatural beings called youkai coexist peacefully with humans. The city was built around the “Nana-gou”, seven huge cherry blossom trees that connect the human and youkai worlds. The story revolves around a quartet of teenage heroes who have been chosen to protect the town and the gate. They are the super-strong mayor Yarizakura Hime (Fukuen Misato), mind reader Nanami Ao (Fujita Saki), half-youkai conjurer Isone Kotoha (Sawashiro Miyuki), and the mostly-normal human Hiizumi Akina (Kaji Yuki), who possesses the ability to send youkai back to their world. I watched the original 2008 series, and I must admit I forgot almost everything about it. I remember liking the dynamic between the main characters, and I enjoyed both the action that formed the backbone of the series as well as the comedy that was interspersed throughout; it was the plot that never resonated with me, to the point where I honestly couldn’t remember whether I finished the series until I watched a few clips to jog my memory. To be fair, there have been changes since then – this series has the same staff as the Hoshi no Umi OVAs, which I understand are a lot closer to the manga (in animation and content) than the original series was. I can tell you that the previews I’ve seen of this season do look more “manga-like”, with action that’s more flowing and kinetic than the 2008 series. Personally, I don’t know whether I’ll be watching this one. It’s a reboot, so anyone who’s interested can jump right in, and there will even be new content and characters for those who watched the original series. Even so, I’ve seen the majority of this before, and it didn’t resonate then. Don’t let my ambivalence stop you – a more faithful take on the manga could be just what’s needed to show why this series keeps getting adaptations greenlit. If you like supernatural action, try out an episode or three and see what you think. If it’s new to you, it might be the sort of show you’ll enjoy.
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Preview by Takaii I’m not sure how to describe this show. Being adapted by Studio DEEN from a collection of drama CDs, this show is described as a must watch for bishounen fans. With frilly characters who definitely round out the more feminine side of the male spectrum, the story revolves around five guys who create a club together because of their passion for glasses. While I’m certainly not in the target audience for this show, I have to admit that it took a bit of willpower to do the research for it. Unlike Free!, which I am totally in love with (Mako’s back muscles anyone?) I couldn’t get myself to accept the art style. Maybe it was because the website’s color scheme was just too pink or the characters’ outfits were just a bit too cutesy, but I don’t think I could watch it. Don’t get me wrong though! It is classified as a comedic slice-of-life and Studio DEEN has done some impressive work in the past. While I’m not really holding my breath, I wouldn’t could this show out.
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Preview by Zanibas Anyone here remember Princess Lover! from 2009? The VN studio that produced the original material is getting another VN adapted, called Walkure Romanze. The protagonist, Mizuno Takahiro (Yamashita Seiichirou) is unable to become the knight he wanted to be thanks to injury. Instead he will now assist one of the many beautiful and competent girls around him in realizing their own dreams of becoming knights. First is Kisaki Mio (Shimizu Ai), whose childhood friend connection with Mizuno should surely give her a head start. However, competition from fellow knights Celia Cumani Aintree (Mizusawa Kei), Noel Marres Ascot (Nakamura Eriko), and Lisa Eostre (Taguchi Hiroko) should provide enough romantic and dramatic tension for an entire season. They’ll all compete both for Mizuno’s affections and in the jousting ring as love and competitive skill mesh together in this chivalrous production. It’ll be interesting to see how much animation attention Walkure receives this season, since 8bit is producing both Tokyo Ravens and IS 2 this season, which are very high profile titles. 8bit does have a good, stable reputation in animating its titles, so perhaps I’m being pessimistic. After all, Director Yamamoto Yuusuke is taking the helm, whose wide experience should enhance this beyond the levels Princess Lover! achieved, with the whole “noble air” premise dialed up to the max. While the general structure may be similar to its predecessor by nature of being a VN, the production team at hand is reassuring. Add onto that the voice of Haruka from THE IDOLM@STER voicing Noel, and you’ve got a fairly good harem-type waiting to be unleashed. This’ll probably pass under the radar for most, but if you’re into harems, this season has an offering that looks like it may exceed expectations.
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Preview by Stilts Gingitsune is set in a small Shinto harvest shrine in present day Japan, where spirits and humans have been living in harmony. Saeki Makoto’s (Kanemoto Hisako) family possesses the power to see the messenger of the gods, but the ability is limited to one living relative at a time. When Makoto’s mother passed away, Makoto inherited the ability to see the kitsune (fox spirit) Gintaro (Miki Shinichiro) as the sole remaining family member. The story follows the everyday life of Makoto and Ginatro as they help the people of their community. What attracted me to this show is the idea of a seinen slice-of-life – a slower paced, “everyday happenings” kind of show that is more mature, focusing on helping people with their everyday problems rather than the cutesy high-school-girls-doing-cute-things shows we’re so used to. There’s also the mixture of the supernatural and mundane that gives me Kannagi vibes, which is always a good thing. Animation is being done by Diomedea (Shinryaku! Ika Musume, Mondaiji), and is staffed by a bunch of Diomedea veterans, which makes me think they’ll work well together. The seiyuu cast is also really good, with the main two joined by Koshimizu Ami, Akasaki Chinatsu, Fujimura Ayumi, and more. The animation does look a bit dated, like this is airing in 2006 rather than 2013. Gingitsune promises a slower, more mature look on life and its problems mixed with a few supernatural spirits – if this sounds interesting to you, give this show a try. It has all the makings of an unsung favorite.
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Preview by Zephyr Continuing the long line of Gundam series is the latest iteration from Sunrise, Gundam Build Fighters. Created for Gundam’s 35th Anniversary, this series is based in part on the Model Suit Gunpla Builders Beginning G OVA from 2010, which had customized Gundam models fighting each other in competitions known as GunPla Battles. Featuring new mecha designs and customized versions from previous Gundam series, Gundam Build Fighters revolves around middle school student Iori Sei (Komatsu Mikako) and the mysterious Reiji (Kokuryu Sachi). With the former being a skilled builder of GunPla and the latter an accomplished Gundam Fighter, they unite in an effort to win the GunPla Battle World Championships. Essentially a Gundam take on Angelic Layer, Gundam Build Fighters looks like it’ll be a battle anime through and through. This newest iteration isn’t what many fans expected or wanted, and I’m admittedly disappointed we won’t be getting an actual Gundam series this time around. That doesn’t mean Gundam Build Fighters won’t be worth a watch, especially if you’re a Gundam or mecha fan. The designs and scripts are all being done by staff that have worked on previous iterations, and the series itself will likely provide fans with a lot of nostalgia in time for the 35th anniversary next year. Furthermore, the series has spawned a new set of customizable, high grade model kits, and the line’s not too shabby if I do say so myself. Overall the premise says it all, and Gundam Build Fighters likely won’t surprise in terms of what it’s going to offer. If you’re not in one of the aforementioned fan groups, it’s probably best to pass on this series.
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Preview by Stilts Straddling the line between technology and fantasy comes the adaptation of Kaitou Reiji’s modern magitech light novels, Kikou Shoujo wa Kizutsukanai. It’s the early 20th century and a student puppeteer from Japan named Akabane Raishin (Shimono Hiro) has come to Walpurgis Royal Academy of Machine Arts in England to study the emerging field of Machinart, a combination of magic and technology with military applications. He’s accompanied by a beautiful young girl named Yaya (Harada Hitomi), who is actually his Automaton, a living machine doll who is powered by magical circuits and controlled by a human puppeteer as a weapon. Raishin’s goal is to obtain the title of “Wiseman”, the greatest puppeteer, but with test scores that put him nearly dead last he’s going to have to depend on his determination and combat abilities to beat the myriad of deadly classmates standing in his way. This is one of those stories that has been on my radar for a while, but I never dove in because, well, I didn’t have the time. No longer! After thumbing through the source material, I’m glad. For starters, the action in this is just damn good. Despite the technological underpinings this is basically straight fantasy, but Yaya is no fragile girl – she gets in there and punches, kicks, and beats the tar out of adversaries with her bare hands. I also instantly took a liking the main characters – Raishin for his cocksure confidence that sidles right up to arrogance without going over, and Yaya for her cheerful loyalty and constant attempts to get into Raishin’s futon. That’s right, Yaya is no emotionless girl – she’s as lively and expressive as any human character, and more so than many. There are hints of romance, and comedy too, but for me its Raishin’s unshakable drive and the exciting magical action that has me pumped up for this adaptation. This is a popular series with a solid fanbase, so if you like magic, fantasy, action, and especially a combination of the three, watch Kikou Shoujo wa Kizutsukanai. If the team at Lerche can adapt it well, it should be a wild ride.
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Preview by Enzo Sports manga, for all their popularity in Japan, tend to not have much of an impact with English-language audiences. When these manga are adapted into anime they seem to find one of two major audience demographics – young males or fujoshi (the irony is self-evident, but that’s a subject for another post). A few, like KuroBasu, find both and thus become major commercial powerhouses in Japan, with huge Blu-ray/DVD sales and merchandising. I don’t expect Yowamushi Pedal to achieve that kind of notoriety (or infamy, as the case may be) but judging by my last trip to Comiket it seems to have an appeal to both demographics. Already on its 29th volume in Japan, the manga is certainly an established success. I see Yowamushi Pedal as a test of how open-minded the Western anime audience can be. It has everything an anime should need to succeed – sharp comedy, a little romance, action, a good story, cute characters of both genders – but it just happens to be a sports series, usually the kiss of death. We’ve had only a few cycling anime (Over Drive, Nasu), so Yowamushi should certainly fill a niche, albeit a small one. I’ve read much of the manga and it’s really good – the story of a high-school freshman named Onoda Sakamichi (Yamashita Daiki) who rides his cheap mamachari bike 45 KM each way to Akihabara to indulge his otaku hobby, catching the attention of school cycling club leader, Imaizumi Shunusuke (Toriumi Kousuke). Yowamushi Pedal has an excellent supporting cast, and it gets both the niceties of high school social order and the sport of cycling spot-on. If viewers give this show a chance, I think they’ll be hooked.
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Preview by Takaii As much as I don’t like to admit it, I’m very fond of shoujo/slice-of-life shows. While I can’t say exactly what draws me to them, it’s probably the art style and the types of gags that get thrown out that resonate with me so well. And just like all the other ones before it, Non Non Biyori is no exception. With its detailed yet moe-moe-kyun characters, I got sucked in before I knew it. When a story starts off in a small rural town with one school for all its kids, meaning elementary kids are together with middle schoolers, you know you’re in for one heck of a ride. Don’t we all love it when someone’s older sibling appears randomly throughout a show? But how often do you see someone’s older brother or sister in the same class as them?! Throw in some role reversal due to the older sibling being tiny in comparison to their underclassmen and things just keep spiraling into the kawaii-abyss. And by the kawaii-abyss, I mean that dark part of your mind where you can’t stop “hnnnnnnnnnng-ing” because of all the moe.
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Preview by Zanibas By 2039, the seas will rise, the lands will mostly be lost, and a global conflict will be born. The Fleet of Mist, warships surrounded by mystery and mist, will cripple the naval freedom of humanity through force, preventing any sort of safe naval travel or trade. However, one submarine, I-401, will one day defect from the terror fleet and help a lowly cadet, Gunzo Chihaya (Okitsu Kazuyuki). Through the submarine’s organic humanoid interface Iona (Fuchigami Mai), I-401 will assist humanity in fighting back against their biggest enemy, and of course the other humanoid interfaces that will taunt them along the way. This is Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio: Ars Nova. SANZIGEN, the lead animation studio for this show, is untested in their current role–they usually do secondary animation for another studio. However, what their resume has is tons, TONS of practice with 3D CGI, which is clearly apparent in this show. While I do find the 3D animation of the characters to be slightly off-putting, the 3D CGI for the action scenes is superb and should be a treat to watch. While not in the same vein as anthropomorphic shows such as Upotte!!, the “humanoid interface” of the ships are present to allow dialogue to occur, which is more in line with the interfaces in Suisei no Gargantia. While perhaps not as highly animated as the latter, hope for a good adaption lies with Kishi Seiji, whose work with shows like Angel Beats! and Jinrui is promising. However, a director is only as good as the material he’s given, so here’s to hoping these ships have a good story to tell.
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Preview by Zanibas As one of three shows 8bit is releasing this season, Tokyo Ravens provides some of the supernatural-spirit-shounen flavor of this season. Main character Tsuchimikado Harutora (Ishikawa Kaito) starts off living the easy life, despite the prestige of his spirit-seeing family–Harutora can’t see spiritual energy like his relatives, so he doesn’t participate in his family’s duties. That all changes when childhood friend and relative Tsuchimikado Natsume (Hanazawa Kana) rolls in and pulls Harutora into the world of spirits he was destined to participate in. One thing that immediately stands out in Tokyo Ravens is the A-star cast, rivaling even the cast of IS. Besides Kaito and Kana above, other veterans such as Toyosaki Aki, Kanemoto Hisako, Kitamura Eri, Sakura Ayane, Shimono Hiro, and Kimura Ryouhei are joining the fray. Though the overall synopsis doesn’t look too original, with this cast, the dialogue will at least be pleasant to hear. There’s also director Kanasaki Takaomi on board to bring his School Rumble and Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? experience to the fantasy-action-comedy table he knows so well. Judging from the promos, though it looks like the normal everyday life scenes will be plainly animated, the true shine should come from the action scenes that have people flying through the sky, blasting and raising crazy barriers, and of course some one-on-one fighting as well. I trust 8-bit to do a decent job on this piece, so if you’re looking for that balanced blend of comedy, shounen action, and supernatural events, check out Tokyo Ravens this fall.
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Preview by Zephyr Continuing the trend of game-to-anime adaptations is Blazblue Alter Memory, a collaborative work from TeamKG and Hoods Entertainment. Based on the BlazBlue series of arcade fighting games from Arc System Works, Alter Memory revolves around the rebel Ragna the Bloodedge’s sudden appearance in the city of Kagutsuchi. Also known as the “Grim Reaper,” his goal is to destroy the Novus Orbis Librarium, the multinational task force in charge of keeping the world’s balance. In order to stop him the NOL offer the largest bounty ever to anyone who can capture him, and the fight commences as the strongest warriors converge on the city to collect. This adaptation covers Blazblue: Calamity Trigger, the first in the Blazblue line of games. While I haven’t played the games myself, I have heard good things about them, and it’s a series that has sold well (two million copies) since its debut in 2008. This only means so much though, since game-to-anime adaptations typically miss the mark. Despite this, and the fact that Alter Memory will be TeamKG’s first production, the series does have some things going for it. Blazblue director Toshimichi Mori will be supervising the project, while Mizushima Seiji (Full Metal Alchemist) will join the series as Assistant Director. They’re joined by an all-star cast that includes Saito Chiwa, Sugita Tomokazu, and Nakamura Yuuichi, all of which are reprising their respective in-game roles. This series should be a treat for those that have played the games or those looking for a pure action series.
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Preview by Zanibas Light Novel. Long Title. What could this possibly mean? Choose from A) Another “Ore no” type romantic comedy; B) A high school story that revolves around a boy making multiple choice answers to progress through life; C) “Ehhhhhhhhhhhhh” is voicing the main character, Chocolat (Sadohara Kaori); or D) All of the above. If you chose D, you’re correct! Along with the main heroine we have main protagonist, Amakusa Kanade (Toyonaga Toshiyuki), and fellow classmates Yukihira Furano (Kondou Yui) and Yuuouji Ouka (Tsuji Ayumi). Together they’ll navigate through high school life light novel style, undoubtedly with many innuendo-laden mishaps along the way. Continuing the light novel title trend, NouCome doesn’t seem to stand out among similar titles of its type, though it does have unique elements that should entertain current fans of the genre, myself included. The multiple-choice style is reminiscent of VN and school culture, while reminding me of Baka to Test’s school antics. Diomedea has done a fairly good job with its recent titles, so production shouldn’t be much of an issue–at worst we get a Campione!, while at best another Ika Musume. The art style should prove interesting, as art director Abe Yukio has extensive experience with old and new titles, along with a good number focused on children shows. The main seiyuu are all fairly fresh with exception of Toyonaga, so if you’re looking for new voices to hear, give an episode a listen. Overall, if you’re a fan of the light novel/long title trend, give NouCome a shot, and see just how its main plot device will stand against the competition.
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Preview by Zephyr Replacing Gin no Saji as the newest addition to the noitaminA lineup is the new original series, Galilei Donna. Produced by A-1 Pictures, this self-labeled “battle action adventure” focuses on the three female descendants of Italian astronomer Galileo, Hazuki, Kazuki, and Hozuki (Hidaka Rina) Ferrari. Known as the “three moons,” the three sisters suddenly find themselves under attack by an unknown organization. In a future where the world is consumed by the early comings of a new ice age, the sisters are forced to work together to fend off the organization and find out why they’re being targeted. That is of course, provided they can overcome the challenges caused by their vastly different personalities. At the helm is Umetsu Yasuomi, who was both responsible for the series’ original concept and the animation of series such as Akira, BECK, and Tegami Bachi. Considering the series that have aired on the noitaminA block (Anohana, Nodame Cantabile: Finale, and PSYCHO-PASS are just a few examples) since its inception in 2005, the fact that Galilei Donna’s associated with it automatically makes it a series worth keeping an eye on. That’s not to say all noitaminA series are guaranteed to succeed, but they have been well-received and/or of the original variety that you won’t see anywhere else. Umetsu Yasuomi’s lack of experience with the director role does end up hurting the series’ prognosis, but it’s something countered by his extensive experience with animation and storyboards–the former of which is key considering the importance of animation quality and style in a “battle action adventure” series. Overall, what Galilei Donna gives us is another battle-focused series in a season full of intriguing ones. Given what we know so far it may not wow as much as others off the bat, but it’s noitaminA association makes it a potential sleeper, albeit one whose uniquity may cause quite the divide in impressions.
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Preview by Stilts Samurai Flamenco joins Galilei Donna as the other new original anime airing in the noitaminA block this fall. It follows Hazama Masayoshi (Masuda Toshiki), a male model turned superhero balancing a life of crime fighting and show business. The anime’s taglines are “To those ‘adults’ who don’t want to become adults…” and “Hero will never give up, never hide, never be defeated, never accept evil.” Information is limited on this original project, but we can draw some assumptions. The noitaminA block generally airs more experimental anime with adult themes (Sakamichi no Apollon, Tsuritama, PSYCHO-PASS). Then move over to the tagline that caught my attention, which was about adults who don’t want to become adults. While I would argue that being a male model isn’t very “serious” (try being behind a desk all day, Masayoshi), I can certainly understand the desire to not grow up into all the responsibility that adulthood demands. Losing out on your silly, childish dreams, and deciding to chase after them anyway…that’s a meaty theme that interests me far more than “male model turned superhero” ever could. While noitaminA originals can be hit or miss – that’s one of the risks you take with experimental shows – they’re usually interesting. If you fancy yourself an advanced anime watcher or are looking for something a little more mature, try out Samurai Flamenco. I have a feeling it will give us all something to think about.
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Preview by Seishun The second half of Kakumeiki Valvrave, Sunrise’s latest mecha epic, kicks off in this fall. The two leads are Tokishima Haruto (Ohsaka Ryota), a pacifist from the neutral territory of JIOR who was dragged into the war, and L-elf Karlstein (Kimura Ryouhei), a prodigious soldier of the Dorssian military who was sent to steal JIOR’s prized humanoid weapon, the Valvrave. L-Elf and Haruto are polar opposites, but one thing leads to another and an unlikely alliance is formed between the ambitious, prophetic soldier and the immortal, vampire-like mecha pilot. The female side of the equation is represented by Sashinami Shouko (Seto Asami), Haruto’s childhood sweetheart, and Rukino Saki (Tomatsu Haruka), the lovely former idol who also pilots a Valvrave of her own. They are joined by a large cast, each with motives and allegiances of their own. This series is penned by Okouchi Ichiro (Code Geass), and like his previous work there’s a wide difference in opinions on Kakumeiki Valvrave. Some rejoice at its complete lack of restraint, while others are put-off by its absurdity. For those who followed my coverage of the first season, you should know I hold Kakumeiki Valvrave in very high regard. What started out as stereotypical mecha sci-fi quickly developed into something unconventional – from body hijacks and flash forwards to multiple defections and deaths, and right down to a full-on sexual assault, the series has thrown more curve balls at us than I could count! Kakumeiki Valvrave encapsulates everything a great mecha show stands for – fast-paced action scenes, top-notch animation, lovely character designs (by D.Gray-man’s Hoshino Katsura), a terrific soundtrack (by FMA Brotherhood’s Senju Akira), and a broad range of eye-catching mecha that are reminiscent of Super Robot Wars. The series also boasts a huge supporting cast, voiced by perhaps the most impressive seiyuu lineup I’ve ever seen, including Fukuyama Jun, Miyano Mamoru, Kaji Yuuki, Yuuki Aoi, Horie Yui, and Mizuki Nana, to name a few. The first season ended on a nut-cracking cliffhanger, with the entire fate of Module 77 left hanging in midair after Colonel Cain (Ono Daisuke) took control of Tekka, a supposedly defunct Valvrave. For its second season a time-skip is probably inevitable, and cross-planetary excursions might also be in the cards. My expectations for this series are very high, and I’m really looking forward to seeing the many facets of Kakumeiki Valvrave again.
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| Release Date | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 09/30 | Maken-Ki! OVA | マケン姫っ！ OVA http://maken-ki.com/ |
Bundled with Limited Edition manga vol. 11. Episode 2 of 2. |
| 10/02 | Naruto the Movie – Illusion in the Ruins of Earth’s Depths 劇場版 NARUTO 大激突！幻の地底遺跡だってばよ http://www.naruto-movie.com/ |
BD Release. |
| 10/09 | Yozakura Quartet: Tsuki ni Naku OVA | 夜桜四重奏 ツキニナク http://yozakura-anime.jp/news.html |
Bundled with Limited Edition manga vol. 14. |
| 10/16 | Hanasaku Iroha: Home Sweet Home Movie | 花咲くいろは Home Sweet Home http://www.hanasakuiroha.jp/ |
BD/DVD Release. |
| 10/16 | Kill Me Baby OAD | キルミーベイベー OAD http://killmebaby.tv/top.html |
Bundled with Kill Me Baby Super best album CD. |
| 10/17 | Seitokai Yakuindomo OVA | 生徒会役員共 OVA http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/seitokai/top.html |
Bundled with Limited Edition manga vol. 9. Episode 8 of 8. |
| 10/23 | Saint☆Young Men Movie | 聖☆おにいさん http://www.saint023.com/ |
BD/DVD Release. |
| 10/25 | Eve no Jikan Movie | イヴの時間 http://timeofeve.com/ |
BD release. |
| 10/25 | Suisei no Gargantia OVA | 翠星のガルガンティア 完全新作OVA http://gargantia.jp/ |
Bundled with BD vol. 3. Episode 2 of 2. |
| 10/26 | Miyakawa-ke no Kuufuku OAD | 宮河家の空腹 OAD http://miyakawahungry.com/ |
Bundled with Lucky Star Limited Edition manga vol. 10. |
| 10/30 | IS: Infinite Stratos 2: Hitonatsu no Omoide OVA IS＜インフィニット・ストラトス＞2 ロングバケーション 一夏（ひとなつ）の想いで http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/is2/ |
40 minute episode. |
| 11/06 | Kiss x Sis OVA | キスシス OVA http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/kiss_sis/ |
Bundled with Limited Edition manga vol. 12. |
| 11/06 | Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of the Snow 劇場版 NARUTO （ナルト） 大活劇！雪姫忍法帖だってばよ!! http://www.naruto-movie.com/ |
BD Release. |
| 12/13 | Steins;Gate Movie | 劇場版 シュタインズゲート 負荷領域のデジャヴ http://steinsgate-movie.jp/ |
BD/DVD Release. |
| 12/25 | Ghost in the Shell ARISE – border:2 Ghost Whispers 攻殻機動隊ARISE -GHOST IN THE SHELL- border:2 Ghost Whispers http://www.kokaku-a.com/ |
BD/DVD Release. |
| 12/25 | Space Battleship Yamato – Final Chapter Movie | 宇宙戦艦ヤマト 完結編 http://yamato2199.net/ |
BD Remaster. |
I’ll skip over the “it’s a good season” mumbo jumbo and get to some specifics. As I said in the the intro, this season is showing some especially strong showings for sci-fi, fantasy, supernatural, and sports. In each of these genres, we’re seeing some interesting art styles, such as COPPELION’s faded but detailed art style, Kyousougiga’s FLCL-like graphics, Kill la Kill’s Gurren Lagann emulation, and a Madhouse x Production I.G. backed Diamond no Ace. For those of us who like to get a little ungrounded in our stories in a artful way, this is the season to be paying attention to. For those of you looking for original material, a good number have popped up this season, with Nagi no Asakara, Galilei Donna, and Samurai Flamenco, all of which have promising staff backing them up.
As for our expectations, our rubric hasn’t changed since last season–we think we’ve struck a balance between fine-tuning and comparability with the current rubric. Hopefully this guide will help viewers with limited time what shows to try first, based on our preliminary examination of the show’s staff, seiyuu, and source material.
We arrived at these levels by convening our seasonal (and reliably shady) “anticipation council,” consisting of Stilts, myself, and Zephyr. While we have taken great lengths to try and normalize our subjective feelings on each show, we’re mortals here, so there’s going to be shows that completely surprise, as well as those that are major flops–things that we could never see coming. Note: The lists are sorted in alphabetical order.
The Rundown:
High expectation shows give us reason to believe they have the makings of a very good series that should appeal to the widest audience in their given genres. If you consider yourself a “casual” fan who only gets your toes wet every season by watching the “best” shows (i.e. popular ones that generate the most buzz), then these are the ones we feel you should keep an eye out for. We’re also expecting good things from these shows, so if they fall short, disappointment is understandable.
- High Expectations: COPPELION, IS: Infinite Stratos 2, Kill la Kill, Kyoukai no Kanata
Moderately High expectation shows are ones that came close to joining the High expectation crowd, but missed out due to one or two elements that gave us concern. The series underpinnings are generally strong, but there is just something that keeps us from putting all our hopes and dreams on these shows. They still have most of the makings of very strong series, so if you watch only the “best” shows but want more than what the High category provides, keep an eye out for these.
- Moderately High Expectations: Ace of Diamond, Golden Time, Kuroko no Basuke 2, Little Busters! ~Refrain~, Nagi no Asukara, Unbreakable Machine-doll, Samurai Flamenco
Moderate expectation shows, also known as “True Moderate”, don’t provide any immediate indication that they’ll be amazing in retrospect. This is often the case with shows that fall into one of anime’s overused plot devices, which most people, particularly self-proclaimed critics, will perceive as mediocre at best. However, in many of our experiences, these shows still provide a great deal of entertainment and may turn out a lot better than they appear. They’re good for “regular” fans who are aware of all these tropes and don’t mind seeing them used in different settings. Personal tastes come heavily into play, so your mileage will vary.
- Moderate Expectations: Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio ~Ars Nova~, Freezing Vibration, Galilei Donna, Gingitsune, Kakumeiki Valvrave 2nd Season, Log Horizon, Magi: The Kingdom of Magic, Neppu Kairiku Bushiroad, Ore no Nounai Sentakushi ga, Gakuen Lovecome o Zenryoku de Jama Shiteiru, Outbreak Company, Sekai de Ichiban Tsuyoku Naritai!, Strike the Blood, Tokyo Ravens, Yowamushi Pedal, Yozakura Quartet ~Hana no Uta~, Yuusha ni Narenakatta Ore wa Shibushibu Shuushoku o Ketsui Shimashita., Walkure Romanze
Moderately Low expectation shows don’t seem to be aspiring to much, but it’s hard to call them bad exactly. They might focus on senseless humor or fanservice, but there’s often at least one element that elevates them above other members of their genre. Once again, personal taste comes heavily into play with these shows, because if they’re part of one of your favored genres, then chances are you’ll enjoy them no matter what. Just don’t expect them to break the bank with originality.
- Moderately Low Expectations: BLAZBLUE ALTER MEMORY, Gundam Build Fighters, Non Non Biyori, Super Seisyun Brothers, WHITE ALBUM 2
Low expectation shows don’t seem to be striving for much and choose to focus on more frivolous aspects such as senseless humor and fan-service. That doesn’t mean they’re the bottom of the barrel and shouldn’t get any consideration, but simply that you need to keep in mind what kind of show it is. Generally only “avid” fans will be interested in seeing what these have to offer, because they’re already watching all the better shows.
- Low Expectations: Meganebu!, Miss Monochrome, Teekyuu Season 3, Tesagure! Bukatsumono
Niche shows break away from the norm by being slower-paced, extremely dark/grotesque, or even controversial. In most cases, these shows are oriented towards older audiences or those who feel that anime has become far too repetitive and want something different. Shows of this category tend to be highly under-appreciated but can turn out to be hidden gems for that very reason. Includes works oriented toward female audiences.
- Niche: DIABOLIK LOVERS, Kyousougiga, pupa
Established shows are generally long-running manga/anime series, geared towards younger viewers who are already fans of them. A commonality is that they all air early morning on weekends or well before midnight on weekdays so that “normal” people can actually watch them. They aren’t very dependent on expectations but a love for never-ending shows and a willingness to get into all the material that’s out if they’re completely new to you. Shounen series fall into this category, hence why we treat them differently.
- Established: Hajime no Ippo Rising, Phi Brain: Kami no Puzzle (Season 3)
I’m so pumped for the second season of Valvrave. Saki’s the best <3
And I’m standing by with the alcohol!
YES SEISHUN!
I’m so PUMP to see Show Spoiler ▼
in Valvrave!
But that’s Saki’s back story. It will not appear.
If that happens, I’ll just say this.
They say that every season Croos. Same thing with the opposite.
Saki is indeed the best, but I had to drop it by the 3rd episode because L-Elf’s antics had the blood vessels in my brain bursting. My suspension of disbelief can only take so much impossibility and cray-cray at one time.
Time to get our weekly Valvrare fix again.I wonder if this um…
VERY AWKWARDstimulating scene will be in the first episode.Yes, I’ve also been heavily focused in Saki in the preview material.
But I put the focus off just long enough to look through other characters, and I noticed something really strange: Did any one else notice the decisive lack of Shouko in any promotional material for the new season?
I’d try to speculate on what that means, but this is Valvrave, so that would be pointless.
Guys, great news, get ready for “Kakumei Dualism“, T.M.Revolution x Mizuki Nana is back for Valvrave second season’s OP =3
So get hyped everyone, it’s going to as awesome as its first season’s!
Are all those up votes for the comment itself or for Saki lol
Probably Saki, because she’s just that great 😉
Hey guys, just added a new PV for Valvrave – with new footage for the coming episodes, check it out =3
A new 60 second commercial for Valvrave was just put up (labeled as CM ver.11).
It would be great if you could add that as well, since it’s probably the last one.
Disclaimer spelling error? “divvied” up? ^^
That’s actually correct. It’s informal past tense of “divvy”.
Ohh! opps.. gomen >< Thanks for the preview! 🙂
Kill la Kill, Kyoukai no Kanata, Little Busters! ~Refrain~, and probably one additional one out of curiosity, maybe Kyousougiga.
Thanks for the plug, Stilts-chama!
I can’t tell you how depressing it is to see only my own name in the “Watching This” box for Yowamushi Pedal. Unless they screw up the manga this one should be really excellent.
Enzo sama, Zanibas’ the one who wrote the intro and outro 😛
I’ll take Kuroko no Basuke over Yowamushi Pedal any day, gotta love dem bishies and the great game of basketball =3
Well, thanks to everybody for that matter, but it was Stilt’s idea in the first place, I believe…
I think my problem with KuroBas is I like basketball too much. That side of the show is so unrealistic that the sports geek in me rages every time something silly happens on the court. But anyway, as a fan of sports anime I don’t think you have to choose – the more, the merrier.
No worries, all Zani. I only had to remind him like twice… nishishi~ ^^
Arigato for putting a Twitter #Hashtag for anime.
You can thank Cherrie in particular for that.
Yeah. Wow. Really convenient, especially since I use twitter all the time. Thanks, Cherrie!
You’re welcome! Glad some people find it useful =) I was worried it’d be wasted effort. Time to tweet more!
Haha, Divine a Machine God?- Well considering how amazingly self-disciplined and consistent he was that’s actually quite an accurate description. And I’ve always suspected that the real reason why he left was because he got a full-time job that pays more money than God- considering what a conscientious person he is it’d come as no surprise…XP
But seems like we have an awesome season ahead of us with more than its fair share of rather unique-looking stuff. Can hardly wait…
Enzo!
I have a confession to make!
Show Spoiler ▼
^Ops posted it in a wrong place
I was going to reply something but ended up posting something different.
Anyway, Divine v2012 is slowly updating to v2013.
I actually like the Freezing manga but not so much of first season of the anime. I hope they stay a bit true to it.
They will skip the second arc, not too unexpected perhaps.
My tentative Fall 2013 watch-list, which is actually the biggest watch-list I have ever had for a specific season:
Golden Time – I’ve been really hyped to watch this ever since it was announced. I mean, a college romantic comedy by Yuyuko Takemiya and animated by J.C. Staff? That’s a must watch for me. Sure, the choice of director has me a little apprehensive, but I have faith that my high expectations will be fulfilled and that I’m in for something really great.
Valvrave the Liberator 2nd season – I enjoyed the first season, and I’m hoping for a good, cohesive, and comprehensible, conclusion for the show.
Little Busters Refrain – I’ve watched and enjoyed plenty of Key adaptations and the first half of Little Busters was no different. And from what I’ve heard the second half is where the real story kicks in so I’ll definitely be looking forward to seeing it. I’m also hoping for some real romance this time around.
IS: Infinite Stratos 2 – The first season was a guilty pleasure of mine, and I’m expecting the second to be no different. Though with 8-Bit still on animation production, I’m expecting some great action scenes.
Gundam Build Fighters – This show seems to understand what it wants to be better than Age ever did, and with a decent creative team and a PV with some nice action, I’m expecting a fun Gundam show before the real meat of the franchise hits with the last Unicorn movie and The Origin.
Kill La Kill – A second coming for the creative team of Gurren Lagann? That’s what Kill La Kill sure looks like, and I’d be crazy not to check it out. Especially with Trigger on animation production.
Blazblue Alter Memory – I’ve always been interested in this franchise but never really had the time to sit down and play a game. So I’m expecting a decent “crash-course” on the story from this show, as well as some nice action.
Samurai Flamenco – This show seems like a huge love letter to Tokustatsu fans like me, so I’d be a fool not to try it out. I’m hoping for something fun and awesome, and considering the creative team behind it, I’m sure that’s just what I’m in for.
Strike the Blood – It’s a 2-cours with a nice voice cast, an interesting story, and a good looking PV. I don’t have high expectations, but I see the potential for this to be pretty enjoyable.
Tokyo Ravens – I liked the PV. It’s that simple.
White Album 2: I’ve heard a lot of positive, or generally positive, things about the Visual Novel this is based off of, and a classic high school love-triangle with some nice music is much more up my alley than the original White Album.
Walkure Romanze – The people who’ve played the Visual Novel seemed to enjoy it, and the PV’s for it was nice, so I’ll try it. Hopefully it won’t fall for the pitfalls of past one-cour VN adaptions.
23 shows I am considering, FML. 7
Time for no lyf autumn.
Wow I thought 15 (for myself) and i’m about to enter my graduate year of uni: Architecture. LOOOOOOOOL
I bumped it up to 26 due to a few shows not mentioned, no lyf to the max.
Definitely Valvrave for me! I’m eager to see how the writers will resolve the mysteries of Season 1.
Still undecided on the others, although Kyokai no Kanata, Tokyo Ravens and Strike the Blood sound very appealing…
Great job with the preview guys! 🙂
I agree, this season will probably eclipse this summer season by quite a bit.
On my watch list:
Valvrave S2 (MUST WATCH)
Nagi no Asukara
Tokyo Ravens
Kill la Kill
Kyoukai no Kanata
Ace of Diamond
COPPELION
Golden Time
Galilei Donna
Maybes:
Strike the Blood
Log Horizon
Sekatsuyo (because of the all-star lineup 🙂 )
Gingitsune
Meganebu!
Unbreakable machine Doll
Aoki Hagane
Samurai Flamenco
I’m interested in the second seasons of Valvrave, Magi, and Little Busters, am looking forward to Kyoukai no Kanata as well, and will give Kill la Kill a shot though I’m not sure it’s my style. Anything else, I’ll wait and gauge initial reactions in case there’s something I’ve underrated.
You guys are all incredible!! I just spent a major chunk of my time reading this post, I can only imagine all the time you put into it. THANK YOU!
And it’s always great to see the other writers’ impressions compared to Enzo’s over at LiA, so cookies for all! 😀
Great Season….
Spasms… TOO MANY TOO WATCH >_<
Absolutely loving it~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!!!!!!!!!
I know, right? That’s one of the things I hate about working on this preview – it makes me look at each of these shows for a long time, and I end up watching a bunch more than I have time for. I was trying to cut back, and I still put my name by 20 shows ;_; My free tiiiime!!
I managed to trim my list down to 17. But I don’t mind anime taking up most of my alone time. After all, it’s probably the most expressive form of artistic media out there (as underrated as it is).
Expectation Level: Moderate: Did you guys not enjoy Valvrape?
I thought most of the western audience is waiting for the 2nd cour.
Some people loved it, some people hated it, it could finish off amazing or it could flounder completely. I think moderate expectations is about right.
For what it’s worth, I love every second of it, but you guys probably know that already =3
What Stilts said, pretty much.
From a personal standpoint, it was enjoyable, but most of that resulted more so from the ridiculous, over the top nature of some of the developments rather than good writing per se. And as much as I hate to use this term, it can be argued that it had aspects that made it somewhat worthy of the description “trainwreck.” It’s a thoroughly enjoyable trainwreck, but being enjoyable doesn’t necessarily mean I can overlook the flaws it definitely has. With that said, the enjoyable nature also makes it impossible to label it bad either, so moderate fits the bill quite well in my opinion.
Also when you consider the potential epic time skip and consider that many series who have done this have tended not to succeed, it tempers expectations for me (even if I anticipate that it should be at least quite fun to watch).
It can either be awesome or crash and burn in spectacular fashion. Get your popcorn, this gon’ be good! XD
It’s entertaining in a ridiculous way. I probably won’t be expecting any serious development in this second season (so as not to make myself disappointed). Either way, even if it fails horribly or not, I’d admit it was one hella crazy fun ride.
Speaking of fashion, the surviving students and L-11 all get a wardrobe upgrade!
http://i.imgur.com/FDQepck.jpg
Wait a darn minute I thought only pilots are immortal? And isn’t season 2 about 300 years after the incident?
Anyway fuck yeah! Shoko lives the 2nd time around! Immortal Genki President XD!
Valvrave ehh?
Show Spoiler ▼
What scan is that, may I ask? What does it say?
lack of slice of life shows and lots of potential boy girl couples cool!
In Disclaimer #2:
Fansub Wiki is rarely updated, and is no longer being used by fansubbing groups. Instead, you should link to FansubDB, as they’re more up-to-date and list both fansub groups and simulcasts.
Ah I see. Thanks for the link. Added to the preview.
Wow. Definitely an interesting season packed with a lot of shows with good potential. I see 21 series straight off the bat that has me interested already. This will be a busy season.
Here’s my tier list based on the preview alone.
Really interested in and really hope it doesn’t disappoint:
COPPELION
Kill la Kill
Kyoukai no Kanata
Log Horizon
Golden Time
Because its Valvrave, lol:
Kakumeiki Valvrave 2nd Season
Because 2nd season:
Magi: The Kingdom of Magic
Because Enzo has good tastes:
Ace of Diamond
Yowamushi Pedal
Seems interesting to check out, and will hopefully exceed my expectations:
Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio ~Ars Nova~
Nagi no Asukara
Gingitsune
Strike the Blood
Tokyo Ravens
Neppu Kairiku Bushiroad
Kyousougiga
pupa
Will check out, but will have no problem dropping if it’s not interesting:
Unbreakable Machine-doll
Galilei Donna
Yuusha ni Narenakatta Ore wa Shibushibu Shuushoku Ketsui Shimashita
BLAZBLUE ALTER MEMORY
I like your taste in categories…
So many good shows this season. I hope I get a chance to watch all of the ones I want to; seems like I won’t have the time at this point since I’m thinking 16 shows this season for me, and the most I’ve ever watched in a season is 5 (while they’re airing at least). Hope I find the time or can cut it down to the exceptional ones.
Also, didn’t know you guys listed English BD releases (Time of Eve). Did you guys mean to mention Inverted Patema (Sakasama Patema)?
Well, the general thing we do with the Movie/OVA list is include only the BD/DVD releases that are relevant to audiences outside of Japan. So Time of Eve was included because it’s the first time we’re getting a release with English subtitles. There was a release in 2010, but that was a Japanese track only version.
In regards to Sakasama, from what I’ve gathered, it’s only airing in theaters in Japan this Fall, so it won’t be included in the list until it releases on BD/DVD.
I think Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio ~Ars Nova~ or Arpeggio of Blue Steel as the manga name is translated as, will be quite popular. It has a lot of visual apeal and a decent story.
Wow, lots of HanaKana this season, and in a variety of different roles too.
So, pretty much every season, then? 😉
And lets not forget HanaKana as Sengoku Nadeko
The one I’m looking for is BlazBlue, mainly because I’ve played the games and eagerly awaiting for Chrono Phantasma.
I don’t know what’s the worry about the anime. Toshimichi Mori, the game’s creator, is on board and BlazBlue had one Hell of a Story Mode, plus light novels and mangas for the prequels to the games. They have a LOT of materials here.
Furthermore, “This only means so much though, since game-to-anime adaptations typically miss the mark.” Where did that statement come from? Persona 4 The Animation anyone? That followed the game pretty closely without much modification.
I really hope that this gets blogged, because I’ve been waiting, like many others, to see the anime series ever since Mori said in an interview that he wanted to make one.
Completely agree. The story mode for the game played out pretty much like a visual novel and the actors had plenty of dialogue. Not to mention the gag reel endings were HILARIOUS.
I’m not expecting, but I hope some stuff from Phase 0 gets included. Can’t wait for Chronophantasma to hit stores next year.
I agree, the Blazblue games are one of my favorite so I’ll be watching this series as well, and I’m not waiting for BB:CP to come to the states, I’ll have that one imported, and I’ll get the English one later
The thing about Blazblue is that the story is only decent, but it’s one of the few fighting games that tried to add depth to it’s story so it stands out among the genre.
That and the voice cast is exceptional and really brings the characters to life. I mean just look at this seiyuu lineup. Tomokazu Sugita, Nakamura Yuuichi, Kakihara Tetsuya, Ueda Kana, Saito Chiwa, Imai Asami,Nomura Kenji, Sawashiro Miyuki, Yuuki Aoi, Ishida Akira, Fujiwara Keiji, Yasumoto Hiroki, Suwabe Junichi, Kiyokawa Motomu, Isomura Tomomi and Takahashi Chiaki. (Disclaimer: Most likely not all of these seiyuu will show up in the anime. A lot of the characters are from subsequent games and we don’t really know how far it’s going to go, or if it’s really going to follow the games at all. Just a heads up for other people like me that see a certain seiyuu and go “MUST WATCH!”)
Plus the not so well known seiyuu like Kondou Kanako manage to give a pretty good performance as well.
Fall is slated to be jam packed and as always, I plan to pick up a lot of it since a lot of the current shows will be finished. I tend to only stick to the ones I picked initially before the season starts and just pick up the others when I hear good things about them. There’s a lot of sequels as well so it’s sure to be very busy.
My picks for this season and my comments for the ones I’m anticipating:
-Blazblue: Alter Memory
-Golden Time – Read 2 volumes of the LN and reading the manga. I fear this will be heavily judged and compared to Toradora. I didn’t even know it was from the same author when I started it. It’s a good story and I hope JC will do it some justice, though that’s expecting too much.
-Galilei Donna – Noitamina shows are definitely an instant pick for me. I like the synopsis and the character design so I’ll be expecting a lot from this.
-Gundam Build Fighters – Obligatory Gundam, even if it’s just GunPla.
-Hajime no Ippo Rising – Third season finally. I wonder who they’ll replace for Kamogawa’s seiyuu as Utsumi Kenji has already left us. In any case, more Ippo is good and the fights to be covered are awesome.
-IS 2 – More of a guilty pleasure. And the best girl will finally be animated. I’m also watching this for the shitposting and waifu wars in different forums. So yeah.
-Valvrave 2 – First season was a riot so I wouldn’t want to miss this.
-Kill La Kill – Not really joining the hype wagon for this, even though TTGL is one of my favorite shows of all time. I still like what I see here but my expectation isn’t as high as people is hyping this to be.
-Kyoukai no Kanata – KyoAni is definitely another instant pick and I like what I saw in the PVs. We’ll see.
-Kuroko no Basket 2 – Second season and the matches later on are the better ones. The first season was really great so I’m expecting the same quality or even better.
-LB Refrain – Still liked the first season and Kurugaya will get a focus now. Plus the secrets of the world. Will try my best to avoid spoilers.
-Log Horizon – I liked SAO(my opinion) so I’m watching this. Plus Nakata Jouji as a cat creature and I’m in.
-Kikou Shoujo wa Kizutsukanai
-Magi 2 – Second season. I’m slowly working my way in the manga and started from the beginning(finished Balbadd arc). Heard this will be good and the PV shows it. Hope it delivers.
-Nagi no Asukara – I’ve read 2 chapters of the manga and I have 3 letters for this: NTR. Just a slight thing though. PA Works, Buriki and Okada Mari is sure to make things interesting.
-Ore no Nounai
-Outbreak Company
-Phi Brain 3
-Samurai Flamenco – The other Noitamina. DRRR/Baccano director is not a bad thing and the tagline and promo pic is enough to grab me as well.
-Sekai de Ichiban
-Strike the Blood
-Tokyo Ravens
-Walkure Romanze
-White Album 2
-Yuusha ni Narenakatta Ore wa Shibushibu Shuushoku o Ketsui Shimashita.
Still have doubts on whether to pick up:
Pupa
COPPELION
Diamond no Ace
Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio
tl;dr Goodbye social life(as if I had one in the first place…)
My own list of shows to watch this fall:
Must look (ie. garrantee to watch the first 5-6 episodes):
Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio
Log Horizon
3-episode is being applied here (ie. garanteed to look at the summaries):
Kyoukai no Kanata
Kikou Shoujo wa Kizutsukanai (ie. Unbreakable Machine-doll)
Gundam Build Fighters
sitting on the fence (chance of dropping it from watching within an episode / summary stalking)
Yozakura Quartet ~Hana no Uta~
Samurai Flamenco
Aaah. Too many shows to watch.
TAKE ALL OF MY TIME! So many interesting shows, it’s already better than the Summer season. If I can time travel, I’d be able to watch a majority of these shows in maximum efficiency.
Honestly, I feel bad more for the writers, they can’t blog everything, but the non blogged shows that they do watch will probably tiring from trying to watch all of it.
So far I plan on watching:
Freezing Vibration
Hajime no Ippo: Rising
Sekai de Ichiban Tsuyoku Naritai!
I love that I’ll be watching three straight days of new anime episodes every week this season. Probably not uncommon for most who watch something every day, but I’m pretty picky with what I watch every season so this is pretty rare for me. 🙂
14 shows for me first day.
The genres on the heavy this season are not my usual. The sports animes being one, the only sports anime I watched was Chihayafuru(if you can call that a sports anime), so I guess I am in for Ace of Diamond and Yowamushi Pedal.
Also not big on the more serious sci-fi/fantasy shows but I guess I will watch a few in the batch this season.
Of course my two shows that are up my ally are Golden Time and Yuusha ni Narenakatta so hopefully those two don’t turn out to be crud.
MORE Infinite Stratos SAY WHAT.
So yeah, no high hopes for this season for me but with the great seasons summer and spring was, I guess I wont complain.
As always guys, thank you for all the hard work. I’ve only read over some of this, just got home from work now. This season looks great. There are quite a few shows I have been anticipating, and your guys write-ups have gotten me interested in a couple more. I’ll list what I plan on watching a little later after I finish reading the preview.
Okay my next season should look something like this:
Definitely Watching:
Infinite Stratos 2
Kill la Kill
Little Busters: Refrain
Magi 2
Valvrave 2: Electric Bugaloo
Will Check Out:
Coppelion (Only because Kana Hanazawa is in it)
Kyoukai no Kanata (What can I say, I like KyoAni’s character designs)
Kyousougiga (I’ll need to check out the first one though)
Nagi no Asukara
Golden Time
Strike the Blood
Yuusha ni Narenakatta Ore wa Shibushibu Shuushoku o Ketsui Shimashita.
Log Horizon (I never watched SAO, much to one friend’s annoyance, but I may try this)
Sekai de Ichiban Tsuyoku Naritai!(Because if this is too depraved for even Stilts to watch it has my attention)
Gingitsune
Ore no Nounai Sentakushi ga, Gakuen Lovecome o Zenryoku de Jama Shiteiru
Galilei Donna
Samurai Flamenco
pupa
I know Hajime no Ippo is critically raved but no one has seen it. I’ll watch it someday.
This is going to be a very busy season. Then again. I had like 5-8 anime I was planning on watching for Summer and I only watched 2, 3 if you count Senyu.
It’ll be quite busy for me starting October.
Monday: Unbreakable, Aoki Hagane
Tuesday: Tokyo Ravens, Blazeblue
Wednesday: Coppelion, Kyoukai, NouCome
Thursday: Nagi no Asukara, Outbreak, IS 2, KILL, Golden Time, Galilei
Friday: Freezing, Strike the Blood, Yuusha
Saturday: Monogatari, Log Horizon, Little Busters, White Album
Sunday: Sekai Ichiban, Yozakura Quartet, Walkure Romanze
Yay!
Walkure Romance will be Horrible if they go down either Mio’s or Lisa’s route or they go for a open ending. If they go down Noel’s or Celia’s routes it should be above average
Coppelion – SciFi + Post Apocalyptic
Kyoukai no Kanata – KyoAni + Action!!
Nagi no Asukara Fan of PA Works since Angel Beats!
Outbreak Company – Unique Premise
Infinite Stratos 2 – liked first season
Kill la Kill – checking out the hype
Golden Time – loved Toradora
Freezing Vibration – read manga
Yusibu – fan of Hataraku Maou-sama!
Log Horizon – hopefully strays away from the harem-building that was SAO
White Album 2 – heard good things about the vn
Kuroko no Basuke 2 – first season was in my top 5
Magi – thought first season was great
Walkure Romanze – Genre is jousting?!? Must watch
Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio ~Ars Nova~ – Battleships
Tokyo Ravens – Interesting artwork and plot
Galilei Donna – noitaminA
Samurai Flamenco – ^
Kakumeiki Valvrave 2nd Season – I liked the first season honestly not sure why it wasn’t more well received
pupa – It’s not often you see a horror anime but the one’s I’ve seen I’ve liked (Higurashi + Another)
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a season with so many shows I am looking forward to watch. I see plenty of fantasy and sci fi which are my favorite genres along with a large variety of other shows so this may be a very busy anime season for me.
Also, Kana Hanazawa is in 7 shows this season?!
Mildly disappointed that BlazBlue got an anime before GuiltyGear. Always been partial to the franchise predecessor. Maybe the conflict regarding the IP is to blame, or it’s long hiatus…
regardless, if BlazBlue doing well greenlights a potential game-to-anime for GG, I’m all for rooting for this one.
My face when I was asked to write the intro:
*begin Inifinite Stratos Best Girl debate*
Good job everyone on the hard work, despite busy schedules! We have a big season ahead of us, so let’s use this as a stepping stone to great things! 😀
I like it how you put jokes inside this post, Zani.
Best girl is obviously Show Spoiler ▼
Best girl is
Show Spoiler ▼
Chiwa Saito!~
All aboard the Russian ship!
Her personality reminds me of Senjougahara’s interactions with Araragi.
Show Spoiler ▼
It’s a tough decision, they all have their merits. (*_*)
Am I the only one who’s on Team Shinononononononono Houki? =3
No, but you’re all wrong, because Char is best girl. Science FACT!
I’ll just put this 【Laura nyaa~】
And this 【IS girls in KIMONO】 here.
Stilts onii-chan is corrent! Charlotte is the best! Houki is a loser who does nothing to get ahead of the other girls!
Don’t worry Sei, I got you’re back. We both know Houki’s the best.
Laura is best girl!
I’m in the Houki x Charlotte ship… HA!
I’m normally a Germanophile but in this case….. CHARLOTTE! With Tatenashi coming in close
Nice joke Zanibas.
as of now only still on my watch is still those 2 anime for fall 2013.
s2 of Freezing anime yea Satey is back again & sekai female wrestling anime series.
indeed YES YES YES give those 2 to watch this is going to be too good to watch on them.
I really wished for 【Yamada and the 7 Witches】 to happen this season or in the future. I guess I will have to wait.
It got a live action series instead and I guess that put a delay on any anime.
Like what they always say – too much anime, not enough time. Hell, I’ll be watching at least 90% of the shows in this season. Ace of Dia’s manga is not bad, though I know I’ll just be craving for a second season once it ends. And Yowamushi Pedal? I wonder if it’ll be like Andalusia no Natsu…
Valvrave blew me off my chair and my body’s still aching for the 2nd season. Oh boy, new stories to tell whoever my child will be (not that I want to have one).
And, I wonder when they’ll make an adaptation of Kagerou days tho Q_Q
Great preview Randomc staff!
Zanibas: It was a great intro glad you were able to do it!
Damn I have like 25 shows on my watch list! I better catch up with my school work before all these great shows come out!
Seishun: I hope your as excited for Valvrave season 2 as I am and I hope you will be blogging it (Which I know you wouldn’t miss for the world)
Stilts: We all know you have to be covering an ecchi show this season *cough Walkure Romanze cough* Its not a Randomc blog without your ecchi post of the week
Guardian Enzo: I will be watching Yowamushi Pedal along with you! Sports anime have been getting good so I’m hoping this will meet our expectations as well!
Why did they bring out all the awesomeness during school and not summer down time >.<
Ahaha, we’ll see, we’ll see. Gotta wait and find out ; )
Oi oi. Where’d I go in this list? :3
You betcha I’m pumped, I love Valvrave wholeheartedly and I haven’t been this excited about a show since Fate/Zero =3
I think it is redundant to say there is ALOT of good potential for the fall season, I have 14 that I am interested and that is half again what I normally watch.
IS2 FTW~
Uhhh?…..NICE PANTS Magi……BLAZE BLUE?..wish it was GG.
and we’re gonna make glasses lot of freaking beautiful glasses!! hahahah
seriously lotta nice action looks like its coming our way to keep the fire in our hearts during whats shaping up to be a LONG COLD WINTER. I got my tan…how bout yall?
Lots of great shows to be excited for. I’m especially excited for Arpeggio of Blue Steel and Tokyo Ravens.
A lot of roles for Tomatsu this season 😉
As usual, thanks to the RC writers for their hard work! It took me roughly an hour to read this entire thing, so I can only imagine how much work goes into putting it all together, hunting down the promotional videos and all.
Needless to say, this is a huge season. Myself, I’ve got about 20-something shows I’m planning to watch. It’s certainly nice to see so many sports anime this season. I’m looking forward to the return of Ippo, Kuroko no Basuke S2, Ace of Diamond(Madhouse and Production I.G?! HOLY CRAP. Have they ever collaborated together in the past like this?); and I’ll definitley give the cycling anime a chance.
Other than the sports series, along with everyone else, I’m hyped for Kill la Kill and the new KyoAni anime. Also really looking forward to Little Busters Refrain, even though like Enzo said, it’s going to be hard to avoid all the spoilers. The two noitaminA shows look interesting too.
On a side note, three Madhouse anime airing in the Fall, since Hunter x Hunter is still going too. Truly, this is heaven.
Trying to keep up with everything is going to be tough. Good luck, everyone.
Man that PV for Sekai de Ichiban Tsuyoku Naritai!… for those of you planning on watching it get a earphone LOL.
Anyway really looking forward to Kyoukai no Kanata and Kuroko no Basuke 2. For the other I guess I have to try a few eps first before I’ll jump into them.
White Album’s 2nd season was awesome though.
The 1st season’s torture paid off in the end.
I’m worried about this anime, though, because judging from the settings, it looks generic
It is going to definately be Magi for me this season! I can’t wait, I have been fighting not to read the manga just to wait for its second season. I will probably end up watching all the animes and decide later what I want to watch for the others, as for Kamakeu Valvrave, god bless, I will watch it just to finish it, in the hope that it will improve the big downfall in the storyline it caused last season.
Thanks! M.
If I think about it, isn’t there a Chihayafuru OVA coming this season?
Unless there was a delay I haven’t heard about, it released along with Vol. 22 of the manga on the 13th.
As always, so much to watch, so little time. I don’t know if it’s actually true, but it sure feels like there’s a lot more sci-fi offerings than usual this season. There’ll be plenty to talk about, I’m sure. Though it’s plenty easy to spend too much time watching and not enough writing.
@Stilts re: Kyoukai no Kanata. Nobody ever seems to remember that Munto was a thing, though perhaps that’s for the better.
I tend to partially discount things that were done many years ago. I don’t judge Gainax’s skill by FLCL or Gurren Lagann, so I’m not going to dip back to Munto or even Haruhi for KyoAni. They’re noticeably different studios by now.
Were you not aware that they remade Munto? Shock horror? Definitely more recent than FMP, at any rate. Also apparently much more obscure, by the looks of it.
My family isn’t going to be seeing much of me this Autumn.
If LB refrain is adapted properly It will surprise all the bloggers watching it. Yes, it is that good.
Valvrave, Kill la Kill, Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio, Log Horizon(Hopefully Satelight’s beautiful backgrounds will be prominent), Gundam Build Fighter, IS, Kikai Shoujo, Kyousogiga.
Looks like recovering from that anime burnout will be relatively easy.
Looking forward to Sekai Ichiban, Freezing S2, Infinite Stratos and many more
spoiler pls..
____ will do Ace of Diamond
____ will do Kuroko 2nd
>Since one of our previewers this time, Guardian Enzo, does his own preview
Nah, he’ll just steal and repost this one.
I don’t know why you expect the preview content to be different considering it’s the same writer and the same show he’s writing about.
Actually, they are different. RC uses a somewhat different format for series previews on the season preview posts than I do, so I write a somewhat different (and longer) preview here than for the same show at LiA. Not that it would matter to the OP who just wanted to be a smartass, but just for the record.
I have mixed feelings about this season. I didn’t watch a single series last season simply because I didn’t find any show interesting (Sorry, not a Railgun fan even though I watched Index season 1 ages ago).
I’m somewhat disappointed again that 3/4 of the shows seems like nothing but fan service animes filled with little moe girls. I know it’s been like this for the past few years but I’m still hoping there’s a gem and surprises in these new shows like Zetsuen no Tempest, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Durarara!, etc. God, what has happened to the anime industry.
It’s just my opinion, dear fanboys out there who don’t share the same feelings there’s no need to flame me.
I still like to think Kyoto Animation and the rapidly shifting and narrowing otaku buyer interests in Japan towards more simplistic, predictably written and fanservice/moe driven series is largely responsible for all but diminishing the scope of the industry somehow and turning it into something pretty far removed from what got me into anime in the 80’s and 90’s but I can still see signs of life for what got me interested in anime each Spring and Fall season.
When it’s so much easier and all but certainly more profitable to churn out a Free, Uta no Prince, Chuunibyou or a half-baked popular LN adaptation like SAO that has a huge pre-installed audience that is going to buy the product for the name on the box regardless of it’s overall qualities than somewhat challenging and often vexing shows like Shin Sekai Yori, Lupin III Mine no Fujiko, Zetsuen no Tempest, Short Peace and/or complex large scope space operas like Galactic Heroes than the writing is kind of on the wall and you’re going to be seeing much less of the latter. And for the record it’s just my opinion that the writing for the above mentioned shows and a lot of what’s highly praised today is incredible simplistic and half-baked compared to the shows that got me into anime. I know people think they’re incredibly animated and all, but it doesn’t matter to me if the investment isn’t there in the story and characters.
Still at least people like Watanabe and other old school people are being allowed to make anime again in the past few years and shows like Attack on Titan are allowed to be made again as well. It was so much worse a few years ago I was on the brink of quitting this hobby when Tiger and Bunny came out and each successive year has been just a little better for my interests.
This season I have Kill La Kill, Valvrave S2, Ace no Diamond to check out as high expectations series. Unbreakable Machine Doll, Gundam BF, Samurai Flamenco, Log Horizon, Strike The Blood, and Arpeggio of Blue Steel to check out as series with moderate expectations and Kyoukai no Kanata, Walkure Romanze, Golden Time, Freezing Vibration, Blazblue, Magi 2nd Season and that Wrestling anime to check out as passing fancies. To put it in perspective last season I watched 6 shows total and will finish maybe 2. This season I am checking out 16.
COPPELION – LEGS! LEGS! and also the story is kinda interesting.
Kyoukai no Kanata – not really interested but i will try since the expectations is high.
IS 2 – more hanakana and char!!!
Golden Time – usually im OK with this kind of anime and plot so i will try this.
Strike the Blood – sci-fi – action – black haired girl?! ok! im in!
Yuusha ni Narenakatta Ore wa Shibushibu Shuushoku o Ketsui Shimashita – im quite interested in this though character design is quite a bit, ugggh. its like they are blaming emi for defeating maou and now the MC ended up jobless.
Hajime no Ippo Rising – certified hajime no ippo fan!
Sekai de Ichiban Tsuyoku Naritai – boobs, oppai, chichi!
Walkure Romanze – reminds me of princess lover!
Unbreakable Machine-doll – im here for that black haired girl! :3
Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio ~Ars Nova~ – the girl looks cute :3
Tokyo Ravens – ill try but i think ill drop this after 3-4 episodes if nothing interesting happened.
Galilei Donna – im not really sure why i want to watch this :S
pupa – the story is quite nice.
So many shows! It makes choosing really hard… So I will go picking tried and proven first-
unless something spectacular happens, my schedule will be dominated by sequels:
Sunday: Yozakura quartet – I really missed our supernatural troubleshooters. In particular certain summoner with penchant for conjuring guns from swarm of MP-40s, to 88mm antitank gun, to… 280 railway cannon (not to be mistaken with railgun!)
Monday:Arpeggio of the blue steel – Naval warfare with kawaii AI? Count me in! If you ever played Harpoon and loved it, you might understand!
Tuesday: Tokyo Ravens or BlazBlue – depending on which fantasy-action will be working better!
Wednesday: Coppelion. Wandering the nuclear wasteland never looked so good!
Thursday: Mecha & romance day, with double serving of IS and Valvrave!
Friday: Freezing. Satellizer L. Bridgett definitely deserves to be watched!
Saturday:either Log Horizon, or, if the show flops, I’ll marathon Little busters released so far and pick up the sequel.
Hey guys, will that be possible to you guys to rate(1-10?)your particular show that you are reviewing at the end of the season show base on your personal opinion cause I never see you guys do something like that?
Ah, we don’t usually like using rating systems around RC eh. Some individual authors do write scores on their MyAnimeList profiles however. You’ll find the MAL links near the beginning of this preview.
Sigh, I mean Yay!, there goes my free time again….Gotta say Wed-Fri is going to hurt.
Small recommendation though for future Previews. Would it be possible to put it some kind of single-word designator in the show header on whether it is a short (like Miss Monochrome) or full episode length anime? Sometimes it’s not clear until it airs.
Hmm, we usually mention it in the preview itself whether or not it’s a short or full length, but that may be something to consider for the future. We’ll see how it goes.
As always
I’ll just watch everything and drop them one by one as time goes.
So many interesting animes to watch this fall !!! I hope they all live up to their expectations. 🙂
My main dish will be IS, Golden Time, and Strike the Blood. 🙂
It will be a really really busy season for me
I think Samurai Flamenco has the best potential to be the hit sleeper this season
What I’m looking forward the most:
– Kyoukai no Kanata: KyoAni is given. Plus it has supernatural and action stuffs in it. The PV is badass
– Kill la Kill: From TTGL team, I’m expecting a really interesting show with over the top action and cool characters
– Coppelion: The animation looks awesome and the setting alone is actually enough to make me watch this
– Nagi no Asu Kara: Beautiful art, just gotta love the sea setting. With Mari Okada and Bunri in it, it will be interesting to see what kind of drama P.A. Works will bring to the table to match the setting
– Golden Time: Although the chara design disappoint me a bit, I just can’t ignore this. Toradora’s author is behind this
– Strike the Blood: I’ve heard good things about it, but really worried with the person behind the series composition
– Little Busters Refrain: Strong competitor of Clannad AS?
– Kuroko no Basket: No need to think anymore. Crazy basketball action with cool characters
– Ace of Diamond: Basketball + Production I.G./Madhouse
– Arpeggio; The cg battle looks pretty cool
– Tokyo Ravens: Read the manga a bit and looks pretty good
– Galilei Donna: Waiting for the new pv that will be released tomorrow. The art is really good
– Samurai Flamenco: Director of Durarara!!, Baccano and Natsume Yuujinchou, I just have a feeling I will enjoy it so much
If these were delicacies, I’d be obese by autumn’s end.
Quick gist of my watch list:
– IS 2
– Yozakura Quartet
– Blue steel
– Copellion
– Kyoukai no Kanata
– Nagi no Asukara
– Freezing
– Strike the blood
– Valvrape
– Walkrue romance
– Pupa
Hhmm…I think the new Gundam series will likely be attracting the young audiences.
Many good shows and I hope they will not disappoint halfway 🙂
I am looking forward for:
-Coppelion
-Kyoukai no Kanata
-Nagi no Asukara
-Infinite Stratos 2
-Little Busters! ~Refrain~
-White Album 2
-Unbreakable Machine-doll
Haven’t been watching too much anime lately. The only thing that really stuck out to me was Blazblue Altar Memory. Not because I’m all that interested in the story, but because I freaking love Kondou Kanako. I have no idea how she’s not more popular, she has a great voice and can sing very well. Stardust Memory ~Place of Promise~ So gooood.
Thanks a lot for this great preview. I really appreciate all the effort you put into it.
Looking forward to Kuroko no Basuke and Ace of Diamond!
COPPELION reminds of that OVA or short series i can’t exactly remember, about high school girls being sent back in time before world was destroyed.
Lots of shows that I don’t know what to expect of this season which means a lot of trying and dropping,heh.I’ll probably end up watching quite a few although nothing really stands out for me at first glance.Then again,there’s Valvrare!
Have you guys heard the news about the Bayonetta movie being made by Gonzo?
A friend of mine referred me to some info about it. Not sure what to think. These games –> movie/anime adaptations don’t usually work out well.
Right. I just remembered how disappointing the Devil May Cry anime was. From what I’ve seen on ANN, it looks like it’s just retelling the story of the first game.
Fall looks awesome…
Kakumeiki Valvrave, Golden Time, Gingitsune, Samurai Flamenco, Nagi no Asu kara, Galilei Donna, Kyoukai no Kanata, Little Busters Refrain…the list simply goes on. ^.^
Well it’s here. Plenty of school settings, action, a couple of mechs, and probably Waifu Wars: Infinite Stratos Edition(wears helmet).
I’m looking forward for IS2 and Valvrave. I’ll probably explore Copellion, Kyoukai no Kanata, Blazblue, Tokyo Ravens, GBF, Walkure, UMD, KlK, Outbreak Company, Diabolik Lovers and Arpeggio. I’m gonna give Golden Time my strictest three episode rule since I’m already reading the novel anyway(if they don’t deliver, dropped.)
Anyway please don’t blog LB! A certain someone will be affected. That is all.
I don’t mind Little Busters! Refrain being blogged. I want to have a good debate with that PERSON when he/she blogs it.
Since 【Saya’s character design】 is already out and 【Little Busters! EX anime】 already in green-lit, I just don’t care anymore on what will happen.
I just see this torture to the end.
Time for a bit of a plug! I’ll also be covering LB from time to time from my site, though from perhaps a few surplus (though perhaps superfluous) angles, since I’ve read the VN. Though wherever it is, I hope we’ll get some good discussion on it.
LOL Croos. I hope your discussions won’t end into rants or arguments.
@Passerby: You’re poking a sleeping ogre with a pitchfork.
It did.
Update on 【Tokido, Saya’s anime character design】
Wow, this is a surprise. I wasn’t expecting IS and Freezing to have second season in this season.
My to-watch list
Gundam Build Fighter
– cuz i like The Gunpla Builder OVA and it’s concept.
Valverave
– people say it’s a train wreck waiting to happen and I just love train wreck.
Kill a kill
– Give me those Gurren lagann level animation and I will serve you, my new anime studio overlord
My Quick-peep
Coppelion
Tokyo Raven
Unbreakable Machine-doll
Everything else that have HanaKana or Rina Satou voicing.
This season is gonna be sweet!
I don’t get it Seishun. If you expect great things from Valvrave why do you wrote-
Expectation Level: Moderate
I don’t get it…
TQ
The expectation levels are judged by the preview writers as a whole rather than just the individual who wrote the preview paragraphs. This is to avoid being biased and everyone’s opinion is taken into consideration (or most people’s >_>).
That’s because the expectation levels are all decided by the combined sharp minds of Stilts, Zanibas and Zephyr, as stated in the post itself. My input is only the preview write-up itself, not the expectation levels. Hope that clears things up for you =3
Over the past year, I went from watching ~half the shows of the season to my current state where all I’m following is Kingdom S2 and Monogatari (and the first 16 episodes of Railgun). I’m finding myself lose interest in series after 1-5 episodes more and more. I hope this season can reinvigorate my dulled interest.
Tokyo Ravens & Sekai de ichiban tsuyoku naritai! – Yoroshiku, ZANIBAS
COPPELION & Nagi no Asukara- Yoroshiku, ZEPHYR
Infinite Stratos 2 – Yoroshiku, Aniki Stilts
Little Busters! ~Refrain~ – Yoroshiku, ENZO
wow too many animes i want to watch :O
this season is truly great season for me
I’d just like to extend a big fat THANK YOU to all of you who worked on this preview. Sure, there are other season previews out there and a bazillion of charts, but somehow I feel that a new anime season simply cannot start before Random Curiosity says so. This preview is always the best, the most in depth, and the most objective. It always has the final call on deciding which series I will be watching.
Again, thank you very much.
good freaking lord!
due to work and life, i have a fair bit of backlog the last season, now this season adds a fair bit of goodies?! will i ever finish all the animes i want to watch?!
To watch:
Samurai Flamenco
Golden Time
May be:
Gingitsune (nice music, nice colors. may be need some drama)
May be someday:
Non Non Biyori (nice landscape)
Nagi no Asukara (blue-blue water)
Kuroko no Basuke (still think about first season)
Little Busters! (still think about first season)
Super Seisyun Brothers (need some romance)
Kyoukai no Kanata (need less girls)
Samurai Flamenco and Golden Time are my top picks for Thursday too! =) Yay!
This season, I’ll be watching for sure:
– Magi: The Kingdom of Magic
– Little Busters! ~Refrain~
– Kyousogiga
– Gundam Build Fighters
And I might also watch (on “maybe” category):
– Yowamushi Pedal
😉
Whoa, so many shows this season! It’s going to be hard to keep track of even fraction of these. X_X
I have high hopes for COPPELION and I hope it doesn’t get affected by whatever may come in the future.
It completely boggles my mind how they decided to spend money on 2020 Olympics and calling for tourists when Fukushima is still leaking away.
The biggest shocker to me is…
Show Spoiler ▼
Alright, you guys got to be shitting me. I mean,
only two people watching Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio?
Loli’s! Come on, give the loli’s some love too! THEY EVEN GOT BATTLESHIPS, WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT?!
Now for the actual list:
Shows the mighty Dual shall never drop:
Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio (of course)
Valvrave 2 (I’m with you, Seishun!)
Char— I mean IS 2 (Charlotte <3)
Kyoukai no Kanata (The PV's ending was overwhelming. Just the girl saying senpai was enough to make me watch the hell out of this show)
Shows that interest me:
Kill La Kill (The old school art tintle my senses)
Nagi no Asakura (Childhood friends are the best)
Outbreak Company (A land dedicated to everything I believe in)
Golden Time (-fill in argument-)
Log Horizon (I see potential)
NouCome (Cuteness overload)
Tokyo Ravens (is that a… OMG IT’S A FLYING PONY!!!)
Shows I might look watch:
COPPELION (it has this Zephyr feel to it(yes, a Zephyr feel), but I’m still not sure)
Strike the Blood (I don’t know, but I’ve got a meh feeling to this one. Hope I’ll get prove wrong)
YuShibu (A dose of romcom is always needed)
Sekai de Ichiban Tsuyoku Naritai (for the PLOT)
Walkure Romanze (I like the mini-skirts…)
Non Non Biyori (-fill in argument-)
pupa (Yes, FullDive. It’s because of you that I might watch this)
There are some shows that interest me but I didn’t watch the previous shows so…
You have some fine taste, my good Sir =3
The wait is not going to be too long, only a few more weeks until Valvrave premieres =3
On Galilei Donna
“Umetsu Yasuomi’s lack of experience with the director role does end up hurting the series’ prognosis”
Wait,I know Kite and Mezzo are not exactly recent but I can’t be the only here looking forward to this show (and Wizard Barristers next year) because of the director, right?
Watch List:
Outbreak Company: An Otaku who has the guts to advertise his passion to an entire world? This will be interesting.
BlazBlue Alter Memory: Finally played the game last night. Looks really good and was asking for an anime adaptation… Haven’t played the story mode, but hopefully it doesn’t get Donganronpa’d
Nagi no Asukara: Somehow Romance is like a magnet that sucks me in… This one looks promising… Especially for me, since with 2 Male MCs and 2 Female MCs mean I won’t have my heart stabbed through with the cruel wooden steak of love triangles :'(
Unbreakable Machine-Doll: If it got an endorsement from Stilts, I will take a look at it.
Gingitsune: Got to throw in something calm midst all the high-stress tension this season will have.
Samurai Flemenco: I will give it a look, but it looks like something that has a lot of hype that I might not be sold on.
White Album 2: Apparently this VN is third highest ranked right behind Clannad and whatever other really liked VN… I’m 0-fer in the ships i jump on… Really asking for some heart break here….
Strike the Blood: Animation will look good… Two cores to get a story going gives it promise… Really wish I could get more Male MCs… Seems like it’s been heavy Girl MC lately…
Pupa: Despair inducing show… I don’t indulge in much of horror because of the fact nothing good happens in the end. We’ll see how this turns out.
KV S2: Ready for my second trip on this crazy ride
Golden Time: College atmosphere, so I can relate to people this time around… Not enough College settings outside of Genshiken and White Album.
Toaru Hikushi e no Koiuta
Kill la Kill: I didn’t realize the staff behind this anime, and it looked intriguing. I’m very pumped.
Kyoukai no Kanata
Log Horizon
Galilee Donna
White Album 2 could surprise a lot of people. It’s ultimately an ultimate love triangle story. If you are into love stories, not light ones but heavy ones, better watch this show.
Aw man, no love for Build Fighters? The story is probably going to be generic and bland, but the fight previews looked awesome and kitbashing ftw.
Oddly enough I’m not completely thrilled going into this season. A few sequels to shows I didn’t watch in the first place and shows I was only kind of enjoying.
I mean Infinite Stratos almost lost me until Char came into it and pretty much saved the show.
Otherwise I’m just going into this hoping to be surprised by a lot of shows. I’m really hoping to get proven wrong since this is probably the most apathetic I’ve been about a new anime season in a while. Doesn’t help either that almost everything is ending thanks to series struggling to actually go past 12/13 episodes these days.
Could be a good season, could be a bit of a bust. Will have to hope for the former.
Please, review Gingitsune! It was very charming in the manga!
Not going to write a list of what I am going to watch this time, mainly because for some reason I am not sure how many shows I am going to watch from these.
Somehow, despite having more shows and some very promising ones, this fall feels a lot less interesting than the previous summer.
Some thoughts about a few of the anime:
Coppelion – One of the few anime that truly interest me this season. The source material is great so if GoHands keeps close enough to it, nothing should go wrong with this anime. I am a bit weirded out by the character design, since it looks more like Seitokai Yakuindomo (also by GoHands) than the original manga.
Kyousougiga – Another of the anime that piqued my interest. The first ona and the web series were great and it’s good to see that it will finally be aired in better quality.
Kill la Kill – In a very good way, Kill la Kill’s art reminds me of some very old anime series I watched. The characters all have unique and memorable faces, the entire flair of the anime screams hotblooded shounen action and most, if not everything is handdrawn. I really hope this series will live up to the expectations.
Log Horizon – I was going to ignore this anime, partly because of my own dislike of SAO and the similar setting the two shows have. However Stilts has convinced me to give this anime a chance. The protagonist being a squishy wizzard who needs protecting by his party while casting spells seems much more interesting than an allmighty swordsman like Kirito will ever be, although as someone who prefers physical ranged classes in MMORPGs, I’d love to see an archer protagonist. Bonus point for Stilts for mentioning Lina Inverse, one of my favourite protagonists of all time.
Non Non Biyori – As a huge fan of slice-of-life comedies, this is one of the anime I am the most excited about this season. The promotion videos already promise lots of scenery porn and from what I have read of the manga the dynamic between the characters is also great.
I’m kind of interested why you call this a shoujo series when every source calls it seinen, Takaii.
KUROBASU 2 \m/
Nice writeup, guys! As for myself, I guess I’ll watch (and try)…
Watch :
Kyoukai no Kanata : I consider myself as an avid KyoAni fan, but for some reason I’m not really hyped for this (although naturally I supposed to do so). I think that will change when the first episode airs, though, since I also remember that I’m not really hyped when I saw Hyouka’s PV (I don’t really like how they sometimes made PV by putting a lot of cutscenes behind single BGM, but their PV for Chuunibyou are fantastic!)
Kill la Kill : Gonna see what the creators of Gurren Lagann will try this time.
LB Refrain : I hope that my decision to stall the VN for the anime will pay off this time. Crossing fingers for better budget and music direction!
Try :
Nagi no Asakura : I hope Okada Mari didn’t screws up this time, and P.A will stay from their “good but not great enough” syndrome.
Golden Time : I’m not really impressed with the first chapter, but even Toradora is pretty slow in the beginning.
Strike the Blood : The promotional picture somehow caught me.
Log Horizon : I somehow got a feeling that this will be a much better, but much less successful SAO.
White Album 2 : I think this is a bit too underestimated this time in RC, it’s one of (if not) the best VN for past 2010 era! Too bad it will be pretty slow in the beginning, the real meat should be at the second season.
NoitaminA shows : Because NoitaminA.
OMG, Unbreakable Machine-doll has been adapted into an Anime? I had NO idea. I LOVE THAT MANGA. Damn, now I can’t wait for the first episode.
Char returns, I mean, IS 2 will be fun. But we all know that real star of that show. 😛
Valvrave 2 will certainly provided all the crazy for this season.
BlazBlue Alter Memory – about time, the game has a story well worth adapting into an Anime.
The summer season was dry and had no animes to interest me but now the fall season seems to have an overload of animes that I want to watch. Sigh. lol
Welp, there goes my free time… Goodbye final year of university, hello 10+ show that I will at least check out (and probably stay with till the end). ;_;
Guess it’s true what the say, summer/winter seasons can’t even compare with the fall/spring.
One thing to correct about Log Horizon is that Shiroe, spellcaster that he is, is no nuker. In fact, his class, the Enchanter, is a full-time support class armed with buffs, de-buffs, spells that help regulate the MP (and thus use of skills) of his team-mates, etc… but no heals. The Enchanter has some attack spells, yes, but they are weak, really weak (think scratching a burly man with a twig). As such, it’s an unpopular class amongst players, but one that Shiroe enjoys because of the possibilities and challenges it provides.
Add this to the fact that he’s the type that would explore every possibility available and that once an objective has been established he will go all out utilising everything he can deploy, might tell a bit more about this guy =3
Personally I would compare Log Horizon with Dragon Drive, despite their differences. Both involve players transported to another world (in LogHora’s case, an alternate, post-apocalyptic Earth) that had previously existed as a game. It should appeal well to people who like Maou Yuusha and to people who would like to see interactions between the people from “Our World” (aka the players/Adventurers) and the residents of the “Other World” (the used-to-be NPCs).
And like MaoYuu, good food plays a important role here too, mmm =3
I prefer being an afk healer.
Btw, an updated PV is now available at the official site: http://www9.nhk.or.jp/anime/loghorizon/
Rejoice! Your mascot is secretly a kung-fu mage priest!
And that cute little assassin probably wants you to make a contract with her.
BLAZBLUE! Oh yeah, can’t wait for this. It could be terrible, but I love the games and feel that it should easily translate into an anime provided they don’t go too far off the beaten track with it and focus on the right things, plus there’s certainly no shortage of material. If nothing else, seeing some of the characters animated should be awesome.
Also, glad to hear that it’s Seishun posting it. I’ve followed a number of his posts and aside from his posts being great, I am glad to have a familiar face working on a series I’ve been hyped about for a while now. This season should be good.
Thanks for saying such nice things, Celecia =3
I’m not sure who’s gonna be intro-ing BLAZBLUE to be honest, you’ll find out when the show premieres, I guess =3
I wanted to spend a few words on Arpeggio of Blue Steel, since it seems that Zanibas did not actually go through the manga.
Nowadays I read many more manga compared to watching anime, and Arpeggio was likely the #1 seinen manga that I wanted to see animated; not because it is the best, but because it feels like it was written to be animated.
Essentially, think of a very japanese version of The Hunt for Red October, with a lot of political intrigue, awesome naval battles, plus cute humanoid personifications of ships just because. The main faults I can find in the manga are the somehow abrupt beginning and the fact that the naval battles can be a bit confusing with everything that goes on (and a heavy mix of both actual technicalities and technobabble); if the director can fix the latter, we could be in for a treat.
Of course, the anime could still be total crap for all we know. I understand that the choice of going full-3D was likely taken to make justice to the visually complex battles, but I can’t say I like how the characters look in the trailer. Anyway, we shall see – but consider giving it a chance, the story in the manga is very solid and it might turn out to be quite the spectacle.
does anyone know the name of this song for kyousogiga
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3oDlFojAgc
“Senbonzakura (feat. Hatsune Miku)” by White Flame.
It was written in the description of the video.
There also is a link in the video description if you want to buy the song at itunes.
dont know how i missed that -_- thank u!!!
What is with the scissor’s theme lately? Spring we had Dansai Bunri, Summer We had Dog and Scissors and Gatchaman Crowds, and now Kill La Kill has scissors xd.
Wow there are allot of harem/ecchi this season; Freezing, IS, Sekai, and Walkure Romanze.
You forgot to mention that Super Seisyun Brothers will be a short.
Damn so many good sounding anime coming out this season, how am I supposed to choose 🙁
Nazo no Kanojo X was the precursor last year with Urabe’s panty scissors !
From the interviews and character bios that i have read, kyokai no kanata seems to be a tad darker and more story-driven than its light novel counterpart so i hope that bodes well for the final product; I cant help but feel super amped but at the same time wary. I really want this series to succeed on a story-telling point so badly for the sake of Kyoani’s reputation because when they want to, they can pull of some extremely excellent work (The disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, Kanon). I want them to become relevant from a creative standpoint.
Looks good, will be picking up 10~15 shows.
lol expectations for valve – moderate…as if the first season didn’t establish enough expectations…
will watch anime from Kyoani, Kyoukai no Kanata, Gundam, Kakumeiki Valvrare and (maybe) Pupa
High expectations for:
BLAZBLUE ALTER MEMORY
Coppelion
Kyokai no Kanata
Kill la Kill
Pupa
Unbreakable Machine-doll
Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio
Magi
Freezing Vibration
Sekai de Ichiban Tsuyoku Naritai!
Infinite Stratos 2
Nagi no Asukara
with Space Bros and Monogatari second season as carryovers, looks like I’m watching 25 shows this season, and 2 or 3 shorts.
Did you guys forget Aikatsu! season 2? it starts Oct 3rd
If bricks were as dense as Ichika, buildings would crush themselves through sheer gravitational force. The only place to find material that matches Ichika’s density is in the heart of neutron stars or black holes.
I hate to be the geek to point this out, but I have to, otherwise its like accepting that horses galloping sound like coconuts. Black holes, Neutron Stars, any star for that matter, and even Earth’s own core, are not dense at all. There is a near equal amount of matter in every direction to neutralize any gravitational force, so anything in the center has no reason to be pressurized into something dense. Its essentially zero, and is so much “zero” in a black hole, that any matter would be determined to be essentially cut off permanently. Basically erased. So in a way, his logic to anything that might be a clue to what others think of him, essentially would not exist at all, if it were like a black hole
Weeelllll…
You’re correct in that at a SINGULAR point within the core of a planet or star, there should be no net gravitational forces. Problem is, the core is not just one point. It’s a whole sphere that has enormous pressure crushing and compressing its surface from all around. Since it’s impossible for all of that matter to be forced into a single point, it ends up being compressed into a ball much more dense than the outer layers.
I’m sure you know, but gravitational force is directly related to the mass of an object; the more mass something has, the stronger its gravitational pull. For something like the the sun to keep the planets within its gravitational field and not be relatively huge (compared to bigger objects, such as red giants), its core has to be ridiculously dense.
It’s theorized that black holes reside at the center of galaxies, which hold BILLIONS of stars just like the sun. This means that the core of the black holes must be dense enough to keep ALL of those stars within its gravitational field. Instead of its density being infinitely zero, it’s more accurate to say that its density is infinitely, well, infinite.
Which, as Wanderer pointed out, is comparable to Ichika’s.
1. seriously?
2. even from a physics perspective, what you’re saying is incorrect
*Starts filling the MAL plan to watch*
*looks at the whole amount of anime/movies to watch in the next season*
*looks at time needed to look at all of’em, including worktime and study*
…
…
*despair*
The general shitty taste of aniblog readers pushes Kyokai no Kanata to the top of a poll yet again. No Kyoani fanboy factor and there’s just no way this one is the most anticipated of the season. Wonder how many alt accounts had to be made to get that result.
I think you misunderstand how the results of the poll work.
Because there is no direct ranking, Kyoukai no Kanata being at the top of the poll doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the most anticipated anime, but the anime anticipated by most.
Many of the people who voted for it might have the highest expectations of different anime like Kill la Kill or Hajime no Ippo: Rising, but also voted for Kyoukai no Kanata as their 4th or 5th choice, because it might be good.
Multiple accounts/IP just for polls? Seriously? In 2013? Just for KyoKan? Seriously, if that show flops people will say it’s the worst anime ever(similar things happen before).
inb4 aniblog tourney
>Multiple accounts/IP address
>KyoAni
It’s not worth fun to make fun with.
I were to make multiple ip address I would rather make SSB and Meganebu on top of the list!
Then that would make other think “WTF is this sh*t“.
Why am I not surprised this complaint is made by you of all people? Once again, your anti Kyo-Ani and Shaft bias is starting to become tiresomely repetitive.
There was a vote! Were at?
True that, Anonymous above.
Back when I used to lurk in the Animesuki forums, he was already quite an insufferable anti Kyo-Ani hater, frequently launching his one-man crusading antics against said company for every episode thread of their series.
I see he still hasn’t changed one single bit.
Well, as someone who has witnessed constant K-sama’s utter hatred towards KyoAni shows on some anime forums (notably MAL and ANN) on many occasions, i would be surprised if he didn’t come here and chime in about Kyokai no Kanata. But then, calling other people “shitty” is a bit too far, i suppose.
Anyway, the ones i’m looking forward to this season :
1) Valvrave – Full of stupid drama and stupid plot twists, yet still fun nonetheless. Guilty pleasure for the season
2) Ace of Diamond – The manga is awesome, enough said
3) Yowamushi Pedal – The manga is awesome, enough said
4) Nagi no Asukara – More cheesy and over the top melodrama from Mari Okada is always welcome
5) Arpeggio – Cool naval battle!? Count me in!
6) Kyokai no Kanata – Dunno, might be either a cool DF epic battle or another hyper moe crap, but still worth anticipating to
oh man… tons of new goodies to watch… and me as an otaku is now havin a hardtime updating my watchlist since, summer season anime are yet end.
will be rootin for kyoukai no kanata for sure…
*sigh* It’s already almost October and I’m still behind on so many shows. I’m behind in my shows this season by about *goes to check MAL* …45 episodes overall (not including Shingeki which for whatever reason I keep putting off after watching the first episode).
Backlogs friggin’ suck.
Anyways, looking forward to IS2, Valvrave 2, LB:R, Magi 2, KnB2 (holy damn that’s a lot of sequels), Nagi no Asukara (must prepare myself for the Okada Mari assault upon my tear ducts), and Blazblue (The story isn’t really anything great, but it holds a special place in my heart. Also, IMO Hazama is probably Nakamura Yuuichi’s best role to date.)
Also, not trying to hype White Album 2 up or anything, but it’s actually the highest rated game on erogamescape (a site where fans rate visual novels) which places it above visual novels turned anime such as Fate/Stay Night, Clannad, and Steins;Gate. Obviously there’s a lot that go into the ratings and that doesn’t necessarily mean it will make a good anime.
There is one thing I’d like to correct from the preview though. This is not a dating sim. That’s actually kind of insulting a game with such wonderful writing (even though you didn’t mean it that way and I’m pretty much just fanboying at this point). It’s pretty much considered a kamige (Godly game) in Japan. There’s going to be tons of characters acting stupid drama though, so it’s definitely not for everyone.
White Album 2 is going to be the underrated masterpiece of the season, without a doubt.
Hmmm….I only have time for 4 or 5 , so:
Already watching Diabolik Lovers , so that’s one
Nagi no Asakura and Kyoukai no Kanata are 2 more I have my eye on…
Pupa looks interesting , as does Non Non Biyori , so…I guess I’ll use the 3 episode rule with Non Non Biyori , as I’m doing with Diabolik Lovers , and see which one’s better. Then I’ll drop the other one , and then I’ll have 4 , so I’m sorted.
Easier than I’d thought =P
Thanks for the preview like always guys.
The two shows I’ll do my best to watch weekly are Yozakura Quartet and Valvrave. I’m a huge fan of YQ, and I really liked Vavlrave, so yeah.
There’s some other things I’m interested in, but like every season for a few years now, I probably won’t watch them as they’re airing.
I’ll keep watching Aikatsu and Pretty Rhythm Rainbow Live, the latter still being the best show currently airing imo.
Like Getchman already pointed out, did you forget to include the second season of Aikatsu or did you omit it for being a “kids show”?
wow…i will give all of these episodes the good old first two episodes try !!
but here is what i should be watching regularly :
Ace of Diamond
COPPELION
Galilei Donna
Gundam Build Fighters
Hajime no Ippo Rising
Kill la Kill
Kyoukai no Kanata
Log Horizon
Neppu Kairiku Bushi Road
Samurai Flamenco
Unbreakable Machine-doll
I’m not too sure what I will follow, but Kakumeiki Valvrave 2nd Season is guaranteed
just want say thank you for these previews an blogs you guys do i mostly lurk but love reading your guys stuff
Good God, so many must-see series! I hope they don’t affect my grades…winter exams are coming up…
So many great shows this season, but one thing comes out above all else.
VALVRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAVE!!!
Seishun, please blog Kuroko no Basuke… You’ll be perfect for it, I just know it =)
I <3 KuroBasu and I really wish I can make time for it. You’ll get an intro post no matter what even if the series doesn’t get picked up – so you have that to look forward to 😉
I don’t care what people say, but I’m watching Gundam BF. This was basically Sunrise saying FUCK YOU at those people who taught AGE was going to be the kiddie Gundam but it wasn’t. Now they are actually doing a kiddie Gundam.
Seriously though, I like Gunpla Builders and Gundam BF will expand it. And seeing Gundam X in HD glory is the draw for me.
AFAIK everytime people complain about their work Sunrise’s immediate reply is:
“You ain’t seen shit yet.”
Proof: Valvrave
Oh yeah this definitely makes up for Summer, my GOD so much to watch
Finally some anime worth my time…. by some I mean 2 (IS & Valvrave). Let the stupidity recommence!!
The show I’m most excited about:
– Kill la Kill
Shows I’m not as excited about as the above one, but will still follow on weekly basis:
– Diamond no Ace
– Gingitsune
– Hajime no Ippo: Rising (kind of an exception: I would certainly watch it regularly if it weren’t for the fact I only saw the first season, and even that was 6-7 years ago)
Shows not likely I’ll follow for too long, but still gonna check out the first few episodes:
– Blazblue: Alter Memory
– Kyousou Giga
Why is Thursday so stacked? Why won’t they have mercy?
Looks like a ok season but no must watch shows for me.
Ones I’ll watch/give a chance.
Moderate expectations
Unbreakable Machine-doll
Strike the Blood
No-low expectations
Yozakura Quartet
Coppelion
Walkure Romanze
Infinite Stratos 2
This is probably the greatest fall season for animation that I can remember! So many high quality shows it blows my mind! But I noticed one thing missing! SPACE DANDY! HOW COULD YOU NOT POST ANYTHING ABOUT SPACE DANDY?? ARE YOU GUYS INSANE??!!!! From the makers of Cowboy Bebop! Come on!!! There are so many articles about it and yet you don’t even put it on the list? For shame!!! http://io9.com/we-cant-wait-for-space-dandy-from-the-creator-of-cowb-1235259759
Space Dandy doesn’t air this fall.
It is scheduled for winter season.
Don’t know what it is, but my viewing habits are way down with each season.
Definite watch:
Kyoukai no Kanata
Strike the Blood (read manga and LN)
Non Non Biyori (read manga)
Nagi no Asukara (read manga)
Possible watch:
pupa
Unbreakable Machine-doll
Golden Time (read LN)
Coppelion
Absolutely bored watch:
IS 2
Tokyo Ravens
Walkure Romanze
Nothing else even sparks my interest.
Infinite Stratos Season 2? YESSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kakumeiki Valvrave, Yozakura Quartet and Phi Brain… Impressive how these shitty shows can get so many seasons.
Cause they’re cheap to make and sellable at the right time?
They not that cheap, since the animation quality is on par with other anime. I think there are so many otakus in Japan, that even crap anime can find some audience.
Many to watch but pending for give up after watching first episode. 😛
Coppelion
Kuroko No Basket
Magi
Gingitsune (Pending)
Tokyo Ravens
Samurai Flamenco
Kakumeiki Valvarve
Pupa (Pending)
In no particular order
1. Kurko no Basuke 2
2. Kakumeiki Valvrave 2nd Season
3. Freezing Vibration
4. Infinite Stratos 2
5. Super Seisyun Brothers (short only 3-6 mins of LOL fun why not :p)
6. Miss Monochrome (short the back story to this anime is interesting, plus at only 3 mins an ep why the heck not?)
7. COPPELION (nuclear apocalypse + girls with guns/super powers, right up my alley)
8. Kyoukai no Kanata (sounds interesting and highly acclaimed this season)
9. Outbreak Company (Maoyuu Maou Yuusha expect with moe?! sounds weird)
10. Kill la Kill (not sure what to make of this, but its highly acclaimed so ill try it, but what’s wiht the sciccors theme lately last 2 seasons ago Dansai Bunri, last season Dog and Scissors and Gatchaman crowds, now this?!?!)
11. Golden Time (college-slice of life)
12. Non Non Biyori (Elementary school slice of life with this and Golden Time my slice of life collection will be complete!! I will have seen ones from kindergarten, middle school, highschool, college, and in work.)
13. Ore no Nounai Sentakushi ga, Gakuen Lovecome o Zenryoku de Jama Shiteiru (I’ve been liking these long named love comedies)
14. Log Horizon ( Basically Sword Art Online in a different game with different people and hopefully this anime won’t be as bad as SAO was -sao rocked until the second half)
15. Kyousougiga (sounds weird and fun)
16. Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio ~Ars Nova~ (I have a thing for ships so an any about a naval war sounds interesting)
17. Walkure Romanze (never seen an anime about jousting, possibly romance too)
18. Gingitsune (sounds light-hearted and that fox guy looks so chillax especially in the trailer.)
19. Unbreakable Machine-doll ( been looking forward to this)
20. Galilei Donna (something about stars I like astronomy I’ll try this out)
21. Pupa (The only horror anime I’ve seen was Another and this sounds so much scarier)
22. Samurai Flamenco (have no clue what will happen in this one guess I will have to find out)
23. Strike the Blood (no clue what to make of this, but it sounds good and it’s on tues)
24. Tokyo Ravens (again no clue what to make of this and it’s on friday)
I’m definitely watching all those or at least trying them, but here are others I want to watch or was thinking of watching:
25. Nagi no Asukara (I’m already watching 3 slice of lifes a 4th would push it, but this sounds so good!)
26. Yuusha ni Narenakatta Ore wa Shibushibu Shuushoku o Ketsui Shimashita. (Sounds exactly like Hataraku Maou-sama! wchich I loved)
27. Sekai de Ichiban Tsuyoku Naritai! (Ecchi wrestling if I have room I will watch this 😉 also I’ve never seen a wresting anime)
28. Yowamushi Pedal (never seen a cycling anime If I have room I’ll watch; also its on monday >.>)
29. Neppu Kairiku Bushi Road (original Mecha anime, but I’m already watching one this season and I’ve found that watching more than one in a season isn’t the best Idea nevertheless I might add this if I have room.)
Damn tues and fri have such a small line up seriously why is thurs bigger than sat and fri 0_0
If I’m bored and people are saying its good I might even watch BlazBlue I’ve never played the games, but at this rate I only have 2 anime to watch and one is a 3 min short. Either I’ll probably watch that catch up on mon/weekends’ stuff or watch an older anime I’ve been meaning to see.
Hey does anyone have any idea for me to stay balanced? There are loads of older anime I want watch and with me watching at least 24 anime this season I probably won’t have the time to see any of them 🙁 that’s the only shitty thing about keeping up with the airing anime >.> that and if you watch to many the stories start to mesh together o.O
The lack of Koroshiyasan here saddens me
People so accustomed to high-schoolers in anime that than we have collage students bloggers still put them in high school.
Main chars of Golden time are collage students not high schoolers. All of them already finished high school and attending Law institute. Please fix it if you can.
Oh. Sorry. It was fixed.
I think people will be pleasantly surprised by White Album 2. There’s a lot of cliche like high school band, harem, cheesy romance, etc. but those elements are weaved together quite well to make a very solid work. The main trio are also infinitely more likable than Touya and Yuki from WA1.
There’s a good reason it is one of the highest rated visual novels of all time. It has not gotten much exposure outside of Japan though because it is relatively new and without translation.
Neppu Kairiku Bushi Road was delayed for winter from ANN new news update
the pv looked cool so the key visual
kinda looked forward to it this season
If White Album 2 is even half as good as the visual novel (they’ll probably only adapt Introductory Chapter, which is the best part) it’ll be one of the better shows this season.
I cried so many tears during my playthrough, you can’t imagine.
Watching the PV, it looks like you’re right about only the introductory chapter getting animated. It’s pretty short though so can’t see it being any longer than 12 episodes.
I’l just share the Log Horizon OP here because I like it so much
Nice find. Love that OP.
I have to say thanks for another preview, and thanks for following up on my advice (if it was because of my advise) to add the demographics of series (Seinen, Josei). It has already helped me a great deal in looking into which series to keep an eye out for.
Hopefully it helped some other people too.
Would you folks at RC please stop hosting your preview videos? Seriously. Just host it on YouTube where bandwidth is plentiful.
About Magi – only Aladdin is going to Magnostadt.
Finally, my favorite anime get another season…
Valvrape: The Second Cuming
If you guys want to see Kiniro Mosaic, the finale BLEW ME AWAY. Just beautiful!
Just read Golden Time (manga and LN) after I saw the post in here. I’m glad I did. It was beautiful. Can’t wait to see the anime. 🙂 <3
Lets see what catches my eye…
Kyoukai no Kanata makes me think of Kara no Kyouka.
Just the words, the plot should be different.
Nevertheless interesting to me.
Underworld? Will they feature it extensively like in Ao no Exorcist and Blood Lad?
Kyousougiga, I remember the wacky style.
Outbreak Company reminds me of El-Hazard and Majin Eiyuu Wataru.
The modern guy in alternate world setting.
IS2, if its still tournaments then it will be boring.
Put in some aliens then it will be like Muv Luv.
Kill la Kill, over the top action it seems.
And I think I’ll like it.
….
Ok as I scroll its as if I have something to say about most shows.
I give up 😛
I want to watch most of them shows!!
Too much to watch.
But one show this season sticks out, to me.
That is the horror show, pupa.
Hmm, transformed to man-eating monsters?
Shiki?
Nagi no Asukara will be shit guys, sure it has a wonderful studio but the writer can only write shit that will make you rage and facepalm at its sheer stupidity.
Just read the manga.
been along time Random Curiosity 😀
Absolutely a weak season and fills with show that wins by it’s studio that i dont care if i watch or not (well Everyone have they favorite)
-Kill la kill(battle schoolgirl uniform wtf),
-Kyoukai no kanata(kyoani and they usual charater design),
-Nagi no asakura(Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai character design with ??? story)
My only pick:
-Kyousogiga(quite a lot of intersting character last season),
-Blazblue(im quite fan of the games and Mr.Sugita(Ragna)) and
-IS2(been 2 years since 1 season, well generic harem anime but still i want to watch it)
And my advise if you dont want to ruin your live and become hikikomoiri better watch not more than 3 show… because you have your live and it’s your precious live… not 2D world
btw nice preview Zanibas 😀
Oh god, so many shows, so little time… *otaku spasm*
>Infinite Stratos is one of the best harem anime I’ve ever seen.
Terrible shows listed as great. Great shows listed as terrible. Reminds me why I barely visit this site anymore.
Bring back Divine and Omni, cheers.
I swear, with each season its getting progressively more clear that these hater-viewers have some seriously horrible tastes/attitudes. I’m pretty sure Japan wouldn’t really adhere to their strict and limited interests because then only…a show a season would get produced. Like all because you don’t like something or it doesn’t interest you doesn’t mean its crap, shesh!
Really looking forward to the new season little busters. The fact that the promo video alone is bringing on some feels makes me very excited for the show itself.
Oh boy, I will miss the over-the-top awesomeness of Symphogear and the cuteness and humour of Kiniro Mosaic.
This new season doesnt look terribly promising.
Except for Kill La Kill.
Awwww, I really wanted you guys to do Pokemon Origins. ;_;
Any ETA on the Winter 2014 season preview???
Soon! Just keep coming back and we’ll have it up before the new year ^^
around next week..P:
or so someone whispered in my ear (:
no need to hurry..RC writers working hard, especially with AOTY (first week of January in case you wondered)
white album 2 is great guys, just try it. you dont even need to see the first one.
it’s simply beautiful.
Need the new season preview pleaseeeee
Random Curiosity stopped doing previews? Next season’s almost here…
Just be patient people,lol. No one’s paying them for this.