Season Preview / Series Introduction

Winter 2007 Preview!

Though there may not be much going on this and next week as we celebrate the new year, things will get busy again once the Winter 2007 season kicks off. Before we get started on all the upcoming shows, a few notes. I am once again not specifically saying what I am and am not going to watch. As usual, I’ll watch the first episode of almost every show within certain parameters (in other words, probably not the kiddie shows like Pokémon or Pretty Cure). What I will say is what the odds are of me blogging a show. However, even if chances are good that I’ll blog the first episode of a series, that doesn’t mean I’ll stick with it for more than that. Certain days of the week – Thursdays and Saturdays – have always had too many interesting shows, and I have to ultimately make a decision on what to follow and what not to. Because I have so many shows that are continuing from the fall, there can only be so many new series that I can afford the time to pick up.

By no means does this list reflect all of the anime that are going to be aired, though I did try to be as comprehensive as I could. Check out MOON PHASE for an entire listing, syoboi’s calendar for specific air-times, and AndrewLB’s Winter 2006/2007 Wiki for who’s tentatively subbing what.

Kyoushirou to Towa no Sora
http://www.kyoshiro-sora.net/
Premieres January 5th, 2007
Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Fridays at 13:30
Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-5): Thursdays at 23:30
Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo
You may remember me talking about it earlier this month and the Kannazuki no Miko connections that it has. That alone is enough to get me to watch it, but Megami magazine spreads like this or this don’t hurt either. The story is about a girl named Shiratori Ku who has a dream about a prince and then actually meets that prince in real life. Somewhere along the line they’ll likely work in plenty of fanservice/semi-yuri and mecha action. I’m honestly trying to keep my expectations low so that I don’t disappoint myself in case this doesn’t live up to KnM’s legacy. It’s just a shame that KOTOKO isn’t doing the OP or ED, which are apparently being handled by CooRie and Ceui, respectively.
Odds I’ll Blog This: Guaranteed
Venus Versus Virus
http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/vvv/
Premieres January 11th, 2007
Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Thursdays at 25:55
Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-5): Thursdays at 11:55
Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo
This show is about two girls who fight demons called Viruses. The girl with the eyepatch Lucia runs an antique shop called Venus Vanguard, hence the show is named Venus Versus Virus. The commercial for it – the one from the end of Rozen Maiden Overture – shows some pretty good looking animation courtesy of Studio Hibari, and it gave me Karin and Black Cat vibes for whatever reason. For what it’s worth though, VVV has some of the same staff as Tsuyokiss – director Kimura Shinichiro, character designer Agata Yoshimi, and Yamada Yasutomo in charge of series composition. Under different circumstances (ie. Thursdays without CODE GEASS, Kanon, and potentially Nodame Cantabile), this would get pretty high odds at getting blogged, but since this is airing on Thursdays, I can only say it’s got a decent chance.
Odds I’ll Blog This: Decent

Note: This is a rather long and fairly comprehensive list of the shows coming in January and February. Much much more after the jump.

CODE GEASS / Gundam / Random Musings

Random Musings – CODE GEASS Rumors and New OP/ED Preview

Plenty of stuff to chew on in the past couple of days about CODE GEASS:

  • The official GEASS site/BIGLOBE streaming site is offering previews of the new OP and the new ED. They don’t show the actual animation sequence – only images from past episodes – but you do get to hear the new songs. The clip of Jinn’s new song didn’t really appeal to me, though SunSet Swish’s song was pretty good – reminds me a lot of CHEMISTRY’s singing. Note: You must be using Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher to view the streaming video.
    If you’re not able to see it for technical reasons, someone has uploaded the ED one onto DivX’s Stage6.
  • MOON PHASE’s diary has a rumor from a certain television station saying that GEASS will air for two cours (each cours = one 13-week period), take two cours off, and then come back for two more cours. If you’re confused, this means that it would air the two seasons that it is currently going through (Fall 2006 and Winter 2007), take two seasons break (Spring 2007 and Summer 2007), then come back for two more seasons starting Fall 2007 for a total of four. That entry also points out that with the rumor of a new Gundam series to be directed by Mizushima Seiji (who also directed Fullmetal Alchemist), the question is if the two Sunrise series will be going up against each other.
  • For anyone curious, the image at right (notice the position of Lelouch’s hand…) is from HobbyJAPAN. Click the image for the full spread that includes Suzaku and the Lancelot too.
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    Ayakashi Ayashi / Bleach / CODE GEASS / D.Gray-man / DEATH NOTE / Kanon / Miscellaneous / Negima!? / Pumpkin Scissors / Random Musings / Soukou no Strain

    Random Musings – The Big Winter Break II Edition

    Come this time of year, most anime series take a week or two break (last year was no different). To clear up any lingering schedule uncertainties that you may have, here is a table of what’s airing and what’s not for shows that I’m currently blogging.

    Series This Week (12/25 to 12/31) Next Week (1/1 to 1/7) Following Week (1/8 to 1/14)
    Pumpkin Scissors Episode 13 on Monday No Episode Episode 14 on Monday
    D.Gray-man Episode 13 on Tuesday No Episode Episode 14 on Tuesday
    DEATH NOTE Episode 12 on Tuesday No Episode Episode 13 on Tuesday
    Negima!? Episode 13 on Wednesday Episode 14 on Thursday Episode 15 on Wednesday
    Bleach No Episode Episode 109 on Thursday Episode 110 on Wednesday
    Soukou no Strain No Episode No Episode Episode 10 on Wednesday
    Kanon Episode 13 on Thursday Episode 14 on Thursday Episode 15 on Thursday
    CODE GEASS No Episode Episode 12 on Thursday Episode 13 on Thursday
    Ayakashi Ayashi No Episode Episode 13 on Saturday Episode 14 on Saturday

    Please make particular note that Negima!? and Bleach will be airing episodes on Thursday, January 4th. They are being preempted from their normal Wednesday spots on January 3rd by an Enka New Year’s Special and then the Japan vs. Mexico Boxing Grand Prix. Unfortunately, this means that that particular Thursday will be completely hellish for me since it’ll be four shows on one day (maybe even five if I end up watching Saint October). And on that note, you can probably expect the Winter 2007 Shows Preview to go up sometime later this week.

    Best of Anime / Miscellaneous

    The Best of Anime 2006


    With the end of 2006 almost upon us, here’s a look back at some of the best series this year had to offer. Also included at the end are the final results to the Reader’s Choice Poll.

    Disclaimer: These are purely my personal opinion based on the shows that I saw in the past year. For a show to qualify for consideration, it had to have met the requirements I outlined in the Reader’s Choice Poll. There is also a big spoiler for those of you who haven’t seen Canvas2 and still plan to do so, but hopefully that’s not many people.