CODE GEASS / Miscellaneous / Random Musings

Random Musings – New Years 2008 Edition

  • Happy New Years! Now that I’ve gotten a chance to sit down and reflect, I realized 2007 really went by quickly. It seems like just yesterday I was writing about Shuffle Memories and Manabi Straight.
  • I’m hearing a lot of disappointment over the anime offerings for this upcoming winter season, and I somewhat share that sentiment since there’s only a few shows that I really care to see (Wolf and Spices, maybe Gunslinger Girl S2). With that in mind, I looked ahead further at the Spring 2008 and found it a lot easier to get excited about with the likes of Macross Frontier, the hilarious Kamen no Maid Guy, and the next CODE GEASS. There’s also a series called Special A (S.A for short), starring the talented Fukuyama Jun (Lelouch of GEASS) and Gotou Yuuko (Mikuru of Suzumiya Haruhi). The story of S.A – about a girl who has a middle-class upbringing who attends a rich school – is one that I find similar to Ouran in many ways, including how much it makes me laugh and how fun the manga is to read, so I’m really looking forward to seeing the anime adaptation. If you get a chance, I’d recommend checking out the manga.
  • Oh and speaking of CODE GEASS, there was news out a few days ago that it is not in fact taking over Gundam 00’s Saturday 6PM timeslot (as was widely expected) but is instead taking a new Sunday 5PM one come April of this year. I find that rather worrisome in terms of the direction the series will take with its more mature themes because it’s roughly in that same timeframe that more kid-friendly shows like Kirarin Revolution, Ultraman Mebius, and Chibi Maruko-chan air. That’s not to say that they’re going to dumb down the show or completely cleanse it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were major thematic differences – and I doubt things like Viletta or Kallen’s nipple slips, or Nina’s masturbation scene would make the final cut.
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    Season Preview / Series Introduction

    Winter 2008 Preview!

    Another year has come and gone, which means that it’s time for a new season to begin! Unlike Fall, which had a ton of shows, this upcoming Winter season is relatively light on new titles, though hopefully not on quality titles. As usual, I’ll watch the first episode of most shows within certain parameters (in other words, not the kiddie shows), and what I list here are the chances of me actually blogging something based on my initial impressions from promotional material. However, even if I list the chances for a show as good or guaranteed, it doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll stick with it for more than a few episodes.

    By no means does this list reflect every single anime series that is going to be aired, though I did try to be as comprehensive as I could. Check out MOON PHASE for an entire listing, syoboi’s calendar for specific air-times, and Fansub Wiki’s Winter 2008 page for who’s tentatively subbing what.

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

    GUNSLINGER GIRL -IL TEATRINO-
    http://www.gunslingergirl.com/
    Premieres January 7th, 2008
    Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Mondays at 27:00
    Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-5): Mondays at 13:00
    Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi
    And speaking of which, after a four year period, Gunslinger Girl is getting another anime series too. For those who might not be familiar with it, Gunslinger Girl is about a group of cybernetically enhanced girl assassins who work for an Italian counter-terrorism agency. Now, it’s easy to dismiss this as another girls-with-guns show, however there are actually a lot of interesting themes explored here, including brainwashing and the relationships between assassins and their handlers – it can be a pretty dark series at times. In any case, the first anime more or less covered the first two volumes of the manga, and the sequel looks to pick up right where that left off. It should be noted though, that pretty much the entire cast and crew have been changed (Artland will be animating it instead of Madhouse), so the sequel will likely have a different feel to it.
    Odds I’ll Blog This: Good
    Ookami to Koushinryou
    http://www.spicy-wolf.com/
    Premieres January 8th, 2008
    Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Tuesdays at 25:30
    Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-5): Tuesdays at 11:30
    Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi
    First things first, I can’t help but be amused whenever I look at the URL of the official website. The series’ Japanese name translates to “Wolf and Spices,” but seeing spicy wolf just makes me laugh. Anyway, the show is about a traveling merchant who one day finds a wolf harvest goddess stowing away in his wagon. The two start traveling together, and she ends up helping him with his work. I haven’t read the light novels (here’s a review of someone who has), but supposedly they focus a lot on Middle Ages economics and trade, which sounds unique, however I don’t know how interesting that’ll turn out to be. The biggest draw to this show for me is actually the combination of Fukuyama Jun (Lelouch) and Koshimizu Ami (Kallen) voicing the two main characters. Plus, aside from Sisters of Wellber Zwei, Ookami to Koshinryou is the only other show airing on Tuesdays this upcoming season, so there’s a pretty good chance I’ll watch it. Oh, and ROCKY CHACK is performing the ED, and since I haven’t heard them since ZEGAPAIN, I’ll be looking forward to that too.
    Odds I’ll Blog This: Guaranteed

    Note: This is a rather long and fairly comprehensive list of the shows coming in January. Much much more after the jump, including the torrent link for promotional material.

    Best of Anime / Miscellaneous

    The Best of Anime 2007

    With the end of 2007 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. You could argue that I’m ignoring some of the less popular but equally good shows like Seirei no Moribito or BACCANO!, but I unfortunately don’t have the time to watch everything and can only talk about what I’ve seen. For a show to even qualify for consideration, it had to have met the requirements outlined in the Reader’s Choice Poll. That means that series like CLANNAD, Shakugan no Shana II, and Gundam 00 are not up for awards this year – they’ll be saved for 2008. There is also a big spoiler in here for those of you who haven’t seen School Days and still plan to do so, but hopefully that’s not too many people.