Category: Season Preview

Without further ado, welcome to the first collaborative edition of the Random Curiosity season preview, now featuring more writers for you to love and adore than ever. (Please don’t stalk us too much though.) As you all probably know, Divine, our season preview writer/extraordinaire, is taking an indefinite hiatus so he has passed on the baton to the rest of us writers – and just in time for the spring preview too, which is generally one of the busiest seasons with 50 new shows and counting. As is standard fare, we have the usual batch of hotly anticipated sequels to recent shows such as Fate/Zero 2nd Season, Kimi to Boku 2, and Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? OF THE DEAD, but there are also sequels and spiritual successors to venerated older shows as well like Eureka Seven Astral Ocean, the return of the Saint Seiya franchise after 25 years, and the reunion of Cowboy Bebop’s director and composer for a new show after over ten. So dust off that TV, free up some hard drive space, or do whatever else it is you do to get ready, because this season looks highly promising. Long-awaited sequels, a diversity of genres, and a nice balance of original works and manga/light novel adaptations have filled the slate with many shows that merit more than just a passing glance, and made this is a season one where even the pickiest of viewers should be able to find something to enjoy.

— This preview will be kept at the top for the next while, so be sure to scroll past it or check the Recent Entries on your right for new posts.
— A season poll will be available a little later is available on the sidebar.
— Please forgive the tardiness of this preview, work on it wasn’t started until several weeks later than usual, due to the transition.

It feels like 2011 went by in the blink of an eye, as I haven’t even had a chance to look back on my favorites of the year. Before I do so, let’s first take a look at what’s just around the corner in the new year. Winter is generally not one of the busier seasons, but there are actually 23 offerings in 2012, which is pretty close to the 27 this past fall. Of the new titles, some of them stood out immediately — the sequel to my favorite romance of 2010 Amagami SS, the horror series Another, the sequel to Sousei no Aquarion, the TV version of Black Rock Shooter, the sequel to Bakemonogatari, and the fourth and final season of Zero no Tsukaima — but as is often the case when I put together a season preview, I discovered many are a lot more interesting than they originally appeared. Best of all, there is a wide variety of shows from various different genres, so there’s a good chance there will be something for everyone. Care to find out which ones I’m talking about? Then do read on.

* This preview will be kept at the top for the next while, so be sure to scroll past it or check the Recent Entries on your right for new posts.
* A season poll will be available a little later is available on the sidebar.

Another year of anime is drawing to a close, but not before the long-awaited fall season. While the number of shows pales in comparison to the 43 offered in spring, the quality of the 25 new titles is a lot higher. There are numerous sequels and spiritual successors: The third and final season of Shakugan no Shana, studio GONZO’s big return with a new Last Exile eight years later, the prequel to Type-Moon’s Fate/stay night, and more of our favorite squid girl, Ika Musume. In addition, we have plenty of original series, including a new Gundam and two noitaminA shows by BONES and Production I.G. Equally impressive is the fact that many of which are slated for two-cour. Anime fans everywhere should be excited. I know I am.

Note: I purposely left out Digimon Xros Wars: Toki wo Kakeru Shounen Hunter-tachi and Cross Fight B-Daman from this preview because they’re targeted towards younger audiences. If you’re interested in either, feel free to check out their official sites.

* A season poll is available on the sidebar. It will automatically close on October 1st at 12:00 AM PST to coincide with the start of the season.
* This preview will be kept at the top for the next while, so be sure to scroll past it or check the Recent Entries on your right for new posts.

As the summer season draws upon us, it’s time to take an in-depth look at what’s just around the corner. There are 26 shows to choose from, marking a significant increase from the 16 offered last summer. Brain’s Base is making a splash this season with three productions, all of which show a lot of promise. Sunrise is back with another original series, leading the way in the fantasy department. BONES and Production I.G are going the sci-fi and heartfelt drama route with their noitaminA shows, plus the latter is providing an original vampire series of its own. GAINAX also makes a rare appearance, providing the standout mystery series of the bunch, though J.C. Staff may have something to say about that with its own adaptation. It’s a bustling summer season with a lot of high school romantic comedies to round it out, which is great for getting back into the blogging swing of things.

* A season poll is available on the sidebar. It will automatically close on July 1st at 6:00 AM PST to coincide with the start of the season.
* This preview will be kept at the top for the next while, so be sure to scroll past it or check the Recent Entries on your right for new posts.

In light of the earthquake and tsunami that Japan is still recovering from, most shows were postponed for a week. As a result, the premiere dates listed in this preview are likely to get pushed out by at least a week. Some series’ homepages have already reported new start dates, which I’ve highlighted below by writing the date in red. You can expect more dates to be updated in the upcoming weeks.

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Please read: The start of the spring 2011 season marks the one-year anniversary of my tenure heading Random Curiosity. Looking back, it’s been a rather ambitious year that was never short of sleepless nights, so I’d like to believe that I’ve taken things in a positive direction after the site was about to shut down. It definitely hasn’t come without a cost though, as I haven’t taken a proper day off and have even used my vacation days to work on season previews and year-end posts. As such, I’m contemplating taking the entire season off to unwind and recharge. The idea is to take one season off and then ease my way back into things in summer.

Unfortunately, it comes at somewhat of a bad time given how busy this season is, but the other writers will still be covering a handful of shows on a regular basis while I’d be shifting to a more administrative role. I know some people are going to see this as an opportunity to help, so I want to make it clear that I’m not looking for any more writers since I’m happy with the reliable ones I currently have. I’d only make an exception if you’re an avid anime fan with a lot of dedication, good writing skills, insightful input, and fairly fluent Japanese so that you can cover raws on my behalf. If this sounds like you and you’d like to help contribute, please e-mail me.

At the moment, I’m just heavily considering taking a break or risking overworking myself, hence why nothing is marked as a guaranteed blog. If you feel opinionated about it either way, feel free to share your input in the comments. As always, I’ll be reading.

* This preview will be kept at the top for the next while, so be sure to scroll past it or check the Recent Entries on your right for new posts.

The new year is rapidly approaching and the winter anime season along with it, so I’d like to present my detailed look into all the upcoming series. As usual, I plan to watch all the ones that interest me to a certain degree and have listed my intentions in the entries below. This season, I only plan to pick up a couple more shows to blog though, as I’d like to take more time away from the site for personal reasons. The past year has been an ambitious one given the number of shows I covered every season, and it’s set some unrealistic long-term expectations on what comes out of the site. Rather than continuing at the feverish pace of 12-16 shows per season, I plan to drop my personal load to a much more reasonable 3-5 shows and take on more in some seasons if time permits. I had only planned to cover four shows this winter, but with STAR DRIVER and To Aru Majutsu no Index II added to my plate, I’m going to make time for six. That will still put me at post a day if I include the Naruto manga, which combined with Kiiragi, Takaii, and Prooof’s coverage, means there shouldn’t be any noticeable shortage of new content.

Happy Holidays! Please note that this preview will be kept at the top for the next while, so be sure to scroll past it or check the Recent Entries on your right for new posts.

Welcome to the second edition of the Random Curiosity season preview since its relocation to randomc.net. With every subsequent preview, I’ve been looking for little things that I can improve upon and this fall is no different. In addition to reformatting the series information to make it clearer, a list of OVAs that will be airing over the course of the season has been added at the very end. Continuing the trend set in the Summer 2010 Preview, the write-ups are now as “thoroughly concise” as possible in hopes of providing a good idea of what each new series is about. As always, all the information stems from first-hand research into the original source material (if any) and various Japanese sources, so a lot of it may be completely new to English-speaking fans. The twenty-seven new shows being previewed here are actually less than the thirty-two back in Spring 2010, however the information in this preview is much more comprehensive. IT’S OVER 9000! …words. (In fact, it’s over 13,000.)

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Welcome to the first edition of the Random Curiosity season preview since the relocation of the site to its new home, randomc.net! While this is only my second time writing one, I hope everyone liked what they saw in the Spring 2010 Preview and found it an informative resource for upcoming new shows at the time. I do plan to keep the tradition of writing up the previews this site became renowned for over the years and will continue tweaking the format ever so slightly for the better.

First up is the weekly schedule that doubles as a table of contents for navigating around the post itself, which will be a mainstay from now on. For the information links, out are less useful resources such as AnimeNfo and in are each series’ Japanese Wikipedia pages. In addition, the animation production (studio) information is now readily available, the first broadcast station to air is made note of, and the number of episodes each series will run for is listed (if known and confirmed from a reputable source). A subtle change is “Odds I’ll Watch This” rather than “Blog”, as I’ll likely end up watching more shows than I end up blogging. That wasn’t the case back in spring when I ended up blogging 16 shows concurrently to share thoughts on the wide range of shows I watch every season and give some limelight to the less popular ones, but it’s something I’d like to cut back on.

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

With Omni announcing his retirement and the spring season well upon us, the thought of not having a season preview on Random Curiosity didn’t sit right with me, especially considering how so many people seem to look forward to it. As such, I’d like to present my version of the Spring 2010 Preview. While I can’t make any guarantees from a blogging standpoint, I felt the least I could do is give an overview of what’s coming up and what I’m personally looking forward to. I hope it lives up to expectations.

As many of you may already be aware though, my tastes are a bit more diverse than Omni’s. I’ll often watch mediocre and even controversial series for the sake of variety or so that I can make an informed judgment at the end. However, I would only recommend such shows if you’ve seen something similar, enjoyed it to a certain degree, and know what you’re getting yourself into. That said, I still have my usual genres, so it’s usually not too difficult for me to decide what to watch based on premise, art style, production, and cast (a big one for me) after going through some promotional material. For the purpose of this preview, I’ll try to identify the reasons why I’m planning to watch a given series more clearly, in hopes that they’ll help you determine if it coincides with your own tastes.

As usual, by no means does this list reflect every single anime series that is going to be aired, though it’s meant to be as comprehensive as possible. OVAs, one-off specials, and movies are omitted, so check out MOON PHASE for an entire listing, syoboi’s calendar for specific air times, and Fansub Wiki’s page for who’s tentatively subbing what.

Angel Beats! | エンジェルビーツ! http://www.angelbeats.jp/ Premiere: April 2nd, 2010 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Fridays at 26:00 Airtime in Canada/U.S. (PST, GMT-7): Fridays at 10:00 Number of Episodes: 13 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, MyAnimeList, syoboi One of the series I’m really looking forward to and can safely recommend to all audiences is Angel Beats. For some, it might be enough if I just say, “Key and P.A. Works.” For everyone else, this means the visual novel company that brought us AIR, CLANNAD, and Kanon, and the studio that produced true tears and CANAAN. Maeda Jun from Key is writing the script and screenplay, depicting an afterworld where one girl forms a war front, the Shinda Sekai Sensen (SSS), in defiance to god for giving her an unreasonable and short life. In this supernatural afterlife setting, we follow male protagonist Otonashi, who has no memories of when he was alive and gets dragged into the SSS’s struggles. Guns and superpowers are involved, but so is a seemingly normal school life at the same time. Original character designs are by Na-Ga, Hirata Katsuzo (Strike Witches) is overseeing the animation, and Lia is doing the opening song like in all Key series. Kamiya Hiroshi (Araragi in Bakemonogatari) takes on the lead role, which is another big plus. There are lots of good promo videos showcasing how great this series looks, including one detailing how they did a concert scene (PV #7), so be sure to check them out. Everything looks great on paper and the premise is a bit unusual, so I can’t wait to see how this one plays out. Odds I’ll Watch This: Guaranteed, period.

K-ON!! | けいおん!! http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/k-on/ Premiere: April 6th, 2010 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Tuesdays at 25:25 Airtime in Canada/U.S. (PST, GMT-7): Tuesdays at 09:25 Number of Episodes: — Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, MyAnimeList, syoboi It was only at the end of last year that K-ON season two was announced, but three months later we already have more of our favorite light music club. Now with one more exclamation mark in the title! The extra DVD/BD live house episode helped tide things over a bit, but it’s not quite the same as a full season where we’re bound to hear a bunch of new songs. For those unfamiliar with this series, it’s Kyoto Animation‘s adaptation of a lighthearted 4-koma manga that follows a group of girls who revive their high school’s music club by forming a band called “After School Tea Time”. It’s published in a seinen manga magazine and features quirky humor and a very cute cast of female characters. In short, it’s moe overload. When the original season aired last spring, the cast of seiyuus were all relatively low-profile, but that all changed with this series. The opening and ending theme songs they sang debuted at #4 and #2 on the Oricon music charts respectively, and they’ve all been in numerous series now, especially lead actress Toyosaki Aki. There are 28 broadcast stations lined up to air this highly anticipated sequel, which absolutely dwarfs every other series by a long shot. There’s no doubt in my mind that I’ll be watching this and it’s a safe series to recommend to almost anyone. Go watch the first season now if you haven’t! Odds I’ll Watch This: Guaranteed, without a doubt.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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