Miscellaneous / Snapshots

Fall 2008: What Are Your Picks?

With the Fall season well upon us, I thought I’d take this opportunity to get some feedback from our readers as to which series they’re planning to follow or looking forward to the most. While I’m sure a lot of people will include the highly-anticipated sequels — Gundam 00 Second Season, CLANNAD ~AFTER STORY~, and ef – a tale of melodies. — in their responses, I feel that there are a lot of other good shows out this season, hence why I’ve tried to touch upon as many as possible in my revival of Patrik’s Snapshots. Rather than simply being posts with summaries and impressions, one of the main objectives of the Snapshots was to provide an unbiased view on new series alongside plenty of visuals, so that everyone can make their own informed decisions.

After the first week, Omni and I have already covered 24 of the new series between the two of us, with potentially four more posts about CHAOS;HEAD, Nodame Cantabile Paris Chapter, TYTANIA, and Michiko to Hatchin coming when they finally premiere. While this is by no means every series that’s airing (nor even every series found in Omni’s Fall 2008 Preview), it does cover every series that either him or I have shown some interest in — enough to check out the first episode anyway. As such, I hope I was able to give everyone a better idea of what’s out there, particularly for the new shows you may have simply overlooked, and am now curious as to where your interests lie.

With that said, I strongly encourage everyone to share their picks, especially those who normally don’t comment (feel free to remain anonymous), as we may use this feedback to ultimately decide what we end up blogging. Aside from Gundam 00 and CLANNAD which are guaranteed to be blogged by Omni, everything else is up in the air right now. On a personal note, it’s questionable how much time I’ll be able to commit from here on while I shift my priorities around, so I’m also trying to assess how much “demand” is out there (for lack of a better word).

So without further ado, here are all the shows that we’ve put some consideration in, broken down by air dates and linked to their respective posts:
(Note: Tales of the Abyss is now considered a Saturday show, in light of the two-episode premiere on MBS and CBC.)

Sunday: Gundam 00 Second Season, GA-REI -zero-, Macademi Wasshoi!, Kyou no 5 no 2, Skip Beat!
Monday: Vampire Knight Guilty, ef – a tale of melodies.
Tuesday: Hakushaku to Yousei, KUROZUKA, Mouryou no Hako
Wednesday: Toradora!, Casshern Sins, Rosario + Vampire CAPU2, Hyakko, Michiko to Hatchin
Thursday: Shikabane Hime Aka, Akane Iro ni Somaru Saka, Kuroshitsuji, Yozakura Quartet, CLANNAD ~AFTER STORY~, CHAOS; HEAD,
          TYTANIA, Nodame Cantabile Paris Chapter
Friday: Linebarrels of Iron
Saturday: Kannagi, To Aru Majutsu no Index, Tales of the Abyss, Kemeko Deluxe!

All other comments are welcome as well, including ones about series that I haven’t mentioned.

 

Update:
Evidently, creating a poll would’ve been the smart thing to do, but we currently don’t have one in place as you’ve probably noticed (nor a multiple selection one before). However, I did go through 32 pages (620 comments) and painstakingly tallied things by hand, so thank you all for taking the time to provide some feedback. Reading everyone’s responses reaffirms my sentiment that it’s pretty difficult to select just a handful of shows this season, which is pretty much the same boat I’m in after doing all these Snapshots. I found myself in a similar situation last fall when I had more free time on my hands, and ended up following 30 series concurrently (…to completion). Of course, that was only possible prior to blogging, but it’s still something I don’t plan to do again regardless. As many people have noticed, the density of shows (particularly on Thursdays) makes choosing one or two pretty difficult too (at least from a blogging standpoint), so I’ll probably end up watching more than I blog as usual. While Omni strictly adheres to only watching what he blogs, I of course do not or I’d miss out on shows such as Gundam 00, Macross Fronter, etc. which he covers; therefore, I have a little bit “extra” freedom on choosing what to blog. There are a lot of shows we’d love to continue posting about, but unfortunately decisions need to be made now so that we don’t fall terribly behind. As such, posts this week (if any) should indicate our intentions for that series.

First Impressions / Series Introduction / Snapshots

Skip Beat! – 01

「そして箱は開けられた」 (Soshite Hako wa Akerareta)
“And then, The Box was Opened”

First Glance:
Based on the popular 2002 shoujo manga of the same title, Skip Beat! brings us a love story about a girl’s dedication to her childhood friend in his pursuit to become a star, who turns out to be a huge egotistical jerk that’s been using her as a free servant.

First Impressions / Series Introduction / Snapshots

Macademi Wasshoi! – 01

「なんか女の子出てきちゃったんですけど」 (Nanka Onna no Ko Dete Kichattan Desu Kedo)
“Um, But a Girl Came Forth”

First Glance:
In what looks like a mash up between Zero no Tsukaima and Negima comes Macademi Wasshoi!, an adaptation about a high school boy named Hasegawa Takuto who’s ordinary in every way (appearance, grades, athletics), except he attends a secret, unmarked Magician’s Academy after school.

First Impressions / Series Introduction / Snapshots

Kyou no 5 no 2 – 01

「グラグラ、スーパーボール、ノリノリ、アメフリ」 (Guruguru, Suupaa Booru, Norinori, Ame Furi)
“Loose, Super Ball, In High Spirits, Rainy Weather”

First Glance:
If you’ve been looking for a chapter-based slice of life comedy to fill the void Azumanga Daioh left a long time ago, Kyou no 5 no 2 (Today in Class 5-2) might just fit the bill.