As the Fall and Winter shows are finishing, here’s a preview of the Spring 2009 shows premiering next week and beyond. There aren’t quite as many new shows premiering as last fall – 28 major titles not including kiddie stuff or OVAs – but that still leaves a huge variety of shows. And for once my schedule isn’t filled with continuing series, so theoretically I can watch something new for every day of the week (unlike this past Winter season when I had almost all of the Fall shows carrying over). As usual, I’ll try to watch the first episode of as many shows as I can 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 Spring 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.

Queen’s Blade – Rurou no Senshi http://queensblade.tv/ Premiere on April 2nd, 2009 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Thursdays at 08:00 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Wednesdays at 19:00 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, MyAnimeList, syoboi Queen’s Blade is about a competition to choose a beautiful queen, and all the contestants are big breasted warrior women. They threw in some tentacle monsters for good measure, making this probably the closest you can get to straight up hentai. Certainly the promos (see below) are filled with nudity and ridiculous character designs, including one character whose bra is a pair of hands formed by her hair. And given that ARMS and GENCO are producing this and AT-X is airing it, I suspect that it’ll turn out similarly to Ikkitousen: DD and GG, though it’s been announced that the AT-X version will indeed feature the nudity. All this is to say that I’m not expecting this show to be very deep, however in its defense, it’s got one helluva cast, from Hirano Aya to Kawasumi Ayako to Noto Mamiko to Tanaka Rie and Kugimiya Rie. I might watch an episode of this just to see how far they push the envelope, but there are too many other potentially good Thursday shows to take this one seriously. Odds I’ll Blog This: Poor

Eden of the East http://juiz.jp/ Premiere on April 9th, 2009 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Thursdays at 24:45 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Thursdays at 11:45 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, MyAnimeList, syoboi If Ristorante Paradiso isn’t your thing and you want the series that truly looks like Honey and Clover, then look no further than Eden of the East because it’s got H&C’s mangaka Umino Chika doing character designs. And after seeing the trailer, it also happens to be one of the series I’m most excited about. Being animated by Production I.G, Eden of the East is an original story of a Japanese girl on a trip to America who gets saved by a naked guy in front of the White House. The guy, who is also Japanese, has no memories and carries only a gun and a cell phone with tons of money on it. The mystery deepens to involve terrorism and a missile attack on Tokyo. The trailer really, really impressed me, particularly their choice of music (I can already tell that I’m going to love the ED), so I’m really looking forward to seeing this. Odds I’ll Blog This: Guaranteed

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

The new fall season is almost here, and it’s going to be quite a doozy with big names like Gundam 00 alongside sequels like Nodame Cantabile Paris and new titles like Michiko to Hatchin. There are a whopping 35+ series premiering – that’s not even counting the kiddie shows – and there should be something for everyone, from mecha to space operas to slice-of-life comedies to dark romances and more. As usual, I’ll try to 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 – which incidentally there is a ton of this time around. 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 Fall 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.

Toradora! http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/toradora/ Premieres October 1st, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Wednesdays at 25:20 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Wednesdays at 12:20 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi Toradora! follows a guy and girl who are in love with each other’s best friends and decide to help each other out. Along the way, they develop a very unique and close relationship. The female lead here is a role that was tailor made for Kugimiya Rie due to the way she acts and how she treats the male lead like a servant (much like Louise or Shana). Being animated by J.C.Staff as well will probably only increase the likeness. Horie Yui‘s also has a role in this, and put all together, this is a series generating a lot of buzz – I’ve even heard it called the next Suzumiya Haruhi. I don’t think it’ll have quite that much impact, but I’ve liked what I’ve read of the light novels and manga so far, so I’m tentatively planning on watching this. Odds I’ll Blog This: Good

Linebarrels of Iron http://www.linebarrels.jp/ Premieres October 3rd, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Fridays at 26:25 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Fridays at 13:25 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi The big series Gonzo is pushing for the fall season – to the point where they’ve released a PV in English – starts with a boy who meets a naked girl with no memories and obtains a mecha via an accident. He subsequently becomes a powerful pilot and has a to fight a lot of battles and such. My initial reaction to the plot was that it’s rather generic sounding, and it doesn’t help any that this is being animated by Gonzo and has character designs by Hirai Hisashi (those of you who have been reading RC for a while now will remember that, thanks to SEED Destiny, I get a bad feeling whenever I see a show with his character designs). On the other hand, this has a pretty strong cast including Fukuyama Jun, Hirano Aya, and Noto Mamiko, and the PVs don’t look that bad. Fridays are likely going to come down to a choice of this or Tales of the Abyss. Odds I’ll Blog This: Decent

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

April means that another new season is upon us, and like the past fall season, it’s chock full of premieres, including some big names like CODE GEASS and Macross. With the exception of a few shows, I was relatively disappointed with the past winter season, so hopefully this one will be better. 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 Spring 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.

Kanokon http://www.kanokon.com/ Premieres April 5th, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Saturdays at 10:30 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Fridays at 21:30 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi One of the two series this spring season featuring fox girls, Kanokon is about a weak-looking boy who transfers into a city high school from the countryside and, on his first day, he’s approached by a beautiful, big-breasted girl who’s fallen in love with him and is actually a fox demon. I put emphasis on big-breasted because every single description of her I’ve read includes some variation of that, and I think it should give you a good idea of what this series is really about. If you’re still unsure, just check out what the artwork on the official website changes into if you wait long enough, or see these magazine scans. The rest of the cast is made up of various other types of youkai, including a female wolf one who also falls in love with the main character. I don’t really have high hopes for this show because I see it as simply an outlet for fanservice, but there are enough big name voice actors working on this series (including Noto Mamiko and one of my favorites, Kawasumi Ayako) that I may have to watch the first episode. Odds I’ll Blog This: Decent

Kyouran Kazoku Nikki http://www.kyouran.jp/ Premieres April 12th, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Saturdays at 25:00 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Saturdays at 12:00 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi If there’s one really wacky series this season, this could be it. In Kyouran Kazoku Nikki, an incarnation of destruction was defeated by humanity, but it had left a curse before dying: its child would awaken in 1000 years and destroy the world. Approximately 1000 years later, mankind is able to use DNA testing to figure out a group of people who could be that child, but they still can’t pinpoint exactly who. What they decide to do is to put all these people together in one family with the hope that the person who is the real child would develop love for their family and would no longer want to destroy the world. The wacky part comes in when you consider some of the characters in this family: a cat-eared loli (who’s the mother figure no less), a lion, a biological weapon, and a jellyfish. That’s got dysfunctional written all over it, so I think this has the potential to be hilarious. Odds I’ll Blog This: Good

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