Miscellaneous / Poll

Time is counting down to the new year and I still have the year-end Reader’s Choice poll to put up soon, so here’s the seasonal one first. I’ve decided to stick with the five-vote maximum used this past fall, since it allows for a more diverse range of results. While some people may not think so, I actually find this upcoming season rather interesting, offering twenty-two new titles with a fair bit of variety. At the moment, I’m not even sure what to make of some despite their potential, whereas others I’m eagerly looking forward to because I have a good idea what I’m in store for. What that translates to is a good season to start, with the possibility of turning out to even better if one or two hidden gems are discovered. Anyway, if you haven’t already, please refer to the Winter 2011 Preview for detailed information on each of the shows listed. As always, comments are welcome if there’s anything you want to add about a particular show or the winter season in general. Let the anticipation begin!

Note: The same poll will also be available on the sidebar. It will automatically close on January 3rd at 4:00 PM GMT to coincide with the start of the new season.




92 Comments

  6. This season seems pretty mediocre but I’m probably going to follow: Kimi ni Todoke since I watched first season (Noto Mamiko FTW), Fractale and Mahou Shoujo Madoka (Both Original Series), and Freezing (Noto Mamiko and Hanazawa Kana pair), and possible IS for fun.

    NanoNano
    Reply

  13. should add an option of not looking forward for any of them. somehow i cant seem to be excited of lineup. beelzebub is nice but the manga havent even started to have a demon battle yet, so i can imagine the anime will be mostly pre demon power battle. freezing well kinda nice but dun really get the story in manga, hopefully the action of anime will be nice. and most anime about love , i will only start to watch if and only if divine put high rating on it otherwise i won’t be bother wif it

    lkaze
    Reply

  20. ”While some people may not think so, I actually find this upcoming season rather interesting”
    I agree, this season looks very promising. I can’t really understand why some seem to think that this is a very weak one when even though traditionally winter had less shows, it usually delvers some excellent shows. We had these past years all sort of gems, Spice & Wolf, Katanagatari, Baka to Test, Nodame Cantabile, Erin and Durarara all premiered in winter, so I’m sure there will be something special here. Hell I can see it even now from my 5 picks:

    -Gosick
    -Hourou Musuko
    -FRACTALE
    -Madoka
    -Beelzebub

    Just these are getting me excited for this season.

    Arabesque
    Reply

  24. Definate watch would be:
    – Fractale
    – Madoka Magica
    – Mitsudomoe 2
    – Moshidora
    – Kimi ni Todoke 2

    There’s been quite some hype around Freezing and IS but I’ll wait and see…

    TK
    Reply

  25. my picks:dragon crisis, fractale, freezing, kore wa zombie desu ka, infinite stratos
    not made it into poll but still will be watching: oniichan…, possibly kimi no todoke
    overall 6-7 series, down from 13 this season… going on anime diet!

    ewok40k
    Reply

  26. For me:
    1)Infinite Stratos-I adore high school based settings and romcom is my favourite genre. The character designs look really appealing too. Don’t really like mech though, but I guess it’ll be fine if it doesn’t take up more than half of the screentime.
    2)Yumekui Merry-I was initially planning to dismiss this, but the kick-ass second promotional video made me change my mind. JC staff hasn’t exactly been fantastic as of late, but I’m hoping they do a good job on this one.
    3)Fractale-I was going to skip over this as well until I read divine’s preview and his take on it. As I’ve said in one of my comments in the preview post, I think this could go both ways as although Yamakan is a competent director, he is prone to making bad directional choices from time to time for the sake of being creative. It’ll be interesting to see how this will turn out though, so I’m definitely going to give it a try.
    4)Beelzebub-Have heard from many people that this is pretty funny and shonen is a genre I’m quite fond off. Will definitely be dropping it if it becomes a long-running series though, as I still have Fairy Tail and One Piece on my watchlist.
    5)Gosick-The mystery elements intruigue me as they’re rarely done in anime. The director of this was the one who directed heroman though, which makes me a little wary of this. Will be checking the first few episodes, and will continue if I like what I see.

    elijah
    Reply

    1. Trust me, I also watch One Piece and Fairy Tail, and Beelzebub is one anime and even manga that you absolutely will Not want to drop. You will find out why when you start watching it! ^_^

      Kewldude
      Reply

  27. Okay. There are shows that you said your guaranteed to blog. I probably shouldn’t vote for those because no matter what anyone says, your going to blog it, am I wrong? xD So perhaps I should vote for shows that were “maybes” for you. 😀 *logic ftw*

    Shirt
    Reply

    1. This poll doesn’t have too much bearing on what we’re going to blog, unless someone is undecided between a couple of series and want to use reader votes as a tie-break.

      I’m already set on the shows I plan to cover, as are the other writers. This is more for comparing anticipation going into a season and satisfaction after finishing it.

      Divine
      Reply

      1. Turns out anyway that the shows you guys were going to blog were the ones I were excited about most. Haha Thanks for telling me though. Oh and about the email, Show Spoiler ▼

        :\

        Shirt
        Reply

  39. -Kimi ni Todoke S2 [gotta love my sparkles and bubbles]
    -Infinite Stratos [Yoko Hikasa in a mech action? Alriiiight!]
    -Houkago no Pleades [Subaru x Gainax: STI powered magical girls?]
    -Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica [Magical Girl Hidamari Sketch style?]
    -Moshidora [Yoko Hikasa as a determined character who leads a baseball team? SOLD!]

    fall3nbs
    Reply

  40. I’m shocked that Madoka isn’t in first, I thought it would be first by far.

    Looking very forward to IS, Fractale, Madoka, Yumekui Merry. Pleiades could be good too, same with Gosick. I went with Pleiades for the final choice because I can picture myself dropping Gosick if I get bored with it. I hope that isn’t the case.

    A person
    Reply

  47. Freezing (i hope it turns out to be good) and Kimi ni Todoke 2 for sure, i really miss Noto Mamiko. I might check out Mitsudomoe and Gosick as well, maybe Gosick will be something like the Kurenai series.

    Eldaron
    Reply

  48. Fractale is my number ONE (the chara design reminds me romeo X juliet). Hope that this show will not decieve ^^
    For Kimi ni todoke I thought that there will be 25 episodes oO (the mangas is now at the 50 chapiter and still ongoing…)
    So juste two for me lol

    yuna_f
    Reply

  51. My top 5 is:
    1. Yumekui Merry
    2. GOSICK
    3. Fractale
    4. Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
    5. Onii-chan no Koto Nanka Zenzen Suki Janain Dakara ne!! (Just for kicks, of course 😉 )

    I’m concerned that Yumekui Merry will be underrated IMHO this season, and I believe it will be a gem. Whoever was translating the manga seems to have it, which I find disappointing because I liked the story. Maybe the manga translations will be picked up again thanks to renewed interest?

    tgbr757
    Reply

  52. 1.- Horou Musuko
    2.- Gosick
    3.- Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
    4.- Infinity Stratos
    5.- Fractale

    This next season has potential and is varied enough, I like it. I will check out too (at least the first episode): Yumikui Merry, Beelzebub, Pleiades, Dragon Crisis, Level E and Freezing. Those last two, thanks to the winter preview, which picked my interest =)

    vasodeagua
    Reply

  53. Freezing, IS and Rio rainbow are the only three this season for me then that i am looking forward to, mainly because most of the series i am waiting for start in januari and are not on this list.

    damrod
    Reply

  54. From the list, Fractale and Gosick are the ones I’m going to watch, besides the other ones I’m watching at the moment (Inazuma Eleven and Digimon Xros Wars) 😉 I’ve seen the first season of Mitsudomoe and I loved it, so I’ll give a chance for its second season 😉

    Rui Craveiro
    Reply

  55. I wouldn’t mind turning Beelzebub into a long-running show 😉 … while I generally detest Shounen, Beelzebub is just full of win and awesome. Hilariously funny, lots of self-deprecating humor, and the many girls in the show are all hot and spunky. What’s not to like?

    Mentar
    Reply

  59. Gosick (Never read the manga but if its a well done mystery requiring brain juice with a wierd dual personality girl, should be interesting)
    Fractale (If the director is willing to bet his career on it, it deserves attention beyond the first 2 episodes)
    Moshidora (Educational! joking, but the storyline can be interesting)

    Had some hope for Houkago no Pleiades (never thought it would be a magical girl anime orz) and Rio (had hopes of saki ep 19 level drama) but the trailers proved to be quite a let down. hopefully they are better than the trailers suggest. Probably check out the early episodes of the others and their reviews

    Zaku_Fan
    Reply

  64. This is actually a pretty rich selection for a winter season but I guess the most likely top candidates are those that only appeal to a select audience. Anyway, for me it’ll be
    1. GOSICK
    2. IS
    3. FRACTALE
    4. Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
    5. Kore wa Zombie desu ka
    I do like the Beelzebub manga but I think its a bit early for them to be animating it and not totally convinced about the casting either.

    DarkWind
    Reply

  65. It seems there are only two shows I’m mildly interested in for the winter. The fall season was awesome, and based on recommendations, I started to watch other shows. They too turned out to be quite fun. I’m hoping some of the reviews here will excite me to watch other shows. Thanks for all your hard works!

    bertman4
    Reply

  66. I’m surprised more people aren’t pumped about Hourou Musuko. Is it because of the slightly weird chara designs? The premise? Even though I’m also looking forward to Fractale and Gosick (and I’ll probably check out IS and Merry too) Hourou Musuko looked the most promising to me.

    Blue
    Reply

  67. My picks (in order of anticipation):
    1)Hurou Musuko
    2)FRACTALE
    3)GOSICK
    4)Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
    5)Starry☆Sky

    I’m really looking forward to how Hurou Musuko will play out. The animation in the PV looks absolutely gorgeous. Plus, it seems like something I can somewhat relate to on a personal level. =P

    frice
    Reply

  68. So what shows am I interested in watching next season?
    Dragon Crisis, FRACTALE, FREEZING, GOSICK, Houkago, Hourou Musuko, IS, Zombie, Madoka, Mitsudomoe, Moshidora, and Yumekui.

    Of course which one’s am I going to blog? I guess you’ll have to wait and see next year ;).

    Takaii
    Reply

  69. After a few days, my top anticipated have ended up as:
    Kimi ni Todoke
    FRACTALE
    Hourou Musuko
    Moshidora
    Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica

    But I am still going to watch IS, which looks like a pretty safe “high-speed school battle romantic comedy” to get into, and am still looking out for Yumekui Merry and GOSICK

    innerchihiro
    Reply

  70. Level E manga is so amazing 13 years ago that it’s usually referred to as Yoshihiro Togashi’s defining moment in terms of creativity. Looking forward to see how the adaptation turns out and if decade-old ideas can still impress younger viewers.

    bluenote
    Reply

  71. 1. Hourou Musuko! I love the manga so much! The animation and the music in the PV’s blow me away. I really want to see how close they stick to it as well.
    2. Kimi no Todoke 2. I loved the first season and I love the manga! I just can’t resist the cuteness of it!
    3. Starry Sky. It’s one of my favorite dating sim games. Deen will probably mess it up somehow but oh well!

    Nikki
    Reply

  72. Kimi ni Todoke 2 for sure
    i’ll also check:
    -Freezing(story seemed interesting)
    -Fractale(cuz everyone is talking about)
    -Starry Sky(i like reverse harem, so i’ll give a chance to this one)
    -Beelzebub

    Hikaru
    Reply

  73. My top 5

    Im a Mamiko Noto fan is the reason why i choose Freezing(the manga is a good read too) and Kimi ni Todoke(I really enjoyed the series)as for my other choices they seem to catch my interest.

    FREEZING
    Kimi ni Todoke 2ND SEASON
    GOSICK
    Kore wa Zombie Desu ka
    Rio -RainbowGate

    Itachizame
    Reply

  75. For me, I’m looking forward to…:

    (Not in any particular order)

    IS Infinite Stratos. (It sounds quite a bit too much like a harem story for my liking, but the story still manages to intrigue me quite enough.)
    GOSICK (Mystery genre has always been one of my great interests. The fact that it also features Victorian style fashion do help as well.)
    FREEZING (A lot of fights and BOOOOOOOOOOBS. Actually, screw the fight, I’m watching it for the boobs.)
    FRACTALE (Sound interesting)
    SUPERNATURAL (I didn’t watch the original show, but the anime trailer looks too good to pass over. I still won’t watch the original show though. There is too much to catch up.)

    Kaitune
    Reply

  76. 1. IS Infinte Stratos
    2. Fractale
    3. Yumeki Merry
    4. Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
    5. Freezing
    6. Moshidora, just because I’m actually a little interested in what it might bring.

    Sora no Kaze
    Reply

  78. 1.GOSICK
    2.Fractale
    3.Kimi ni Todoke
    4.Freezing
    5.IS Infinite Stratos

    Tried to go with a nice balance, though leaning on more serious drama and/or action concepts, with likely enough good-old fashioned fun mixed in all of them to keep things light.

    KrimzonStriker
    Reply

  79. last season poll, Shinryaku! Ika Musume got 1.3% (or something along those lines). Just goes to show you that you can never know what will become a hit (and Hattori from Bakuman agrees with me on that).

    Nadavu
    Reply

  81. I voted for my top five I’d most likely watch,

    But the series I’m looking forward to is Hourou Musuko (放浪息子)

    The art style itself pokes at my admiration for water based pastels and the theme touches very close to home.

    I’m awaiting the hardcover manga to release in march and presume the series may become my favorite anime of the season and possibly overall.

    MyKotoShi
    Reply

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