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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.
There are 43 new shows airing next season, barring the ones that don’t fall into the usual criteria, which makes it one of the most jam-packed spring seasons I’ve ever seen. As you can probably imagine, there’s a ton of information in this season preview that took over a hundred hours to gather and compile, so I’ve made some subtle changes on how to present it. First off, I made an even more conscious effort to be “informatively concise” by setting a word count cap on each of the entries, as well as a structured format they all adhere to.
Each entry is now divided into two paragraphs as follows:
- A brief introduction to the series and its premise, often with the starring cast of characters.
- My impressions, expanding on the plot and highlighting specific aspects that interest me.
Secondly, the overall impressions at the very end have changed. The odds I’ll watch a show don’t work well as recommendations unless you happen to have the same tastes as me, so I’ve categorized all 43 shows in a way that should help you decide. The idea came about to help casual and/or pickier anime fans who can only be bothered to watch the arguably “best” shows each season. It also spares me from having to deal with “bad taste” misunderstandings if I mark down a lighthearted romantic comedy as a guaranteed watch of mine.
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.
Disclaimer: Regular readers of the site probably already know that my tastes are fairly diverse, but a quick look at MyAnimeList should give everyone else an idea of my sixteen or so years of history with anime. With that in mind, please be aware that I’ll often watch mediocre and even controversial series for the sake of variety, or simply 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. 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 source and/or promotional material. For the purpose of this preview, I’ll try to identify what appeals to me about each series, in hopes that it will help you determine if it coincides with your own tastes.
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. Shows that stray far from the anime norm or are deemed oriented towards younger children 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.
Technical Note: The list is ordered by the date and time that the shows premiere. The links in the schedule will take you to a series’ corresponding entry and the “Top” links on the right will bring you back. You can also use the back/forward buttons in your browser to jump between links you’ve clicked. 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.
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
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| Metal Fight Beyblade 4D 08:30 TVA TX (4/3) |
Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi 09:00 AT-X (4/11) |
Gyakkyou Burai Kaiji Hakairoku-hen 24:59 NTV (4/5) |
30-Sai no Hoken Taiiku 27:00 MX (4/6) |
SKET DANCE 18:00 TVA TX (4/7) |
X-Men 22:00 ANIMAX (4/1) |
Jewelpet Sunshine 09:30 TVA TX (4/2) |
| Bakugan Battle Brawlers Gundalian Invaders 09:00 TVA TX (4/3) |
Gintama’ 18:00 (4/4) |
Yuruani? 25:29 NTV (4/12) |
Hyouge Mono 23:00 NHK-BS (4/7) |
Yondemasu yo, Azazel-san. 23:00 AT-X (4/8) |
Pretty Rhythm Aurora Dream 10:00 BSJ (4/9) |
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| Toriko 09:00 CX (4/3) |
Fireball Charming 19:28 MX (4/4) |
Steins;Gate 26:05 TVS (4/5) |
C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control 24:45 CX (4/14) |
Hen Zemi 23:15 AT-X (4/8) |
Deadman Wonderland 25:00 tvk (4/16) |
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| Ao no Exorcist 17:00 MBC TBS (4/17) |
Yu-Gi-Oh ZEXAL 19:30 (4/11) |
Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae… 25:15 CX (4/14) |
Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi 25:05 TVS (4/8) |
DOG DAYS 25:35 TVS (4/2) |
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| Ring ni Kakero 1: Sekai Taikai-hen 21:00 ANIMAX (4/10) |
Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai II 25:30 TX (4/11) |
Hidan no Aria 25:25 TBS (4/14) |
TIGER & BUNNY 25:58 MBS (4/2) |
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| Hanasaku Iroha 22:00 MX (4/3) |
Sengoku Otome ~Momoiro Paradox~ 26:00 TX (4/4) |
A-Channel 25:40 MBS (4/7) |
Nichijou 26:20 TVA (4/2) |
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| Showa Monogatari 22:00 KBS (4/3) |
Tono to Issho: Gantai no Yabou 26:14 ytv (4/4) |
Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko 25:55 TBS (4/14) |
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| Astarotte no Omocha! 23:30 CTC (4/10) |
Seikon no Qwaser II 26:30 MX (4/11) |
Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera 26:10 MBS (4/7) |
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| Ore-tachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai 24:30 CTC (4/3) |
Moshidora 22:55 NHK (4/25, weekdays) |
Maria Holic Alive 26:15 TX (4/7) |
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| Softenni 26:30 MX (4/7) |
* Others: Appleseed XIII
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Madhouse’s third collaboration project with Marvel centers on the most powerful telepath in the world, Professor Xavier (Hori Katunosuke), and his X-Men organization that strives for a peaceful coexistence between humans and mutants. They’ve gone inactive for the past year after the loss of Jean Grey (Hino Yurika), but upon learning that a mutant middle school girl named Ichika Hisako, a.k.a. Armor (Tamura Yukari), has gone missing in northern Japan, Xavier reassembles the team of Cyclops (Morikawa Toshiyuki), Wolverine (Koyama Rikiya), Beast (Tanaka Hideyuki), and Storm (Hisakawa Aya) from across the globe to deal with a new threat — a supremacist cult of humans called the U-Men. Carrying over from the Wolverine anime, Rikiya and Toshiyuki reprise their roles as Wolverine and Cyclops respectively, but now have a more traditional look to them due to the change in character designer. The plot itself is adapted from the X-Men: Legacy (i.e New X-Men) comics, where the U-Men are radical followers of a “Third Species” religion and believe it’s their right to transplant organs and body parts from mutants to acquire their powers. The thought of mutants getting hacked up puts a dark spin on things, and the X-Men are superheroes I’m more acquainted with, so I’ll likely be watching this. After all, I’ve been enjoying Wolverine a fair bit due to all the gritty action and this title is the natural extension of it.
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After back-to-back 52-episode series, Sanrio and Sega press on with a third iteration revolving around their cute magical animals known as Jewel Pets. In this sequel, the mischievous hare Ruby (Saitou Ayaka), along with her friends Rabura (Sawashiro Miyuki), Garnet (Hirano Aya), Sapphy (Nozomi Sasaki), Peridot (Kaida Yuki), Charotte (MAKO), Jasper (KENN), and Sango (Shimizu Ai), find themselves at Jewel Land’s Sunshine Academy, whose third-year Plum class is regarded as a group of dunces. There, a school-life story filled with laughter develops as they try to help the students graduate and pursue their dreams. Much like in Jewelpet Tinkle, the human characters have been swapped out while the Jewel Pets remain constant since they’re the stars of the show. In Sunshine, Toyosaki Aki will be joining the talented cast as a character named Angela. There hasn’t been a whole lot of other information released, but I gather there doesn’t really need to be considering that this new show will start immediately after Tinkle concludes. Clearly, this franchise is intended for younger female audiences with its cute characters, so that pretty much spells out my thoughts on it. I watched a couple of episodes of the original series for first-hand research purposes and can attest to the cuteness. Beyond the cast, I can’t say there’s much else I’m interested in though.
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The director and writer of the Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha series is bringing us an original anime about the fantasy world of Fronaldo, where the Lion Domain of Galette led by Princess Leonmichelis (Koshimizu Ami) is constantly trying to invade the Republic of Biscotti. With the losses piling up on her side, Princess Millhiore of Biscotti (Horie Yui) summons a hero from a parallel universe to save her country, and what she gets is a circus action and athletic-loving middle school boy from Japan. After being pulled from his everyday life, Izumi Shinku (Miyano Mamoru) soon finds himself getting accustomed to the Biscotti people and fighting against the Garrett forces. In addition to Nanoha, director Kusakawa Keizou has SEKIREI and Inukami under his belt, which may explain the Seven Arcs studio, dog-like races, and Horie Yui/Mizuki Nana casting connections. The premise itself reminds me a bit of Escaflowne, but the goofy title and cuter character designs make it hard to tell what we’re in store for. The fact that it’s an original series does pique my interest almost immediately though, as does the support cast that’s absolutely jam-packed with big names such as the aforementioned Nana, Taketatsu Ayana, Koyasu Takehito, Hikasa Youko, Hanazawa Kana, and Wakamoto Norio. While I can’t see this turning out to be an epic tale, I plan to check it out and find out for myself.
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Sunrise is coming at us with another strange original series of theirs, starring company employees who promote their business by taking up superhero alter egos and doing justice in the city of Sternbild. The superheros donning their company logos are documented in a popular “Hero TV” program where they earn Hero Points for their good deeds that go towards the yearly rankings for the “King of Heroes” title. The veteran hero Wild Tiger, a.k.a. Kaburagi T. Kotetsu (Hirata Hiroaki), has a strong sense of justice and little concern for personal property to that end. He’s suddenly partnered up with the rookie Barnaby Brooks Jr. (Morita Masakazu), who’s more concerned about looking cool and stylish, resulting in the “best of the worst” hero combination Sternbild’s ever seen. I really have no idea how Sunrise came up with this, but I’m cautiously optimistic about them pulling off something amazing. It feels like they’re trying something radical, much like GAINAX did with Panty & Stocking. Your guess is as good as mine on whether they’ll pull it off, though my impression of the wacky premise did improve the more I read about it. I actually like how each of of the superheros have a single special ability, just to help distinguish them better. The Apollon Media duo is an exception, as both their suits have a “Hundred Power” ability that increases their power a hundred-fold for five minutes. I still can’t shake how they remind me of something straight out of Blassreiter, especially when they’re animated in 3D, but at least all the other superheros look fairly unique. Super idol Blue Rose, a.k.a. Karina Lyle (Kotobuki Minako), should be a character to watch for her high school girl spin on things.
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There are slice of life options this season, the first of which is about “everyday life” that is everything but normal. At least, that’s what the inclusion of a talking cat named Sakamoto-san (Shiraishi Minoru) and a robotic high school student named Shinonome Nano (Furuya Shizuka) suggests, the latter of whom her nameless creator (Konno Hiromi) loves tinkering with in completely pointless ways. They’re not even the main characters of the story either, as we have the energetic yet idiotic Aioi Yuuko (Honda Mariko) along with her friends Naganohara Mio (Aizawa Mai) and Minakami Mai (Togashi Misuzu) of Tokisadame High for that. Lighthearted laughs are the main appeal once all the characters unique personalities mesh together. For me, the biggest selling point is Kyoto Animation’s involvement, including the director and screenwriter that have worked on various episodes of the highly successful K-ON. I’m curious whether they’ll be able to propel Nichijou to another unprecedented level of popularity, given that they have 26 episodes to work with. There’s a lot more focus on the gag humor in Nichijou, so it’ll be interesting to see what KyoAni brings to the table by putting their own spin on it. My impression of the manga is that it had a lot of quirky moments that I can picture being really funny onscreen, many of which came from Yuuko’s stupidity and Nano’s desire to be a normal girl. The humor reminded me of Azumanga and Ichigo Mashimaro in a lot of ways, so I’m pretty much set on watching it for that very reason. My only reservation is that the recently released episode 0 OVA wasn’t nearly as funny as I was anticipating.
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Despite the name change, Metal Fight Beyblade 4D picks up directly where Beyblade Baku left off with the episode number seamlessly carrying forward from 103. In this continuation of the story involving battling with tops known as Beyblades, Hagane Ginga (Kanada Aki) meets boy-genius astronomer Mizusawa Yuuki (Makiguchi Mayuki), who informs him that the light from Star Fragment meteor responsible for creating the Beyblades is now dwelling within his Anubius Bey. That light is warning him of a great evil trying to revive “Black Sun” and “Nemesis” using its powers, which forces Ginga and his friends to fight again with their newly acquired 4D System Beys. Before long, they find themselves taking part in a tournament called “Ultimate Bladers”. Outside of how elaborated designed the Beyblade toys are, there isn’t much else that grabs my interest in this long-running series geared towards promoting them. When I was looking into Metal Fight Beyblade ~Baku~ last spring, I did go through a couple of episodes to ascertain that sentiment, which hasn’t chanced since then. The show does appeal to some viewers outside its intended age group, but likely in the same sense that Pokemon does as well. If you’re interested in this battle-type shows and want something different from the summoning variety, then Beyblade is an option.
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Another series getting a yearly refresh is Bakugan, where the summoning card battle tale that transcends dimensions is picking up after the events in New Vestroia. Dan Kuso (Kobayashi Yuu), Marucho Marukuro (Hirohashi Ryou), and Shun Kazami (Suzuki Chihiro) learn that Gundalian and Neathian Bakugan are at war with one another and looking to recruit Earthlings for their cause. The evil Gundalian Protectors known as the Twelve Orders lead the invasion into Neathia, springing our heroes into action again. They’re joined by Neathian princess Fabia Sheen, new human friend Jake Vallory, and undercover Gundalian Ren Krawler as they try to prevent the flames of war from spilling onto Earth. As I mentioned around the same time last year, this is one of the rare cases where an anime has aired overseas before Japan. It never caught on in the land of anime and was deemed a flop, while it proved to be highly successful in North America and other parts of the world. All 39 episodes have already aired in the U.S., whose residents are now watching the Mechtanium Surge sequel that recently started airing. It’s hard to perceive this as a “new” show when it’s just a dubbing into Japanese voices, so if you happen to be a Bakugan fan, the English version is already available. These card game-promoting shows are never my thing given their target audience, but it’s worth mentioning that this is the first time an iteration wasn’t 52 episodes long.
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Combining cooking with shounen-style action, Toriko is an unusual yet popular manga currently serialized in Weekly Shounen Jump. If you’ve ever seen Dragon Ball episodes where Goku hunts gigantic beasts for food, then you’ll already have a decent idea on what the adventures of Gourmet Hunter Toriko (Okiayu Ryoutarou) and timid five-star chef Komatsu (Paku Romi) entail. In Toriko, there’s an International Gourmet Organization (IGO) that ranks the difficulty of catching wild beasts with capture levels. Gourmet Hunters make a living catching/killing these dangerous beasts and selling them to restaurants at a massive bazaar known as the World Kitchen. Toriko happens to be one of the Four Heavenly Kings, a title bestowed upon four of the greatest hunters in the world. While most of the story centers on Toriko taking down monstrous beasts with his bare hands and Komatsu freaking out at what he’s witnessing, there is an overarching plot about Toriko’s goal of making the perfect full course menu and an organization seeking to control the world’s food supply. Other key characters get involved as well, such as Heavenly Kings Coco (Sakurai Takahiro) and Sani (Iwata Mitsuo). In the early parts of the manga, I found the immersion into an inhospitable wilderness really enjoyable, and the OVA released last year left me with a good taste of what the anime will be like (albeit with different seiyuu). Since food-related anime is a something I’ve opened up to every since Yakitate!! Japan, I plan to see how much I can get through this series, even though I doubt I’ll be watching it all.
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To commemorate their 10th anniversary, P.A.Works is producing an original anime that will be their first to span two-cours. The story centers around 16-year-old Matsumae Ohana (Itou Kanae), who after a sudden confession and farewell, leaves for her grandmother’s Taisho-era hot spring inn Kissuisou because she’s tired of the city life. She begins working as a waitress and meets a difficult to approach and easily misunderstood chef in training, Tsurugi Minko (Omigawa Chiaki), a fellow waitress trying to overcome her shyness in front of people, Oshimizu Nako (Toyosaki Aki), a rumor and spy-loving head waitress, Wajima Tomoe (Noto Mamiko), and the daughter of a rival inn, Wakura Yuina (Tomatsu Haruka), among various others as she strives for a more glimmering lifestyle. From the premise and the character descriptions alone, it’s a little hard to tell where the story will take us, but the production staff has the go-to screenwriter Okada Mari on board. Among the cast of characters is Ohana’s supportive boyfriend she left behind Tokyo, Tanemura Kouichi (Kaji Yuuki), so there’s always that avenue that can be explored. The promo videos suggest it’ll be a story about self-discovery, as the energetic Ohana is uncertain about what she wants to do in the future. Not exactly something I can foresee warranting 26 episodes, but when it’s P.A. Works and looks as amazing as it does, I’m all for whatever direction this “spring work” anime takes, be it slice-of-life or a lot more.
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In this day and age, the thought of an anime teaching family values is probably preposterous, but that’s one of the goals behind this story about the Yamazaki family in Showa Year 39 (1964), back when Toyko hosted the 18th Summer Olympics. It’s also a throwback for Japan’s aging population, who grew up watching the likes of Astro Boy and haven’t had anything oriented towards them lately. After four years in the making, we have the industry’s first anime that’s primarily targeted to the seniors from the Baby-Boom Generation. The creators claim it’s in defiance to Japan’s Galapagos Syndrome and low birth rates, and hope to bring about new ideas in the industry that has been accommodating nothing but fanatics with its character tropes, fetishes, and manners of speech. Released alongside this high quality production by Wao World was a 100-min theatrical version earlier this year. The first four episodes of the TV series were also pre-aired, some of which I’ve seen. The emphasis is on the everyday lives of the Yamazaki family in Oota, Tokyo, where they work in a factory. To cover all aspects of growing up, there are family members from all age groups, with the main protagonist being fifth grader Kouhei. There isn’t much here for the typical current generation anime fan, but I applaud the creators for taking the medium in a refreshing new direction. I learned a lot of family values from sitcoms growing up, whereas anime was more degenerative than anything else. As such, it’s nice to see Showa Monogatari try to cater to young viewers in that sense as well. I can’t say I’m inclined to watch the rest, but if you’ve lost all faith in anime, then here’s something to suggest otherwise.
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In this adaptation of Navel’s 2009 adult romance simulation game, the stories of three main characters take place simultaneously in the city of Yanagihara. First is third-year high school student Haneda Takashi (Shimono Hiro), who harbors an unspeakable secret and spends his days wasting away playing Internet games. Back in first-year, he confessed to school idol Watarai Asuka (Yoshida Mayumi) and she accepted, but only to get other guys off her back. Second is Chitose Shuusuke (Miura Hiroaki), who works various part-time jobs and is a regular customer at the western restaurant Alexander, where he meets high school novelist Tamaizumi Hiyoko (Ono Ryouko) during a waitress’ farewell party and makes a horrible first impression. After the manager offers him a job, he soon finds himself working with Hiyoko. Third is Narita Hayato (Suwabe Junichi), who is a self-proclaimed jack of all trades that Ootori Naru (Gotou Yuuko) asks to help find a red bicycle one night. He refuses at first knowing her brother’s the top brass of a group of delinquents but ends up getting involved. In the game, each protagonist has their own chapter in pursuit of their heroine, so it’ll be interesting to see how that translates to an anime with all three happening concurrently. There should be a decent amount of overlap given the common Yanagihara setting, plus the numerous support characters. Takashi’s younger sister Kobato (Matayoshi Ai) seems to have a more prominent role than the rest, but beyond that I’m not too sure what to make of this adaptation. I like the idea of three different pairings to side step the harem route, which worked well in Kimikiss. The trade-off is that the focus may dwindle, so I already have some reservations about that on top of how nothing’s really grabbed my attention yet. That doesn’t mean I won’t check it out though, seeing as I can’t ignore romantic dramas.
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The popular sci-fi/history shounen series featuring aliens and samurais was poised to make a return after its fourth season ended, and now that the manga has made some headway in the past year, Gintama graces television screens once again. For those interested in getting caught up, the story takes place in a fictional alternate reality, where aliens known as Amanto had conquered Earth during the Edo period and Japan has remained in a feudal state. Sakata Gintoki (Sugita Tomokazu) is a samurai who makes his living doing odd jobs, and is joined by teenager named Shimura Shinpachi (Sakaguchi Daisuke) and a powerful alien girl named Kagura (Kugimiya Rie). They get pretty desperate at times and take on whatever crappy jobs they can to pay the rent, yet also wind up with ones that task them to save the world. I never got into this long-running comedic series when it first aired and haven’t been inclined to do so afterward since I’m apprehensive about shounen adaptations. I did get a sense of the humor from the handful of episodes that I did watch though, which includes poking fun at various other shounen series and the characters’ showing awareness that they’re an anime. The show’s take on the Shinsengumi was amusing as well, simply because I’m familiar from slightly more faithful depictions. However, that doesn’t mean I’m unaware of the series’ popularity. There isn’t much that needs to be said about that, as those who have been waiting for this continuation will already be watching, whereas those who haven’t don’t have any business jumping right into the fifth season.
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While it’s arguable whether Disney’s CG shorts are anime, the comedic dialogue between two robots, Duchess Drossel von Flügel (Kawashou Miyuki) and her spider tank-like butler Gedächtnis (Ookawa Tooru), in the distant future deserves some limelight. Drossel is a very childish ruler of her Hyperion race, who are supposedly at war with humans. The actual focus of the show is the idle chatter between her and Gedächtnis in their Tempest Tower, which entails running jokes about how she can’t be bothered to remember his name, striking random poses, and busting out capoeira moves. Drossel hopes to end the strife against mankind, but that’s just a topic for conversation more than anything else. The first season aired back in 2008 and its thirteen episodes take less than twenty minutes to get through, making it a very easy and enjoyable series to watch. Produced by JINNI’s Animation, the roughly two-minute long episodes are fully-rendered in 3D and quite a visual treat, whereas the random conversations about whatever’s on Drossel’s mind are surprisingly entertaining. She basically drives the show while Gedächtnis respectfully entertains her, as the only other character ever introduced is a mechanical monkey named Schadenfreude. Drossel tends to act like a spoiled princess, but her childish side is very endearing to watch. The show isn’t intended to be overly hilarious since it goes for a dry wit style of humor, but it works well in combination with some impressive 3D animation. This isn’t much of a commitment, so if any of the above sounds appealing, I’d recommend taking a peek.
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It seems like adapting pachinko characters is becoming commonplace these days, as the Sengoku Otome line of games featuring female versions of the warriors from the Warring States period is up next. The story goes a step further by having a modern day middle school girl, Hide Yoshino (Hidaka Rina), pulled into this alternate world to take on the role of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, serving Oda Nobunaga (Toyoguchi Megumi) in his quest to unite Japan by collecting the legendary crimson armor. Other prominent daimyo and samurai include Akechi Mitsuhide (Kitamura Eri), Date Masamune (Hirata Yuka), Imagawa Yoshimoto (Mochizuki Rei), Tokugawa Ieyasu (Akesaka Satomi), Takeda Shingen (Kokuryuu Sachi), and Uesugi Kenshin (Ise Mariya). The premise is strikingly similar to Koihime Musou and silly for that reason, so I can’t imagine many people getting excited about this one when history and literature aren’t very enticing to the typical anime fan these days. I’m probably an exception, as my interest in the Sengoku period has stemmed specifically from anime that center around it. While I’m not expecting much from Sengoku Otome, the cute character designs and cast that includes the likes Megumi, Eri, and Mariya have me curious about how it’ll play out with the gender reversal. At the moment, it’s looking like a guilty pleasure I’ll be delving into for at least a few episodes to see what it’s like in execution. I probably won’t watch it all, but I’ll let the show dictate that.
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Over-the-top eccentric humor involving big historic names from the Sengoku period is popular enough to warrant a sequel, as Gathering returns to produce “With My Lord: The Eyepatch’s Ambition”. The first television series aired back in summer 2010 and primarily revolves around the “One-Eyed Dragon” Date Masamune (Suzuki Tatsuhisa) and his senior retainer Katakura Kagetsuna’s (Ono Daisuke) attempts to keep him in check. Other famous lords and samurai such as Oda Nobunaga (Kuroda Takaya), Takeda Shingen (Nagasako Takashi), Uesugi Kenshin (Gackt), and Chousakabe Motochika (Noto Mamiko) provide their own comedic take on that Warring States period with their heavily exaggerated personalities. The end result is a gag comedy those familiar with Japanese history will get some good laughs out of, whereas those who aren’t will be left scratching their heads. I mentioned last summer that I enjoyed the OVA even though I’m only partially familiar with the Sengoku period, so a personal interest in gag-type humor is be the ultimate deciding factor for watching this. I never did get into the first season when it aired, so I don’t see myself following this sequel despite its appeal. The promo video alone had me laughing from all the livid outbursts, which are only part of the humor revolving around historic references. Anyone looking for a comedy should give this series the benefit of the doubt. It may surprise you if the type of jokes click right away.
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The dark and twisted gambling anime about extremely wealthy individuals who prey on desperate debt-ridden individuals for their personal entertainment is back, this time to animate the manga’s most popular pachinko arc. The main character is Itou Kaiji (Hagiwara Masato), who had a had a huge debt dumped on him and gets caught up in the sinister games of Hyoudou Kazutaka (Tsukayama Masane) to try and rid himself of it. He manages to escape with his life the first time, after learning how utterly corrupt and deceitful humans can be, but is enticed to participate again since he has no alternatives. People dying before his very eyes, body parts getting dismembered, and the wealthy laughing as it happens are nothing new to Kaiji anymore. In preparation for this preview, I spreed though the first season’s 26 episodes in two days, after getting caught up in the strategy involved in the life-and-death gambling situations. I wasn’t turned away by the unusual character designs (and I highly recommend not to be either), but what I did find irksome was how Kaiji continued to show compassion for the other people who would sell him out in a heartbeat. It helped reiterate that Kaiji had a conscience even when his own life’s at stake, except some situations really didn’t warrant it. There wasn’t a single moment that I felt good about watching this show, as it showed the worst in people on all fronts. More often than not, people are bawling their eyes out and begging for their lives. If you can stomach that, then this is absolutely engrossing series that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
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From the creators of CHAOS;HEAD comes another cyber mystery visual novel turned anime. In 5pb and Nitroplus’ Steins;Gate, the setting shifts to Akihabara and the story to self-proclaimed mad scientist Okabe Rintarou (Miyano Mamoru), a.k.a. Hououin Kyouma, who unknowingly creates a microwave with his hacker friend Hashida Itaru (Seki Tomokazu) that can send text messages into the past. He first experiences the phenomenon when he discovers the body of neuroscience prodigy, Makise Kurisu (Imai Asami), sends a text to Hashida about it, and observes a shift in the timeline where Kurisu is still alive. Along with childhood friend Shiina Mayuri (Hanazawa Kana), Kurisu and various others get involved, and after a lot of experimentation, Rintarou learns he’s the only one that can observe these shifts, as explained to him by the supposed time traveler John Titor. Before long, they learn that nuclear research organization SERN (based on CERN) is after them and their microwave. Time travel is one of my favorite sci-fi plot devices, so Steins;Gate is a shoo-in. My impression of its manga counterpart is that the characters maintain a lighthearted and unassuming air in most situations, but there’s a lot of impact when something time-related happens. One of the most interesting aspect is how the story builds up the “real” John Titor as a prominent character, along with the IBM 5100 computer he was in search of. There are also everyone’s attempts to change the past after SERN appears, and adherence to the many-worlds interpretation that really opens up the possibilities. While I inadvertently read more than I should have about the story (i.e. the ending), that actually got me more excited about this 24-episode adaptation.
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“Health and Phys. Ed. for 30-Year-Olds” is based on a how-to guidebook for men in their thirties who haven’t had any sexual relations with women yet. A manga was subsequently released, which is aimed to be educational with a bit of an ecchi twist. To that end, we have 30-year-old virgin Imagawa Hayao (Shimono Hiro), an earnest man of science who encounters a love spirit named Daigorou (Okiayu Ryoutarou) and his younger brother Macaron (Watanabe Yui). Daigorou forcibly guides Hayao into adulthood and an innocent love story unfolds between him and 30-year-old Andou Natsu (Nazuka Kaori). She too is being helped into adulthood, by the twin spirits Pi-chan and Ku-chan (Kitamura Eri). It’s easy to poke fun at 30-year-old virgins, except the reality is that it’s becoming a lot more common in places like Japan where people are more timid and career-oriented. While I can’t vouch for the educational aspect of this anime, the premise does remind me a lot of B Gata H Kei, where the characters had inner sex gods instead of cupids. Replacing the sex-crazed teenagers is a pair of late bloomers, whom I imagine will provide a similar form of entertainment. The mere thought of Hiro/Koari playing shy virgins and Ryoutarou/Eri whipping them into shape already makes me believe it will, and since Gathering studio is no stranger to comedy from their work in Tono ni Issho, there’s a good chance it’ll be an enjoyable adult-themed romantic comedy.
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Tatsunoko is taking on a long-running Weekly Shounen Jump series this season, the title of which is play on the name of the “Suketto-dan” helper brigade that the story revolves around. Led by highly eccentric Fujisaki Yusuke, a.k.a. Bossun (Yoshino Hiroyuki), and accompanied by the brash Onizuka Hime (Shiraishi Ryouko) and the intellectual Usui Kazuyoshi (Sugita Tomokazu), the Sket Dan club spends its time helping other student with their problems, but is generally looked down upon due to the meaningless jobs they undertake. As a result, they’re unable to recruit any more members and often find themselves at odds with the student council. Judging from the manga, the highlight of the series is the characters themselves and humor that comes from their interactions. The requests they undertake are usually short and self-contained, and primarily serve as a means to promote those interactions. From an anime standpoint, I’m wary about how that seems to suggest an episodic type of progression, even though that does change over time with more profound developments concerning the main trio. It is worth noting that the manga won the Shogakukan Manga Award in the shounen category back in 2009 though. Still, it’s not anime that I intend to get into, since I prefer shorter ones with a more defined scope. Those looking for high school shounen series should give it a try.
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The award-winning manga about a samurai and celebrated master of Japanese tea ceremony named Furuta Sasuke (a.k.a. Furuta Shigenari) is getting a 39-episode anime care of Bee Train. Taking place during the Sengoku period, Sasuke (Ookura Kouji) serves as a retainer for Oda Nobunaga (Koyama Rikiya) but is more interested in the ways of art and values materialistic possessions such as tea bowls more the path of a warrior. In his pursuit of status in the world, he learns from Nobunaga’s tea master Sen no Soueki, a.k.a. Sen no Rikyuu (Tanaka Nobuo), and makes a name for himself following the Japanese Way of Tea. As an NHK show, this is sadly one of those titles that will go heavily underappreciated. Hyouge Mono takes a more realistic yet mildly comedic approach in its depiction of the Warring States period, telling it from Sasuke’s perspective, and breaks away from the typical anime formula that a lot of self-proclaimed anime connoisseurs call for. Unfortunately, those same people won’t even consider such offerings when they’re available, suggesting that the problem lies with them than the industry itself. Personally, I can always get on board when the samurai theme is involved, and I quite enjoyed the early parts of the manga that emphasize Sasuke’s precarious position serving under Nobunaga with his art-minded aspirations. Those who enjoyed Sarai-ya Goyou like myself should feel at home with Hyouge Mono.
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Slice of life four-panel comic strip style gets an adaptation of the simplistic kind, where all the quirky humor comes from four ordinary girls with not so ordinary personalities. Three are second-year high school students — the air-headed Run (Fukuhara Kaori), the tall, curvaceous, and easily scared Yuuko (Kotobuki Minako), and the level-headed Nagi (Uchiyama Yumi). They’re joined by Run’s younger childhood friend Tooru (Yuuki Aoi), who’s very petite and highly protective of Run. She even has a grudge against Yuuko, after seeing her in a precarious position with Run when they first met. True to the slice-of-life genre, all the humor revolves around their everyday school lives, which tends to lead to some pretty hilarious moments. In comparison to Nichijou, I actually enjoyed the A-Channel manga a lot more, which had me thinking KyoAni should’ve picked this series up instead. Much to my pleasant surprise, that thought quickly dwindled upon seeing the promo material by Studio Gokumi, a relatively new studio that is comprised of former members of Gonzo’s Studio 5 staff. Their previous works include Strike Witches and Saki, two series that I felt were upturns for the struggling studio. In comparison, their work in A-Channel is already looking a noticeable step above and has me looking forward to this even more. Kaori’s playing another ditsy role like she had in Lucky Star, Aoi’s using yet another new voice, and Minako’s busting out her Kansai accent. Do want!
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A comedic horror anime from well before my time is getting a renewal project almost 38 years later. It’s one of Nagai Gou’s most famous works, even though he’s more renowned worldwide for creating Cutie Honey, Mazinger Z, and Getter Robo, among various other super robot anime. The original TV series ran for 25 episodes and spanned numerous manga, depicting a story about a demon patrol from hell that captures spirits who have escaped to the human world. The trio is comprised of the hot-headed and perverted Enma-kun (Yamaguchi Kappei), the bossy snow princess Yukikohime (Noto Mamiko), and the half kappa/half water sprite Kapaeru (Koyasu Takehito). This remake intends to follow the original story as a basis, including the 1970 time frame, but adds in the fashionably-naked, female spin-off character Enpi-chan to the mix. Naturally, the cast has been refreshed along with the updated visuals, modernizing an old classic. I feel like I should be watching this to truly get a feel for anime’s roots and would be a “bad fan” if I just scoffed it off, seeing as it far predates anything I’ve seen. The cast of Kappei, Mamiko, and Takehito makes it pretty easy for me to dive right in, as do the modern yet retro character designs by Brain’s Base. Their projects also tend to be provide something a little different from the usual stuff, whereas their animation work is generally something to look forward to. I’ve already got a bit of a soft spot for Yukiko from the promo video, so I think I’m going to follow this because that’s what an anime blogger should do when faced with a series of this stature.
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The lesbian and cross-dressing anime is alive again, as the tall and slightly perverted Miyamae Kanako (Sanada Asami) resumes for her search for her ideal soul mate at the all-girls school Ame no Kisaki, while continuing to endure the abusive treatment from the school idol who’s secretly a boy, Shindou Mariya (Kobayashi Yuu). Kanako is blackmailed into keeping Mariya’s secret and always under the watchful eye of his maid, Shinouji Matsurika (Inoue Marina). She’s also helplessly stricken by Mariya’s female appearance, even though she’s afraid of men and breaks out in hives upon touching them. It turns out Mariya is doing this out of some unorthodox respect to his late grandmother, and competing against his twin sister Shizu (Hirano Aya) to that end, who’s cross-dressing at an all-boys school. Maria Holic’s premise is ridiculous by all stretches of the imagination, but extremely amusing because of it. Both Mariya and Matsurika never fail to verbally abuse Kanako, who can’t really refute their claims when her nose bleeds uncontrollably from her wild lesbian delusions. Some of the most humorous aspects are Kanako’s rapid train of thought and her attempts to lash out at Mariya which almost always fail. It’s a somewhat crude form of comedy yet unbelievably hilarious when the other female characters get involved. I felt SHAFT did an impeccable job with the first season, so it’s great to see them back for another. From Kanako and Mariya’s heated exchanges to Matsurika’s deadpan humor, it was nothing but good times all around.
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It’s definitely no Prince of Tennis, as the girls of Shiratama Middle School play Japan’s variation of the sport, soft tennis. In this sports-themed adaptation, we follow five members of the soft tennis club towards their goal — the nationals. Spearheading the group is Harukaze Asuka (Itou Kanae), a second-year girl who tends to fantasize about perverted stuff. She’s joined by the hot-blooded karate girl Sawanatsu Kotone (Kitamura Eri), their gluttonous club leader Akiyama Chitose (Itou Shizuka), the mysteriously lucky Fuyukawa Kurusu (Akesaka Satomi), and the British exchange student Elizabeth Warren (Yahagi Sayuri). They’re guided by their 28-year-old advisor, Mishimagi You (Matsumoto Shinobu), a three-time national champion and influential person in the sport. Various other characters are encountered along the way, most of whom are students from other schools they compete against, which is reminiscent of Bamboo Blade’s take on kendo with its team of five girls. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like Softenni intends to provide something similar with its all-star female cast, as suggested by both XEBEC’s involvement and the fan-service-oriented promo video. I’m not too fond of how all the series that XEBEC adapts conforms to the same type of character designs either, regardless of who the character designer is, making me feel like I should coin the term “XEBEC’d” to describe it. I can’t say I’m expecting too much from this title, but it’s something I can see myself enjoying on the side due to the seiyuu involved. Kanae in lead roles never hurts, especially when she’s alongside Eri, Shizuka, and Sayuri.
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For a mash-up of supernatural and comedic genres, “He’s Calling For You Azazel” takes things in a different direction with detective Akutabe (Namikawa Daisuke) summoning demons to help solve cases. When he receives a request to break up a husband and his mistress, he calls upon a lowly demon named Azazel (Onosaka Masaya) and threatens the denizen of hell into helping. As only a figment of himself in the human world due to an anti-demon barrier, Azazel resigns to being ordered around by Akutabe and his assistant Sakuma Rinko (Satou Rina), a college student who’s also been coerced into her job. Other demons get involved, namely Moloch (Genda Tesshou), Beelzebub (Kamiya Hiroshi), Salamander (Nakai Kuzuya), and Undine (Kobayashi Yuu), and hilarity ensues from the tables being turned on who the demon really is. Even with the demon premise, it’s hard to take this series seriously when they’re all mini versions of themselves at Akutabe’s mercy. However, therein lie the beauty of it, as the livid outbursts from the demons complaining about the sacrifices prepared for their summoning and wanting to see Akutabe dead remind me of the deadpan humor seen in LEVEL E, which Namikawa Daisuke also stars in. All it really took was the short OVA released last year to give me a good idea for what’s in store with this gag comedy. The character personalities are the highlight and I can already picture how much of a riot Hiroshi, Kazuya, and Yuu will be in their respective roles. Having Production I.G in charge of the animation just makes it all the better.
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If you’ve been looking for a very unusual comedy, then look no further than this show about a university student Matsutaka Nanako (Hanazawa Kana) and her time in the Abnormal Physiology Seminar, a.k.a. Hen Zemi, a research group full of a bunch of weirdos. She joins because of the guy she likes, Musashi Komugi (Ishida Akira), but winds up writing reports about extremely perverse and obscene subject matter that professor Meshiya Kenji (Matsuyama Takashi) won’t hesitate to ridicule her about if she makes light of it. Throw in a bunch of other members (females too) who exude kinky interests in underwear theft, consumption of urine/semen/feces, masochism, gang bang, rape fantasies, cuckold, nudism, and of course 2D preferences, and you have a messed up anime unlike anything out there. A lot of the humor comes from the fact that Nanako is completely normal, but it only works if you can stomach all the fetishes that Komugi, Mizukoshi Miwako (Takaguchi Yukiko), Yesterday Taguchi (Shiraishi Minoru), and the others talk about with completely straight faces. It’s basically Seitokai Yakuindomo, except they’ll openly take part in casual sex, masturbation, and much worse all in the name of science. Older audiences with a sullied mind will probably find some enjoyment from this, but it’ll likely disgust and corrupt the minds of everyone else. In the OAD, I did find it funny when they used Nanako’s normal reactions as part of their research, whereas other stuff just grossed me out. Still, I’ll leaning towards watching it for some twisted laughs and to see more awkward moments between Nanako and Komugi.
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From the creator of Junjou Romantica comes another “boys love” title. Targeted towards female audience with the inexplicable desire to see pretty boys engage in a forbidden love, Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi follows 25-year-old Onodera Ritsu (Kondou Takashi) after he leaves his father’s publishing company, intent on proving to everyone that he’s an editor who can make it on his own. Where he ends up is Marukawa Shoten’s Emerald department, whose specialization in shoujo manga is the furthest thing from his literature preference. To make matters worse, the highly regarded 27-year-old chief editor Takano Masamune (Konishi Katsuyuki) turns out to be Saga Masamune from back in high school, whom Ritsu confessed to and went out with, but broke up with because he mistakenly believed Masamune was just toying around with him. For the sake of being as impartial as possible, I bit the bullet and did some first-hand research into the manga. What I found is a genre that I probably had no business delving into, as Masamune was quick to use Ritsu as a kissing model for one of his female authors. In contrast, the humor from the other editors slaving away to meet deadlines was fetish-neutral and pretty easy to enjoy. Ritsu’s misunderstanding from ten years ago serves as a good pretext for the romance as well, except I can’t quite get into it when we have two guy involved. In case there’s any doubt, the older Masamune is the “seme” (giver), making the younger Ritsu the “uke” (taker). Junjou Romantica fans should be happy about this adaptation though, seeing as the same production staff at Studio DEEN is behind it.
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Based on Takara Tomy’s arcade game targeted towards female audiences, we have an anime combining dance, skating, fashion, and singing in a program known as the Prism Show. The story follows a stylish yet introverted middle school girl named Harune Aira (Asumi Kana), who unexpectedly gets caught up in the show and meets the athletic yet less fashionably sensible Amamiya Rizumu (Hara Sayuri). Together, they chase after their dream of becoming the top super idol, a.k.a. Prism Queen, and encounter a reader model who seems to have all the skills, Takamine Mion (Kataoka Azusa). At first glance, this gives me Ginban Kaleidoscope vibes due to the skating aspect, whereas a closer look at the cast makes it seem like an opportunity to promote seiyuu group LISP. Given the premise, it’s not exactly something I can see myself getting into unless I’m really short on shows to watch. There is mention of periodic fights and talk about guys, but without a leading male character, I foresee the same type of enjoyment I got from Ginban. However, it is worth noting that this is the first of three productions by Tatsunoko this season, who’s been pretty quiet as an animation studio as of late. Just keep in mind that the target audience is adolescent girls.
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Picking up where the Shadow chapter left off, Saint Seiya creator Kurumada Masami‘s manga, “Put It All in the Ring”, finds young boxer Takane Ryuuji (Morita Masakazu), his rival and teammate Kenzaki Jun (Okiayu Ryoutarou), his older sister/coach Kiku (Tanaka Rie), and the rest of Team Japan at the Junior World Tournament. There, they have to face against the world’s best for a shot at the current reigning champions, the god-like Team Greece. This marks the third sequel (fourth overall) anime of the 25-volume manga that completed its run over 30 years ago, where there’s no shortage of flashy boxing techniques befitting of a shounen series. Much like I stated in last year’s spring preview, I never got into the Ring ni Kakero shows since I tend to approach sports-related anime rather hesitantly. I don’t see that changing specifically for this series either, though I do like its over-the-top depiction of boxing. The characters pull out special moves known as finishing blows, such as Ryuuji’s Boomerang Hook and Jun’s Galactica Magnum, which take the fights to a Punch-Out video game type of level. It works well in combination with the unusual opponents that they face, some of whom have shady backgrounds and connections to organized crime. If any of that sounds interesting to you, then it’s probably worth checking out the adaptations in order. They’re only 12 episodes each, with the Shadow chapter only having six.
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My excitement over another production by the same studio behind Ika Musume was met with uncertainty after learning that “Astarotte’s Toy” follows 10-year-old succubus princess, Astarotte Ygvar (Kugimiya Rie), and the creation of her harem as part of her coming to age. As a succubus, she needs to consume the semen of men to survive, so she’s pressured by her head of staff Judit Snorrevik (Nabatame Hitomi) to start gathering men. Disgusted, Astarotte tries to get out of it by saying her first harem candidate has to be human, under the assumption that the Yddrasil Tree linking their world of Alfheimr to Midgard (Earth) has lost its powers. However, Judit soon returns with 23-year-old Touhara Naoya (Satou Rina) to get things going. The vulgar premise seems to be a joke in itself, since the story quickly sidesteps the underage landmine and changes into a more innocent romantic comedy. Naoya turns out to be a respectable individual — single father with a 10-year-old daughter named Asuha (Tamura Yukari) — and is only interested in working as a butler for “Lotte”. His kindness makes her open up to being around men, whom she’s hated ever since a traumatic experience with her mother. If the manga is any indication, the emphasis is on the humor once Lotte’s bodyguard Griselda (Fujimura Ayumi) and head maid Elfleda (Horie Yui) join the mix. From a broader perspective, the whole series down to the cast and characters is similar to Zero no Tsukaima. Good for some lighthearted laughs with the occasional fan-service, and maybe the twist that comes from Naoya’s past encounter with Lotte’s mother Mercelida (Minaguchi Yuuko). Your mileage will vary.
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Another one of feng’s (pronounced fon) adult romantic sims is getting an anime, which will hopefully turn out better than Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka. In Hoshikaka, we have a story about Hoshino Kazuma (Asanuma Shintarou), who moves to the country side with his younger brother Ayumu out of best interest to the latter’s health. On route to their father’s friend’s inn, Yorozuyo, Kazuma gets lost and finds himself in the mountains after a bit of trouble, but luckily runs into a naive and innocent girl named Nakatsugawa Ui (Nakamura Eriko) who attends the same school he’s transferring to. While being guided, Kazuma ends up tripping, pushing Ui over and inadvertently kissing her, which Ui’s close friend Hinata Ibuki (Aoba Ringo) catches sight of. The rural countryside setting feels all too familiar, except Kazuma starts off with a misunderstanding that Ibuki holds against him even though Ui doesn’t mind. Building on that rocky start is a cast of junior and senior classmates, each with their own distinct personalities and all of them a potential love interest for Kazuma. The downside is that I can’t really see the romance side taking a serious turn with Dogakobo in charge of the production. The promo video seems to suggest that we’re in store for a more lighthearted romantic comedy, so I’m already anticipating an open-ended conclusion where Kazuma doesn’t end up with any of the girls. There isn’t much on the production side of things to suggest otherwise, so in conjunction with the fairly generic feel I’m already getting, I may only check out the first couple of episodes.
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The next iteration of the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise is television bound, along with a new cast of characters and story to coincide with the new Exceed Monsters in the trading card game. This time around, we have a boy named Tsukumo Yuuma (Hatanaka Tasuku) who’s into the monster summoning AR Duels that are all the craze, but is only a beginner who’s suffered nothing but defeats. An incident forces him into a showdown against the number one delinquent at school, Kamishiro Ryouga (Masuda Toshiki), during which a mysterious being seen in Yuuma’s dreams suddenly appears from another dimension. Known as Astral (Irino Miyu), he turns out to be a duelist prodigy and enlists Yuuma’s help to recover his memories by retrieving 99 Number Cards. I’ll be quick to admit that trading card adaptations have never been my thing, seeing as they generally target younger audiences that are into the games themselves. I’ve only ever caught bits and pieces of Yu-Gi-Oh episodes aired on television, and while I could see the entertainment value to kids, it’s just not my type of anime. That’s not a knock on the franchise itself, as I share the same sentiment when it comes to Pokemon, Beyblade, Bakugan, and various other merchandise-promoting series. I simply don’t fall into the targeted age group of these shows.
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Under a life-threatening contract with the denizens of hell, Katsuragi Keima (Shimono Hiro) continues working out of his 2D comfort zone by making real girls fall for him. Aided by the adorable demon girl Elsie (Itou Kanae), he surprisingly manages to do so with his adept knowledge of gal game scenarios, forcing out the escaped spirits from Hell that are hiding in the girls’ hearts. In addition to fellow demon girl Haqua (Hayami Saori) joining the cast, three new girls become the object of his affection in this continuation — martial artist Kasuga Kusunoki (Koshimizu Ami), Ayumi’s “mob character” friend Kosaka Chihiro (Asumi Kana), and 21-year-old student teacher Nagase Jun (Toyosaki Aki). Three heroines may be a step back from the five in season one, but I’m hoping it means some more episodes will be devoted to Elsie and Haqua. Elsie is one of the biggest appeals to me, given how her optimistic personality clashes heavily with Keima’s no-nonsense elitist one. That almost always leads to hilarious moments, but the best part is how well the romance aspect is depicted alongside it. The so-called “thrill of the chase” is the focus since the girls don’t remember falling for Keima afterward, which to me, is arguably the most captivating and “meaty” part of romance shows. Together with the emotions portrayed, I tend to enjoy Keima’s systematic approach the most, so I’m eager to hear Ami, Kana, and Aki as their characters are won over by the God of Conquest. Romance with multiple girls and not in a harem. That’s “The World God Only Knows”.
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The anime with the controversial depiction of breastfeeding is getting a sequel, and is likely something most people won’t hear me out about past what I just said. The use of “Soma” as a religious power source is actually in reference to Virgin Mary breastfeeding an infant Jesus, which itself is a legendary icon in the storyline known as the Theotokos of Tsarytsin. The first season saw iron Qwaser Sasha (Sanpei Yuuko) thwarting the Twelve Adepts religious sect from claiming the power of God, when he was accompanied by St. Mihailov Academy students Oribe Mafuyu (Fujimura Ayumi) and Yamanobe Tomo (Toyosaki Aki), as well as the copper Qwaser Katja (Hirano Aya) and her masochistic plaything Katsuragi Hana (Hikasa Youko). In this continuation, Sasha goes undercover to the all-girls Roman Curia Suirei Academy with Hana as his “Maria”, in search of a High Ancient Circuit known as the Magdala of Thunder. Most people can’t look past the obvious to notice, but there’s probably enough action and religious terminology in this series to rival To Aru Majutsu no Index. It has the same sort of appeal too, since the element-based abilities are all about science. Unfortunately, the creators’ decision to use breastfeeding as a plot device worked against them, even though the risque fan-service is one of the show’s defining aspects. If you’re able to view it along the same lines as a nude scene in a movie, then you should know that Seikon no Qwaser has a lot more to offer than people give it credit for. I have no qualms if someone is simply put off by such scenes, but I do if they ignorantly denounce the entire series for that sole reason. (Too narrow-minded for me.) I enjoyed the first season well beyond “the boobs”, so I’m looking forward to the three new Suirei students slated to be introduced — Amano Tsubasa (Nanjou Yoshino), Seta Miyuki (Sakurai Harumi), and Satsuki Ayame (Tatsumi Yuiko). Yoshino from fripSide, Harumi from Angel Beats, Yuiko from kiss x sis. AT-X is a must, due to excessive censoring on other channels.
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Yuruani is short for “loose anime”, an unusual venture project by Nippon TV and studio DLE, the latter of which specializes in Flash-based animation as seen in their recently produced Haiyoru! Nyanruani Original Net Animation (ONA). It’s touted as a “anime variety” program and will feature five different manga produced by Japan’s largest publisher Kodansha — Shima Kousaku, Rinshi!! Ecoda-chan, Honto ni Atta! Reibai-Sensei, Hata no Oyome-san, Poo Neko — and also a collaboration with the “NEWS ZERO” news program. DLE is best known for its freestyle creativity, which will likely come into play with these mini adaptations. Most of the original works are comedic already, so it seems like the intention is to just have fun with it. That’s what the pilot for Shima Kousaku indicates anyway, as the manga about a fictional salary man of the same name is one of the few that’s more serious. I’m not too sure what to make of this other than the original works being used as a basis for some light humor, which isn’t as dumb as it may sound considering how variety shows fill up prime time television hours in Japan. See the promo video with a gigantic Shima Kousaku to get an idea for what’s in store.
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The first of two new original noitaminA shows is Tatsunoko’s third production of the season and simply titled “C”, short for Control. In this sci-fi business anime, Japan’s economy has been bailed out from the brink of collapse by the government’s Sovereign Wealth Fund, but financial reforms haven’t shown any signs of improvement. Due to unemployment among youths and corporate downsizing, marriage and birth rates are down, while suicides and indiscriminate murders are commonplace. Surrounded by despair, Yogi Kimimaro (Uchiyama Kouki) lived with his aunt after father disappeared and his mother passed away, and now studies economics at university using his scholarship and part-time job money. One day, he encounters a mysterious man named Masakaki (Sakurai Takahiro), who invites him to the Financial District and gives him limitless amounts of money. In exchange, he asks for Kimimaro’s future as collateral. It’s an unusual premise with a sinister feel, since the Financial District is described as a “parallel world” that operates alongside the “real world”. It’s there that Kimimaro meets a beautiful girl named Msyu (Tomatsu Haruka), an “Asset” who helps him with his business transactions. He soon encounters and works with Mikuni Souichirou (Hosomi Daisuke), a genius who graduated Harvard at the age of seventeen and possesses multiple Ph.Ds and an MBA, and is currently the CEO of the Sovereign Wealth Fund. Souichirou also leads the “Starling Guild” and is accompanied by Q (Gotou Saori), who’s been said to be the most powerful Asset. Amidst all that, there’s Kimimaro’s crush Ikuta Hanabi (Makino Yui) too. Where this series is headed is anyone’s guess, but I sure am interested in finding out after reading about the premise and the characters. The script is by the screenwriter who adapted Baccano and Durarara, so that’s always a plus given those series’ unique storytelling.
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In the second new noitaminA show, we have another original story by Okada Mari that centers around a girl named Honma Meiko, a.k.a. Menma (Kayano Ai), and her five childhood friends whom she affectionately calls Jintan (Irino Miyu), Anaru (Tomatsu Haruka), Yukiatsu (Sakurai Takahiro), Tsuruko (Hayami Saori), and Poppo (Kondou Takayuki). Since entering high school, everyone’s changed but Menma. Jintan’s a shut-in, Anaru only hangs out with her girlfriends, Yukiatsu and Tsuruko simply attend classes, and Poppo skips so he can travel. One day, Menma asks Jintan to grant her wish, which requires him to reunite the six like they were before. Much like Hanasaku Iroha, Mari’s premises aren’t the most exciting things to grace this season, yet when I see the promo videos for both series, I get the feeling that we’re in store for an emotion-filled drama that I’m always looking for in anime. Tear-jerkers are only a special case of that genre, as a moving story that gets me wrapped up in the characters and makes appreciate the little things in life is always just as good. While I do feel that Menma is being a little childish about how people grow apart as they get older, I’m always willing to give a show in the noitaminA programming block the benefit of the doubt on changing that initial impression. In additional to directing To Aru Kagaku no Railgun, Nagai Tatsuyuki worked on Honey and Clover II, which Anohana sort of reminds me of. I’ll watch it for Ai, Haruka, and Saori’s cover of ZONE’s “secret base” as the ED theme alone, but the second PV really grabbed my attention by hinting at how Menma may have died and is now interacting with Jintan as a ghost. I’m sold.
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Taking over Infinite Stratos’ time slot is another action romantic high school comedy, starring the Toradora duo, Majima Junji and Kugimiya Rie. In “Aria the Scarlet Ammo”, an armed detective high school has been established in Tokyo to deal with the increasing number of heinous crimes, where main protagonist Tooyama Kinji (Junji) is enrolled in the investigation department. After an incident, he decides to leave for a normal school, only to wind up targeted by a bombing and subsequently saved by a beautiful girl toting dual Colt Government pistols. She turns out to be Kanzaki H. Aria (Rie), the top S-rank “Butei” in the assault department. This title is based on a light novel later turned manga, and is quite detailed about the Butei specializations. The initial attack on Kinji serves as a good starting plot device, as is his encounter with Aria given that he’s a lowly ranked E Butei in comparison. What I’m looking forward to the most is the romantic comedy coinciding with the action, as we have a childhood friend/model student in Hotogi Shirayuki (Takahashi Mikako), a “big-busted loli” otaku in Mine Riko (Ise Mariya), an emotionless sniper in Reki (Ishihara Kaori), plus two of Kinji’s male friends, the unpopular Mutou Gouki (Kondou Takayuki) and good-looking Shiranui Ryou (Eguchi Takuya). It’s pretty easy to picture some love rivalries with those character descriptions. The director of Shakugan no Shana and screenwriter of Yumekui Merry are in charge of this project too, which is good or bad depending on how you perceive those J.C. Staff productions. (Good for me.)
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An unusual story that’s right up SHAFT’s alley would be this one about a delusional girl named Touwa Erio (Oogame Asuka), who believes the Earth’s being targeted by aliens, claims she’s part alien herself after being abducted, and tends to wrap a futon around her upper body. Niwa Makoto (Irino Miyu) moves in with his aunt Touwa Meme (Nonaka Ai) because of his parents’ work, and soon discovers that Erio is his cousin. It turns out Meme’s kept her a secret all this time because she doesn’t know who the father is, but the real mystery goes back to a year ago, when Erio went missing for six months and was later discovered floating in the ocean with no memories of that time. Throw in an energetic air-head, Mifune Ryuuko (Katou Emiri), and a model-like cosplayer, Maekawa-san (Fuchigami Mai), and we have the makings of a strange yet intriguing story… wild delusional style! A girl who believes she’s an alien and SHAFT. It seems oddly familiar to Arakawa Under the Bridge, except Erio’s mysterious disappearance and her claims make me wonder if they’re truly all made up. The anime is based on a sci-fi light novel, so it’s likely going to make viewers second guess themselves (in a good way). Makoto serves as the window into it all, given that Meme is a very childish and carefree mother. I’m looking forward to seeing how he deals with Erio, since he’s a normal high school boy who’s trying to enjoy his youth as much as he can. Erio of course is the highlight of the story with that inexplicable charm of hers. I have a soft spot for “denpa” girls after Kotone from Nyan Koi and Ame from Denpa teki na Kanajo. Miyu in a leading male role is always a big plus too.
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Sci-Fi action thriller. Deadman Wonderland delivers that genre mash-up by depicting a dark and twisted story that takes place at an amusement park prison. It starts off with the life of middle school boy Igarashi Ganta (Paku Romi) turning completely upside-down when his class is suddenly massacred by a mysterious “Red Man”. He survives after getting a crimson shard shot into him, but is sentenced to death row. Upon admittance to Deadman Wonderland, he’s fitted with an irremovable collar that slowly seeps poison into this body and will kill him in three days unless he continually takes antidotal candy. His only glimmer of hope is a mysterious and cheerful albino girl named Shiro (Hanazawa Kana); however, he soon finds out that the assistant warden framed him for the crime and that the Red Man is in the prison. What’s more, he’s forced to take part in a sick game where prisoners who can manipulate their blood are pitted against one another. The manipulation of blood is where most of the actions stems from, as prisoners like Ganta who exhibit such an ability are used as a lucrative form of entertainment where the loser gets a body part randomly extracted from them if they survive. Ganta has no choice but to compete since the prison operates on Cast Point currency that can be used to purchase both luxuries and the antidotal candy he needs to live. There are more facets to the plot though, such as the guards and other prisoners, some whom help Ganta and others who make his life more difficult. Then there’s the mystery surrounding Shiro and her true identity. I found the manga riveting and gruesomely unsettling; the action was intense and the prison downright creepy, which has me believing this will be the rare gem of the season. I just hope Manglobe can make some decent progress about the Red Man with only 12 episodes. It’ll be tough. Second season please…?
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It’s been promoted during STAR DRIVER’s broadcast for months now, so it’s no surprise that Ao no Exorcist will be taking over the highly sought after Sunday 5pm time slot this spring. The series seems deserving of the honors with its blend of demonic action and multifaceted storytelling in a setting with human and demon worlds that are reflections of one another. 15-year-old Okumura Rin (Okamoto Nobuhiko) is oblivious to this, until his guardian — a powerful exorcist named Father Fujimoto Shirou (Fujiwara Keiji) — is forced to reveal that Rin is the son of Satan born from a human woman and a vessel for the lord of hell to invade the human world. After the sudden death of Fujimoto, other exorcists come to kill Rin and remove the threat, but he decides to become an exorcist himself and begins training at a secret academy to become one. The ongoing manga starts off on a very strong note due to Rin and Shirou’s early encounter with Satan, then really opens up the story to the exorcist world. This includes Rin’s younger twin brother Yukio (Fukuyama Jun), who didn’t inherit any of Satan’s demonic powers but has been training as an exorcist for some time now. They get off to a rocky start following the loss of Shirou, causing Yukio to feel Rin should just die, yet soon become a brotherly combo. There are also numerous characters at the academy with differing specialties, who are led by the chairman Mephisto Pheles (Kamiya Hiroshi) and provide more dimension to the plot. In a lot of ways, the early chapters reminded me of how Fullmetal Alchemist unfolded, becoming increasingly better as it progressed. Definitely worth keeping an eye on this season.
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Japan’s 2010 best-selling novel with over two million copies sold is getting both a live-action movie and an anime. Moshidora, short for “If the female manager of a high school baseball team read Drucker’s Management”, is about second-year Kawashima Minami’s (Hikasa Youko) struggles as the manager of her school’s boys baseball team. She’s a cheerful girl who tends to jump to conclusions, but has a knack for overcoming adversity and seeing things through until the end. When her childhood friend Miyata Yuuki (Hanazawa Kana) has to take time off due to health reasons, Minami fills in as the team’s manager with the ambitious goal of Koshien, the stadium where nationals are held. She’s unaware how weak Hodokubo High School’s club is at first, but later comes across Peter Drucker’s “Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices” book and starts applying its business principles to turn the team around. Author Iwasaki Natsumi has stated that the idea actually came to him when he was playing Final Fantasy XII and couldn’t figure out an effective team composition to defeat certain monsters, after which he read another player mentioning Drucker in a blog. Upon reading the book, he found the concepts so transformative they moved him to tears and inspired him to write his novel. With that kind of background and nationwide reception, this anime adaptation by Production I.G may very well be the surprise hit of the season. The premise itself reminds me a lot of GIANT KILLING since it applies seemingly unorthodox strategies that really aren’t that unorthodox at all in practice. All the same elements seem to be here, including players who aren’t receptive to Minami at the beginning, making this a drama I see myself really enjoying. Iwatsuki’s a producer who’s worked with theater/idol group AKB48, which explains Nakaya Sayaka’s support role as honor student/fellow manager Houjou Ayano, and Maeda Atsuko’s leading role as Minami in the film due out in June. Educational and inspirational. That works for me.
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After the lawsuit and counter-lawsuit debacle over Appleseed Genesis back in 2008, Jinni’s Animation and Production I.G have taken up the CG retelling of Ghost in the Shell creator Masamune Shirow’s first major work. Unlike the two CG movies released in 2004 and 2007, Appleseed XIII adapts the original story about the city-nation Olympus in a futuristic world where half the population was killed in the Third World War. It’s a utopia governed by an artificial intelligence known as Gaia and administrated by genetically engineered humans known as Bioroids. In this seemingly perfect world, Deunan Knute (Sakamoto Maaya) and her cyborg partner Briareos (Yamadera Kouichi) are members of the elite ESWAT team, and maintain the peace when racial, religious, and politics conflicts begin surfacing. The thirteen in the title makes it seem appropriate having Maaya play Deunan, given her leading role in Final Fantasy XIII. What’s more interesting is the plan to simultaneously release the first of two theatrical versions of this revival project on June 13th. Attendees of the premiere will be privy to limited edition copies of the first Blu-ray volume as well, while the first episode will be streamed for everyone else. For a manga that’s over 35 years old, it’s kind of hard to imagine that this is its first “TV” series. I’ve seen the 1988 OVA as well as the CG movies, so I’m somewhat familiar with the intricate Masamune-style storyline we have here. Fans of GitS will have a good idea on what to expect, as I too find myself “quietly” looking forward to this. The cel-shaded animation isn’t as impressive as Jinni’s full-on CG work in Fireball Charming, but that isn’t deterring me from following a classic sci-fi series.
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Technical Note: OVAs are sorted by the date they are released. For series that have multiple episodes coming out over the course of the season, please refer to the Notes column for additional dates. More information on each OVA can be found on their respective websites, including promotional videos in some cases. Movie premiere dates are not included as they don’t mean a whole lot to viewers outside of Japan. DVD/BD releases of movies are however. This list is likely incomplete and will be updated as more titles surface.
| Release Date | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 04/07 | Kampfer fur die Liebe | けんぷファー fur die Liebe http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/kenpu/ |
2 episodes total. |
| 04/08 | Yozakura Quartet ~Hoshi no Umi~ Ep. 2 | 夜桜四重奏 ～ホシノウミ～ 第2弾 http://kc.kodansha.co.jp/yozakura/ |
Bundled with manga vol. 10. |
| 04/15 | Seitokai Yakuindomo OAD | 生徒会役員共OAD http://kc.kodansha.co.jp/seitokai/ |
Bundled with manga vol. 5. |
| 04/15 | Special Edition FAIRY TAIL Vol. 26 | 特装版 FAIRY TAIL 26巻 http://kc.kodansha.co.jp/fairytail/ |
Bundled with manga vol. 26. |
| 04/26 | Gakuen Mokushiroku HIGHSCHOOL OF THE DEAD OAD 学園黙示録 HIGHSCHOOL OF THE DEAD OAD http://www.kadokawa.co.jp/shop/sp/shop_sp_154.html |
Bundled with manga vol. 7. |
| 04/26 | SEX PISTOLS Vol. 2 http://s-pistols.com/ |
|
| 04/27 | Naruto Shipuuden: The Lost Tower | 劇場版NARUTO-ナルト-疾風伝 ザ・ロストタワー http://www.naruto-movie.com/ |
DVD/BD movie release. |
| 04/29 | Amagami SS OVA – Tachibana Miya Chapter | アマガミSS OVA 橘美也編 http://www.amagami-ouen.com/ |
Part of DVD/BD vol. 13. |
| 04/29 | Koe de Oshigoto! take.2 | こえでおしごと！take.2 http://koegoto.com/ |
|
| 05/11 | Kaichou wa Maid-sama! OVA | 会長はメイド様！ OVA http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/maidsama/ |
Part of DVD/BD vol. 10. |
| 05/25 | Katte ni Kaizou First Volume | かってに改蔵 上巻 http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/kaizo/ |
|
| 05/25 | Shiki OVA 1 | 屍鬼 OVA 1 http://www.okiagari.net/ |
Part of DVD/BD vol. 8. 06/22: OVA 2, DVD/BD vol. 9. |
| 05/27 | Break Blade 5 – Shisen no Hate | 劇場版 ブレイクブレイド 第五章 死線ノ涯 http://breakblade.jp/ |
DVD/BD movie release. |
| 05/– | Eiyuu Densetsu Sora no Kiseki Special Set | 英雄伝説 空の軌跡 スペシャルセット http://www.comic-gekkin.com/comics/goods/eiyudensetsu.html |
Produced by SHAFT. 06/22: Middle volume. |
| 06/03 | Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? Anime DVD Special Edition これはゾンビですか？ アニメDVD付き特装版 http://newtype.kadocomic.jp/zombie/ |
Bundled with light novel vol. 8. Unaired ep. 13. |
| 06/15 | Asobi ni Iku yo! OVA Asobikinimashita!! あそびにいくヨ！おーぶいえーであそびきにました！！ http://www.asoiku.com/ |
|
| 06/15 | Baby Princess 3D Paradise 0 [Love] | ベイビー・プリンセス 3Dぱらだいす0[ラブ] http://baby-princess3d.jp/ |
|
| 06/17 | Air Gear Kuro no Hane to Nemuri no Mori -Break on the sky- Trick3 エア・ギア 黒の羽と眠りの森 -Break on the sky- Trick3 http://kc.kodansha.co.jp/airgear/ |
Bundled with manga vol. 32. |
| 06/17 | Special Edition FAIRY TAIL Vol. 27 | 特装版 FAIRY TAIL 27巻 http://kc.kodansha.co.jp/fairytail/ |
Bundled with manga vol. 27. |
| 06/22 | Katte ni Kaizou Middle Chapter | かってに改蔵 中巻 http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/kaizo/ |
|
| 06/22 | kiss x sis OAD Ep. 5 http://kc.kodansha.co.jp/kiss_sis/ |
Bundled with manga vol. 8. |
| 06/22 | BLACK LAGOON Roberta’s Blood Trail 005 http://www.blacklagoon.jp/ |
Finale. |
| 06/22 | Saint Seiya THE LOST CANVAS Meion Shinwa 2 Vol.5 聖闘士星矢 THE LOST CANVAS 冥王神話 第2章 VOL.5 http://loscan.jp/index.html |
|
| 06/24 | Saiyuki Gaiden Vol. 2 Sange Chapter | 最遊記外伝 第弐巻 散華の章 http://saiyuki-gaiden.com/ |
|
| 06/24 | Yurumeitsu wa? | ゆるめいつ は？ http://www.takeshobo.co.jp/sp/yuru2/ |
|
| 06/29 | Senjou Valkyria 3 Tagatame no Juusou First Volume 戦場のヴァルキュリア3 誰がための銃瘡 前編 http://valkyria3-anime.sega.jp/ |
Produced by A-1 Pictures & Bridge. 2 episodes total. |
| 07/27 | Hellsing VIII | ヘルシングVIII http://www.geneon-ent.co.jp/rondorobe/anime/hellsing/ |
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Rather than attempting to sum up the 43 new shows airing this spring, I’ve decided to present them in a different manner using my personal approach for watching anime. I’m a firm believer that one’s personal enjoyment is directly correlated to their expectations coming in (…for anything), so I use that same mindset when it comes to anime. Looking at a show for what it is and being able to appreciate what it does within the confines of that goes a long way in being able to enjoy a wide range of shows.
I’ve used this analogy before for final impressions, so I’ll use it again as some food for thought:
If you go into a fast food place expecting a gourmet meal, there’s a very good chance you’ll be disappointed. However, if you go in there expecting greasy yet tasty food, you may just find that fast food has never tasted so good before.
With that in mind, I’m going to categorize this seasons shows according to my expectations, having done all the first-hand research that went into this preview, in hopes of making it easier to shortlist the type of shows you’re personally interested in.
First up are the shows I have HIGH expectations for. This means I have reason to believe they have the makings of a very good series and should appeal to the widest audience in their given genres. If you consider yourself a “casual” fan who only gets your toes wet every season by watching the “best” shows (i.e. popular ones that generate the most buzz), then these are the ones I feel you should keep an eye out for. I’m also expecting good things from these shows, so if they fall short, disappointment is understandable. Note: The lists are in alphabetical order.
- High Expectations: A-Channel, Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai, Ao no Exorcist, Deadman Wonderland, Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko, Hanasaku Iroha, Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai II, Maria Holic Alive, Steins;Gate
Second are the shows I have MODERATE expectations for. This means there isn’t any immediate indication that they’ll be amazing in retrospect. This is often the case with shows that fall into one of anime’s overused plot devices, which most people, particularly self-proclaimed critics, will perceive as mediocre at best. From my experience, these shows still provide a great deal of entertainment and may turn out a lot better than they appear. They’re good for “regular” fans who are aware of all these tropes and don’t mind seeing them used in different settings. I like sifting through these since romantic comedies are among them. Personal tastes come heavily into play, so your mileage will vary.
- Moderate Expectations: 30-Sai no Hoken Taiiku, Appleseed XIII, DOG DAYS, Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera, Fireball Charming, Hidan no Aria, Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi, Lotte no Omocha, Nichijou, Ore-tachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai, X-Men, Yondemasu yo, Azazel-san
Third are the shows I have LOW expectations for. A better way of putting it is that I have no expectations either way. That doesn’t imply they’re the bottom of the barrel and shouldn’t get any consideration, but simply that they don’t seem to be striving for much and choose to focus on more frivolous aspects such as senseless humor and fan-service, which is fine if that’s what you happen to be looking for. Generally, only “avid” fans will be interested in seeing what these have to offer, because they’re already watching all the better shows.
- Low Expectations: Pretty Rhythm Aurora Dream, Sengoku Otome ~Momoiro Paradox~, Softenni, Tono to Issho: Gantai no Yabou, Yuruani
Fourth (what there’s a fourth!?) are shows that don’t really align with any sort of expectations since they’re rather niche. This means they break away from the norm by being slower-paced, extremely dark/grotesque, or even controversial. In most cases, these shows are oriented towards older audiences or those who feel that anime has become far too repetitive and want something different. Shows of this category tend to be highly underappreciated but can turn out to be hidden gems for that very reason.
- Niche: Gyakkyou Burai Kaiji Hakairoku-hen, Hen Zemi, Hyouge Mono, Moshidora, Seikon no Qwaser II, Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi, Showa Monogatari
Fifth are shows that are established long-running manga/anime series, generally geared towards younger viewers who are already fans of them. A commonality is that they all air early morning on weekends or well before midnight on weekdays so that “normal” people can actually watch them. They aren’t very dependent on expectations but a love for never-ending shows and a willingness to get into all the material that’s out if they’re completely new to you. Shounen series fall into this category, hence why I treat them differently.
- Established: Bakugan Battle Brawlers Gundalian Invaders, Gintama’, Jewelpet Sunshine, Metal Fight Beyblade 4D, Ring ni Kakero 1: Sekai Taikai-hen, SKET DANCE, Toriko, Yu-Gi-Oh ZEXAL
Last but definitely not least are the original series that I’m not sure what to make heads or tails of yet. Expectation-wise, they fall somewhere between moderate to high due to that unknown factor and are potential surprise hits of the season. If their premises sound interesting to you, I’d say they’re worth checking out.
- Potential Surprise Hits: C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control, TIGER & BUNNY
So with that, I leave it to you to figure out the rest for yourself. After all, I’m only here to inform, provide an unbiased opinion (…possibly some insight), and most of all, share a mutual interest in anime.
The only thing I’m looking forward to is the continuation of Gintama and Ao no Exorcist.
wow thats a lot of new anime
I’m going to go with “too much” anime. Geez. Is this normal for spring?
Yeah, I don’t think I’ll be able to keep up. I get lost without Random Curiosity.
Oh, i missed being first, I thought there was going to be another season of angel beats this spring
Great! I’m looking forward to this season!
Fireball? Again? SWEET
Div, you blog as little or as much as you’d like. If it’s getting to the point where you have to take personal days, hang back as much as you need. Saving this blog has given you as much right to do so as anyone could have.
Thanks for the preview Divine!
Looking forward to the next season 🙂
Thanks DIvine 🙂
Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa nai looks like a harem anime, but anyone who’s played the game or even read reviews of it can vouch that its story is absolutely fantastic. If it’s directed properly and stays faithful to the source, it could be the sleeper hit of the season.
Awesome. I do have my eyes glued to the OVA Miya arc though. I’m surprised there’s no replies, yet, guess I’m the first post. Amagami Miya arc gets me curious how they’re going to play that… Miya was never Tachibana’s type in my opinion.
42 shows this season? It’s going to be really crammed, I’m going to have to seriously wonder what to pick, I think I won’t be able to watch everything this season that’s for sure. It’ll be 21 hours of anime per week, which I prob just can’t afford.
That said, with the current situation of the bill that regulates anime, can we still have all these “risky” shows coming here and there?
Ah nope. Apparently I’m not first, people’ve been replying during the half an hour I’ve been reading this post… Was a long long read.
Though Divin’s summary on Hidan may have made you think that the MC is one of those weak leads. He is not. He has a special power that is activated by something ridiculous and then he becomes a bad ass.
Thank you SO MUCH for this, Divine!!!! We appreciate everything you do for your fellow fans!
…There’s some really interesting shows to look forward to, most especially Deadman Wonderland and Control.
This does not look promising. I only see a few things I am interested in.
x-man? why they don’t understand that the anime for marvel comics never be better?! what do they have lack of manga in japan?
42 new shows for one season!
WHAT “economic recession”?!
I wasn’t expecting this until the end of this month like any other preview should be. I guess Divine has some time after all during the postpones shows week.
Not exactly, since I was already planning to get it out sometime this week. I started working on it over a month in advance in preparation, just so that I’m not torn between working a season preview, final impressions, and the monthly post all at once.
Ideally, I’d like the preview out at least two weeks before the start of the season, but it usually winds up being only a week before because I simply don’t have time to work on it.
The broadcast delays did let me invest a bit more time in it though.
Wow thats ALOT of new shows.
Is it my imagination or does this season seem to have more shows then usual that are tied around games/card games? Many of the shows seem to be generic and bland. However there should still be some gems mixed in like Deadman WOnderland, Exorcist, Steins Gate, X-Men, Dog Days, andf a few others.
I will pretty much try and watch 1-2 episodes of each and give them a chance to catch my interest.
5 shows on Thursday, 4 on Sunday and only 1 on some of the other days were on my list already.
Now I read through this and *hope* I don’t get interested in more anime airing on those busy days 😀
Take the season off Divine, maybe blog 1-2 shows that REALLY captured your interest. Don’t force yourself to try to blog even a fraction of this list. I mean seriously, FOURTY TWO SHOWS in a season? Yikes. There will be much raging about it, but better to take a break than burn out…and have RandomC close down again.
Two quick comments on the list:
– I also find Bakugan funny in that it’s honestly more like Avatar, the Last Airbender (“Western Anime”) than dubbed anime. It’s a shame that they didn’t import the original OP/ED too though, since the reused English OP is honestly cheesy and annoying.
– Seikon no Quaser…I actually enjoyed the manga, but I found the anime excessively fanservicey. Yes, I know there’s breast feeding and all that, but they put waaaaayyyyy too much emphasis on those scenes such that the important stuff kinda gets lost in the fanservice.
MUST watch for me:
DOG DAYS
Ore-tachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai
Hidan no Aria
Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai II
Animes For KIV:
Lotte no Omocha!
Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi
@Divine: are those airing dates before or after the earthquake? And will you be updating the airing dates as more information are available?
I addressed that in the very first paragraph.
Sorry my bad, i didn’t read it as i just scroll all the down for the series infos 😡 Too hyper for Spring’11 😡 Will pay more attention and control myself next time ^^’
KAIJI !! Been waiting for this for SOOO long. That show will rock my Spring all the way. I’m gonna be pretentious and claim it’s going to be this season’s best show for sure.
Might watch Maria Holic too, but I never found the show to be that good to begin with…
D: there’s so much this season. Don’t really know how good it will be since I haven’t heard of like 99% of them before, but maybe it’ll turn out like this season which I thought started off poor but turned into something spectacular.
Can’t wait to watch STEINS;GATE.I’ve played CHAOS;HEAD, though I hope STEINS;GATE is better,CHAOS;HEAD is good until you start getting annoyed by Takumi’s friggin’ whiney otaku voice while I actually thought his voice was cool in the “prologue” or whatever you want to call it. The dude doesn’t even look like an ugly creeper otaku but he’s an anti-social ass when he never needed to be. Yeah I sound like I hate the game but I really only dislike him at least for the majority of it.
Got quite a few I’ll try out for the art/premise don’t know if they’ll be any good though. The Arakawa-esque one looks cute :D. Hopefully you guys can catch out any other good series for me that I wouldn’t normally watch like you did with Kore wa Zombie.
Good Season! MaHolic and AoEx + some pretty nifty shows like Stein;Gate… This season a must watch!
Aside from Deadman Wonderland and Appleseed, this season’s pretty much a snooze fest.
Still don’t know what to expect from Dog Days. The title is ugly and the premise (magician girl summons a boy from another world to be an epic hero) reeks of Zero no Tsukaima, and if there’s anything ZnT’s Louise had taught me, is that you actually CAN hate a tsundere character. But this story also reeks of NANOHA, which is a good thing, so…yeah, I still don’t know what to say…
Hmmm… I dunno. The only thing that got me to say “I’ll definitely watch this!” is Ao no Exorcist. Is it just me or for the past few seasons we’re getting less interesting animes?
to much.. to much.. spring season will be the reason I’ll fail my exams!
Such HUGE list and a lot of different variety of show to pick….
But sadly fan-sub groups still decide which I can (not) watch. T_T
In time, you will be able to watch shows w/o fansubs.
Valkyria Chronicles 3 is getting an anime tie-in? Oh dear God, no…
Kampfer was a complete trainwreck, so it should be amusing to see them throw some more wood on the smoldering mess with fur die Liebe.
Definitely looking forward to Break Blade 5.
Not a whole lot of in way of television shows that catch my eye though, and even less I’m actually familiar with. I’ll probably wait a while after they start and see how they go before diving in.
That’s alot lol
Maria Holic, Nichijou, Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai II, Ao no Exorcist, Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko, Hidan no Aria for me >:3 these shows shall serve as some very interesting breaks from when i am revising for final year exams >:3
i am soooooooo psyched for deadman wonderland!! I am kind of disappointed it’s only going to be 12 episodes though there’s just so much story to get through which makes me wary of whether or not they butcher the series :/ just hope they do a good job *crosses fingers*
deadman wonderland,x-men and ao no exorcist….awesome^o^!!!
Anime like Lotte no Omocha! are the reason why I tend to glance over anime starring young girls. If it wasnt for stuff like Gunslinger Girl, Madoka, and mitsudomoe I wouldnt even give them a second thought. The things studios will do to catch an audience.
Does anyone have information on that new geass season?
It’s been nearly a year since the announcement and I feel like sunrise is just trolling everyone once again -_-
Enjoyed both Omni’s and Divine’s ways of reviewing and covering the various anime, good and bad, that were released since then. Best of luck for the future!
Thanks, really looking foward to the season, and i cant imagine how long it takes to actually to put all that info together>.<,
“As you can probably imagine, there’s a ton of information in this season preview that took over a hundred hours to gather and compile..”
Divine’s workin’ his ass off. Look at how much work he does compared to everyone else! I mean, [this] is just lazy. The seasonal break is well-deserved. Though I’m hoping for a few cameos here and there. 😛
There are a few anime series that I am looking forward to, with “C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control” being one of them, but I have just realize one thing….THERE ARE MORE ANIMES INVOLVING MAGICAL GIRLS AND FAN-SERVICE!!!
What gives!? I think the anime industries are putting too much of it and I think they should think of something new.
Why not make an Anime involving a Military perspective were they would have to defend their country from enemies or Alien invaders….DO A HALO ANIME!!!!!!!! Or do a disaster anime were it looks like the world is being hit by an environmental event, like what they did with Tokyo Magnitute 8.0
There was a Halo anime. It’s called Halo Legends.
I know that, I meant they should make another one involving the Marines perspective
There was SDF Macross, but yeah that was along time ago. Could use a spiritual remake (spiritual as in not having the “Macross” name on it, which frees it from having to put the obligatory Idol Singing. It’s a bit hard to empathize with the characters attempt to survive the war when they wear silly clothes)
Agreed
try watch Cat Shit Zero 😛
US marines there and a lot of gun fight and pretty realistic too
animation detailed and awesome, though you may need to love bunny first 😀
“Cat Shit One” was an awesome anime and I wish they would make more
Hmm….. I’m really not sure what I’m going to watch.
The World God Only Knows II
Deadman Wonderland
Maria Holic Alive
Hidan no Aria
C
Are the one’s I know I’m going to watch…. I guess I’ll just have to read the blogs before I try the rest.
Wow, amazing work again Divine. This anime guide is a true gem, probably the only one on the whole world wide web that’s so well-organized and descriptive. Without these guides, I think I would truly drop watching anime.
thanks for the dedication
Looking forward to Control and Exorcist and maybe that weird anime about weird science stuff
Thanks for the preview!
I feel like failing my exams. : D
Looking forward to Kaiji the most….somewhat interested in Maria Holic.Kyoani’s new moeblob,Nichijou, came off as boring.
I can see myself spending hours in watching anime the coming season… xD
I ll be watching
DEAD MAN WONDERLAND – hopefully because of the GORE I ve seen in the Manga
The world only god knows – just because its a great series(mindgames and girl conquering)
Ao no Exorcist – from what I ve read so far in the manga it gives a Soul Eateris fibe to it
Gintama – Just Because its GINTAMA(hopefully it includes time skip arc which was shown in the manga XP)
Sket Dan – Because I m a hige fan of Jump.
Toriko – same reason as above.
Aside from those series can anyone give me any clue to what else is good to watch through their own personal tastes?
theres a quite a lot to pick, and few-to-none of them get me vibes of “great” like what I felt with the other seasons, and madoka magica in this season. its a bit harder since Divine hasnt had a “guarantee” on blogging them.
well this are my guarantees:
C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control
Ao no Exorcist
Seikon no Qwaser II (il need to finish the last 2 eps of first season)
Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai II
its the end of school over here for me anyway so il probably have some time to check on those. and I might pick more after first impressions.
ah forgot about it because Divine didnt put it in the list, if it does air this spring:
Kampfer.
oops, nevermind. it was an OVA so thats why I didnt see it the first time.
This is seriously massive Divine – You have no idea how much I appreciate these previews thank you so much ;_;
haha, just when i thinking i should limit my animes next season, i am bombarded with all this animes, most of which interest me. At last Deadman Wasteland is out,have been following this for awhile now, cant wait!
Qwaser 2. Wow, definitely looking forward to that. I just find the ecchi aspects to be really surprising. Every time it’s like “Japanese ppl came up with this AND PUT IT ON TV.” The elemental/alchemy aspects is also very creative. It’s not a straightforward power/chi/chakra battle and they come up with amazing ways to highlight how elements interact with each other.
A lot of nice shows this season.
A partial list of the shows I’ll be watching.
-Kami Nomi
-DW
-C
-Nichijou
-Ao no Exorcist
-Hidan no Aria
-Maria Holic
-Hanasaku
-Dog Days
-Denpa Onna
This list will probably grow as I check the other shows.
DW will probably get a 2nd season unless they cram/skip the contents in the manga.
You’re a hero for putting these together.
Yet another loaded season and Yet another set of HDD to buy. sigh. oh well. anyway thx Divine
Same here… Too many animes, OVAS i havent watch stored in my HDD, and I cant catch up with latest episode of star driver, bakuman, gosick, Kimi ni todoke S2 yet i have to add another HDD into my PC -__-
I feel like no other on this sight since OMNI can write like you can about anime and even OMNI wasn’t as balanced or fair. It will be sad to me if you take a season off but with how much you’ve done in the past year with this sight I wouldn’t blame you if you took the whole season off. I just hope that you won’t retire. I was sad to see OMNI go but I would be depressed and lost without your blog posts. I lie not.
Compared to last season, only a couple gave me a good impression. I’ll check out some of the first impressions in random curiosity to see if there’s anything else that catches my fancy.
The season looks promising. Seems to be a lot of shows that will wreck havoc on my academic progress. I hope the manga adaptations won’t be too bad.
Hey Divine, instead of burning yourself out making the usual full summary and analysis posts with lines of screencaps, why not make more casual posts?
I know you might want to keep a degree of professionalism when it comes to blogging, but I’m sure it will be much easier on you to make some shorter posts with a few screencaps and a comment or two to sum up your thoughts on an episode like many other blogs do. That way people won’t be upset at you being absent completely, and you’ll still be able to get your thoughts out, which I believe is the true purpose of blogging anyways.
Anyways, this season is looking good. There’s a few I want to see for sure, firstly Hanasaku Iroha and C, but also a bunch of “To Check Out”‘s.
thanks for your work Divine
this Site is the best
and a break every now and then is good idea
Yes, please, take a break. I hate how you put in so much work and so many people are so ungrateful. “When’s this coming out? When’s that coming out? gimme gimme.” You have done a lot for this site, Divine, and you deserve a season or three off.
Spring’s preview sure came early! Otsukaresama!
I’m fine with Divine taking a break, but please please at least show up for the monthly retrospective looks? I really like those.
Will watch: Sekaiichi hatsukoi, Kimi ni Todoke(cont from last season)
Hopes Randomc will blog: Ao no Exorcist, C, PA works, Hoshizora adaption
*hitogoto*
Wants Durarara!!x2 or a new good Sunrise show..
Wonder what Taniguchi-D is doing..
I can probably chime in for RL posts if I do take a break from regular blogging. I was sort of planning to do so already.
Also, sorry to break it to you, but Kimi ni Todoke is ending in the upcoming weeks. The sequel is only slated for 13 episodes (including the recap).
Can’t wait for the second season of The world only god knows. Really liked the first season, so that’s one anime show I’m going to watch.
Cant wait tell A-Channel
Thank you, Divine.
APPLESEED??
I can die happily after seeing that. Thanks anime god.
Seems like a lot to watch this season: Nichijou/Seikon no Qwaser II/Kaiji II on my toplist and a couple catching my attention as well.
Wow…so much to watch so little time to do so…XP
Huh, so no Guaranteed bloggings this season?
Please read the “please read” section. Thanks.
I have no time to read essays with my small teenage attention span!
But yeah, I read it and understand now. Have a good season off, Divine. You of all deserve a break.
Ao no Exorcist looks really exciting!
I have seen some reviews on Hidan no Aria, so I’m taken it could become a nice suprise.
Hanasaku Iroha with high anticipation *cheers for Omigawa Chiaki*
I’m looking forward to C control and sekai ichi hatsukoi ^_^
take that time off Divine! for real dude, u can come back next fall, its all good.
C is going to be AMAZING based on who is working on it.
Lots of good stuff here.
Wonder if there was ever a season as big as this O: The biggest I can remember was last year’s spring,with only slightly over 30 shows.
Guaranteed for me:
Steins;Gate
[C]The Money of Soul and Possibility Control
Appleseed XIII
the first two shows are definitely the promising ones for me because of the unique premise and “amazing staffs” working in the shows especially their respective directors.
as for Appleseed, i’m an avid fan and with Sakamoto Maaya playing Deunan it is 100% a must watch for me
as for my 4th show, i might try Ao no Exorcist for it looks like a RARE find among shounen nowadays where in Fullmetal Alchemist is gone
i might also try Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko to see if it is good since i really really love SHAFT’s works and Shinbo’s directing ^^
ZAWA ZAWA ZAWA
So pumped for Kaiji II. Hells yeah!
also: thanks for all your writing Divine!
I wonder what the other writers are going to blogging since Divine is taking a break this spring? I am not sure about Prooof since he is always busy with things that he has to do in his life.
First of all thanks for this amazing preview Divine. Truly appreciate your the efforts you put in this spring preview.
Some series that piqued my interests based on the premise and cast:
Hanasaku Iroha – Itou Kanae,Omigawa Chiaki,Toyosaki Aki,Tomatsu Haruka,Noto Mamiko need I say more?
Deadman Wonderland – from what i can gather this’ll turn out gory, dark and very depressing. And oh there’s Hanazawa Kana in it must watch!
C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control – looks unique and promising
STEINS;GATE – time travel never gets old
Anohana – the PV looks as good as Hanasaku Iroha :3
Glad to see youre finally taking some time off from blogging and relax a bit.
Hidan no Aria – J.C. Staff can’t make a loli tsundere that is NOT Taiga-based (Misaka Mikoto is an exception), and this is a problem. But what the heck.
Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai II – What I’ve started, I gotta finish. Besides, harem is kinda my thing.
Dog Days – No wonder the art looked Nanoha-like, but I gotta live up to my mantra: “I love dogs.”
Nichijou – Lucky Star minus the parodies, PLUS uber plainness of character design.
I think the Spring Preview is much better compared to that of Winter, where only Infinite Stratos only caught my attention. I’m looking forward to the first two, although I’m really open to some of them.
thanks for all these entries, I really appreciate the hard work!
it is soooo many shows… Spring should be an interesting season.
I’ve been looking forward to this season’s preview. Thanks Divine!
Take a well deserved break too, just don’t leave us foreverr.
Otsukaresama! Don’t overwork yourself over this site, if it means taking away from your own personal time and rest you really gotta scale back. Especially so if 40+ anime this spring brings along great temptation to blog more. Maybe you could provide fewer screencaps as they seem tedious to put up, I guess. Arigatou gozaimasu for all the effort you put in!
42 “new” shows and most are actually new and not sequels. Going to be a busy, busy spring and summer. Wish Ika S2 was in spring though. Miss my Ika-chan.
Ao no Exorcist looks promising.
Thanks for this helpful, indexed preview.
Due to broadcast delays, it probably makes sense to group Moshidora in with the spring season now.
Hey Divine! Thanks for the list! Take a break yea? We are all human, we need breaks now and then so do not overwork yourself.
I am not sure of the previous stats but has the number of anime increased from previous Spring season?
Thanks for the other writers for your contributions!
*YAY*
Kami Nomi
C
Ao no Exorcist
I’m looking forward to Hanasaku Iroha and Steins; Gate…and I’m definitely looking forward to the potential piano eargasm in Hanasaku Iroha.
Thanks for the hard work Div, but look at those amount of titles… Ooh the insanity… lol
This’s why I hate Springs and Falls, just too much interesting shows to watch for. Oh well here goes 12…
JCStaff LNovel adaptation… Shakugan no Shana, To aru Majutssu no Index, and now Hidan no Aria. If I ever write my own LN, at least I know what title pattern I’ll use to attract JCstaff… lol
Not so good titles in my opinion, I’ll probably only watch Ao no Exorcist, Maid-sama and xxxHolic OVA
try to watch “Pretty Rhythm Aurora Dream”, but Dog Days is a must, I’ve successfully watched Nichijou episode 0 but maybe I can watch this, Hen Zemi is another must, poor Kana Hanazawa for dubbing this, Hanasaku Iroha is my wishlist, “Ore-tachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai” and “Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi” is a MUST to blogged, “Fireball Charming” is an option if you like ASIMO parody, “Sengoku Otome ~Momoiro Paradox~” like Hyakku Ryouran Samurai Girls plus Shin Koihime Musou plus Ikkitousen in one, “STEINS;GATE” is another option if the storyline is good, “Hidan no Aria” is another must for ALL, “A-Channel” is maybe an option, “Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera” if you’re a fan of Go Nagai and Mazinger Z, “Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko” another AUTB parody for them, “Softenni” is Princess of Tennis maybe, “Lotte no Omocha” another must for Toradora slash Ika Musume in one, “Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai II” is a total must after the succession of the 1st season after Keima got exhaust whole day playing Galge from diff. consoles, “Seikon no Qwaser II” is an ok to me after the succession of 1st season except more Breastfeeding more, “Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai” is another option. But can they broadcast them after the quake, only time will tell.
anyone noticed how Appleseed’s ads looks very similar to fractale’s posters (ie early concepts)?
shows I’m intrigued on:
Hanasaku Iroha, Ore-tachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai, STEINS;GATE, Hidan no Aria, C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control, Ano Hi Mita~, and the prementioned Appleseed XIII
(…subject to shrinkage…)
though I would look into the summaries/insanity amount of discussions here for
majoritysome more of the shows (some are too left-fielded for my taste…)Nothing really strikes me as anything special, but we’ll have to wait and see. Until I see Fate/Zero on the list, my expectations will be low.
compared to the last season, this is seriously an explosion of anime.
good job on completing the ridiculous task of organizing and introducing 42 new animes!!
looking forward to Gintama, Maria Holic, Hanasaku Iroha, Steins;Gate, Ao no Exorcist, and much much much more.
it’ll be a super busy season 😀
The lack of Tenri dissapoints me but still I’ll check out KamiNomi because I love the manga.
Maria-Holic is a must for me! Liked a lot the first season (Mariya is awesome) and I’m a SHAFT fangirl.
From the new shows, I’m probably watching Dead Man Wonderland (liked the manga), C: The Money of Soul and STEINS;GATE (the concept seems interesting on both).
I’ll give a try to Hen Zemi because of Akira Ishida and Kana Hanazawa and Denpa Onna because of SHAFT. Also a bit curious about the whole deal about Drössel.
Damn too much anime and this semester I’m busy as hell D:.
divine, u dont like gintama ? u r really missing some amazing anime in your life. CUZ U CANT DEFINITELY DISLIKE GIMTAMA.
I hear this a lot with other shounen series as well. I’m completely indifferent about Gintama though.
The main reason I’m not watching it is because it’s absolutely daunting to get into, much like most long-running series.
omg Sengoku Otome is so wrong. I’m still watching Sengoku Basara II and it’s leik uber cheez-it winnage. The characters are betterly drawn and so much more fun to watch. I can just tell Sengoku Otome is gonna be fail. Either that or it’ll ruin the greatness of the REAL Date and Yukimura.
[?] _For Tono to Issho: Gantai no Yabou, the “sequel”, according to MAL isn’t a sequel. They call it “Other”. Does that mean this season’s airing of the anime is just an adaptation? The show’s promotion had me in tears. I love the Sengoku period. (Hold on.. Gackt?)
After what you said about Seikon no Qwaser, Divine, I’m gonna give it another go. I wasn’t turned off, just amused and didn’t take it seriously. But I’ll watch it and catch up. 😀 Also, C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control was a title I thought came straight from our dynamic duo in Bakuman!
AnoHana is.. wow. They sure picked a great artist for the characters because Masayoshi Tanaka‘s skills with expression were brilliant in Toradora! I still remember holding back tears when I first saw Taiga emotionally unstable in front of her apt building. I’m hoping this show delivers the same.
[?] _I watched Appleseed: Ex Machina. Is Appleseed XIII like an alternative telling of that? Or do I need to read the manga to understand what’s going on?
Strike Witches Movie(woot!), Kiss x Sis(HHNNGGGG!!), and Koe de Oshigoto(YES!!!) = LOLIS >8DDD ♥
Take the season off. If anyone deserves a break from blogging, it’s you. Can’t say you won’t be missed though.
Nice preview. I’m also pretty psyched for C.
Can i translate this posting to korean and distribute?
Distribute where?
And by translate, do you mean including my impressions as is? I don’t want to misunderstood in case something’s lost in translation, but it’s entirely up to you on how you’d like to use the information I’ve presented.
All I can ask is that you link back indicating this was your source.
well, I will distribute to korean website, and I will make sure put source, your website. don’t worry. and my blog is http://blog.naver.com/bebz2
and I appreciate that you made this list. it’s very helpful information.
well and I won’t translate your impressions. because those are all your own words. and my English is not that good to translate all above.
I am quite swallow when it comes to anime I Do not know (first impressions are everything for me, say, art!)
Sure pick:
Deadman Wonderland
Going to watch:
Hanasaku Iroha (Love Hina feel)
Steins; Gate (out of respect for Chaos)
Ao no Exorcist (looks good)
C: The Money of Soul and Possibility control (dat art won me over!)
Wild card:
Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko.
Let’s play!
Ah! those trailers shows nothing!
Too bad the season is quite lacking in lolis, save it for Lotte no Omocha. I’m less than intrigued.
gainax?
Dog Days, Hidan no Aria, Denpa, Maria Holic, C:.
Five series that I’m slightly interested in, the only ones I’m guaranteed to watch are Hidan no Aria and Maria Holic. The other three seem like they might be some fun, so I’ll give them a couple episodes to convince me.
pretty bad season for me ._.
too much love :/
AHHH!!!! i got to tons that i want to see!!
here’s my list:
-STEINS;GATE (Gen Urobuchi is from NitroPlusn and it’s TIME TRAVEL! nuff said XD)
-Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko (SHAFUTOOOHHH!!! and i love the art!)
-Hanasaku Iroha (i love the art! )
-A Channel (DAYUM! yuuki aoi and mah minako!!! <3 yuuko!!)
-Maria Holic Alive (MARIA_SAMAAA!!!!)
-Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai (looks interesting. the art is lovely too.)
-Sengoku Otome ~Momoiro Paradox~ (all-girls cast!! what does that mean??! EFFIN YURI TAIMU!!LOL)
*i got tons.. XD
Looking forward to DMW, Kaminomi and Gintama as definites…I’ll wait and see how Ao no Exorcist, C and Steins;Gate go. Thanks heaps for an awesome post!!
yes… some worthy of passing. I can’t wait for C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control Top, Stien;Gate, and Ao no Exoricist…Hoot.
Hmmm. I have high expectation for the two anime original NoitaminA’s shows. Hope it won’t disappoint.
BTW Divine, if you do end up taking the season off, how about talking about each series’ impressions more at the IRC? XD
SWeeeeeeeeT preview. I don’t have time ot read it now and so I’ll check it out later. Just wanted to say good job!!
A new KAIJI season will come out this spring!?
Ladys and Gentlemen please excuse me for a while, because i will now sit down and cry mainly tears!
Thanks for this amazing review, like every season you really work hard on this!!
At first sight, the ones who attracted me, and which I will either follow or at least try out for a moment, are:
Dog Days
Tiger and Bunny
Yondemasu yo, Azazel-san. (maybe?…)
Hen Zemi
Hanasaku Iroha
Tono to Issho: Gantai no Yabou
STEINS;GATE
SKET DANCE
Hidan no Aria
Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko
Maria Holic Alive
Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi
Ao no Exorcist
C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control
Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai
Deadman Wonderland
Appleseed XIII
Kaichou wa Maid-sama! OVA
Break Blade 5 – Shisen no Hate
Detective Conan Movie 15 “Quarter of Silence”
*looking up at list*
Damn, that’s a lot, and this is only my ‘first sight’, what will happen when I get to the 2nd sight? ^^;
Joke aside, I can tell more or less which are the series which I’ll be following avidly weekly and others which I might not follow that closely, but there are still a lot!
Going to be picking up 18 new shows this season. In my five years of anime watching, I have never followed this many anime in one season.
DOG DAYS
Nichijou
Hen Zemi
Hanasaku Iroha
Ore-tachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai
Deadman Wonderland
Gintama
Gyakkyou Burai Kaiji Hakairoku-hen
Steins;Gate
Hidan no Aria
A-Channel
Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko
Maria Holic Alive
Ao no Exorcist
Lotte no Omocha!
Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL
Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai II
C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control
Ugh I am very concerned about the short length of Deadman Wonderland. Since the manga series is near ending (or at least at a MAJOR turning point) I thought the animation studios would have enough material to judge on how to pace the anime, and from my estimates, I think this series needs at least half a year if not more to tell the story. I hope they don’t screw up the pacing with only tweleve episodes.
Let’s hope for a second season instead so things aren’t rushed or missed out.
12 episodes is a lot of time too. They’ll just move at a fast pace maybe? Freezing was like that. And a few other shows and they’re turning out to be okay.
I would have been comforted by your example of freezing, except for the following factors. Although DMW and Freezing are both monthly, the two manga run at different paces. DMW has consistently pumped out manga chapters around 40 pages long, where as the number of pages per chapter has dropped to around 30 for Freezing. Incidentally, although both Freezing and DMW contain a lot of action, the content of Freezing is based on action, and therefore it is not difficult for animators to burn 3-4 chapters into one episode due to the abundance of action. Finally, only around 40 chapters of Freezing will be animated this season, where as the near-ending DMW will have 50+ chapters. Finally, as a watcher of Freezing myself, although the series itself wasn’t rushed, I could be an anal-retentive nit-picky asshole and say “the animators could have ‘slowed down to smell the roses more'”, meaning it was possible for them to take their time.
Thus the superior pacing of Freezing does not guarantee a decent pacing for DMW.
Thanks for the info. But couldn’t they possibly come out with a second season? DMW will slide by the Ban too.
I guess it is possible for them to split the series into two seasons. What worries me the most is how are they going to partition the plot so that it fits nicely into two, standalone seasons. I guess that the main plot concerns the aforementioned Red-Man, but developments concerning the Redman come slowly. There is a rather good stopping point half way through the current plot; a major sub-plot does end around there. However, that subplot has little to do with the Red-Man and my concern is that the studio will opt for an anime-original ending in order to bring better closure to the first season. That’s why I had hoped that they would tell the entire story in one run; the possibility of an anime-original ending lessens extensively if they don’t have to partition the plot.
My other concern is the amount of blood Manglobe will show. I hope they go all out and we get a bloody mess of an anime XD.
I don’t know who the Red-man tis. Mind you, I own only the first volume. ^^;
I’m sure they’ll keep the blud. (lol) Who’s broadcasting it? If it’s ATX then we’re all good, right? 😀
I would tell you to read the rest of the manga online, except I hesitate because usually reading the manga tends to bias the viewer against the anime. At least, that’s what happened to me concerning Beelzebub and The World Only God Knows, to name recent examples. As for the airing station, I don’t know about that. I guess we’re just going to have to wait until Divine updates us with the airing info.
Alot of new shows but none of them make me wanna say wow can’t wait kind of feeling, this past season is better with IS and a few others.
only one I look forward to would be a-channel and Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko since I read the manga.
What I think i’ll be watching this season (bold = will be watching!):
Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai
Ao no Exorcist
C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control
Deadman Wonderland
Dog Days
Hidan no Aria
STEINS;GATE
Sket Dance
One or two others might be added once they actually start to air. Hopefully I won’t fall so behind on this season as I have done with the current season.
What about studio Bones?! Nothing new? 🙁
They’re already doing GOSICK.
Darn :O
LOOK TASTY
We need more Kobayashi Yuu! She’s only got a role in Maria Holic this season? What a letdown. D’x
she also got role in steins;gate too
as a trap
Awesome! I love her as a trap character. Though her role in Seitokai Yakuindomo as Naruko-sensei was priceless. <3
Wow, so many new anime coming up.. O_O
Probably will pick up 2:
Sekai-Ichi Hatsukoi
Ao no Exorcist
OMG, Yu Gi Oh is getting lame.
MC getting a support from a genius, thus making him lame as well. I feel bad for his opponents. 2 brains VS 1 brain.
Going to give every show a shot, except for some titles, that are “weird”.
Thanks for the spring anime list, Divine.
Gotta save Mokuba! LOL
GINTAMA. The funniest anime I’ve ever seen. God, thank you for retrieving it!
Seriously all other animes are not funny anymore after I watch Gintama.
I’m most interested in C: The Money of Soul and Possibility control the plot sounds intriguing
And I’m surprised, there seems to be a lot of high-quality anime this spring! woo hoo!
I’ll make list to help my bad memory keep track:
STEINS;GATE
Ao no Exorcist
Gyakkyou Burai Kaiji Hakairoku-hen
Sket Dance
And I may possibly watch C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control
Thanks for finding the time to write such quality reads on the latest happenings in anime, keep up the good work.
Haven’t really had the patience or time to check out all the previews in this post but from what I’ve seen I’ll go with Nichijou, being the obvious choice from such a quality studio like KyoAni (and the fact that I liked the, admittedly, somewhat meek though with crisp, fluid animation, preview in the form of the OVA), Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai II (having seen the previous season of course) and Hanasaku Iroha, only for the fact that I liked the (seemingly) easygoing, relaxing nature of the show and the nice animation from what can be seen in the promotional video.
In addition to that, I will also try whichever title catches my eye on RC, either with the visuals or the positive feedback from one of the writers here.
So this season I’m going with only the safe choices; had to drop a few titles last time round and that’s not something I like doing a lot.
So many new good shows. Instead of my usual two, I’m going to watch at least five this season:
Hanasaku Iroha
Ore-tachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai
A-Channel
Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai II
Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai.
Also, I might end up watching Hidan no Aria
Thanks Divine. The most complete preview as far as I can remember. Surely, it required a tremendous effort from you.
I like the fact that the anime this season are very much diversified. Previous season (winter) was good. But the 3-5 seasons before it were troublesome as not much anime seemed to try to stand from the crowd. So I’m looking forward to see what will emerge.
Why I feel that steins;gate is so underrated?
hmmm
but maybe this is Steins;Gate’s choice
EL – PSY – CONGLUE
Is S:G sequel or prequel to Chaos;head
you could say it is a loose sequel of CH
Chaos; head wasn’t to hot last I remember. The opening theme was liquid awesome though.
there is no Chaos;Head anime ( lalala~ )
Shazam!
lol
you dont get the joke
fail Dx
Thank you yet again, Divine, for the only Spring 2011 preview that truly matters! <3
My tentative watching list:
Sunday – Hanasaku Iroha
Monday – Qwaser 2
Thursday – AnoHana, A-Channel, Aria, Maria Holic 2
Saturday – Nichijou, Henzemi
Wow…
And I was wondering why were there so few shows in the Winter 2011 season, turns out they were all here.
Already, I see up to 6 new shows I’m interested in, including 2 sequel (Qwaser 2 and Maria Holic 2) that’ll make 8 shows, with Thursday night/Friday the busiest for me, I’m gonna have to prioritize.
Hanasaku Iroha and AnoHana were an instant draw to me, the former had Ito Kanae and Toyosaki Aki reuniting since Railgun and Shugo Chara, while the latter had the director and character designer of Toradora, and both series are written by Okada Mari.
Speaking of Toradora, Hidan no Aria has reunited their co-stars Kugimiya Rie and Majima Junji, plus the trailer has that Shakugan no Shana feel to it, I’ll give this a shot.
The two slice-of-life shows, Nichijou and A-Channel, are also a shoo-in for my high priority list.
Henzemi has that Seitokai no Yakuindomo dirty feel to it, plus it mostly involves Hanazawa Kana, yup.
Qwaser 2 and Maria Holic 2 I shall watch simply because I’ve seen the first seasons of both. For the former, any ecchi moaning by A-list seiyuus is always welcome for me. While for the latter, if Shinbo had decided not to continue with this series, I might have to consider dropping it.
looking forward to the following:
-Deadman Wonderland
-Ao no Exorcist
-Hidan no Aria
-Kami Nomi Mizu Shiro Sekai II
-Steins Gate
this looks interesting for me:
-C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control
-Appleseed XIII
Thanks a lot for the updates!!!!! Always visit the site but first tym for the comment XD
Maria Holic!!11111111
me => homo for Mariya
Okay I see a lot of comments mentioning Maria Holic. I JUST started watching a few hours ago and I’m on episode 10 now. I don’t see what’s so great about it. The humor gets dry real fast. I’m actually forcing myself to finish so that I can see if the new season of it will bring in some good humor. If it’s more rehashed nosebleeds and fantasizing that goes nowhere, then I’ll have to put it down. Not to troll but it was great in the beginning and got tired after 4 episodes. :\
I really enjoyed Maria Holic, maybe all the mention cause of the animation Shaft uses, also believe its based off the manga which is pretty humorous.
Okay. I just finished the show. Those bastards are sneaky. Awesome beginning, crap middle, and finish up with awesomeness for the better opinion. Nice. 11th episode had me giggling. The final episode had me in tears from laughter. Such great animation and exaggerated expressions. The chapter format was perfect. Why couldn’t- ah whatever. That was a great final episode. LOL <- (Had to get that out..)
Divine, if you do take the season off, will you still do the monthly retrospective look?
Oohh.. (Good question.)
Might be worth a look in this direction -> https://randomc.net/2011/03/18/spring-2011-preview/comment-page-1/#comment-645586
After this winter season i am definitely going to take a break from the moe and ecchi stuffs for awhile.
*sigh* Dont get me wrong, i have nothinga gainst moe animes, its just that this season is kind of a step back from a season filled with puella, IS, kore wa Zombie, Stardriver, To aru and more.
Then again we have stein’s gate, Deadman, mariaholic and the world god only knows.
I’m really going to miss PMMM DX
Hey Divine you are missing the High School of the Dead OVA that’s coming out in April called “Drifters of the Dead.”
It’s listed in the OVA/Movie section.
Thanks a lot for making the preview. It must take a lot of time and effort. Your work is greatly appreciated.
Huh. Deadman’s finally got an Anime, huh?
WHAT THE-
Ao no Exorcist did too?
This is already looking like a fun season….
Looking forward to Tiger & Bunny and Appleseed.. and that’s about it.
not a great season, but better than last one. the only one i’m sure i’ll be watching is kami nomi 2, maybe denpa onna and money of soul.
“However, Judit soon returns with 23-year-old Touhara Naoya (Satou Rina) to get things going.”
And
“Naoya turns out to be a respectable individual — single father with a 10-year-old daughter named Asuha (Tamura Yukari) — and is only interested in working as a butler for “Lotte”.”
What the hell?? So he was 13 when he was doing the deed? Damn. 😀
Well, I’ll be mostly looking forward STEINS;GATE and Deadman Wonderland, though it’s too bad that the the latter is only slated to have only 12 eps. Will probably need to read the manga to fill what they’re missing out in the anime.
OTOH Divine said:
“the twist that comes from Naoya’s past encounter with Lotte’s mother Mercelida”
So maybe it’s just some form of magic and/or she’s actually not his real daughter and instead adopted.
Heh, I was wondering if anyone would put two and two together based on the information I provided. That twist is in relation, but I won’t spoil the fun for anyone.
Just speculation, since I don’t know the manga, but just to make sure I’ll add a spoiler space
Show Spoiler ▼
If, by some accident, I am right, then feel free to delete my post.
Thanks for the preview and all the hard work as always, Divine!
That being said, I totally support you taking the season off to have more time to spend on your own life and take some vacation days!! I’m confident that we the readers will continue to follow RC in your absence, since the other members of the blogging team are awesome as well.
^__^
Best god damn list I’ve seen over the past seasons.It’s way too many for me to list what I’m watching, but the must sees for me is
Hidan no Aria, Ao no Exorcist, and Dead motherfucking man Wonderland.
Some of the known stuff like Seikon no Qwaser, I might watch, while stuff like Dog Days, which is a complete story rip off/copy/inspiration of the PS1 Squaresoft game, Brave Fencer Musashi/den, I’ll at least try to watch and see if I like.
I did that with Infinite Stratos, Gosick, and Fractale and we all know how good those turned out to be lol.
tanoshimi =)
well, as we can see, there’s a ton of good show this season
I’ve really been waiting for kami shiro II, ai no exorcist and steins;gate
kami was really enjoying and steins is produced by the same team as chaos;head, which I actually really liked.
About the preview, Divine, you actually took in consideration the critics of last preview, I can say that this one is much better than the last one. You only don’t cover all shows, but you bring your impression in a more impersonal way, which helps a lot to choose between the shows to watch. I don’t mean that you haven’t done a good job in the last one, but I’m saying that you improved a lot in each season.
Congrats for this awesome preview and keep the good job !
Wow! So many shows for Spring 2011.
Based on my experience with previous Anime seasons, the maximum limit of series I could watch and follow on a weekly basis are 7-8 series, anything more than that is impossible given I also watched series from previous seasons that I decided to passed on and wait till the time the series is set as “completed.” Add 6-8 from a new season and probably another 5-10 from previous seasons are within the range I can handled in any given time.
Series that are in my “Guaranteed list”
1. Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko – because it is a SHAFT, and I like the premised.
2. Maria Holic Alive – again because it is a SHAFT and I I like the first season, more Mariya 🙂
3. Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai II – like the first season 🙂
Other series that could fill up the rest of the “7-8 series limit” I could follow in a weekly basis:
– TIGER & BUNNY
– Nichijou, Hen Zemi
– Hanasaku Iroha
– Gyakkyou Burai Kaiji Hakairoku-hen
– STEINS;GATE Top
– Hidan no Aria
– Ao no Exorcist
– Seikon no Qwaser II
– C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control
– Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai
– Deadman Wonderland
As for the rest, the chances of watching those series will depend on the positive feedback from other viewers or when the series is set as “completed”
Wow, thanks for the comprehensive review
Work is sucking me dry nowadays (unfortunately) and I have always admired how you manage to juggle your time between work, social life and maintaining such an awesome blog
Maybe you do a blogpost on ‘a day as Divine’
Have a good break 🙂
Yes! Ao no Exorcist!! C looks interesting too so I’ll watch out for that. By the way, after reading the first 3-4 chapters of Steins;Gate, if you can understand that series, I shall salute you, because I’ve never been so confused in my life with that one.
GIN-SAN!!!!!!!!!
So glad that Gintama is back!
Hey Divine Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka was awsome anime…
I see what you did there…
Finally Dead Man Wonderland! Ever since I went to buy volume 6-7 at the local Tsutaya while I was in Japan and saw the ad for the anime adaptation I was anxiously waiting for it to come out.
The long wait now finally pays off! YES!
I would be willing to blog at least this show. But meh, I don’t think I have the writing-skills to say anything intellectual.
Might be good to take a break for a season. Or just one post for the whole season from you 🙂
Saying that because I’ve been reading random curiosity for quite a while, so while an anime season is long, it’s not like we’ll stop reading 🙂
*ehhh with the hope someone covers you up. No random curiosity blog for a whole season will be sad too :\
My most anticipated shows are: Hanasaku Iroha, STEINS;GATE, A-Channel, Ao no Exorcist, AnoHana and Deadman Wonderland.
I’m really dying to watch these! YAY! Looks like a promising season ^^
Hanasaku Iroha
Showa Monogatari
STEINS;GATE
SKET DANCE
Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko
Maria Holic Alive
Ao no Exorcist
C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control
Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai
Deadman Wonderland
If japan is still there by the time of the spring anime season i will watch those probably.
Japan will still exist for the sake of keeping my sanity.
Work life is a pain.
wanna quote… study life too DX
Here’s my list for this season. Not as many as most of you but more than my usual list.
DOG DAYS (for the fun of it)
Ore-tachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai
Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi
STEINS;GATE
30-Sai no Hoken Taiiku (for fun)
Hidan no Aria
Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko
Ao no Exorcist
Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai II
Ano Hi Mita Hana (if it has exciting parts)
Holy crap! SO MANY SHOWS!
I’m looking at Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai, C, Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko, A-Channel, SKET DANCE, STEINS;GATE, Hanasaku Iroha, and Nichijou.
shows to watch:
X-Men
Ao no Exorcist
deadman wonderland
STEINS;GATE
Maria Holic Alive
Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi
Fireball Charming
OVA/movie
HIGHSCHOOL OF THE DEAD
BLACK LAGOON Roberta’s Blood Trail
Break Blade 5
not a bad season so far although i wish they adapt kurohime and psyren into an anime.
Ao no Exorcist and Deadman Wonderland: my two most anticipated shows EVER. There’s a lot of stuff this season that I’m almost interested in, but really want to wait until the first post is out to check out. Most of those are comedy/romance.
Or maybe I’m just super lazy right now an don’t want to take the time to read all FOURTY-TWO BLURBS. DIVINE YOU ARE A FREAKING GOD.
….ba-dump chhhh
Thanks for the useful information! This season has surprisingly high number of shows, it’s gonna be a little painful to follow all the series. Keep up the good work. ^^
hey Divine, will seikon no qwaser have a censored and uncensored version like last season? if yes, when does the uncensored version air?
Deadman Wonderland and Toriko.
Toriko probably doesn’t have much of a Western following, but I love it. It’s a bit of Dragon Ball Z mixed with One Piece. It takes the discovery and adventure from One Piece, and shonen elements from DBZ. Unlike either of those two, the protagonist (Toriko) isn’t an utter airhead for his brawn and appetite; he’s actually intelligent and cunning.
I’m particularly curious how well they animate and direct the arc and battle with Tommyrod.. that part of the manga is really incredibly dark, and the villain is one of the creepiest in shonen.
Meant to say Toriko is like “Dragon Ball” not “Dragon Ball Z”. It’s like Divine said, it’s Goku chasing after monsters and hunting Dragon Balls–not the saiyan BS.
I think i’ll be watching:
Deadman wonderland
Hanasaku Iroha
Hen Zemi
Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko
Ao No Exorcist
C: The Money of Soul
Ano Hi Mita
I’m going to be giving those a try. I’ll try to give some other ones a chance as well, I remember last season I was actually skeptical about watching Madoka and so far it’s turned out to be my favorite anime XD
I’m interested in a fair few of these…
Anyway, in regards to you taking a leave Divine, I think that it would be a good idea to blog maybe one or two shows just to keep you in the rythmn of things. I dunno about you, but I find if I take a long break from something, it’s very hard to pick it back up again.
That’s my take on it. Hope it helps. ^^;
Wait a sec, Strike Witches the movie this April 22/4/11??? You got to be kidding. I thought its gonna get released next year???
My mistake, that’s for the commemorative “movie version announcement” Blu-ray box. See here.
Thanks for fixing that.
If the production level is more than decent, Ore Tsuba could be quite good series. Because this show is based on, in my opinion, one of the funniest and the most out-of-mind(literally) story Hentai games have ever had. It could be the sleeper title of the spring, just like Onii-chan has been this season.
why do i get the feeling that Ao no Exorcist is going to take the FMA original series path, i mean BONES started adapting the manga which only had started back then and with Arakawa’s request ended up as an original anime series, does A-1 pictures plans to do the same with their 25 episode adaptation of this that’s why they got Tensai for a director and Ryota Yamaguchi, an experienced writer.
hmm not nearly as much Hanazawa Kana this season as opposed to last
What, no Tsukiyo?!? Especially what’s happening in the manga now?!?
Yeah, Sket Dance finally gets an anime! Hopefully it won’t be a bomb like my friends said Beelzebub was. I don’t think it’s fair to pigeonhole it though, but I guess I understand the need for it since despite getting the Shogakukan Manga Award, I haven’t heard much discussion on anime forums and the like about it. So it’s just not popular, fine.
On another note, even the manga itself isn’t totally episodic, it goes into a lot of story arcs, some hilarious as hell and some which are quite touching, for me at least. While I’m not sure if it’ll be one of those never-ending shows like Gintama, I think it’s unfair to pigeonhole it because of shonen-phobia. Why not get Takaii to blog it? He usually gets the comedy shows, no?
Oh please, please, PLEASE cover the Maid-sama! OVA!! God I love that series to death.
Thanks for making this preview guide. Some really promising series are on the horizon, it seems.
Hidan no Aria, finally! Been waitin for ages since I started reading the light novel translations xD
I’ll definitely watch Deadman Wonderland and possibly Toriko (following both mangas), Ao no Exorcist (read a bit, gonna watch further if anything), Lotte no Omocha (manga too xD), Maria Holic II (does this even need any question? xD), Gintama (dose of humor), STEINS;GATE (definitely, Chaos;head was amazing).
As for the romance/harem stuff, I see nothing quite interesting atm.. I’ll reserve judgment once I give the first episodes a try xD
What I will watch:
•Daily
•Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai II
•Lotte no Omocha!
•A Channel
•Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko
•Seikon no Qwaser II
What interests me:
•30-Sai no Hoken Taiiku
•Hidan no Aria
•Hana-Saku Iroha
•DOG DAYS
•Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi
Thanks for the Spring preveiw! 😀
Wooooo Gintama! That’s the only show I’m definitely watching.
I lol when i was watching Yondemasu yo, Azazel-san OVA last year. It fits this list of things not to do in RPG very well:
544. I will not cast Gate to bind an infernal creature of power to my bidding and make him mow the lawn.
Wasn’t there only four heroines in the first season of “The World God Only Knows”, not five? I thought there was only the track girl, the rich girl, the idol, and the library girl that season…
Anyways, great preview article as always!
I had to Azuka Sora from episode four even though she’s not really a heroine. She did have her own ending theme though.
Maria Holic S2 production was suspended days before the earthquake.
I sincerely doubt it will make to air anymore.
Hmmm, un-stickied this soon? I was sorta expecting this to stay at the top till next week.
Gintama is a must watch series, way better than most of the anime. You can jump in anytime and follow it. When its funny, its funny as hell. But when it comes to sword fight, hell it’s way better than any bankais
Will you still be doing the monthly posts divine?
ah nvm i just searched on the comments in the first page and found the answer.
Hey guys! I just did some research on hoshizora e kakaru and the main male lead has a younger brother so we might get a double pairing ending.
I already made mention of Kazuma’s younger brother Ayumu in the write-up.
Great read! The number of shows next season is ridiculous. I thought this season was pretty good with the 5 shows I watch. But it seems like next season I will need to make more time in my schedule to watch some more shows
My grantee watch list:
Nichijou
Ore-tachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai
Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi
Hidan no Aria
Lotte no Omocha!
Seikon no Qwaser II
Appleseed XIII
HIGHSCHOOL OF THE DEAD OVA
kiss x sis OAD Ep. 5
Maybe watch list Will watch 1st few episodes to see how it goes 1st:
30-Sai no Hoken Taiiku – I’m nearing 30….
A-Channel
C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control
God my list is huge for the spring season. My Hard Drive is going to be begging me for mercy….
I’m Curious about the Air Gear ova coming out 6/17 it says here it’s trick 3 but as far as I know only trick 1 has been released so was that a typo and it’s trick 2 not 3 or did I completely miss something here?
I really hope They´ll blog Kaiji…
would u be doing any manga blogging divine?
Hey Divine not sure whether this has been answered before but will you be using your filmstrip styled posts for any of the anime in the upcoming season?
There weren’t any plans to use it. Do you prefer that style of posts?
I like the layout, except the filmstrips on the side took up too much space. I would love it if you used that kind of layout for future posts, but without the two filmstrips on the side. They’re a bit obstructive, and a contrast to this blog’s overall layout.
Looks like a nice selection there, I got pretty excited finding out their doing a second series of Seikon no Qwaser because it was an great anime under all those boobs lol.
I’ll be following quite a few of them, hell I’ll give most of them a chance. You must have put a lot of time and effort into all this and I know everyone appreciates it.
so much awesome anime this season, so little time, I don’t even know where to begin on what to watch
For once I’m starting to panic that I can’t find some old IDE HDD for my PC so I can have more space for anime….
I realized I can work with 5 anime per season, maybe 7 if I’m not busy.
Must Watch:
The World God Only Knows Season 2 (YES!!!)
Ao no Exorcist (sounds like an action version of Bakuman)
STEINS; GATE (didn’t watch CHAOS; HEAD, so I’ll try this one)
SKET DANCE (trying out Tatsunoko)
Denpa Inna to Seishun Otoko (didn’t watch Arakawa, so I’ll try this one)
Maybe:
C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control
Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai
Hidan no Aria
Too much anime! They should have spread it out a bit over the seasons. :[
:O My Hard drive is gonna burst, since I havent made it even halfway from this winter’s one. Ohhh maybe it wil help if I get a huge HDTV so I’ll be more motivated to marathon lol
I’ve been waiting for dead man wonderland for over a year! Finally!
Great previews — despite the lack of much director/writer info (which my own preview can supply, lol, whatever else it may lack). For instance, Steins;Gate may have originated with the same game companies, but the anime has a different director and writer (as well as studio) from Chaos;Head: Satou Takuya and Hanada Jukki of Seitokai no Ichizon. Since Satou directed my two favorite comedies (SeiZon and Ichigo Mashimaro) I am really looking forward to seeing what he and Hanada can do with a show like this.
Really nice layout, and a lot of well-written info. I especially like the fact that we agree on a lot of shows. And you turned me on to aspects of some others that I wasn’t aware of. Anyway, brilliant work — and a lot of work, as I have cause to know.
Thanks hashi. I enjoy reading your site as well for all the seiyuu-related info. You’re one of the few anime blogs that I check regularly (hence why I added your site to the blogroll).
Other readers out there, give hashi’s site a peek if you haven’t before. Recommended for all the latest seiyuu tidbits that I wish RC had.
P.S. Let me know if you ever want a bigger audience for your seiyuu-goodness content hashi. 🙂
I think RC is good on its current setup, it is easy on the eyes and very convenient to navigate. Readers here need more info…no problem RC had conveniently placed links on other sites that have the right amount of info on what matters most. Anyways I think the admins of RC have already work hard enough to gather links on other sites that readers here may want to look for much needed info and other resources 🙂
I’ll be keeping an eye on Hashi’s site then. I’m worried about a lot of my favorite seiyuu but I don’t know where to look to find out what’s happened to them. (So thanks for the recommendation.) I was worried most about Kobayashi Yuu. I’m glad to see she’s okay. I hope more good news is to come.
I think in hoshizora e kakaru one of the girls might fall in love with Ayumu the main character’s younger brother who I assume is in high school. Also in Ore-tachi ni tsubasa they’ll be three different pairings just like EF a tale of mermories but hopefully it will have character deveplopement like in Shuffle. I like all types of anime no matter how cliche or original as long as it entertains me.
Kamiya Hiroshi, Shimono Hiro, Kana Hanazawa, Itou Kanae, Tomatsu Haruka, and Saitou Chiwa.
i like all of this seiyuu performance.
but sadly im not see Saitou Chiwa on this season…
I gotta say this season is pretty weak.
I waited for Hidan no Aria and The World God Only Knows 2nd season, but that’s about it…
There’s nothing “shiny” enough for me this time.
I’ll watch some other anime and check them out, but mostly i’ll keep track on the anime RandomC will review and decide after that.
Have any of you guys noticed how anime potrays blonde-haired girl characters? In contrast to regular movies, TV shows, and cartoons which potray blondies as being airheaded. Anime treats them with dignity and respect. I mean look at FMA brotherhood Olivia, Riza, and Winry all have blonde hair but they are far from the “airhead” trope that western entertainment seems to say about blondes. I meean no disrespect to anyone just an observation.
This line up for this upcoming is looking promising, but I just don’t know what to say about Fireball Charming who knows I’ll give it a shot, and since I know that nobody else is going to say it I’m going to miss Yu-gi-oh 5ds because it was the first series that I could actually bear to watch since I was 14 and by the looks of Zexal I’m not even going to give it a chance. Also thanks Divine for mentioning Qwaser II because the way you explained the series made me decide to give season 2 a second chance. I remember in season 1 there were many good points to it, first the story not being bad at all, second good character development, last great action scenes but its still going to be hard to get over the breastfeeding thing again.
Uh Divine, the OVA/Movie header is in the wrong place now lol.
As far as what I’m watching this season:
-Ao no Exorcist
-STEINS;GATE
-Hanasaku Iroha
-Ano Hana
-[C]
-Nichijou
-Moshidora
-Hen Zemi
-A Channel
-Denpa Onna
-Deadman Wonderland
-Hidan no Aria
-Lotte no Omocha
-Hoshizora e Kakaru
-Ore-tachi niwa Tsubasa wa nai
Almost too many anime. I wonder if this season is a result of all the blockbuster sales we had last year?
Fixed thanks. The HTML got a bit messed up after I added the Moshidora entry.
Another month and a half till Roberta’s blood trail 5 D: Nooooo!!!
primary target: Steins;Gate!
EL-PSY-CONGLUE!
Really looking forward to a lot of these shows. I can’t ever seem to get the preview to work for Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai so I was wicked excited to see them here.
waaaoowwww >..< !!
Will watch:
X-men (Wolverine so far is great and anything set in the “depression” right after Dark Phoenix Saga is good for me.)
Steins Gate (will try a few episodes, maybe will be good)
Fireball Charming.
Deadman Wonderland(one of my favourite manga)
omg theres so many promising series coming out! so much for getting all my homework done 😉
omg Thursday’s are packed now. And Wednesday’s are gonna be straight boring (only one show). Why is Thursday so crammed? I can understand Sundays but do people in Japan have Thursdays off or something?
It just happens to be the day anime has the most time slots. Keep in mind that broadcasters aren’t concerned about balancing out their schedules with other stations either.
Whoa, no way. D: I thought they were all working together on those things.. Wow, thanks for the tip.
You guys forgot about Inazuma Eleven GO airing on May 4.
Woah that’s the first time it took me that much time to read the preview, I think I’m kinda busier these days. It’s always a pleasure to read though. And I like how you separated each show’s synopsis and your impressions about it. Makes me buy time on shows that I already know the premise. But then I ended up reading the first paragraphs of shows I already knew the story too. Guess that shows how much I like your writing. Don’t over-overwork yourself. “over” twice because I’m pretty sure you already do it for us. Thanks.
There’s so many things picking my interest , seems like I won’t be able to watch it all on a weekly basis, I’ll probably watch the shows that entertain me the best first then keep the others for later.
Interested in:
-Tiger and Bunny
-Dog days
-Pretty rythm aurora dream : I feel like checking it out for some reason…
-Toriko
-Hanasaku Iroha : I really like the character design. It reminds me the art of Gust’s Atelier series. Which I like a lot. I’m willing to play them but never got around it yet sadly.
-Ore-tachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai
-Gyakkyou Burai Kaiji Hakairoku-hen
-STEINS;GATE
-Sket Dance
-Hyouge Mono
-Moshidora
-Hidan no Aria
-A-Channel
-Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko: I’ve been waiting for this for month, ever since I saw some pics of Erio. She’s way too cute. I immediately wanted to read the novel but no one translates it in english sadly.
Also, I like “Denpa” girls and loved every minute of Denpa teki Na Kanojo ( I wonder if we’ll get a third episode someday).
-Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera: Go Nagai, must watch. It’s like what you said, I also feel like having a duty to watch it. I even started watching the older versions.
-Yondemasu yo, Azazel-san.
-Ao no Exorcist
-Lotte no Omocha! : The fact that this isn’t some mindless show but comedy is something I would have never knew if not for your preview. I suddenly wanted to watch it when I saw the studio who did Ika Musume’s anime is doing it.
-Yu-Gi-Oh ZEXAL: Yes it interest me, even if I’m not the targeted audience. You know, I don’t even play the card game, well not anymore to tell the exact truth, (and even that, I only played it in videogame format) but I’ve always been a fan of Yu-Gi-Oh’s anime and manga. I’ll wait that this new series gets around 20-30 episodes and check the feedback about them and make an opinion myself by watching some. The last season, 5D’s , looked plain stupid at first but trust me, the dark sceanrio, the pumping action and the 2 last opening sung by Endoh Masaki made me love everything about 5D’s.
-Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai II : I’m a fan of the manga.
– Seikon no Qwaser II : I’ve been reading the manga for a while now, maybe I’ll start watching the anime.
-C
-Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai
Deadman Wonderland: read the manga a bit some time ago and liked it. Well except the art. Big foreheads style of the artist who did Eureka Seven.
-Appleseed XIII : I liked the 1st movie. Sakamoto Maaya.
OVA/movies
-Yozakura Quartet ~Hoshi no Umi~ : One of the best manga I ever read.
-Seatokai Yakuindomo : Liked the show, so of course I’ll be watching this.
-Black Lagoon : fourth OVA was epic btw.
-Break Blade : Girghe, Girghe, Girghe, Girghe, Girghe.
-Eiyuu Densetsu sora no kiseki : I never played the games, but I know it well since it’s made by Falcom, same guys behind the Ys games that I love. Gotta try them someday.
-Senjou no Valkyria 3 OAV : Because I can’t afford a PSP for now and I have to consolate myself with this ;_;
Sorry for taking your time with this overlylong comment.
I’m not even sure if I will be able to watch any anime.
On another note, it would be nice if you took a break, Divine.
some anime clips for Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko found in the official site
http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/denpa/news/
OH the art, it’s so gorgeous, hope SHAFT becomes consistent with it (i really really hope so)
oh, and Erio is so cute and beautiful ♥, come my “denpa”, now i really miss Ochibana Ame ^^
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9JgyronnbY
and the new trailer for Steins;Gate is out
it’s so fucking awesome, I’m totally excited for this, it’s next week ^^
deadman wonderland trailer
finally ^^
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gM8YtgQyGQ
I’ll watch Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi
30-Sai no Hoken Taiiku
Deadman Wonderland 😛
Just wanna share this with everyone:
http://www.wagnaria.com/index2.html
YES!!!!
Feels like a weak season. Get sum shut eye Divine.
There’s too many good shows this season… and I especially love all the sci-fi stuff. I’m also looking forward to some great sequels – Gintama, TWGOK, and Maria Holic. Looks like a good season to me.
… just watched the C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control pv and it looks like they are going yu-gi-oh style i tought it would be a deep and quality show but yeah another crapy anime so yeah…
That’s a pretty bold (and ignorant) statement based on a video alone with no real understanding of anything else about the series.
I have my instinct and i am right most of the time like now i watched SKET DANCE and the 1st episode is a disappointment if you dont agree tell me what we havent seen already and that hasnt been done already same like in hundrads of anime before. I think the originality was killed long ago in anime history and only SHAFT is beeing crative and they go outside of the box that is the anime industry complex.
Hanasaku Iroha
Steins;Gate
Maria Holic Alive
These above are the only good series till now i got some hopes for:
Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai
Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko
Deadman Wonderland
Ao no Exorcist
And the rest is just garbage or you need to be just plain stupid to watch them.
The art in Ano Hi mita looks stunningly similar to that in Toradora
Wow, they really are goin’ crazy with the schoolgirl outfits. Anything to do with that ban later on this year?
no more shugo chara D:????
why is hellsing ova 8 not on the ova list for 6/22/2011
There is no confirmation on that date as far as I’m aware. The official site doesn’t have a date listed. (I don’t consider user-submitted info on ANN, MAL, or English Wiki as reliable.)
amazon of japan has the blueray n dvd’s scheduled 6/22/2011
blueray
http://www.amazon.co.jp/HELLSING-OVA-ＶＩＩＩ-Blu-ray-〈初回限定版〉/dp/B004UIDDZW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1305580236&sr=8-1
dvd
http://www.amazon.co.jp/HELLSING-OVA-ＶＩＩＩ-〈初回限定版〉-DVD/dp/B004UID7EY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1305580236&sr=8-2
they actually delayed the date from 6/22 to 7/27/2011
Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai the Anime to watch this season everything else is just BS or average.
Hi. When will you make a Summer 2011 preview.
http://www.animeph.com/summer-2011-new-anime-season-preview-list
😀 😀 😀
Is it only me or are animes getting worse and worse? I’m having trouble finding interesting animes to watch. I remember not having that problem back in 06,07, 08.
There are some solid shows, but no really really good ones like Death Note, GTO, Code Geass, Macross Frontier, BECK, Black Lagoon, Haruhi (the second season sucked though). Except Mitsudomoe, both seasons were awesome.
I think it’s just you. 😛
Maybe try giving more shows the benefit of the doubt…?
I just finished reading Moshidora (a few minutes ago), took me one day to buy the book and read through the whole thing.
I looked it up and found out there’s an anime. And now it was actually on RandomC before but I never took noticed of it, how big of an idiot was I to judge an anime by its art, to judge a book by its cover.