[caraniel]

Only me again, bringing you another anime season preview on behalf of the Anime Society. I’m pretty damn late with this post, still, better late than never eh!?

Previous Season Summaries

Autumn 2010
Summer 2010
Spring 2010
Winter 2010
Autumn 2009
Summer 2009
Spring 2009
Winter 2008/9
Autumn 2008
Summer 2008
Spring 2008
Winter 2007/8

Thank god Winter is a small season, once I got started it only took me a few evenings to finish up XD As usual I try to cover as much as possible, and it’s a fairly mixed bag, but there are definitely some intriguing looking series, so bound to be something worth picking up no matter where your preference lies.

Anyway lets get right into the preview!

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Haiyoru! Nyaruani: Remember My Mr Lovecraft

Website: http://ga.sbcr.jp/bunko_blog/nyaruko/
Animation Studio: DLE Inc.
Japanese Airdate: 10th December 2010
Seiyuu: Eri Kitamura, Kana Asumi, Miyu Matsuki
Director: Azuma Tani
PV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doBypUMzSME

(Original post by Summary:)
The story centers around Nyaruko, a formless Cthulhu deity who can take on the shape of a seemingly ordinary silver-haired girl. Mahiro Yasaka is a normal high school who is chased by aliens one night, until Nyaruko saves him.

I’ve never read anything by Lovecraft (yes I know – burn the heretic) but something seems deeply wrong about turning a huge tentacle monster into a silver-haired moe girl. The animation looks utterly terrible too – even for a flash series. Don’t think I’ll be bothering with this.

Starry Sky

Website: http://sta-ska.com/index.html
Animation Studio: Studio DEEN
Japanese Airdate: 23rd December 2010
Seiyuu: Akira Ishida, Hikaru Midorikawa, Daisuke Ono, Fumiko Orikasa
Director: Nobuhiro Takamoto (Hatenkou Yugi, Ookamikakushi)
PV:

(Original post by Summary: )
Anime based on a series of otome games featuring western zodiac constellations personified as bishounen.
The heroine, Tsukiko, enrolled to a school that was recently changed from all-boys school to co-ed. Since the area where the school is conveniently rural and the rather exclusive curriculums the school has, up until now the heroine is the only one female who enrolled to the school.

Woo reverse harem! Bishies! Star-studded voice cast! I am so watching this – the shallow inner fangirl demands I do so. There is absolutely no depth here, just your extremely generic reverse harem bishie series; but hey, I need one of those every now and then…….please let it be a bit more interesting than Hakuouki though DEEN!

Rio – Rainbow Gate!

Website: http://riorainbowgate.com/
Animation Studio: XEBEC
Japanese Airdate: 4th January 2011
Seiyuu: Marina Inoue, Ayana Taketatsu, Sayaka Ohara
Director: Takao Kato (Buso Renkin, Pandora Hearts)
PV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiuJprc40tg

(Original post by Summary:)
Anime based on a series of pachinko parlor games.
In the story, Rio Rollins is a popular casino dealer at the Howard Resort, an entertainment resort hotel where people from all over the world gather. She competes for the greatest honor among dealers — "Most Valuable Casino Dealer" (MVCD) — by collecting 13 legendary cards known as "Gates."

“Anime based on a series of pachinko parlor games” – yeah I tuned out right there, but watched the PV anyway, and that kind of sealed the deal. This series is about boobs, gambling, cosplay and some more fanservice – not my kind of show in the slightest. Shouldn’t have really expected anything else from XEBEC!

Kimi ni Todoke 2nd Season

Website: http://www.ntv.co.jp/kiminitodoke/index.html
Animation Studio: Production I.G.
Japanese Airdate: 4th January 2011
Seiyuu: Daisuke Namikawa, Mamiko Noto, Aya Hirano, Yuuichi Nakamura
Director: Hiro Kaburaki (Kimi ni Todoke, Welcome to the NHK)
PV:

(Original post by Summary:)
2nd season of the anime based on Karuho Shiina’s manga.
Kuronuma Sawako is completely misunderstood by her classmates. Her timid and sweet demeanor is often mistaken for malicious behavior. This is due to her resemblance to the ghost girl from "The Ring", which has led her peers to give her the nickname Sadako. Longing to make friends and live a normal life, she is naturally drawn to Kazehaya Shouta, the most popular guy in class, whose "100% refreshing" personality earns great admiration from Sawako.

I really liked season one of Kimi ni Todoke – sometimes a bit of pure shoujo fluff is nice. It’s a slow paced show, but the characters are fun and the production values were excellent – so I’m looking forward to more of the same from this second season. Sawako is made of ‘d’awwww~!

Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica

Website: http://www.madoka-magica.com/
Animation Studio: SHAFT
Japanese Airdate: 6th January 2011
Seiyuu: Aoi Yuki, Chiwa Saito, Eri Kiramura
Director: Akiyuki Shinbo (Bakemonogatari, Dance in the Vampire Bund)
PV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XByTeuBgAeg

(Original post by Summary:)
Original series – a twist on the mahou-shoujo genre.
Madoka is a kind, friendly, but ordinary second year middle school girl. She wonders aloud what she would do if she gained the ability to grant wishes through magic.

Normally I’d see the ‘mahou-shoujo’ tag and immediately turn up my nose, but this show has me intrigued simply because it has some interesting people working on it (the PR machine is also in overdrive for Madoka – and its working on me). I want to see what kind of spin Shinbo & SHAFT can put on the mahou-shoujo genre – if done correctly this could be a series to look out for.

IS: Infinite Stratos[/expand

Website: http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/is/
Animation Studio: 8-Bit
Japanese Airdate: 6th January 2011
Seiyuu: Kouki Uchiyama, Yoko Hikasa, Kana Hanazawa, Marina Inoue
Director: Yasuhito Kikuchi (Macross Frontier, The Legend of Black Heaven)
PV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjbYa5at5CA

(Original post by Summary:)
Anime adaptation of Izuru Yumizuru’s light novel series.
Infinite Stratos (IS), a weaponized exoskeleton system, has become the dominant tool of warfare and conflict. Unfortunately for the men in society, only women are able to operate Infinite Stratos... with very few exceptions. One of those exceptions is ORIMURA Ichika, an orphan raised by his older sister who is herself a famous IS pilot. When his compatibility with IS is discovered after he accidentally touches an IS at the age of 15, he's given a scholarship and enrolled in a school that specializes in training IS pilots. Which of course means an... interesting life surrounded by girls for this shy, unassuming boy.

Gut reaction is ‘urgh, generic concept is generic’, however I do like the mecha musume designs in the PV, and the staff & cast isn’t bad. I’ll give it a look, but I’m kind of expecting lots of generic harem antics with a small side of exciting mecha action – not sure how long I’ll last with this.

Wolverine

Website: http://bd-dvd.sonypictures.jp/marvelanime/
Animation Studio: MADHOUSE / MARVEL Entertainment
Japanese Airdate: 7th January 2011
Seiyuu: Rikiya Koyama
PV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_k8Vq8a5P9Q

(Original post by Summary:)
Next adaptation in the four-part Marvel Anime project.
Wolverine is a mutant, possessing animal-keen senses, enhanced psychical capabilities, three retracting bone claws on each hand and a healing factor that allows him to recover from virtually any wound, disease or toxin at a accelerated rate.

I really wanted to like Iron Man, and I honestly did try! But the show was just so sloppily thrown to together that it was extremely hard to enjoy it and I gave up after 5 episodes. As such I’m very unsure about this next Marvel/Madhouse production, because if it’s as poorly written as Iron Man was its dead in the water. Still I do want to give it a go, because I did like X-Men & Wolverine back in the day and would like to see Madhouse’s spin on the character.

Gosick

Website: http://www.gosick.tv/
Animation Studio: BONES
Japanese Airdate: 7th January 2011
Seiyuu: Takuya Eguchi, Hidenobu Kiuchi, Michiko Neya, Miyuki Sawashiro
Director: Hitoshi Nanba (Baki the Grappler, Heroman)
PV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMFLC-SKtFs

(Original post by Summary:)
Anime adaptation of Kazuki Sakuraba’s light novel series.
GOSICK takes place in 1924 in a small, made-up European country of Sauville. The story centers on Kazuya Kujo, the third son of a Japanese Imperial soldier, who is a transfer student to St. Marguerite Academy, where urban legends and horror stories are all the rage. There he meets Victorique, a mysterious yet beautiful and brilliant girl who never comes to class and spends her days reading the entire content of the library or solving mysteries that even detectives can't solve.

I’m interested in Gosick. The historical setting, Sherlock Holmes-esq mysteries and the fact its BONES all really sparked my curiousity – however the director of Heroman has me a touch worried and the PV didn’t really excite me as Victorique just looks like your bog-standard moe girl and generic male lead is generic. Still I’ve heard reasonably good reports about the source material, and BONES are generally quite good at adaptations, so I’m definitely going to give Gosick a good go.

Freezing

Website: http://freezing.tv/
Animation Studio: A.C.G.T.
Japanese Airdate: 8th January 2011
Seiyuu: Kana Hanazawa, Mamiko Noto, Misuhiro Ichiki, Ami Koshimizu
Director: Takashi Watanabe (Ikkitousen, Shakugan no Shana)
PV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5ljt1b5aPc

(Original post by Summary: )
Anime adaptation of Dall-Young Lim & Kim Kwang Hyun’s manga series.
Set in a slightly futuristic world where Earth has been invaded and is at war with aliens from another dimension called the Nova, the story follows the adventures of a Japanese boy named Kazuya Aoi who enrolls for training at a special school for genetically modified girls called Pandoras who battle the aliens, and their male partners, called Limiters, who use a special power called "freezing" to limit their opponent's mobility. The protagonist makes the acquaintance of an unusual older girl named Bridgette L. Satellizer who appears to be the most powerful Pandora in her class, but has not yet chosen a male partner to be her Limiter, and in spite of the warnings of all his friends, he decides to be her Limiter.

Ah. Here we have the classic action girl series, complete with disappearing clothing (seriously, why don’t they make their clothes out of the same material as their underwear? – that stuff is indestructible!). Freezing’s PV looks like it wants to be all srsbns, but then the website has a mini-game section where you shoot the clothing of a variety of female characters…….classy stuff. The premise could have been interesting, but I doubt that Freezing will amount to more than fanservice given its director and the promo art.

Onii-chan no Koto nanka Zenzen Suki Janain Dakara ne!! (I don’t like you at all Big Brother!!)

Website: http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/oniichan/
Animation Studio: ZEXCS
Japanese Airdate: 8th January 2011
Seiyuu: Eri Kitamura, Toshiyuki Toyonaga, Marina Inoue, Ryoko Shiraishi
Director: Keitaro Motonaga (Princess Princess, School Days)
PV:

(Original post by Summary:)
Anime adaptation of Kouichi Kusano’s manga series.
Junior High student Nao's brother complex is so strong, it's almost at the point of incest. She's determined to make her brother, High School student Shuusuke, see her as a woman. So determined, that she goes as far as going into his room to throw away all his non-incest related porn. But as she's looking for his porno stash, she finds a photo album... and she's not in any of his childhood pictures.

Urgh! Look at those hideous character designs! The main girl looks like some sort of mutant giraffe-woman! Premise also has me running for the hills, as this series is clearly going for the incest end right from the beginning – but it’s OK, they’re apparently not blood related! Expectations are on the floor for this – what’s with all the incest Japan!? I do not like this new moe sub-genre! (although id the director of School Days suddenly turns this into a potential Nice Boat ending, I may be compelled to watch).

Mitsudomoe Zouryouchuu!

Website: http://www.mitsudomoe-anime.com/
Animation Studio: Bridge
Japanese Airdate: 8th January 2011
Seiyuu: Ayahi Takagaki, Haruka Tomatsu, Satomi Akesaka, Hiro Shimono
Director: Masahiko Ohta (Minami-ke, Mitsudomoe)
PV:

(Original post by Summary: )
Second season of the anime adaptation of Norio Sakurai’s manga series.
Satoshi Yabe alias Yabe-cchi is just starting his new life as an elementary school teacher. On his first day of work he falls in love immediately with the natural airhead School Nurse, little does he know that in his assigned class the law is made by the Marui triplets. Can Yabe-cchi survive this ordeal or will the three sisters get the best of him ...

This sequel is only 8 episodes long, and I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Regardless I’ll be watching this since I watched (and quite enjoyed) season one. The weird thing about Mitsudomoe is how the characters grow on you – the humour is repetitive and crude, but the characters have a strange charm that really appealed to me. Mitsudomoe was a surprise to me when it aired a few seasons ago.

[caraniel]

Beelzebub

Website: http://www.shonenjump.com/j/rensai/beelzebub/
Animation Studio: Studio Pierrot
Japanese Airdate: 9th January 2011
Seiyuu: Katsuyuki Konishi, Aki Toysaki, Shizuka Itou, Takahiro Mizushima
Director: Nobuhiro Takamoto (07-Ghost, Ookamikakushi)
PV:

(Original post by Summary:)
Anime adaptation of Ryuuhei Tamura’s shounen manga.
The story follows the "strongest juvenile delinquent", Oga Tatsumi, a first year in "Ishiyama High" the school for delinquents. One day while sleeping next to a river he sees a man floating down it, he pulls him to shore and the man splits in half revealing a baby boy. This boy is the son of the demon king and he has been chosen as the one to raise it with the baby's demon maid Hilda. The story follows his life with the child and at the delinquent school.

I got into this manga at the start of the year and blitzed through it while laughing my head off. It’s a very fun series, but is kind of getting repetitive now. Still I’m really looking forward to this anime adaptation – its got some great seiyuu on board and Studio Pierrot are old hand at Shounen Jump series at this stage, so I can’t really see this series failing to entertain. Basically if you have any weakness for shounen series, Beelzebub will be worth looking at; it’s a series that knows its target audience well.

Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? (Is this a zombie?)

Website: http://newtype.kadocomic.jp/zombie/
Animation Studio: Studio DEEN
Japanese Airdate: 10th January 2011
Seiyuu: Iori Nomizu, Junji Majima, Hiroyuki Yoshino, Ai Shimizu
Director: Takaomi Kanesaki
PV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYopij1eR8s

(Original post by Summary: )
Anime adaptation of Shinichi Kimura’s light novel series.
Aikawa Ayumu is a normal high school boy. One day he is killed by a serial killer and revived as a zombie by a necromancer named Eucliwood Hellscythe. He starts to serve Eu as her guard but he happens to deprive the mahou shoujo Haruna of her magic power. Haruna orders Ayumu to fight against the anti-mahou shoujo system "Megalo" in her place.

I really don’t know what to say about this series. The generic moe is oozing off the screen, but that wee girl has a fecking chainsaw and I find that kind of awesome! The concept sounds like one of those “suppose we’d better think of an excuse to have all these cute girls in ridiculous costumes with superpowers” kind of deal. Studio DEEN never inspire confidence and I haven’t heard much about the source material. I’ll give the show a look, but really think this will be terrible!

Dragon Crisis!

Website: http://dragoncrisis.jp/
Animation Studio: Studio DEEN
Japanese Airdate: 10th January 2011
Seiyuu: Hiro Shimono, Rie Kugimiya, Yui Horie, Yukana
Director: Hideki Tachibana (H20~Footprints in the Sand~)
PV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwkyXswK-lo

(Original post by Summary:)
Anime adaptation of Kaya Kizaki’s light novel series.
A normal high school boy Kisaragi Ryuji's peaceful life is turned into an adventure by the return of his second cousin Eriko. Ryuji and Eriko seize a relic box from a black broker. In the box, they find a red dragon girl named Rose. In order to protect Rose from the black organization, Ryuji decides to fight using his power as a relic handler.

More DEEN, more genericness – although I am kind of surprised that JC Staff didn’t grab this series instead, looks like their kind of show. Some very well known seiyuu on board, but they sound to be playing their usual bread & butter roles in the PV unfortunately. Struggling to think of anything positive to say here, so just going to give up!

Level E

Website: http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/anime/level-e/
Animation Studio: Studio Pierrot & David Production
Japanese Airdate: 10th January 2010
Seiyuu: Daisuke Namikawa, Masaya Takasuka, Takehito Koyasu, Fumihiko Tachiki
Director: Toshiyuki Kato (Code-E, Full Moon O Saga****e)
PV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRclK3t_jwk

(Original post by Summary: )
Anime adaptation of Yoshihiro Togashi’s (Hunter x Hunter, Yu Yu Hakushou) shounen manga series.
Tsutsui Yukitaka is a freshman who has finally convinced his parents that he is ready to live on his own. When he arrives at his new apartment, he is surprised to find that someone has arrived before him; a young man who claims that he is an alien and that he is suffering from amnesia. A series of short stories involving aliens on Earth.

Now this I am really interested in. At first going only on the promo art, I thought it would be some high concept sci-fi, but having looked more into the series it seems that this will be much more lighthearted and entertaining. David Production are a small studio but they’ve put out some decent shows like Book of Bantorra (although I think I’m in the minority that actually liked that series), and they’re working with Pierrot who are probably the most experienced studio when it comes to adapting shounen manga. Level E seems to be in fairly safe hands, so I’m quite confident that this will be a good watch.

Fractale

Website: http://fractale-anime.com/
Animation Studio: A-1 Pictures
Japanese Airdate: 13th January 2011
Seiyuu: Yu Kobayashi, Kana Hanazawa, Minami Tsuda, Shintaro Asanuma
Director: Yutaka Yamamoto (Lucky Star, Kannagi)
PV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbpD4IJmcGw

(Original post by Summary:)
Original production airing in the noitaminA timeslot.
The story takes place in an island, where a "Fractale System" is beginning to collapse. One day, Crane finds an injured girl called Phryne under a cliff. She disappears leaving a pendant. Crane sets out for a journey with the girl-shaped avatar Nessa to look for Phryne and discovers the secret of the Fractale System.

There is some really gorgeous art floating round for this series – and I really like the almost Last Exile kind of feel some of it has. Yutaka Yamamoto is a director whose reputation preceeds him, but not really on the merits of his past productions……that being said, I have the utmost faith in the noitaminA timeslot – its never really failed to deliver on some level. I’m feeling positive about Fractale.

Hourou Musuko (Wandering Son)

Website: http://www.houroumusuko.jp/
Animation Studio: AIC
Japanese Airdate: 13th January 2011
Seiyuu: Asami Seto, Kosuke Hatakeyama, Aki Toyosaki, Kaoru Mizuhara, Keiji Fujiwara
Director: Ei Aoki (Ga-Rei Zero, Girls Bravo)
PV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pejectC1SVU

(Original post by Summary: )
Anime adaptation of Takako Shimura’s manga series airing in the noitaminA timeslot.
Shuicihi Nitori appears to be a shy and quiet preteen boy, when he transfers to a new school he quickly makes friends with the tomboyish Yoshino Takatsuki who sits next to him. It soon becomes apparent that both Shucihi and Yoshino are more than simply a sensitive boy and masculine girl, they both are transgendered. Together they decide to take the first steps toward becoming the people they want to be.

The other noitaminA series this season, and this one has some really interesting art going on. I wouldn’t have expected this kind of animation style or subject matter from a studio like AIC, but I’m very pleasantly surprised. Wandering Son looks like high melodrama potential, and it could be a disaster if dealt with in a heavy handed manner, but the PV seems to promise that this isn’t the case. I’m really interested in seeing how this sensitive subject material is portrayed.

Yumekui Merry (Dream-eater Merry)

Website: http://yumekuimerry.com/
Animation Studio: J.C. Staff
Japanese Airdate: January 2011
Seiyuu: Ai Kayano, Ayane Sakura, Nobuhiko Okamoto, Aya Endo
Director: Shigeyasu Yamauchi (Hara Yori Dango, Casshern SINS)
PV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdGmz6P-g5w

(Original post by Summary:)
Adaptation of Yo****aka Ushiki’s manga series.
Ten years ago Yumeji Fujiwara noticed he had a power to see multicolored auras surrounding the person's body. Ever since then he's been having a weird dream about a war with cats. Then one day a mysterious girl falls on top of him...

Oh JC Staff! Are you even trying!? This is almost painfully generic sounding – it even has the magical girlfriend literally falling into the bland male protagonist’s lap! Why is stuff like this popular? Its just beyond me. That being said, the director of Casshern SINS is on board, so there isn’t a lack of talent behind the show……maybe it will surprise me? Or maybe it will turn out like every other JC Staff with this exact concept – only watching the first episode will tell!

Houkago no Pleiades

Website: http://sbr-gx.jp/
Animation Studio: GAINAX & Subaru
Japanese Airdate: January 2011
Seiyuu:
Director: Shouji Saeki (FLCL, He is My Master)
PV:

(Original post by Summary:)
A collaboration between GAINAX and the car manufacturer Subaru.

Complete wild-card here. No one knows what this is about or if its even a proper TV series. Since its being made for the Subaru car manufacturer I wouldn’t rule out Hokago no Pleiades turning out to be a series of commercials or a OVA/ONA release. Regardless all the promo art is of moe girls with some really pretty backgrounds – not really expecting much from the show, but GAINAX are always worth looking out for.

OVA’s

Yuri Seijin Naoko-san

Website: http://dc.dengeki.com/naokosan/index.html
Animation Studio: ufotable
Japanese Airdate: 10th December 2010

(Original post by Summary:)
OVA adaptation of the Kashmir manga series.
The surreal gag manga follows a quiet, timid girl named Misuzu whose older sister Naoko is returning from studying aboard. However, when she hurries home to meet her sister, Misuzu instead encounters Naoko-san, the strange alien from Yuri-sei (Yuri Planet) who loves eroticism, yuri, and girls.

Yuri. I’m not a fan of yuri, but ufotable are a studio I quite like, so I’ll probably give this a look out of curiosity.

Goulart Knights: Evoked The Beginning Black

Website: http://www.goulart.jp/index.php
Animation Studio: Lantis (Subsidary of Bandai Visual)
Japanese Airdate: 25th December 2010
Seiyuu: Yuuki Kaji, Atsushi Abe, Takuma Terashima, Kazuma Horie

(Original post by Summary: )
Original project to promote four voice actors known as G.Addict – OVA to be bundled with manga adaptation.
The story begins after mysterious creatures named "Archons" suddenly appear in the world. Humanity faces the threat of annihilation from these creatures. Only the "Chalice," the source of humanity, can defeat the powerful Archons. So, the humans assemble an Archon-slaying unit from fighters who have the ability to bring forth the Chalice to fight. The ones chosen to fight the Archons with the Chalice as their weapon are called Goulart Knghts.

This is just a glorified promo video for a group of male seiyuu/singers, so not expecting any depth from this OVA at all. The character designs aren’t really appealing to me, and the costume design is actually making me laugh - still I’ll watch this regardless, because I am shallow!

Supernatural: The Animation

Website: http://wwws.warnerbros.co.jp/supernatural/#/animeTop
Animation Studio: Madhouse
Japanese Airdate: 23rd February 2011
Seiyuu: Hiroki Touchi, Yuya Uchida, Mabuki Andou, Takaya Hashi
Director: Atsuko Ishizuka & Shigeyuki Miya
PV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDrkostBx8Y

(Original post by Summary:)
A 22 episode OVA adaptation of the US TV series.
The original live-action series follows the Winchester brothers Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) as they hunt creatures and other supernatural phenomena across the American landscape.

Now I haven’t actually seen any of the live action Supernatural series, but I do know that its massively popular and has a huge fangirl following. From the PV it seems like the kind of show I’d really love and I’m really looking forward to this. It’s a full 22 episodes, but it’s unclear what the release schedule is going to be like for this OVA – I hope to god it isn’t going to be dragged out at the pace of 1 episode a season!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

And we’re done! Something there for everyone I hope. So thats, that! As ever keep an eye on the Fansub Wiki for who’s subbing what. I’ll be updating whenever Crunchyroll and FUNimation announce their simulcasts.

Look out for my 1st Impressions reviews when the season starts in January!

Caraniel
Anime Society co-leader

[AngryJellyfish]

Awesome work once again Cara.

The 10 series I hope to pick up (in order of greatness):

Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica - Probably the first and last time a magical girl series will top my list, but SHAFT/Shinbo, Ume Aoki and Yuki Kajiura are an epic combo.

Hourou Musuko - I have heard many great things about this, and AIC + noitaminA are a bonus. One of few series to stand out in this lackluster season.

Fractale - More noitaminA, and the slot has yet to disappoint. A-1 Pictures can also produce great anime when they try!

Mitsudomoe - Its a safe bet I'll like this. The first season was amusing, and thanks to the break between seasons it'll hopefully avoid feeling repetitive.

Kimi ni Todoke 2nd Season - Again, I'm bound to like this, Sawako was an awesome character! I just hope it goes somewhere this time.

Gosick - 1920s Europe, gothic lolita and mystery? Intriguing, if nothing else. Not keen on the name though.

Wolverine - It would be higher if I hadn't heard so many bad things about Iron Man. Still, hopefully this season I'll get to sample it myself at least.

Dragon Crisis! - You can tell a season is looking bleak when a Studio DEEN series places so high on my list. Still, dragon girls.

Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? - And another! Like Cara, for me the pink-chainsaw-wielding loli is about the only thing stopping this being totally generic.

Infinite Stratos - Completes the trio of 'meh' titles, just beating Yumekui Merry because J.C. Staff generic tends to be the worst kind of generic.

[caraniel]

Thanks AJ

Gosick - I think its spelt that way because thats how the Japanese sort of pronounce 'Gothic'.......but I've caught myself sayin 'Go-Sick' repeatedly

There are a handful of really potentially great shows, but also way too many shows that all look the same........ "moe is the cancer that is killing the industry" .....but so long as there are those handful of worthwhile shows I'm satisfied.

[eugenius 8]

nice one cara

oh god they made that onii-chan one into an anime yeh the art was horrible i got bored of it after 5/6 chapters but will watch it anyways

will also watch

Yuri Seijin Naoko-san - yuri nuff said
Hourou Musuko - PV looks really interesting and has lovely art
Kimi ni Todoke 2 - first series was great well from what ive watched, need to finish it off sometime

may watch

Haiyoru! Nyaruani - looks fun
Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? - like above the chainsaw girl
Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica - cute art

[Truered]

It wasn't until I saw it mentioned in the other thread that I realized I had no idea about what was being show this season. After going through them all, I think I've got a list together. I think it's a bit shorter then what I normally have

Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica- I think I added this to my "want to watch list" after AJ mentioned it a while back, as it looked cute

Gosick- art work and brief synopsis make me chuck it on the list

Mitsudomoe Zouryouchuu!- I enjoyed the first season Picked it up after Cara didn't seem to be horrified

Beelzebub- heard about it before, seems interesting

Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? (Is this a zombie?) (the "cute little fang" sealed the deal)

Kimi ni todoke (they may even realize they like each other )

Fractale- purely going on art, plus the hope it'll be a gentle sweet show

Yuri Seijin Naoko-san

[asparkyn]

KnT season 2, Gosick, Fractale, Beelzebub, SPN and Level E are the only ones I would touch this season, going from the promo pics alone.

[Red Lightning]

OMG OMG OMG OMG-Red lightning hyperventilates-bbbbbbbeeezleebuub! finally they animated it omg i cant wait!!!

[Red Lightning]

they even turned Supernatural into an anime! hmm interesting! but the current for actors Sam and Dean in the american series are much funnier! lets hope sam and dean are even more funnier in the anime!

[LastLordofTime]

Gosick and Level E are the only things I can see myself watching at the moment, but as usual will wait until I hear things about other shows before picking any up.

And Supernatural is something I've been looking forward to for AGES, but since it's a retelling of the first season (with a few new stories) I might not be as faithful to it as I should be, since I only recently watched the series last summer!

[LastLordofTime]

Ok, my earlier post was just from a glance while waiting to leave for uni, bu now I've had a chance to actually look at them properly.

Infinite Stratos: Looks interesting... not sure I'll watch it but does look fairly promosing.
Wolverine: I hope it's changed from the original trailer that came out a while ago, that was a complete put-off. Like Iron Man I'll take a look but I dropped Iron Man after a single episode...
Gosick: I presume the name is supposed to sound like Gothic? In which case it's worth a look from me Looks... interesting indeed.
Dragon Crisis: Rie Kugimiya's voice REALLY grates in the PV for this :| I mean, I might give it a look when people report back on it, but it looks like a no...
Level E: The PV has put me off a little, but I'll give it a try.
Fractale: Oooh, prettttyyyyy~~
Yumekui Merry: Looks interesting, may give it a go
Supernatural: <3

[vin]

(Original post by caraniel)
Thanks AJ

Gosick - I think its spelt that way because thats how the Japanese sort of pronounce 'Gothic'.......but I've caught myself sayin 'Go-Sick' repeatedly

There are a handful of really potentially great shows, but also way too many shows that all look the same........ &quot;moe is the cancer that is killing the industry&quot; .....but so long as there are those handful of worthwhile shows I'm satisfied.

you're supposed to say it with more feeling than that

well done again with the preview mummy the title im guessign this is because you had to use alot of de icer recently



...I dont actually have time to read it just yet because Im supposed to be finishing a report

[BlackVenom321]

LOL I haven't even begun watching last season

[vin]

" still I’ll watch this regardless, because I am shallow!"

nice work mummy finally read through it and watched the PVs

thinking of watching, Level E, Gosick, Beelzebub, Kimi ni todoke 2, Fractale

some of the others maybe if they turn out ok, wandering sons could be good depending on how its done that zombie one looked like it could beinteresting, wolverine doesnt look very wolverine like , dont know anything about the actual supernatural series but this might be ok I bet the actors in the pv were lying and didnt really care about being animated, do not want to touch Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica, gg randomly included the pv in its releases and it annoyed me with its yucky character designs and daft sounding voices

[AngryJellyfish]

Crunchyroll announced they have Rio - Rainbow Gate, so that should be subbed in the next 24 hours. They also have Mitsudomoe Zouryouchuu, but that's no surprise.

[AngryJellyfish]

Episode 1 of Rio is out, and Crunchyroll have also licensed Cardfight!! Vanguard and Beelzebub. [EDIT] And Gosick.

[caraniel]

OK! I've cleared out all the remaining shows from last season, so lets get these First Impressions posts started shall we?


Haiyoru! Nyaruani: Remember My Mr Lovecraft

Spoiler:

Show

Website: http://ga.sbcr.jp/bunko_blog/nyaruko/
Animation Studio: DLE Inc.
Japanese Airdate: 10th December 2010
Seiyuu: Eri Kitamura, Kana Asumi, Miyu Matsuki
Director: Azuma Tani
PV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doBypUMzSME

(Original post by Summary:)
The story centers around Nyaruko, a formless Cthulhu deity who can take on the shape of a seemingly ordinary silver-haired girl. Mahiro Yasaka is a normal high school who is chased by aliens one night, until Nyaruko saves him.

I’ve never read anything by Lovecraft (yes I know – burn the heretic) but something seems deeply wrong about turning a huge tentacle monster into a silver-haired moe girl. The animation looks utterly terrible too – even for a flash series. Don’t think I’ll be bothering with this.

I only managed to watch one episode of this (don't actually know how many are now available) but it was dreadful - thank god it was short! Nothing actually happened - it was all poorly animated talking heads, so ended up looking more like a fan parody video you'd find on YouTube than anything professionally produced. I have nothing more to say about this


Starry Sky

Spoiler:

Show

Website: http://sta-ska.com/index.html
Animation Studio: Studio DEEN
Japanese Airdate: 23rd December 2010
Seiyuu: Akira Ishida, Hikaru Midorikawa, Daisuke Ono, Fumiko Orikasa
Director: Nobuhiro Takamoto (Hatenkou Yugi, Ookamikakushi)
PV:

(Original post by Summary: )
Anime based on a series of otome games featuring western zodiac constellations personified as bishounen.
The heroine, Tsukiko, enrolled to a school that was recently changed from all-boys school to co-ed. Since the area where the school is conveniently rural and the rather exclusive curriculums the school has, up until now the heroine is the only one female who enrolled to the school.

Woo reverse harem! Bishies! Star-studded voice cast! I am so watching this – the shallow inner fangirl demands I do so. There is absolutely no depth here, just your extremely generic reverse harem bishie series; but hey, I need one of those every now and then…….please let it be a bit more interesting than Hakuouki though DEEN!

I've watched two episodes of this.........and its utter tripe! Not even my depraved fangirl side can pretend this is anything other than poorly slapped together pandering - I'm not even sure if the original fans of the otome game this is based on will enjoy this rubbish! Each of the bishies will be getting 2 10min episodes each, however if Capricorn's two episodes are any indication there will be huge amounts of recycled footage and absolutely no resolution. Starry Sky just seems entirely pointless.

Even on the production front things are pretty poor. I know that DEEN are hardly the best studio, but the can draw bishies - just look at Hakuouki, it was pretty if nothing else! This is just meh, and the seiyuu seem to know it since they ssound like they're phoning in their performance.

Overall its quite disappointing, but since its only 10mins of my time each week I know I'll watch it all regardless!

[caraniel]

Rio – Rainbow Gate!

Spoiler:

Show

Website: http://riorainbowgate.com/
Animation Studio: XEBEC
Japanese Airdate: 4th January 2011
Seiyuu: Marina Inoue, Ayana Taketatsu, Sayaka Ohara
Director: Takao Kato (Buso Renkin, Pandora Hearts)
PV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiuJprc40tg

~*~Available Simulcast on Crunchyroll~*~

(Original post by Summary:)
Anime based on a series of pachinko parlor games.
In the story, Rio Rollins is a popular casino dealer at the Howard Resort, an entertainment resort hotel where people from all over the world gather. She competes for the greatest honor among dealers — "Most Valuable Casino Dealer" (MVCD) — by collecting 13 legendary cards known as "Gates."

“Anime based on a series of pachinko parlor games” – yeah I tuned out right there, but watched the PV anyway, and that kind of sealed the deal. This series is about boobs, gambling, cosplay and some more fanservice – not my kind of show in the slightest. Shouldn’t have really expected anything else from XEBEC!

Dear god - my pre-season assessment was spot on with this terribad travesty.....just add poorly animated and very, very shiny, to the 'boobs, gambling, cosplay & fanservice and you have Rio - Rainbow Gate!

Rio has this special skill where she can set foot inside any casino and suddenly everyone in the room starts winning - you have to wonder why she's allowed to work for a casino if she's going to cause it to haemorrage money whenever she tries to do any real work as a dealer! Its probably for this reason that the perverted casino owner (with the biggest mouth I think I've ever seen) keeps Rio away from the tables by making her dress up in various skimpy outfits and wander about the place doing 'promotion' for the resort.......Rio isn't very bright. There was some sort of plot where the villain was a teddy bear collector (although I was more distracted by the fact he sounded like Tatsumi from Shiki) and a very strange poker game where Rio & Mr Villain seemed to think they were in Yu Gi Oh or something.......it was a bizarre episode. Utterly awful, but straying into the 'so bad its good' territory at times!

Production values are terrible. Have I mentioned the shininess!? Everything looks like its been coated in a fine layer of baby oil or something! Also the way the camera appears to be glued to either Rio's boobs or arse is distracting - they don't even bounce convincingly! Oh then there's the eyes! The hideous, creepy eyes!! They'll eat your soul!! Urgh. I didn't pay much attention to the voice acting (I was too busy dying of laughter at the crappy dialogue and rubbish animation) I suppose it was fine. There was no OP this week, and the ED was even more pure fanservice - the accompanying song made me want to claw my ears off though.

Yeah. Rio - Rainbow Gate was terrible, but I'd kind of urge you to watch it for the lulz, I may even give it another episode depending on what kind of form I'm in next week

[AngryJellyfish]

At the risk of getting negged again, Crunchyroll has added Dragon Crisis to their series list.

[Aeon Prince]

Ohh i didnt see this thread until now =[

From that list i'm lookin forward to watching
Infinite Stratos
Beelzebub (read the manga its pretty good)
freezing ( also read the manga and I think its good )
and maybe a few others such as wolverine.

Damn i havent even started watching the previous season of animes =[