Yuri's Summer 2011 Season Preview

Well, spring almost over, and we all know what comes after spring: summer.  And, as many fans became well-aware last year, summer is often just a buffer season for fall, which is why I'm not getting my hopes up.  That said, there are a few interesting things on the chart for the summer days.  Let's see what will entertain me when I'm NOT at the baseball stadium, shall we?

Ah, hell. Might as well get the terribad show out of the way first.  Manyuu Hikenchou.  The concept: a ninja clan can help people grow big boobs, which equate to power.  I'm hoping this will be so bad it's good, like Kampfer was.  But odds are, it'll be Highschool of the Dead bad.  Ah, well. Not everything can be Squid Girl, after all.  Hell, if I can watch Nic Cage's version of The Wicker Man and not suffer a stroke, I can watch this.  Not reviewing it, though.

Next up is Mayo Chiki, a show about a boy? who works as a butler... until it's revealed that "he" is actually a girl.  Yet another "trap/reverse-trap" show.  Yeah, it's of the reverse variety, but that doesn't stop it from being completely unoriginal on paper.  Potential upside is merely that it's not a standard Hideyoshi trap and that the writer was the writer for Tokyo Mew Mew.  Otherwise, a rather bland show.  Watching, no review.

Third on my list is Ro-Kyu-Bu!.  The coach of a high school basketball team falls in love with an 11-year-old girl.  Now, there's the first and biggest potential issue of this show.  The lolicon aspect of this show may be a major turn-off for fans, depending on how it is handled.  Second, it's yet another show about a club in danger of being dismissed. Think with me for a sec.  K-ON! had the Light Music Club in danger of being dismissed.  Haruhi had the Literature Club in peril of dismissal.  This is so far from an original idea.  The only unique part is the basketball club aspect.

Next, we have GAINAX's newest creation, Dandelion no Shoka.  Since this IS the same studio that gave us Evangelion, Gurren Lagann, and Panty & Stocking, I'll let myanimelist.net explain:

Hugh Anthony Disward inherits an old mansion and a personal library from his grandfather. In the basement of the mansion, he meets a mysterious girl Dalian. She is a Dantalian and a gateway to "Dantalian's bookshelf", which stores the prohibited books of the demons.

"Gensho (Illusory Books)", the prohibited books, endanger the balance of the world but people are fascinated by the taboo. Huey and Dalian solve the cases involving Gensho with their ability to access the Dantalian's bookshelf.

Yeah.  GAINAX is filled with geniuses, so I have hope that this will be the summer's diamond in the rough.  The concept, while a bit confusing, shows some promise, and that's better than a lot of things on the chart.  I'll watch this, and probably give it some reviews, too.

The kiddy show I'm watching this season is Nyanpire.  The premise is simple: a cat is infused with a vampire's blood, and now has vampiric qualities.  Nothing too confusing.  It'll definitely be a mellow-down show.  Oh, and did I mention that GONZO is doing this one?  Watching, no reviews.

I just watched this, as of this writing, and I really should have finished the TV series first, but I was immediately drawn in by the Kore wa Zombie desu ka? OVA episode.  I guess I'll write a mini-review for it here.  Let me say this first: this had absolutely no relation to the main plot of the TV series.  Good thing, too.  Not sure how you relate a summer festival to where I left off in the TV series.  The characters where noticeably pervier, and that irked me a bit.  Bright side: great animation.  Downside: derailed characters, and predictable writing.  Watched, reviewed.


Overall, summer doesn't look promising.  But what should I expect, after what last summer spit out?  I guess, if nothing else, I'll have Steins;Gate.  Because hearing Mayushii go "Tuturuu~!" never gets old.  Ah, well.  Look towards fall, pretty much.  I hear there's a new Shana anime...

Escap3's Spring 2011 Preview

Every year, it comes. . . as day turns to night, as regular as clockwork. As the snows melt, and the plants start to bloom, we know that Winter Is Coming.

Wait, sorry, that's not right at all. . . Ohhhhhh, that's what it was. I got distracted for a minute by the shiny non-anime releases. It won’t happen again, honestly.

As you’ve likely figured out by Yuri’s previous posts on the subject, Spring is almost here, and with a new season comes a whole heaping plate of new anime, and in advance of the coming storm are my ‘picks’ for the Spring 2011 anime season, right after the jump.

Yuri's Spring 2011 Season Preview, Part 2

What, you thought I was only watching 4 shows this spring?  Don't be silly.  I'm watching around 8 shows this spring.  I've already detailed 4 in my last post, so I'll tell you about the rest in this post.

Seriously.

First up is a show with an absurd enough premise to work: Toriko.  Put simply, this show is shonen grocery shopping.  Here's MAL's summary of the show:

In the world where the taste and texture of food are very important there is Toriko, a hunter of precious foods regularly hired by restaurants and the rich. A man with inhuman skills to capture the ferocious, evasive and rare animals to complete his ultimate dinner course and then the chef Komatsu, his current accomplice: a weak timid person who was inspired by Toriko's greatness and accompanies him on all his journeys on his quest for the course of his life.

 Yeah. Just silly enough to work.  I'm hoping that Toriko will border on parodying shonen tropes.  After all, grocery shopping is the perfect setup to do just that.

Toriko
Watching?: Yes. I demand my absurd anime.
Reviewing?: To start out, yes.

Only my railgu- oh, wait. Wrong anime.

Every season has a stinker.  Looking at the past couple seasons, this season's stinker will likely be X-Men.  The 3rd in a series of 4 anime adaptations of Marvel superheroes, X-Men doesn't have a lot going for it, and the poor quality of its predecessors, Iron Man and Wolverine, aren't helping any.  In a nutshell, the X-Men are on a rescue mission to save Armor.  They come across the U-Men (yeah, real original), and the battle begins.  If Escap3st's reviews of Wolverine are any indication, this looks to be bad. Really bad.

X-Men
Watching?: Yes, unless I bleed from the head
Reviewing?: I'm not but Escap3st will be.

The hell...

I've made it no secret that I enjoy slice-of-life shows.  Nichijou is one of 2 competitors in this season's "4koma wars".  The setting is a strange school where deer attend and robots arms fly out of the window.  Huh.  Sounds like a copy of Pani Poni Dash to me.  I'm probably just hallucinating, though.  Crunchyroll will be simulcasting this show, so at least my premium membership will be of use.  I hope this show won't try to BE Pani Poni Dash.  That's the one thing that can bring it down.  It needs to do its own thing.

Nichijou
Watching?: Yup.
Reviewing?: Review a slice-of-life series? You're kidding, right?

From left to right: Tsukasa, Konata, Kagami, Miyuki. Oh. Wrong anime again.

The OTHER 4koma adaptation airing this season is A Channel.  This one looks a bit more plain than Nichijou.  Think closer to the first 4 episodes of Lucky Star.  I'm not sure what to expect, though.  After all, Pani Poni really changed how I look at school life anime.  In any case, slice-of-life fans should be very happy with this and Nichijou.  As long as this doesn't become TOO plain, it should hold its own just fine.

A Channel
Watching?: Yeah.
Reviewing?: No.

I approve of nekomimi.

An OVA that looked rather amusing is Honto ni Atta! Reibai Sensei, or, in English, Spelunker Sensei.  Basically, a man is capable of summoning youkai.  One day he accidentally summons a spirit into a calm girl, turning her into a spunky girl.  Consequently, he becomes a P.E. teacher.  Oh, and he dies rather frequently.  Now, I'm aware that this is an OVA.  If the main character dies TOO much, it'll just get annoying.  If the gag deaths and actual story are balanced, though, this can be a VERY good OVA.


Spelunker Sensei
Watching?: I'll give it a shot.
Reviewing?: No.



Needless to say, my schedule is varied, to say the least.  Everything from school to grocery shopping to youkai is represented here.  Leave a comment with a few shows YOU'RE watching! Also, stay tuned for previews from the other writers!

Yuri's Spring 2011 Season Preview

Even with the recent earthquake in Japan, a single fact remains: winter season is almost over.  And that means it's time for a season preview!  Several series caught my eye when I looked over the chart, and I'll detail a few of them in this post.

More after the jump!

Winter 2011 Season Preview

Well, fall season's already almost over. Guess time flies when you're actually watching anime, eh? Of course, the end of fall means winter season's right around the corner. Let's see what's in store for the holidays!

Winter seems to be a mix of new shows and continuing shows. Among the continuing shows are Kimi ni Todoke (2nd season), Suite Precure (8th season in the franchise), and Mitsudomoe (2nd season). New shows include Beelzebub, Is This A Zombie?. OVAs and Specials include Queen's Blade, and MM!: SS!, a set of 6 DVD specials that I had considered watching initially, but given the recent developments, or lack thereof, in the MM! anime, I will not be watching them.

Wandering Son, looking at the description, looks rather interesting. A feminine boy sits next to a boyish girl. Sounds like a comedy to me, so I'll add it tentatively. Another interesting (for me, at least) show is Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica, a magical girl anime about a girl who can grant wishes. Hmmm... Animated by Studio SHAFT...

Speaking of Crunchyroll, I'll wait to see what they pick up. After all, they have 3 of the 4 shows I'm watching this fall.

I have Dirty Pair Flash coming on VHS by the new year. I'm likely to review it, so stay tuned!

Otaku in Review
Winter 2011 chart