Winter 2009: Sequels, SHAFT, and suckage

Yoinking this from ADTRW (as usual):

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Spoiler:

WINTER TV SERIES

01/01: Shikabanehime Kuro
Probably not any better than the first season.

01/03: Maria-sama ga Miteru 4th Season
Much unlike Mariaholic (further down in this post), this is completely unironical shoujo-ai.

01/03: Akikan!
This one has to hold some kind of record for having the dumbest premise in recent memory. It's a harem show/romcom where the harem consists of soda cans that magically turn into girls that have to be supplied with carbon dioxide (through kissing) to survive. Protagonist is voiced by LelouchFukuyama Jun.

01/03: White Album
Sadly not a Beatles anime. Instead it's a H-game adaption whose main gimmick seems to be that it isn't a harem; the main character already has a girlfriend and there is only one other girl involved. Stars Hirano Aya and Mizuki Nana as the main female characters; the latter will also be performing the OP.

01/04: Maria†holic
SHAFT and Shinbo Akiyuki adapts a yuri/shoujo-ai romantic comedy manga where the main character enrolls in an all-girls school because she's afraid of men and wants to meet her destined lesbian partner. She does find someone, but that "she" turns out to be a sadistic trap.

01/04: Minami-ke Okaeri
Same studio as Okawari is the only thing preventing a bolding.

01/05: Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou
Season 1 has a not yet archived thread, check it out.

01/05: Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo
Unfortunately completely unrelated to the awesome movie Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo. Instead, Sunrise (and the director of Mai Hime) does some fanservice scifi show. Lots of skintight suits, mecha and an almost entirely female cast.

01/06: Viper's Creed
Sci-fi show set in a close post-war future, revolving around a band of mercenaries dealing with terrorism as well the aftermaths of the war. Directed by Aramaki Shinji, who is mostly known for directing the Appleseed movies. Main female character voiced by Toyoguchi Megumi (Revy in Black Lagoon, Winry in FMA, Sei in Marimite).

01/06: Hajime no Ippo New Challenger


01/08: Asu no Yoichi
Generic harem show whose sole redeeming feature seems to be Satou Rina as the female lead.

01/08: The Tower of Druaga ~the Sword of Uruk~
RPG shenanigans. Will presumably be streamed in English just like S1.

01/08: Kurokami The Animation
Sunrise makes an anime adaption of the seinen manga series Black God. Will have gory fights, superpowers, Rock from Black Lagoon as the protagonist and a director who would be completely unremarkable if it weren't for The Twelve Kingdoms and Victorian Romance Emma.

01/09: Birdy the Mighty DECODE:02
Yet another second season.

01/10: Major 5th Season
Baseball is serious business.

01/10: Kemono no Souja Erin
Production I.G. adapts a pair of novels by the author of Seirei no Moribito. Basically, the female protagonist can control great beasts and because of that some kingdom or another wants to use her in a war.

01/10: Koukaku no Regios
Shounen fantasy series. Special powers, teenaged swordfighting protagonist, the usual fantasy tropes, you know the deal. Same studio (ZEXCS) and director as Rental Magica so don't expect anything special.

01/11: Ride Back
Delayed from autumn. From that thread:
"After the dissolution of the UN and a tremendous earthquake in Tokyo, student protests rock 2020 Japan. At an arts college in Musashino that forms the center of the student movements, a new student girl, intending to major in dance, encounters the humanoid/motorcycle pilotable robot Ride Back, an unnoticed event that will change the world." On setting and the interesting art style of the comics, as well as the director's Gainax and Ghibli pedigree, this is one to keep an eye on.

01/12: Slayers EVOLUTION-R
Yep. I cannot possibly not bold this.

01/13: Sora o Miageru Shoujo no Hitomi ni Utsuru Sekai (The World Reflected in the Eyes of a Girl Looking Up at the Heavens)
Back in 2003 Kyoto Animation did an original OVA called Munto. It kinda sucked but for some reason it's getting a TV remake with a stupidly long name, and this is it. Not sure if I'm supposed to bold this for the Kyoani fans or refuse to because the original story is kinda dumb.

01/15: Genji Monogatari Sennenki
Anime adaption of the venerable Tale of Genji, directed by the likewise venerable Dezaki Osamu. Airs in the Noitamina timeslot, which most likely means it'll be interesting.

01/24: Hetalia Axis Powers
A close second to Akikan in the "dumbest premise" category. It's basically a gag show where all the characters are stereotyped personifications of the WW2 combatant countries, with the main characters being the axis powers. Based on this webcomic that has also turned into a bestselling manga.

January: Konnichiwa Anne
Part of the World Masterpiece Theater series of adaptions of various children's novels. Based on a prequel novel to the famous Anne of Green Gables; the anime is created to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the original Anne novel.

January: Afro Samurai: RESURRECTION
Samuel L. Jackson is joined by Lucy Liu and Mark Hamill on a desperate quest to save Gonzo.

February: Fresh Precure
Even more magical girls in the Pretty Cure franchise.

March: Gin'iro no Corda ~second passo~
Second season of what basically amounts to a shoujo harem show with lots of pretty boys and music. First season was in 2005.



WINTER SEASON OVA'S AND MOVIES

01/16: xxxHOLiC OVA
I've lost track of this franchise.

01/17: Armored Trooper VOTOMS Pailsen Files Movie
Real robots.

01/21: ABUNAI SISTERS -KOKO & MIKA-
Mandoric says: "Abunai Sisters is horrible almost-porn, but it's a vehicle for two real actresses so there's probably not any nudity and it can probably get a good mocking."

01/23: Ichigo Mashimaro encore Vol.1
Cute girls do cute things, this time as an OVA.

01/25: Kara no Kyoukai 5: Mujun Rasen
Movie, listed date is the DVD release date. See the thread.

01/28: Platonic Heart Battle 3
From the autumn thread: "The official descriptor of this is "Pretty girl sexy battle action". I'm not sure there's much more to say, given that the setting is indeed a girls-only battle tournament."

01/30: Seto no Hanayome OVA 2
More mermaids. Note: airs on AT-X on 01/04.

01/31: 20th Century Boys Movie 2
Second live action movie.

02/04: The 3mei-sama
Mandoric: "Comic -> live-action -> ???." Kokizzzle: "It's about 3 dudes that spend their nights sitting at a restaurant talking about life, and that's it."

02/17: Negima! Ala Alba #2
Listing this for the sake of completeness.

02/25: Platonic Heart Battle 4
See ep 3.

02/25: When They Cry Rei vol. 1: Bleaching of Shame Chapter
Delayed from its planned release in December.

02/25: switch Vol.2
Mandoric said about ep 1: "Stylish action starring two narcotics detectives in Tokyo's Meguro ward. OVA has original story."

February: Goku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei 03
Third OVA.

03/17: Tsubasa Chronicles OVA
See xxxHOLiC.

03/25: Ichigo Mashimaro encore Vol.2
See Volume 1.

03/25: When They Cry Rei - vol. 2: Dice Killing Chapter
No clue how to translate the chapter title. Translation provided by Not Log and Factor VIII.

Winter seasons have always tended to be weak on the quality, so this might be a good time for people to actually catch up on whatever's on ye olde anime backlog. But that doesn't mean this season's devoid of shows worth checking out.

On my part, I'll be giving Maria+Holic a chance because demented comedies are definitely up my alley and the fact that Shaft and Shinbo are behind it only makes things better. Shinbo's got a knack for good comedic timing (based on Zetsubou Sensei, Pani Poni Dash, and Hidamari Sketch) and his track record has been solid, so I'm expecting great things out of this one.

Natsume Yuujinchou was quite the sleeper hit for summer 2008, but I really loved the peaceful, enchanting, and at times emotional atmosphere. Brains Base has been on a solid run for quite some time now and I hope they can deliver once again with a sequel to match the original.

White Album could be enjoyable since it'll be a duel between Aya Hirano and Nana Mizuki. Involves singing, romance, or somesuch, which could mean that it'll be good. Ahhh who am I kidding, I'm watching this because of the VAs.

Akikan! has a terrible premise and I expect it to implode in very short order. Still, Brains Base is also behind this one, which means there's a glimmer of hope though I doubt it. I'm guessing this will be one of those shows that I watch 1-2 episodes of and start using it as a yardstick in which to compare how crappy shows are for the rest of 2009.

And as usual, I'll probably give a few shows a shot or maybe even renege on what I've written here, but that's my plan anyhow.

What shows are you people planning to check out this winter?

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Akikan! - I like those shows that have absolutely ridiculous premises as well as those that seem to have no point whatsoever, so ok, I'll take it.

White Album - If not only because it stars Hirano, I'm interested to see what a H-game NOT Harem looks like.

Minami-ke Okaeri - It's Minami-ke. What else is there to say?

Asu no Yoichi - If nothing else, harem shows for the lulz.

Ichigo Mashimaro encore Vol. 1, 2 - Hell yes.

Tsubasa Chronicles OVA - This is quite a surprise. I thought they were done with this with Tokyo Revelations? Either way, please don't give me a cliffhanger ending like Tokyo Revelations. Tsubasa Chronicles Season 3, please.

I don't think there's as many shows that I'm interested in this season compared to other seasons. Either way, I won't be watching any of this due to my massive backlog of anime anyway. But yeah, less of the romance/comedy shows this time around, and less of the really random comic shows this time around as well. I see lots of sci-fi shows in there, which unfortunately, I don't particularly enjoy much. Lots of sequels too, except they're all sequeles to shows I didn't watch in the first place.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

The only things I care about for the upcoming season are the continuations of Slayers and Tower of Druaga. It's silly that they divided Slayers in the first place since Revolution ended on a midboss with the same pacing style as the previous three seasons. Tower of Druaga S1 honestly surprised me by being a very fun show, so I've been eagerly awaiting Sword of Uruk since it ended. Hopefully someone will actually post reliable subs this time so I don't have to watch it in crappy Youtube quality with an enormous white banner bar on the top advertising the subbers' site.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

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01/23: Ichigo Mashimaro encore Vol.1

Oh, other stuff. Uh, Ippo (DEMPSEY ROLLLLLL), Druaga 2, Birdy 2 (SUBS WHERE ;_; ) Afro Samurai 2 and Hetalia are one's I'll probably watch. Ride Back and Viper's Creed look interesting too.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Seems to suck alot...

The only thing catchy is Sora wo Miageru Shoujo no Hitomi ni Utsuru Sekai (what a fucking long title), Minami-ke Okaeri, and Koukaku no Regios.

Maybe Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei.

RIDEBACK and Hetalia no Axis will have to wait.

That's all.

I was speaking idiomatically.

The early broadcast version of Akikan! has been subbed.

If you thought the premise for Kemeko was absurd, boy are you in for a surprise.

FUCK YEAH JUN FUKU- I MEAN LELOUCH

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

This begs the question as to whether Akikan! is a series that's worthy of the CHz challenge. If so, I'm definitely in on this one.

(For that matter, maybe I should structure my OP for all of my animu threads from here on out using the stream-of-consciousness format in order to revive this forum.)

FELIPE NO

I thoroughly enjoy the manga Black God, so Kurokami has my interest piqued. Tales of Genji could be cool too, who knows. I'll catch up with Viper's Creed as well -- I've enjoyed Aramaki's work in the past so I really see no reason not to watch it.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Probably will watch Kurokami and Ride Back just to see if they'll be any good. Viper's Creed will probably be one to watch out for as well. Pretty slim pickings otherwise...

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I watched Akikan followed by Kiss x Sis. Akikan was the worse of the two. Take that for what it's worth.

As far as shows I'm looking forward to:
Tower of Druaga: Sword of Uruk because the first season was awesome, probably one of the best things Gonzo's produced in quite some time.

Birdy the Mighty Decode 2 which will be woefully undersubbed (read: only subbed by Aoshen)

Maria+Holic I will watch because it is a Shinbo work. If it turns out to be good, all the better.

SetoHana OVA 2 because FUCK YEAH

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I'll be following Birdy 2 this season. The first episode is out, but no subs. Q_Q

EDIT: Taco, she looks like she is doing some crazy martial arts move in your sig. >.> It looks like something that SHAFT would do, but I looked it up. Very funny indeed. >:3

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Well, now that enough time has elapsed:

Maria+Holic: Has the cruelest cast I've ever seen, but man am I enjoying the heck out of this one. If it weren't for Mariya keeping Kanako under control, I'd have gotten really irritated by now.

Ride Back: Maidens on motorcycles. How the political component will enter play is anyone's guess, but Madhouse delivers another show with an engrossing atmosphere once again.

Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou: More of the same, but it's something I totally welcome with open arms.

White Album: I smell a trainwreck coming a mile away. The fact that it's only 13 episodes means it's highly likely that I'll finish up said trainwreck too.

Akikan!: Brainless BS. However, this show needs to be even more retarded and chaotic to be really good. I mean, they're already digging at the dregs to come up with their material so they might as well scrape the very bottom of the barrel.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I guess the company who pre-emptively licensed Slayers Evolution-R is being tougher this time around. I've yet to find a single group subbing this, and the one that did Revolution seems to have gone completely silent since they finished Chaos Head back in mid-December. This angers me greatly.

Thankfully, Tower of Druaga: Sword of Uruk hasn't disappointed. The first two episodes were made of all sorts of win, and I can't wait for Hi-no-Ka to release ep. 3 to see

Spoiler:

the return of Melt and Coopa.

I was speaking idiomatically.

1) Maria + Holic is fantastic. It's a gag show so I'd suggest people don't take Kanako's over the top lesbianism of Mariya's cruelness too seriously. Shaft and Shinbo strike gold again.

2) Rideback looks amazingly fun so far, and the visuals blend in pretty well with the CG.

3) Minami-ke Okaeri - I think they realized that trying to cram all the characters in every episode and that annoying next door neighbor were two of the things that ruined the second season. The third has been a near perfect return to form. If you need any further convincing just watch the second half of episode 2. Needs more Bible Black faces though.

4) Asu no Yoichi - To quote Taco, gee it sure is de gozaru around here. Typical setup, typical characters, who gives a fuck, the glasses girl has green hair! Sold.

5) Druaga S2 - Episode 3 had in fits. Gonzo has gotten off to a relatively good start here. Be reminded though that so far all they've done is the lighthearted comedy bits. Whether or not they can take the show back into serious territory has yet to be seen. Henora is great, don't ask, Gonzo agreed. Mighty mighty boku goddess~

Considering that Michiko and Hatchin, Casshern Sins and Black Butler are still all carrying over from Fall, I don't mind the lack of shows in Winter.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?