Spring ’12 previews

Phew, so, here it is, my first season preview and boy oh boy, did that ever take some effort! Looking for the right info wasn’t what I struggled with the most but, condensing what I wrote and I’m afraid I haven’t done a very good job at that, heh heh… Don’t feel obliged to read it all in one sitting, in fact, I’d be kinda disgusted with anyone who does manage to for having so much time on their hands! Just read whatever’s most applicable to you and let me know what you guys are gonna watch, ‘kay?

Just to warn you, I’ve excluded all sequels- there’s no point me writing down my first impressions on a show that has already had a series- they’re bound to be wrong, I’ll only just end up cheesing someone off! I’ve also left out Thomas the tank engine- I don’t suspect anyone under the age of 6 who might be planning to watch it will be reading my blog…

Ozuma

Yay, a post-apocalyptic show about a totalitarian society! My favourite! Immediately I’m drawing up comparisons between this, and ‘Now and Then, Here and There’ so, this is definitely a show I could see myself watching at some point. I am not familiar with either of the directors- neither have directed many shows I’m familiar with and it’s concerning there are two in the first place! I know, were I a director, I’d be reluctant to share any creative control, or take on board any ideas that conflict with what I’d previously envisioned, (hence the name of my blog: watashi wa bucho- I am the director, or general manager, however you’d like to translate it!) but, I’m sure not everyone is as immature as I and the fact they’re animating one of the great Leiji Matsumoto’s works, famous for manga such as Space Battleship Yamato, leaves little potential for screw-ups.

Verdict: As much as I love shows that explore the extremes of humanity, (as no doubt this will because of its setting) I’m not looking for anything particularly thought-provoking or deep this season- I’ve my exams in a couple of months so I’m looking for something a little more light-hearted and fun!

Uchuu Kyoudai

Whilst this is set in the future, so may be based in a cool, futuristic world, I am unlikely to watch it. Nothing, (except the cute pug dog in the above image) really leaps out at me. Mutta being blacklisted by his industry, helping to persuade him to become an astronaut reminds me vaguely of Black Lagoon, however, the director has worked on nothing outside of the Doraemon series so, I’d expect this show to be pretty light-hearted. Also, it’s being animated by A-1 pictures, whilst I’ve nothing against this studio; I’ve just not watched anything of theirs that is particularly ground-breaking. The final reason I doubt I’ll be watching this show is that, whilst I usually do not let art influence my decision to watch a show, the character designs for Uchuu Kyoudai are freakin’ ugly. I’m sorry but, they are.

Verdict: I think I’ll wait ‘til it’s finished airing and see what others think of this before starting it myself because right now, for me, the dog’s the biggest draw and that doesn’t such much for the show.

Shiba Inuko-san

Speaking of cute dogs… Sure, this is a 4-koma adaptation so the fact Inuko thinks she’s a highschool girl is likely to be the premise of all the jokes but, this seems like it could be inoffensive fun nonetheless! After looking at some panels it’s also worth mentioning that the art is quite charming, even if the animation is poor, as seems to be the case for most 4-koma, it won’t seem too obvious because of the simple, child-like art style.

Verdict: Feels like it’d be a bit hypocritical of me to watch this after refusing to watch Uchuu Kyoudai on the basis of the cute dog alone but, still, each episode is only a couple of minutes so, I may watch it if I find the time…

Ginga e Kickoff

I don’t really feel like starting this myself- I usually love sports anime as, in order to win their respective tournaments, characters must undergo some kind of improvement which usually comes in the form of acknowledging, and conquering one’s own personal weakness, (yay, inevitable dorama!) but, I’m not sure how much development a bunch of kids could go thr… Oh, who am I kidding!? I just really don’t like football. And I call myself a fan of sports anime! I don’t think this will be all that bad though- the director, Konosuke Uda, directs One Piece, an impressive feat. If he can somehow manage to successfully depict the energy of the game and of the children playing it like he has the energy of the Straw Hat crew I can see  this becoming really popular with the kids. Also, rumour has it Kobayashi Yuu’s landed a role as Sho, our young male protagonist, and she’s always a pleasure to listen to…

Verdict: My prejudices against sport, (particularly football) have overruled my better judgement this time ’round, I’m sure, like most other sports shows this’ll turn out to be satisfactory, if not good.

Gakkatsu

*Reads the synopsis and watches the trailer* A teacher bringing up strange yet, thought-provoking topics in class and having debates with their kooky students, (one of which was the Stig, seriously, watch the trailer!) so, this is basically just a badly animated Zetsubou-sensei? I’m not sure whether or not to be impressed or concerned by the fact that one person, Rareko, is directing, writing the script for and composing the music for the show, (I think Rareko’s even named the female teacher after her.) sure seems confident, huh? I hope this confidence of hers is well founded. On a side note, Rareko was clearly to busy doing all of the above to remember to promote her shows, seriously, there’s like, next to nothing on this!

Verdict: I’ve seen enough Zetsubou-sensei, (which is infinitely better animated, btw) for this to not appeal to me whatsoever, still, I’d be interested to hear whether or not it was any good to confirm whether Rareko’s confidence in her ability to DO EVERYTHING was well founded.

Arashi no Yoru ni

This seems like a nice show for kids in that it will, most likely, be able to explore and teach about serious themes like accepting one’s differences and not judging others by their appearance in a reasonably light-hearted manner, given that the two protagonists are cute, fluffy animals. After doing a bit of research, two aspects of the show strike me as being interesting, the first being the length of the show, the second, the number of its producers. The fact that this is a 52 episode show inspired by a movie just a couple of hours long doesn’t strike me as being a problem- the show’s premise is so simple, (a lamb and a wolf becoming friends and overcoming life’s difficulties) it shouldn’t be too difficult to think up individual themes to explore each 11-minute episode.  And the show’s status as a collaboration project leads me to believe this will have quite the large budget, an assumption confirmed by the fact each and every one of the 52 episodes will be in full-CGI. I’m not entirely sure full-CGI is necessary when telling such a simple story, (I know I’d much rather see it used to create awe-inspiring mecha) but, I’ll acknowledge the fact it makes the show stand out, if not visually then for the fact I can only think of one other show that uses CGI to the same extent, Fireball.

Verdict: Not this time- I’m not sure I belong to the demographic this is aimed at! I think, at 18 if I haven’t learnt to accept one’s differences and not judge people by their appearances, etc. I’m not gonna. But, I have, so that’s cool. Also, the complete CGI thing just isn’t my cup of tea.

Upotte!!

I can only imagine this is some guy’s wet-dream- girls and guns. Not just girls and guns but, girls that are guns. Not just any girls that are guns but, moe-blob girls that are guns. Oh dear. I don’t think I’m the target audience for this show. And if the synopsis wasn’t enough to convince me this show isn’t for me, the director has infamous works Rio: Rainbow Gate! and To LOVE-Ru under his belt and it’s being animated by Xebec, a studio I’ve come to associate with shitty titles. So far the only thing this show has going for it is that, as it is a 4-koma adaptation, each episode is likely to only be a couple of minutes long.

Verdict: Thanks but, no thanks- the girl in the above picture isn’t wearing any pant-su, that’s enough to deter me!

 Kuroko no Basuke

Now, I know it’s unusual but, I actually like sports anime and am always willing to give them a shot, that said, I won’t be watching this this season. Sports anime are notorious for going on forever and, as I’m currently watching Eyeshield 21 I don’t think I could start this, especially as the manga is 122 chapters long and still going strong so Kuroko no Basuke will, undoubtedly, be long itself. It’s a shame because it has this real Eyeshield vibe going in that the lead, who appears weak, is actually deceptively skilled. Doesn’t look as though it’d be as funny though. Nevertheless, I checked out the trailer and whilst it made the show look average, at best, the theme that played throughout the trailer was slammin’. If the rest of the BGM in the show is as good as that theme it could be enjoyable to listen to, if not to watch. *shrug*

Verdict:  I might have watched this in a season where I had little else to watch but, this season just looks so promising, I’ve got enough on my plate as it is!

Tasagare Otome x Amnesia

The manga has a high rating, (8.31 on MAL) the synopsis sounds interesting, it is a horror anime, previously one of my favourite genres of anime, the director, Oonuma, is known for being part of ‘Team SHAFT’ and has helped direct shows such as Bakemonogatari, therefore, I can expect this to be a little bit off-the-wall in terms of animation, something I revel in however, my natural suspicion of all horror anime, combined with the fact that, for months, the main image for this on the charts was a shot of an impressive cleavage, make me hesitant to watch it.

Verdict: A few years ago I may have chosen to watch this with the reckless abandon that comes naturally to new anime fans, nowadays, however, I’m far more careful when selecting what to watch. My fingers have been burnt by horror anime too many times in the past; I just don’t think I’m brave enough to watch this!

Hyouka

Yet another show I’m seriously contemplating watching this season. Its main draw, at least, for me, would be the genre it falls under: mystery, an entirely different kettle of fish. I love the mystery genre- it has elements of horror: the suspense, the tension but, none of that excessive gore or … which makes many horror anime so silly. Already I’m desperate to see what this case mentioned in the synopsis is all about and what KyoAni, (who have been producing comedy after comedy as of late) will do with the show. And for those of you who love KyoAni exclusively for their comedies, do not fear- the synopsis promises an interesting dynamic between several of the characters! And of course, it goes without saying that, as it’s being produced by KyoAni, (how many times have I said KyoAni during this paragraph!?) it’s bound to have simply gorgeous animation and the delightful K-ON-esque character designs have, so far, not failed to disappoint.

Verdict: Whilst unable to choose Tasogare Otome x Amnesia because of my fear of horror anime, that is, the genre not the scariness itself, it’s difficult to explain! I feel confident that, were I to watch this, I wouldn’t be ambushed by gore or ecchi- I feel I can trust this show. Yes, I think I’ll give it a go!

Jormungand

This show has come to my attention quite late in the game but, it’s a serious contender nevertheless. Reasons for it piquing my interest include: Those who have read the manga frequently draw up comparisons between this and Black Lagoon in terms of the action and a certain-kick ass female, the kick-ass female in question looks like my kinda character, Iwasaku Taku, who composed one of my favourite OSTs, the Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann OST and, close contender, Soul Eater’s OST, is composing the music for Jormungand and it is being animated by White Fox who recently chugged out what was, in my opinion, the greatest show of ’11: Steins;Gate. So basically, this show already has a lot going for it!

Verdict: I’m already half in love with the babe in the above picture, not to mention infatuated with the promising storyline, studio and composer so, it’s gotta be a yes from me! Here’s hoping love hasn’t blinded me…

Shining Hearts~ Shiawase no Pan~

Whilst this is an adaptation of a series of games, from what I’ve gathered it isn’t necessary to watch Shining Tears X Wind as, whilst they appear to be based in the same world, they revolve around different characters. One of the first things that strikes me about this show is how beautiful the character designs are. I try not to let things like character design influence my decision whether or not to watch a show but, this could be my only chance to enjoy Tony Taka’s character designs- he’s only ever worked on Shining Tears X Wind where his designs were, supposedly, butchered by Studio Deen and hentai which I wouldn’t touch with a barge pole! Whilst I imagine some would be hesitant to watch a show based on a game they’ve played, I think this could turn out to be a fairly inoffensive adaptation. It’s based off of an RPG so I’d assume the storyline for this was written purposefully for the show rather than taken straight out of the game. Whilst this may not appeal to those who’ve played the game as the constructed storyline may conflict with their experiences of the world it could still be interesting to see which direction Shining Hearts: Shiawase no Pan takes. Besides, who can argue against exploring a new, fantastical world alongside a large cast of characters, (doubtless this is direction the show will take in order for Kaguya to recover her memories) just because it doesn’t exactly mirror your gameplay?

Verdict: Just as it’d be wrong to start Uchuu Kyoudai or Shiba Inuko-san purely for the cute animals, it’d be wrong to decide to watch this just for the stunning character designs, for some reason I’m not as into the fantasy genre as I used to be so the character designs are definitely what’s tempting me the most!

 Acchi Kochi

No, no, no! No more loli tsunderes! No more! Why do people keep eating up this shit!? It’s because of you people shows like this keep getting made! I’m not gonna even go into the studio or director because my biggest issue with Acchi Kocchi is actually its concept and that’s something even the most accomplished director can’t really turn up on its head! I made it clear in my smutty vs fluffy couples post that I hate when a show, based on the relationship between two characters, features no progression whatsoever in said relationship and the synopsis of Acchi Kocchi made it pretty clear this is most certainly the case what with all this ‘subtle distance’ bullshit, Tsumiki being an abrasive tsundere and Io being an oblivious twit. The only way this could be less original is if it was being animated by JC Staff and Tsumiki was being voiced by Kugimiya Rie…

Verdict: I can say with crystal-like clarity that I’d rather watch the 3rd season of Bakuman than this! That’s right, sexism and idealism are more appealing than would-be couples that go an entire series, (in this case, pretending to hate each other) without having any progression whatsoever in their relationship!

Sankarea

For months I was dead set, (geddit?) on watching this show- I too am fascinated by zombies, (but not in the bizaare, seemingly sexual way Furuya is) however, a number of things have since put me off. One of those being, it’s being animated by Studio Deen. Now, I’m not sure what to make of Studio Deen- I’ve often considered their work to be sub-par but then Higurashi and Jigoku Shoujo both made it into my Top 30, which makes me think the quality of the shows they release is wildly inconsistent.  On that basis alone, I may have given the show a go but, this is director Mamoru Hotakeyama’s first work so, I’m liable to assume his inexperience may lead him to make mistakes. Again, I may have also been able to give the director the shadow of a doubt, if not for the fact Sankarea has relatively little source material to adapt, so is in grave, (heh, I made another funny!) danger of straying into filler territory and that it has a rather foreboding ecchi tag on MAL, something I can’t ignore- I’ve seen more zombie crotches than I care to count thanks to Highschool of the Dead and I can’t say it was something I revelled in.

Verdict: My past experiences with horror anime come into play yet again, preventing me from watching this- something’s just telling me that this is gonna turn into yet another sub-par Studio Deen show riddled with crotch shots Mr Director has inserted ’cause he’s seen them in some other anime that falls under the ‘comedy’ genre, all the while undermining Sankarea’s horror undertones, bless him.

Natsuiro no Kiseki

My immediate thought upon seeing this on the chart was: “Sunrise? Where’s the mecha?” I can’t for the life of me find a synopsis for Natsuiro, (and the 15-second trailer wasn’t particularly telling) and as this is an anime original I can’t just go read a manga or anything to get a feel for it, nevertheless, I can safely say this’ll fit into the slice-of-life genre. This puzzles me somewhat as slice of life is something Sunrise hasn’t really done before, especially from a girl’s perspective. I mean, a lot of their shows have aspects of slice-of-life but, none of them are exclusively slice-of-life, (except maybe Nichibros but, that’s more a parody of slice-of-life than a serious depiction of it) so I’m not sure what to expect. My confusion only grew more pronounced when I saw that Seiji Mizushima, director of FMA, Un-Go and episode director of Evangelion was steering this project- he’s a fantastic director who can manipulate the mood of a scene just by playing around with camera angles but, will he be able to use this talent in a slice-of-life? Unless the girls actually combine to form one giant mecha that defends mankind from vicious aliens, I doubt it.

Verdict: Oh God, I have absolutely no idea what to think of this! The fact that it’s so different from the vast majority of Sunrise’s previous productions is almost temptation enough for me to watch it but, I don’t think I’d have the balls to go through with it…

Haiyore! Nyaruko-san

I’d be interested to find out if the LN this is based off of has any kind of continuity as, from what I’ve gathered, this is yet another one trick pony, the only joke being a sad, otaku-pandering: look we’ve turned a mythical monster into a Kawaii highschool girl, isn’t that hilarious? In order to confirm or contradict this suspicion I checked out one of the flash animations made to promote the LN and, whilst there was in fact only one jokes, it was actually much funnier than I expected, (and Nyaruko much more forward!). However, I’m not sure this series could maintain that same level of funniness if the episodes were full length, unless, that is, there were to introduce some kind of vague, overarching storyline. At least, no matter which direction the show goes in, it won’t be as painful to look at as the flash animations were- Xebec animation is a step up from flash animation no matter how slight!

Verdict: The flash animation was funny but, I don’t know if the premise of the jokes would be enough to entertain me for a, (possibly) full-length series- I can definitely see the jokes getting very old, very quickly!

Hiiro no Kakera

Yay, the token fujoshi bait of the season! It took me but half of the trailer’s duration to ascertain the female lead would in fact be devoid of all semblance of a personality, (to allow female viewers to project themselves onto her) and the males were walking, talking clichés, you’ve got your slightly aloof, abrasive male lead, the loli-shota and the megane-chara to name but a few. But, that’s just my interpretation, I haven’t played the game it’s based off of but, that’s probably an advantage in itself were I ever to get round to watching it! The main problem with video-game adaptations is that, those who have played the game are no longer in active but, passive roles, which can often be unpleasant as you’re forced into watching someone else’s interpretation of something you’ve already experiences and formed an opinion on yourself. To apply that to this show: girls who may have chosen one guy may find themselves upset over who Tamaki chooses in the show, the producer’s interpretation of how the story should go conflicts with their own. However, for those who haven’t played the game and are just looking to ogle some bishies this could be enjoyable enough- the music in the trailer was beautiful and the setting reminded me of Natsume’s so, whilst this show may not have much substance, it’ll sure give you something to look at.

Verdict: Harem shows, (be they regular harems or reverse-harems) tend to be quite shallow so, I don’t think I’ll be missing out by not watching this. If I was that desperate for a show with a Natsume-like setting, I’d watch Natsume, I have two more seasons of it to watch, after all!

Zetman

Now, I love gore as much as the next person but, when a show promotes that as being its biggest draw, (Zetman’s synopsis includes the brilliant line: “a strange monster named “player” appears, chopping off heads and killing everyone who appears in front of it.”) that’s slightly concerning! Just as shiny, new art and fancy animation doesn’t substitute for a good story, blood ‘n’ guts don’t either! Saying that, the show sounds quite interesting- the man vs. monster format could enable to show to explore some tasty topics including the cruelty of man and man’s will to survive. My only concerns would be that, as it is a self-proclaimed gore-fest, unless it gets a late enough time-slot, chances are it will be riddled with censorship! Excessive gore’s bad but, excessive censorship’s far worse! Also, whilst Osamu Nabeshima is an experienced director, what with his having directed D.Gray-man , this is quite a big step up in terms of how dark the source material is, I hope he won’t have too much difficulty adjusting to catering to a different demographic.

Verdict: The possibility of excessive censorship/ gore being used as a substitute for a good story are enough to deter me from watching Zetman. Besides, as I said with Ozuma, I’m not looking for something particularly heavy this season so, I’m not sure I’d much enjoy this even if it were to go down the more promising route of exploring the nature of humanity- I’m just not in the right mood for all that!

Sakamichi no Appolon

You don’t need me to tell you this is the anime to watch this season. The pre-air hype for this easily trumps the pre-air hype over currently airing Guilty Crown, and I can see why: famous director Watanabe Shinichiro, who has directed masterpieces including Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bebop and equally famous composer Yoko Kanno, (who also worked on Bebop) are being reunited, (the promise of Kanno is particularly exciting- I can’t think of anyone more suited for composing for this than her as she seems to specialise in jazz scores) from what I gathered during the 32-second long trailer both of its producers seem more than capable of handling such an ambitious production- Sentarou’s hands whilst playing the drums was animated beautifully- and it’s airing on the Noitamina time-slot which, despite having a dodgy couple of runs, still has a reputation for airing quality shows. My only issue with this is that I’ve heard more about the staff than I have about the actual story itself, something I’m not quite sure what to make of.

Verdict: I’m sure the story must be exceptional for such big names to have taken interest in it in the first place so, I’m sure my concern is unfounded, besides, it would be going against my duty as an anime blogger to miss out on watching the show being dubbed as Noitamina’s saviour!

Tsuritama

As someone with a great love for the weird and wonderful, a synopsis beginning with the sentence: “An adolescent sci-fi fishing story” is bound to catch my attention. Since then my impressions of the show have gone from strength to strength- it is airing in the much coveted Noitamina slot, a slot I haven’t lost faith in just yet, it’s being directed by Kenji Nakamura, someone who has a reputation for working on slightly nuttier shows, including Kemonozume and Trapeze, the art has a real Cencoroll-y vibe about it, which probably has something to do with the fact Atsuya Uki, who did the designs for Cencoroll is responsible for the character designs, (I found this out after I wrote the Cencoroll-y vice sentence, *facepalm*) and the trailer, whilst simple, makes the show seem positively delightful!

Verdict: No doubt about it, my love for slightly off-the-hook shows, (oh bad puns, will you ever cease to be amusing?) makes this a definite watch!

Yurumates

Yet another 4-koma adaptation, isn’t this the fourth? Is it typical to have so many in one season? Relatively little info has been released regarding Yurumates so I’m going to have to base my judgement on the synopsis alone really. What I saw in the couple of minutes worth of the OVA I watched and what I’ve read about the show has been enough to charm me- it’s basically about a load of would-be students bumming about, like Honey and Clover without the dorama or Chobits without the… um… chobits. How these students remain so enthusiastic in the face of such poverty, (a situation I’m sure a lot of us can relate to) is pretty comical and as with most 4-koma adaptions the short length of the episodes will help prevent this recurring joke from becoming stale. And for those of you who have watched the OVA in its entirety, you’ll be glad to hear its being animated, not in flash but, regular 2D this time, so you can save your laughter for the jokes rather than the shitty animation.

Verdict: I desperately wish I could watch this but, I just don’t think I’ll have the time. Sure, the episodes are only a couple of minutes long each but, it all adds up, believe me!

Accel World

As this is an adaptation of an award-winning light novel I imagined its storyline would be quite solid as, obviously, LN don’t have the luxury of relying on pretty animation to become successful. So, imagine my surprise when, after doing a little investigation on the story, I found it to be a little cliché. There’s nothing wrong with the whole ‘loser becoming a hero and saving the girl’ format, I guess, it’s just a bit ‘samey’. Still, there must have been something good about it for it to have won an award. As for the more aesthetic aspects, it’s being produced by Sunrise; this can only be a good thing as one can expect it will, therefore, have the budget and flashy animation needed to create an awesome virtual world with otherworldly avatars. I think this is one to choose if you’re looking for a show to ‘play it safe with’ whilst I’m not sure it’s a masterpiece in the making, its award-winning, LN source and creditable producer almost guarantee it not to be a flop.

Verdict: As with Kuroko no Basuke, I may have chosen to watch this were this season a little more sparse in regards to good anime- it looks fairly promising and has a lot of good things going for it, it just doesn’t blow me away like some of the other shows.

Nazo no Kanojo X

Despite the fact this show is disadvantaged in that it’s being animated by Hoods entertainment, (who have only ever produced ecchi shit) and the director is already directing another show this season, Ozuma, so may end up spreading himself thin, resulting in this not being of as high a quality as it may have potentially been, I find myself inexplicably drawn to it. The synopsis reminds me of Arakawa, (but perhaps slightly grubbier) in its peculiarity, I can definitely see the relationship between the two main characters being just as quirky. Having read the first chapter of its manga, this suspicion was confirmed. Like Nino, Urabe operates on an entirely different logic and poor Tsubaki is forced to adapt to this, much like Recruit. If I can just get over the aforementioned drawbacks, I can really see myself enjoying this show.

Verdict: Lol, a couple brought together by the power of drool, how could I say no? Seriously, I love couples that operate slightly out of the norm, so much so I can easily overlook any/all of this show’s flaws!

Shirokuma Café

I am sorry but, if the above picture does not make you go ‘aw’, you have no soul. So tempted by the fact Fukuyama Jun is voicing the panda, and so intrigued am I by its ‘josei’ status and the fact this is not a 4-koma, as one may expect but, an adaptation of a full-on manga series with continuation, and stuff that, if I were not already so torn between so many shows this season, I would probably give it a go.

Verdict: I’ve needed to adopt a heart of stone in order to resist all these shows featuring cute animals this season- there’s just so many good shows for me to watch I can’t afford to risk wasting time devoting myself to a shows that, outside of cute dogs and pandas, may not be all that good.

AKB0048

The futuristic setting and suggestions of a police state does little to mask the fact that this is clearly just another moe-blob piece o’ pooh which, by popular consensus, is riding off the ‘popularity’ of recently aired Idolm@ster. But, perhaps I shouldn’t be so prejudiced; after all, director Shoji Kawamori did dub it as being a “touching story with comedy, songs and dances.” Surely as an amateur theatre actress this is right up my street? Lol, no. Who am I kidding? It’s gonna be shit.

Verdict: Need I bother to say whether or not I’m going to watch this show?

Koi-ken

I can appreciate how it’s possible to turn videogames like Hiiro no Kakera into shows- at least they have some semblance of an overarching storyline with continuation, a conflict and a resolution but, as a social networking game’s main purpose is to allow people to socialise, there’s no need for a storyline, therefore, I doubt there’ll be one in the show either. They might as well be turning Facebook’s Farmville into an anime! Koi-ken may have sufficed without an overarching storyline were there even characters to base the story around, after all, there are many successful shows that seem to lack plot but, there aren’t so, from what I’ve gathered from looking at several promo-posters they’ve just used the same girl over and over but changed her hair and eye-colour somewhat. Ah well, at least it has a fairly decent script-writer, (Deko Akao, who worked on the likes of Arakawa so may be able to give the anime a few creditable gags) and cast of seiyuu, not that that makes me any more keen to watch this.

Verdict: I have no doubt this show will be an unstructured mess that will resort to relying on tired character archetypes to move it forwards, or not, as it were, therefore, I will not be giving it the time of day. You may think I’m being a bit harsh but, pretending this show appeals to me, in the slightest, would be an insult to my intelligence!

Overall I feel as though this is a pretty great season for anime- Tasogare Otome X Amnesia, Hyouka, Jormungand, Sakamichi no Appolon, Tsuritama, Yurumates, Accel World, Nazo no Kanojo X and Shirokuma Café have all tempted me greatly! It’s been really difficult to narrow that selection down, a harsh yet, necessary process- I can’t just pick up shows willy nilly when I’ve still got Naruto Shippuden, Fairy Tail, Gintama, Sket Dance, and Persona 4 on the go, even if a put a couple of those on hold it’d be difficult to keep on top of all those airing shows, nevertheless, I’ve whittled it down to just 6. This season I’ll be watching Hyouka, Jormungand, Sakamichi no Appolon, Tsuritama, Nazo no Kanojo X and Eureka 7 Ao- Eureka 7’s sequel. I’ll also be attempting to blog Nazo no Kanojo X, a show I hope will be a nice, easy introduction into episodic blogging. I hope all of you are as stoked for this upcoming season as I am now!

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