October Anime Once More…
My, how time flies. It seems such a short time ago that I wrote my preliminary list for last October. I only finished watching two of the series on that list, and didn’t even have amazingly high hopes for Fantastic Children. So in some ways it almost seems pointless writing a list for this season, as no doubt I’ll end up completely ignoring it (plus, with the backlog I’ve got going into October who KNOWS what I’ll get time to watch?). But anyway, here’s what my first thoughts on the upcoming season of anime are:
Highly Anticipated
Noein ~ Mou Hitori no Kimi E - I should warn you all, I am already totally obsessed with this series and I have only watched the trailer for it. It’s from Satelight, it’s directed by Kazuki Akane, it has character designs by Takahiro Kishida, and so on and so forth… I just hope it can live up to the lofty expectations I’ve already given it.
Mushishi - the Mushishi manga is a beautifully drawn, quietly intriguing supernatural mystery drama (I guess, it’s kind of hard to describe) about a “bug detective” in early 20th Century Japan, who solves people’s problems with otherwordly “mushi”. If the anime can capture the melancholy and beauty of the manga properly this will be one to keep an eye on.
Cluster Edge - this looks so much like My-HiME written for fangirls, but I still think it looks great - I love fantasy action shows, and Sunrise almost always do a half decent job.
Blood+ - I wasn’t a huge fan of the original Blood film, but the premise was interesting and I’ll probably like a slightly toned down TV series a lot more - hopefully there’ll be less OTT gore and a decent plot this time round. Unlike many, I’m really interested to read that Mark Mancina and Hans Zimmer are working on the music, as they’re two of my favourite Hollywood composers.
Paradise Kiss - I know absolutely nothing about the manga which this is based on, and to be honest I’m turned off a bit by the premise - a series about fashion models? But it’s airing in Honey and Clover’s timeslot and I know the series has a pretty big following Stateside, so I’m more intrigued than I might otherwise be.
Mildly Intrigued
Aria the Animation - I love all the staff involved in this show and it looks beautiful, but the premise just sounds so boring - hopefully it’ll prove me wrong.
Shakugan no Shana - I’ve heard reports this is actually a moe comedy, dear GOD I hope not, the artwork looks too cool for that!
Animal Yokomachi - it’s shoujo, but it looks like mostly a gag manga so probably not my scene really.
Solty Rei - probably cookie-cutter Gonzo, but I’ll give it a try.
Jigoku Shoujo - I’m loving the aesthetic on the official site, but will it be Kurata’d into oblivion with moe and dull slice-of-life stuff?
Karin - it’s a comedy, so probably not, but it’s got vampires in, and vampires are cool.
Black Cat - I can’t imagine this being any good, but I thought I’d give it a shot anyway for shounen hijinks.
My-Otome - only mildly intrigued by this to see what Sunrise have done here (considering they must have been planning this for years before My-HiME even aired…)
Ginban Kaleidoscope - figure skating could be dull, but hey, it’s slightly novel.
Don’t Really Care (I’m not linking these because I can’t be bothered with the effort - if you’re interested, Google them or summat.)
Ginga Densetsu Weed - fighting dogs. I like dogs, but nothing about this inspires me.
Rockman EXE Beast - I HATE Rockman EXE and all its hideous spawn. WILL IT NEVER DIE?
Idaten Jump - it’s Another Identikit Shounen Sports Show, everybody! With mountain biking? Not for me.
capeta - argh, racing anime with hideous shounen character designs, no thanks.
Akagi - how can mahjongg make for an interesting anime? It’ll be like Hikaru no Go, except more boring (WOW! HE PLACED THE EAST WIND TILE LIKE A PRO!)
Kotenkotenko - just..what?
To Heart 2 - blech, renai-tastic.
Happy Seven The TV Manga - once more, the harem strikes!
Rozen Maiden Traumend - didn’t watch the first series (admittedly I might give this a go anyway…)
Angel Heart - I don’t really enjoy anime cop shows, and this looks decidedly old fashioned.
Kashimashi - it’s moe, I’m running for the hills already.
Gunparade Orchestra - didn’t like March, can’t be arsed with this.
Black Lagoon - terrorist action sounds a little too serious and “real world” for me perhaps
Canvas 2 - bishoujo game, yawn (plus I know nothing about the prequel)
Nanoha A’s - didn’t like the first series.
Ramune - bishoujo, double yawn.
Think that’s everything covered. The possibly interesting stuff kicks off on Tuesday 4th October (which will mean Wednesday for me) with Animal Yokomachi and Cluster Edge - that gives me bags of time to catch up on the… 52 episode (and one movie, I WILL watch Shin Angyou Onshi if it KILLS me) backlog I currently have at the time of writing. Noooo problems.
September 5th, 2005 at 11:02 pm
I’m rather looking forward to seeing what My:Otome actually turns out like. You could probably have guessed that though.
Its probably a sign of how little I tend to pay attention to forthcoming shows (well, aside from Otome and Fate/Stay Night, which kind of make me blind to everything else) that I had absolutely no idea that Akane was directing a new show. As a fan of Escaflowne and Heat Guy J, this is obviously very pleasing to me. Other than that, I can’t say any of that stuff really interests me (the trail for Blood which aired after this weeks GSD was cool, but I didn’t really get on with the OAV)
September 6th, 2005 at 3:09 am
Good luck on finishing up your humongous humongous backlog. I’m following roughly the same series as you.
September 6th, 2005 at 4:02 am
Regarding Noein - after that trailer, I’d be unreasonably excited, too. And, in fact, I am.
*_* Bad Satelight, making another series I NEED to watch during my school year.
September 6th, 2005 at 5:12 am
Where can I find the trailer for Noein?
September 6th, 2005 at 7:31 pm
Noein looks very interesting….
Regarding Aria, I’m a fan of the manga. Nothing basically happens (it’s the slowest thing I’ve ever read) with chapters dedicated to mundane actitivites like cleaning boats. I don’t find it boring though, becuase the scenery is gorgeous and the world of Aqua is very intruiging.
September 6th, 2005 at 8:35 pm
I’m probably most looking forward to Rozen Maiden Traumend, Jigoku Shoujo, Noein and maybe Mushishi. I’ll probably at least check out the remainder on your top two lists. I may also check out Gunparade Orchestra despite not liking March.
Concerning Shakugan no Shana: while the artwork on the main page looks pretty good, the animation character designs here look really dull:
http://www.shakugan.com/anime/chara/index.html
As for Jigoku Shoujo, what do you mean by the expression “Kurata’d into oblivion”? I don’t see any Kurata on the official staff list here:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=5577
http://www.jigokushoujo.com/staff/index.html
Incidentally, the character designs are out, and they don’t look overly moe to me:
http://www.jigokushoujo.com/character.html
Where have you heard anything about Black Lagoon?
Kashimashi really does look dire, doesn’t it?
- dbm
September 6th, 2005 at 8:49 pm
For some reason I’d convinced myself that Hideyuki Kurata (of Kamichu/ROD TV fame) was writing Jigoku Shoujo (I really should just call it Hell Girl, shouldn’t I?) but I’m talking complete rubbish. My mistake.
Here’s a summary of Black Lagoon I’ve stolen off Animesuki:
“Okajima Rokuro is a normal Japanese salaryman. During his business trip carrying some secret data for his company, his ship gets attacked by Black Lagoon, an illegal “transport company” based in Tailand, and the data gets robbed. Worse yet, he gets kidnapped for some extra ransom, and his company betrays him by sending out mercenaries trying to eliminate Black Lagoon with no regard for his safety. Finding himself fighting for survival side by side with those pirates against the mercenaries, later he decides to join Black Lagoon himself with the nickname Rock. Now he has to do all kinds of illegal business working together with Dutch the boss, Benny the tech man, and Levi the Two Guns who is Black Lagoon’s ill-tempered but highly-skilled gun-girl.”
So more “vigilante” than “terrorist”, I suppose.
And for flou, the Noein trailer is available from this page - http://www.b-ch.com/free/mf/noein_pv01/index.html (as long as you have a half-decent broadband connection or a program to download streams)
September 7th, 2005 at 5:30 am
Noein trailer: [Neo]Whoah.[/Neo]
Well, I’m certainly going to watch at least one. Oi vey. And as a true Mai HiME fan, I’ll have to at least check out Otome… though whether it’ll make me smile or cringe is anyone’s guess. The rest? I have no idea… I seem only to have time to really follow just a couple of series, nowadays, so… when does Suzuka end, again? Right.
September 8th, 2005 at 4:43 pm
I think your picks are right on target, although I will definitely be checking out My-Otome for fun. I especially hope that Cluster Edge turns out well, as I’ve been dying for a good fantasy anime forever. It’s been too long since Last Exile and (esp.) Escaflowne…
September 9th, 2005 at 2:08 am
“Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl” is actually yuri. :-)
The manga’s by Katsura Yukimaru, based on an idea
by Akahori Satoru.
September 10th, 2005 at 9:31 am
“…Akahori Satoru”
Aaaaaand that was absolutely any interest in the series I may have had withering up and dying. I HATE Akahori Satoru shows. Mouse, anyone?
September 13th, 2005 at 8:59 am
[…] Cinnamon Ass, my favored anime review blog, has published a list of upcoming animes (s)he is anticipating. Reviews there are usually spot on when it’s an anime I love (Like Fantastic Children etc.) […]