Summer 2009 Anime Watch List

Taking a break from playing Moon. and with roughly a month left until the start of the summer anime season, I decided to comb through the new shows to compile my quarterly anime watch list. As far as I am concerned the lineup seems to be strong with plenty of variety catering to many of my interests. Now onto my list.

Definitely Watch

• Umineko no Naku Koro ni – Umineko is by far my most anticipated TV series this season (not hard to imagine considering that it is one of my most blogged about topics within the past year). Having read through all the games so far I am really looking forward to seeing the cast brought to life with animation and voice. Being a fan of course I am worried about how well the transition to anime will go but as long as the story remains for the most part faithful to the original without leaving out clues necessary to solve the murder mystery then I think I will be satisfied.
• Spice and Wolf II – Not really much to say considering that Spicy Wolf is about a merchant and a fox deity traveling around the countryside together. I’m expecting more of the same as the first series which doesn’t bother me since I found it enjoyable.
• Taishou Yakyuu Musume – I watched the original trailer for this and was immediately intrigued by the setup; a group of girls in early 20th century Japan wanting to form a baseball team. The inevitable challenges the girls will have to face should make for a great story. It also happens to fulfill that oddly specific niche that Bamboo Blade used to.
• Aoi Hana – With Sasameki Koto not airing this summer, Aoi Hana will become my yuri series for the season. The two seem to share similar themes so undoubtedly I will fall in love with this series as well.
• GA: Geijutsuka Art Design Class – Having read the short description about five freshman girls in a high school art club I can’t help but think about K-ON! except with paintbrushes instead of musical instruments. Speaking of which GA and K-ON as well as Hidamari Sketch are all published in Doki Doki Time Kirara Carat so it’s no wonder that I have some high expectations for this anime.

Definitely Watch (OVA)

• Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei 4-5 – I’m really interested in how Rika’s journey will end in episode 4. Technically I already know vaguely how it ends but I want to see all the details in full glory. Of course I also want to see the silliness that is Daybreak animated in episode 5.
• Mahou Sensei Negima! Mou Hitotsu no Sekai OAD – After seeing the fantastic Ala Alba OVAs my faith in Negima as an anime franchise was restored. Unfortunately it seems like this OVA will be replacing the once promised new TV series faithful to the manga so my dreams of an animated festival arc will never come true. At least I get to see parts of the magic world arc I guess.
• Minami-ke OAD – Despite Okawari and Okaeri (to a lesser extent) falling short of the bar set by the original Minami-ke anime, I’m still a big fan of the series so I’ll definitely watch the OAD.
• Kodomo no Jikan Second Term 3 – What can I say. Rin’s cute and precocious antics never fail to make my laugh so I am looking forward to another episode.
• Nodame Cantabile OAD – Nodame is a brilliant series so I’m always eager for more.
• ToLOVE-Ru OVA 2-3 – Do I really expect much from this at all? No. Do I really care? Not really.

Probably Watch

• CANAAN – I don’t really know much about this but with such an eclectic bunch of characters and some sort of mystery story, I am definitely intrigued. It’s also interesting to note that Type-Moon is working on it. I wish I could play the original game 428 but that’s probably never getting an English translation.
• Sora no Manimani – I have a strong interest in astronomy so a show about an astronomy club catches my attention. The main heroine seems rather charming judging from the promo so I’ll make sure to give this a go.
• Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 – Another series that tickles my science background. Despite the amount of geologic activity in the region it’s interesting that an earthquake hasn’t really been used as a major plot device much less as a driving force for an entire series so I am really interested in this.

May Watch

• Bakemonogatari – Not really sure why I’m interested in this besides the super natural element. After watching the trailer I can confirm that there doesn’t seem to be anything too special so I may not actually watch this.
• Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou – Once again I’m not too sure if there is anything besides the magic theme that compels me to watch this. The trailer looked nice though so I’ll at least check it out. With the mix of magic and modern, it may end up being like To Aru Majutsu no Index.
• Kanamemo – I have a thing for both sad situations and slice-of-life shows so this seems interesting.
• Seitokai no Ichizon – This seems a little generic but the art looks nice so I’ll wait and see.

All together it appears that I will be watching up to 12 new anime TV series with another 6 OVAs. Although the OVAs won’t be a problem very few of the shows I am watching from the Spring 2009 season are ending so watching this many shows simultaneously may be a problem even though it is currently my break from University; my recent obsession with lyrics has been eating into a huge chunk of my free time. Conceivably I can forgo doing English translations but that would also mean losing a source of Japanese practice which is not something that sits well with me so I may have to cut back a bit on anime, the lyrics I work on or some combination.

(Speaking of lyrics I noticed looking at my site statistics that someone or another has been searching for Tayutama ED lyrics. If interested parties are reading this, then I can say I will have those out in the next few days along with the 2 Saki EDs. That comes after I finish my Moon review though. Until then be patient.)