Spring 2011 Anime Overload

[Source]

It’s been a long while coming but finally here is me and Aorii‘s spring season preview post! We’ve spent quite a bit of time on it especially since we also presented it to our anime club the other day (You can download our presentation here). I was already excited before I started doing researching reading manga and such but after doing so I went completely insane. With the possibility of watching up to 16 television series (not including Fireball Charming since I don’t think that counts) I might actually die from an overdose of anime. This list is stupidly long so without further ado let’s go!

Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko [Site][Trailer]
Production: SHAFT, Directed by Shinbou Akiyuki (he is SHAFT)
Synopsis: The story revolves around a high school boy named Niwa Makoto. He lives with his aunt’s family since his parents are away on business. It is there where he meets his mysterious cousin of the same age Touwa Erio ・who happens to tie a futon mattress around her upper body and is a self-proclaimed alien. Her staple food is pizza. Erio had been missing for half a year and was found floating in the sea. She doesn’t remember anything about what happened during that period of time, but she began to think that it was the act of an alien and wanders the neighborhood wrapped in the futon.
[Honya]: This is probably the show I’m looking forward to the most this season. I’m always a sucker for very oddball shows featuring weird girls. I also know another translator who is also excited about it making it all the more anticipated. I demand Pizza Hut fan art now!
[Aorii]: I’ve decided that predicting how good a Shinbo show will be is impossible, but nevertheless this seems to be the next Arakawa for him in terms of style, and I loved the humor in that series, so I’m definitely looking forward to it~

Hanasaku Iroha [Site][PV4][PV5]
Production: P.A. Works, Directed by Ando Masahiro (Canaan)
Synopsis: Matsumae Ohana, a 16 year old girl, moves out of Tokyo and starts working at a hot spring hotel, which is located on a hill surrounded by cherry blossoms. Matsumae has yet to decide her future. The story will also feature other teenage girls who are looking for their dreams and excitements.
[Honya]: Hanasaku Iroha comes a close second behind Denpa Onna in terms of my sheer excitement. The PVs look fantastic and following the young women as they face their future sounds to be pleasurable.
[Aorii]: A slice of life series where the characters ponder over the next stage of their lives. This feels like a show that could be very relaxing and offer exceptional character development at the same time. The fact it’s a P.A. Works 10th anniversary show should mean they’ll put the extra effort into this one~

Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai [Site][PV2]
Production: A-1 Pictures, Directed by Nagai Tatsuyuki (Railgun, Toradora!)
Synopsis: Six childhood friends grew apart in high school. One of them is Jintan, now a shut-in. He gets a request to fulfill a wish for Menma, the only one of their friends to have stayed the same over the years. In order to grant her wish, he will have to find and reunite their old friends.
[Honya]: AnoHana seems to hold a lot of potential in terms of drama. I’ll be looking forward to how these friends reunite.
[Aorii]: Repairing the bonds between long-lost childhood friends is anything but an easy affair, and doing so for six at once sounds like a pure dramafest, which means I’m extremely excited for this series x) Besides, directing Toradora! has already given Tatsuyuki the best experience when it comes to inter-friendship drama, and the fact AnoHana isn’t romance focused at all gives it a rather fresh feel~

A Channel [Site][Trailer]
Production: Studio Gokumi, Directed by Ono Manabu (Saki)
Synopsis: The story revolves around the everyday life of four high school girls: the flighty Run, the reckless Tooru, the timid Yuuko, and the level-headed Nagi.
[Honya]: Honestly A Channel has a decent chance of beating out Nichijou in the pure slice of life genre at least as far as the PV leads me to believe. That Nagato Yuki-looking girl looks so adorable with her baseball bat and trash bag raincoat. After doing research and reading several chapters of the manga I can now safely say that A Channel will beat out Nichijou in terms of sheer entertainment value. Just as I thought Tooru is really cute especially how she is very possessive of Run. *Yuri Goggles*
[Aorii]: This feels like K-ON! without the band, probably something to watch just to relax~ but not something I have strong thoughts for otherwise.

[C] The Money of Soul and Possibility Control [Site][Trailer]
Production: Tatsunoko Productions, Directed by Nakamura Kenji (Kuuchu Buranko, Mononoke)
Synopsis: The Japanese government was rescued from the brink of financial collapse by the Sovereign Wealth Fund. For its citizens, however, life has not improved, and unemployment, crime, suicide, and despair are rampant. Kimimaro, raised by his maternal grandmother after the disappearance of his father and the death of his mother, is a scholarship student whose only dream is to avoid all this and live a stable life. One day, however, he meets a man who offers him a large sum of money if he’ll agree to pay it back. From then on his fate is radically altered as he’s drawn into a mysterious area known as “The Financial District.”
[Honya]: Being a Noitimina show, it most likely will be on the higher end of the quality spectrum. I’m usually a fan of thriller/mystery shows full of intrigue so I believe it will be a solid bet.
[Aorii]: Given that Japan has been in an economic slump for two decades and still hasn’t quite recovered from it, leaving their population rather pessimistic insofar as economy is concerned, I’m wondering if this series was written based on those very same financial fears they have. At the very least, this should be relatively original and interesting~

Nichijou [Site][Trailer]
Production: Kyoto Animation, Directed by Ishihara Tatsuya (AIR/Kanon/Clannad, Suzumiya Haruhi)
Synopsis: While the title suggests a story of simple, everyday school life, the contents are more the opposite. The setting is a strange school where you may see the principal wrestle a deer or a robot’s arm hide a rollcake. However there are still normal stories, like making a card castle or taking a test you didn’t study for.
[Honya]: After watching the OVA episode I realize that the series certainly lives up to it’s synopsis. It’s just a normal day of a robot girl and talking cat trying to get a tiny professor to take her medicine. At least initially I doubt it’ll match my KyoAni favorites but I’ll continue to watch it regardless.
[Aorii]: The OVA was mildly amusing at times, but mostly just weird and at times outright boring. I found it relaxing enough to watch though…

Moshidora [Site][PV3]
Production: Production I.G, Directed by Hamana Takayuki (Toushoukan Sensou)
Synopsis: The novel centers around a high school girl named Minami Kawashima who becomes the baseball team manager at Tokyo’s Hodokubo High School. Minami accidentally buys Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices ・a classic productivity guide by the Austrian-American management guru Peter Drucker ・and uses it to rally her dispirited team.
[Honya]: Mainly watching this for the novelty factor as in “I can’t believe they made an anime of this so I must watch.” However I do believe it’ll be at least decent.
[Aorii]: Since I’m an aspiring software project manager, this is an absolute must-watch for me. Drucker’s Management is quite famous within the business and project management careers, and I’ve even bought a copy of the book just to pace alongside the series with~ Although, I am worried that this is being made by the director from Prince of Tennis…

Probably Watching

Lotte no Omocha! [Site][Trailer]
Production: Diomedea, Directed by Oizaki Fumitoshi
Synopsis: In the medieval fantasy world of Alfheimr, succubus princess Astarotte Ygvar, the first princess of the kingdom of Ygvar, has just reached the age of 10. For the coming years of a young succubus’ life, it is necessary for them to have a male harem. In order to maintain their body and preserve their beautiful appearance, they must consume a substance only found on males. This substance is a liquid called Sauzfryma, better known as semen. The princess, however, bears a great dislike against men, and only agrees to create a harem if a human male is to join.
[Honya]: After reading several chapters of the manga my opinion of the series has gotten a huge boost. In reality the premise sounds a lot worse than the actual content. At its heart the series is about a single father doing his best to support his daughter by working hard for a little girl in need of a parental figure. It’s really sweet and though there is some fanservice it’s not really too graphic.
[Aorii]: I have a distinct feeling that even if the manga was more serious, the anime won’t be. A once teenage-parent protagonist does sound quite interesting, but to group that with a premise on succubus and all that? Ehhhh— <.<

Pretty Rhythm: Aurora Dream [Site]
Production: Tatsunoko Productions, Directed by Hishida Masakazu
Synopsis: Prism Stars are performers on the new popular ice show, Prism Show. They are superidols whose techniques, singing and fashion sense are a cut above all others. Aira and Rizumu are two Prism Stars whose goal is to become the best, the Prism Queen. However, the road to success is bumpy.
[Honya]: So this was originally a shoujo arcade game about idols and fashion. In other words it’s sounds like it was made just for me so barring some weird circumstances I’ll most likely end up following this and buying all the toys that the sponsors will market at me.
[Aorii]: Maybe if I have time for it… this season is decidedly lacking on shoujo series =\

Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon [Site][Trailer]
Production: Sunrise
Synopsis: In the far future, humans abandon the devastated Earth and move to the upper world “Tenjo”. But after Tenjo and the Law of Causation collapses from war, humans return to Earth to find it uninhabitable except for the Shinshu area. As Shinshu is too small to accomodate the human race, they duplicate the area to create “Juso Sekai” in a parallel world. In order to rebuild Tenjo and the Law of Causation, humans begin to reproduce history starting from 10,000 B.C. But as reproduction proceeds to 1413 A.D., a war breaks out in Shinshu and Juso Sekai falls back into the original world, and its people invade the old Earth. After Shinshu surrenders and the land is divided by invaders, they attempt to resume historical reproduction from A.D.1457, but the update of the history terminates in A.D.1648 as rumors of an apocalypse begins to spread across the world.
[Honya]: The synopsis sounds a bit confusing but the concept itself sounds quite intriguing. If I am reading it correctly it sort of sounds somewhat similar to Tales of the Abyss‘s world design actually. Since I’ve never read the novel, I hope it’ll be good.
[Aorii]: A complicated yet very interesting premise and world design brought to us by the budget of Sunrise animation! My only concern being that it’s bogging down everything with setting-specific vocabulary already… But, the sheer amount of pixiv fanart this series has even prior to airing makes me wonder if the original light novels were pretty good, especially with its fantasy x scifi feel~

Deadman Wonderland [Site][Manga Trailer]
Production: Manglobe, Directed by Hatsumi Kouichi
Synopsis: Ganta Igarashi has been convicted of a crime that he hasn’t committed, and sent to a new, privately owned and operated prison, where the inmates are the main attraction in a modern day twist to the gladiatorial coliseums of ancient times. Throw in a healthy dose of weird little girl, some new-found super powers, and a little conspiracy theory, and you have Deadman Wonderland.
[Honya]: The setting of Deadman Wonderland is so fantastically twisted I feel like I can’t keep my eyes off it. The gladiatorial-style competition to earn enough credits to buy medicine for poison that is constantly administered combined with the experimentation and intrigue behind the scenes makes this hard to ignore for my curiosity.
[Aorii]: This world sounds messed up enough to make a great story setting, but I’m not really a fan of this kind of conspiracy, or horror in general…

Fireball Charming [Site][Trailer]
Production: Jinnis Animation Studios
Synopsis: A 3D computer animation about a female robot duchess named Drosel von Fl・el and her guardian servant robot Gedachtnis. Fireball takes place during the war between humans and robots. There is no real story, just individual episode skits.
[Honya]: I’m not sure if I like Drosel’s redesign but there’s no real reason for me not to watch this especially since I expect the sequel to have 1 minute episodes just like the original.
[Aorii]: If it’s that short, why not.

Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai [Site][Trailer]
Production: Nomad, Directed by Ushiro Shinji (Omamori Himamori, Campanella)
Synopsis: A big city filled with people and buildings. It is now winter. When you look up, there is the cold white sky. Young people with anxiety. Love. This is just a story you can find anywhere.
[Honya]: To be honest the main reason I’m looking forward to this is because I happen to like Shuffle. I don’t know whether I’ll like it as much but we’ll see.
[Aorii]: Navel is not known as one of the better visual novel studios. Matter of fact I’d say their storyboarding is outright bland, and I doubt the chances of this series making as big of an impact as the rewritten Kaede’s arc of Shuffle!, which opened the road to yandere characters…

Steins;Gate [Site][Trailer]
Production: White Fox, Directed by Hamasaki Hiroshi and Satou Takuya
Synopsis: Set in the summer of 2010 approximately one year after the events that took place in ChäoS;HEAd, Steins;Gate is about a group of friends who have customized their microwave into a device that can send text messages to the past. As they perform different experiments, an organization named SERN who has been doing their own research on time travel tracks them down and now the characters have to find a way to avoid being captured by them.
[Honya]: The ChäoS;HEAd anime was all over the place and didn’t quite live up to the original Nitro+ visual novel or so I’ve heard (I never read the original). Hopefully this new production staff will do a much better job of adapting the source material into an anime. Maybe this will be more than just Super Special.
[Aorii]: Chaos;Head is renowned insofar as the visual novel, yet its anime was seen as a disgrace by its fans. Hopefully a completely different team and director will produce a far better sequel; I can only keep my fingers crossed as a visual novel fan >.<

Maybe

Dog Days [Site]
Production: Seven Arcs, Directed by Kusakawa Keizou (Nanoha A’s/StrikerS), Created by Tsuzuki Masaki.
Synopsis: Republic of Biscotti faces a predicament by the invasion of Galette Leo Knights. In order to save the country, Princess Milchore summons a “hero” from the outer world. Shinku, a junior high school boy living in the Earth, is chosen as the hero.
[Honya]: At first I wasn’t interested in Dog Days until I found out it that it is by Tsuzuki Masaki, the creator of Nanoha! Of course that’s no guarantee that it will be good but a “Zero no Nanoha” could be amusing.
[Aorii]: By the same creator as Nanoha A’s/StrikerS and much of the same production team, that alone is enough incentive for me to pick this series up. For better or worse, StrikerS clearly identified Tsuzuki as one of those writers who enjoys building his settings, so I hope the world of Dog Days might somehow actually tie into the multi-dimensional universe Nanoha resides in~

Hidan no Aria [Site][Trailer]
Production: J.C. Staff, Directed by Watanabe Takashi (Shana)
Synopsis: The story takes place in Tokyo Butei High School, a special school where “Butei” (armed detectives) are trained to use weapons. Kinji Tooyama is a second-year-student who has a special ability, but he keeps it a secret to maintain an ordinary, peaceful life. However, when he gets caught in a bombing on the way to school, he encounters H. Aria Kanzaki, the most powerful S-Rank Butei student in Assault Studies.
[Honya]: J.C. Staff continues to produce Kugimiya Rie tsundere shows which as a fan I am somewhat attracted to watching this show. The premise sounds very much like Shana though I’ve also heard it isn’t nearly as well-developed.
[Aorii]: The first few chapters of the original light novel are translated on Baka-Tsuki and I read some of it— wasn’t impressed. The twin-tailed flat-chested midget-sized violent tsundere heroine is a perfect description of how generic its early scenes was, and the fact Mr. Protagonist has a special power that’s activated by sexual arousal doesn’t speak so highly either =\

Honto ni Atta! Reibai Sensei [Site]
Production: DLE Inc., Directed by Tani Azuma.
Synopsis: Kibayashi Juri is an eccentric teacher of a junior high school. Her pupils get involved in the troubles caused by ghosts and yokai demons summoned by Juri. In a history class, Juri summons the spirit of Nobunaga into a calm girl called Nitta Eri which makes her a spunky girl.
[Honya]: This is another show that makes it onto the list because of the obvious weird factor. Once I get a feel for what type of weird it constitutes I can make my final decision.
[Aorii]: Summoning the demonic Nobunaga into a laid-back girl is certainly amusing enough of an idea xD Will check out, but otherwise both the studio and its director’s inexperience isn’t putting expectations very far.

Appleseed XIII [Site][Trailer]
Production: Production I.G. and Jinnis, Directed by Hamana Takayuki (Toshokan Sensou), Created by Masamune Shirow (Ghost in the Shell:SAC)
Synopsis: After World War 3, the General Management Control Office construct an experimental city known as Olympus inhabited by humans, cyborgs, and bioriods, genetically perfected beings created to lead mankind. They run all administration of Olympus, which was meant to be an utopian society that would direct the rest of the war-shattered Earth. Here, Deunan Knute and Briareos Hecatonchires of the Olympus city police ESWAT team are determined to protect their new homes from foreign and domestic enemies.
[Honya]: Appleseed has had it’s fair share of anime adaptations in the past which I’ve heard weren’t that great so I’m a little reluctant to dive right in. I’m sure the original source material was fine but until I know how well it transitions to this new series, I’ll just hold off.
[Aorii]: Dystopian scifi incoming, with all the detailed setting design of GITS’ creator to add. Heard the previous OVA/movies weren’t so great, but hopefully this’ll be better ^^

Notable Movies/OVAs/Specials

Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo [Site][PV]
Production: CoMix Wave, Directed by Shinkai Makoto
[Honya]: Shinkai, ’nuff said.
[Aorii]: Here I was wondering what Shinkai Makoto has been doing! The legendary director of romance and background scenery seems to have taken an adventurous turn towards Miyazaki’s domain this time though, so I’m even more excited to see just what he turns up~ ^o^

Hotarubi no Mori he [Site]
Production: Brains Base, Directed by Takahiro Omori (Bacanno!/DRRR, Natsume Yuujincho), Created by Midorikawa Yuki
[Honya]: Seems to be somewhat like Natsume Yuujinchou so I’m interested.
[Aorii]: A tale of spirits and humans akin to that of the enchanting Natsume Yuujinchou, made by the same director and creator no less, sign me up please! ^o^

Tezuka Osamu no Buddha [Site][PV]
Production: Tezuka Production, Directed by Morishita Kozo, Created by Tezuka Osamu
[Honya]: The trailer looks absolutely amazing and I need a serious dosage of historical anime. Can’t wait until the home release.
[Aorii]: A much-delayed adaptation from the legendary creator of Astroboy (which really established the birth of anime popularity), seeking to portray the life of Buddha himself in a most historically accurate manner. Even without the fantastic trailer I’m just dying to watch this x)

Shimanchu Mirika [Site][PV]: I like Okinawa stuff and used to live close to there so I’ll definitely watch it.

Valkyria Chronicles 3 OVA [Site]: Being a big fan of the game series, I’m definitely watching this supplementary OVA for the VC3 game itself…

Nana to Kaoru [Site]: Are you an S or an M?

Baby Princess 3D Paradise 0 [Love] [Site]: I’m always a fan of anime-style 3D animation so I’ll give this a shot even though I have never read the books. I would if placed in front of me though.