Fall 2011 Anime Watch List

The next season looks to be a big one with many sequels as well as new material with potential. I tried to hold back but even still I have several shows I’ll be following with at least a dozen full-length TV series and one short-episode series not to mention a handful of TV shows that may sneak their way into my following list. Anime are sorted within their respective categories roughly by my general interest levels. Well onto the list!

Definitely Watching (New)

Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai [PV]
The basic concept of people with few or no friends forming a club for people with few or no friends just strikes such an emotional chord with me. Not to say I currently lack friends but I do understand well enough how hard it can be to make friends since I can be quite reclusive and shy in most situations. After reading all of the chapters of the manga currently out and up to the middle of volume 3 of the original light novel I can confidently say that this was exactly what I was looking for. The warped thought processes of the characters while humorous on the surface also resonate with me upon further self-reflection. Yozora says stuff in the first few chapters in particular which I can understand. It’s the same way for Sena though it tends to be more evenly distributed throughout the novels. A lot of what they say can be quite sad at times and outright deplorable to the extent that some may even call them horrible people but really everyone deserves friends. I’m not going to say anymore or explain myself further for the time being at least but this could end up as one of my favorite anime if it doesn’t stray too far from the original source material.

Chihayafuru [PV]
Girls’ sport series seems to be one of those random sub-genres that I apparently like a lot which is what makes this a must-watch. Well technically some will argue it’s not really sports but the competitive aspect and general themes are close enough so who cares. I read the first 9 chapters of the award-winning manga and it really moved my heart. Just so many things about it were amazing but at the center of it all is the passion for doing something you love despite what others may think and the friendship forged by it.

Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon [PV1 (Full ver.)][PV2 (Toori ver.)][PV2 (Horizon ver.)][OP Teaser]
The premise is quite complicated and confusing but rife with so much potential. As I said before it kinda reminds me of Tales of the Abyss which is not a bad thing. It also seems to have everything from mecha to magical girls to air ships/floating cities which could be amazing or a mess. I hope it’s the former. The fight scenes look nice at least.

Persona 4 The Animation [PV1-11]
Compared to many of my friends I’m not nearly as psyched up for this but that’s only due to the fact that they are deep in the Persona fanbase while I myself lack sufficient exposure. Aside from hearing my friends constantly talking about it my only real personal experience was with the very beginning of Persona 4 and only because I played it for an afternoon when a friend brought it over. Until I find the time to play through the game proper, possibly even the Vita remake if I get the platform, I’ll have to make do with this as a substitute. (I guess you could think of this as the reverse situation for me as with iDOLM@STER in the sense that I have most of the iM@S games while my friends have to settle for the anime version to try to understand my obsession with the series)

Busou Shinki Moon Angel [Battle Masters Mk.2 Opening Movie 1] [Battle Masters Mk.2 Opening Movie 2]
I’ve kinda made it a mini-project of mine to watch all the mecha musume anime to determine which one I like best so it really shouldn’t be a surprise that I would pick this up. Because of that I also immediately realized that the Busou Shinki figure line and Sky Girls anime share the same character and mecha designer. I do not own any of the Busou Shinki figures but to be honest the opening videos of the latest game especially the second one look quite cool which sort of make me want to “fix” that. I’m also fascinated by how the toy line is depicted in the game in a fashion similar to Angelic Layer or Custom Robo except with seemingly autonomous figures. With weekly episodes that are only a few minutes in length this will not be a massive time sink either. I wonder which Shinki will end up being my favorite? Perhaps one similar to Charlotte Dunois?

Mirai Nikki [PV]
I’m pretty sure I’ve probably expressed my fascination with yandere so it should be quite easy to guess which character I’m watching this for. Well there actually are other reasons but she’s the reason I became interested in the first place. I’ll just leave it at that. I suppose this technically belongs in the sequel category but the OVA was kinda more of an extended trailer than a proper episode.

Definitely Watching (Sequels/Prequels)

Working’!! [PV]
The original Working!! anime was definitely one of my favorite shows when it was airing. The whole cast is wonderful and a pleasure to watch every week but I’m most looking forward to more Inami x Takanashi relationship development especially if it involves the appearance of Kotori again. Judging from the preair version of episode 1 however Takanashi still has a long way to go to prove he doesn’t deserve to be pummeled by Inami on a daily basis.

Shinryaku!? Ika Musume [PV]
Just as above Ika Musume was one of my favorites of its season being able to deliver consistently hilarious squid-based humor de geso. All it really needs to do is provide more of the same and I’ll be satisfied.

Shakugan no Shana III (Final) [PV]
While Shana S was coming out my anticipation for III steadily grew. Some people were disappointed with the first half of Second but the latter half really made up for it considering how they actually introduced things from the books which should have been put in earlier namely Yuuji’s development as a fighter with an immense Power of Existence. By the looks of the PV that decision will payoff since it seems like J.C. Staff will be animating the part of the novels I had originally suspected that they would be doing for Second as in that whole confrontation between Shana and Yuuji.

Fate/Zero [PV1] [PV2]
It’s fairly safe to say that I am at least a little bit of a TYPE-MOON fan but I haven’t had experience with Tsukihime nor Canaan yet despite wanting to for a while and all of my knowledge of the Fate/Zero light novels comes from conversations with Aorii. Nonetheless that is enough to let me know I’ll enjoy this not to mention the fact that I’m awaiting certain scenes I’ve heard so much about animated by ufotable.

Bakuman Second Season
Quite enjoyed the first season given my interest in the whole process of manga aspect not to mention the hilarity of the Mashiro and Takagi combination. Towards the end several new characters where introduced so I’m looking forward to seeing more of them in the future.

Last Exile: Fam the Silver Wing [PV1] [PV2]
I just recently watched the original Last Exile a few months ago so things are still plenty fresh in my mind so when I watched the new PVs I was astonished by how well it evokes the feeling of its predecessor. I’ve also heard that the first episode had a great reception at AX. I honestly believe GONZO’s recent pushes are good attempts at a comeback and I hope it works out for them in the end. Immelmann turn!

Tamayura ~Hitotose~ [PV]
I’m not sure what to say here other than I did enjoy the OVA. Can’t really say I had enough time to get to know the characters in depth but the TV series should fix that.

May Watch At Some Point

C³ [PV]
I started my research on this by reading chapter 1 of the manga version of CubexCursedxCurious and I have to say I liked the concept from the very start which is basically that long-lived cursed weapons called Wrath can attain human-form and may even eventually be freed from their curse. The story starts off like stereotypical fanservice fare and pretty much begs for harem-style shenanigans since the female-form weapons have to cohabit with protagonist Haruaki in order to be purified. That was my initial reaction but after reading the first couple of chapters of the original light novels however I was pleasantly surprised since it shows off more of its potential. The concepts were much more clearly outlined such as the fact that it’s the land where Haruaki lives which lifts curses and that further more Wrath can work towards their goal through good deeds. The first conflict between an enemy during chapter 2 was quite exciting and things that come up such as Fear’s past help us delve deeper into the personal feelings and baggage that the Wrath carry such as being tools of torture and murder. The two initial sides fighting each other representing repentance vs punishment in regards to dealing with cursed weapons has potential.

Chibi Devil!
The manga is very cute and the main heroine is kinda in a sad situation so it makes me want to cheer for her as she raises a devil baby. I’m also a sucker for parental stories like this.

Guilty Crown [PV]
Unfortunately it looks like I may be skipping out on noitaminA this season. The whole idea of the protagonist having a special power in his right hand which allows him to pulls weapons out of his friends by itself is pretty cool and reminds me of some weird cross between Index and Dantalian. If it weren’t for the whole time issue, I probably would be watching this for sure.

Un-Go [PV]
I generally enjoy mystery series so that by itself has me interested. However I am not familiar enough with the original story from which this is based on to make a solid decision as to whether I want to watch this for sure.

Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai!! [PV]
This absolutely screams of the type of show I’d feel dumb for watching after the fact but after reading a bit of the manga I’m not so sure. I was fairly entertained by the characters and at least the parts of the story I read through were decent though not necessarily super special which appears to line up what others have said about the visual novel. Speaking of which the original game has a stellar cast so it’s nice to see them reprising their roles for the anime which should be pleasant listening

Ben-To [PV] [Character Intro]
An odd concept but really I don’t know enough to make me want to watch it unconditionally. The fight scenes seem to be an absolute brawl which could be fun if frequent enough.

Mashiro-Iro Symphony [PV]
I’m not quite sure why this is here but it seems kinda relaxing. Could be the song. Apparently this is one of those sugary sweet series which really doesn’t have much drama but rather focuses on pure lovey-dovey romance. I also heard that the humor relies more on the group as a whole rather than specific individual characters and that the story is easy mode as far as adapting it into an anime is concerned. Apparently it’s pretty similar in style to Shukufuku no Campanella which I honestly wouldn’t mind given the random episodes I saw Aorii watching while we were in the same room.

Phi Brain: Kami no Puzzle [PV]
Mainly interested in this after accidentally watching the PV. The puzzle game aspect is what has me intrigued.

OVA/Specials

Ikoku Meiro no Croisée: Yune & Alice
Alice is definitely my favorite part of this series so specials with her playing with Yune is exactly what I want.

Usagi Drop Specials
More Daikichi and Rin bonding together is welcomed with open arms.

Kimi ni Todoke OAD
An extra episode, why not?

Astarotte no Omocha! EX
Judging by the cover the episode will most likely delve into shota territory but I’m also guessing that there will be something heartwarming to go along with it too.

IS: Infinite Stratos Encore: Koi ni Kogareru Sextet
Extra fanservice episode so no real expectations. I just want more Charlotte screen time.

Movies (for later)

Eiga Suite Precure♪: Torimodose! Kokoro ga Tsunagu Kiseki no Melody♪ [Trailer]
Precure is basically one of my favorite franchises ever so I’m highly anticipating this movie’s Blu-ray home release. I just hope I don’t get spoiled before than.

Mardock Scramble: The Second Combustion [PV]
I knew from the pounding of my heart at the end of The First Compression that I wanted to see the continuation as soon as possible which unfortunately still means several months until it hits retail. The main character Balot herself and her mental state are quite intriguing for reasons I do not want to state to avoid spoilers. All I’ll say is that there are a lot of messed up things in the movie’s setting although to be honest I was hesitant to state it that way as I refuse to apply it to a certain person.

Hotarubi no Mori he [Trailer]
Brains Base does a fantastic job with its supernatural/fantasy slice-of-life series such as Kamichu and Natsume Yuujinchou so I expect the same for this movie.

Toaru Hikuushi he no Tsuioku [News Flash] [Trailer]
I have a thing for planes so things that feature them heavily like this movie automatically trigger my radar.