The new fall season is almost here, and it’s going to be quite a doozy with big names like Gundam 00 alongside sequels like Nodame Cantabile Paris and new titles like Michiko to Hatchin. There are a whopping 35+ series premiering - that’s not even counting the kiddie shows - and there should be something for everyone, from mecha to space operas to slice-of-life comedies to dark romances and more. As usual, I’ll try to watch the first episode of most shows within certain parameters (in other words, not the kiddie shows), and what I list here are the chances of me actually blogging something based on my initial impressions from promotional material - which incidentally there is a ton of this time around. However, even if I list the chances for a show as good or guaranteed, it doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll stick with it for more than a few episodes.
By no means does this list reflect every single anime series that is going to be aired, though I did try to be as comprehensive as I could. Check out MOON PHASE for an entire listing, syoboi’s calendar for specific air-times, and Fansub Wiki’s Fall 2008 page for who’s tentatively subbing what.
Technical Note: All times are given in a 24-hour, relative-day format where times are extended to show which day they belong to. For instance, Friday morning at 1:30AM would become Thursday at 25:30 to show that the episode aired late Thursday night.
Toradora! http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/toradora/
Premieres October 1st, 2008
Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Wednesdays at 25:20
Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Wednesdays at 12:20
Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi
Toradora! follows a guy and girl who are in love with each other’s best friends and decide to help each other out. Along the way, they develop a very unique and close relationship. The female lead here is a role that was tailor made for Kugimiya Rie due to the way she acts and how she treats the male lead like a servant (much like Louise or Shana). Being animated by J.C.Staff as well will probably only increase the likeness. Horie Yui’s also has a role in this, and put all together, this is a series generating a lot of buzz - I’ve even heard it called the next Suzumiya Haruhi. I don’t think it’ll have quite that much impact, but I’ve liked what I’ve read of the light novels and manga so far, so I’m tentatively planning on watching this.
Odds I’ll Blog This: Good
Linebarrels of Iron http://www.linebarrels.jp/
Premieres October 3rd, 2008
Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Fridays at 26:25
Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Fridays at 13:25
Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi
The big series Gonzo is pushing for the fall season - to the point where they’ve released a PV in English - starts with a boy who meets a naked girl with no memories and obtains a mecha via an accident. He subsequently becomes a powerful pilot and has a to fight a lot of battles and such. My initial reaction to the plot was that it’s rather generic sounding, and it doesn’t help any that this is being animated by Gonzo and has character designs by Hirai Hisashi (those of you who have been reading RC for a while now will remember that, thanks to SEED Destiny, I get a bad feeling whenever I see a show with his character designs). On the other hand, this has a pretty strong cast including Fukuyama Jun, Hirano Aya, and Noto Mamiko, and the PVs don’t look that bad. Fridays are likely going to come down to a choice of this or Tales of the Abyss.
Odds I’ll Blog This: Decent
Note: This is a rather long and fairly comprehensive list of the shows coming in October. Much much more after the jump, including the torrent link for promotional material.
If you’ve been wondering why I haven’t written one of these posts in about three weeks, it’s because I’ve been in the middle of a move and haven’t had much time to do anything extra over the shows I’m blogging regularly. Things haven’t quite settled down yet, so my schedule’s still in a bit of a flux, but I didn’t want to put this off any further since there’s so many new series announcements, PVs, etc piling up. Unfortunately all this also means that I won’t have time to continue keeping up with Tetsuwan Birdy like I wanted to, so I had to drop that.
Remember that show Dragonaut from earlier this year that was heavily panned? The show’s official website has posted a preview for the DVD episode 26 that’s due to be released in September. I feel like I should watch it if for no other reason than to make fun of it.
If you find anything that you think I should mention on any particular day’s Daily Dose, please send me an email with the words “ANIME NEWS” somewhere in the subject line.
Macross Frontier artwork - yes you read that right - at left courtesy of ulti on pixiv (account needed to access)
It was announced in Megami Magazine that there is a Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha movie coming early next year. The movie will not be a reedit of the first series but will instead be an alternate retelling.
And finally, here’s an odd story: Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal front-paged an article about Lucky Star and how it’s affecting the Washinomiya Shrine area. You may remember this topic from various sources all throughout last year when Lucky Star popularity was at its peak. Now, I understand that the WSJ editors like to use non-standard stories that relate to businesses and people making money, and it’s cool to see something from our neck of the woods make it into the mainstream, but I still have to question the newsworthiness of this article for their front page, never mind the fact that they also included pictures of crossplayers. Perhaps I’m just holding the Wall Street Journal to too high a standard. Thanks Keith for the heads-up.
If you find anything that you think I should mention on any particular day’s Daily Dose, please send me an email with the words “ANIME NEWS” somewhere in the subject line.
Original artwork at left courtesy of 計算 on pixiv (account needed to access)
Upcoming fall series Kuroshitsuji has a website now, and on it is a 2-minute promo video. It requires Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player though, so I’ve uploaded it for those of you who have troubles getting it to play.
You may remember that last year around this time NTV aired a three-hour Death Note special that covered the entire L arc. Well they’ve announced that they’ll be airing another one on August 22nd, this time covering the Near/Mello arc.
The Macross Frontier Superlive was last night, and mainichi.jp has pictures and a report from the event. Pretty much all the songs from the series were performed, including Kanno Yoko herself playing a piano/ballad version of Triangular to Sakamoto Maaya’s singing. Nakajima Megumi and May’n finished the concert by performing the new OP Lion together. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the new OP will premiere on this upcoming week’s episode.
If you find anything that you think I should mention on any particular day’s Daily Dose, please send me an email with the words “ANIME NEWS” somewhere in the subject line.
Image at left courtesy of あさの on pixiv (account needed to access)
You may remember last month that I mentioned that there’s a CODE GEASS themed laptop being sold. Well now you can buy a USB memory stick in the shape of the key to the Lancelot. It’s horrendously expensive though at a price of 9240 yen (approx. $86 US) for a 2GB memory stick. Still, it’s bright and shiny, so I’m sure it’ll be popular.
And finally, I got caught up on the Bleach manga last night. I had previously stopped right before the Turn Back the Pendulum arc, and now that I’ve read that, I just have to say that Kubo Tite is 100 times better at creating an exciting and gripping plot than the writers for the anime original arcs. It’s probably not even the best part of the Bleach story, but the comparison is just that stark. Hopefully the upcoming grand battle will be just as good.
If you find anything that you think I should mention on any particular day’s Daily Dose, please send me an email with the words “ANIME NEWS” somewhere in the subject line.
Image at left courtesy of 西原いさお on pixiv (account needed to access)
Both Tsubasa Chronicle and xxxHOLiC are getting Original Animation DVD (OAD) releases with upcoming volumes of their respective manga in a new CLAMP and Production I.G project. The first one, an xxxHOLiC episode, will come out with volume 14 of the xxxHOLiC manga in January of 2009, and the subsequent Tsubasa Chronicle episode will come out in February 2009 with volume 26 of the Tsubasa Chronicle manga. After Tokyo Revelations turned out so good, I’m glad to hear that there’ll be more by Production I.G. Thanks Julie for the heads up.
The School Rumble manga has ended. I hear a lot of people aren’t too happy about the way it ended, and there is a follow-up called School Rumble Z coming.
It’s now official that Xam’d Lost Memories will premiere in Japan via the Playstation Store in September. It will get a weekly release for 26 total episodes. The first episode is already available in the US Playstation Store, and I wrote about it here.
The Gurren Lagann movie website is now hosting a trailer, though it requires Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player to watch. If for whatever reason you can’t watch it, don’t feel too bad because there’s nothing new in it other than some music.
If you find anything that you think I should mention on any particular day’s Daily Dose, please send me an email with the words “ANIME NEWS” somewhere in the subject line.
Image at left courtesy of ゴリ松 on pixiv (account needed to access)
After nearly a one-month hiatus because of the new season, I’m back to doing Daily Doses. This particular post is a bit of a backlog post for the big items from the past few weeks.
If you watched the first Gundam 00 series and haven’t yet been spoiled about a certain something, I urge you NOT to go to the official site. I made the mistake of doing so after I saw the commercial that aired after this weekend’s episode of CODE GEASS, and I got spoiled when I checked out the details on the list of Mobile Suits.
New Anime Announcements (list almost entirely courtesy of MOON PHASE)
• BLACK LAGOON is getting a third series.
• Kyou no Go no Ni is also getting a television anime (instead of more OVAs).
• ef - a tale of melodies anime has been announced for this Fall season.
• Umineko no Naku Koro ni is getting an anime.
• Shounen manga Kuroshitsuji is getting an anime.
• Mystery/supernatural novel series Mouryou no Hako is getting an anime that’ll be produced by Madhouse and will have character designs done by CLAMP.
• Love adventure game Akane Iro ni Somaru Saka will be getting an anime this Fall. This series is going to have a truckload of voice talent, including the likes of Hirano Aya, Kugimiya Rie, Inoue Marina, and Tanaka Rie.
The Tales of the Abyss anime adaptation will air this Fall on MBS, meaning it has a good chance of taking Macross F’s Thursday timeslot since Gundam 00 is likely replacing CODE GEASS R2.
The White Album anime adaptation has a website now with news that the series will start January of 2009. It will feature Hirano Aya and Mizuki Nana in two of the lead roles.
If you find anything that you think I should mention on any particular day’s Daily Dose, please send me an email with the words “ANIME NEWS” somewhere in the subject line.
Image at left courtesy of サツキ on pixiv (account needed to access)….and yes, I have been reading Toradora! recently
It’s that time of the year again: the start of the summer season! Summer isn’t as big as spring or fall - there’s about two-thirds as many shows premiering compared to this past spring - but there are still several exciting titles to talk about. As usual, I’ll watch the first episode of most shows within certain parameters (in other words, not the kiddie shows), and what I list here are the chances of me actually blogging something based on my initial impressions from promotional material. However, even if I list the chances for a show as good or guaranteed, it doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll stick with it for more than a few episodes.
By no means does this list reflect every single anime series that is going to be aired, though I did try to be as comprehensive as I could. Check out MOON PHASE for an entire listing, syoboi’s calendar for specific air-times, and Fansub Wiki’s Summer 2008 page for who’s tentatively subbing what.
Technical Note: All times are given in a 24-hour, relative-day format where times are extended to show which day they belong to. For instance, Friday morning at 1:30AM would become Thursday at 25:30 to show that the episode aired late Thursday night.
Sekirei http://www.sekirei-tv.com/
Premieres July 2nd, 2008
Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Wednesdays at 23:30
Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Wednesdays at 10:30
Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi
Sekirei is one of the series generating the most pre-season excitement, partially because it comes from a fairly well established manga, and partially because there’s been a lot of promotional material for it. The story involves a worthless guy who failed his college entrance exams but one day has a beautiful and buxom girl suddenly fall out of the sky on top of him. The girl chooses him as her master, and they subsequently get involved in a battle royale with other fighters. The manga has a lot of fanservice and nudity to go with all the action, and if the PVs are any indicator, it looks like the anime version will follow suit. I’ve generally heard pretty good things about this though (I’ve personally only read a couple of chapters), and it’s also being worked on the same Seven Arcs team that did Inukami! and all three Nanoha series, so this might be something that might be worth tuning in for.
Odds I’ll Blog This: Good
Zero no Tsukaima ~Princesses no Rondo~ http://www.zero-tsukaima.com/
Premieres July 6th, 2008
Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Sundays at 24:30
Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Sundays at 11:30
Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi
If you’ve been coming to Random Curiosity for a while, Zero no Tsukaima is a series that probably needs no introduction since I’ve blogged both the first two series. You may also remember that, particularly towards the end, I wasn’t too happy with the second series and had questioned whether I would want to watch a third one. Well that time has finally come, and the decision is still up in the air. The third series will feature Louise and Saito going back to Albion to search for the fairy with mysterious powers (aka. Tiffania), and apparently Saito’s rune disappears as well. My issue with the series currently is that I know that the anime adaptation has completely ruined any semblance of the novels’ overarching story, and while that doesn’t necessarily prevent the anime adaptation from being good in its own right, the second series proved to be rather lackluster. Add to that the fact that this is airing on the same day of the week as CODE GEASS, and I’m less inclined to devote the time to blog this. In short, if the second series had been better, I’d mark this as guaranteed, but as it stands, I’m taking a wait-and-see approach with the first few episodes.
Odds I’ll Blog This: Good
Note: This is a rather long and fairly comprehensive list of the shows coming in July. Much much more after the jump, including the torrent link for promotional material.
I apologize for the lack of Daily Doses recently. The Summer 2008 Preview is taking a lot longer than I thought to write because I have quite a bit to say about some of the series. I’m compiling this Daily Dose because I don’t want to fall too far behind on the news, and because I want to point people to the newest Parallel Works video.
This week’s Gurren Lagann Parallel Works belongs to artist SUEZEN, and it combines the instrumental track BafBaf! Sonna ni Moeru no ga…Suki Kai? with video of Viral and the others playing a Gurren Lagann themed pachinko machine. It’s an amusing watch, though I still like last week’s more, both in song and in accompanying video. It’s hard to beat “raw! raw! fight the power!”
The website for upcoming summer anime Koihime Musou has (finally) updated with new information.
If you find anything that you think I should mention on any particular day’s Daily Dose, please send me an email with the words “ANIME NEWS” somewhere in the subject line.
Unless there’s some big news, I likely won’t be posting any Daily Doses over the next few days so that I can work on the Summer 2008 Preview instead. There’s only half as many new shows as the spring, but it still takes a lot of time to research and write up.
If you find anything that you think I should mention on any particular day’s Daily Dose, please send me an email with the words “ANIME NEWS” somewhere in the subject line.
Image at left courtesy of ゆりこ on pixiv (account needed to access).
