Fall 2006 Look Ahead

Yes - this means I'm back to blogging. Sorry about the delay.

Looking at summer would have been boring anyway. Summer's usually a lot of hype and only a little substance and this year wasn't much different. Anyway, on to the fall! Remember shows are not sorted in a grade level.

THE A LIST

1) Ghost Hunt - I've actually been wanting to get this manga for awhile. Anything shoujo that falls outside the normal shoujo conventions I consider pretty interesting. Generally I find shoujo is more stereotyped than shonen - at least there's four different kinds of stock shonen shows, there's really only two shoujo ones (unless I get to count BL as a third). This mystery/occult shoujo series sounds right up my alley. Outlook: Favorable - particularly for Del Rey.
2) Black Lagoon 2 - Yeah, like there was any chance I'd be missing this. I'm salivating over the DVDs, my wife missed the first season and didn't want to go back when she found out it was coming to the US. Outlook: Very favorable, for everyone but my wallet.
3) Red Garden - The GONZO series I'm looking forward to the most - from recent experience, I'll probably hate it. Outlook: Initially favorable, but could flip with Pumpkin Scissors with little notice.
4) Negima!? - Could be good, could be bad. It's the team from Pani Poni Dash and Tsukuyomi Moon Phase (good); however, all new adventures is not precisely what I want to hear about my favorite shonen manga of all time. Outlook: Cautiously optimistic.
5) Hataraki Man - Noitamina block mojo, plus (what I consider) interesting subject matter. Look, I like the next high school drama as much as the next guy, but it's hard to be that concerned about what's going on when I know that five years later they're not even going to remember who they were dating. Outlook: Bring on the adults!

THE B LIST

1) Pumpkin Scissors - There's something about GONZO. Rarely do I love a series they do, rarely do I leave them satisfied, but they're almost always an enjoyable watch if nothing else. Per usual the GONZO freaks will probably love it, most people will probably call it overrated, and I'll probably be somewhere in the middle. Outlook: Mild
2) Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge - Another Del Rey series I've been wanting to start reading for a while now (it's also known as the Wallflower). I have semi-high hopes for this one. I at least expect my wife to find it funny. Outlook: Good, if it's funny
3) Asatte no Houkou - The front runner to replace Zero no Tsukaima/Shakugan no Shana/Tsukuyomi Moon Phase. Outlook: Pretty good (it's JC Staff), but not great (it's JC Staff).
4) Sumomomo Momomo - Yeah, I know. Normally I hate high concept, but this high concept I actually think sounds kind of cool. I'm going to give the manga a half-hearted try and see if it interests me. Outlook: Pretty good
5) Kujibiki Unbalance - Unintentional comedy factor figures to be very high. Outlook: Favorable, though I am concerned that it's going to be impossible to live up to what the Genshiken thinks of it.
6) Ayakashi Ayashi - Never a fan of Blood+ (it's the vampires); however, this has a pretty good chance to be one of my favorite series. Since this is such a high leverage time slot I'm expecting pretty good things. Outlook: Give me 70% of FMA and it'll easily justify the B list.
7) Bartender - Either high on the unintentional comedy scale or seriously great. Either way I win. Outlook: Probably watching all of it.

THE C LIST

1) Tokimeki Memorial - My only real interest is that this is (apparently) actually a game. It's been referenced in so many places (most recently Ouran High Host Club) that I had thought it was like one enormous in-joke. Outlook: Favorable - especially if cheesy.
2) D Gray Man - Interesting idea. There's usually a couple of shonen series that I end up liking every year. Gothic is definitely not my thing, but buzz is high on this one, young jedi. Outlook: Mediocre - it's a Jump title. Rarely do they live up to my expectations.
3) Death Note - I actually think this probably has a slightly better chance than D Gray Man, if only because I wish I could find that note. Outlook - Semi favorable, in a Jigoku Shoujo kind of way.
4) Mamoru-kun ni Megami no Shukufuku wo! - Mildly looking forward to it. Seems like it could be this season's Tsukuyomi Moon Phase/Shakugan no Shana/Zero no Tsukaima. Outlook: Pretty good - at least if they're doing another one it's a non-loli for once.
5) Kanon - The quintessential sad-girl-in-the-snow anime, from which the meme hath sprung. However, I'm not sure Kyo Ani can elevate this to something I'm dying to see each week. I have no doubt it'll be executed well, but the entire time I'll be fuming about the lack of FMP and MoSH. Outlook: Good that I'll watch it, poorer that I'll actually love it.
6) Gift ~eternal rainbow~ - The sad girl anime I'm expecting to like. I'm getting a serious Da Capo vibe (and not just from the artwork. Hopefully it delivers as well as that series did. Outlook: Pretty favorable, but game-to-animes are pretty much dartboards when guessing.
7) REBORN! - If I were to guess at the Jump title I'm going to like, this would be the one. Comedy always helps. Outlook: Pretty good.

THE D LIST

1) Lovedol ~Lovely Idol - Navel's summer offering this year. Shuffle was fine, Soul link stank, I imagine this will be somewhere in the middle. Outlook: Poor - idol anime does little for me.
2) Yoake Mae Yori Ruriiro na Crescent Love - Another game-to-anime conversion. I'm not even bothering to guess which one I'm likely to like anymore. Honestly plot details between them aren't that distinct either. Outlook: Better than Lovely Idol, not great.
3) Happiness! - Yeah, I'm not to proud to admit it - this is all about Yura Hinata. Outlook: Good that I'll watch every episode that has Kareha-sempai in it and end every one of her sentences "My My My"
4) CODE GEASS - It's all about the CLAMP character designs. Outlook: At least an episode.

Spring 2006 - post mortem

Well, I was about as far off on that season as you can possibly be.

We'll examine the list in the order I thought I'd like them and then I'll end up giving them a grade. My comments will be in lilac (because I'm secure enough that it doesn't bother me).

The A List

1) Makai Senki Disgaea - If it's half as amusing as the promos have been, I might have to run off and buy the game too. Well, it did have it's moments. I actually had a couple of moments where I thought it was pretty funny, but if I'd never seen it, it wouldn't have affected me much either. C+

2) School Rumble 2nd Semester - Probably the show I'm looking forward to the most. I love the manga, I loved the first season, and it's probably single handedly responsible for turning me back to anime at a period when there really wasn't much of it going on that I thought I would enjoy. Turned out about like I expected, unfortunately this part of the manga has some of the pieces I love the best (the school festival shoot out) and some of the parts that bore me to tears. A-

3) Tsubasa Chronicles 2nd season - Another one, loved the first season, love the manga. Can't imagine I won't love this as well. How does something this promising completely jump the shark? I've actually stopped watching for the most part. Though the episode where Mokona draws a story was pretty funny. That that's the highlight speaks volumes about where this series is at. C-

4) XXXHOLiC - I actually like the XXXholic manga better than the Tsubasa Chronicles one, so I'm cautiously optimistic about the anime version. And I also liked the anime better than the second season of Tsubasa. Weirdly xxxHOLiC ended up being one of those shows that I absolutely adored each week, and yet, never really discussed it much or dealt with it. The music was fabulous, the opening stylish, and I thought the animation was great at representing CLAMP's work. A

The B List

1) Ergo Proxy - As others have noted, this carries a heavy Blade Runner type vibe. And that's a really good thing. Never ended up watching past the first episode. The Japanese was way beyond me, subs seemed somewhat sporadic and I just didn't enjoy it that much. C-

2) NANA - More to see what the fuss is then anything else. It's inordinately popular and the manga has just started up here in the US. The fuss is apparently that this is pretty good drama and comedy. Not quite soap-operatic, but definitely more in the realm of low drama than high. B+

3) Shinigami no Ballad - Bleach with a cute little girl. Love her sickle. Never even watched it. Incomplete

4) Soul Link - If I were to guess this is probably one of the game-to-anime conversions I'll like the best, but then, except for the aborted ending to the Kaede arc, I actually liked the Shuffle! series as well. I would love to tell you there's a good reason why I watched all of this show, but it was pretty awful. F

The C List

1) Ah! My goddess: The second season- I've mentioned before that I didn't particularly enjoy the manga, I haven't even watched the first season, but maybe it's time to give it a chance. I've now seen the first season, and this season, and I may be becoming a convert. Maybe it's leaving behind the problems of youth, but I'm starting to really enjoy slice of life shows. Meaning shows that make zero plot progress. B+

2) Air Gear - I've never really read or watched any of Oh! Great's material, but I'm willing to give this a chance. I missed the boat on TenTen (and now it's licensed by a company that decided it would still be appealing if they edited it), but Del Ray is going to have Air Gear, so I might give this a chance to see if it would be worth buying the manga. Corny as all good shonen action series are, predictable as heck, and animated on a shoestring budget - I've still actually enjoyed this enough to start buying the manga. Weird. B-

3) Finalist - Here's my prediction for the harem series. One of them I'll really like, one of them I'll really hate, and the rest will be amusing enough that I'll watch them when they come out. Interestingly this crop seems more based off of game conversions than manga (which was where the winter season mined gold for me). So I'm expecting less in the way of funny, more in the way of drama. If I'm going to pick ahead of time, I'm looking forward to this less than the others, but I doubt it'll end up being the one I hate. Did this ever even come out? I missed it completely. Incomplete.

4) Utawarerumono - I imagine I'll enjoy this somewhat, but not in a "OMG WHAT HAPPENS NEXT WEEK?" sort of way. Similar to xxxHOLiC this ended up being a show that I loved watching each week, but not something I did much discussion on (beyond the level of "Whoa, Karura is hot.").

The D List

1) Higurashi no Naku koro ni - Not only based off of a game, but a doujin game apparently as well. And a murder mystery one at that. Interesting enough that I will definitely give one episode a try. And wow, the first of the big misses. I figured this would be something like Case Closed on the down side and Spiral on the up side. I wish they made more anime like this, even knowing that it left out a quarter to half the plot, there's still enough there for me to recognize superior source material. Amazing. If only the animation wasn't so bad, and they had actually decided to include the missing material. This is actually the second show that convinced my wife to watch fansubbed anime. A-

2) Himawari! - Before Kage Kara Mamoru! this would have been on the F list, but now I figure if it's half as funny as that show, I can deal with the fact that it's about ninjas. Seemed somewhat yawn-worthy. Then it got dropped. Could be funny, depending on how the rest of it plays out, but didn't overcome my "Oh no, not ninjas" reflex. C

3) RAY The Animation - I know almost nothing about this show, but the description seems kind of neat in a Witch Hunter Robin sort of way. Still haven't actually watched it (though I keep meaning to), maybe that's next week's project. Incomplete

4) Strawberry Panic - I fail to see how this can't be successful. Yeah, it's yuri, but my objection about yuri and yaoi has more to do with the overly angst-ful part then the nature of yaoi and yuri themselves. This seems to take itself less seriously. Only watched the first episode and was unimpressed; however, I hear that this is actually exceptionally angsty (like Mai HiME levels of angst). So I'm waiting for the last episode and what will probably be a shotgun viewing.

The E List

1) Gintama - Samurai and aliens? I'll probably see what other people have to say about it and then decide based off of that. Didn't hear anything, so I passed. Incomplete.

2) Hack//GU - I'm going to have to admit that I've never watched any of the .Hack stuff (or read it either). But it has a pretty avid following, so I'll probably at least give this a try. Of course, the last time I said that I ended up watching Gundam Seed Destiny. Passed on it. Incomplete.

3) Hime-sama Goyoujin - Now I'm going to have to admit that I can't get past the first episode of the first season of Rozen Maiden either. Though I probably could at least try the rest of it (it wouldn't really take long as both seasons together are only 26 episodes I believe). Passed on it. Incomplete.

4) Inukami! - Sounds somewhat like Mai Hime or maybe Shakugan no Shana, either one without the serious parts. Have to admit I'm not really much of a fan of the character designs. Animation was atrocious, show was hysterical. Now I want to read the light novels. B+

5) Joshikousei GIRLS-HIGH - Don't especially care for the overt Yuri overtones, but I said the same thing about Kashimashi and I've ended up liking that. I imagine if it spends a lot of time poking fun at girls (I've been married for ten years and have yet to see much in the way of comedy that pokes fun at gender differences in anything other than stereotypical ways) and snooty people in general it will be funny. If it's just an excuse to have yuri pillow fights, I'll probably pass. Unless they're really funny pillow fights. Wow, how wrong can you be? No yuri, and very hysterical. For those of you who treat women like they come from another planet, this is much more what they're like. Just as crude as boys. For what it's worth, my wife claims this is probably the most accurate anime depiction of high school aged females she's ever seen. B

6) Kishin Houkou Demon Bane - This is the anime-from-game that I'm betting I probably won't care for. Haven't watched yet. Incomplete.

7) Ohran High School Host Club - I'm detecting a high yaoi/yuri probability here, but am holding off judgement until I see how well it's handled. The second in the list of complete misses. This is the show that convinced my wife to watch fansubbed anime. It actually spurred the purchase of a video card with an s-video out so I could pump the video to the DLP TV in the living room. My wife is very upset that it's ending. A+

The F List

1) Aria 2nd Season - Didn't watch the first either. For me, exceptionally slow shows have to either be romances (see, Suzuka), or damn fine examples of anime (see GiTS:SAC). I have it, but I haven't gotten around to watching the first season yet, so I haven't yet gotten around to this one either. Incomplete

2) Fushigiboshi no Futagohime Gyu! - Didn't watch the first season. Magical girls really just don't usually do it for me. Still don't and I still haven't watched it. Incomplete.

3) Ju Oh Sei - Neither the description nor the character design does much for me. Oh if I'd known then what I know now. I missed the fact that this was airing in the Noitamina time slot. For those who don't know Noitamina is a time slot where the channel only shows josei/shoujo shows (i.e. created to appeal to females). Quality level is usually quite high, though I haven't necessarily cared for all the shows. Jyu Oh Sei is in the quite unique spot of being a shoujo science fiction adventure show. While it has romance, the elements are not any greater than in a typical shounen show. I wouldn't call it a great show, but it was significantly better than I was expecting. C+

4) Kamisama Kazoku - Unless it turns out to be another Kamichu, which would be a good thing. I have mixed emotions about this show - it's not really bad, but it's not really good either. I enjoyed pieces (Tenko's baby was a crack up), but the overall story didn't leave much of an impression. My wife thought it was funny though. C

The Unranked

1) Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - 'Nuff said. It was pretty good. A+