It has been a long time coming, but here is the second and final part of my analysis for the upcoming season of anime. As with Part 1, I shall be using the same “Sakutarou” Review System and shall be debating the possibility of the series being simulcast alongside my thoughts on the series. As UN-GO and Fate/Zero have already been announced for simulcast and therefore I have already put down me thoughts for them, they will be excluded from this article.
Chihayafuru
4th October 2011
Chihaya is a lighthearted tomboy, who’s not especially good at anything in particular. Her dream has always been for her sister (an aspiring model) to become number one beauty in Japan, or perhaps in the world. But then one day she meets someone who tells her that a dream is something that should concern only herself – and something she has to work hard for as well. At the same time Chihaya discovers a passion for the old Japanese game – hyakunin ishhu, also called “karuta”.
Not to say that this will be a bad series, however it does not conform to what I would consider a unique series or one that would prove interesting to me. A desire for a sister to become the number one beauty in Japan really sounds bland, although I am curious as to what this hyakunin ishhu game is. On the plus side however, the design quality seems to be fairly good. This is a series I am actually expecting to be picked up.
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Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai
6th October 2011
Kodaka Hasegawa is just trying to get through his school life, but one day he saw the cute but forever pissed off girl Yozora Mikaduki alone, happily talking to herself. Kodaka and Yozora started discussing how to make friends, and Yozora, with her excessive action powerness started a tragic club. Then, as things went crazy, one by one other regretful cute girls also joined the club. Together they played galgames, went swimming, and they put together stage acts. Can our hero, who got suckered into the mess, become good friends with others? The even-though-it-really-needs-much-to-desired-for-but-still-very-entertaining tragic youth romance story has been born!
This series title is translated as “I Don’t Have Many Friends” and as you can tell from the description – surrounds one male protagonist and a whole group of females he can become friends with. I am impartial to this series as similar series have shown to be either really good or terribly bad so I will have to wait for the series to be released to make my overall judgement. Giving it the benefit of the doubt however, the design quality doesn’t look too too bad, and it might just not decend into the generic fanservice fest similar series have done prior.
Persona 4: The Animation
6th October 2011
Persona 4 takes place in the same universe as Persona 3 in a rural town named Inaba. There have been mysterious murders occurring whenever there was fog after heavy rain. There were also rumors about a channel on television airing only at midnight called Mayonaka TV, during which it is said that one can see his/her “other half” when staring at the TV screen. After hearing about a recent unsolved murder which occurred during the fog, the characters—the main character, Chie, and Yōsuke—discuss how each of them had attempted to watch the mysterious TV channel and witnessed the murder victim. The protagonist later realizes that during midnight when the channel is on, his body can phase into his television set as a gateway to enter another world infested with shadows.
I believe all my posts for this series over the last couple of months since its original announcement have indicated that I am incredibly hyped for this series. In my mind, the Persona 4 game was one of the highlights of the Playstation 2 RPG scene, despite it being one of the last RPG’s for the console at all. Whilst I am slightly hesitant at what they will exclude to fit it into a series, provided they keep the core storyline and perhaps some of the social link stories, it should prove a rewarding watch. I think it is safe to say this will be picked up for at least physical distribution, however if this will be released as a simulcast or if it will have an English dub is anyones guess at the moment.
Last Exile: Fam, the Silver Wing
7th October 2011
Last Exile: Fam, the Silver Wing is a new original tale in the Last Exile universe. It features new characters, new mechanics and an all new story centered around the young ace vanship pilot, Fam, and her trusted navigator, Giselle, as they pilot their vanship, Vespa, through the free and peaceful skies.
As I made clear a month or two ago, there is no need to wonder if this will be simulcast or not, as it has been common knowledge for months that Madman Entertainment in Australia and Funimation is North America at least have acquired the licenses for a simulcast and future physical release as an English dub. Whilst I still have a pending review for this series to come, I think it is good to see that there is a sequel for it, however if this new sequels storyline is any good or not has yet to be determined. Either way, reception from the pre-release screenings have proven positive.
Shakugan no Shana III
7th October 2011
Sakai Yuuji, a high school student who expected his normal life to last forever, is dead. When he was on his way home he witnessed a shocking view as the world suddenly froze: people were engulfed by blue flames and a monster resembling a large doll swallowed them. Just as the monster prepared to consume Yuuji, a sword-wielding girl in black attire with flaming red eyes and hair that burns like embers saved him from the monster. The girl called herself a “Flame Haze” who hunts the “Guze no Tomogara”, creatures from another world. As Yuuji noticed a blue flame in his chest, she called him a “Torch”, a temporary replacement, saying that the “real” Yuuji’s existence had already ended. Unfazed, Yuuji befriended the strange girl, named her “Shana”, and joined her fight against Tomogara and other Flame Hazes.
Whilst we outside of Japan still wait for the second season of the series to be released, after many years of waiting – Japan is going to have the final ever season of the show released next month. As I have not watched the second season and avoiding spoilers, I have no idea what will be covered in this season – however as I did give Season One a B+ grade, I think it should prove to be an interesting watch, despite the fact that I doubt we will be seeing any simulcast for this given the circumstances.
C³ – Cube x Cursed x Curious
1st october 2011
A school battle action & love comedy with ecchi elements. Yachi Haruaki is a high school boy and naturally resistant to curses. His father, Honatsu, sends him cursed instruments called “Worse” to try to break this. One day, Haruaki receives a black cube from Honatsu. During the night, he encounters a naked silver haired girl stealing rice crackers. She is the human-form of the black cube, an instrument of torture called “Fear in Cube”. Haruaki and the girl ‘Fear’ fight together against other ‘Worse’ instruments and their owners using Fear’s 32 mechanisms of torture.
Upon first hearing about this series I was actually quite interested in it, and still think the whole cube idea might be unique. But from the sounds of both the trailer and description above, it seems to be more of a generic fanservicey series that is just using a unique concept to set itself apart. I would be interested in seeing how this series turn out though, and I believe it could go either way.
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Kimi to Boku
3rd October 2011
The story revolves around four teens — the good-looking twins Yuuta and Yuuki Asaba, the effeminate Shun Matsuoka, and the class head Kaname Tsukahara — who have known each other since early childhood. While they are not necessarily good or bad friends, they continue to hang out well into high school. The half-Japanese transfer student Chizuru Tachibana joins the circle of friends in this comedy about the everyday life of adolescence.
In what could quite possibly be an ordinary slice-of-life series similar to say… *Looks over at bookcase* Lucky Star for example, as you might be able to tell it focuses on a male cast instead of a female one, quite different from the norm. The design style doesn’t look too bad and whilst the description leaves much to the immagination, I think it may just be a half decent series.
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and so with this, that is the end of Part 2 of the upcoming anime seasons analysis. There are a mixture of some good titles and some titles that shall be determined when they are aired in Japan. Given the number of series licensed last season, I think it is safe to say many of these will be picked up eventually.
