Anime Fall 2009 Anime Season

[Shinmaru]

I need to stop putting these off for so long!

Anyway, I think most will agree that the summer season was way better than anyone expected. It was certainly my favorite since last fall. Unfortunately, in comparison, this fall season does not look as great, although I have warmed up to it a bit as the summer has waned. (Plus, you can't really judge anything until you have watched it, after all.)

So, hey, once again let us see what we are all interested in watching!

For those who need 'em, here are fall previews [url=http://www.seaslugteam.com/archives/2009/08/30/fall-2009/][b]here[/b][/url] and [url=http://hashihime.blogspot.com/2009/09/57-fall-anime-story-staff-cast-trailer.html][b]here[/b][/url] (the latter is well researched).

[b]Series I am definitely interested in watching[/b]:

-- [b][URL="http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=10984"]Darker than Black: Ryuusei no Gemini[/URL][/b]: The first series is good, although the ending is kind of eh and it never really lives up to its enormous potential. (But I cannot speak too ill of any series with November f'n 11 in it.) It has been a while since I watched [b]Darker than Black[/b], so I will inevitably be fuzzy on some details, but I do not think it will cut into my enjoyment too much. Everything will come back to me eventually, haha. But, yes, this should be plenty exciting, and hopefully it will come to a solid conclusion.

-- [b][URL="http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=10706"]To Aru Kagaku no Railgun[/URL][/b]: [b]To Aru Majutsu no Index[/b] starts off well and kind of falls apart near the end. However, this spinoff immediately has my interest because it stars Misaka, who is one of the best (if not the best) of the [b]To Aru[/b] characters. This could be a solid, fun series if all the stupid info dumping is cut. That is by far the worst part of the first series.

-- [b]Shugo Chara Party![/b]: Probably don't even need to bring it up, but eh. It's [b]Shugo Chara![/b]; I am watching.

-- [b][URL="http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=10625"]Kimi ni Todoke[/URL][/b]: This series is building a lot of buzz. It's an adaptation of a manga that was voted best shoujo manga of 2008, Mamiko Noto is playing the female lead (with Daisuke Namikawa as the male lead), there are other good seiyuu surrounding them (Miyuki Sawashiro, Yuuichi Nakamura, Aya Hirano, etc.), Production I.G. is at the helm and so on. Don't want to put too much pressure on the series, but if it can capture my heart like [b]Toradora![/b] did last year, then I will be quite pleased.

-- [b][url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=10701]Sasameki Koto[/url][/b]: I need some more good yuri after the very good [b]Aoi Hana[/b] (which I am two episodes shy of completing, hooray).

[b]Series I am somewhat interested in watching[/b]:

-- [b][url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=10953]Kuuchuu Buranko[/url][/b]: Kind of an interesting premise (neurotics visit and even more neurotic doctor) and a funky art style have me sort of intrigued.

-- [b][url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=10861]Kampfer[/url][/b]: Good cast and lolgenderbending. Could be funny but could also suck pretty hard.

-- [b][url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=10935]11eyes[/url][/b]: The description doesn't really excite me too much, but it could be a solid horror adventure kind of thing. Plus, I like Daisuke Ono.

-- [b][url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=10951]Tatakau Shisho - The Book of Bantorra[/url][/b]: People fighting over books is funny.

What will everyone else be watching this season?

[Magus]

Err... I didn't watching anything from the summer season... None of those series sparked an interest.. Most of them looked either too girly, or too fanservice-y.

This season looks pretty much the same except now you can throw in comedy... >_>

However, there are a few shows that I may check into just because I'm a tad bit curious. (This season does beat out last season and Spring just because there are more shows I'm curious about this time around.)

Darker than Black 2

Fariy Tail (Only because I want to see how will it be animated.)

Inuyasha (Oh dear God. I'm curious about how will they cram the last half into 26 episodes.)

Romance of the 3 Kindgoms.. I gotta admit that I'm going into this pretty blind. I've only played the Dynasty Warrior games so I don't know anything about the 3 kingdoms. Hopefully it'll entertain me since I'm a fan of chinese/japanese stuff.

The Sacred Blacksmith.. (I can't view any trailers at the moment.) Only because it's Manglobe. Outside of that Machiko no Hatchin (sorry, I forgot the name completey) series that's the company that had something to do with Samurai Champloo.

[TheResplendent]

[quote name='Magus']
Romance of the 3 Kindgoms.. I gotta admit that I'm going into this pretty blind. I've only played the Dynasty Warrior games so I don't know anything about the 3 kingdoms. Hopefully it'll entertain me since I'm a fan of chinese/japanese stuff.
[/QUOTE]

[FONT="Tahoma"]The actual story is very detailed and the amount that the Dynasty Warriors series does not cover you can just about fit into the grand canyon (Kevin Smith anyone?). I think what always upset me about the progression of the game's installments though is that Koei was always ready to fabricate new things before including actual characters/events that were not in previous games (I was always hoping Cheng Pu, Yu Jin, Lu Su, Guan Xing, and Zhang Bao would eventually be turned into playable characters). But eh, what can be done.

The best translated version of the story is well into the 4 digits for pages but a worthwhile read given the proper level of interest. I am looking forward to seeing what can be done here, though I am not expecting too much considering most anime series based off of shorter mangas very rarely cover everything important. So long as it's at least loosely based off the historic novel though, it should be a fun watch.

Zhuge Liang and Zhao Zilong, ftw.

Otherwise, [b]Darker Than Black[/b] is definitely topping my list since i enjoyed the first series for the most part. I can't really say I enjoyed [b]Inuyasha[/b] very much, but if the series promises to actually come to a close with this, I'd watch it just for the closure. The majority of what else has been announced I do not know much about, but will be looking into it the next chance I get.[/FONT]

[Shinmaru]

I've watched some first episodes, so I figured I may as well reply to my own thread for once.

[b]11eyes[/b]: OK, could have some interesting mystery behind it but also comes off as a bit generic. I was [i]way[/i] more interested/entertained by the horror/mystery bits than the slice-of-life bits.

[b]Kampfer[/b]: Totally dumb, trashy show, but it has its own charm somehow. The kind of show I should probably be ashamed to admit to watching, and yet I will continue watching it anyway.

[b]Kimi ni Todoke[/b]: Good first episode that is also absolutely gorgeous. The scene where Sawako and Kazehaya first meet under the bloom of the cherry blossoms ... it may be a cliche, but it's a [i]beautiful[/i] cliche. I'm interested in how things will develop from here, because it is clear from the start that Sawako and Kazehaya are completely smitten with each other, and some of Sawako's issues with loneliness are addressed in the opening episode. Tons of people love the manga, though, so I'll trust that it goes good places.

[b]Kobato.[/b]: I was all set to hate this in the beginning, just because it is [i]so[/i] over the top with how cute Kobato is, but by the end I completely fell for its charm. Damn it. Not much happens in this episode -- it is mainly a series of common sense tests so that Kobato can be qualified for a tool that will allow her to heal broken hearts -- but it is pretty entertaining. Only thing I ask is that Kobato never sing again, or at least avoid the high notes.

[b]Letter Bee[/b]: Definitely surprised me by being pretty good -- or at least showing the potential to go places. Absolutely love the look of this series, too. All the dark blues and purples are rather beautiful in a melancholy sort of way. From what I have read, this first episode is actually a prologue of sorts, so I am interested to see what the story is really about.

[b]Sasameki Koto[/b]: Good first episode, although a bit heavier on the drama than I expected. Everyone I know who has experience with the manga says it is mainly lighthearted comedy with sprinkles of drama at the end where they will hit the hardest. This episode maybe goes a bit heavy with the drama from the beginning, although I did not have too much of a problem with that.

[b]Seitokai no Ichizon[/b]: Absolutely hated this. I would rather marathon the stupid food conversations in [b]Lucky Star[/b] for 24 hours than watch another episode of this show.

[b]Shugo Chara! Dokki Doki[/b]: Hated the live action portion, and actually felt quite dirty after watching five seconds of it. Didn't like the bits focusing only on the Charas either. The main portion of the show is solid, at least. I like the new character, Rikka Hiiragi, and she has an interesting ability that could lead to some good stories later. Best part of this episode is Rima's reaction to being completely ignored by Rikka.

[b]The Book of Bantorra[/b]: The story has potential, and some of the characters are interesting, but the storytelling in this first episode is terrible. It's all over the place, and it falls prey to the stupid "throw out a bunch of jargon and talk cryptically about random things to confuse the viewer as much as possible" syndrome that I despise so much.

[b]To Aru Kagaku no Railgun[/b]: About what I expected, which is a good thing. Fun, lighthearted and has some great action. I'm really hoping it does not fall prey to the stupid info dumping that plagued [b]To Aru Majutsu no Index[/b]. If it focuses just on Mikoto's everyday life in the city, though, then I think it will be good.

[Magus]

[size=1][color=navy]I've managed to catch a couple shows I wanted to check out.

[b]Inuyasha: Final Act[/b] - With my history of dogging Inuyasha I probably wouldn't even consider watching this back then because I couldn't get into the characters outside of Sesshoumaru, and that was the only reason I'd even consider watching it. Time went on, and I've lightened up on it quite a bit. They started off right where it last left off, however I'm a bit lost since I don't recall those events at all. Slow pacing can be cast aside now since the events are going by pretty quickly.. It's only been 2 episodes and [spoiler]both Hakudoshi and Kagura already died.[/spoiler] I don't know how this is compared to the manga since I've never read it, but people are saying that it's been covering at least 12 volumes / chapters per episode... (Might be a misread there.) Anyway, it's been pretty decent so far. This episode coming up looks like it'll be its first snag... I hate Shippo.

[b]Fairy Tail[/b] - I just finished watching ep. 1 of this a little while ago. I wasn't going into this with high expectations at all considering my lack of interest in the manga now. But this was a pretty decent episode. I didn't expect much in terms of fighting, or action but, what was shown was better than I thought it'd be. My main concern here is the fan service. Hopefully it'll be toned down considering the manga is full of it. It's nothing extreme like Ikki Tousen but, to me it's like a lighter version of Tenjho Tenge. Like I said, I hope they lighten up on it because it's a turn off for me.. (One of the reasons why I don't read keep up with the manga anymore.) Other than that I'm fairly interested in seeing the next episode.[/size][/color]

[Meggido]

series I've been checking out so far this season:

[B]11eyes[/B] - For some reason I'm thoroughly enjoying this after 2 eps. I keep looking at the way it's portrayed and such and going "this is how chaos;head should of been handled", yet I really can't put my finger on why that is. There is just something in that drags me in.

[B]Darker than Black 2[/B] - From 2 eps it seems to start off slower than the original series. It doesn't seem to have the same charm as the original series and I'm also not a fan of the new look Hei. I'm hoping they explain what happened to him in the 2 year gap between series.

[B]Kampfer[/B] - gender bender series are becoming a guilty pleasure of mine and this is just continuing to fuel that. I think it's quite funny especially the situations the main character is currently finding himself in.

[B]Seitokai no Ichizon[/B] - I'm actually enjoying this. As a light hearted parody series it does it's job well imo. I love Lucky Star but I'm finding this to be a lot more enjoyable and a lot more comedic.

[B]Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu: Purezza[/B] - season 2 of a series I enjoyed first time round. Starts off less comedic than season 1, kinda on the same note as season 1 ended. :(

[B]Kimi ni Todoke[/B] - For me this series just doesn't seem to translate well from the manga. While it is well made it just doesn't have the same impact on me as the manga.

[B]Sasameki Koto[/B] - I wasn't sure what to expect from this but it is decent. It is very heavy on the drama just from episode 1 and it'll be interesting to see how it plays out.

Other stuff I'm yet to check out that I'm interested in are [B]To Aru Kagaku no Railgun[/B] and [B]Fairy Tail[/B]. I'm also witing on the [B]Shakugan no Shana S[/B] OVA that starts getting released near the end of the month.

[Kikyouchanx]

[SIZE=1][COLOR=navy][B]Inuyasha: Final Act[/B] - is probably the only one i'm gonna pay attention to besides Shugo Chara party.


[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[Desbreko]

[color=#4B0082]Anyone who enjoys shoujo series and/or is disgruntled with the dumb parts of Shugo Chara! Party! needs to watch [b]Yumeiro Patissiere[/b]. The two episodes I've seen so far have been great, especially ep2 when [url=http://img245.imageshack.us/i/vanillaspoonslap.jpg/][u]Vanilla[/u][/url] is introduced. I'm looking forward to the other sweets spirits showing up.[/color]