Spring 2013 Preview

Ah Spring, the season of testing aplenty and the start of the warm weather that only momentarily left us here in SoCal. To be honest, spring kind of snuck up on me and I’m finding myself in a mad scramble now to play a game of catch up. First and foremost, I should apologize for how late I’m sure this is and, yes, I know that a good number of shows have already started. So, before I jump right in and give you all the preview I’m sure you’ve all been waiting for with baited breath (don’t worry, I wont’ tell anyone), I thought I’d share some changes I’ve decided to make. This season, I’ve decided to try and actually give a semblance of order to the shows here (least anticipated to most), as well as exclude some of the obvious ones I won’t be watching (sequels, super kiddy shows, etc.) in order to take up less time and give your scrolling finger a break. That said, I hope you enjoy and don’t be afraid to share what you’re thinking about/are watching (or not watching) in the comments!

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Sparrow’s Hotel (Hotline)

The comedy revolves around Sayuri Satou, the new front desk worker at the Sparrow’s Hotel—”the closest hotel to Heaven”. Her special features are her large breasts and her skills of assassination. She takes down people who cause trouble in the business hotel with those skills, but she is in fact very unskilled when talking to the male hotel manager, and often bites her tongue.

Everything about this screams awkward and bad to me. I was lost at “her special features are her large breasts.” I’d me slightly more interested if they actually did something neat like shoot projectiles, but that’s asking for too much and every season needs some useless meat.

Danchi Tomoo (Shogakukan Music & Digital Entertainment)

It’s a heartwarming and sometimes nonsense comedy about an elementary school boy Tomoo Kinoshita.

The icky looking CGI in the PV serves to kind of cement the idea that this is going to end up as a series of  3-5 minute shorts rather than full length episodes, and said shorts will probably be more geared towards a younger demographic if the director’s long history with Doraemon is anything to go off by.

Aiura (LINDENFILMS)

The story centers around Amaya, Iwasawa, and Uehara—three “annoying, spirited high school girls with zero motivation”—and their classmates. Their daily life is “what happens when there is nothing happening.”

Y’know, as I sit through more seasons, I’m gradually beginning to see why people rag on these types of shows so much. This one and the one below it are essentially the same thing except for a few extra words. If anything, this one’s probably more honest by calling it’s own cast “annoying” and saying they have “zero motivation.” If I want to watch high school girls do nothing while being annoying, I’ll just continue going to school.

Yuyushiki (Kinema Citrus)

The manga follows the school life of three girls in the data processing club—Yuzuko, Yukari, and Yui.

I think I’m going to satisfy any yearning for shorts this season with Moe Mountain Climbing or Popoyo.

Zettai Bouei Leviathan (Gonzo)

The story is set in Aquafall, a fantasy world abound with water and greenery, and populated by dragons and fairies. Meteorites suddenly bring forth evil creatures that threaten all living things on the planet. The fairy Syrup assembles the Aquafall Defense Force, with three girls of the dragon clans as recruits. The story follows Syrup and the dragon girls Leviathan, Bahamut, and Jörmungandr as they work together to battle enemies and grow up.

Pffft, I’m sorry, but I can’t really take the story seriously when the main character is named Syrup. Looking at the synopsis, the story sounds like something a little kid might go for, but I see a decent amount of fanservice in this thing’s future. That combined with what will most likely be a silly story will probably lead me to drop the show early on. I’ll give it a shot, but I doubt it’ll make me stick around. ~Kara The Animation~ (Dongwoo Animation)

The fictional stories will feature each of the members in a different career: Gyuri as a police officer, Seungyeon as an astronaut, Nicole as a passenger boat captain, Hara as security police for the Monaco royal family and Jiyoung as a sexy and spirited firefighter.

So, if you didn’t already know, this is going to be sort of along the lines as AKB0048, except instead of a J-Pop group, this will be with girls from a K-Pop group voices their respective characters who run around doing out of character jobs. This isn’t the first of it’s it’s kind and nor, I doubt, will it be most entertaining. Although it puts a neat spin on the usual boring portrayal of their idol lives in animated form, I doubt it’s going to come anywhere near to AKB0048 levels of entertainment or enjoyment. At best it’ll probably be a bit cheesy and fun, but nothing worth holding your breath for. I, for one, am expecting it be pretty lackluster.

Date A Live (AIC PLUS+)

Itsuka Shido is a high school boy. On the last day of the spring holidays, an explosion destroys the town and a girl in armor appears in front of him. Shido’s sister-in-law, Kotori, tells him that the girl is called “Special Disasterous Designated Creature: Spirit”, which causes a timespace quake. Kotori disclosed that she is the commander of the anti-spirit organization Ratatosk and orders him to go out on a date with the spirit girl. Kotori says, “I don’t ask you to beat the spirit. Just let her fall in love with you and save the world.”

While watching the PV for this, I began to get the sense that I am, indeed, become a tad more jaded than I once was. The main clue: I am more excited and hopeful about a show revolving around a Japanese corporate man than I am about this. Alright so the animation doesn’t look too bad the fight scenes do look like they could be exciting. Beyond that, there doesn’t seem like there’s a whole lot to be looking forward to. The synopsis and PV both give me the sense that this is going to have an annoying harem angle with the usual abused and vapid lead lead I doubt I’ll care to much about, not to mention the fanservice is, doubtless, going to be a large element of the show. The director himself isn’t anything to really write home about since he’s only directed a handful of really enjoyable things while, at the same time, being responsible for stuff like Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka, School Days, Tayutama: Kiss on My Deity, and Ah! My Buddha. If anything, I’m only holding out to see what the fights are like and if the story focuses on anything other than what will likely be a frustrating and lame romance setup.

Mushibugyou (Seven Arcs)

The action story is set in Edo-era Tokyo in the early 1700s. The eighth shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune ordered boxes to be installed so commoners can submit their thoughts. After hearing their voices, the shogun creates a new magistrate unit—Mushibugyou—to protect the people in the heart of the city. Each member is a specialist with unique fighting skills.

Okay, so I feel that I have to explain myself for the placement of this one since, for me, it came pretty close to beating out Mr. Corporate Man below it. In all honesty, I’m not too sure how I feel about it right now. It’s nowhere close to being a potential hit for me this season, but, at the same time it looks like it could turn out entertainingly mediocre or unfunny terrible. The director’s only directed a few mediocre shows, but he was also responsible Erin which I’ve heard some good things about. Skimming through a bit of the manga’s first chapter, I got a heavy shounen vibe with the main character coming off as your typical  hardworking lead. The PV itself was a bit irritating and that girl in the back of the promo art has quite the bosom which tells me she won’t be alone. Not to mention the studio is Seven Arcs which is hardly reassuring. Looking at all of that, I’m thinking that this probably isn’t going to turn out to be as fun I want it be which is a bit unfortunate. I am slightly hopeful, though, that the shounen charisma that pulls me in all the time will be able to hold my interest. Asian Risshiden no Shima Kousaku (?)

Asian Risshiden no Shima Kousaku, “the success of Kousaku Shima in Asia,” depicts the life of Kousaku Shima, a Japanese white-collar salary-man who devotes his life to his company. this title takes a look at the corporate culture of Japan.

Admittedly, this should probably be lower on the list since there isn’t a lot of info* on anything related to this and the manga doesn’t look too widely read if the 36 people on MAL are anything to go by.  Surprisingly, the series has already received two adaptations (both were 11 episode shorts running at three minutes) and a video game. Knowing that, I’m thinking that this might end up being a series of shorts too, but with over 20 volumes of material, I’m hoping that the series will get episodes that run longer times. Though the material sounds a bit boring, if done right, I think it could be pretty interesting to watch since I’ve read that it’s highly accurate, and it didn’t win the Kodansha Manga Award for nothing. I’m foolishly optimistic that this is going to be a full length series that isn’t boring as hell. *If you want to know a bit more then here’s where I found everything MAL-manga, MAL-other adaptations, Site for the series (?)   The “Hentai” Prince and the Stony Cat (J.C. Staff)

Youto Yokodera is always thinking about his carnal desires, but no one acknowledges him as a pervert. He learns about a cat statue that supposedly grants wishes. The boy goes to pray that he will be able to express his lustful thoughts whenever and wherever he wants. At the statue, Youto encounters Tsukiko Tsutsukakushi, a girl from his high school with her own wish — that she would not display her real intentions so readily.

Only in anime do guys actually want to be acknowledged as perverts. …right? Since the synopsis sounds catastrophic, I was originally going to put this lower on the list, but I’ve since heard that the source material isn’t too bad and is actually quite decent. I’m still kind of nervous about this though. The synopsis and PV alone are letting me know that the whole pervert part of the story isn’t going to necessarily take a back seat. This is the director’s first major directing work, but he’s been an episode director on a good shows, including one of my personal favorites, Nodame Cantibile. J.C. Staff has also done some nice romances and they tend to make things, at the very least, look nice, so there is some hope for an okay adaptation. I’m not holding my breath too much for this one, though, and am only really banking on the hope that the romance will turn out to be a bit cute. Namiuchigiwa no Muromi-san (Tatsunoko)

Mukoujima Takurou is a lonely teenager who spends his time fishing at the pier and, to his incredible surprise, fishes up Muromi, a mermaid. Muromi first off doesn’t realize she’s a mermaid until she meets Takurou. Not only that, she is incredibly dense and crazy and has a drinking problem to top it off. Now every time Takurou goes fishing, Muromi appears and makes life interesting for him

My first thought when I saw this on the chart was, “Holy crud those eyes!” and my second was “My Bride is a Mermaid sort of?” Honestly, this is probably either going to end up falling flat on its face into a fanservice filled, unfunny pile of poo or manage to achieve what I’m thinking is it’s chief goal: actually being funny. I’ll admit that a few scenes in the PV had me smiling and that I was interested to see how some of the moments would play out in the series. On the other hand, I can already tell that the humor is going to rely on a sort of over the top/overblown type of humor that could be a possible setback. I’m cautiously hoping that I’ll be able to get a good laugh or two out of this. My youth romantic comedy is wrong as I expected. /Oregairu (Brains Base)

This romantic comedy revolves around an antisocial high school student named Hikigaya Hachiman with a distorted view on life and no friends or girlfriend. When he see his classmates talking excitedly about living their adolescent lives, he mutters, They’re a bunch of liars. When he is asked about his future dreams, he responds, Not working. A teacher gets Hachiman to join the volunteer service club, which happens to have the school’s prettiest girl, Yukinoshita Yukino.

On one hand, Brains Base is working on this,  the director was an assistant director on Nichibros, and the parts of the PV I paid attention to managed to perk my interest. On the other hand, this has a high chance of turning into an annoying harem and Brains Base is working on Amnesia right now and it kinda sucks. Keeping those in mind, the premise is only partially crappy and people are eating, if somewhat unhappily, season two of that friends club anime up so this probably won’t turn out to be complete crap. I’m kind of looking forward to seeing at least the first episode because I enjoy, though to a smaller and smaller degree, these average-ish harem shows. In the end, I guess all I’m really asking for an inoffensive romcom which shouldn’t be too hard to accomplish, I hope. Photo Kano (Madhouse)

The story revolves around the male protagonist who just got aDSLR camera from his dad and start to develop photography as his new hobby.

So Wikipedia described this as the “spiritual successor to Kimikiss and Amagami.” I’m not too sure about the former’s adaptation, but I do know a bit bout the latter which had an interesting storytelling format, but is currently sitting on my on-hold list because the little I saw of the first episode was a bit on the boring side. I’m curious to see  if the series is going to go the Amagami route, with the guy ending up with each member of his harem, or if he’ll end up just picking one. I suppose right now my biggest fear is that it’ll be told from the point of view of the camera which is just going to be annoying to watch. On the production side of things, Madouse is working on this and they have a relatively good track record. The director, despite being relatively new to the position, has done some work on shows like Kaiba, Dennou Coil, and TTGL. Looking at the little that’s known and putting aside the game adaptation bit, the show is shaping up to have a pretty nice set up. Miyakawa -ke no Kuufuku (Ordet/Encourage Films)

A spin-off of Lucky Star. Centers around big sister Hinata Miyakawa and little sister Hikage Miyakawa’s impoverished daily life at home (due to Hinata’s wasteful habits) and Hikage’s life at elementary school.

So it’s Lucky Star in elementary school…? I watched Lucky Star a while ago and remember liking it after that initial episode where they spent the entire time talking about how to eat an eclair if I remember correctly. I don’t remember too much about Glasses except for her one appearance in a skit centered around her ditzy mom who kept forgetting about some drink she was warming in the microwave. Since it’s the same director of the first series, the humor will probably be the same slow, parody heavy type that can get a bit boring depending on the characters involved. Since I don’t remember too much about the carry over characters, I’m interested to see what any new character additions can add and if they’re actually funny or not. If anything, this is my “safe” pick for the season, since I have an expected level of satisfaction going into the show (nothing too high). As long as it doesn’t get too boring, I should be able to enjoy myself. Let’s hope Yamamoto will continue to save anime… I’m sorry; I had to…just once…

Karneval (Manglobe)

Nai searches for someone important to him, with only an abandoned bracelet as a clue. Gareki steals and pick-pockets to get by from day to day. The two meet in a strange mansion where they are set-up, and soon become wanted criminals by military security operatives. When Nai and Gareki find themselves desperate in a hopeless predicament, they encounter none other than the country’s most powerful defense organization—”Circus”!!

Ah, Karneval. I’ve actually read a good 10-20 chapters of the manga and I remember being pretty happy when I heard the adaptation announcement because the manga isn’t too bad despite the story being a bit hard to follow in the sense that there’s a lot going on but not a lot being explained. As more info has come out though, it’s put a bit of damper of my excitement. First and foremost is that the director is the same person who  was responsible for Kodomo no Jikan, I show I really didn’t enjoy, especially when it came to that second season. He also directed Mashiroiro Symphony, which I’ve heard is mediocre at best. The combination of this guy and oddness of the storyline make me doubt the future success of the adaptation. I did like the manga, though, and the guy doing the script has worked on some relatively good works, so my hopes are moderately high when it comes to the anime and I can only hope that the  inevitable damage won’t be too catastrophic.

Kakumeiki Valvrave (Sunrise)

New original mecha anime from Sunrise. The story is set in an era when 70% of the human race lives in space due to the development of space cities. Between two major powers — the Dorushia Military Pact Federation and the Atlantic Ring United States (ARUS) — there is a small neutral nation called Jiōru that has prospered economically. The protagonist Haruto, a high school student who lives in Jiōru, encounters the mysterious “forbidden” humanoid weapon Valvrave when the Dorushia army invades.

This was originally going to be ranked lower because I’m not the biggest mecha fan and the PV didn’t do much for me. I’ll admit that the synopsis’ initial set-up isn’t the most original with the neutral country getting invaded only for our magic hero to discover and pilot the equally magical weapon. Or I don’t know, are neutral countries never the ones to get invaded? In the end, when it comes to mecha plots, though, who am I to talk. Admittedly, the main reason this edged out Karneval is because of the director who has worked on some shows that I like a lot (Kurenai, Natsuyuki Rendezvous, Millennium Actress). Though he’s not perfect, his work definitely beats the crud out of Kodomo no Jikan. The combination of him and the story potential leaves me with moderately high hopes that this will turn out to be an interesting action/drama.

Arata Kangatari (Satelight/JM Animation)

Every 30 years, a new princess is chosen from the Hime family to serve the Hayagami. The time has come again, but over these past years, records state not a single female has been born, save for one, the 15-year-old Arata. The only problem is, Arata is actually a male! Forced to disguise himself and take the place of the princess candidate until a formal one can be found, he attends the festival only to witness the current princess, Kokuri-hime, murdered, and his own life is forfeit as well, by the hands of the princess’ personal guard, the 12 Shinshou. As he runs for his life, Kannagi of the 12 convinces everyone that Arata is the one who has murdered the princess instead, and now everyone in the Imperial Court is after his head!

My history with Yuu Watase is pretty pitiful considering her fame. I’ve read one of her manga in its entirety (Imadoki) and only watched roughly half of Ayashi no Ceres. From what I’ve seen the woman likes her drama, tends to have okay heroines, and likes her bishounen. In theory, I should love the woman. Hah Anywho, I can’t say I’m overly pumped for this. Yeah the synopsis sounds neat and the PV has some interesting stuff going on, but I don’t quite grasp what exactly the basic set up is. In addition, the director who’s directed two seasons of Shugo Chara and Ikoku Meiro no Croisee, tends to lean towards the cutesy, albeit a bit mediocre side of things. He has worked on some darker stuff, though (FMA, Boogipop Phantom) which may come in handy here. At the moment, I’m pretty lukewarm when it comes to this. All things considered it sounds like it might be right up my alley, but I’m discovering more and more that that has changed over the years.

Hataraku Maou-sama! (White Fox) 

Devil King Sadao is only one step away from conquering the world when he is beaten by Hero Emilia and forced to drift to the other world: modern-day Tokyo. As “conquering the world” are the only skills the Devil King possesses—and are obviously unnecessary in his new situation—he must work as a freeter to pay for his living expenses!

Ah, White Fox. Though I have yet to watch Steins;Gate or the second season of Jormungand, I tend to like most of what White Fox churns out. Tears to Tiara was one of my first “major” series in that it lead me to think this anime stuff was pretty cool; I absolutely adore Katanagatari and it’s among my personal favorites; and Jormungand was flawed but fun and I enjoyed that one immensely as well. Therefore, I’m pretty excited about this one and am anxious to see how well they can do comedy. The director’s resume is a bit of a mixed bag with works like Shuffle! sitting next to the ever popular Mirai Nikki. I thought the PV was entertaining, though, or at least more entertaining than the one for the mermaid comedy. Anyways, who doesn’t like watching the Devil King working at a fast food joint? Don’t answer that.

Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge (Studio Gokumi)

Haimura Kiri is a seemingly ordinary boy with one slight problem: he is obsessed with cutting other people’s hair. One day he meets Mushiyanokouji Iwai, the “Hair Queen” who cannot cut her hair because of an inherited curse. Kiri finds out that his scissor, “Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge” is the only thing that can cut them. But little did he know that their meeting sparked the start of an old murder game to kill the “Hair Queen” using the cursed killing tools, the “Killing Goods.” Can Kiri protect Iwai from the Killing Goods Owners? Let the game begin!

Reading the synopsis, I was reminded the most of Mysterious Girlfriend X in terms of weirdness. The one here, thankfully, is less…gross. Something about the PV, though, really perks my interest in the show and I’m really interested in finding out more not only about the characters, but also about the setting, or I suppose backdrop would be a more appropriate word. In a way, the synopsis being so out there kind of sets the show up either being unbelievably ridiculous or kinda neat. One of the things I’m most curious about is seeing how serious the show will end up being, if the serious aspects of the story will be more downplayed in favor of  cutesier ones. Though this isn’t a show I’m pinning all my hopes on (I’m looking at you Mr. Director), I’m certainly hoping that it’ll turn out to be one of the better shows this season since I think it definitely has the potential to be.

RDG: Red Data Girl (PA Works)

A modern fantasy based on Japanese Shinto legends. Suzuhara Izumiko is a 15-year-old girl, who has been raised and protected in a shrine deep in the Kumano mountains. She is quite shy and destroys all the electric devices she touches. When she begins to think about going out of the mountains and moving to the city, her guardian Sagara Yukimasa recommends her to enter a high school in Tokyo and forces his son Miyuki to serve Izumiko for life. Miyuki and Izumiko repel each other but their relationship begins to change when a terrifying accident occurs on the school excursion. Izumiko learns her fate as the last representative (yorishiro) of a Himegami goddess and Miyuki learns of his duty as a guardian Yamabushi of Izumiko.

(Let’s pretend the pre-air isn’t out yet, yeah?) Okay, so putting aside my on-going mediocre experience with an anime about a girl who destroys electrical devices, this actually sounds kind of interesting. The PV bounced between being dead boring to intriguing though, so I’m not totally sure how “exciting” this will turn out. I’m definitely up for leaning more about the mythology/religious aspect that will probably play a big role in the series, and I tend to like most of what I’ve seen from P.A. Works (not a lot, in case you’re wondering).

Ginga Kikoutai: Majestic Prince (Dogakobo)

In the latter half of 21st century, humans leave the Earth and begin to live in space. In order to adapt to the environment in space and deal with the hostile aliens in Jupiter, genetically engineered children called “Princes” are artificially raised and trained to be pilots of armed robots “AHSMB (Advanced High Standard Multipurpose Battle Device). This is a story about one of the teenage “Princes”, Hitachi O Izuru, who studies in an academic city Grandzehle.

Tis the season for mechas. Admittedly, the concept of “genetically engineered children,” really perks my interest in terms of learning more about their backgrounds. Stuff like that always interests me because it’ll usually come upas drama fodder latter on in the show (fodder I thoroughly enjoy mind you). The PV, though, is what really catches my eyes when it comes to interest. For the most part it comes of as semi-serious, but the funny bits that were thrown in made me kind of happy? I can’t quite explain it, but I like that they’re going to go for a show that’s both serious and funny when it could easily just be a hot-blooded drama thing. Alas, the director, the same guy who’ll be behind the crappy sounding Date A Live, will be working on this one as well. I’m not sure what effect this whole idea of having him work on two anime airing at the same time is going to work out. The woman behind the Script and Series Composition, though, gives me slightly more hope since she’s worked on a variety of series from Girls und Panzer to K-ON to Bakuman. Her strong suit seems to be more slice of life/ comedy, though, so I’m not too sure how well that bodes for the more dramatic aspects of the show. I’ll stay hopeful, though, since the premise and PV are enough to make me think this will turn out to be pretty okay.

Devil Survivor 2: The Animation (Bridge)

Mysterious invaders called the Septentriones arrive in Japan and begin attacking the country on a Sunday. To fight back, the heroes in Devil Survivor 2 signed a pact with the devil to become the Thirteen Devil Messengers. The Septentriones show up at least once a day and you have a time limit of seven days to defeat them.

I think the general opinion regarding video game adaptations is cautious optimism if the game is well-received. I can’t really say I have much of an opinion regarding the subject since I’ve only watched maybe one or two video game adaptations and rarely play video games myself. From what I’ve read (aka other season previews) the game seems to be relatively well liked and most appear to be optimistic regarding this. The PVs themselves aren’t too shabby and do a nice job of building up some hype for the people like me who haven’t played the games. In all honestly, one of the biggest draws for this for me is the fighting which is rare since I’m not much of an action lover, though I do appreciate the occasional good fight. I’m more of a drama person (if you couldn’t tell), and this show looks like it’ll have it’s fair share of both.

Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet (Production I.G.)

The story begins in the distant future in the far reaches of the galaxy. The Human Galactic Alliance has been constantly fighting for its survival against a grotesque race of beings called “Hidiaazu.” During an intense battle, the young lieutenant Redo and his humanoid mobile weapon Chamber are swallowed up into a distortion of time and space. Waking from his artificially induced hibernation, Redo realizes that he has arrived on Earth, the planet on the lost frontier. On this planet that was completely flooded by the seas, people live in fleets of giant ships, salvaging relics from the seas’ depths in order to survive. Redo arrives on one of the fleets called Gargantia. With no knowledge of the planet’s history or culture, he is forced to live alongside Amy, a 15-year-old girl who serves as a messenger aboard the Gargantia fleet. To Redo, who has lived a life where he knows nothing but fighting, these days of peace continue to surprise him.

Urobuchi is on quite the roll these days with his previous 3 or 4 works receiving decent amounts of acclaim despite some iffy writing. It’s a shame, but I’ve actually been missing out on a lot of his recent stuff and really need to catch up on them. Anyways, maybe I’m just going insane, but Gargantia appears surprisingly…low key. Unless armies suddenly come marching in or fighting trauma shows up, the set up sounds like it’ll have a calmer, slice of life tone to it. I’m completely fine with that. The PV is pretty stunning with lots of bright colors and I really like the character designs. I’m really interested in seeing the guy become used to “days of peace” and how he changes if at all. Going off of Urobuchi’s previous works, though, I’m going to bet that it’s not going to be entirely as calm as it’s hinting. The director himself has worked on some more serious works, so I’m going to assume Gargantia’s going to be thrown into a mess of some sort a long the way.

I don’t have a lot of qualms, actually, when it comes to this and am expecting to have a blast with the series.

Aku no Hana (Zexcs)

Kasuga Takao is a boy who loves reading books, particularly Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du Mal. A girl at his school, Saeki Nanako, is his muse and his Venus, and he admires her from a distance. One day, he forgets his copy of Les Fleurs du Mal in the classroom and runs back alone to pick it up. In the classroom, he finds not only his book, but Saeki’s gym uniform. On a mad impulse, he steals it. Now everyone knows “some pervert” stole Saeki’s uniform, and Kasuga is dying with shame and guilt. Furthermore, the weird, creepy, and friendless girl of the class, Nakamura, saw him take the uniform. Instead of revealing it was him, she recognizes his kindred deviant spirit and uses her knowledge to take control of his life. Will it be possible for Kasuga to get closer to Saeki, despite Nakamura’s meddling and his dark secret? What exactly does Nakamura intend to do with him?

Obligatory top three spot.

I actually don’t understand much of the hype behind this because I haven’t read the manga and am way more smitten with the Attack on Titan PV than I am with this one. To be honest, I’m actually a bit fearful when it comes to this adaptation because of how intense I’ve heard the manga is (I keep being warned about “shiteaters”). Putting aside my minor fears when it comes to the source material,  this has the guy who directed Mushishi and Detroit Metal City, both of which have their fair share of acclaim. In that regard the adaptation’s chances of living up to the expectations that are growing heavier by the day are definitely higher. Though I’m a bit tentative when it comes to the story line, I’ll admit that I’m really curious to see what all the hype’s about and am anxiously awaiting the premiere come April.

A Wind Skimming the River’s Surface (Answer Studio)

A series of animations based on prize-winning short stories for women. Kawamo wo Suberu Kaze In the story, 33-year-old Kanazawa native Noriko had decided long ago not to accept an ordinary, provincial life for herself. So, she had gone to college in Tokyo, worked on her own, married a man at an elite trading firm, and had a child. She has just returned home from five years abroad with her husband and four-year-old son. However, she senses a large emptiness in her heart since coming back. Moreover, there is a man who shares a big secret with Noriko. Yuuge Mimi, a wife in her late 20s, leaves her family and begins living with a young man. Dokoka Dewanai Koko A 43-year-old housewife gets a glimpse of a complicated relationship between a mother and a daughter. Jinsei Best 10 Hatoko, a business woman, faces her upcoming 40th birthday and reunites with the person with whom she shared her first kiss in middle school, over two decades ago.

If you don’t know yet, I’m a big fan of josei and love watching new series in the genre, with this being no exception. In an interesting change up, the anime is taking it’s material from a group of short stories which, if anything, creates the impression that the quality of the stories is going to be relatively high. On their own, the premises for each short are certainly intriguing in that they exclusively focus on women and, for the most part, have a more serious tone to them. Another interesting note about the series is that each episode is going to be done in a different animation style. All in all, I’m really looking forward to this and should probably get around to watching the first episode which has been out for quite some time now.

Attack on Titan (Wit Studio)

Several hundred years ago, humans were nearly exterminated by giants. Giants are typically several stories tall, seem to have no intelligence, devour human beings and, worst of all, seem to do it for the pleasure rather than as a food source. A small percentage of humanity survived by walling themselves in a city protected by extremely high walls, even taller than the biggest of giants. Flash forward to the present and the city has not seen a giant in over 100 years. Teenage boy Elen and his foster sister Mikasa witness something horrific as the city walls are destroyed by a super giant that appears out of thin air. As the smaller giants flood the city, the two kids watch in horror as their mother is eaten alive. Elen vows that he will murder every single giant and take revenge for all of mankind.

Whooooo, Attack on Titan! You guys have no idea how much hype I’ve built up for this solely based on the trailer which I’ve seriously abused over the past few months. Who gives a poop about Aku no Hana (kidding, kidding) when we have this? This is, without a doubt, the show I am most looking forward to seeing premiere. Admittedly, I know next to nothing about the story besides what the synopsis tells me (which is interesting by itself) and have garnered most of my hope for the story based on the praise I’ve seen from others regarding the manga. My biggest fear is that this is going to be another Guilty Crown that sounds great on paper, but then fails spectacularly. Though they both share the same director, I’m really hoping he’ll be able to pull this one off. Please don’t crash and burn, please don’t crash and burn, please don’t crash and burn…