Spring 2013

[Aeni]

I missed a couple of weeks of anime and now I'm staring at this massive list of episodes to catch up on as two seasons overlap (Winter and Spring)

This spring has some new interesting series as well as new seasons of old favorites.

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RDG: Red Data Girl - Produced by PA Works (Hanasaku Iroha, Tari Tari), about a girl who is about to start her high school life outside of her mountain shrine seclusion and a mysterious family secret.

Date a Live (AIC Plus+) - A girl nearly wipes out humanity and returns to finish the job. The only way to stop her is to date her. I think we know how this story goes...

Girls und Panzer (Actas) - The frauleins return for a couple more episodes as (I'm assuming) the producer ran out of money to actually finish the season properly.

Gundam Seed Destiny HD Remaster (Sunrise) - For those GS fans out there who wouldn't mind reliving the glory days in HD ...

Karneval - Produced by Manglobe (Samurai Champloo, Ergo Proxy) When the protagonist, who is searching for someone with only an abandoned bracelet as a clue, runs into a pick-pocket, things go in an unexpected direction.

Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come wa Machigatteiru (Brains Base) - A renegade student gets placed into a Public Service Club as punishment and meets up with other problem children.

Danchi Tomoo (NHK) - About a mischievous boy in the 4th grade and his misadventures

Pretty Rhythm Rainbow Live (Dong Woo / Tatsunoko Production) - Another AKB48 anime (srsly)

Boku wa Ou-sama Fairy Tale Classic - Similar to Folktales from Japan, this one is based on the Japanese fairy tale classic, "Ou Sama".

Uchuu Senken Yamato 2199 (Xebec/AIC) - TV serialization of the movies under the same name, which is based off of the 1974 TV Series Spacebattle Cruiser Yamato (aka Star Blazers in the west)

Joujuu Senjin!! Mushibugyou (Seven Arcs Pictures) - Another Edo-Era, post-Nobunaga anime featuring a cast of fighters with different abilities. You've seen one, you've probably seen them all.

Photo Kano (Madhouse) - A harem anime based on a popular PSP game which features a boy and his escapades ... sounds familiary? Hint: B Gata H Kei

Devil Survivor 2 The Animation (Bridge) - Based off of Atlus' game Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2. I won't hold out hope that it will be anywhere near as good as Persona 4 The Animation.

Ginga Kikoutai Majestic Prince (Dogakobo/Orange) - Your standard sci-fi with robots (called AHSMB here) story ... but it might still be worth the watch.

Yuyushiki (Kinema Citrus) - In the same vein as Nichijou, based on the 4-koma manga of the same name, following the life of 3 school girls.

Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga nai (A-1 Pictures) - Oreimo, as it is known by fans, is up for a second season which promises to be as, if not more, entertaining than the first season.

Shingeki no Kyojin (Wit Studio) - Set in the post apocalyptic world where the entites known as Titans are responsible for widespread destruction, a young man's encounter with one of these entities sets the scene for a dramatic series. Oh ... so that's where Blizzard's game went (j/k)

Hataraku Maou-sama (White Fox) - Similar to Hagure Yuushu no Estetica, the protagonist must work as a freeter to make ends meet as he is cast off from a parallel world into ours. >.>

Kakumeiki Valverave (Sunrise) - Like Gundam Seed, which, unsprisingly, might just very well be recycled materials from. But I guess if you're an obsessed fan of this genre, you're going to watch this. The gears are called Valveraves and the story line is cliched so I won't even try.

Haiyore! Nyaruko-san W (Xebec) - Second season of the beloved homage to H.P. Lovecraft

Hayate no Gotoku! Can't Take My Eyes off You (Manglobe) - The second half of the new Hayate no Gotoku! series, the 3rd season overall.

Suisei no Gargantia (Production I.G.) - An interesting new sci-fi series from PIG, this is like Kakumeiki Valverave but better (I think) ... closer to Xam'd.

Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko (JC Staff) - It's about a boy whose sexual perversion and character is opposite of the girl he meets at a cat statue where he prayed at. Very weird but I'm guessing really perverted.

Hyakka Ryouran: Samurai Bride (Arms) - The harem samurai girls are back. Yepp. What, you were expecting more? Go watch the first season (a couple of years ago) if you want to know what it is about. Okay, okay ... Edo-period anime taking historical figures and turning them into buxom, hypersexualized women who lust over one man. That about sums it up.

- - - Updated - - -

Part 2 (Wow, size limitation)

Uta no★Prince-sama♪ Maji Love 2000% (A-1 Pictures) - Thank goodness for Google IME. Second season of the series. I never watched the first.

Namiuchigawa no Muromi-san (Tatsunoko Production) - A lonely teenager meets up with a ditzy, alcoholic mermaid. Hilarity ensues.

Yondemasu Yo, Azazel-san Second Season (Production I.G.) - I got nothing.

To Aru Kagaku no Railgun S (JC Staff) - Misaka Mikoto returns in this arc which follows her ordeals after discovering the existence of the Radio Noise sisters, and their deaths as sacrifices for the Level 6 Shift, an experiment required to advance the Level 5, Accelerator, to Level 6.

Arata Kangatari (Satelight/JM Animation) - A fantasy tale set in a world where Gods and humans co-exist. A boy finds himself in a dire situation as he becomes the newly appointed leader of the Hime Clan. He must disguise himself as a female or risk losing his life.

Sparrow's Hotel - Similar to Rio: Rainbow Gate!, the protagonist is a buxom assassin who works at the front desk of Sparrow's Hotel, the one hotel closest to 'Heaven'.

Asian Risshiden no Shima Kousaku - Follows the story of a white collar salary-man and the Japanese corporate culture.

Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge (Studio Gokumi) - A twisted tail of a hair cutting obsessed boy, his supernatural scissors and a girl whose curse disallows her to have her hair cut. That was a mouthful.

Kara the Animation - An anime based on a girl pop band ... my money is on the series not even making it past pilot.

Aku no Hana (Zexcs) - A story about a boy who steals the gym clothes of a girl he has a crush on, only to have his act spied on by another girl who he absolutely loathes. She then blackmails him into a secret 'contract'.

Aiura - A story about 3 unmotivated and annoying school girls and their life with their classmates.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kaku Outbreak - Based on a visual novel of the same name, centers around a village that has been sealed off from the rest of the world due to a viral outbreak, and follows the lives of two people from that village.

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A lot of OAVs, OADs and unaired episodes (e.g. 13th of a previously popular series) are also due out. The short list: 「Arcana Famiglia」, 「Dakara Boku wa, H ga Dekinai」, 「Hetalia: The Beautiful World」, 「Mangirl!」, 「Highschool DxD」, 「Senran Kagura」, 「Nozoki Ana」.

Movies: Hanasaku Iroha: Home Sweet Home, Steins;Gate:Fuka Ryouiki no Déjà Vu; Doraemon: Nobita no Himitsu Dougu Museum

[Zempten]

Re: Spring 2013

Nothing really catches my eye this season =/

[Aeni]

Re: Spring 2013

Nothing really catches my eye this season =/

Yeah, I'm with you there, Z. I've been watching old episodes of Sket and Fate Zero. This season has been a big let down for some reason. I'm going to post the tentative Summer 2013 listing in a few days once I get some time to actually post it. There were some gems in there, including the continuation of Kingdom. Magi will continue in Fall 2013.

[Zempten]

Re: Spring 2013

Just watched Evangelion 3.0 . . . . . .lots of i don't understand going on lol

[Aeni]

Re: Spring 2013

Never seen it yet. I knew it would be controversial since they keep changing the ending (OAV and death/rebirth, etc.) With the addition of Mari Illustrious Makinami, and forcing the 3rd impact to end up rewriting the entire story on the back end, the story seems to have a lot of loose ends with too many commercial aspects (vectors) for me to take anything seriously. It's entertainment in the way Iron Man is, so anyone looking too deeply into this would be better serve investing that kind of time in other pursuits.

[Aeni]

Re: Spring 2013

Just watched 3.33 ... If you forget everything you knew about Evangelion and only kept in mind the events which transpired in both 1.11 and 2.22, then the concepts aren't confusing (you'll also need to brush up your knowledge of the Torah or Old Testament, as well as fictionalized materials relating to the Dead Sea Scrolls and other works of Judeo Creationism) However, the story is a bit ambiguous and I'm sure it will tie up in the next episode. Because we're treading new territories in 3.33 and beyond, there's going to be a lot of debates and analysis regarding the story and the plot.

I just think you enjoy the movies for what they are. When it all ends, I'm sure there'll be some "complete work" that gets published with a lot of recanting and reworking of some of the finer details.

[Zempten]

Re: Spring 2013

Yea, i'm just going with the flow for evangelion. So far the only thing I've watched this season is Attack of Titan and I'm REALLY enjoying it. I love the art for some reason and I really like the side character Mikasa ^ ^ The main character is kinda bland so far but overall the character interactions were much better than what i thought from the trailer. I think i'm going to follow this one. Will try to keep an eye open for other stuff this season

[Aeni]

Re: Spring 2013

Here's the funny part about what I posted:

Shingeki no Kyojin (Wit Studio) - Set in the post apocalyptic world where the entites known as Titans are responsible for widespread destruction, a young man's encounter with one of these entities sets the scene for a dramatic series. Oh ... so that's where Blizzard's game went (j/k)

And then Blizzard goes to make that announcement several weeks after:

http://www.ffxionline.com/forums/vid...n-delayed.html

And somewhere in the interim, we find this popping up on Youtube:

[bikkebakke]

Re: Spring 2013

Currently watching Oreimo, Valvrave, Arata, SNAFU, Hentai Prince, Attack on Titan, and Gargantia. All good to me

[Firewind]

Re: Spring 2013

Girls Und Panzer I had a lot of fun with. I would call it a guilty pleasure but that would imply that I feel shame in watching a genuinely funny show.

Devil Survivor 2 is great if you liked the games. What I do find amusing is that the anime is also an affectionate parody of Evangelion right down to the opening theme.

Railgun S...Okay I'm a massive Railgun fan so I'm admittedly biased here, but I loved it and can't wait for more. Seeing the Sister's Arc from Mikoto's point of view was a massive tearjerker even if a bittersweet ending is a forgone conclusion given that all of Railgun so far has been set just before Index. Still props to the writing team for still managing to make Accelerator genuinely terrifying. There's also less creepy as fuck fanservice in this so far too, especially from Kuroko, seriously, she's 13, 13 year old girls do NOT act like that just fucking stop it. Still Saten gets a personality this time around that isn't "generic audience surrogate that the viewer is expected to project themselves onto but stops caring about".

Oreimo... That is a show I have a love hate relationship with. The show I watch when I'm in the mood for something silly but the fandom makes me want to refuse to admit I even know the slightest thing about the show. yes we get it, you want the generic audience surrogate loser main character that you are supposed to project yourself onto to fuck his underaged sister! Stop yelling about it, because you're being creepy even by anime fan standards.

[Aeni]

Re: Spring 2013

Railgun S...Okay I'm a massive Railgun fan so I'm admittedly biased here, but I loved it and can't wait for more. Seeing the Sister's Arc from Mikoto's point of view was a massive tearjerker even if a bittersweet ending is a forgone conclusion given that all of Railgun so far has been set just before Index. Still props to the writing team for still managing to make Accelerator genuinely terrifying. There's also less creepy as fuck fanservice in this so far too, especially from Kuroko, seriously, she's 13, 13 year old girls do NOT act like that just fucking stop it. Still Saten gets a personality this time around that isn't "generic audience surrogate that the viewer is expected to project themselves onto but stops caring about".

S is proceeding through Episode 11 of Index and I have a feeling that it will continue to follow Misaka's viewpoint up until the Accelerator Arc in the Index series (the one involving Misaka #20001). There's going to be a lot of material featuring the 4th strongest Level 5 and ITEM before the series ends.. We'll probably see Index III early next year.

[Firewind]

Re: Spring 2013

I'm up to Episode 11 of Railgun S, mostly because it only came out on Friday and there's not that many decent streams up yet. From the look of it, yeah it does seem it will show Misaka's viewpoint of the Sisters arc up until the Last Order Arc.

I try to avoid spoilers from the novels though it is hard given they are at least 10 years old, but from what I've heard, there will be more stuff about Meltdowner and ITEM too.

Looks like some good stuff to look forward to anyway.

[Aeni]

Re: Spring 2013

Oh, I agree, I can't wait for new episodes to watch. JC Staff out did themselves this time and didn't get lazy and recycle scenes from Index (they redid them with upscaled graphics)

I'm just wating for Magi. I got hooked on it and can't get enough.

[Firewind]

Re: Spring 2013

It's not just that but the writing has been excellent too. Episode 5 was the first time in a while that I've actually shed tears while watching an anime even though I knew that Misaka 9982 was never going to survive the arc.

Not really spoilers if you watched Index given every sister before Misaka 10032 is "Doomed By Canon" but still pretty soul crushing

Misaka meets Misaka 9982, realises what she is and basically ends up acting like an older sister to her without realising it. They save a cat together, eat ice cream together and fighting over a badge with her all while squabbling in a way that only siblings can. THEN she finds out what the Sisters project is and realises that Misaka 9982's farewell was because she was going off to be slaughtered.

Then the next time Misaka sees she arrives just in time to see her with a leg torn off and Accelerator about to crush her with a train.

I mean, everyone knew they were going to off her but that was just brutal.

[Aeni]

Re: Spring 2013

Spoilers

It was the same for Touma, as he did see the remnants of one of the "Sisters" in the back alley, and he was traumatized (but not in the same way that Misaka must've been as she confronted Accelerator) In the end, they were both equally impacted and felt compelled to do something about it, but Touma did it not just to save the Sisters, but to save Misaka (She was thinking about committing suicide while at the same time doing so by confronting Accelerator) That was the difference in them: one was going to her certain death to atone for sins through self-sacrifice while the other was going to right a wrong with the intent to live and win an overwhelming victory.