Summer 09 anime season megathread

[blkmage]

Hello everynyan, how are you? Fine, thank you.

What is all of this?
This is a thread I created for the discussion of new anime that will be airing on TV in Japan in the summer season. Anime typically gets released and runs for a number of seasons. The year is divided up into four seasons: January to March is winter, April to June is spring, July to September is summer, and October to December is fall. Each season is approximately 13 weeks.

Here, we can talk about what shows look interesting, what we plan to watch, and generally get giddy and excited for things that we've been anticipating for a while. There's a handy chart of all the shows that are coming up, with a short blurb about the premise of the show and what studio will be handling it. As we get closer to the season, more information shows up, like the first airing date. Other information like staff and cast obviously won't fit, but it's not too hard to use the Google to find out.

So it's about halfway through the spring season, so obviously, now is the time to get hyped up about what the next season will bring. Normally, this would be full of disappointment and boredom, as spring and fall are when the big shows land. But, this summer, we have much to look forward to. To be honest, I'm more excited for this than I was for spring.

LINK TO HELPFUL CHART OF SUMMER SHOWS

VERY YES (to me)
Spice and Wolf II: Anthropomorphic wolf goddess and discussions on medieval monetary policy return for another season with a new studio. I'm looking forward to more Horo and Lawrence and luckily, Brains Base is a pretty good studio. The OVA, considered episode 0, was released last week, and it's looking like more of the same Spice and Wolf we've come to love.

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0: BONES brings us an original story of a hypothetical 8.0 earthquake in Tokyo in the near future. Expecting fantastic production on this one.

CANAAN: An adaptation of a scenario from a Wii visual novel by TYPE-MOON. I've been gushing about Kara no Kyoukai to anyone who'd listen, so I'm obviously interested in more TYPE-MOON. The studio, PA Works is pretty new, but everyone loved True Tears, so people are looking forward to that. And finally, Maaya Sakamoto is voicing one of the main characters. SO AWESOME.

Umineko no Naku Koro ni: I liked Higurashi. People tell me Umineko, the game, is even more amazing. That and based on the Higurashi Rei OVAs, given a budget, Studio DEEN is pretty capable. I have no doubt it'll look good. But most interesting of all is the absolutely stacked cast: Daisuke Ono, Rie Kugimiya, Yui Horie, Yu Kobayashi, and Marina Inoue. And that's just those who've been listed so far.

Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei: THIRD SEASON GET. This is awesome news for people like me who thought the Goku SZS OADs were going to be the last of the anime. What crazy OP will SHAFT and Shinbo bestow upon us this time?

Summer Wars: It's not listed, since it's a movie, and because of that, we won't get subs for a while, but this is getting released in theatres in the summer. I didn't understand the trailer, but it looks great and it's from the creators of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. I'll bet you're interested now, eh?

[Sheol777]

...na nothing looks good to me.

[Roy Mustang]

I saw the list about last week and so far, there is nothing that I care to see this Summer.

Back to FMA some of the other winter series.


[font="Book Antiqua"][color="Red"]Col. Roy Mustang[/color][/font]

[EricTheFred]

I think there was already a new anime thread, but specific to the summer season:

I'm a little underwhelmed. There's second seasons to stuff that didn't interest me the first time, plus very predictable looking stuff like Princess Lover or Sora no Manimani, but there are a few gems here:

My top hopes are pinned on "Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou", which my weak Japanese skills render as "Know Well Present-day Magic", which may actually translate more like "Master Today's Magic!" or something like that.

Gendai Mahou Trailer

The little I've seen about Taishou Yakyuu Musume, or Taisho Baseball Girls, reminds me of an old favorite, Princess Nine, so I'm hoping it works out as well.

Taishou Trailer

Finally, I too am looking forward to 'Summer Wars'. I know little about it, but just from watching the trailer, the lady family head is already one of my favorite characters ever.

Summer Wars Trailer

I've also got some hopes for Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, but I'm worried it may just be an old-fashioned American-style disaster flick with Japanese voice actors.

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 Trailer

[MasterDias]

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 is what jumps out at me. I'm always up for Bones productions and their last few shows have been well done generally.

Might also look into Umineko, but really, I'll still be back watching Spring shows honestly...so for anything else, I'll see.

[Fish and Chips]

The only show I find even remotely interesting this season is Umineko No Naku Koro Ni, primarily because it's by the same writing staff as Higurashi. Though I understand Umineko's body count makes Higurashi look tame by comparison, so I may have to refrain from snacking when new episodes pop up.

Nothing else really catches my eye, though that's fine by me. I'm going to have a busy summer as it is, assuming I even have time to clear out some of my Anime backlog I've been building up.

[EricTheFred]

My own failure to be interested in Umineko had mostly to do with my only contact with it, being the trailer. From that, I had the impression that it was just another overly-gothy drama. Apparently I received the wrong impression.

What's the story about? Anyone know?

Also, I'm kind of shocked that only one other person here is looking forward to Summer Wars. Or is it just that most of you are only focusing on the TV season?

[blkmage]

Umineko no Naku Koro ni is the third entry in the When They Cry series, after Higurashi no Naku Koro ni and Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai. Like Higurashi, it's a murder mystery. It's a different story and doesn't take place in Hinamizawa and doesn't share any characters with Higurashi. Its focus is on a group of 18 people who end up getting trapped on a secluded island. People start dying and you need to figure out who or what is killing people.

Based on the opinions of others that I've read, the Umineko game is fantastic and tops the Higurashi games. I've gotten the impression that it's less horror and more mystery than Higurashi was. Still, if you liked Higurashi, chances are you'll enjoy Umineko.

[TriezGamer]

Anything by Ryukishi08 and I'm sold, so Umineko's definitely on my list.

[randomobservation]
Apparently one of Key's upcoming Visual Novel titles is a collaborative work with Ryukishi08. My mind kinda locks up trying to reconcile Clannad and Higurashi. Could be awesome, and it seems everything from Key is getting an anime adaptation these days ... Although that's not really relevant now.[/randomobservation]

[Fish and Chips]

My own failure to be interested in Umineko had mostly to do with my only contact with it, being the trailer. From that, I had the impression that it was just another overly-gothy drama. Apparently I received the wrong impression.

What's the story about? Anyone know?

No Naku Koro Ni Anime are basically visual bait and switches. The original Higurashi is presented as a simplistically-drawn small town slice of life story, which is why its equally horrifying when different characters start murdering each other as the plot demands. It's far from being a gimmick though, since the mood changes and pacing is handled generally pretty well. Umineko is more of the same, except that instead of suspense horror, it's a mystery apparently, though I wouldn't put it past them to have some of the characters do unspeakable things anyway. Definitely not for younger audiences, but good for anyone looking for a good suspense plot (which is me).

As for Summer Wars, I remember hearing something vaguely about that a couple months ago, but I've since fallen out of the loop. Seasonal threads are generally for television though.

[Momo-P]

Still, if you liked Higurashi, chances are you'll enjoy Umineko.

Not just that, but it's also hinted that Umineko may give us more information about the Higurashi universe. Granted the novels are still being released, but the more stuff given, the more it makes you wonder if certain characters in Higurashi are as powerful as they're talked about

[spoiler]Some theories have Higurashi being nothing more than a story made up by the "witches". Other theories leave Hanyu not really being "god" after all (then again, doesn't Japan call ANYTHING with great power a god? Besides Takano and Rika, I don't think anything actually said Hanyu is god, I think the character's just called her that. ._.) and actually just being another witch. Then there's the possibility they're not connected at all, but considering the Bernkastel/Rika and Lambdadelta/Takano deal, that idea almost seems too unlikely...[/spoiler]

[airichan623]

Shugo Chara!-Doki! is still going. YAAAAYY!!! i know the series is ending in october. i'll b so sad.

GO AMUTO!!!

[blkmage]

moetron has a list that includes OAV and movie releases as well. On the list of OVAs coming out, I'm watching out for Minami-ke, the last two of the five Higurashi Rei OVAs, Nodame Cantabile, and the new arc for Negima. The big films look like Summer Wars, Rebuild of Eva 2.0, and Kara no Kyoukai 7.

[blkmage]

Now that we're less than two weeks away from the start of the summer season, more trailers with actual content have been surfacing, as well as the seasonal Nico Nico Douga anime previews and rankings for past seasons. We've got new trailers for Umi Monogatari, Umineko no Naku Koro ni, Spice and Wolf II, Summer Wars, Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, CANAAN, Bakemonogatari, and the Tales of Vesperia movie.

[Fish and Chips]

Now that we're less than two weeks away from the start of the summer season, more trailers with actual content have been surfacing, as well as the seasonal Nico Nico Douga anime previews and rankings for past seasons. We've got new trailers for Umi Monogatari, Umineko no Naku Koro ni, Spice and Wolf II, Summer Wars, Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, CANAAN, Bakemonogatari, and the Tales of Vesperia movie.

I hope I haven't seen the trailer for Umineko no Naku Koro ni, because if I did I'm disappointed.

EDIT: My mistake, it was the wrong trailer.

[CrimsonRyu17]

Spice & Wolf II for me. I'm a bit hyped for that. Otherwise, I'm not rly interested in anything else coming out.

[blkmage]

I hope I haven't seen the trailer for Umineko no Naku Koro ni, because if I did I'm disappointed.

EDIT: My mistake, it was the wrong trailer.

So what was it that you did see? I'm assuming it was something with the charmingly bad in-game art.

[Fish and Chips]

So what was it that you did see? I'm assuming it was something with the charmingly bad in-game art.

No, I'm well aware that the sound novels have purposefully amateurish artwork. It was just boring, cut-and-paste white silhouettes with kanji that didn't tell me anything. But it kept showing up whenever I searched for the trailer.

[blkmage]

Summer is starting, and with it is the final summer lineup. I'm probably going to be watching the first episode of Umi Monogatari later, while most of the other stuff comes at us this week. Time to prepare for a barrage of wall of text of impressions in the next few weeks.

[Sheol777]

Thanks again blkmage I can always depend on you for 'the grid'.

No mention of the Rebuild of Evangelion which is supposed to be out June 26

Cobra revamps might be worth it.
A new Saint Seiya? thats also good news!
but most importantly...


Hellsing Ultimate 6!

[Roy Mustang]

Thanks again blkmage I can always depend on you for 'the grid'.

No mention of the Rebuild of Evangelion which is supposed to be out June 26

I think that is because the grid has never listed movies, just tv series and OVAs.

[font="Book Antiqua"]
[color="Red"]Col. Roy Mustang
[/color][/font]

[blkmage]

Yeah, movies aren't listed, because they can't get fansubbed until the DVD or BRD comes out about six months later, so we won't be seeing them for a while anyway.

[blkmage]

So, summer started. I am sure someone's watched something. So far, stuff that I've seen so far that I've noticed includes Umineko, which I'm sure you've heard me perpetually raving about, Taishou Yakyuu Musume, which starts off with a song about how great Tokyo in 1925 is, and CANAAN, which is very well produced and looks like it'll be the action series this season. Also features Type-Moon requisite character with magic eyes.

[Fish and Chips]

[color="Red"]I am watching Umineko.[/color]

[blkmage]

Am I right in thinking that you've made it to EP2?

[Fish and Chips]

No, I'm still early in Episode 1. In keeping with my bad habit of spoiling myself though, I am aware of the significance of the red text in the no Naku Koro ni universe.

[blkmage]

So we have expectation rankingsfrom Dengeki. I'll put this here and we can look back in three months and see how wrong everyone was.

"Expectation" Ranking for Summer Titles in 2009
*1, Spice and Wolf II
*2, Umineko no Naku Koro ni
*3, Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
*4, Bakemonogatari
*5, CANAAN
*6, Taishou Yakyuu Musume.
*7, GA: Geijutsuka Art Design Class
*8, Kanamemo
*9, Tokyo Magnitude 8.0
10, Umi Monogatari ~Anata ga Itekureta Koto~

[EricTheFred]

The only things on this list I've seen yet is Umi Monogatari, and I sure hope its no better than number 10, or we're in trouble.

[blkmage]

I'm going to mention Bakemonogatari again because the first episode was a huge surprise for me and was probably the most impressive first episode I've seen in a while. I only checked it out because of the studio and director (SHAFT and Akiyuki Shinbo), but I didn't quite expect the level of quality to be so high in the art and animation. Combined with what looks to be an interesting story and characters and this will be the best show of the season and is on the way to being SHAFT's best work. It's the show I'm most excited for. This will probably be another anime that I will make me want to read the light novels, except that no one has translated them. Maybe I should just invest a few years into learning Japanese. ┐( ´ー`)┌

EDIT: More information. Bakemonogatari is based on a series of light novels by NisioisiN, who also wrote Death Note Another Note and xxxHOLiC Another Holic. Another one of his light novel series, Katanagatari (unrelated to Bakemonogatari) is getting an anime adaptation later on as well. I'll let Wikipedia describe Bakemonogatari.

Bakemonogatari centers on Koyomi Araragi, a third year high school student who is almost human again after briefly becoming a vampire. One day, a classmate named Hitagi Senjōgahara, who infamously never talks to anyone, falls down the stairs into Koyomi's arms. He discovers that Hitagi weighs next to nothing, in defiance of physics. After being threatened by her, Koyomi offers her help, and introduces her to Meme Oshino, a middle-aged homeless man who helped him stop being a vampire.

The series tends to introduce only one new heroine per chapter, each involved with a different "apparition". The events of the previous chapters play an important role in the subsequent ones. The series primarily focuses on conversations between characters; it contains a fair number of parodies of other series, as well as Nisio Isin's trademark wordplay and metahumor.

[blkmage]

So now that I've seen everything I want to see, here they are in order of how excited I am for each show, from most to least:

1. Bakemonogatari　「化物語」
2. Spice and Wolf II　「狼と香辛料II」
3. Umineko no Naku Koro ni　「うみねこのなく頃に」
4. Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei　「残・さよなら絶望先生」
5. GA: Geijutsuka Art Design Class　「ＧＡ芸術科アートデザインクラス」
6. CANAAN　「カナン」
7. Tokyo Magnitude 8.0　「東京マグニチュード8.0」
8. Taishou Yakyuu Musume.　「大正野球娘。」
9. Yokuwakaru Gendaimahou　「よくわかる現代魔法」

Together with the carryovers from last season (Hayate no Gotoku!! 2nd Season, Fullmetal Alchemist 2009, and Haruhi 2009), that makes twelve shows. I haven't had this much to look forward to since last fall. ヽ(　ﾟ∀ﾟ)ノ