Winter 2010: A thread containing discussions about shows from the near future

[blkmage]

Sup chaps. I was bored.

PREAMBLE
Much like the threads before it, this is a thread I created for the discussion of new anime that will be airing on TV in Japan in the winter 2010 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.

The lineup for winter actually looks fairly solid so far. There aren't too many announced titles at this time yet, but there are a good proportion of things that I've been watching out for. Anyhow, we'll run with what we have and bring up stuff as they get announced.

Our familiar friend, the season chart.

Since there aren't too many, let's go through them all. This time, I'll try colour coding ([color="Lime"]YES[/color], ????, [color="Red"]NO[/color]) them and including the studio that's producing it.

[color="Lime"]Durarara!![/color] (Brains Base): This one's based on a light novel series by the author of Baccano! and features character designs by the mangaka behind Yozakura Quartet. Based on that information alone, I've got high hopes for this one. In addition to that, Brains Base has proven itself a very capable studio and the voice cast is pretty superstar-class.

[color="Red"]Dance in the Vampire Bund[/color] (SHAFT): I've read a few chapters of this and, well, it's very, very fanservice-y to a very, very uncomfortable point. If it weren't for that, I'd have no hesitation in recommending it because I thought it was pretty interesting.

So Ra No Wo To (A-1 Pictures): This is the first show that's in a special timeslot for pushing original anime productions. Initial reactions to the art style and premise have been along the lines of K-ON! with war. This could turn out alright and A-1 is usually pretty good (unless paired with another good studio, in which case they cancel out or something).

Hanamaru Kindergarten (GAINAX): Remember a while back, there was that video at that con where there was apparently some crazy collaboration between BONES and GAINAX that turned out to be something not crazy at all? Well that's this and BONES appears to be absent. Also, it's a slice of life comedy that's set in a kindergarten.

[color="Lime"]Nodame Cantabile Finale[/color] (JC Staff): A lot of us were confused when the name of the third season of Nodame Cantabile was revealed. Shortly after, it was announced that the manga would end in October and suddenly, it all made sense. If you haven't checked out Nodame Cantabile, which is about classical music and conservatory students, I suggest you do that now.

[color="Lime"]Katanagatari[/color] (WHITE FOX): Katanagatari is a light novel by NisiOisiN. After Bakemonogatari, anything with his name by the word "author" is enough to convince me to check it out. WHITE FOX appears to be a really new studio with only Tears to Tiara under their belt, so we'll see how production turns out.

[color="Red"]Seikon no Qwaser[/color] (Taki): I know the summary sounds ridiculous, but it's true. This is a manga in which the characters get powered up through breast milk. Stay very far away from this one.

Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu (Silver Link): Another harem/comedy light novel adaptation I guess.

[color="Lime"]Hidamari Sketch ×☆☆☆[/color] (SHAFT): I love Hidamari Sketch, you should all know this by now. I'm expecting this season to have the two new characters show up.

Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 3: I guess anyone who'd be interested in this would have seen the first two. As for me? No idea.

[color="Lime"]Ookamikakushi[/color] (AIC): This is based on a visual novel written by Ryukishi07 of Higurashi and Umineko fame with character designs done by PEACH-PIT of Shugo Chara and Rozen Maiden fame. This gets limed for having anything to do with Ryukishi07.

Rose O'Neill Kewpie: Children's anime. Next.

Omamori Himari (ZEXCS): Wikipedia says Genre: Action, Supernatural, Romantic comedy, Harem.

Ladies vs. Butlers (XEBEC): Another light novel full of harem comedy. Also lol Xebec. Yawn.

[color="Red"]Chu Bra!![/color] (ZEXCS): what is this i don't even

REMARKS
With the low number of shows announced thus far (usually there are a few more by this time), a number of studios are absent: KyoAni, BONES, Madhouse, and Production IG are the big ones. Also, Sengoku Basara 2nd season doesn't appear to be on the list anymore either.

[minakichan]

STOP!!!

I haven't even figured Fall season out yet! ;_;

[Fish and Chips]

With the low number of shows announced thus far (usually there are a few more by this time), a number of studios are absent: Madhouse

This better be because they're busy working on Kaiji season two or I am going to be so disappointed.

Anyway, my take.

Durarara!!
It's Narita, so sure. Besides, the idea of the headless horseman becoming a headless motorcyclist is ASDF.

Dance in the Vampire Bund
The likelihood of my watching this is directly proportional to how many actually cool vampires are in it. Which is, judging from the promotional shot, -1.

So•Ra•No•Wo•To
Japan, Japan, Japan, when are you going to give me an actual military show and not young girls in improbably dangerous war situations. Still, this might be amusing, if just for one episode.

Hanamaru Kindergarten
I misread this as Hanamura. I wish I hadn't. Pass.

Nodame Cantabile Finale
Nodame Cantabile is really far back on my backburner. Can't watch this till I watch the rest, so not this winter.

Katanagatari
Minimalist (though classic) premise but nice art. That Blkmage informs me this is the doing of NisiOisiN means I'll at least give it a shot.

Qwaser of Stigmata
OH. I remember this now. Pass.

Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu
THE ONE WHO SAYS STUPID IS THE STUPID ONE. Pass.

Hidimari Sketch x☆]
Watching this would likely require me to have watched/enjoyed the prequel. I have no intention of doing so, therefore we are at an impasse.

[B]Haruka of a Distant Time 3
Some brand of bland. Pass.

Hidden God
I was interested before I knew R07 was involved. Now that I know this, doubly interested.

Rose O'Neill's Kewpie
Ladies' Home Journal magazine gets an Anime what.

Omamori Himari
It's like Tsukihime minus the good parts. And even some of the bad parts.

Ladies vs. Butlers!
Fetish fuel will always get passed by.

Chu-Bra!!
[SIZE="7"]:|[/SIZE]

[MasterDias]

I think Katanagatari is actually going to be a series of OVAs. That and Durarara!! are what interest me the most from that list.

I think one of the Eden of the East movies is scheduled for January so that sort of covers Production IG. Was Sengoku Basara - Part 2 really scheduled for winter or were people jumping to premature conclusions?
I know the other big studios have stuff scheduled for spring or later: Sunrise has Gundam Unicorn. KyoAni has the Haruhi movie. Madhouse has those Marvel Comics collaborations. Bones has that Heroman collaboration with Stan Lee. The manga of this just started in Gangan.
So, yeah, the major stuff will be later.

[blkmage]

Yeah, you're right, it looks like Katanagatari is a monthly OVA, so I guess each release will correspond with one volume. And your bringing up the Eden of the East movie reminded me that the Nanoha movie and Unlimited Blade Works movie are also coming out in theatres in January, and on the same day too. As for Sengoku Basara, it might just be me being crazy, but I swore I saw the announcement for Winter 2010 at the end of the last episode.

[blkmage]

Sup guys, it's only a month away, and now trailers have become plentiful to harvest. Let's see what we've got.

First off, no Ookamikakushi trailers yet, but I did find a lot of videos of the OP for the game. Of course, it's no indicator of how the anime will turn out, but that it has a very Higurashi vibe is good news.

Next, we have yet another Gundam UC PV. I think by now, we've already seen all we can see in trailers, which has been impressive.

Then we have a CM for So Ra No Wo To, featuring the show's OP by Kalafina (of Kara no Kyoukai fame). Based on the feel of the song, I'm going to say that the show isn't going to be going for K-ON!/Lucky Star but will be more Aria/YKK. Let's hope I'm right.

Next up is a classy trailer for Durarara!! featuring cardboard Horo. Looks good like Brains Base usually is and not bad like Akikan.

We then move on to two 15 second CMs for Katanagatari which looks pretty nice.

And lastly, we've got a trailer for Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu, which looks like it might actually be funny instead of generic bads.

[blkmage]

EDIT: adding movie trailers

So apparently there's a longer So Ra No Wo To PV that was taken down which lead some people on another forum to comment on its Haibane Renmei vibes. Also, some guy who can read Japanese and light novels has said that Durarara!! should be pretty awesome. There's also a CM for Durarara!! at the end of last week's DtB2 episode. On the other hand, another guy who can read light novels has said that the Katanagatari light novels are actually not very good at all (likely because of the monthly release schedule that the novels had), but might work out better in animated form.

Also, there are a number of films being released in Japanese theatres that we will have no chance of seeing for months, but oh well. These are:

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha The MOVIE 1st (January 23), which should cut down on the boring parts of the first season while giving us more glorious fight scenes and pink splosions and another glorious Mizuki Nana single (PHANTOM MINDS).

Fate/stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works (January 23), which is a route that people liked more than Fate. I like UBW a lot more than Fate too, but with DEEN at the helm again and the cramming of what took me something like ten hours to get through into 90 minutes does not bode well.

The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (February 26), which is not Endless Eight and is actually one of the best parts of the story. Also, Minori Chihara is singing the main theme (since this movie is actually about Yuki) and not Aya Hirano, thank God.

Gotta say, if I were in Japan on January 23rd, I'd totally go watch Nanoha over UBW. Which path would you take?

Also of note are some Japanese DVD/BRD releases which translates to subs for us. Summer Wars lands on March 3 (almost like an early birthday present) and the second Gurren Lagann movie will be piercing through our heavens on January 20.

[Falx]

Hanamaru Kindergarten (GAINAX): Remember a while back, there was that video at that con where there was apparently some crazy collaboration between BONES and GAINAX that turned out to be something not crazy at all? Well that's this and BONES appears to be absent. Also, it's a slice of life comedy that's set in a kindergarten.

I wouldn't get my hopes up, I tried to read the first chapter of the manga when this was first announced. I'd be terrified if Kindergartners actually acted like that, and not scared in a "oh how amusing" way either, more like a "Oh man someone phone the FBI like yesterday to investigate these kids' homes!" kinda way

Omamori Himari (ZEXCS): Wikipedia says Genre: Action, Supernatural, Romantic comedy, Harem.

It's the manga author's very first non-xrated manga... so yeah. Panties like everywhere

I'm definitely watching:

sora no woto
Durarara!!
Katanagatari
Hidamari Sketch
Ookamikakushi

I'll give Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu a try.

On the movie front I'm looking forward to Disappearance, but I'll wait a few days for the reviews just to make sure

And definitely seeing Nanoha. I'm kinda meh on UBW since I've never been a big fan... it sounded interesting but I don't like how they handled things. Really looking forward to Summer Wars... so far away And I'll give the TTGL movie a bash too even though I wasn't overly impressed by the first one.

[blkmage]

I am very certain that someone will be interested in this interesting looking link to a trailer for a certain movie.

[minakichan]

OOOOOOOOOOKAAAAAAAAY SO

Durarara(ragi-kun!): Baccano something or other what? I'm watching it.

Dance in the Vampire Bund: I think I'm actually going to watch this because after Bakemonogatari, SHAFT should have MONEY now. So curious what that might look like.

So Ra No Wo To: I'm pretty sure I won't like this show-- I like K-On! but K-On! with war probably isn't my thing. I'll check it out though.

Hanamaru Kindergarten: This seems like the kind of show I'll watch a little of when I'm stressed out, like Chi's Sweet Home. Buuuuuuuut I could be wrong...

Nodame Cantabile Finale: YES.

Kanatagatari: Nisi Oisin + low commitment = I'm game. But I feel like Bakemonogatari was particularly awesome because of SHAFT, not because of Nisi Oisin, so my hopes aren't that high.

I will NOT be watching Ookamikakushi (too scary). I might watch an ep of Chu-Bra!! I'M SO CURIOUS.

[Falx]

Dance in the Vampire Bund is really explicit... like ALOT. As in I'm willing to bet money on the fact that it will make the "do not discuss" list.

Just making sure everyone knows that before they see something they might not have wanted to. The same with Chu-Bra.

[Fish and Chips]

By universal mandate I can only ever watch one show this winter season, and that show is Durarara!! I stumbled across an ongoing effort to get Narita's works translated and in English, and after browsing lightly through the first few chapters, I have to say I'm interested in what Brains Base will cook up. Looks like the show's going to be a lot of fun.

What interest I had in Katanagatari has weaned with the knowledge that it's apparently one of NisiOisiN's (much) weaker works, through perhaps an animated adaption could salvage it.

Dance in the Vampire Bund is really explicit... like ALOT. As in I'm willing to bet money on the fact that it will make the "do not discuss" list.

Just to clarify, the Do Not Discuss list is used to denote specific Anime or Manga which have come up in discussion on CAA in the past and caused a stir, usually as a hotly debated subject; for example, the meaning behind all that crazy religious symbolism they threw in Neon Genesis Evangelion, or rampant complaining about the 4kids dub of One Piece. It isn't intended to be an expansive list of explicit content in Anime, or it'd be much longer by now.

[Falx]

Ah right...

Well if there was such a list here it would end up there, anyway... I'm kinda looking forward to So.ra.no.wa.to the plot summary they announced it with just hooked me... The girls are playing music which, "echoes through villages with no people and across seas with no fish."

Spooky!

[MasterDias]

The So Ra No Wo To trailers actually raised my interest a bit, as it looks really atmospheric. Although, I would hope it manages to have a unique voice and not just be "K-On joins the army."

[Falx]

Speaking of K-On, it looks like the manga is close to ending. The girls are all at the end of their 3rd year and are getting ready for college entrance exams.

[blkmage]

IIRC, Lucky Star continued on after they graduated and from what I've heard, K-ON! may also continue their adventures through post-secondary education.

As for So Ra No Wo To, I do think the only resemblance it has to K-ON! now is the art. Everything else I've seen or read about it seems to be pointing in the melancholy-ish direction, especially with that Kalafina song.

With Dance on the Vampire Bund, I've read a substantial chunk of the manga, and while I'm fairly displeased with the fanservice, I am interested in seeing what SHAFT will be doing with it. The trailers seem to indicate that there will be actual animation.

[Fish and Chips]

The trailers seem to indicate that there will be actual animation.

Ridiculous.

Why would SHAFT let us down now.

[blkmage]

I would laugh so hard if the trailer was made up of every instance of animation in the show and they ended up doing the usual and reduced the rest of it to a series of quick stills at weird angles and overuse of shapes, patterns, and photos.

[Fish and Chips]

This winter, Piet Mondrian presents Dance in the Vampire Bund.

[Maokun]

a series of quick stills at weird angles and overuse of shapes, patterns, and photos.

You talk of it as though as it was a bad thing. I've seen stuff in art galleries attempting to do pretty much the same, but failing abysmally at the aesthetically pleasantness department.

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

Given that I still have tons of other stuff to catch up on, I believe Durarara is the only show I'll be watching this season.

[goldenspines]

I keep forgetting to post in here. XD; This looks like an interesting lineup; a little good with a little bit of bad and some "asjhdklsadjsa WHY?" mixed it.

I will be watching Durarara as much as I can. As well as having a fun title to say over and over again (i.e. much like "baccano" or something of the like ), the trailer looks very promising.

The animation style on Katanagatari intrigues me and the story has some potential. I think I'll give it a watch.

Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 3 I think I will watch; purely for the fact I like the manga. The fact I didn't even know there was a 1 or 2 makes me a horrible fan, but I'll see how fast I can get caught up. The series reminds me A LOT of Fushigi Yuugi; so much so, it's crazy. Just a note for any of you that are curious about it.

And I'll give Ookamikakushi a maybe, because the art design looks cool. XD

Overall, not too bad of a lineup, cutting out that last one. >_>;; *shudders*

[blkmage]

You talk of it as though as it was a bad thing. I've seen stuff in art galleries attempting to do pretty much the same, but failing abysmally at the aesthetically pleasantness department.

It would be funny because it would not be what everyone is expecting from the trailer. I think I've watched most shows that SHAFT has done with Shinbo at the helm and have enjoyed most of them, so it's safe to say that I enjoy their style. The fun thing to do is compare their more serious shows (ef, Bakemonogatari) with their less serious ones (Hidamari Sketch, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei) and notice that a lot of the direction is essentially the same.

[Falx]

IIRC, Lucky Star continued on after they graduated and from what I've heard, K-ON! may also continue their adventures through post-secondary education.

As for So Ra No Wo To, I do think the only resemblance it has to K-ON! now is the art. Everything else I've seen or read about it seems to be pointing in the melancholy-ish direction, especially with that Kalafina song.

With Dance on the Vampire Bund, I've read a substantial chunk of the manga, and while I'm fairly displeased with the fanservice, I am interested in seeing what SHAFT will be doing with it. The trailers seem to indicate that there will be actual animation.

Man I knew Lucky Star had a lot of material that hadn't been translated but I had no clue it even surpassed the anime. I really wanna read it now.

[blkmage]

So Ra No Wo To was pretty neat. Production was pretty good, both the visuals and the sound. The setting is interesting. At this point, I'd say the characters are the weakest part, but that's because they're similar enough (but not the same!) to K-ON! that people won't shut up about it. It's definitely not K-ON!. Anyone who says so is predisposed to hating it.

[Falx]

So Ra No Wo To was pretty neat. Production was pretty good, both the visuals and the sound. The setting is interesting. At this point, I'd say the characters are the weakest part, but that's because they're similar enough (but not the same!) to K-ON! that people won't shut up about it. It's definitely not K-ON!. Anyone who says so is predisposed to hating it.

Ditto!

There's certainly nothing outright comedic about it. In fact it's more melancholic than anything else.

[blkmage]

So I'm doing a simulwatch of Utena with another forum (one episode every two days) and it's been pretty fun and the thread is filled with stuff every day. Since there's a ton of interest here in Dulalala!!, I thought it'd be neat if we could try to do the same thing, but on a weekly basis, as it airs. In fact, I think it'd be neat if this were, say, the pseudo-"official" show that we're all watching together this season, especially since it's going to be easily available on Crunchyroll. It'd be great for generating discussion since there'd be a lot of us watching it and the weekly airing means that we'd have something to talk about every week. And since it's so short (12-13 episodes), it'd be easier to commit to watching as it airs.

What do you all think?

[NothingClever]

Sounds like a great idea to me!

If we were going to use Crunchyroll I'm assuming that we'd want to time the discussions to the free for everyone release dates then.

Also, do we worry about region restrictions or just live with it? I don't know how to confirm this on CR, but ANN reports that Dulalala!! is only available in United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland. Honestly, I don't see a way around this. I doubt any of the shows are restriction free.

[blkmage]

So Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu was a bit different from what I'd expected. I guess I didn't read the summary closely enough, because I'd completely missed the part about summoning little avatars to fight. The art and animation is actually pretty good. The characters are a bit generic and the concept seems a bit convoluted, but it looks like it could be a decently fun little comedy.

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

So I'm doing a simulwatch of Utena with another forum (one episode every two days) and it's been pretty fun and the thread is filled with stuff every day. Since there's a ton of interest here in Dulalala!!, I thought it'd be neat if we could try to do the same thing, but on a weekly basis, as it airs. In fact, I think it'd be neat if this were, say, the pseudo-"official" show that we're all watching together this season, especially since it's going to be easily available on Crunchyroll. It'd be great for generating discussion since there'd be a lot of us watching it and the weekly airing means that we'd have something to talk about every week. And since it's so short (12-13 episodes), it'd be easier to commit to watching as it airs.

What do you all think?

That would be lots of fun, I would definitely do that!