Moonlight Mile season 2

I did try to get on with the first season of Moonlight Mile, but after a barely comprehensible opening episode and warnings of extreme MANLINESS ahead, I never did continue with it. I’m not sure if anyone (other than Kryptfo?) actually watched to the end of season one, but if they did, they’ll probably be ready for more STRAIGHT adventures with the manly men of space.

Moyashimon

Also known as “Tales of Agriculture”, this may sound like some sort of Harvest Moon adaptation, but it’s actually about a boy who can see these rather cute looking bacteria and fungi with his naked eyes. It sounds quite quirky and interesting, although I’m not sure if I’m ready to believe the people who say it’s comparable to Mushishi (can it possibly duplicate Mushishi’s excellence?).

Kodomo no Jikan

So I previewed this for the summer and it got pushed back to autumn, but my comments from then still stand- it’s just not really my thing. I never did try the manga, so I’m not going to be trying this lolilicious anime.

Goshuushou-sama Ninomiya-kun

Based on a light novel series, this series seems to be a mish-mash of elements from different harem and romance series; we’ve got the typical high school student lead, a girl whose been sent to live with him to get over her fear of men, both their sisters, and a student council head who becomes their maid for some reason. It sounds like the typical light fare I tend to steer clear of these days, but the promo picture does have a blue-haired girl (for Necromancer) and a pink/red-haired girl for manga.

BLUE DROP ~Tenshi Tachi no Gikyoku~

A series about the growing friendship between a human girl who was the lone survivor of a mysterious incident and an alien sent to infiltrate human society prior to an invasion, Blue Drop’s synopsis pushes all the right buttons in terms of sci-fi and character elements, and whilst I haven’t read the original manga, I hope this anime can deliver.

Tobaku Mokushiroku Kaiji

From the character designs alone, you can tell that this series was from the same creator as Akagi, although this time the focus is on gambling rather than mah-jongg. I know it will be ugly and MANLY, but if it’s at all like its brother series, it should also be very good. I just hope they have some CG gambling chips or something.

Macross Frontier

Yes, Macross is back, and I still have all those discs of the previous Macross series waiting to be watched. I’ll probably give this a go because of the “it’s a big-name franchise and everyone else will be watching it” factor, but it remains to be seen whether I’ll stick with it for the long haul. At least Yoko Kanno’s music should be worth tuning in for.

Bamboo Blade

A kendo instructor has to put together an all-female team and train them to beat his sempai’s team- surely a recipe for typical five-girl character combinations if ever there was one. Even so, I’m getting slight vibes of Shrine of the Morning Mist from it, so it may be given a chance to entertain.

Sketchbook: full color`s

Sketchbook is the coming season’s answer to 4-koma based series, this time focusing on what seems to be short vignettes into the lives of high school girls. It looks like it will tilt more towards slice-of-life than previous comedic 4-koma based series, so I’m planning to at least give this a look.

Myself; Yourself

I have to admit I like the character designs for this series, but when I read that it was about a high school student returning to his hometown after a five year absence, I couldn’t quite stifle a yawn at the thought of Kanon Mark 58. I know it’s only thirteen episodes, but I’ve been down the “only 12-13 episode” route before, and it always ends in pain. Consider this one far from my potential viewing list.

Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro

The latest SJ series to get an adaptation, this series features a “riddle eater” who comes to our world to eat the ultimate mystery, forcing a girl to tag along and become a detective on the way. I’m afraid I can’t think of this series without remembering how Randall Fitzgerald recommended it for people with weird dental fetishes, and I have the distinct feeling that it’s one of those series that sounds fairly interesting but turns out to be dull Ghost Hunt/Zombie Loan fare. Chances of watching it are low.

Suteki Tantei Labyrinth

This one seems to be popular on a lot of Spanish blogs, but I couldn’t be bothered to either apply my rusty Spanish skills or use Google translator, so I’m not entirely sure what it’s about. Given the title, the blonde tea sipping boy is probably some kind of genius detective, but since both he and his supporting characters seem rather generic, I’m not terribly interested.

Night Wizard

This one’s an RPG adaptation, which immediately sets off alarm bells in my head despite the appealing character designs (minus the main guy, who looks too much like Kanon’s Yuuichi for my liking). I may have to try it anyway despite a generally pessimistic outlook, but I’m more interested in trying the PC game.

Dragonaut: The Resonance

I don’t really know much about this one other than it’s a Gonzo series with lots of rip-off character designs, but that seems enough to give it a middling to wide berth. Let us not forget the lessons of Kiddy Grade and its brethren when it comes to Gonzo.

You’re Under Arrest: Full Throttle

I quite enjoyed the YUA OVAs, but as yet I haven’t got around to the earlier TV series- even so, I doubt the plot is complex enough for me not to be able to jump in here. The artwork certainly looks to have evolved beyond the old days, and so unless it’s another Ah! My Goddess season 2, it should be worth a look.

Shakugan no Shana II

It’s no secret that the first season of Shana disappointed me, but like a moth to our heroine’s burning flames, I shall no doubt end up at least starting the second season. Let’s hope that this time around the darker elements outweigh the harem ones, and that the villains aren’t so disappointing.

Clannad

I loved Air and hated Kanon, but where will Clannad fall in the spectrum? I did read Hinano’s lengthy post about the game, but have since forgotten most of the spoilers she mentioned- exactly how it will pan out on screen, however, is a different matter. It may be dramatic, heart-wrenching and all the rest, or it may be an excuse to post a new set of Harem Diaries.

Shugo Chara!

Another anime based on a Peach Pit series, this one sees a popular girl gains the aid of three magical Guardian Characters in her quest to unlock her true self. I can’t help feeling that Peach Pit have disappointed me too many times to take a chance on another of their series, and this one certainly has no great hook.

Gundam 00

Ah, Gundam, I never did jump on your bandwagon, and even if I had done so, Destiny would have made me jump right off again (come to think of it, I never did watch Stargazer). In any case, I must watch this in order to gauge how parody-worthy it may be, but if I get bored, it shall join Code Geass in the recycle bin.

ef – A Tale of Memories

There’s just something about this series- it sounds like a typical visual novel story and will most likely be one of those overhyped disappointments, but I can’t help really looking forward to it. There’s just something about the atmosphere that surrounds this series that makes me want to immerse myself in it as soon as possible.

Kimikiss Pure Rouge

The original game saw your character desperately trying to earn a smooch from one of six girls at school, and from this we can deduce that this will be yet another harem series. I have learned my lesson (?) about using this sort of series for light entertainment, so I will take care to avoid it.

Mokke

A seinen series about two sisters with spiritual powers, Mokke seems exactly like the series I quietly love, and so I hope it can take the place of Windy Tales and Someday’s Dreamers in providing me with charming, magical slice-of-life stories. A must-see for me.

Da Capo II

Well, this one is out as I have no familiarity with the games and I didn’t watch the first DC anime, but I feel oddly drawn to the character designs. Whether I’ll ever get around to even sampling the franchise remains to be seen.

Jyuushin Enbu: Hero Tales

I’ve already covered the run up to this anime with links to the character designs and so forth, and I have to admit that it looks pretty generic- yes, it does have the FMA mangaka behind it, but even so my hopes are distinctly low. I may try it anyway, but more to see how bad it is than out of any hope for something worthy.

Minami-ke

This one looks like another slice-of-life series, this time about three sisters and their everyday (or not so everyday) adventures. The character designs look good and I’m hoping it will be entertaining, but there’s also the fear that it could be dull Binbou style fare.

Genshiken 2

I loved Genshiken, and even though I haven’t watched the OVA yet, I’m looking forward to continuing with this enjoyable series. I should also invest in the manga at some point- you can never get enough of those otaku and their exploits.\

Prism Ark

As an eroge adaptation set in a fantasy world, it would be great if this series delivered what Utawarerumono couldn’t, but all signs seem to indicate that it will be light fluff rather than the worthy fantasy series I have been looking for. From a fanart perspective, however, I really love the character designs.

Shion no Ou

There’s a good chance this series could be to shogi what Hikaru no Go and Akagi were to Go and mah-jongg respectively, and for that reason alone, I shall certainly be giving this a try. Don’t let anyone tell you that board game anime is boring- there’s something oddly addictive about it, and the prospect of a female lead instead of the usual young man is just the icing on the cake.

Koharu Biyori

For this OVA, I just have to start by quoting AniDB:

“Set in a near future, a time where robots are common workers for their owners. Takaya Murase has just purchased a maid robot from a robotic doll distriubutor, MaidWorks. Ready to live a normal cleaning, cooking, and serving life to her owner, Yui is purchased, by Takaya but he has other plans for her…like dressing her up in dress-costumes of his fantasies and more.”

Yes, that’s right, this series goes beyond the tired old maid robot concept and introduces a robot maid whose master indulges in his fetishes. I almost have to laugh at this, but I certainly won’t be watching the actual OVA.

Ghost Hound

Based on a concept by Masamune Shirow, Ghost Hound follows three people who learn to separate their minds from their bodies and travel to an alternate world. Although I’ve never been the biggest fans of the likes of Ghost in the Shell, these sorts of ideas do intrigue me, although with Chiaki Konaka handling the script there are worries that the ending will be horribly disappointing and inconclusive.

Appleseed Saga Ex Machina

Again, I’m not the biggest Appleseed fan, but I did watch the first movie (that’s the recent film, not the twenty year old OVA), and so I may continue onwards to this one. Maybe I’ll understand it more this time.

Nasu: Suitcase no Wataridori

This one looks like a one-off OVA about cycling, which would normally put me off, but the prequel movie actually sounds somewhat interesting. I think I’ll give the original movie a go, and then perhaps sample this OVA.

Soukou Kihei Votoms: Pailsen FilesAnother one I previewed back in the summer- back then it looked too fugly and MANLY, and my feelings haven’t changed.

]]> http://azureflame.dasaku.net/2007/09/12/autumn-2007-preview/feed/ 11 http://azureflame.dasaku.net/2007/05/25/weekly-round-up-may-25th/ http://azureflame.dasaku.net/2007/05/25/weekly-round-up-may-25th/#comments Fri, 25 May 2007 09:04:15 +0000 Karura http://azureflame.ikimashou.net/2007/05/25/weekly-round-up-may-25th/ ‘

To everyone who has commented on Mai-Otome Zwei episode 2 to say how complex it is, I give you this- episode three’s topless scene.

Reviewed this week: Cazador 7, Claymore 7-8, Darker than Black 6, KouSang 6, Moonlight Mile 1, Nodame 17, RxJ 6-7, Emma II 4

…and in manga: Elfen Lied 76, Spiral vol 7

Bokurano is not technically dropped, but it is on a long hiatus. To make up for the recent spate of drops I’m catching up with Moonlight Mile and may start Polyphonica.

ANIME

El Cazador de la Bruja 7: Poor Cazador, when you stick to the formula, I complain, but when you try something different, I still complain- because it’s all just so insufferably dull (albeit better than last year’s .hack//Roots). In this episode, Nadie and Ellis stop off at an expensive hotel and run into Ririo (complete with swimsuit service), whilst Ricardo is sent out to teach LA a lesson; there’s not much else to say except that this was one twenty-five minute episode that felt more like three hours.

Claymore 7-8: Since I accidentally forgot to watch episode 7 last week, I ended up with a double bill of Claymore this week, which brings Teresa’s arc to an end whilst introducing a final boss character to aspire to. Unfortunately, after enjoying episodes 5-6, 7-8 just didn’t have the same impact, abruptly introducing characters I couldn’t care less about, and doing such a good job at replacing action scenes with DBZ-esque stills, gasps and flurries of blows that the sword fights were laughably poor instead of well executed and engaging.

Darker than Black 6: Darker than Black never fails to come up with the goods, and as this episode seems to attest, it can only go from strength to strength. Although it doesn’t fill in as many blanks as I might have hoped, the episode is brought to life as vividly as Havoc’s hair thanks to both Havoc herself and Li/Hei, a combination whose words and actions elevate the series to new heights. In contrast to the building tension, however, the next arc appears to take a lighter tone- I’m approaching it with a bit more caution than usual, but hopefully the general excellence of the series and the presence of some darker than black cats will make it worthwhile.

Koutetsu Sangokushi 6: Our heroes finally trigger a boss battle against Huang Zu (Kouso) in this episode, which sees Gan Ning angst over accepting his place as an OP character, whilst the other named heroes take turns at fighting the enemy before giving Lu Xun a turn. As before, whilst hardly of the best quality, Koutetsu is becoming more enjoyable now, and although it will never reach the heights I hoped for prior to the airing of the series, it is at least entertaining.

*NEW/SLOW CATCH-UP* Moonlight Mile 1: I meant to watch more of this week, but for now I’m still woefully behind. Although I came to this in search of something in the spirit of Planetes, the first episode doesn’t have me entirely convinced- the only reason I found it watchable rather than tiresome was because I didn’t really know who anyone was or what was going on- therefore I need to watch more episodes just to establish the basics. I’m hoping we’ll get a story of the more realistic side of space travel, but if it becomes too mundane or aesthetically displeasing, I may have to drop it.

Nodame Cantabile 17: With competitions filling up everyone’s schedules, it becomes clear that The Strongest Orchestra must come second, and although he tries to be mature about it, it is clear that Chiaki wants himself and everyone else to put their all into it. Meanwhile, Nodame and her teacher start getting along thanks to the agreement they struck, but can he really tap into her potential. Following on the heels of 16, this is another solid instalment, and it seems hard to believe that this series will only run to 23 episodes- the story feels like it has barely begun.

Romeo X Juliet 6-7: There’s a new reason to keep watching RxJ, and his name is Tybalt. Appearing at the end of episode six, the man who was Juliet’s cousin in the original has got it all- looks, fighting ability, and immense character potential. Unfortunately, he has so much of it that the main characters actually become less interesting in comparison to him, which makes their story somewhat less engaging. Nonetheless, whilst they angst over their respective positions, Benvolio and his father run afoul of Montague, the amazingly cheerful downtrodden masses hold a flower festival and poor Hermione is left in the lurch whilst Romeo kisses Juliet. It may not be top quality stuff, but it’s still solid enough, although the animation takes enough of a downturn in episode seven that everyone appears to have misaligned eyes.

“My name is Tybalt, and I am 1337.”

Victorian Romance Emma Second Act 4: Episode three may have been the pinnacle of brilliance for Emma, but whilst this instalment cannot quite match its predecessor, it should still be rated highly. Whilst Emma is given the unwelcome news that she is accompanying her mistress to London, William decides to play the role of the perfect gentleman, and Eleanor’s sister pays a visit- a ripe setting for some dramatic upheavals. Although I was a little worried after the opening filler episode, the series has really picked up the pace, so much so that it now seems to be positively flying through the manga. I can’t wait for my next dose of Emma.

In case you”re wondering, these are Eleanor’’s bathing clothes- no revealing swimsuits in those days.

MANGA

Elfen Lied 76: It’s been a while since there were new Elfen Lied chapters, but happily almost the week I catch up, volume nine is started. After the almost idyllic (as much as this series can ever be idyllic) interlude, events start moving again when Bandou shows up at Kohta’s house- an encounter which triggers the reawakening of Lucy. Bandou has planned meticulously for a rematch with Lucy, but can his plans really ensure victory against such a powerful Diclonius? As with last volume, the chapters are a lot longer than they used to be, and so this has quite a bit of content, but the ending is a little frustrating- is Bandou going to be finished off at last, or he is going to survive yet again?

Spiral volume 7: In the old days, a chapter of Spiral was akin to gold dust, but now the veritable windfall of an entire volume has come our way. I have to admit that this isn’t the strongest volume of the series, with the first half taking quite a slow pace as it goes through the exposition and setup necessary for the next confrontation, but once Kanone makes his move, it becomes as good as ever, with Eyes waking up from his coma and Kanone taking Ayumu hostage at the school. It’s clearer than ever that Kanone was horribly short-changed in the anime, and at long last we can see his character as it was meant to be- memorably showcased in a scene in which he graphically demonstrates how logic is not always a match for plain and simple violence.