天下制覇

AYAKASHI 
http://www.ayakashi.info/ 
Studio: Tokyo Kids
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure 
Information Links: ANN Entry, Animesuki Thread
Premiers December 12th

Summary: 
Some people have an Ayakashi… parasitic spirits that grant them amazing power. Yuu is a boy with mysterious powers who soon comes in contact with other Ayakashi users and is forced into their conflict.

Personal Outlook: 
The first two episodes aired awhile ago. They were… not good. That’s all I have to say about that.

Final Preseason Rating: 
More sucking than an entire cadre of metroids.

Sisters of Wellber II 
http://www.avexmovie.jp/lineup/wellber/ 
Studio: Production IG 
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure 
Information Links: ANN Entry 
Premiers January 1st

Summary: 
After attacking her betrothed on her wedding night, Princess Rita fled in the company of the thief Tina to stay out of the hands of those pursuing her as well as understanding the intrigue surrounding the kingdoms. Sequel of the 2007 series of the same name.

Personal Outlook: 
Almost certainly not interested. The talking tank, naked fairy, and wackiness of the world mixed with an attempt at a serious plot just turned me off to things after a few episodes.

Final Preseason Rating: 
Half a sentient wise-cracking tank is still too much.

H20 ~Footprints in the Sand~
http://anime.webnt.jp/h2o/
Studio: ZEXCS
Genre: Drama, Romance 
Information Links: ANN Entry 
Premiers January 2nd

Summary: 
After the death of his mother and becoming estranged from his father, a blind boy moves to a new school to start his life over. He tries to befriend everybody, but the economic status of the town marks a sharp divide in them all as he learns about his new classmates and new life.

Personal Outlook: 
Everything I’ve heard or read about this one has been "great art, horrible story," with a further complaint that most of the game is flashbacks, with the occasional flashback within a flashback. None of this excites me. The fact that the official site has a picture of him tapping a girl’s ass with his cane also does not excite me.

Final Preseason Rating: 
Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn! Cthulhu fhtagn!

Rosario + Vampire 
http://www.rosa-vam.com/ 
Studio: Gonzo
Genre: Slice of Life, Comedy 
Information Links: ANN Entry, Animesuki Thread 
Premiers January 3rd

Summary: 
Aono somehow ends up in a monster academy. He meets a beautiful girl there, but when the rosary on her chest is removed, she becomes a powerful vampire and feeds off him, turning him into a monster as well.

Personal Outlook: 
Gonzo… Gonzo… Gonzo… my old arch-nemesis. The fact that the promo is almost 50% CG chairs and desks is not a good sign. I’m also told that the manga doesn’t… evolve particularly well or gracefully either. With Gonzo at the helm though, there’s no telling how bad it could turn out.

Final Preseason Rating: 
Gonzo is like a box of rare diseases; you never quite know what you’ll get.

Hatenkou Yuugi (Dazzle)
http://hatenkouyugi.com/
Studio: Studio DEEN
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Adventure
Information Links: ANN Entry, Animesuki Thread 
Premiers January 4th

Summary: 
A young girl is thrown out of her house and told to see the world. She joins with a young man trying to find revenge for her father’s murder. Together, the two travel the world, learning about the small magic everywhere and their own places in life.

Personal Outlook: 
Eh, perhaps. I’m not sold on the concept, but it’s generic enough that it could mean just about anything. Hopefully it’s a bit more exciting than all the promo stuff makes it sound.

Final Preseason Rating: 
Try the paella, it’s to die for.
   

Shigofumi ~Stories of the Last Letter 
http://www.shigofumi.com/
Studio: JCStaff 
Genre: Fantasy
Information Links: ANN Entry, Animesuki Thread
Premiers January 4th

Summary: 
After death, people are given the opportunity to write one last letter to someone they left behind. These are the stories of those letters and the girl who delivers them.

Personal Outlook: 
I love JCStaff and all, but this just sounds depressing. It’s probably meant to be uplifting and hopeful about people living on after the death of a loved one or some such rot, but Shinigami no Ballad tried that and I was underimpressed there too. Episodic tales of death just aren’t my bag.

Final Preseason Rating: 
OoooOOoOooOOOooOoOoOOOOOoooOOOOO

They Are My Noble Masters 
http://kimiaru.jp/ 
Studio: A.C.G.T. 
Genre: Romance, Comedy 
Information Links: ANN Entry, Animesuki Thread 
Premiers January 4th

Summary: 
Ren and his sister run away from home and stumble upon an obscenely rich family. Desperate to be taken in, they swear oaths of fealty on their lives to become the personal servants of the family.

Personal Outlook: 
Where have I seen this premise before, I wonder? I have heard some good things about the game (though I’m not overly familiar with it… yet), so it’ll probably be your standard romance/fanservice/comedy. I’m sure there will be worse shows around.

Final Preseason Rating: 
Top Coat, Top Hat… I don’t worry ’cause my wallet’s fat.
 

True Tears
http://www.truetears.jp/ 
Studio: PA Works
Genre: Drama 
Information Links: ANN Entry, Animesuki Thread 
Premiers January 4th

Summary: 
The game was a schedule-based dating sim (not hentai though) where your decisions could close off the heart and the secret of each girl. However… this is not based on the game; it just shares the same name. There’s not much more information about it specifically.

Personal Outlook: 
I like Broccoli. They brought me Galaxy Angel and Digi Charat. True Tears doesn’t look anywhere near as interesting, but is apparently their new franchise. Hopefully they’ll do a little bit better than the GA II adaptation, though I still can’t see myself glued to watching this.

Final Preseason Rating: 
Don’t cry, sad girls. The Happy Happy Cult is here for you.

Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei 
http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/zetsubou2/
Studio: SHAFT 
Genre: Comedy
Information Links: ANN Entry
Premiers January 4th

Summary: 
The continuing story of an eternally depressed, suicidal teacher and his class of social misfits. Sequel series of the 2007 show of the same name.

Personal Outlook: 
I love Shaft, and will certainly be watching it. The wordplay and whatnot is quite rough on my Japanese skills, so I’m not sure I’ll do anything more than maybe brief coverage, but that’s what Totali is for. Go bug him for full writeups.

Final Preseason Rating: 
Another season has left me in despair!
    

Major IV
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/anime/major/
Studio: Studio Hibari
Genre: Sports 
Information Links: ANN Entry 
Premiers January 5th

Summary: 
Goro is an ace pitcher looking to capture fame and fortune on the baseball diamond. Continuing series starting in 2004.

Personal Outlook: 
Given that I haven’t watched the first, second, or third season, I can’t imagine that I’d start with the fourth.

Final Preseason Rating: 
Screw baseball, let’s see a hockey anime.

PERSONA -trinity soul- 
http://www.persona-ts.net/ 
Studio: A-1 Pictures
Genre: Fantasy, Action 
Information Links: ANN Entry, Animesuki Thread 
Premiers January 5th (Special one hour screening on December 24th)

Summary: 
Ten years after Persona 3’s events, undead disguising themselves as humans roam the Earth calling themselves the ‘reverse.’ Three brothers come together to confront them..

Personal Outlook: 
Time to come clean. I don’t like any of the MegaTen games. I’ve tried to play DDS, Persona, and the core series, but it just doesn’t click. The promo for this one also makes things look very very boring with almost no action at all, so unless it’s very misleading, I’m not certain I could survive this one. I also wonder if they’ll carry over the Persona 3 method of spirit summoning, shooting yourself in the head.

Final Preseason Rating: 
I… think you’re doing it wrong.

The Long Journey of Porphy 
http://www.nippon-animation.co.jp/new/hotinfo/0711porfy.htm
Studio: Nippon Animation 
Genre: Drama, Adventure 
Information Links: ANN Entry 
Premiers January 6th

Summary: 
Adaptation of the novel The Orphans of Simitra about two… wait for it… orphans who journey across the world. Part of the World Masterpiece Theater adaptations.

Personal Outlook: 
Oh boy! The annual edutainment! Pass.

Final Preseason Rating: 
At least eight bottles of whiskey to make it bearable and then some coke to make it entertaining.
        

Aria – The ORIGINATION 
http://www.ariacompany.net/
Studio: Hal Film Maker
Genre: Science Fiction, Drama
Information Links: ANN Entry, Animesuki Thread 
Premiers January 7th

Summary: 
The continuing stories of the gondoliers in Neo Venezia and the people they encounter. Sequel of the series begun in 2005.

Personal Outlook: 
The first Aria put me to sleep, so I haven’t followed the second… or the OVA. Again, go bother Totali for such things.

Final Preseason Rating: 
My dream future has fewer canals and more rotocopter Noids.

Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino-
http://www.gunslingergirl.com/
Studio: Artland
Genre: Action, Drama
Information Links: ANN Entry, Animesuki Thread 
Premiers January 7th

Summary: 
Small girls near death are taken rebuilt and conditioned as cyborgs to take care of the Italian governments dirty business. Sequel to the 2003 series of the same name.

Personal Outlook: 
I liked Gunslinger Girl, aside from the occasional extended philosophical ramblings, so there’s a good chance that I’ll be doing at least something for this one. What exactly is unknown and probably dependant on how much technobabble they throw around, and if memory serves, GSG is absolutely full of it. We’ll see how that works out.

Final Preseason Rating: 
Let’s… get… dangerous.

Spice and Wolf 
http://www.spicy-wolf.com/
Studio: Imagin
Genre: Fantasy 
Information Links: ANN Entry, Animesuki Thread 
Premiers January 8th

Summary: 
A trader visits a village one day and comes upon a clever wolf spirit who manages to make a bargain with him to take her with him as she tries to make her way back to her home village.

Personal Outlook: 
All you need to know about this one is the studio doing it. Imagin makes Gonzo look good. Maybe they’ve picked up some tips from Madhouse in their collaborations, but I wouldn’t count on it. When your solo portfolio is headlined by Cosprayers and Love, Love… you really have to wonder about priorities. At least it should be good for fanservice.

Final Preseason Rating: 
Food plus animal; a winning combination!
  

Moegaku ★ 5
http://tv.moegaku.jp/
Studio: AIC Spirits
Genre: Magical Girl
Information Links: ANN Entry
Premiers January 14th

Summary: 
Based on an English teaching parody of magical girls and pretty boys and all things that come with both of those.

Personal Outlook: 
I don’t know, magical girl and bishie spoofs generally entertain me, but this looks… a bit frightening. I’m sure it’ll be popular with at least a certain crowd thanks to Hirano Aya’s involvement, so get used to memes from it populating the internet, even if it ends up being awful. Especially if it ends up being awful. There’s also something wacky about its airing/schedule too that I couldn’t quite decypher, so the start date may be somewhat off.

Final Preseason Rating: 
I’m just going to call in the Social Welfare Agency to purify this with fire before it has the chance to annoy me.

Yatterman  
http://www.ytv.co.jp/yatterman/
Studio: Tatsunoko Production
Genre: Comedy
Information Links: ANN Entry
Premiers January 14th

Summary: 
The legendary Skull Stone is said to be able to locate the largest concentrated amount of gold in the world. The Dorombo Gang is out to get it, but they’ll be thwarted by bad information from their leader, as well as the constant interference from the super heroes calling themselves Yatterman. Remake of the 1970s series of the same name.

Personal Outlook: 
Believe it or not, I have seen a couple episodes of the old Yatterman. I remember being confused by the fact that it’s basically a kids show, but the sexy villainess ends up naked far more than you’d expect. The show was basically what you’d get if you followed Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale around for 20 minutes as they ineptly go after Moose and Squirrel. At the end of the day, it is a kid’s show. I’m not sure how many banana peels, toy mecha, and juvenile slapstick I can stand before something ruptures in my brain.

Final Preseason Rating: 
To give some perspective… Yatterman first started when Pac-Man was half a decade away from existing.
         

Yes! Precure 5 Go Go! 
http://www.toei-anim.co.jp/tv/precure5_gogo/ 
Studio: Toei Animation
Genre: Magical Girl
Information Links: ANN Entry
Premiers February Unknown

Summary: 
Pretty Cure 5, the magical girl super squad, returns to the fray to continue fighting the Nightmares out to rule the universe. Sequel to the 2007 series of the same name, which is a spinoff of the PreCure series starting in 2004.

Personal Outlook: 
First off, I find it very amusing that the fourth PreCure series was called "Yes! PreCure 5" (referencing a group of five instead of the previous duo). Second, remember back in 2004 when PreCure started? The first episode had some crazy martial arts action. Then, by episode 3, they were defeating enemies with music and Care Bear stares. I miss the PreCure that had martial arts. I also missed PreCure Max Heart, PreCure Splash Star, and Yes! Precure 5, so there are excellent odds that I’ll miss Yes! PreCure 5 Go Go! too.

Final Preseason Rating: 
Not even a pack of rabid dogs could get me to tune in.