天下制覇

Cobra – The Animation
http://www.cobra30th-anime.com/
Studio: Magic Bus
Genre: Science Fiction, Action
Staff Information: ANN Entry
Premiers January 2nd

Summary: 
The adventures of a space pirate who tries to renounce his womanizing, pillaging, and scallywag ways, but they slowly start creeping back into his life and he can’t resist the temptation to fly into space again.

Personal Outlook:
This show has been delayed at least two or three times, and the recent OVA was perhaps one of the most poorly made things that I’ve seen in the last decade. Since the staff working on the TV series is practically identical to the OVA, I can only imagine how bad this could potentially be. Then again, maybe they realized how awful the OVA was and the 6 months worth of delay have been used to make it not suck… but I wouldn’t count on it.

Preseason Swing Rating: 
  
Well, maybe the cup’s worth something.

Chu-Bra!!
http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/chuubra/
Studio: ZEXCS
Genre: Comedy
Staff Information: ANN Entry
Premiers January 4th

Summary: 
Hayama’s been picked on and ostracized all her life by the other girls because of her love of adult underwear. As other girls start to mature, however, her intimate knowledge of underwear soon becomes useful and she starts to make friends and even establish an Underwear Club at her school.

Personal Outlook: 
Since the first episode already aired as a web broadcast, there’s not really much of an outlook to put here. It’s just as trashy and fanservice filled as you’d expect, with a bit more drama about girls growing up. I wasn’t really that impressed with the first episode, so don’t count on hearing much else from me about this one.

Preseason Swing Rating: 

I’m not entirely sure either, but it seems unpleasant.

So-Ra-No-Wo-To
http://www.sorawoto.com/
Studio: A-1 Pictures
Genre: Drama
Staff Information: ANN Entry
Premiers January 4th

Summary: 
In the war-torn future, five girls are left to man a fortress together. They live together and play beautiful music to pass the time while war rages around them.

Personal Outlook: 
Remove the bizarre punctuation and this would be Sound of the Sky. This is an original work, so there’s not really too much more to know about this. I’m a tad wary of it just because A.) It’s A-1 Pictures, and B.) The head writer is a veteran of almost all of Sunrise’s popular non-Gundam titles from the past few years. I’m sure it’s a plus to some knowing that one of the major writers behind HiME, ZHiME, and Geass is working on this, but I’ve never been a fan of that particular brand of schtick. We’ll see if it’s interesting enough though. The promos did seem a tad… well… boring, but you never know.

Preseason Swing Rating: 
                                        
Little girls vs the world? This’ll end well.

Ladies vs Butlers!
http://www.ladies-vs-butlers.com/
Studio: XEBEC
Genre: Comedy
Staff Information: ANN Entry
Premiers January 5th (very early morning) (Early episode 1 airing on December 29th)

Summary: 
Because of his looks, Hino’s always been mistaken for a punk. He gets enrolled in a high society school for the rich and place into the training program for servants. Since the rich and the servants are forced to coexist at the school, all out class warfare soon erupts with Hino caught in the middle.

Personal Outlook: 
Brought to you by the studio and director behind Kanokon and every single piece of artwork features women’s nipples desperately trying to break through their dresses. Do I really need to say anything further? Well, maybe I should. At least the writing’s being done by somebody who has made at least one show I loved (Inukami!), but outside of that, I hold about as much anticipation for this as I do for any of Xebec’s shows these days. I’m not sure I can even remember the last show they made that I actually liked. I’m also giving 5 to 1 odds that Hinano will post about this show just to call it Ladies vs Butts, and that may very well be the height of comedy related to this one.

Preseason Swing Rating: 

Viva la revolución!

Guardian Charm Himari
http://anime.webnt.jp/omahima/
Studio: ZEXCS
Genre: Action, Comedy
Staff Information: ANN Entry
Premiers January 6th

Summary: 
Yuuto is the last descendant of an ancient demon hunter family. However, his entire family is dead and he’s been relying on his friend to get through life and a protective charm to keep him safe from demons. On his 16th birthday, his charm stops working and he’s suddenly dependant on his own latent powers and an overly friendly cat spirit that he’s allergic to named Himari to cope with the demons and demon hunters now after his life.

Personal Outlook: 
ZEXCS is one of my favorite studios these days, and light comic action is my genre of choice, so this is pretty much a shoe-in for me. I’m a little worried about the director, who has nothing on his resume but the decidedly mediocre Strait Jacket, but at least the head writer’s a long time vet of comedy, so I have faith and the promos are relatively promising that it’ll be at least up to ZEXCS’ usual level of production.

Preseason Swing Rating: 

Catberos is the most fearsome cat demon.

The Idiot, Test, and Summoned Beasts
http://www.bakatest.com/
Studio: SILVER LINK
Genre: Comedy
Further Information: ANN Entry
Premiers January 6th

Summary: 
Akihisa’s school is divided up into five classes by test scores. The top class gets all the best equipment, rooms, and summoned beasts, and all the classes compete between tests using what they have. When top ranked girl fails her test due to illness and is placed into the bottom class, Akihisa takes it upon himself to rally all the slackers and weirdos in their to conquer everything the top class has and take it for themselves.

Personal Outlook: 
Ah, Silver Link. Their first show was Tayutama. I’ll admit, I loved the ending to the show and I think that the premise here has a lot of potential, even if it is a little Pokemonesque, but Tayutama was not… how to say… a good show overall. That said, the staff for this show looks more like Shaft’s B team (Ef, Summer Storm, Negima OVAs), so there is plenty of reason to at least have hope that it’ll turn out decently. We’ll see what the combination of Shaft and Silver Link brings us.

Preseason Swing Rating: 
       
May give you a buzz, or may give you the runs.

Dance in the Vampire Bund
http://www.vampirebund.com/
Studio: Shaft
Genre: Drama, Romance
Staff Information: ANN Entry
Premiers January 6th (late night)

Summary: 
Mina Tepes, ruler of all vampires, grows tired of hiding and establishes the Bund, a special district specifically for vampires off the coast of Japan. She tries to create a new world where vampires and humans can live in peace and tries to coexist with the humans in her daily life. However, not all vampires agree with her goals, and most humans are fearful of the supernatural beings now revealed to the world.

Personal Outlook: 
Wasn’t this almost the exact same premise of Black Blood Brothers? Only with a little naked girl instead of a little boy? I’ve got to admit that I’ve soured a lot on Shaft lately as they seem content to recycle the exact same direction and style tricks ad nauseam. They stopped being creative about 3 years ago, if not earlier than that. Yoshino (same writer as HiME and So-Ra-Wo-To) is also pulling double duty and doing the writing for this too, so just looking over the cast, not a whole ton excites me… and that’s before we even get to the PVs with the naked little girl prancing around more salaciously than anything Chu-Bra was able to manage.

Preseason Swing Rating: 
  
Three slices of vampire cake out of six.

DRRR!!
http://www.durarara.com/
Studio: Brain’s Base
Genre: Action
Further Information: ANN Entry
Premiers January 7th

Summary: 
Mikado transfers to a school in the big city, seeking excitement and adventure. He finds more of it than he was expecting with all the organized crime, gangs, and an Irish Dullahan riding through the streets in search of her missing head.

Personal Outlook: 
By the same writer as Baccano, but honestly, I wouldn’t say that the writing of Baccano was its strongest point. It’s the same staff to though. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the show overall, but for me, it consisted of one great story (train), one decent story (vampires), and one really horrible story (the search for Dallas). For me, it all depends on which one’s quality they end up matching. Although, with Kiddy-Girl and likely Hidamari already lined up for Thursdays, I’m not making any promises.

Preseason Swing Rating: 

One escaped robot head.

Hidamari Sketch×☆☆☆
http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/hidamari/
Studio: Shaft
Genre: Comedy
Staff Information: ANN Entry
Premiers January 7th

Summary: 
The third season of the dynamic adventures of the Transforming Robot Hidamari X and its quest to rid the world of the Evil Samurai Lord Akupantalones.

Personal Outlook:
Yeah, yeah, third season. I’m sure it’ll be like the last one for me. I’ll watch it, realize I have little to say about it other than bemoaning the lack of Yoshinoya and Hiro, and post anyway. There really is never enough Hiro. So sad.

Preseason Swing Rating: 

An apple a day… would help Hiro get her weight under control.

Hidden God
http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/okami/
Studio: AIC
Genre: Thriller
Further Information: ANN Entry
Premiers January 7th

Summary: 
In the old streets of the city, a secret sleeps and nightmares plague the residents. A new transfer student is warned to stay away from those streets when night falls, unless he wants the nightmares to find him.

Personal Outlook: 
The title’s actually a pun and could be read as "wolf" too. Based on a PSP game written by the guy behind Higurashi and Umineko, so I suppose that I’m probably supposed to watch this out of sheer obligation. I like decently done thrillers and supernatural stuff, and AIC’s stock is apparently on the rise. The staff list here is not promising though. The director’s a graduate from Deen’s completely forgotten projects, and the writer’s great at comedy, but has done a pisspoor job of everything serious she’s been involved with. We shall see, I suppose, although Thursdays are certainly crowded.

Preseason Swing Rating: 

Beware the fell hounds.

Qwaser of Stigmata
http://www.qwaser.jp/
Studio: Taki Corp
Genre: Action
Staff Information: ANN Entry
Premiers January 9th

Summary: 
A religious academy is plunged into war when a strange boy appears with the supernatural power of an Adept. The Adepts are looking for a holy item there, and must consume breast milk in order to fuel their powers.

Personal Outlook:
Faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaantastic. Not even counting the misspelling of quasar. Taki Corp’s really not stretching themselves here. Every show they make is something along the lines of "Men fight, and they need to see at least 40 pounds of breast a day or they’ll die." This time, it’s fantasy instead of mecha, and breast milk instead of estrogen. Way to go out of a limb. I guess at least that means that they’re experienced in throwing massive heaving breasts all over the place. This is one of those times where a great deal of censorship might actually make something a tad more watchable. I mean, I’m not ruling it out. I made it through Juuden’s watersports with a fond memory of the series, but I’m just saying that my hopes aren’t high here.

Preseason Swing Rating: 
           
Four penishrooms.

Hanamaru Kindergarden
http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/hanamaru/
Studio: Gainax
Genre: Comedy
Further Information: ANN Entry
Premiers January 10th

Summary: 
Strange beings likely from outer-space that we’re supposed to assume are children and the wacky adventures they get into while not eating paste.

Personal Outlook: 
Eh. I’m not really a huge fan of "small children being cute." Potemayo’s about as cutesy as I can stand, and that was a show with lasers and urine galore. Now, if they unleashed Guchuko onto these little brats… Now that’s a show that would write itself. Actually… attach a laser cannon to just about any of these cutesy little comedies and you have a surefire winner. You can never have too many laser cannons.

Preseason Swing Rating: 

The only midgets I approve of have a penchant for killing each other.

Nodame Cantabile Finale
http://www.nodame-anime.com/
Studio: JC Staff
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Information Links: ANN Entry
Premiers January 14th

Summary: 
The third and final entry in Nodame and Chiaki’s tale of music, comedy, and romance.

Personal Outlook: 
I dropped out of the Paris edition pretty quickly and honestly stopped caring. Yes, yes, Chiaki will use the Super Piano to remake the world. Or was that Polyphonica? Anyway, I’d suggest checking in with somebody who actually made it through the first two series for this one. I just completely lost interest somewhere along the way and doubt I’ll put in the effort to finish the Paris chapters before this one starts.

Preseason Swing Rating: 

JCStaff, choking one of their golden geese to death.

Heart Catch Pretty Cure!
http://asahi.co.jp/precure/
Studio: Toei
Genre: Magical Girls
Staff Information: ANN Entry
Premiers February 7th

Summary: 
Yet another in the neverending series about transforming magical girls with magic cell phones, magic pets, and magical elbow drops.

Personal Outlook: 
Yada yada yada. More PreCure. I used to catch the end of this back when I was watching ZKC, but this looks like it’s a big step backwards from the team elbow dropping giant scorpions or shooting lightning and backwards into the Sailor Moon area of throwing pink sugar hearts and blue horseshoes.

Preseason Swing Rating: 
             
Sentai never works better in high heels.