It’s almost time, the Spring Anime Season 2012 is about to begin!! (well it began in March but most of the shows actually air in April). I must say we have some quality shows this season, I haven’t lately been this excited for a season as much as I am for this one. The line-up is huge, so many series airing this season, and there are so many series I am looking forward to watching =D. So let’s get things rolling.
Series I’m definitely going to watch:
>>Phi Brain: Kami no Puzzle 2nd Season: Haven’t watched the first season yet, but my desire to want to watch this series has carried over to the second season. Knowing that there is a second season airing will make watching the first season much more enjoyable =D.
>>Eureka Seven Ao: Yes please, I loved the Eureka Seven anime and I can’t wait for this season, it looks fantastic from the trailer. Looking forward to finding out what the story will be for this Eureka Seven.
>>Fate/Zero (part 2):
Looking forward a lot to this
Definitely going to watch this, I love any and all of Type-Moon and ufotable works (they are great!). While I haven’t watched part 1 yet, I was waiting for part 2 to start airing, so very much looking forward to watching both part 1 and 2 =D.
>>Jormungand:
I have a good feeling that I am going to love this
Both the synopsis and trailer blew my mind, I SO WANT TO WATCH THIS!! IT LOOKS AND SOUNDS SO AMAZINGLY EPIC!! And I really am interested in the sounds, because Iwasaki Taku is handling the music! I don’t normally pay much attention to who does the music (expect when it’s Yoko Kanno’s name I see) but I do recognise the name Iwasaki Taku from other series I love, namely Black Cat, Gurren Lagaan, Soul Eater and Katanagatari. Ah I’ve been waiting for a series like this =D.
>>Shining Hearts ~Shiawase no Pan~: I’m a massive fan of Production I.G, and I’ll watch anything they produce because I always end up loving whatever it is they bring out. The synopsis sure is detailed and I love it; lost memories and emotions and a peaceful Island now threatened by pirates looking for a certain item. The karaoke trailer is great, I love the animation style and character designs. Also it’s fantastic that the music composer, Kikuta Hirko, who worked on the Shining Hearts video game is involved with the anime as well; that song in the trailer was great.
>>Medaka Box:
From left to right from top to bottom: Akune Kyouki, Hitoyoshi Zenkishi, Kikajima Mogana, Shiranui Hansode, Kurokami Medaka
Okay…I just need to take a few deep breaths to calm myself down from overexciteme-I CAN’T WAIT FOR THIS! AHH!! I absolutely love the manga (one of my favourite Weekly Shounen Jump titles), the characters contained within and the unconventional approach taken for a shounen battle series (I’m looking at you Kumagawa =P). Kurokami Medaka is awesome, she along with Uzumaki Naruto are my shounen heroes; they cause my heart to fly, my tears to flow and my smile to enter the realms of permanency.
Nisio Isin is such a fantastic author, he has created so many amazing series (Bakemonogatari, Nisemonogatari, Kizumonogatari, Katanagatari), he is pretty much a writting machine =D. His reputation may have helped keep Medaka Box alive early on in its run in Weekly Shounen Jump, but now it’s stabilized and has a solid fanbase. The story genre did have to change after the first few arcs into order to draw in more readers to survive (it changed from a slice of life story to an unconventional battle manga), but that is what truly awakened Medaka Box. It’s writing in the subsequent arcs are fantastic; great humour, great action, great drama, great characters, great twists, it really was and still is a very enjoyable and fun read for me (I loved and love it). Looking forward to the anime when it airs – it’s great that Gainax is producing it.
Character PV: Hitoyoshi Zenkichi| Shiranui Hansode | Akune Kyouki | Kikajima Mogana
>>ZETMAN: I’ve heard of Zetman before but I never read any of the manga chapters, though how interesting, an action science fiction story. Wonder why I never gave it a try before, the genre is one I love a lot. Also this looks so good from the trailer; great animation style, good-looking character designs, action, monsters, dramatic music, an overall dark tone, a catchy title, very interested in this series now.
>>Sakamichi no Apollon: All I needed to know was that Yoko Kanno was handling the music and I was sold, but it turns out it even got better, Shinichirō Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, also loved his work on the music for Michiko to Hatchin) is directing the series =D. So this is one of the noitaminA timeslot anime, how exciting, I always end up enjoying the anime that airs in that timeslot, so very very very much looking forward to this coming-of-age story of “love, friendship and music”, especially with the big names behind it. The trailer is so good, I love everything about it.
>>Tsuritama: The second series to air in the noitaminA timeslot, and this one is an original story =D. What an interesting story, it sounds quite fascinating and grand.
>>Accel World: I was contemplating whether I should watch this or not, but once I seen the trailer I was sold, it is a pretty awesome trailer (the music is great).
>>AKB0048: If this wasn’t handled by Studio Satelight I may not have considered watching this, but since this series deals with a pop idol group (based on the popular AKB48), music and mecha and is a science fiction anime, it is right up Studio Satelight’s alley. Their handling of the Macross series has been really great (from the series I have watched), which also deals with music and mecha in a sci-fi setting, so I am also looking forward to this series.
Other series that I am very much interested in watching:
>>Ozuma: interesting synopsis; the destruction of the environment and the reduction of human birthrates and cloning used by the government on top of that, this future definitely has me interested now.
>>Uchuu Kyoudai: I enjoyed the trailer, it was pretty heartwarming, looking forward to seeing the story of these two brothers unfold in the anime.
>>Kuroko no Basuke: I am going out on a limb on this one, I haven’t read any of the manga chapters and I know nothing beyond the synopsis about Kuroko no Basuke, but just because Production I.G is behind this, I am giving it a try.
>>Tasogare Otome x Amnesia (Dusk Maiden of Amnesia): Oooh dark and mysterious, looking forward to the drama and mystery surrounding this whole situation. The trailers were good.
>>Sankarea: I read the manga and it is an enjoyable story, especially the way it handles the zombie set-up. I had expected before reading the manga that it would be more dark and horrific, so I was genuinely surprised when I realised that the story for Sankarea was a zombie moe romcom one. It’s definitely an interesting combination of genres especially with romance, moe and zombies, you wouldn’t normally think of those categories side by side each other, but strangely and quite surprisingly it works. Rather than a zombie story dealing with an apocalyptic event, the story in Sankarea is driven by the relationship between Chihiro and Rea (ie. love), and the tragic event that occured at the beginning of the story as well as the tragic future awaiting the two of them.
It’s a good manga and I do look forward to the anime, the trailer even though short, was good as well.
Series I may end up watching:
>>Kore wa Zombie desu ka? OF THE DEAD: I’ve watched the first season and found it quite funny and enjoyable, so I may end up watching this season as well. The “hook” for the title of the second season if pretty amusing – “OF THE DEAD”, especially when Haruna says it in the trailer. Still find it hilarious, disturbing and ridiculous how the series twist the concept of magical girl and forces the main male lead to transform into one – poor Ayumu hahah =P.
>>Nazo no Kanojo X: I am bemused at the synopsis of this series, it has left me totally perplexed that I am interested in finding out what will happen. So Akira becomes addicted to Mikoto’s drool? How strange and mysterious. The trailer was interesting, the old-school animation style looks really good.
OVAs:
>>History’s Strongest Disciple Kenichi OVA: The manga is great, I love and enjoy it a lot, and I’ve been longing for a continuation of the anime, but while it may not be what I desired, I am very glad it got an OVA adaptation at least. This will be a two episode OVA; the first OVA episode was released a week ago but the second OVA episode has yet to give a release date.
>>Holy Knight OVA: No idea what this is about apart from it being a drama, romance and fantasy story, but I enjoyed the opening sequence.
>>Rurouni Kenshin ~ Shin Kyoto-Hen OVA:
Ah this brings back memories, been so many years since I last watched Rurouni Kenshin
The anime was at one point my favourite anime, and it is one of the reasons why I love the Samurai and their stories so much, so I am looking forward this OVA (“the will to survive” theme has stuck with me ever since watching the series, continually resounding in my head and inspiring me). The Kyoto Arc was definitely my favourite arc of the series, Makoto Shishio is such a badass. The Shin Kyoto-Hen project will be split into two OVAs which will remake the Kyoto Arc from the viewpoint of Makimachi Misao (she is awesome).
Thanks for reading,
-Syphin-
12Dimension 