PinkuBentoBox

This will be yet another boring entry where I’m going to list off the stuff starting in the January ‘08 that I intend to look into and hopefully watch. Hopefully this won’t end up like last season, where I basically stopped watching anything regularly aside from Gundam due to a high boredom quotient.

Rosario + Vampire

Website: http://www.rosa-vam.com/
I know that this is going to suck. I can almost guarantee it. If the shitty, cliche setup wasn’t enough (Generic Anime Protagonist is shitty at school and ends up in a school populated by supernatural monsters who masquerade as cute girls) there’s the fact that the show is being produced by Gonzo, which pretty much dooms it to that soul-less factory-line generic mediocrity that pervades everything Gonzo does. However, I’ll end up watching at least a bit of it, because the character designs are incredibly appealing. Also, Nana Mizuki.

H2O ~Footprints in the Sand~

Website: http://anime.webnt.jp/h2o/
I suspect this is probably going to be pretty crappy as well. Very clearly from the formulaic-dating-sim anime adaption factory that churned out all those other shows. However the trailer and the material on the website indicates we can expect lush, beautiful background art. Of course this is actually my terrible justification used to distract you from the fact that I am simply a weak person with a terrible inability to avoid these types of shows. I end up watching an episode or two of all of them and very rarely bothering to finish. I guess I’m just foolishly hoping that I might actually stumble upon something that’s just this side of watchable.

Kimi ga Aruji de Shitsuji ga Ore de

Website: http://kimiaru.jp/
Yeah, I dunno. Marmot is totally gay for the chick with the green hair. I’m not so sure, myself. It seems to be about maids and butlers and given the source material that it’s adapted from and the title I’m sure it involved some kinky BDSM and at least one footjob. Shame that this is a TV adaption and thus will throw all that out the window, leaving a flimsy plot and a pile of moeblobs. Of course, as per the above I know that I’ll end up watching this too. Insert appropriate self-loathing comments here.

Persona -Trinity Soul-

Website: http://www.persona-ts.net/
I have never played a Shin Megami Tensei game. Due to Japan hating us here in PAL-land with a fury somewhat akin to the flaming death of a thousand suns, I don’t think we ever really got them here. I certainly don’t recall seeing the Persona games before. I actually have Persona 3 (NTSC Import) in my rack, waiting to be played, along with ten billion other RPGs. All I know about it is that it has interesting art, and involves schoolkids shooting themselves in the head in order to summon monsters or some such crap. Anyway, this is supposed to be a self-contained sequel to the game (and given that Persona 4 is out in Japan in March or so, people are assuming that it will end up being an adaption of said game, though said game will be coming out later thus making this a confusing statement).

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei 2

Website: http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/zetsubou2/
The continued adventures of everyone’s favourite suicidal teacher and his classroom of moe misfits with pun-tastic names and their ongoing attempt to leave us in despair. I’ll watch the shit out of this. Or I would if those asstyrants at a.f.k. would stop their fucking retarded internet fansubbery penis length contest with eclipse. We do not need two groups to sub Clannad. We certainly don’t need one group that’s weeks behind. And certainly not at the expense of one of the few good shows of 2007. Actually, there’s something slightly eerie about the whole endeavour. Akiyuki Shinbo is an excellent director and his stuff is great. But it never (with the exception of Nanoha, which didn’t really have his magic touch anyway) seems to get a good run with fansubbers. They always take ages to finish anything he’s worked on, if they finish it at all. The worst offender being Starship Girl Yamamoto Yohko TV, which is, incidentally, quite good. I think that Arienai finished it in 2006. It was a 1999 show. But I digress. While I’m aware that there was a low-quality speedsub of the last few episodes, I want to wait for someone that I can trust to get the translation right to do it. Ergo a.f.k., who despite their constant desire to anglicize every fucking thing, still are one of the most competent fansubbing outfits out there.

True Tears

Website: http://www.truetears.jp/
Oh look, it’s another shitty harem show about a guy and a bunch of girls! OR IS IT?

Yeah, I’m just shitting you, it’s another harem show. This one could actually turn out okay, though. The director’s resume includes Simoun, and given that that was probably my favourite show of 2006 I’m happy to watch something more from him. The character designs are appealing and the trailer indicates that there’s actually some money going into making the animation half-decent. I’m certainly not expecting too much - this is a galge adaption as far as I know - but it could still be worth a look. Also, I’m not sure whether this and the galge with the same name are related? The character designs in the game look very different…

Minami-ke Okawari!

Website: http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/minami-ke/2/index.html
I’m not entirely sure what the deal is with Minami-ke. It seems like it’s a similar idea to Futakoi a few years back, where two different studios took the same source material and made different shows about them. The difference here is that Futakoi was dogshit and Minami-ke is easily one of the best shows of 2007. Okawari? I’ll say I’d like some more. However I have to admit that I’m viewing this with quite a substantial amount of trepidation. Minami-ke works absolutely brilliantly as a comedy show, using the exact same brand of humor which made Ichigo Mashimaro such an entertaining show. The thing is, with the change of studio we get a change of everything. The new studio have re-done the character designs (incidentally much closer to the designs used in Kyou no 5-2 and consequently closer to the original source material) and I’m really not feeling that warm towards the new look. The vibe I’m getting from the Okawari! materials is very little of the wacky, hillarious comedy and a lot more of the generic, shitty romance-comedy bullshit that already pervades the bulk of the rest of the shows this season. And if I’m right, this is going to be a huge disappointment. The title of the show is telling us that it’s a second helping, so why can’t we just have more of the same thing?

ARIA the Origination

Website: http://www.ariacompany.net/
Aria’s third season. This shit simply doesn’t get old. The characters are so well crafted and the whole setup of the show is so relaxing and uplifting to watch that they could continue to produce it into perpetuity and I don’t think I’d get bored. It’s like a cool breeze on a hot summer day, and it’s one of my personal favourite series. There’s not really much more to say about it. I’m going to be all over this when it starts. Also, Alice is definitely the best.

Spicy Wolf

Website: http://www.spicy-wolf.com/
Requires: Cooking (10)
Reagents: generic male protagonist, cute wolf-girl, mild spices
Restores 61 moe over 13 episodes. If you spend at least ten episodes watching you will become well furred and will gain 2 yiffy for 15 minutes.
Sells for: 10c.

Otherwise known as The Wolf and The Spices (TWATS) though that’s a very lose translation. Then again so is Spicy Wolf. But it seems official. Anyway, the premise is interesting (a wolf deity and a spice trader and their hijinks in Renaissance-era Europe) but I suspect it will degenerate into loose excuses to get Horo naked a lot. At least, that’s what the manga is like. Still… I like wolf-girls.