And just like that, we’ve already reached the halfway point of the winter anime season. Normally, I’m with the other early adopters that have already cast their glance forward to the spring season at this point because I’m sick of everything remotely related to winter; however, this year the weather has apparently forgotten what “winter” means, sticking to a more early spring feel, and as a result I find myself feeling oddly worried that winter is slipping by too quickly. Heresy, I know.

The halfway point is a good place to rest for a moment and examine the season’s anime series. It’s been long enough that the slow-starting series have had time to find their own rhythm and long enough to see if those anime series that promised the moon in episode 1 have the stuff to deliver.

Since it’s me, I’ve going to rank the various series in worse-to-best order to provide another method of evaluation to augment the grades I’ll award each anime. Also, to provide a complete picture of this season, I’ll also cover those anime series that are carry-overs from the Fall season.

(22) – Guilty Crown

Rating for episodes 1 to 18 – 1/12  Epic Fail

Under normal circumstances I’d’ve dropped Guilty Crown a very long time ago but it’s not everyday that an anime comes along that fails as hard as Guilty Crown does. I saw an opportunity to finally find an anime that could compete with Kampfer for the title of worse anime ever (that I’ve seen/completed) and decided to see if I could finish watching it. The danger, though, in wasting my time with Guilty Crown is that it might, at some point, accidentally do something right and push it up to the merely failing level. Thankfully, Guilty Crown continues to confound me with how stupid it can be and remains on track to challenge Kampfer for worst anime ever.

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(21) – Baby, Please Kill Me (Dropped)

Rating for episodes 1 to 3 – 1/12  Epic Fail

Three episodes and I didn’t laugh once, not even a chuckle, guffaw, chortle or smirk; this is a death sentence for an anime like Baby, Please Kill Me because it’s supposed to be a comedy. I don’t know if I’ve ever watched a show this unfunny before.

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(20) – Inu x Boku SS

Rating for episodes 1 to 5 – 2/12  F

This anime makes me want to find a cute puppy and kick it. The puppy dog-like personality of the main character’s bodyguard towards the main character in Inu x Boku SS has to be one of the most painful things I’ve ever endured while watching anime. Almost equally repellent is the female main character who has fallen in love with this bodyguard because of his puppy dog-like obedience and devotion towards her. I should just drop this and end the pain but I still hope that david production (the animators who last did Ben-to and Level-E) can salvage the show somehow.

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(19) – Zero no Tsukaima Final

Rating for episodes 1 to 3 – 3/12  D

As if animating another season of the original Shana wasn’t enough for J.C. Staff they decided to double down and make another season of a series that most people flatteringly call a “Shana-clone”. And much like Shana at this point I’m just going to finish the series so I can see how it ends; not because I’m particularly that wrapped up in Zero’s Familiar but after trudging through three seasons what’s one more?

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(18) – Shakugan no Shana S.3

Rating for episodes 1 to 18 – 5/12  C+

Truthfully, I’m surprised Shana has been able to maintain this level of mediocrity; by rights, it should have either completely fallen apart or zoomed up to awesomeness by now. It’ll be interesting to see if J.C. Staff can maintain this equilibrium point as the series moves to the final showdown or will Shana finally get pushed to one of the two extreme states.

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(17) – Black Rock Shooter

Rating for episodes 1 to 2 – 6/12  B-

Rock bottom expectations and competition from the likes of Guilty Crown made the first two episodes of BRS a pleasant experience even though so far it’s an average effort all-around. With only 8 total episodes to work with, BRS can’t be lazy about advancing the plot or telling it’s story if it wants to avert a repeat of the disappointing performance of the OVA that came out earlier. If it will or not is a question whose answer is only a few weeks away.

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(16) – Persona 4

Rating for episodes 1 to 18 – 6/12  B-

The only time Persona 4 has been actually interesting to watch is those few episodes that would be considered “filler” because they have nothing to do with the mystery surrounding the disappearing people and the homicides. What does it say about an anime that prominently features an alternative world of fighting creatures and a string of mysterious deaths in the real world that the two-part episode where the viewer discovers how the main character spent his summer break is the high point of the first three-quarters of the show? I guess I shouldn’t be that surprised, Persona 4 is a video game adaptation after all.

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(15) – Rinne no Lagrange

Rating for episodes 1 to 6 – 7/12  B

Rinne no Lagrange is one of six anime series this season I’m watching that features either mecha or power suits or some type of metal ship and it’s been tough for this series to find its own unique appeal. So far this series is one of those shows that haven’t really done anything wrong but also really hasn’t done anything that great with itself and, as a result, finds itself just kinda hanging out in the middle. How Rinne no Lagrange turns out is something only time can tell at this point.

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(14) – Senhime Zesshou Symphogear

Rating for episodes 1 to 6 – 7/12  B

There are definite spots in which Senhime Zesshou Symphogear excels as an anime but there is almost an exactly opposite number of ways that it comes up short as an anime. I hate to say it but the easiest way to improve this anime would have been giving it a more substantial budget because it sounds shallow to say that it’s not pretty enough and yet, for a series based around fighting and singing, when those areas fizzle the whole series is hurt. The second biggest improvement would have come from an improved script to work from; it (like the whole show) has its great moments and its not-so-great moments. The end result, however, has been a fun series to watch and I remain hopeful for a strong finish.

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(13) – Phi Brain

Rating for episodes 1 to 19 – 8/12  B+

I was sure that Phi Brain was going to be an easy series to drop because the premise – an organization bent on solving the Divine Puzzle by raising and shaping a genius puzzle solver – is, frankly, rather silly and couldn’t possibly be any good. That moment where I threw my hands up in disgust over Phi Brain never happened though; instead, I continued watching and slowly I started seeing the charm of Phi Brain. Ultimately, it was the characters and how they fit together, develop and play off each other that made this series worth the watch. That and the plot has continued to cover new ground with each story arc and hasn’t yet started repeating itself. I’m still not ready to say Phi Brain is a “good” anime but it continues to beat my expectations.

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(12) – Amagami SS+ Plus

Rating for episodes 1 to 6 – 8/12  B+

I thought, like most people, that Amagami SS was a completed series and, like most people, I was surprised by the appearance of this second season. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the first Amagami SS series more than I probably should have but each story already had its ending. I wondered what the creators planned to do with another 12 episodes and was pleasantly surprised to see that they wanted to create a slice-of-life coda giving the viewers a glimpse of the characters after their happily ever after endings of the first series. As a slice-of-series it can’t match the likes of Natume but really, what can? Still, it’s an enjoyable fluff series that provides a nice counter-balance to the other more serious series currently airing.

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The second half should be out tomorrow.

After much delay and, depending on where you hang around, much hype, the 50 minute OVA Black Rock Shooter was finally released yesterday, July 24. Despite the solid visuals and music, the poor pacing and storytelling make this an anime that I can’t recommend, even to die hard fans of Vocaloids or Supercell like myself. You’re better off just waiting for the soundtrack and seeing some of the highlights.

For those who don’t know that much about Vocaloids or Supercell, here’s a brief introduction to Black Rock Shooter. Ryo, the only musician in the now professional band Supercell, got his start uploading his songs sung by Hatsune Miku onto Nico Nico Douga. One of his most popular ones, perhaps second only to Melt, was Black Rock Shooter, a song that he had written based off of a picture drawn by an artist who goes by the name of Huke. It was uploaded in June of 2008. You can see the original video with English subtitles on Youtube.

Some time since then, anime studio Ordet decided to pick it up and to create a 50 minute OVA based on the song – which itself was based on a picture. It was originally supposed to be released in September 2009, but it got pushed to Spring 2010, then again to Summer 2010. And yesterday, on 7/24, it was finally released, for free on DVDs that came with the September issue of Hobby Japan. There are a couple other magazines will also have the DVDs packed for free.

An iconic shot from the original Nico Nico Douga animation, rendered in the anime.

One of the biggest questions I had going into this was what the story would be like. After all, the OVA is ultimately based on an image, and the lyrics to the song don’t exactly build up a cohesive world. Well, contrary to the more fantasy oriented images associated with this production, Black Rock Shooter tells the story of a middle school first year named Mato Kuroi (Kana Hanazawa) and her friendship with classmate Yomi Takanashi (Miyuki Sawashiro). The 2 become friends on their first day of school and grow closer throughout their first year despite their being in different sports clubs (basketball for Mato, volleyball for Yomi). About half way through, the basketball team manager Yuu (Kana Asumi) gets into the mix as well. The main conflict manifests itself as jealousy when Mato and Yuu get put into the same class for their second years while Yomi gets put into a different class, stuck outside looking in.

Interspersed in this story are brief scenes of the eponymous Black Rock Shooter – an obvious stand-in for Mato – chasing and fighting against Dead Master – Yomi’s stand-in – in the dark fantasy world most associated with the work. The action scenes are short and inserted fairly evenly throughout the OVA, and it’s only at the end when Yomi disappears that a clear connection between the 2 settings is shown.

Dead Master looks down at Black Rock Shooter, both about to fight.

The core problem with Black Rock Shooter lies with the storytelling. The pacing is horrid, with pretty much nothing happening in the first half. 50 minutes is longer than a TV show episode, but it’s still not a long time, and you simply can’t waste that much time with the set up. The more action packed fantasy scenes inserted throughout that half didn’t do anything to help the pace, because they felt unrelated – at best, only loosely connected – to the main story in the real world.

The first clear indication that the 2 worlds are connected, about 2/3 of the way into the OVA.

On that note, the story just doesn’t tie together. There is a fundamental disconnect between the scenes in the fantasy world and in the real world. There are hints at how the events in the two settings relate to each other, but it is only at the end that a clear connection is made, and even then, the explanation is unsatisfactory. Clearly, the fantasy scenes were meant to serve as a metaphor for the emotional conflict taking place in real life between Mato and Yomi, but the rest of the connections, including the reason for Yomi’s disappearance or her blank text to Mato at the end, are left as exercises for the viewer. Same goes for the opening fight between Dead Master and Black Rock Shooter, which clearly happened before the events of the show. Having an open ended story up to the viewer’s interpretation is one thing, but this is either laziness or ineptitude by the director.

The orange, yellow desert background contrasts with the dark green castle background of the other fantasy scenes when this character appears. That's about all this character does before she disappears.

Heck, there is even a 3rd character in the fantasy who never does anything. Perhaps the entire purpose of this OVA was to set up a series. At least, that’s what it feels like with its open threads and the cliffhanger-style ending.

Even the fantasy scenes, while containing entertaining, visceral action and beautiful art, suffers from the fact that nothing about these characters’ motivations is revealed until the very end. There were hints here and there at the bigger story, but the mismatching chronology – the fantasy scenes have no connection to the real life scenes being shown at the same time – meant that I was left wondering why Black Rock Shooter and Dead Master were fighting for most of the time. And fights in which you have nothing invested in the outcome just aren’t as fun to watch.

It doesn’t help that neither of the two show any emotion through most of the fight. As they get hit, thrown, shot at, and tied up, their faces rarely change from their monotone dead stares, as if they were both Terminators programmed to fight each other. The closest thing up until the climactic moment was Dead Master’s evil smirk. They don’t talk, and they barely even grunt as they fight. The brevity also hurt these fight scenes, as none of them lasted long enough for a real story to develop within the fights. Just as the fights started to get into their grooves and made me excited, the OVA would cut back to a plain real life scene. There are things that can be done with single long action scenes that can’t be done with many shorter ones. They need time to build a sort of rhythm, something that Black Rock Shooter never managed to do.

The action, while pretty, doesn't make for very good still shots. Hence why I'm showing shots from still scenes.

That being said, Black Rock Shooter is still a very pretty anime. The real life scenes have the level of detail you expect from an OVA, and the stylized animation of the action scenes work very well. Some of the backdrops in the fantasy scenes are obviously created using CG, but they almost never stand out. The use of the color and light, as well as the architecture in those scenes do a wonderful job of creating an oppressive, dark, almost depressing mood to the speechless fights. I’m a fan of the character designs as well. The purposeful contrast between Black Rock Shooter’s tall, lanky, unbalanced design with Dead Master’s curvaceous and symmetrical one was not lost on me. Heck, they even put scars on Black Rock Shooter’s stomach in order to emphasize the straightness of her design (ironically, Yomi is taller than Mato).

And the music was very enjoyable as well. No, there was no Hatsune Miku music; not even Black Rock Shooter was played. Instead, it was a largely classical score, fitting for a school story. In some scenes, the music really took center stage in communicating the emotion to the viewer. One of the first scenes, in which Mato climbs the hill near her house before going off to school, sticks in my mind. In the world of TV shows, where usually some plot has to be fit into a 24 minute less 1:30 OP less 1:30 ED slot, the background music almost always stays right there in the background. Without such limitations (in fact, one might argue that they didn’t even fill the pressure to fit a story into its 50 minute slot), the OVA was free to implement more movie-like usage of background music, to good effect. There were also call backs to Supercell’s Black Rock Shooter song as well, with some of the music, particularly at the beginning and end of the OVA, using themes pulled straight from that song.

This picture kind of summarizes Black Rock Shooter. So much badassery when free to act, but chained and restricted by the plot, unable to fulfill its potential.

Ultimately, Black Rock Shooter is two separate stories connected only loosely by theme and character design, with 80% of the time spent on a, though heartfelt, tragically generic story about friendship, and the other 20% dedicated to the good parts: the fun, even if meaningless, action scenes. The uneven pacing and storytelling unraveled a technically solid production, and as the credits rolled, I felt sorry for all the people whose hard work went into producing what amounted to essentially nothing.

The only way I can see this OVA being somewhat redeemed is if it turns out to be just the 1st part of a longer series, one which explores the fantasy world that this one only briefly touched upon. Both the pre-credits ending and post-credits ending tease a possible continuation. But as a stand alone work, it is incomplete and not worth the time to watch it.

This is when the story finally begins, right? It couldn't possibly be that the ending credits are about to start in less than a minute, right? Right?

Notes:

• As always, screenshots galore at Tenka Seiha and Random Curiosity.
• The free magazine-packed DVDs include 7 different languages of subtitles, including English. The other 6 are Japanese, Chinese, Italian, German, Spanish, and French.
• Other magazines that will have this DVD are Megami Magazine (7/30) and Monthly Animedia (8/10). (source: Anime News Network via Vocaloidism)
• The character Dead Master was never named in the OVA. I got her name from the figures of her they’re selling, such as this one.
• This is the 2nd anime for which Ryo of Supercell did the music. The other one was Cencoroll, and it also starred Kana Hanazawa as a leading role.
• Kana Asumi starred as Poplar in last season’s Working!!, in which one of the running gags was that she would always mispronounce the main character’s name “Takanashi” as “Katanashi.” Her character Yuu has no problem with that in Black Rock Shooter, however. The OVA also made the same pun as in Working!! regarding Takanashi’s name being able to be confused with “Kotori” (Takanashi’s name when he cross-dresses).
• At the point when Mato was giving Yomi the star cell phone strap, I started wondering if the fantasy world was far in the future, given the post-apocalyptic style of the setting. I was hoping that there was some falling out between the 2 that the OVA would show, before they somehow became Black Rock Shooter and Dead Master. I think that would’ve been a better twist than, “It’s a metaphor, lol.”

Rakuen here, and it’s that time again.  Time to pretend we actually care about the new series for the Summer season.  Okay, the season really isn’t too bad, and all of us have found at least a few shows to watch.  Compared to the 34-show torrent introduced last season, we only have 18 new additions.  In some ways, I like a smaller season.  I felt overloaded during the Spring season with so many series I wanted to watch.   The horror genre has gotten some disproportionate representation, and we see the return of Digimon from a 3-year hiatus.  Three shows take place during the Sengoku period, including the titular Sengoku Basara.  In addition, AIC is going overboard this season with four new shows.  While we’re talking statistics, this post is 2635 words long!  So enough with the introduction, let’s get on with the series impressions!

High School of the Dead

Madhouse

If you noticed the zombies first, you are ready for the apocalypse!

Rakuen: As soon as I opened up the Summer chart, I was already looking forward to this.  I’ve seen posts on imageboards for years, but I never got around to looking at the manga.  We’ve got a zombie apocalypse, we’ve got a school setting, now just give me a plot and I’ll be all over it.  Madhouse is just the icing on the cake for this series.

Lvlln: My main interest in this comes from the fact that it’s about zombies and a few risqué looking images from the manga I saw posted on /a/. That said, it does star a few of my favorite voice actors: Miyuki Sawashiro, Marina Inoue, whom I haven’t seen in any of the shows I’ve watched recently, and FUCK YEAH Yukari Fukui! I absolutely adore her voice, since all the way back in FLCL when she played the teacher, Miyaji. There’s a voice actor who doesn’t do enough voices. Plus, it’s about zombies, and the trailer looks appropriately ridiculous. I’ll definitely be watching it, though my interest in blogging it is medium-low.

Raph: I’m not going to lie: this looks like it’ll be a ridiculous amount of mindless fun. There’s fighting, blood, melodrama and zombies, and Madhouse is at the helm, so gorgeous animation looks to be on the cards too. I don’t like fanservice (as I continually point out) and this series will certainly have a lot of it, but I’ll probably let that slide because I’ll be having too much fun to care. If I’m not, though, I expect to drop this faster than you can say ‘brains’.

Seikimatsu Occult Academy

A-1 Pictures

Sit, boy!

Rakuen: I liked Sora no Woto, even though it didn’t have the greatest ending in the world.  I managed to lose interest in Senkou no Night Raid before anyone had even subbed the first episode.  This time, the premise doesn’t really appeal to me, and the trailer failed to piqué my interest.

Lvlln: I watched the 1st of the Anime no Chikara shows, Sora no Woto, and was pretty disappointed. I haven’t heard good things about the 2nd one, Senkou no Night Raid. The premise sounds interesting enough, but the trailer isn’t inspiring. I might wait for people’s reactions to the 1st few episodes before I consider watching it.

Raph: Admittedly, I haven’t enjoyed either of Anime no Chikara’s offerings so far, even though I love the idea behind the timeslot and A-1 Pictures. I’m going to give this a shot, though, because I’m a sucker for occult/horror series, and this one also has school comedy thrown in (generally another plus). The show looks to be using Nostradamus’ prophecies as a theme, which should be a heap of fun, and I really liked the trailer too. I’m somewhat apprehensive, but I’ll definitely check this out.

Shi Ki

Daume

...I think I'll hide under my bed now.

Rakuen: This kind of falls into the same boat as Occult Gakuin.  I’m not really a fan of the horror genre except in really specific situations.  Zombies are cool, mysterious deaths by some other worldly power are right out.  With that in consideration, I would probably choose this series over Gakuin based on the trailers.  It knows what it wants to do, and it looks like it can do it might do it with a better atmosphere than the train wreck of Ookami Kakushi.

Lvlln: I’ll be honest: the 1st thing that caught me about this one was the title, which is the same as the name of the protagonist of Tsukihime, one of my favorite anime dramas ever. Of course, Type-Moon’s previous work, Kara no Kyoukai, also shares a protagonist with the same name. The premise brings to mind Ookami Kakushi, which I dropped after a couple episodes, but then again, it’s never about the premise, it’s all about the execution. The character designs don’t do much for me, but maybe it could pull off a good horror/suspense. Probably won’t be watching it unless I start hearing a lot of good things about it.

Raph: I have been looking forward to this series as soon as it was announced. Not only will it air in the Noitamina timeslot, it’s also based on an incredibly atmospheric manga (which, in turn, was based on a light novel by the author of Ghost Hunt and Twelve Kingdoms). The trailer was extremely impressive, showing off strong art and music, and horror/mystery is a combination I really adore. There are also vampires, which will be off-putting for some, but they’re portrayed differently to the norm. There ain’t no sparkly prettyboys (admittedly, there are bishies; I’m sorry, I’m sorry!) here, just a boatload of mysterious deaths. Suffice to say, it’s a definite watch for me and a possible blog as well. [/end shameless and unsubtle fanboying]

Nurarihyon no Mago

Studio DEEN

I see you sprayed your hair with anti-gravity.

Rakuen: My immediate reaction was Inuyasha 2.0, but the similarities seem to change when you get past the protagonist’s design.  Unlike the relatively sour Inuyasha, this Youkai hybrid wants to do good.  I like series that challenge the stereotypes in this manner.  In addition, it doesn’t look like it will be infinite episodes long.  I might consider a quick look.

Lvlln: Premise sounds kinda meh, and the trailer really didn’t show much. Has some big voice actors, though, in Jun Fukuyama, Yui Horie, and Aya Hirano. But interest level is low.

Raph: The director and studio behind this also did Simoun, which I haven’t seen but am certainly planning to. I don’t think I’ll be watching this series unless it gets fantastic reviews, though, because the premise and setting don’t appeal to me at all.

The Legend of the Legendary Heroes

ZEXCS

Well this looks like a delightful adventure cast.

Rakuen: Are thesauruses just too expensive in Japan?  The redundant title aside, this seems like a mixed bag to me.  It has a fantasy setting with magic and swordplay, but it also might move a little too slowly for my tastes.  Breaking swords to end a fight in five seconds looks impressive, but if you want to do it, you have to have something else to fill the cracks, like Katanagatari’s wordplay.  I’ll wait for some reviews.

Lvlln: OK, so the title is pretty awesome. I might watch it just for that. The trailer was pretty funny, and I do enjoy that classic fantasy setting, so I’ll probably give the first few episodes a go and see how it turns out.

Amagami SS

AIC

Can we go for the Harem End this time?

Rakuen: I don’t usually put a much stock into romance anime, but the premise at least looks interesting.  I like stories from multiple viewpoints.  On the other hand, this might suffer a little from Endless Eight syndrome.  After all, in many of these choose your path visual novels, the same events happen in multiple storylines, some in all of them.  Much of Amagami hinges on its ability to avoid repetition.

Lvlln: I’m really interested to see how this parallel story telling thing will turn out. I like how AIC decided to go in that direction in this adaptation, trying to tell several good romance stories instead of telling just one that is diluted and harem-style. I also really like the more realistic/muted character design. High school romance isn’t really my thing, but I’ll watch at least the 1st story just to see how it turns out.

Raph: I love stories in any medium with multiple plotlines, and this should also satisfy my romance-anime cravings. I’m inexplicably nervous about the show, however, and am meh on the character designs, but I’m going to check out the first episode regardless. If I like it, I may very well blog it too.

Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi

J.C. Staff

It's party time!

Rakuen: I’ve heard good things about Toradora.  Even my cousin Jnkolm has said it’s a pretty good series, well worth the time to watch, and he’s a guy who is generally impossible to impress.  With weight like that, I feel obliged to watch it.  Oh, wait.  This is Ookami-san?  Sorry, my bad.  Well, I’ll watch the series recommended to me first, then I might come back for this.

Lvlln: I haven’t watched Toradora, but even I was thinking that this is too similar to that show, especially after watching the trailer. Looking at the cast, it features a lot of the same voice actors as the RailDex series, like Kanae Itou (Saten), Shizuka Itou (Kaori Kanzaki, the girl with the katana from Index), Kimiko Koyama (Komoe, the loli teacher), Aki Toyosaki (Uiharu), and of course it’s easy to tell that Satomi Arai is narrating the trailer. In any case, this seems a bit too much of a run of the mill high school comedy for me, so I’ll pass.

Raph: While I’ll be the first to admit that one of the leads looks remarkably like a taller Taiga (from Toradora!), I actually love the character designs and the art style here. I also love J.C. Staff and the premise is great, so I’m hoping this will be a lot of fun. Definite watch for me and also a possible blog.

Mitsudomoe

Bridge

What the hell have you done to sixth grade?

Rakuen: Minami-ke had class.  Hanamaru Kindergarten had charm.  This… you know what?  Screw this.

Lvlln: Reading the description, I thought maybe this could be a cute show like Hanamaru Kindergarten ended up being. But looking at the trailer, no, this is just lolicon material. I’ll pass.

Raph: Despite the horrendous character designs, I was considering checking this out. That was until I saw the trailer, which I found unimpressive and unfunny. No thanks.

Asobi ni Ikuyo!

AIC Plus+

What a purrfect female lead!

Rakuen: Every series needs to have a catgirl stylized anime.  It looks like AIC Plus missed the memo on this one, because Strike Witches has already filled the bill.  It also uses the “mysterious girl” trope.  I’m not feeling it.

Lvlln: Sounds like another typical “girl falls out of the sky into a boy’s life” story. I’ll pass.

Raph: There’s a strong voice cast and surprisingly good character designs here, but the premise seems really cliché and it looks like there’s going to be a hell of a lot of fanservice. I may give this show the benefit of the doubt  and check out the first episode, though, if only so I can drop it because of too much T&A.

Seitokai Yakuindomo

GoHands

I want YOU to come up with an original premise!

Rakuen: I really liked Seitokai no Ichizon back in the winter season, and while the school setting is slightly different, the setup is roughly the same.  We have a guy, and he works with a bunch of girls.  Of course, Ichizon went the parody route, and this one might go for regular comedy instead.  Still, I’m trying not to flood myself with anime this season, so I’ll wait for a second opinion.

Raph: Ahh, the student council comedy. I’m of two minds about this: the set-up is pretty bad (in a newly co-ed school’s student council, there’s one boy among a bevy of gorgeous girls) and I don’t like the character designs. However, I do think there’s potential for humour and this could be funny. I plan to check out the first episode, but it probably won’t be a high priority on my watch list.

Shukufuku no Campanella

AIC

If you can't tell this is based off an eroge, get your eyes checked.

Rakuen: …no.

Lvlln: So this one apparently literally has a girl falling out of the sky and into a boy’s life. I do like the colorful backdrop in the trailer, but it also seems too sugary sweet for me. I’ll pass.

Raph: I found the trailer and character designs bland, and I don’t like the premise, but I at least liked the colour palette and backgrounds. I’m not going to watch this unless it gets heaps of praise from others in the aniblogosphere.

Black Rock Shooter

Ordet

This OVA will be an absolute blast.

Lvlln: OK, so this was in the Spring preview post, but like a certain other online streaming anime, it was delayed. And just like that one, it also stars Kana Hanazawa and Miyuki Sawashiro. In just the past year, those 2 have been in 3 shows together: Bakemonogatari, Durarara!, and Angel Beats! (ok, for like 1 episode in that one). I was excited about the show already, being a big fan of Supercell and also of Hatsune Miku, but the announcement of these voice actors puts my excitement level over the top. This is one I’ll be looking for torrents for the moment it’s released on July 24.

Sequel Blitzkrieg

I (Rakuen) know most people gloss over the sequel and franchise preview segments because you usually know exactly what to expect.  If you liked it last season, you’ll probably still like it, and if you didn’t, you won’t have interest.  However, I have interest in two of the series, so I figured I should throw in a little extra and cover all five.  No images, studios, or other extraneous information, this is just rapid-fire titles and impressions.

Sengoku Basara S2

Are you ready guys?  Put ya guns on!  I watched the first two episode of the first season for this post, specifically because of the meme.  It’s over the top action that’s just good fun.  I have to blitz the rest of the series to prepare for the next season.  This will probably be what I write about in addition to Giant Killing.

Kuroshitsuji 2

I read the first volume of the manga, and honestly, I kind of liked it.  I never watched the anime, which is both good and bad.  On the positive side, they wrote a completely different storyline.  On the negative side… they wrote a completely different storyline.  I’m trying to avoid overwatching series this season, so I’ll probably pass on it.

Strike Witches 2

Second verse, same as the first.  It’s got girls, sailor fuku, panty shots, and rocket booster legs.  I remember seeing the first episode of the original about a year ago, and it just felt like a fanservice fest.  You’d have to cut me a tremendous deal to get me to catch up.

Sekirei: Pure Engagement

Bishonen and shoujo characters beat the crap out of each other.  Okay, honestly, I’d rather watch Tenjou Tenge.  In fact, I might just do that instead.

Digimon Xros Wars

Say what you will about Digimon, but this is my childhood we’re talking about here.  I feel like watching this just for nostalgia reasons.  Also, it looks like it will parallel the Sengoku period.  I doubt I will seriously write about the series, but maybe there’ll be some conjunction to Sengoku Basara…