After 2 or 3 episodes, the new season of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei seems to lead the pack, with true tears, Yattaman, and Shigofumi next, but far behind.Spice & Wolf, Persona, and Rosario to Vampire come next, with others strung out behind. It's hard to gauge how popular Minami-ke O-kawari is, since it is simply continuing the original series' threads (and is on its 96th).Here is a rough list showing which thread each show is currently on. Each completed thread represents about 1000 posts.Zoku Zetsubou Sensei 67 True Tears 17 Yattaman 13Shigofumi 11 Spice & Wolf 9 Persona 8 Rosario to Vampire 8 Hakaba Kitarou 7 KimiAru 7 ARIA the Origination 6 H2O 6 Hakuten Yuugi 3Major 4 3 Ayakashi 2Moegaku 5 1 true tears is getting the attention I think it deserves. Yattaman's popularity shows the effect of its long history. With all its faults, I enjoy Ayakashi more than 2channel does. Major and Hakuten Yuugi's low popularity are a further demonstration of 2channel's allergy to any anime that can be classed as shoujo.Moegaku 5 is more an educational variety show than an anime show, even though it has an anime element.A show or two may be missing since I included only the top 100 most recently posted-to threads.
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Based on one or two episodes, here are some first impressions:true tears -- After two episodes, this is the cream of the crop, for me. Beautifully directed, with interesting characters, and silences full of meaning. The animation is almost KyoAni-level. Takagaki Ayahi is outstanding as the electric Noe, and Nazuka Kaori equally outstanding as gentle, complex Hiromi. Nishimura Junji, the director of Simoun, and Okada Mari, one of its writers, have taken the original game and completely re-imagined it.Spice and Wolf -- I hoped that the "wise wolf" Horo would become a classic role for Koshimizu Ami, and episode one makes me think my wish just might come true. Horo is a powerful thousand-year-old wolf-goddess posing as a 15-year-old human, and her archaic speech and playful character really give Amisuke something to sink her teeth into. Horo's travels with the merchant Lawrence show promise. This may give the staff a chance to wipe out the memory of their previous show, Cosmopolitan Prayers. Best OP of the season.Porfy no Nagai Tabi -- This year's show in the World Masterpiece Theater series is directed by Mochizuki Tomomi (YKK, Zettai Shounen, Princess Nine) and got off to a good, but typically slow, start in the first two episodes. High-class family drama, involving a Greek boy who will lose his parents in an earthquake and travel around Europe trying to find his sister.Hatenkou Yuugi -- Reverse-harem shoujo adventure, with a fascinatingly unpredictable lead shoujo played by the great Kobayashi Sanae. Her bishounen henchmen are played by Sakurai Takahiro and Miki Shinichirou. Could degenerate into monster of the week, but not bad through two episodes.H2O Footsteps in the Sand -- I will probably have finished watching this show by the time I decide if it is worth watching. I enjoy it enough so far, with its mysteries and its determined lead guy. But it seems crudely constructed, somehow, like Myself;Yourself. And like that show it tries to shock us with unexpected violence.Persona Trinity Soul -- This much psychic angst and violence are too much for me, but it seems like a strong, well-made anime.Shigofumi -- This show is the love-child of Shinigami no Ballad and Jigoku Shoujo. The plot through the first two episodes seemed a bit clunky, but worked. Ueda Kana is beginning to display her vocal chops in ep2.Minami-ke O-kawari -- Another helping by another studio with the same VAs. It's okay, I guess. I was never as amused by the first version last fall as many others were, and they are not as happy with this version as with that one.Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei -- More more of the same. But this time it really is the same. Shinbou by Shinbou. Smart, beautiful, weird.ARIA the Origination -- Even more. It looks great and sounds great. Lovers of the franchise like it. I admire it, but I hardly ever seem to get through a whole episode. If you are an ARIA fan, however, then be sure to watch: this is probably the last ARIA anime, since the manga itself is drawing to a close.Hakaba no Kitarou -- I was going to pass on this one until I read the AnimeSuki thread. Wonderful animation and music and a charming (?) story, through ep1 at least -- as long as humorous, knowing urchins from beyond the grave are to your taste. I should have known that Noitamina would not bore us.Noramimi -- Well-made low-impact family comedy with Doraemon-like character design. Worth a look.Ayakashi -- Poorly made, but somehow quite entertaining. I could have said the same about this director's previous show, Lamune, which involved pure romance rather than supernatural violence and teens with special powers. Good cast includes Mizuki Nana, Kishio Daisuke, Matsuki Miyu, Shimizu Ai, Yukino Satsuki, Sugita Tomokazu.Gunslinger Girl - Il Teatrino -- I found the first episode quite lame, and so did lovers of the original series. They say this substitutes standard moe for the original impassive lolis. Bad move.They Are My Noble Masters -- A terrible waste of some great VA talent. At least Hayate is occasionally watchable. This is Hayate with very limp humor.Rosario to Vampire -- A real disappointment. Mizuki Nana is good as the lead girl, but the plot, animation, and personalities are deeply boring, through two episodes.Sisters of Wellber 2 -- It was lovely to hear the dulcet tones of Takahashi Mikako again, but this just feels poorly made and dull.
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I just laughed right here Oh my gah…I can’t take it anymore. Why was I such a fool. I am never going against my friends’ wills ever again. This was one of the worst 20 minutes of my life, as well as having to write a review about it. The animation was wretched, the voices sounded [...]
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[Impression] Why would you have a weapon that turns into a white fluff ball with gigantic black eyes and a little tail and ears? Is a cuteness trend spreading through? Ayakashi just drop for me. “An Ayakashi is a power and a curse.” Haven’t I heard this from somewhere? It would have been better if Eimu [...]
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First Blood Ohhhhh…such a scary episode title. Going against the warnings of my fellow bloggers, I’ve decided to give this series a shot. The opening trailer caught my attention but only animators to flex their muscles, as I failed to find such animation anywhere in the first episode. The plot premise follows the life of a [...]
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Ayakashi was one of those early debuts of the fall season. As you know, it is about parasitic life forces that give super powers to their beholder and in return get to have the host’s entire life. What drag me into this was the opening theme “Cloudier Sky” by Ayane. A sad feeling this song [...]
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Yes, the time has come to complete my first year of previews, although unfortunately I left it so late that I’ll just ignore most of the movies, OVAs and specials to come out in December and get cracking on the series that are intended to sustain us through the cold and depressing weeks of January. Ayakashi: [...]
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Ayakashi I originally classified this series as a Mushiuta-ripoff. Humans can be possessed by Ayakashi, which they can fully control but they must watch out not to use their powers too much otherwise they’ll die. Just replace “Ayakashi” with “Mushi” and “die” with “lose your soul”, and viola. After watching the first episode of Ayakashi, I [...]
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Here is my calendar for the new season. This is a weekly calendar showing which shows are on on which day.I find it useful at the beginning of the season to help me plan which shows to watch, and useful later to keep straight which shows are on which days. I hope some of you may find it useful, too.The calendar also gives highlights of staff and cast for each show, as well as links to the show's official site and its Anime News Network page, as well as to the AnimeSuki forums for many shows.The calendar includes pretty well all shows of interest: continuing shows as well as new shows. It also includes OVAs scheduled for release between now and the end of March.The first new show has already started (Ayakashi), but the season really gets underway on January 1. However there are several interesting OVAs in late December.There are sometimes schedule changes early in the season, so I will update the calendar in early January.
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As usual, not all of these series will go on to be blogged but I will make an effort to blog most of these at least once. Title: AYAKASHI Release Date: 12th December 2007 Additional Coments: Already released however I have not had the time to go through it just yet so I am unsure if I will [...]
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