Those keen eyes at MangaCast spotted new licenses for Aurora/Deux in the new issue of Previews, including Hitohira, a girls love-flavored high school drama about an extremely shy freshman who gets forced into the school’s drama club by its wacky members. The manga was adapted into an anime in spring ‘07, it was a cute [...]
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)

So far, Kurenai is the only show that I think might equal my top shows of the past year (true tears, ef, Blue Drop, Hitohira, Lucky Star), but this is a very broad season, with many good shows, several of which could develop into something great. I covered 24 shows in a previous post. Here are ten more that have debuted since then.Nijuu-mensou no Musume -- Hirano Aya is at her best, acting and singing the ED in this promising retro anime telling the story of a girl who willingly joins a famous thief, in order to get away from the hell she is enduring with her step-parents. Full review.Real Drive -- Strong Production IG animation and a complex and interesting Shirow Masamune (Ghost in the Shell) plot make this a promising show. Directed by Furuhashi Kazuhiro (Chevalier D'Eon). The cast includes Fujiwara Keiji and Kawasumi Ayako. The character design features strikingly large-hipped women, and we see the same man at 25 and at 80. The look has great clarity and the plot doesn't.Toshokan Sensou -- More wonderful animation from Production IG in a promising story of a girl joining the para-military organization that defends freedom of publication from an opposing pro-censorship organization. The strong outlines used in some of the charcter dsign are fascinating. Echoes of Planetes in the relationship between the leads. Inoue Marina (Yoko in Gurren-Laggan) shows why she got 20 roles last year.Net Ghost Pipopa -- Kimura Shinichirou (Karin, Mahoraba) directs this surprisingly entertaining kids' show about a boy who fears the Internet and three "Net ghosts" who become his companions. Fine cast includes Satou Rina (Negi Springfield), Shiraishi Ryouko (Hayate), Arai Satomi (Kozue in Mahoraba), and Yahagi Sayuri (Karin). oHagi (Yahagi's nickname) is one of my favorites, and shows her stuff in ep1. What a voice.Golgo 13 -- Could have been made in 1985. Static animation well used to tell the story of a sniper hired to shoot a hijacker. Brutality, blood, and expressionless super-male faces -- but I enjoyed it.Junjo Romantika -- Want yaoi? You got it. The dominant male forces the brother of the man he loves to accept being mastur*ated. And that's in the first five minutes. Later, they both regret the brother's becoming engaged. Yes, there is a story in there somewhere. Directed by Kon Chiaki (Higurashi), with a great cast including Sakurai Takahiro, Canna Nobutoshi, Itou Kentarou, Kishio Daisuke, and others.Kyouran Kazoku Nikki -- Madly funny story of a guy who is dragooned into being the "dad" of a "family" made up of dangerous alien descendants who need to be socialized to humans in order to stop them destroying the world. Top cast includes Fujimura Ayumi, Kondou Takayuki, Hirohashi Ryou, Tomatsu Haruka, Hanazawa Kana, Satou Rina. Fujimura-san shows why she is becoming a favorite of directors. Hanazawa-san has one of the two or three most moe voices in anime (she and Sasaki Nozomi are at the top of my list).Kaiba -- Wonderful, surreal animation from Yuasa Masaaki and Madhouse. Here's a selection of words from posts on AnimeSuki: existentialist, Dali-esque, theatre of the absurd, stream of consciousness. The words all attracted me, but I ended up bored when I actually watched the show. Too much for me, but if your taste is good enough, you may be as thrilled as some other people are.Uchi no San Shimai -- Slipping in under the radar is this animated version of a popular blog on child-rearing, showing the amusing parental travails of a family with three girls under ten. I'll need a sub to really understand the dialogue, and I can't even find a Chinese sub yet. Simple animation, but cute and interesting.Himitsu - Top Secret -- A secret technology allows police to read the minds of murder victims and find the killer. With Seki Tomokazu, Namikawa Daisuke, and Nonaka Ai. This would be a show to watch, if there weren't so many other good shows already.
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)

Kanokon Xebec has really fallen. Once they were a studio that brought quality-series like The Third and Hitohira, though this season their only focus seems to be fanservice. Really, I don’t know what’s left to say about these series in which the male main character suddenly gets loved by a bunch of beautiful girls for no [...]
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)

So it’s been well over six months since I finished Hitohira, the best little show that no one watched, and while toiling away at the library today I started thinking about how much I’ve changed in the intervening time. I won’t bore you with the dull, in-depth personal details (this is, after all, an anime [...]
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)

Seirei no Moribito Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Lucky Star Seto no Hanayome ef -a tale of memories Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei Potemayo Baccano! Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight! Minami-ke Dennou Coil Hitohira Nodame Cantabile sola Code GEASS: Lelouch of the Rebellion. This list was seriously delayed because I decided to write a blurb for each title, which got too long after I ran out of suitable adjectives for all of them. [...]
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)

Decidedly, the word is that 2007 is not as exciting as 2006. We did not have Haruhi, we did not have Simoun, we did not have Black Lagoon. In fact, I'm going to talk about shows I didn't see in 2007 (and some that I did, but not like Haruhi, Simoun and Black Lagoon).
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)

A normal day at Azure Flame. It’s been a year of ups and downs, of anime gems and utter disappointments- a year when I’ve alternated between craving more and feeling utterly fed up with the continuing deluge of episodes that take no account of the fact that people might have other things to do than stay [...]
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)

Especially because my list will be so different from most others, I just can't stop myself from posting it. Happy New Year!1 Byousoku 5cm2 ef3 Blue Drop4 Lucky Star5 Touka Gettan6 Emily of New Moon7 Nodame Cantabile8 Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei9 KimiKiss10 Candy BoyAnd behind them come, in some order or other: Hitohira, Kyoushirou to Towa no Sora, Les Miserables ~Shoujo Cossette~, Manabi Straight, Hidamari Sketch, Claymore, Seirei no Moribito, Darker than Black, Saiunkoku Monogatari2, Emma2, Sky Girls, Mononoke, Potemayo, Genshiken2, Minami-ke, Ghost Hound, Clannad, Kodomo no Jikan (DVD version).What can I say? There are many well-made shows I just can't appreciate. I'm only including shows that started this year. For more discussion, see my earlier post reviewing the year. Thanks to alafista.com for stimulating me to come up with a top ten list.
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)

...because "Save Your Drama for Hitohira" just doesn't run as well with your momma.
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)

The first anime in this feature is a sports anime, and its strength is clearly in character development. The next series that will be introduced has nothing to do with sports, but its strength is also in character development. It is perhaps one of the few anime that will be hard pressed to get a [...]
(Read the rest of this entry) (Entry meta)