wat u say

Well, I’m pretty late getting around to doing this, but I wanted to take a more relaxed approach this season. Last season I was rabidly trying to find every single episode of every series that was airing. Which was a bit overwhelming once I started to realize how much shit I was watching. Anyway, I took a look at the list of anime airing this Winter and did a once over to see what might spark some interest. I’ll be using Omni’s Winter 2009 Preview post as well as the giant ass chart/poster thing below (click on it to get a bigger version).

So, there looks to be a lot of sequels this Winter. I’ve seen none of the prequels to any of these series, nor do I feel the need to see them. Therefore, I’m not even going to include any of these sequels in my little list. The exception is Maria-sama ga Miteru 4th. I’m watching it because lolikit said so. And instead of listing the series that I have absolutely no interest in and just saying “lolnotwatching,” I’m just going to go over what ones grabbed my attention with just a cursory glance. And since it’s so late in the season, some of these have already aired and I’ve seen some of them (White Album, Akikan, Maria Holic), so I’ll probably make a mini first impression as well.

Akikan

From what I read on the summary, I instantly turned this one away. Then they had an early broadcast of the first episode and I couldn’t stop laughing. Whether it was at how stupid the entire show was or whether it was the show actually managing to be funny, I’ll probably stick around and watch this show. If nothing else, hearing Fukuyama Jun voice a lecherous, sex crazed teenage boy is fucking hilarious. And who can turn down lines like, “I don’t want you drinking any juice but my juice.”?

White Album

There’s a ton of mixed reviews of the first episode. I watched it raw, which meant I got very little out of it except that Yuki sounds exactly like Minato. Geh. At least it sounds like the guy won’t end up with her, eventually. At least I hope not. Anyway, I’m going to watch it subbed after I write this up and give a proper first impression. For now I’ll put it in the maybe category. However, if lelangir’s predictions start coming true, it’ll be a must see.

Maria Holic

Everyone is watching this and I will be too. Whether I’ll actually have anything to write about, well, we’ll see. It seems to be a comedy on its face, but if there’s more to it, then it could inspire me to write something. But if it’s like Kannagi, it’ll be for pure entertainment value and that’s about it.

Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo

This could either be decent or horrible. Given that it’s Sunrise, it’d be a smart move to bet on it being horrible, but if koda’s hunch is right (and it usually is), then this could be hilarious to watch and laugh at. Oh and I also heard that Yukana has a role in this anime somewhere, so I’m pretty sure I’ll be watching it just for that. Somehow, I’m still watching Tales of the Abyss because of Yukana, this can’t possibly be any worse. Can it?

Viper’s Creed

Well, from the PV, it looks to be a mecha-bike action anime. If it can deliver some good action scenes in the first few episodes, I might stick with it. The plot sounds rather strange, so it might make for an interesting watch, but I’m not really holding my breath. I’ll check it out for a bit and then if it disappoints, I’ll drop it.

Asu no Yoichi

A boy who lives with his father is sent to live in a house full of girls. Where have I heard this one before? Oh well, if it’s bad, it has potential to be hilariously bad. If it’s decent, well, let’s just say I’m not betting it’ll be even close to decent. I’ll watch the first episode, but if it’s complete garbage, I’ll probably pass on this.

Kurokami

Boy meets mysterious magical girl and makes a contract with her, unintentionally. Remind you of anything? Man, my cynicism is really starting to show. Anyway, I heard this had an early broadcast or stream or something as well, but I didn’t really feel up to trying to find out more. I’ll watch it when it comes out subbed, well, if it does get subbed. There’s that whole simultaneous broadcast thing which can only end in tears. Well, I won’t shed any tears if no one bothers subbing it.

Chrome Shelled Regios

Doesn’t a name like that make you just want to watch it to find out how the fuck they came up with such a name? Anyway, I think there was another seiyuu here who makes me interested in this one, but right now I can’t remember who it is. This is one of those that I really just won’t know until I actually watch a few episodes. It could be utter garbage or it could be the best anime of the year for all I know right now.

Ride Back

This looks like Viper’s Creed, but with a female lead. Bikes turning into mecha, tough economic times with war and strife, etc. I’ll give it a shot, but again, I won’t be surprised if it’s terrible.

Munto

So, I guess the ‘real’ name of this is “sora wo miageru shoujo no hitomi ni utsuru sekai” and I never want to have to type that again, so I’m going to go with the flow and call it Munto. It’s KyoAni, who did Clannad, so the character designs look really nice. As for the story, I have no fucking clue what it’s about, but I’ll at least give it a few episodes, since it’s KyoAni.

Looking back through my list, I’m praying that most of these series are absolutely abysmal and turn me off after one or two episodes, because this is just way too much to follow. I’m still following Toradora, Tales of the Abyss, Gundam 00, and Clannad, so I’m not looking forward to adding another 10 to the list. I can say for sure I’ll at least be following Maria Holic, and probably Akikan. The rest are still very much up in the air, but I have no doubt I’ll at least want to watch a few more of these series. I guess there’s always the option of watching but not bothering to blog about them, which is probably going to have to happen.

Ok, now to see what I think of White Album~