Saturday, August 31, 2013

Fall Season Preview

I wasn't planning on composing a Fall Season Preview since I already cover it with my monthly podcast (except to have it up within a week or two). But hey, why not? Here's a snappy preview on some of the series I'm interested in seeing in fall. I didn't bother to put down my opinions for the series that didn't catch my interest (or the ones that did catch my interest by filling me with disgust).



And here's the anichart I use:




GALILEI DONNA



Noitamina huh? If this was 2010, I'd be like "Hey, this show will probably be good", but since 2011, with their first absolutely horrid work of rubbish, Fractale, they've been a conglomerate mix of good and bad and I can never tell whether the series will be something worth my time.



But what I do know for sure is that I've never come across a Noitamina series that isn't ambitious and Galilei Donna sure doesn't seem like it'll be an exception. The premise, hands down, is one of the most intriguing ones from this season. Three moons who take the form of girls and are on the international wanted list? Yeah, I'm down for that.



It's an original work from A-1 Pictures, who just like Noitamina is a mixed bag, but definitely ambitious for sure.



And so while I can't say with good conscience that this series will be good, I'll be keeping watch for the first few episodes.



COPPELION



A lot of people aren't too keen on GoHands' visual style, but God, I really dug the cinematography and camera angles while watching the PV.



But the primary reason for why I'm hyped for this series is because I guess I have a thing for attractive (specifically the girl on the right) gun-wielding high schools set in a post-apocalyptic world. We don't know any of the staff members yet, but from what I've heard from people who've read the manga - people that I trust, that is of course - is that they really enjoyed it, praising its maturity.



Also, by watching the trailer, not only does the visual style look fantastic, the atmosphere drew me in. No other PV had the same effect.



GOLDEN TIME



Written by the same author of Toradora - a light novel adaptation that I actually enjoyed - this series will take placein college (Yes!) and the female lead isn't a bitchy tsundere (Hell yes!!!).



There's just one drawback.



Chiaki Kon is the director.



Sure, her first work was Higurashi and that was a fantastic series, but since then has she directed anything that's not shit?



NEPPU KAIRIKU BUSHI LORD



This series was supposed to be released in 2003 as a collaboration between Gainax and Nitroplus, but something happened along the way and the project was abandoned. Well, ten years later it's been picked up by studio Kinema Citrus who's done Code: Breaker and Yuyushiki.



Apparently, the original staff from Nitroplus is still on the project and the series will also contain a lot of giant robots. Am I excited? No. Am I interested? Yes



KYOUKAI NO KANATA



Aside from Hyouka, I've never been wowed by KyoAni. Aside from the production values, KyoAni is just your run of the mill studio producing run of the mill anime.



It's surprising though, Kyoukai no Kanataactually looks ambitious with a decent enough concept.Teenage kids who have supernatural abilities such as healing wounds and using blood to fight sounds interesting enough and probably would be kick-assif it fell into the hands of a better studio.



Look, having a neat concept that strays away from the typical moe shtick doesn't mean this series won't be inherently different from every other KyoAni series. But whatever, once in a blue moon they do come out with something like Hyouka.



SAMURAI FLAMENCO



Another Noitamina series with the director of Baccano, Durarara, Natsume, etc. but I can't say I'm too pumped for this as this is an original work written by Hideyuki Kurata.



The dude wrote some cool shit back in the 90s like Now and Then, Here and There and Excel Saga. But recently he wrote Dragon Crisis (which you all know how much I loathe this piece of rubbish), OreImo and The World God Only Knows. I guess blame shouldn't only be pointed at the source material, but ooh, I'm nervous.



Not to mention, when the director did try to direct something original we got Hell Girl, which was a pretty subpar series. Plus, I heard in the second half, Durararahad a lot of original scenes thrown in and that really did not turn out well.



Oh, and this is from Manglobe.



Manglobe kinda suck.



NAGI NO ASUKARA



I don't trust P.A. Works doing an original work, not after Angel Beats and Canaan. It's always the same with every anime from P.A. Works (save it be for Uchouten Kazoku). They have a brilliant concept, start off on the right foot only to trip over themselves. Though this time, it's Mari Okada who's writing the script, so who knows?



I like Mari Okada, she's an excellent writerthat is when she doesn't write highschool teenage angst and drama and, you guessed it, that's exactly what this series looks to be about.



When Mari Okada doesn't have a good director to "restrain" her, the drama and angst become ridiculously messy, blown out of proportion and essentially garnering a couple eye rolls from me.



But yes, her drama can work out just as long as the director knows what he's doing and guess who's the director? Toshiya Shinohara, a director who worked with Mari Okada last time on Book of Bantorra. And while I haven't seen the series myself, I've heard it turned out to be pretty damn good.



So with that duo and P.A. Works, something good could can come out of this.



WHITE ALBUM 2



I haven't seen the first series, but I've been told that this is a stand-alone series.



It's got highschool romance and music shit and I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff. I'm not too familiar with the studio or any of the staff so I can't really say much about them. I have heard that the game this series is based on is pretty good so I've got fairly good expectations for this.



PUPA



Finally, a horror series!



It's being produced by that God-awful Studio Deen, but then again their production values have been getting better as seen with Sankarea and Rozen Maiden (2013).



I've heard that the manga is well-written and the director worked on Ranma, Orange Road, Maison Ikkoku, series I have yet to see, though I've they're quite amazing.



It has incest, yes, but as proven with Koi Kaze,incest doesn't always have to just be there for the fanservice and stupid pandering or whatever. It can be presented maturely and that's what I'm hoping to see from this series.



VALVRAVE THE LIBERATOR 2



HOLY SHIT! HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPEHYPEHYPEHYPEHYPEHYPEHYPE!



I joke.



Valrave sucks.



I've already said this a bajillion times, but if you want an outlandish over the top series to watch, go watch Jojo's Bizarre Adventure (2012) instead. That shit is fucking brilliant.



YOZAKURA QUARTET: HANA NO UTA



I'm really looking forward to this series, because I heard the original had such a cool premise but failed at making anything good out of it. The trailer was unbelievably fun, chocked with well-choreographed fights and a lot of style. Hopefully the series won't rely on that too much.



KILL LA KILL



Ah, Trigger. This is where all the good staff members of Gainax went. It's going to be their first "real" anime with the crew of Gurren Lagann and Panty and Stocking. Now, I'm not head over heels as everyone else is with these two series, but I do recognize that they are very well-crafted series. He also directed CG battles from Black Rock Shooter so we know there's going to be some amazing balls off the wall fight scenes. That much I'm sure of. But like with Yozakura, I just hope this series doesn't spin out of control and turn into a trainwreck.



But honestly, just by looking at the cover art, you didn't even have to know the staff members and you would know it screams style.



AURA



I've already talked about this film with my latest podcast, but to reiterate my opinions, I'm certainly interested in this film. It's based off the light novel written by Romeo Tanaka, a prolific visual novel writer and writer of Humanity Has Declined, which I quite liked. The story is a more serious version of Chuunibyou, taking a more realistic approach on the matter.



The story sounds fine and all.



My main beef is with the director, Seiji Kishi. I'm sure most of you recognize his name. Yeah, he's the guy who adapts really, really crappy video game adaptations, but let me remind you that this guy used to be a brilliant comedic director. Tentai Senshi Sunred? Hilarious. My Bridge Is A Mermaid? Also a well received comedy. Angel Beats? Persona 4? The best parts of those series were the friggin comedy and the energetic characters.



Now I've heard people say "Oh, he's only funny because of the source material, blah blah blah" But no matter how funny a joke is, it's just not the same when an awkward, boring guy tries to tell the joke. Funny source material is constantly adapted into not so funny anime series all the time but Kishi doesn't fail to make me laugh. All his characters are funny, his comedic timing is top notch and essentially, the guy knows how to have fun.



What he can't direct is something down-to-earth. He can't direct a compelling story, neither compelling characters. The thing about Kishi's drama isn't that it tries too hard or become exaggerated like Mari Okada's. Quite the opposite.



Kishi's drama tends to be lifeless. It's like whenever Kishi has to direct drama, he sighs and goes "Do I really have to do this? Ok fine, let's just get this done quick"



So I'm a little worried about this movie. But there are still positives. This is Kishi's first film, so maybe trying a new format will produce some new outcomes? Maybe. But the bigger positive is that the Humanity Has Declined anime was also directed by Kishi and the drama actually kind of worked there, so with the re-uniting of Kishi and Tanaka, this might actually work.



PATEMA INVERTED



Nevermind about Coppelion having the best PV. Patema Inverted easily takes the cake.



The setting is, hands down, the most brilliant thing I've seen this season. The characters themselves look to actually hold depth and I'm taking a wild gamble that the chemistry between the couple will develop really well. The music is phenomenal. The voice acting is great.The artwork and the cinematography are gorgeous and HOLY HELL I WANT TO SEE THIS FILM RIGHT NOW!



Watch the trailer. Go watch the trailer right now and tell me that you aren't in the least bit interested.
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