Compared to the last few winter seasons the number of new anime has noticeably gone back and, sadly, more than half of them seem to be the usual cheap cookie-cutter stuff that dominates modern anime, though there are still a few promising series in the lineup.
♦ Durarara!!
It’s basically the same constellation of people who created the outstanding Baccano!, strictly speaking it’s based on a light novel series written by Narita Ryougo with the well-attuned team of Noboru Takagi (series composition) and Takahiro Omori (director) handling its adaption into animation. The animation is once more produced by studio Brains Base, but Omori‘s projects attract all kind of artists so I’m sure we’ll see some talents doing great work like in Baccano!. Takahiro Kishida, who is also a regular on Omori‘s works, created the wonderful character designs, haven’t seen anything better for a while. I’m pretty sure that Durarara!! will be the highlight of the upcoming season (which isn’t that difficult to speak the truth), can’t wait to see what Omori intends to do with this one, his imaginative and intense directing style that reaches out into every aspect of the production promises some enjoyable time.
♦ So-Ra-No-Wo-To
This is the first anime of the so-called “Anime no Chikara” project which is a collaboration of TV Tokyo and Aniplex to create original anime with talented creators. Mamoru Kanbe is directing it so I expect a half-way decent result, and besides it’s rare these days that a scenario sounds as interesting as this one (even if there’s a bunch of assumedly stereotypical bishoujo’s involved). It’s an A-1 Pictures production which commonly means averaging quality if there aren’t the right people involved, but Toshifumi Akai‘s participation as chief animation director (who aquired some renown through his work on Kannagi, or more specifically his animation supervision of #10 and key animation on several episodes) makes me hope that the animation could turn out pretty good. The eye-catching resemblance of Akai‘s character designs to K-ON! respectively Yukiko Horiguchi‘s style is of course no coincidence as he obviously likes K-ON! (like he wrote on his blog) and Horiguchi‘s work. The PV reveals some convincing animation which even comes close to Horiguchi‘s lively and rich animation at times, though I suspect that they can’t keep it up… anyways, I’m curious if Ordet will be participating too since the designs are of their lineage in some way.
♦ Hanamaru Kindergarten
Gainax and Seiji Mizushima do indeed sound great, but despite the reputable director I doubt that Hanamaru Kindergarten is a high-priority project for them. That said, I’m glad to see a new comedy series by Gainax and the trailer certainly caught my interest through the usual overdone Gainax humour. If anyone can make something really worthwile out of this source material, then it’s without doubt Gainax.
♦ Katanagatari
After Shaft x Shinbou‘s Bakemonogatari, Katanagatari is the second anime adaptation of NisiOisin‘s work, this time by White Fox and Keitaro Motonaga (School Days, Akasaka, etc.). It’s interesting that the anime will air over a period of a whole year with one 60 minutes episode per month (so one for each novel volume), this should allow for some additional polishing of their animation work. I really liked the style shown in the PVs and the animation wasn’t that bad either, but hardly surprising as there are some talented people attached to White Fox (like Naoto Hosoda, I’m sure he’ll do some work on Katanagatari). Since it’s based on novels by NisiOisin, it’s probably not on the low standard of most other light novel adaptations, but let’s wait and see what the director (whose former works weren’t particularly creative) does with the material.
♦ Ōkamikakushi
I’ve wanted to see a Ryukishi07 work adapted into anime by another studio than Deen for quite a while as his stuff is actually interesting and entertaining and deserves something better than such an awful mixture of still-images and trite directing, but this combination (Nobuhiro Takamoto and AIC) isn’t too promising either. I fear that it won’t be anything more than standard fare with some decently interesting storyline, though quality-wise probably a notch better than the extremely bad Deen stuff. If the first two episodes manage to catch my interest, then I’ll watch some more of it for the sake of Ryukishi07‘s original scenario. The setting is certainly reminiscent of Higurashi, and Ōkamikakushi seems to be the same twisting and blending of various genres and concepts that make the “When they cry” franchise so remarkable.
♦ Dance in the Vampire Bund
This season’s new Shaft x Shinbou anime, apparently presented in a more violent and darker fashion reminiscent of Petite Cossette and Soul Taker. It’s Shinbou so I expect a halfway decent result even with this generic sounding source material.
♦ Seikon no Qwaser
While the content seems to be nothing more than an extremely fanservice-y version of the usual fantasy/school stuff, it could surprise on the technical side of things since some interesting staff is involved. Director Hiraku Kaneko is a good choice for this kind of anime as his (nice) work as animator is equally coined by fanservice, the same goes for Hiroya Iijima (chief animation director) who did a lot of work on adult animation, though he concentrated more on TV anime in the last few years. Remarkable are also the two relatively new companies Taki Corporation and Hoods Entertainment that handle the (animation) production, latter is another offspring of Gonzo, to be exact mostly of the section which worked on Linebarrels of Iron. The promo shows some decent animation quality, though if the scenario is as ridiculous as I heard from various sources, then I won’t bother with it.
♦ Baka to Test to Shōkanjū
So Shinbou‘s protégé (Shin Oonuma) is directing a series at Silver Link? They recently worked on some Shaft shows so it’s far from being a surprise, but it won’t be anything too outstanding even with Oonuma directing, it just doesn’t strike me as interesting at all, much less as something meaningful like ef ~ a tale of memories.
I left out all the unbearable and insignificant cookie-cutter stuff as well as the sequels like Nodame Cantabile Finale, Hidamari Sketch and Gag Manga Biyori+, even if some those follow-up series probably rank among the better anime this season.
Ani no Miyako 
Looking forward to “Durarara!!” although the amount of characters leaves me a bit sceptical. I am also a bit disappointed that Kishida’s designs lost their Kishida traits during the animation process (judging from the trailer material).
I don’t see anything interesting about the concept of So-ra-no-wo-to. The essence of this will be the usual plotless slice of life stuff with lobotomized pretty girls that every second anime delivers. But I am looking forward to some appealing animation so I can care less about the story.
Having enjoyed Bakemonogatari because of its content and characters I am also looking forward to Katanagatari. I don’t know about the director but anything is better than Akiyuki Shinbo’s self importantly random and heartless direction.
Yeah, there seem to be quite a few characters in Durarara, though I proceed on the assumption that they will handle them in an equally satifsying way as in Baccano.
As for So-Ra-No-Wo-To: you may be right that it won’t be particularly outstanding story-wise (despite being an original series), but I appreciate any variation from the usual school/fantasy/whatever settings. The question is if they know how to make use of it to create something interesting, at least Hiroyuki Yoshino’s presence as script supervisor (the guy who did the series composition for Code Geass, My Hime, MacF, etc.) makes me hope that it will be somewhat entertaining.
Well I for one enjoyed Akiyuki Shinbou’s direction on Bakemono immensely. Layout, editing, color design, and overall creative realization of the characters and story were all quite pleasurable. The budget limitations and rushed production were handled well. Even his early work like Yamamoto Yoko have a unique sensibility in these areas, though the end product is of varying quality.
This season looks pretty dry overall. I guess it is a good time to be too busy with work to watch much!
I could certainly see the big effort Shinbou and Shaft put into Bakemonogatari, even though the bad scheduling led to some unpleasant quality issues in the second half (which will probably be corrected for the DVD/BD versions). The first two episodes were the most impressive ones (at least production-wise), I recently rewatched both and was once again stunned due to the fantastic compositions, editing and staging. Story and characters were indeed strong and felt unusually refreshing.
Haven’t watched much of Shinbou’s early work, maybe I’ll catch up on it some time soon since there isn’t much worth watching right now anyway.
Thanks for reporting this, looks like a good season of anime is approaching!
Nice preliminary overview, although a bit short (but then you know me LOL)! Now that a few shows have come out, I’m getting a “feel” for this season. These years I’m happy if I can have six solid series to track, and I’m getting there… although I dropped Omamori Himari after only one ep, a rarity for me as I normally like to give 4. I’ve never liked or appreciated humongous and gratuitous bewbage, and this show was just … awful, even aside from that. For my tastes anyway 😛
Baka to Test also looks uninteresting, so I’ll pass on that as well. Katanagatari is unique enough and with a distinguished team behind it so I’ll give it a chance, assuming that the first ep’s reveals of style are my thing.
What I have so far is: Durarara! which really looked cool; action-packed even when “inactive”; i.e. walking and talking scenes were involving and kept my eyes glued and advanced plot and character development, and then the actual action was well-directed and even amusing at times. And, it looks to be as twisty and “busy” a network of subplots as Baccano! was. I’m betting on this one 🙂
Sora no Woto (or however the hell they’re gonna spell it) was better than expected. I suggest right now to prepare yourself to shut out the “K-ON! in Wartime” whiners, because they’re going to try like hell to make as many people as possible be put off, because that’s all they’ll be able to see. It’s only similar to K-ON! in the most superficial ways. I found the characters individual enough to make for worthwhile involvement, and the scenery and backgrounds were excellent, making a very believeable world. If viewers spent less time rabidly focusing on “moe-hating” and imagining it where the focus obviously isn’t, they’d have an enjoyable show to watch. Assuming that it’s going to be one, and I suspect that it might. With Elfen Lied’s Kanbe’s direction I think it’ll be a fun ride; though likely to start slowly.
Dance in the Vampire Bund was definitely a trip to watch! It’s not the SHAFT-works from more recent years, but the direction had Shinbou written all over it, which is a good thing. This one may surprise you! I really didn’t see anything generic about it, and using a TV Game Show to introduce the concept was a stroke of genius, especially the way it played itself out.
Finally, Ookami Kakushi really did give off a (welcome) Higurashi vibe, and shows a lot of promise. True, some characters might seem “cookie-cutter” but I won’t hold that against it simply because it’s really difficult to have a roster where some characters are so unique as to never have been done before. But there is a nice sense of mystery that pervades already, and since it’s Ryukishi07, you know there’s gonna be a story to tell! Interesting-as-hell ED too.
So these are the four I have so far; still hoping for two more 🙂
Wow, thanks for your comment/thoughts on the winter season, always highly appreciated.
I agree with you on Bakatest, although it isn’t that bad quality-wise. However, the scenario is not something I’m particularly fond of, way too ridiculous for my taste.
Durarara!! is certainly the highlight of this season, the direction, style and animation are masterfully done. Omori is very good at creating this kind of stylized realism that makes use of the medium in very interesting ways. As you say, they put lots of effort into the animation, the range of expressions and digital refinement bring about a very rich visual experience, especially the scenes with the mysterious biker woman were excellent. The plot seems to be very interesting as well, can’t wait to see how the story unfolds.
Yeah, I also can’t stand this whole “K-ON! in wartime” thing, judging anime solely based on the designs is indeed a superficial evaluation… Anyway, the first episode of So-ra-no-wo-to was convincing for the most part, especially the animation and backgrounds were splendid and Kanbe’s storyboard and direction gave it some nice touches. Hopefully we’ll see some noteworthy plot in this one…
Dance in the Vampire Bund did indeed suprise me, but I fear most succeeding episodes won’t be that interesting.
Well, Ookami Kakushi’s first episode didn’t strike me as anything more than mildly interesting, they sort of failed to set up the mystery in an exciting way. The production quality wasn’t particularly good, yet still better than Umineko TV. Of course I’ll watch some more episodes since it’s based on Ryukishi07’s work after all, and at least it seems to have something like a mentionable and coherent plot (as against most other series this season).
Two things of note to mention:
(1) I couldn’t resist adding Hanamaru Kindergarten last night! I was very skeptical at first, but mainly due to reading elitist condemnations spewing blanket disdain for this supposed “pedo/loli” series. Just goes to show you NOT to believe what cynical people parrot and bleat and to just judge a series for yourself! Quite innocent, and in a chibi kind of way rather than loli-icious. Such a very cute show, and really a refreshing change-of-pace, for me at least. Gainax seems to have outdone itself, and at times I got a strong SHAFT sensation in watching it; at other times I could (believe it or not) see Gurren Lagann humor and expression! IN A KINDERGARTEN SHOW, NO LESS!!! Looks a lot more promising than at first appearance…
(2) Just finished Sora no Woto #2, and found myself enjoying it quite a bit. They’re still introducing the cast, so I don’t expect major plots to be unfolding just yet, although being a 13-episode series they better get a move on now! Oh, and is it me or did the (new) OP remind anyone of Elfen Lied’s? Not the pretty song, but the direction/designs? I wonder if Kanbe also lays out the OP; I think he did for EL, and this one definitely has that same feel to it; very elegant. I loved it!
Actually I wanted to recommend you Hanamaru Kindergarten in my preceding comment as its first episode was very adorable and fun, Gainax simply never fails to entertain. And the power of moe is really strong in this one 😉
You’re absolutely right that it feels like a Shaft show, particularly the art direction is reminiscent of Pani Poni Dash!. I think they are targeting a style closer to some of their former comedy series like Mahoromatic and He is my Master which happened to be co-productions with Shaft, so it’s not like Gainax is intentionally imitating them or something.
I plan to watch Soranowoto #2 hereafter, but I alread had a look at the opening which is obviously another Gustav Klimt homage. And yes, Kanbe directed and storyboarded the opening himself, apparently he likes Klimt’s style.
Oddly enough (and tying in to your above-mentioned duo), I decided to get and watch a series that I wasn’t expecting to, so feeling the urge for something girly-girl and cutesy after watching Hanamaru remembered that I’d promised someone to check out Ichigo Mashimaro. I always liked Azumanga Daioh, and this seemed along the same lines humor-wise, sorta.
So, while checking out the credits for IM (being a credits freak LOL) I saw that Kanbe was episode director of several eps of this show! I’ve only watched an AMV and the official 5-minute “prologue” but it does look pretty entertaining 🙂
Anyway, I’m off-topic, but I sure did a double-take upon seeing Kanbe’s name there in a randomly-picked series right after seeing him in Sora no Woto LOL