Fall 2011 Anime Anticipation List

Unfortunately, the combination of having to work overtime and uptick in my Magic and video game habits has meant less time dedicated to anime and being able to write up posts for this blog. In spite of that, I’d still like to get out my anime ranking lists for the sake of posterity. A compromise was met at the cost of content detail, but at least I’m getting this out the door before another Fall episode airs.

Must Watch

1. Shinryaku!? Ika Musume - Diomedea - Well, the first episode already aired and there’s nothing to demonstrate this show won’t be as awesome as it was last time.
2. Working’!! - A-1 Pictures - PV - I understand many can’t stand Inami, but she doesn’t bother me much—and sometimes I can even find her endearing. If they can just pick up where they left off last season I see little reason this won’t be in my top 5 of the season. Also, delicious Hirohashi Ryou/Yamada.
3. Last Exile: Fam, the Silver Wing - Gonzo - PV - That’s right, a Gonzo show is in my top 5 anticipated. I had the pleasure of previewing the first episode at this year’s AX and I it was excellent. Also, lolis make everything better.
4. Shakugan no Shana III (Final) - J.C. Staff - PV2 - Speaking of lolis, this last iteration of J.C. Staff’s horrendous light novel adaptation is finally upon us. Despite J.C. Staff’s shortcomings, I’ve actually greatly enjoyed (yeah you heard me) the first two seasons and am glad the finale is approaching. I like the (Final) in the title—it’s like it was put in by the producers just to make sure the fans know there isn’t another season of horrible adaptation waiting around the corner.
5. Persona 4 The Animation - AIC A.S.T.A. - Why can’t I hold all these PVs - As a huge fan of the game I’ve done my best to temper my expectations. As far as the actual execution is concerned, anything above average and I’ll be ecstatic. The real draw of the show is, of course, the girls. Hopefully they all get equal attention, but I won’t mind if things are skewed to personal favorites Chie and Rise (and yes Makoto and Miki are my favorites in iM@S, go figure right? mmmmm, Chie and Rise cucumber doujin please Japan…).
6. Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai - AIC Build - One of the more popular light novels currently in Japan, BokuTomo has a lot of potential that comes with high expectations. I don’t think it will meet those expectations, but just being able to see my delicious Meat animated has me very excited. If we get something on the level of Sora no Otoshimono I’ll be very happy.
7. Fate/Zero - ufotable - PV4 - It’s Fate and ufotable with some big name credits to go with all the hype. I’m not a huge fan of Type-Moon, but I’m at least curious to see what they will do with another TV series (can’t be worse than the last one—or two if you believe in things that don’t exist).
8. Un-Go - BONES - PV - Hmm… Mizushima Seiji and Kouga Yun team up again… Not that it was bad, but hopefully they get a better result than Gundam 00 this time. Well, it’s also BONES so it will probably have an even worse ending. I’ll admit right now I’m guilty of lack of research so I’m just going with what I know: noitaminA usually means good. If it pulls off the whole detective thing well this will definitely be one of my top Fall shows.
9. Guilty Crown - Production I.G - PV2 - Again with the noitaminA. Well I decided to actually watch some PVs before finalizing this post and I’m glad I did as Guilty Crown looks pretty exciting. I’ve gotta say though, I’m suffering from Kaji Yuuki overexposure, but hopefully he plays a more manly character than last season’s (HanaIro’s Kou, No. 6’s Sion, Ro-Kyu-Bu!’s Subaru).
10. Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon - Sunrise - PV - Fukuyama Jun and Chirara Minori can’t be a bad thing. Looks like there will be a lot of action scenes, but I’m unsure of the characters (and the designs) themselves. At least the synopsis sounds interesting as post-apocalyptic scenarios always intrigue me. I don’t know if I can stand watching the main character’s (assumption) shit eating grin too much though.
11. Mirai Nikki - asread - I’m still annoyed Tokyopop went under before Right Stuf could do another studio sale for them; I’m way behind on volumes and may wind up never purchasing them. Like how I will watch BokuTomo, regardless of quality, for Meat, I will watch Mirai Nikki for Yuno.

Strong Consideration

12. Bakuman. 2 - J.C. Staff - PV - A safe pick. Similar to the original BakaTest, it isn’t super amazing, but the original seasons aired with relatively weak competition which left favorable impressions. Now that it’s airing in what looks like a strong season, it might be shoved into obscurity. I really wish more volumes of the manga had been released in the US (since the manga is “better”), but I won’t mind if the anime passes it up again.
13. Shin Tennis no Ōji-sama - MSC - I must really be out of it, I had no idea this was airing. Is it a full TV series? Too lazy to find out myself, but I love Prince of Tennis and I’ll definitely watch it if this is true.
14. C³ -Cube×Cursed×Curious- - SILVER LINK - PV2 - Well this has some pretty big name voice actors and as usual Tamura Yukari is adorable. Even after watching the PV I can’t really tell what it’s about, but I can live with fan service in BakaTest style.
15. Hunter × Hunter - Nippon Animation - PV - Now this is a mixed bag of feelings. I can’t really say I’m looking forward to rewatching all the old arcs, but I also thought that about Fullmetal Alchemist. Should be fine, but it looks to be high on the drop list if many other shows pan out.
16. Tamayura - Hitotose - TYO Animations - PV - I got around to watching the OVAs which I enjoyed outside of that damn chick that whistles all the time. Jesus that shit is annoying. Sato Junichi: please allow me to reconfirm my faith in you.
17. Chihayafuru - Madhouse Studios - PV - I’ve pretty much liked every Jousei manga adaptation I’ve seen so I’ll definitely be giving this a shot. Can’t say the synopsis sounds too thrilling, but the potential for DEEP character interactions places this higher on my list.
18. Phi Brain: Kami no Puzzle - Sunrise - PV - Can’t say I’m too keen on the character designs or the concept for that matter. Is Sato Junichi really the director? …I guess I’ll begrudgingly give this show a shot.

Shit, That I’ll Probably End Up Watching…

19. Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai!! - Lerche - PV - I’m a sucker for eroge adaptations. The PV looks something terrible, but unless it really just is shit I’m probably watching the entire thing.
20. Mashiro-Iro Symphony - The color of lovers - Manglobe - PV - Yep. See: Majikoi.

The Rest

21. Ben-To - David Production - PV - Uhh…seems like anything can get an anime if you have cute girls. Train wreck syndrome is prevailing here.
22. Mobile Suit Gundam AGE - Sunrise - Oh Sunrise… WTF are you doing to my beloved Gundam. Just when Unicorn managed to overcome the ill will invested in Seed Destiny, you go and pull this shit. Well, it’s Gundam, right? I’ll have to give this a shot at least, but I’m not looking forward to it at all.
23. Kimi to Boku. - J.C. Staff - PV - I have no clue what this is about, but looks like fujoshi bait. Also, J.C. Staff is a huge warning sign; I’m not sure if I can fit more than one horrible J.C. Staff adaptation into my weekly schedule.
24. Maken-Ki! - AIC - PV - Sounded like a worse version of BakaTest, then I saw the PV and it looks like shit and the main character looks like a douche bag.