Next Year Picks

Hey, my brother left ten cents in my room.

Sorry for the slow updates, but seriously, now. There's pretty much no news to cover, except maybe Gundam Pocky. Oh, and vote the cabbage for SaiGAR. The sucky animation compels you.

I guess now that I did a preview for next season, I should say what I want to watch. So why not have a watchlist for all of next year? Everyone else is doing it.

I'm looking out for...

Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight!

Cute. So, so cute.

Winter Garden

Dejiko in love! Puchiko in a generic uniform!

Strike Witches

Maybe. If only for the "Tokyo Mew Mew with military weapons" factor.

Yes! Precure 5

I'm in magical girl withdrawal.

Saint October

Maybe. If it doesn't suck.

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS

Please be as good as your predecessors. And more megane Yuuno-kun.

Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu

No explanation needed.

Kamichama Karin

That manga is so darn cute.

This is obviously going to grow, what with the rumoured 70+ titles coming in Spring. Let's hope for a good year!

Suzumiya Haruhi wills a mass publicity stunt today

Yuki is amused at best.

Two pieces of Haruhi news which I'm sure you've heard already (darn Yoakena icon challenge, taking up my time before I can post): the viral marketing of the mysterious possible licensing, and the protesting little girl. Finally, the official site is down on purpose. If I could get my hands on that French article, I'd translate it, but sadly, my own publicity stunt has been thwarted. It appears, though, that all of this was orchestrated on the same day on purpose... according to Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu, the basis for the next season, December 18 was "the day" three years ago. These guys are having a field day with us, I'm sure.

Still, one thing's left, and that's wo wait til Friday to learn officially that Haruhi got licensed, and by who. My bets are on ADV (apparently they've done viral marketing before, they've already got Full Metal Panic, and what else would the A stand for?), but we'll have to see. I just hope it's someone good. If it is ADV, I hope they have better communication in their production team (remember Angelic Layer's "Alice"?) and they teach their voice actors to pronounce the names. (Still, don't dump on the ADV/Funimation voice actor team. Everyone's been doing that lately, and I actually like these guys. I listen to the commentaries and recording videos with pride.)

I forgot what else I was going to say. It'll come. Eventually.

Portable Moe: Cliche at the push of a button

She won Saimoe, she gets to be this entry's poster girl.

I thought I knew what ridiculous was, until this day. Bandai is capitalizing on eight well-known moe stock characters with Soundrop Moe, a set of eight keychains, one for each girl. Press the button and the imouto squeals for her oniichan, the catgirl nya-s like she just saw a fish and the childhood friend asks you if you're awake yet. Along with those three, the set also includes a maid, a tsunderekko, a clumsy girl, a rich girl, and an underclassman. The maid looks suspiciously familiar, but I can't place it... I guess that's my ridiculous quotient fulfilled for the next three days. They should make some of these for girls. Who wouldn't want to have a keychain on her purse so she could hear "That doesn't concern you", "Are you all right?" or "I've been working on something lately..." Give the last one glasses and cute hair and you've got yourself 200-some yen.

Wild, Ridiculous Nanoha Speculation

Cute...

Of course, I'm looking forward to Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS. However, all we have to learn about it are promo pictures, the A's epilogue and the manga (which has mainly just provided us with ChronoxAmy anyway... I never liked that pairing. It's like saying a girl and a guy can't be friends without dating). As such, I hopped on my dear computer Makoto and went looking around for fan speculation. I added a bit more of my own original content, too. I now present to you my convoluted findings in point form. Once information on the series is finally released, I hope to look back on this and point out what people have guessed correctly... and laugh at the rest. Fun, fun.

Jisu's Completely Fan-Based, Probably Totally Inaccurate Findings on Nanoha StrikerS

*The series opens with a duel between Signum and Fate; Fate wipes the floor with her.

*The new evil comes to destroy the world without alerting the magical higher-ups until it's too late; therefore, they involve themselves in government conspiracies and such, dealing only with the physical world. Kyouya, Miyuki and possibly Shirou investigate this with their cool sword fighting power. Halfway through the series, they team up with Nanoha and the Bureau because a combination of physical and magical fighting is necessary to defeat the enemy.

*If Shirou is not fighting alongside his kids, he has died like his Toraha alternate.

*The first sign of magic comes from a sighting of a ghostly little girl. The spirit of Alicia has come, blaming Nanoha and Fate for her mother's insanity and death. Fate is afraid to fight her original/sister, but Nanoha puts her heart into it and defeats her. It turns out that this spirit was a fake meant to keep the girls from wanting to fight. They are left wondering who would know them this well.

*The Wolkenritter's past and the Belkan culture are delved into for a whole three episodes' worth of flashback, possibly involving time travel. The Wolkenritter turn out to have been human knights who wished for immortality and something to devote their lives to, and were transformed into programs by the yaten no madousho. Shamal had a love interest in the past who returns with Nanoha and the crew to the future to fight.

*The cast is fleshed out with at least three more magical girls, two magical boys on the side of the enemy, their cute familiars, the great evil leader, and Fiasse Crystela.

*Nanoha finds a mysterious kodachi in her family home and uses it to dual-wield with Raising Heart's new Sword Mode so she can be like her older siblings. The sword turns out to be legendary. Somehow.

*There will be a badly animated swimsuit episode that looks like any other for the first 3/4 of the episode, but then incorporates some major plot point at the end.

*Chrono gets a squad car. Or space pod. Something like that. Everybody stops mooching off Suzuka for rides.

*Yuuno and/or Lindy start to notice something strange about Suzuka and Alisa. They turn out to have a weak magical aptitude, and participate in the final battle, even if it's just throwing sparks around and hoping something hits.

*Precia's mysterious unseen husband resurfaces when he learns that a clone of his daughter has been running around on Earth for the past 7 years. He proves a valuable source of exposition.

*Fate, as an investigator, is called in to solve a mystery that eventually ties into the main plot.

*Hayate is kidnapped by the enemies, leaving the Wolkenritter without a master. (This probably leads into the time travel arc.) Hayate may be possessed or duplicated while kidnapped; this turns the Wolkenritter against the Bureau, who regret that they have no choice to fight their friends.

*That white coat that Fate is wearing over her barrier jacket in the promo spread in Megami? Either it's got some sentimental value (Precia's labcoat while working on either Project Yggdra or Project Fate?), it's an upgrade to her barrier jacket, or she has to wear a lab coat on duty for some reason... Let's hope she's not been dissecting things.

*One of the magical boys on the enemy side has the power to jam the Bureau's communications and/or telepathy.

*The trio will be separated and have to fight their way out of a trap or maze alone.

*Hayate finds a Lost Logia that can destroy the world; the bad guys want it.

*Reinforce II flashes back to the destruction that the yami no shou caused.

*The main bad guy isn't the real main bad guy. He/she is being manipulated by the spirit of Precia, robbed of the way to Al Hazard and seeking revenge against Nanoha.

...Wow, that would make a great fanfiction. If someone thinks this is real, I will laugh at them, but if Seven Arcs does this, I will more than likely be awed. Keep going, everyone!

Mai is wonderful, glasses are too. What could go wrong?

Well, it's that time again. Time to preview the coming anime of the winter season. Of course, I'll still be keeping whatever's on my watch list that spills over. So, everyone, keep an eye out for these!

Amazing Nuts!

An OVA coming this month. The art is really interesting, postmodern and colourful. But what is it? I have... absolutely no idea.

Genshiken OVA

Never seen Genshiken.

CATBLUE: DYNAMITE

Catblue, a catwoman with a blue tail firing three guns at once. The entire trailer's in English, and at least the main character seems to be voiced by a native English speaker.

Winter Garden

A serious version of Di Gi Charat? Well, we've had an overly cute one and the regular kind, so why not? Puchiko looks like a generic shoujo heroine, but Dejiko just looks weird... still, I may very well pick this up.

Rozen Maiden Ouvertüre

I must finish the series on time for this dark, shiny-looking OVA featuring Suigintou.

Strike Witches

This is the winter of OVAs. Or is it always like this? Hm, what's Strike Witches about? Take Tokyo Mew Mew, add fanservice, cross with military weapons. Girls born with magic have weapons installed in their bodies to fight an alien invasion, and they transform and gain weapon parts (this one girl has missiles for legs). The art reminds me of Ichigo Mashimaro.

Saint October

Why they didn't air this in October is beyond me. It's a "neo-gothic action story" with three gothloli girls that solve paranormal mysteries. The main girl, Hayama Kotono, is a cheery girl with a dark secret. Hijiri Misaki, a pink-haired girl with Old West guns, gets my vote for best character design.

Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora

Pink! And feathers! And a megane-kun, although the "I will take over the world" kind rather than the cute and quiet kind. They have a maid, too. Bleh to maids. Story! In a post-apocalyptic world, there's a giant city where people aspire to study (we know this because it is called Academia). Shiratori Ku keeps dreaming about a prince. Then he shows up. Wait, this is based on a shounen manga?

Deltora Quest

Based on a series of Australian children's books. This is a fantasy about a group of travelers searching for 7 jewels, one for each letter of the country's name, something like that. That Lief kid looks weird...

MAJOR

I've never heard of this, but apparently it's moving into its third season. Baseball, what more do you need?

Kamisama Kazoku

I've heard of this before. Family of gods from classical mythology moves into the human world, along with the son's guardian angel and close friend. The son tries to make a classmate like him without using magic.

Les Misérables: Shoujo Cosette

Mandy, are you reading this?

SHUFFLE! MEMORIES

I still need to see the original SHUFFLE! since I heard it's good.

Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight!

Why Manabi Straight? Why not Manabi Crooked? Or Manabi Kinda Circular-Ish? Anyway, this looks like an adorable comedy to get into. It's in the future, where people have managed to slow down the birth rate... but now there's too few children. Geez, if it's not one thing it's the other.

Project BLUE Chikyuu SOS

Must be the second part of that OVA series.

Nodame Cantabile

The manga's licensed by Del Rey, anyone read it? A talented musician with a fear of traveling and a history of being overlooked meets a wild girl who shows him that music is for fun, not prestige.

Hidamari Sketch

A slice-of-life series set in an art school. Look at that art. It's really cute, but a bit overly so. Hey, that one girl has Cider's hairstyle!

Venus Versus Virus

A girl finds a brooch that gives her the power of a demon. Action, guns and a creepy blue-haired person with an eyepatch.

FLAG "Channel"

Don't quote me on that. Darn katakana. Anyway, it's a second season of FLAG.

Koisuru Tenshi Angelique ~Kagayaki no Ashita~

Yes! Someone please sub this. e-e;

Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpucho Tou

More demons. A school full of demons. What's the draw of demons? Tell me now.

Today In Class 5-2

What happens in Class 5-2? A bunch of grade fives that look like they're thirty having random adventures... wait, didn't this air last spring and no one noticed?

_summer

Those character designs look familiar. I guess this is the only ren'ai conversion series brave enough to air after this fall made people sick of them? Well, Kanon's continuing, of course, but you get my drift.

Okane ga Nai

Here you go, yaoi fangirls, I mentioned it. Now get out.

Maria-sama ga Miteru OVA II

Have any of you even seen this? Me neither.

Getsumen Toheiki Mina

Kujibiki Unbalance did horribly, what makes the Genshiken people think this one will work?

Himawari!! sequel

A sequel. To something. I have no idea.

GR -GIANT ROBO-

Well, you can tell what this is about.

Master of Epic The Animation Age

More like Master of Engrish. It'd still backronym to MOE, and it would make more sense! Based on an MMORPG. The art looks fun though.

Tengen Toppa Gurren-lagann

Hello, generic shounen series. Guess that's what's taking over this season?

Hello Kitty

For those of you that like your cuteness fix.

Juso Kiko Dancouga Nova

Mecha. I do like the uniforms.

Yes! Precure 5

Futari wa Pretty Cure is running out of titles...

Rocket Girls

Finally, we have three girls in space. And one of them likes to run around in a hula skirt and bikini. What?

Also! Dengeki Daiou has stated that they will be publishing major Suzumiya Haruhi news at year's end. I think we all know what it is...

Ugu!

All, right, everybody, tenth entry! Woohoo! Now I can submit this blog to RSS things. Of course, technically I had more than ten entries before the move, but whatever. To celebrate, I figured I'd immerse us all in the spectacle of the current season (and by that I mean fall anime, but I don't want to say fall, because it's winter). I need to get myself organized, too. So, I present...

Things To Do Before I Die New Year's Comes, And With It, Winter TV

1) Make like Hinano Ayu. Go to the Asian grocery store and pick up some taiyaki. Go to every Asian grocery store in your area if you must to find some. Then warm it up, get a paper bag and carry it across town, eating some as you go. Note: stealing the taiyaki is not encouraged.

2) Dye your doll's hair blue and dress it in red Victorian clothing.

3) Get out the caution tape from Halloween and tape it across your door when you're changing.

4) Prank call Pizza Hut asking about their support of the rebellion in Japan.

5) Get that plastic sword from when you were a knight in the play in grade four, hide in a random classroom until everyone has left the school, and roam the halls hunting demons.

6) Take your brother's million-candle watt flashlight, aim it at the moon, and spell out "Take your princess back, please" in Morse code.

7) When you beat everyone else in an exam, whisper "Niisan" and walk off. Offer no explanation.

8) Burn an ugly flag with a lion and a snake on it in front of the nearest legislative building.

9) If you are in band, play your instrument in the school hallway. If you are not, I would say to borrow someone else's, but I was in band and can tell you that that is just unsanitary. Even with clarinet cleaner, my clarinet left a weird stain on my dresser that is there to this day. So you get off free on this one.

10) Wear a pink toque and squeal "Onegai Monster Ball!" at small animals.

11) Sneak up to someone in a cardboard box, throw it off and declare your everlasting grudge against this person. Double points if it's some kid from your old elementary school that you haven't seen in years or something along those lines, since you probably can't conform to the actual, spoilerish (even though it's been revealed now) situation.

12) Force your friends to do the Galaxy Angelrune line dance in public.

13) With the caution tape.

14) Play "guess the crossdresser" with random people on the street. Point out random girls and say they are guys when they are clearly not, and vice versa.

15) Dress your significant other's younger sibling as a younger version of you, and turn yourself into an older version of them. Gauge his/her reaction.

16) Cower in fear of small, cute baby chickens. Alternately, feed them and see if they will beat people up for you.

17) Pack your schedule full of intense physical training. When questioned, reply that you want to pilot your mecha in sub-light speed.

18) Record your alarm clock singing "Asa~ Asa da yo~ Asagohan takete gakkou iku yo~".

19) When your friend falls asleep in class, try and make them jump up and give a welcome speech from a restaurant. If they do not do this, fake it yourself.

20) Wear animal ears around school and try to get everyone else to do so.

21) Bother me because I haven't seen enough fall anime to do a more comprehensive list.

Got any suggestions? Send them here~

Because it is cute. And everyone else filters through image boards for their entry pictures...

Remember ayyo's bishoujo match? Binchou-tan tied for fourth. Come on, you guys, I know I can garner votes in you this time! ...that is, once I decide who to vote for myself... I'm torn between Nagato Yuki and the two Haruhis. I really need to watch more anime.