Sure are a lot of shows that seem like the big studios are just phoning it in this Winter.
I’ll be honest with you guys, I don’t think I’m going to be watching much this season. Yeah the constant disappointment I’ve received from this medium throughout the year is a bit of a factor, but the main reason I’m doing so is because I honestly don’t know what I’m going to say about the majority of this line-up. Good shows keep me a fan obviously, and bad shows are fun to take the piss out of. But goddamn I hate talking about mediocre anime that take no risks and leave absolutely no impact in the process, which is what the majority of this Winter looks like it’s shaping up to be. Yeah, there’s usually at least one or two risk-takers per season (although whether they pay off is a different story altogether) with Winter being no exception, but my point is that everything else is generally not even worth giving attention, which means I’m probably going to have to review a bunch of non-anime products to keep the blog alive once Spring hits. Or when Winter hits in general given how plentiful this current season ended up being.
Doesn’t exactly help that I’m overloaded with video games and other writing projects that I’ve stalled for too long at the moment. Finally bit the bullet and bought a Nintendo 3DS right when all the big releases of 2016 started coming out one after another and I still have a ton of shows on Netflix as well as unwatched DVDs/Blu-rays I need to burn through, meaning my backlog in regards to my other preferred methods of entertainment isn’t getting any smaller. After taking the piss on shit show after shit show for such a long time that I neglected these other more viable means of curing my constant depression, I think I deserve a bit of a break, no? Emphasis on “bit”, because unless it belongs to a genre that I just flat-out don’t care for, I’m still going to watch all of the big anime regardless of their actual quality like Chaos;Child and whatnot.
Anyways, here’s the preview where I showcase all of the main series using the PV (unless I can’t find one), synopsis, pre-opinions, and a new inclusion of the production studio, because why not? No movies because the subs for them are tricky.
****
Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu 2 (Deen)
Summary: Second season of Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu.
Although bloggers and the part of the MAL community that has a brain seem to really love this show, I watched like three episodes of the first season and nothing about it appealed to me. Not the animation. Not the characters. And definitely not the rakugo. It’s pretty much one of those elitist anime I don’t get into because I don’t care about the central premise (i.e. Moribito, Rose of Versailles, Dennou Coil), so I’m going to have to give a pass on watching Yotaro’s side of things. Hopefully he won’t be dragging the show down for you fans with his presence, and hopefully Rakugo won’t be suffering from sequelitis with its return.
Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! 2 (Deen)
Summary: None, because if you don’t know what Konosuba is by now…
The first season was not funny. I didn’t laugh once at anything that happened in this show. Give me a show that takes it stupidity completely seriously like Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress or one that uses its self-awareness ironically like Danganronpa, and then I’ll start smiling. That middle-ground of being stupid and acknowledging that you’re being stupid isn’t funny when American comedies do it, it’s not funny when Japanese comedies do it, and will never be funny in the history of anything.
Yowamushi Pedal: NEW GENERATION
Summary: The third season of Yowamushi Pedal.
How long is this series going to be anyways?
Rewrite Moon-hen/Terra-hen (8-bit)
Summary: Second season of Rewrite, covering the Moon and Terra routes.
I didn’t pay attention to the cries about how much the Rewrite adaptation sucked because I could see that for myself without the fanbase giving me more grief. Even if this new one is an improvement, that still begs the question why the show didn’t just start with this arc to begin with considering the Moon/Terra routes are considered to be where the “true” story of Rewrite begins. What is wrong with visual novel anime and keeping the meat and potatoes so far into the runtime of these things anyways?
Super Lovers 2 (Deen)
Summary: Second season of SUPER LOVERS.
Is anyone watching this black sheep of Deen’s output? Didn’t think so.
Ao no Exorcist: Kyoto Fujouou-hen (A-1 Pictures)
Summary: In the late Edo Period, a demon known as the Impure King killed thousands of people. After defeating the demon, the Knights of the True Cross kept its left eye safely sealed away on Academy grounds – but now someone has stolen it! Hearing the thief has taken a child hostage, Yukio and Rin go to help. The investigation and pursuit will lead Rin and his friends to Kyoto and involve them even deeper in a sinister plot! But will his friends’ knowledge that Rin is the son of Satan drive a wedge between them?
Never watched this show. Don’t care to either.
Reikenzan: Eichi e no Shikaku (Deen)
Summary: The second season of Reikenzan: Hoshikuzu-tachi no Utage
Christ, how many sequels is Deen making this season? Hope you Rakugo fans don’t go through noticeable Orange-level budget cuts when it returns (and yes, I know Deen had like three shows airing last Winter as well).
ACCA Jusan-Ku Kansatsu-Ka (Madhouse)
Summary: The manga is set in a world separated into 13 wards, with each ward having an observation division controlled by the organization known as “ACCA.” The story centers on Jean, known as the craftiest member of ACCA.
Manga adaptations are pretty hit-and-miss, but one thing I’ve learned throughout my years of watching anime is that the premise generally means shit. And Madhouse’s name hasn’t meant anything for a long time now (no, I do not enjoy Parasyte or Death Parade), so that’s not a point in ACCA’s favor either. A friend of mine told me who the people are behind this one and it’s a pretty solid staff all things considering, but I’d rather let the anime speak for itself when it airs. Past experiences coloring my perception has never helped me in the past, and them warning me to stay away has generally not worked out either, so I’m just going to treat ACCA the same way I treat any anime I bother to take a look at.
ēlDLIVE (Studio Pierrot)
Summary: Chuuta Kokonose is an orphan who lives with his aunt. For as long as he can remember he’s had a voice in his head, but other than that he’s a normal boy – right until the day when a strangely-looking thing follows him home and teleports him to a place filled with more fantastic creatures. It’s a space police station, and Rein Brickke, the Chief of Solar System Department, tells him that he’s been chosen by the computer as a possible candidate to join the police force, although Misuzu Sonokata, a girl from Chuuta’s school with an angelic face and ill temper who turns out to be one of Rein Brickke’s subordinates, doesn’t think him suitable for such a job. Chuuta, who was shocked at first, decides to take aptitude test after being urged by the voice in his head and to prove Misuzu wrong.
This looked like one of anime’s attempts to recapture the spirit of the old-school whilst putting a new spin on it, so I went on Wikipedia to look up when this manga was made and discovered it’s actually a Shonen Jump product from the creator of Reborn. You know, that manga about the baby hitman and the biggest loser on the planet who ends up gaining the power to shoot fire from his hands? Anyways, the fact that it’s Shonen Jump turns me off given how I don’t like their method of storytelling, and Pierrot is kind of hit-and-miss regarding how to do their adaptations. Still watching it mind you. Might be entertaining for at least a few episodes.
Hand Shakers (GoHands)
Summary: They, the receivers of the Revelation of Babel. They, the challengers to God.
They, who inevitably throw themselves into battle with their partners. What does God want from them?
And did they want powers exceeding that of Gods? The chosen ones, their souls linked,
join hands and head for the Ziggurat where the fighting shall ensue.
I don’t really put too much stock into which studio makes an anime these days since I think it’s poisonous to an anime fan’s mindset along with the large number of surprise hits I’ve experienced in the last two years, but GoHands is an exception given their impressive reputation of sinking the coolest-soundest premises into mind-numbingly stupid horrendousness. And my god, the premise and character designs are as chuuni as they come. My problem with these sorts of anime is that they try too hard to be cool, causing most of their products to be devoid of substance, like a poor man’s Tetsuro Araki. I’m not against being chuuni as an entry point into a work, but you have to have more than that, and all GoHands seems to add is the visual form of potassium cyanide.
Scum’s Wish (Lerche)
Summary: Hanabi and Mugi are bathed in envious gazers from all around as a beautiful couple with excellent moral conduct. But these two apparently perfect people in an apparently perfect relationship share a secret they can’t tell anyone.
The new noitamina show this season has a bit of an interesting premise, although I haven’t heard too many great things about the manga. Also, I haven’t checked to see if it’s Seiji Kishi doing the directing for this, but it’s not like I really care. Whether it’s good or bad, I’ll still be watching this one given how I find “unusual” romances to be pretty interesting to talk about, even if they don’t pan out into anything I can have fun with. Unless they’re love triangles of course. Which Scum’s Wish is kind of like given how the main couple actually like their teachers, but let’s not overcomplicate these pre-opinions anymore than they already are, shall we?
AKIBA’S TRIP: THE ANIMATION (Gonzo)
Summary: Akihabara, a broad-minded neighborhood where everyone from beginners to masters are welcomed. Even when you’re alone, if you go to Akiba, you’ll find someone who understands you. It’s a neighborhood where anything is possible, where anyone can do seemingly anything; a place where you can lay bare your body and soul. In this neighborhood of Akiba, which has everything including anime, games, maids, idols, secondhand parts, and cheap food, battles are fought against the “Bagurimono,” and a steadfast “boy meets girl” story begins!
Never played these games, but I don’t think that really matters since there’s no way this anime is going to be as fun as them. Especially with Gonzo behind it.
Kemono Friends
Summary: The anime’s story takes place in Japari Park, a “gigantic integrated zoo.” In the zoo, due to the mysterious “sand star” substance, the animals start turning into human-shaped creatures called Animal Girls. Japari Park is a place where many people visit and have fun at, but one day a lost child wanders into the park. The lost child starts a journey to return, but because so many Animal Girls join in on the quest it becomes an unexpected grand adventure.
Not watching an adaptation of a video game I’ve never played.
Schoolgirl Strikers Animation Channel (J.C. Staff)
Summary: An adaptation of Square Enix’s smartphone “light novel-style RPG” app Schoolgirl Strikers.
The game is set in Goryōkan Academy, a new private senior/junior high school for girls with a vast downtown campus. This highly popular school has “another face” — a secret hidden side. It organizes and trains the special unit Fifth Force to protect the world from invisble supernatural entities known as “Oburi” that are devouring the world. A team of five trained with powers against the Oburi is to be chosen from the student body to perform missions. A new team leader has been appointed to assenble the five students.
See Kemono Friends.
Idol Incidents (MAPPA)
Summary: Part of MAGES’ multimedia “Idol Jihen” project.
How many idol shows can the industry possibly make, anyways? It’s like Hollywood and superheroes all over again. And before people think Mappa is a good reason to watch this, I want to remind you guys that you’re on the wrong blog when it comes to judging anime based on who made it, or any sort of brand-name recognition in general. I only care about that when the premise interests me, and I do not care about idol anime. Also, I did take a look at who’s making this show and it’s nobody I know, so pass.
Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid (Kyoto Animation)
Summary: Miss Kobayashi is your average office worker who lives a boring life, alone in her small apartment–until she saves the life of a female dragon in distress. The dragon, named Tohru, has the ability to magically transform into an adorable human girl (albeit with horns and a long tail!), who will do anything to pay off her debt of gratitude, whether Miss Kobayashi likes it or not. With a very persistent and amorous dragon as a roommate, nothing comes easy, and Miss Kobayashi’s normal life is about to go off the deep end!
Speaking of not caring about studio name recognition, I’m not watching KyoAni’s last-minute yuri dragon show and there’s nothing you can do to convince me otherwise. I was fooled before into watching some of last season’s cute girl shows (Keijo and Flip Flappers) and I’m not getting fooled again.
Little Witch Academia (Trigger)
Summary: TV series of Little Witch Academia.
See what I said about Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid.
BanG Dream! (Xebec)
Summary: A next generation Girls Band Project which links characters with real live performances! BanG Dream! is a media mix project featuring animation music videos, comics, song releases, and many more. What’s more, the voice cast for the characters of BanG Dream! will also hold real live performances as the Girls Band, “Poppin’Party”.
See what I said about Little Witch…oh wait, nobody thinks Xebec is good anyways.
Minami Kamakura Koukou Joshi Jitensha-bu (JC Staff)
Summary: The story begins with Hiromi Maiharu, a girl who moved from Nagasaki to Kamakura. She begins her new life in Kamakura and her first day in high school by bicycling to her school, but she has not ridden a bicycle since she was young. On the way to the ceremony for the first day, she meets Tomoe Akitsuki, and Tomoe helps her train to be better at bicycling.
See what I said about the last four anime.
Marginal#4 KISS Kara Tsukuru Big Bang (JC Staff)
Summary: The anime follows the Marginal#4 idol unit, who made their debut at Pythagoras Production on February 13. The members give their all for their fans in their idol activities, but they are also normal high school students. The anime will follow both their everyday lives as high school students and their lives as idols.
I don’t like shows centered on female idols. Why on earth would I be interested in one about male idols?
GRANBLUE FANTASY The Animation (A-1 Pictures)
Summary: Video game developer Cygames announced during the Tokyo Game Show event on Thursday that its Granblue Fantasy smartphone game will receive an anime adaptation.
Go fuck yourself, A-1 Pictures.
Demi-chan wa Kataritai (A-1 Pictures)
Summary: Succubus, Dullahan and Vampire. They are known as Ajin, or “demi”s and are slightly different than the average human. They have lived alongside humans for ages under persecution. However, in recent years, they have become accepted as members of society. This manga follows a high school biology teacher who has a great interest in demis and his interaction with the various demis in his school, each with their own cute problems.
Go fuck yourself, A-1 Pictures.
Masamune-kun no Revenge (Silver Link)
Summary: As an overweight child, Makabe Masamune was mercilessly teased and bullied by one particular girl, Adagaki Aki. Determined to one day exact his revenge upon her, Makabe begins a rigorous regimen of self-improvement and personal transformation. Years later, Masamune re-emerges as a new man. Handsome, popular, with perfect grades and good at sports, Masamune-kun transfers to Aki’s school, and is unrecognizable to her. Now, Masamune-kun is ready to confront the girl who bullied him so many years ago and humiliate her at last. But will revenge be as sweet as he thought?
A former fat kid falls in love with female tormentor. Yeah, I can totally see the originality oozing out of this show’s skull. Of course, normally you’d see that sort of plot in a shoujo manga, but The Revenge of Moron-kun looks like it belongs to the ecchi harem genre. And of course, who else but Silver Link would adapt such a shitty premise belonging to a shitty genre? Okay, there’s Production IMS, but I’m trying to make a point here.
Fuuka (Diomedea)
Summary: The story centers on a young man named Yuu Haruna who has just switched schools. He’s a bit shy, and he’s constantly glued to his smartphone so he can check Twitter. He meets a girl named Fuuka Akitsuki, who doesn’t even have a cell phone, is free-spirited, and naturally fascinates others. Yuu recently has been getting back in touch via Twitter with his childhood friend Koyuki Hinashi, who is now a popular singer. One day Yuu invites Fuuka to one of Koyuki’s concerts, and there the three meet for the first time. The story follows the love triangle between a love that started through electronics, and a love that didn’t start through electronics.
For those who don’t know, Fuuka is Seo Kouji’s current long-running manga and sorta-sequel to Suzuka given it’s the daughter of the main couple from that series who kicks things off. It’s about this band geek who can only communicate through Twitter, but through a series of coincidences, he ends up becoming the lead singer of a band and also happens to get a harem of beautiful girls after him, instantly making him more unrelatable than Shia LeBouf in those Transformers movies. And because Kouji’s stories are more dramatic than the usual harem guy’s, you enter love triangle territory with his stuff, which just makes the harem-ish antics all the more painful. So yes, Fuuka is basically a mash-up of Ichigo 100%, Beck Mongolian Chop Squad, and The Loud House with a bucket of poo dropped on it given how it’s Diomedea producing the show. As such, I don’t see why anyone would be looking forward to it.
Urara Meirochou (JC Staff)
Summary: The story is set in Meiro-chou, a town where all-female diviners (uranaishi) live and where girls from all over the country yearn to become the top diviner — “Urara.” Today, a solitary girl named Chiya enters the town’s gates. However, she has another purpose coming here, besides becoming the Urara. Chiya’s days as an apprentice diviner begin as she meets three friends — the earnest Kon, Koume who is a fan of Western culture, and the shy Nono.
No kawaii on this blog, please. Not anymore than it already has at any rate.
Piace: Watashi no Italian (Zero-G)
Summary: High schooler Morina Nanase starts work at Trattoria Festa, an Italian restaurant filled with various and sundry quirky characters…and where through its unique cuisine, she will begin to mature as a person.
Not my speed.
Gabriel Dropout (Dogakobo)
Summary: The comedy follows Gabriel White, who graduated at the top of the class at angel school and attends a human school on earth in pursuit of knowledge, but then gets engrossed in a web game and decides its too much trouble to go anywhere.
Wake me up when Dogakobo decides to try its hand at drama again.
Chaos;Child (Silver Link)
Summary: In the original visual novel, after a magnitude-7.8 earthquake hits Tokyo’s Shibuya ward on November 6, 2009, a black fire spreads and causes mass panic on the day of the earthquake. The sudden disaster that becomes known as the “Shibuya Earthquake” kills 3,851 people and injures 30,927 more.
The game is set in a reconstructed Shibuya district in October 2015. A string of mysterious deaths occurs in Shibuya amidst the reconstruction. People begin to take notice as the strange events start on the same day that chaos broke out in Shibuya with a certain incident five years earlier. The events are called the “Return of the New Generation Madness.”
It really astonishes me how people could possibly be looking forward to this latest semicolon disaster since it’s not even a spinoff of the one good Science Adventure anime that people remember. It’s a spinoff of Chaos;Head, the absolute worst entry in the series to the point that I know people who score it a “1” on their MAL profile. It’s being made by Silver Link, and last I checked, nobody likes Silver Link. Out of curiosity, I took a look at who they assigned for this latest disaster and it’s one of Silver Link’s regulars whose stuff I’ve never actually seen because fuck you. It’s not going to matter anyways, because visual novels don’t translate well to anime and they never will until the industry learns that there’s a difference between stuff you play with a controller and stuff that you fast-forward with the same goddamn controller. And I doubt Chaos;Child is going to be an exception to that rule, especially given how the plot looks the same as all these other SciAdv entries. A bunch of teenagers/young adults where all the males are nerds and all the females are pandering stereotypes get involved in an over-complicated mystery plot with a sci-fi theme that takes “building suspense” waaaaaay too far to the point of annoyance, only to turn into an absolute mess when things do get revealed. That sound about right to all you guys who played the original game?
Seiren (Studio Gokumi)
Summary: An original TV animation. Yeah that’s the only summary I’m given for this thing. Hope you “originals are always better” fanboys are sold.
When I saw the promo images for this one, I noticed that the girls looked exactly like the ones from Amagami and whatever that Chocolate thing that came out a few years ago was. Out of curiosity, I took a look at the staff to see if Gokumi roped in the writer for the original visual novels to try his hand at the whole “transfer VN writing to anime” thing and…it’s actually the character designer for Amagami who’s scripting this thing. Really? You couldn’t even get someone with some writing experience on this sure-to-be borefest?
Youjo Senki
Summary: The novel series centers on a young girl who fights on the frontlines in war. She has blonde hair, blue eyes, and nearly transparent white skin, and she flies through the air and mercilessly strikes down her opponents. Her name is Tanya Degurechaff, and she speaks with a young girl’s lisp and commands the army. Tanya used to be one of Japan’s elite office workers, but because of a wrathful god, was reborn as a little girl. Tanya prioritizes optimization and career advancement above all, and she will become the most dangerous entity among the Imperial Army’s sorcerers.
Was this premise made by a bunch of Madlibs enthusiasts or something? One of the elite office workers in some unspecified war is some impossibly beautiful woman, reincarnated as a little girl because of a wrathful god? Which of course tells us fuck all about the actual story or what the anime is going to do with the little girl angle besides using it as a shitty aesthetic. I don’t even know why I bother watching these sorts of shows given that I don’t like war stories or light novel adaptations. Maybe it’s because when you put the two together, you get something that’s just stupid enough to have fun writing about.
Onihei (Studio M2)
Summary: The historical novel series depicts Heizō Hasegawa, who metes justice on wrongdoers and supervises the crackdown on arsonists and robbers in Japan’s Edo period (1603-1868).
Studio I don’t know making an anime about an unusual premise. No opinion on the circumstances, and I have doubts this anime will even air in Winter anyways.
****
…Great-looking start to 2017, doesn’t it?
Minor Quips
Still never playing any of the new Fire Emblem games.
So who’s watching that new TV adaptation of A Series of Unfortunate Events?
And of course another fucking season of Gintama gets announced the night that I schedule this fucking preview.
I’ll find some time to write about Steins;Gate 0 after I find time to actually play it.