The iDOLM@STER
Number of Episodes: TBA
Production Company: A-1 Pictures
ANN Encyclopedia Wikipedia Crunchyroll
Brief Overview: Based on the XBOX simulation game of the same name, here 13 prospective idols join the talent agency 765 and work their way up the ladder to become top-tier pop idols within the ultra-competitive Japanese industry.
I was alerted to a Tumblr page today that very vividly illustrates the problem that I have with a lot of anime (or really, any artistic medium). There are plenty of examples here of questionable female anatomy, and the entries are both funny and sort of depressingly scary at the same time. So, enjoy:
Doing a bit of catching-up. Here's part 2 of this season's follow-up episodes.
Ro-Kyu-Bu!
Subaru is confronted by the boys basketball squad, who want him to stop coaching the girls. If the girls lose their upcoming match to the boys, the boys get the gymnasium all to themselves and the girls' club will be dissolved. Despite being moved by their plight, it's not enough for Subaru to stay beyond his 3 day commitment. However, a free-throw competition reignites something in Subaru's mind, and he invites Tomoka over to his place to practice with his basketball hoop. Subaru hears Tomoka's story, and how she plans to quit if her club can't come out victorious. Subaru pledges to help them win.
This show really tried to ignite my passions by turning this into a story about a battle of the sexes and suggesting that the school principal is a sexist jerk, but it again creeped me out with its strong lolicon overtones. The maid outfits return by the end of the second episode, and the relationship between Subaru and Tomoka gets a bit too close for my own comfort (it could still be argued that it's a brother-sister-type deal, but the tone of the show has me on edge). Either way, this isn't the sports anime for me.
Will I continue watching? No, it's just a bit too creepy for me.
Hooray, it's time to follow-up on some of the series I've had the pleasure (or horror) of checking out already this season.
Ikoku Meiro no Croisee
The cultural exchange continues as Yune is exposed to the types of food normally eaten in France for breakfast. She tries her best to enjoy coffee and cheese, though they're both unfamiliar to her. She accompanies Claude while he shops for food, learns all about the local vegetables and meats, and enjoys the flavor of freshly-baked bread. Claude still intends to buy back Yune's kimono, even though it was purchased by an incredibly wealthy family who also owns the new department store in town. Even though she doesn't like cheese yet, she wants to learn to enjoy its flavor so that when she cooks for Oscar and Claude, she'll know how to make them something that they'll like.
This show continues to be overwhelmingly cute and pleasant. It lacks forward direction, but in this case the daily lives of the characters is the main point, not a distraction. It's enjoyable to see Yune learn about things that are familiar to us as Westerners, as well as for Oscar and Claude to gain a little more insight into the Japanese culture Yune has brought with her to their country. There's the introduction of a little plot element which may turn out to be more important going forward - the department store and how its presence may affect the specialty shops in the gallery. It's like the 19th century French equivalent of Wal-Mart swooping in and destroying the livelihood of local shopkeepers. I'm curious to see how large of a part that will play.
Will I continue watching? I think so. This show is just very relaxing and pleasant, has a nice historical flavor, and remains enjoyable. I recommend it to anime fans who are into stuff that's cute without being overt loli-bait.
Dantalian no Shoka (The Mystic Archives of Dantalian)
Number of Episodes: 13
Production Company: Gainax
ANN Encyclopedia Wikipedia Crunchyroll
Brief Overview: After his grandfather's death, Hugh Anthony Disward inherits the man's old mansion and, along with it, a personal library. In the basement lives Dalian, a young girl who serves as a gateway to "Dantalian's Bookshelf," a storage area for prohibited demonic books.
This week, The Anime Network announced some simulcasts from this season, including Ikoku Meiro no Croisee, Ro-Kyu-Bu, and Kami-sama no Memo-chou. The reviews I've completed have been updated to reflect this.
Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu Ni
Number of Episodes: 13
Production Company: Silver Link
ANN Encyclopedia Wikipedia Promo Video Funimation Video
This is supposedly licensed by Funimation, though I find no indication that they're simulcasting it. I'll update this in case that changes.
*Updated
Brief Overview: These are the continuing adventures of a class full of misfits who attend a school where students battle each other for classroom dominance using summoned creatures, testing and strategy.
Manyuu Hikenchou
Number of Episodes: 12
Production Company: Hoods Entertainment
ANN Encyclopedia Wikipedia Trailer
Brief Overview: In the Edo period, breast size is key. If you've got big ones, wealth, power and popularity are yours but if you lack in the chest department, you might be considered less than human. A secret scroll in possession of the Manyuu clan is said to teach one how to grow large breasts, but then the scroll is stolen.
Kamisama Dolls
Number of Episodes: 13
Production Company: Brains Base
ANN Encyclopedia Wikipedia Crunchyroll
Brief Overview: After moving to Tokyo, Kyouhei goes on a group date with some friends. That night, he and his old neighbor discover a dead body in an elevator, and his sister claims to know who the culprit is.
Ro-kyu-bu
Number of Episodes: TBA
Production Company: Magic Capsule, Studio Blanc, Project No. 9
This anime is licensed for Region 1 distribution by Sentai Filmworks
ANN Encyclopedia Wikipedia Promo Video The Anime Network
This series was recently licensed for simulcast by The Anime Network. The links are updated to reflect this.
Brief Overview: Subaru Hasegawa, a high school student, finds himself in charge of an elementary school girls basketball team, after their former coach was let go on suspicions of being a lolicon.
R-15
Number of Episodes: TBA
Production Company: AIC
ANN Encyclopedia Wikipedia Crunchyroll
Brief Overview: At special school full of geniuses in various fields, Taketo Akutagawa has a very unique talent: though only in high school, he's an expert at writing pornographic novels.
Natsume Yuujinchou San
Number of Episodes: TBA
Production Company: Brains Base
ANN Encyclopedia Wikipedia Crunchyroll
Brief Overview: Natsume Takashi has the ability to see and interact with spirits, like his grandmother Reiko before him. She collected the names of defeated spirits in the "book of friends," and Takashi aims to return the names to their rightful owners under the watchful eye of Nyanko-Sensei.
[C] Control - The Money and Soul of Possibility
Number of Episodes: 11
Production Company: Tatsunoko Production
C-Control is licensed for Region 1 DVD distribution by Funimation Entertainment.
This review is relatively spoiler-free past the first couple of episodes.
Thoughts: While I don't necessarily believe that a director who has one hit will necessarily be able to come up with another (*cough*Yamakan*cough*), there are a few directors whose work has always gotten me excited. Masaaki Yuasa is one; after watching Kaiba, I sought out his earlier work and was never disappointed (occasionally a bit confused, though!). Recently, Kenji Nakamura has proven himself to be a director with whom I've had a lot of good luck. Bakeneko and Mononoke, as a unit, have a place in my top 5 anime; I fell in love with them as a compelling compilation of stories that are thematically tied to women and the lies and injustices which have affected them through history. Trapeze is one of the few anime I've seen which features mental illness as a theme and manages to be humorous while still stressing that, while the characters' situations aren't curable, they're able to cope with and even occasionally benefit from their conditions. When I heard that this series would feature the world of finance in a creative way, I was excited to see what Nakamura would bring to the table in addition to his obvious flair for visual creativity and his ability to utilize symbolic imagery. I'm glad to report that I wasn't disappointed.
Twin Angel: Twinkle Paradise
Number of Episodes: TBA
Production Company: J.C. Staff
ANN Encyclopedia MAL Crunchyroll
Brief Overview: Haruka and Aoi are 2 students by day and the best of friends, though they harbor a little secret: together they can become the Twin Angel duo, magical girls who help to keep their town safe from evil.
Mayo Chiki
Number of Episodes: 12
Production Company: Feel
ANN Encyclopedia Wikipedia Trailer
Brief Overview: Subaru Konoe is the butler of one of his classmates, Kanade Suzutsuki. While Subaru passes as male during the day, a classmate named Kinjiro Sakamachi discovers that Subaru is secretly a girl in drag.
Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai (We Still Don't Know the Name of the Flower we Saw That Day)
Number of Episodes: 11
Production Company: A-1 Pictures
As of this point, no company has stepped-up to stream or license this series for the Region 1 market. I expect that to change eventually, due to its overall quality as well as its pedigree. I'll try to remember to update this once it happens.
This review is mostly free of plot spoilers past episode 1.
Thoughts: As I mentioned in its first episode review, I had many hurdles to overcome before I was able to enjoy watching the series. I wasn't a big fan of Toradora!, and one of the aspects of this series that seemed to have many people excited was the fact that it brought back together some of the staff that helped create the animated version of the popular teenage romance story. While it may sound petty from an outside standpoint for me to have worried so much that this series would carry over some of the more undesirable traits from its staff-related predecessor, my very personal (sometimes emotional) investment in the noitaminA programming block tends to leave me very protective of it to the point of being a bit unreasonable. I was still trying to wash the sour taste of Fractale out of my mouth and wasn't in the mood for another series that wasted its short span of time on similarly weak character development and occasional fanservice, the domain of any number of other late-night anime. More specifically related to Toradora!, I wasn't in the mood to be spoon-fed teenage melodrama and be told that it was in some way "unique," while at the same time feeling as if it was simply another moe anime with higher production values.
Ano Hana does happen to owe quite a debt to moe character typing, and its story involves a whole bushel full of teenage melodrama. In this case, though, it works; why it does so was a mystery to me until I reached the conclusion of the series. Ano Hana, while short as anime series go, utilizes each of its episodes very well to work towards a singular goal, presenting its theme of atoning for one's past guilt, making peace with one's perceived mistakes, and learning about the persistence and value of true friendship. The final episode didn't leave me questioning the logic of the situation, but rather enjoying the cathartic nature of the series' dramatic resolution. Despite being flawed in several ways, the success of the series' emotional conclusion allowed me to overlook many of its missteps.
Deadman Wonderland
Number of Episodes: 12
Production Company: Manglobe
Note: This series is now licensed for Region 1 distribution by Funimation.
This review contains no major plot spoilers.
Thoughts: There are very few more frustrating things as an anime fan than seeing a studio that you know can produce great pieces of animated art floundering around with sub-standard material. I'm a big fan of some of Manglobe's previous works. Samurai Champloo still holds up as a funky, fun and occasionally poignant take on the story of some traveling samurai. Michiko to Hatchin is a great example of the good things that female directors can do with great characters (and an excellent soundtrack). House of Five Leaves is a character ensemble piece that is only made better by its terrific (yet understated) art design.
So what the heck happened here?
Ikoku Meiro no Croisee
Number of Episodes: 12
Production Company: Satelight
ANN Encyclopedia MAL Trailer The Anime Network
This series was recently licensed for simulcast by The Anime Network. The links are updated to reflect this.
Brief Overview: Japanese culture is gaining popularity in the West during the latter half of the 19th century. A young Japanese girl, Yune, accompanies a Frenchman, Oscar, back to his home country to help at his family's shop.
Before I dive headfirst into more pressing matters (the Summer 2011 anime season has already begun, yikes!) I thought that I'd do a little write-up on my experience as an attendee (and panelist) at CONvergence.
I've been going to CONvergence since 2006, I believe, and I've enjoyed every year. The atmosphere is a bit different than that of Anime Detour (which I also love); there's a bit less urgency overall, and the crowd feels less intense. Part of this is due to the average age of the attendees - Detour tends to skew pretty young towards the late-teen crowd, who as a whole tend to be very energetic, whereas CON has more of a blended demographic and a higher percentage of mature attendees. I'm in kind of an odd place, since my temperament makes me more at home psychologically at CON, but my love for Japanese media means that I tend to be more alive at Anime Detour. While I generally do a couple of panels at CONvergence, for the most part I'm there to hang out with my friends and do a bit of partying.
I thought that my experience might be different this year, since in the weeks leading up to the convention I happened to see quite a few panels that drew my interest. I should reiterate that this rarely happens; generally I'm not really up-to-date on most of the live-action sci-fi/fantasy fandoms, so I don't always get a whole lot out of what's being offered in terms of panel programming. The fact that I could find something during almost any time slot on the prelim schedule that caught my interest was definitely unusual, but a very happy surprise. Unfortunately, by the time the convention rolled around and the final schedule was posted, many of these panels had been taken down. I can only guess at the reasoning. CONvergence has a stricter policy regarding the number of panelists required to host panels, so I'm guessing some panels didn't make the final cut just due to scheduling issues or lack of interest (though why get my hopes up by putting them on the prelim schedule? Boo). I suppose some other issues might have had to do with guests of honor and their personal schedules and desire to be on panels (though that's really just speculation on my part). One thing that ended up being a bit of a downer more than once was the fact that there weren't a lot of programming options while things were going on in Main Programming. That room has limited space and the broadcast over the closed-circuit television is an imperfect solution (not to mention that I wasn't really that interested in any of the big shows this year despite the fact that I'm certain they were good), so to not offer any alternatives (for example, during the masquerade, Anime Detour offers the Great Debate as well as a few panels occasionally) made those time periods feel sort of laggy. Though I did attend some very good panels (the steampunk props panel on Sunday afternoon was a highlight, and I really enjoyed giving the 2 panels I did on Saturday), overall I felt a bit disappointed in my experience with programming this year.
Welcome, new visitors. Every year I run the Shiny New Anime panel, whether it be as a part of programming for Anime Detour or CONvergence, I can never seem to get the amount of handouts correct, and always come up short (despite making more and more each year... maybe that's a good thing?). In any case, before I talk about CONvergence as a whole, I thought I'd post a copy of the handout for those who couldn't attend the con, or who weren't able to get a handout there.
As a note, this is different from the one used at Anime Detour 2011, in that it is updated to reflect the addition of Spring series from 2011, and the loss of Spring series from 2010.
