[Poll] January 2010 Poll is Open

Finally, after Katanagatari, all new series from January 2010 are out. Let's see everybody's opinions about this new anime season. This is a relatively small anime season, but in my opinion, there are quite a few high quality ones.

My top 5 picks are:

Dance in the Vampire Bund Intriguing, that's the word I would use to describe it. I think at the moment, I think this has very high potential for being the best anime of the season.

So-Ro-No-Wo-To This is a very unique blend of comedy and light drama. It doesn't have anything too special. But it gives you a very refreshing feeling.

Durarara! Just like Baccano!, it's hard to make sense of the overall at the moment. But I can feel they're secretly constructing a much bigger plot.

Nodame Cantabile: Finale Some of the jokes are getting old by now. But Nodame is still funny as ever.

Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu Mocking all card battle based anime, this is just a brilliant idea.

Dance in the Vampire Bund: Intriguing

Currently finished: Episode 3

Despite what I said in the last post about this anime, it is slowly growing on me. It seems to have the magic touch that I can't seem to get a grasp of. But its effect is quite obvious: I'm enjoying it more and more as I watch it.

It's not difficult to see that there are many distinct similarities between this and Bakemonogatari. That's because they are all produced by the same comany, SHAFT.

At this point, I'm liking it so much, that I would definitely put this in the top 3 of this season's new releases.

Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu: Classy, Really Classy

Currently finished: Episode 3

Let loose your imagination...

Kaidan Restaurant: Psychological Horror

Currently finished: Episode 9

Although not nearly the caliber of Ghost Hunt in terms of complexity or depth, Kaidan Restaurant is set of pretty well written horror stories that give you the creeps. If you're a big fan of psychological horror (as opposite to graphical horror) like me, you wouldn't want to miss out on this.

[Dropped] Ladies versus Butlers: Pointless and Tasteless

Even for the harem genre, this is about pointless and tasteless anything could go. I'm surprised that I didn't drop it right off the back. If for any reason you like a stupid brainless anime that is nothing but fan service, go right ahead. Otherwise, just skip it all together.

Durarara!!: Daisy Chain

Currently finished: Episode 3

Very much like Baccano!, this story takes a very unorthodox approach to storytelling. But instead of using a massive parallel layout like Baccano!, it uses more of a daisy chain approach. This is just as an effective method as the other, because the story gets into the huge cluster fuck situation just as quickly as they did in Baccano!.

Also, I thought the characters looks somewhat familiar. Then, episode 3 tipped me off with one of the character waving a Yozakura Quartet manga and talking about going to get it signed by Yasuda sensei. That's when I recognized that all characters here look just like the ones from Yozakura Quartet. It turns out, Suzuhito Yasuda, the artist behind Yozakura Quartet is also responsible for the character design of Durarara!!

[New January 2010] Katanagatari

Japanese title: 刀語
Info/Download: http://www.animesuki.com/series.php/1565.html
Genres: Action? / Drama
I've watched: 1 episode

Summary: One of the most deadly sword fighting style during warring period Japan is one that doesn't use any sword at all. After the war is over, the ruler is afraid of the power of the style, he exiled the warrior to a remote island. 20 years later, someone came to the island looking for him...

First impression score: 86 ~ Weird Looking

Voice actress: Yukari Tamura (田村ゆかり) as Togame. It's not hard to recognize that she's the voice of Rika from Higurashi, Mostly, the adult Rika voice, with little bit young Rika voice here and there in between.

Personal comments: This one has a very strange looking art style--very simplified style. It's so simple, characters looks almost like they only exist in two dimension. It feels very strange, but it's a good kind of strange, you know, like Mononoke or Gankutsuou kind of strange. Also, there's some interesting attempted 4th wall breaking. Oh, also, this anime has long episodes, meaning each episode is actually 2 normal episodes, about 50 minutes per episode.

Omamori Himari: Harem Harem

Currently finished: Episode 3

For some reason I didn't recognize it in episode one, but as soon as she get in that flirty voice, I recognize Himari is voiced by Ami Koshimizu (小清水亜美), the voice of the beloved wise wolf Horo from Spice and Wolf .

As for the story, let me just say I'm not very impressed. So far it's just a stereotypical harem anime. However, I have to say, the chemistry between the main guy and gal is kind of nice, nicer than many other harem animes I've seen lately.

Also, it seems so far it's getting progressively heavier on fan service as the story goes. The style of the fan service, somewhat reminds me of Kampfer, except somehow, to me, this is a lot more likable than what they had in Kampfer. I guess this is just a personal taste. But I would appreciate if they can get on with the real story...if they have one that is...

Seikon no Qwaser (uncensored): #%^&@^&&$~!!

Currently finished: Episode 1 (uncensored)

After having seen Queen's Blade and Aika series, I thought that's as bad as far as a "normal" broadcast anime would go without getting into the forbidden realm of hentai. But I was wrong, totally wrong.

While visually, this uncensored version of Seikon no Qwaser is actually no worse than any of the Queen's Blade or Aika episode, but at least the latter two limits its own fetishes within the visual perception, where the characters within the story are still trying to achieve goals that isn't quite in align with how they were exposing themselves. Seikon no Qwaser, however, tries to set an bizarre fetish as its fundamental concept while accompanying it with some visual effect. In my opinion, it crosses the line way more than QB or Aika does.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against it. I'm simply amused how far anime producers in Japan is willing to push their boundries. For those who would have problem with these kind of things, I suggest you either stick to the censored version, or drop it all together.

Dance in the Vampire Bund: Old Concept

Currently finished: Episode 2

Lycans? Seriously? I thought they'd be more creative than using Lycans for the major role of a vampire anime. Seriously, too many nowadays are using the Vampire/Lycans relationship as the ground to build a story upon. Can't they get a bit more creative than this?

On a separate note, much of the syle of animation and conversation reminds me of Bakemonogatari. Because it's totally different from what the first episode is, I don't know whether they're just trying out all kinds of new styles or they're going to stick with this one.

Ladies Versus Butlers: Worse than Aika?!

Currently finished: Episode 2

Sometimes I put certain screen caps here so people haven't see the episode could let loose their imagination and misinterpret the image. But this, there is no need for misinterpretation--this is exactly what it is: an anime about 90% contents dedicated to fan service. Seriously, I think this is comparable to Aika R-16 or Aika Zero series if not worse in terms of how they try to create fan service every step along the way. I might find it amusing enough to follow it all the way till the end like I did with Queen's Blade. But the more likely scenario would be me dropping it before I even finish episode 3.

[Movie] Summer Wars

From the directory of Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo (The Girl who Leapt Through Time), comes another heart pounding story.

OZ is a virtual online world system where many business, games, even cell phone system hooks into. It's essentially the new Internet and more.

Kenji Koiso is a high school student good at nothing but math. One day, he's asked by his senpai Natsuki to do some short term part-time work. Little does he know there's a big surprise waiting for him.

This is a very interesting blend of real life family drama and Dennou Coil like computer virtual world drama. The concept may sound a little far-fetched. But come to think of it, it's really only a slight exaggeration of today's world. This may be closer to the reality than we think.

The story starts of a little slow, but it gets more and more intense as the it develops. Just bear with it for the first 10 minutes, you'll find this movie is plenty interesting.

Anger, sorrow, joy, pity, shame, regret, guilt, different elements from this story covers almost the entire emotion spectrum. On top of that, it is super rich in characters. One of the most interesting aspect of this story is how that many stereo typical personalities interact with each other in times of troubles, whether with each other or against each other. Although it eventually become one of those everybody come together to save the world feel good story, still, this is one really nice piece of work.

And yes, I did realize how similar its plot is to the movie War Game, but this is not War Game, it merely happens to have a similar concept.

Score: 93

Kiddy Girl-AND: Not Quite Sure What to Make of it...

Currently finished: Episode 13

After every couple of "intelligent" episodes, there's an awfully retarded episode. Every time when it seems there's some solid development in the plot, the retarded episode just wipes right off. Kiddy Girl-AND came pretty close for me to drop it a while back. The only reason I held onto it is my respect for the original Kiddy Grade. But if they keep doing things like this, even that wouldn't be enough for me to keep watching it.

[New January 2010] Hanamaru Youchien

Japanese title: はなまる幼稚園
Info/Download: http://www.animesuki.com/series.php/1573.html
Genres: Comedy / Children
I've watched: 1 episode

Summary: Stories about some premature kindergarten kids and a male kindergarten teacher.

First impression score: 82 ~ ...

Personal comments: Age inappropriate jokes, high school teach-student relationship, too many things in this anime are common (maybe) occurrences in stories originated from Japan that the western civilization would see as socially unacceptable. It's somewhat interesting, but due to its childish nature, I'm not sure how much of this I can stand.

[New January 2010] Nodame Cantabile Finale

Japanese title: のだめカンタービレ フィナーレ
Info: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=10950
Download: No English Sub Available Yet
Genres: Comedy / Drama / Musical
I've watched: 1 episode

Summary: The final chapter of the best musical anime ever created -- Nodame Cantabile.

First impression score: 88 ~ Still Amusing

Personal comments: Nodame is now facing new challenges. This new chapter will wrap up the story once and for all.

[OVA] Denpa teki na Kanojo

Episode 2

The story of the psycho girls continues. Just like previous episode, this is a story about extreme cases of OCD and strange obsessions.

In previous episode, I said this is a strange story, but not quite to the level of bizarre just yet. Well, I think I'm now ready to call this one bizarre. Not only that, I would like to add that on top of the strangely bizarreness, it's also dark and twisted, much more so than you could pick up from its trailer. This is truly one of its kind.

As for recommendation, I'd say if you could stand a little dark twisted strangeness, you should watch this.

[OVA] Aika Zero: Awe...

I said it before, and I'll say it again: it never fails to amazes me how creative can Japanese get when it comes to bizarre sexual fetishes. I think this ought to be the most sexually explicit anime that doesn't really have anything to do with sex.

People say a picture worth a thousand words, these three screen caps definitely worth more than that. I'm not going to give any recommendation to anybody. Just look at the screen caps, then you should be able to decide whether you want to watch this or not.

[New January 2010] Seikon no Qwaser

Japanese title: 聖痕のクェイサー
Info/download: http://www.animesuki.com/series.php/1550.html
Genres: Action / Drama
I've watched: 1 episode

Summary: Mafuyu and Tomo are two female students in St. Mikhailov academy. One day they ran into a silver haired boy who is a Qwaser that possesses special power and draws energy from...breast milk?!

First impression score: 83 ~ Bizarre Concept

Personal comments: It never fails to amaze me how Japanese can take a concept that is so strangely bizarre and present it with a straight face. I mean, serious, who comes up with ideas like this? I don't think I've ever encountered a concept like this that isn't supposed to be x-rated material.

[New January 2010] Ookami Kakushi

Japanese title: おおかみかくし
Info/download: http://www.animesuki.com/series.php/1556.html
Genres: Mystery
I've watched: 1 episode

Summary: Hiroshi moves to a small village with his father and sister. He received very warm welcome from his new classmates. However, there seems to be a secret hidden deeply within the village.

First impression score: 86 ~ Mysterious

Personal comments: Yet another work from 07-th expansion, the creator of Higurashi and Umineko series. So far it has the usual suspense thriller feeling to it like all their previous work. It is pretty interesting so far, but, I really wish they would finish up the Umineko series before starting up a new project.

[New January 2010] Dance in the Vampire Bund

Japanese title: ダンスインザヴァンパイアバンド
Info/download: http://www.animesuki.com/series.php/1547.html
Genres: Vampire
I've watched: 1 episode

Summary: Series of murder triggered a debate about the existence of vampires. In the very game show debating about vampires, the princess of vampire shows up.

First impression score: 90 ~ Intriguing

Personal comments: This is by far the most intriguing opening episode among all new series this season so far. It is definitely a keeper.