 | "Spring Season" by Konstantin
(2006-04-11) |
The new anime season is finally here, with more shows than even I can keep track of. Here are some of my first impressions of the stuff that has gotten subbed so far.
School Rumble Nigakki - The second season of School Rumble seems to have lost none of the wacky energy of the first one. More genuinely funny gags, more cuteness, and more quality animation. Considering that the original was one of my favorite shows of last year, this one goes on my to-watch list automatically.
Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu - A very unconventional way to start a show, anything more would be a spoiler. Do not try to adjust your screen of fix your codecs, it's supposed to start that way. Has the potential for being win and awesome, in a meta sort of way, depending on how they handle it. Will definitely give it a couple more eps at the very least.
Utawarerumono - Checked it out primarily due to being a Leaf fanboy, though I haven't played the game it's based on or heard much about it. Unlike all the previous Leaf-based anime, this one's set in a fantasy world, with not a school in sight. There's still plenty of cute to go around, with all the female characters having furry not-quite-catgirl ears and tails, but there also appear to be the beginnings of a long-term plot and even action (and not of the H variety). As long as the animation
quality doesn't drop, I think this one's a pretty safe bet. Eruruu moe~
Kiba - Seems like the standard kid getting transported to a fantasy world and becoming awesome story, though it does have a twist, making the world he came from a bleak futuristic anti-utopia, instead of going with typical modern day Japan. The animation, courtesy of Studio Madhouse, is very impressive, and it's going to be interesting to see where they'll go with the plot. The original world seems to be too thoroughly developed to just get discarded after the first ep.
Disgaea - Kind of conflicted on this one. The preview left me elated, but the first episode didn't quite deliver. On the plus side, they're using a lot of the music from the game and most of the same voice actors, the general character dynamics and sense of humor work almost exactly the same as in the game, and they kept Etna's episode previews. On the other hand the character designs have been simplified, the animation looks pretty low-budget, and the game plot is adhered to very loosely and not particularly coherently. I don't think this will be as much of a letdown as the Xenosaga anime was, but on the other hand the only reason I'd consider watching more is to listen to the seiyuu do their thing while reminiscing on the awesomeness that was the game. Needs moar Etna.
That's all that I've seen so far of this season, along with Ergo Proxy, which I wrote about earlier. Looking forward to checking out Yumetsukai, Strawberry Panic, Nana, MagiPokan, and Black Lagoon.
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