Jan 23 2009
Spring 09 - Anime List (26th Mar 09)
-26/3: FINAL list! Not gonna modify it any more. XD Times and episodes will be modified at the Countdown page, for future reference. Added bunch of trailer videos, edited airtimes for the anime — all present except for Juuden-chan. Enjoy!
-8/3: added all the airtimes I could possibly find. XD Countdown page also live!
-28/2: Airtimes for Queen’s Blade, Tayutama, Tears to Tiara, 07-Ghost added. Episode no. for Tears to Tiara and Natsu no Arashi updated.
-22/2: Airtimes for Hatsukoi Gentei, Saki updated. Polyphonica Crimson S updated.
-15/2: Ristorante Paradiso added. Airtimes (where known) added.
-8/2: Gokujou!! Mecha Mote Iinchou added.
-1/2: Added airing dates for Guin Saga, Hanasakaru Seishounen, Natsu no Arashi, and Phantom.
-27/1: Top menu’s links fixed. Were pointing to nowhere.
-25/1/09. Natsu no Arashi and Phantom added.
Main source of info - Moon Phase Anime and ANN.
-For trailers of a few series, visit the video page.
-List arranged in airing order. (Those at bottom aren’t known yet.) Links below to go straight to the entry for that anime.
07-Ghost | Asura Cryin’ | Basquash | Cobra the Animation | Cross Game | Eden of the East | Fight Ippatsu! Juuden-chan! | Fullmetal Alchemist 2 | Gokujou!! Mecha Mote Iinchou | Guin Saga | Hanasakaru Seishounen | Hatsukoi Gentei | Hayate no Gotoku 2 | K-ON! | Konnichiwa Anne | Natsu no Arashi | Pandora Hearts | Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~ | Queen’s Blade | Ristorante Paradiso | Saki | Sengoku Basara | Senjou no Valkyria | Shangri-La | Shinkyoku Soukai Polyphonica Crimson S | Tayutama | Tears to Tiara |
* QUEEN’S BLADE *Animation Production: ARMS
Airing on: AT-X Thu 08:00
Total Episodes:
More Info: Official Website, ANN/AniDB
Impressions: Queen’s Blade is delayed from the Winter 08-09 season, I believe. Doesn’t really interest me…seems to feature excess oestrogen. -wry- And naturally so, because it centres around a series of battles fought in order to determine who should be the next Queen. Rules are fairly brutal — murder is allowed, so are any weapons; the winner is decided when the opponent flees or cannot move. Also, contestants need only be older than 12 years old…predicting some loli fighting? XD
Watch/Blog: N/N
* SENGOKU BASARA *Animation Production: ProdIG
Airing on: CBC Thu 01:34
Total Episodes:
More Info: Official Website, ANN/AniDB
Impressions: In niisama’s words, “not another 3 kingdoms anime!” Yes, it’s Sengoku again! Looks very shounen, and that coupled with sengoku means I’m not interested. XD
Watch/Blog: N/N
* ASURA CRYIN’ *Animation Production: SevenArcs
Airing on: AT-X Tue 09:30
Total Episodes:
More Info: Official Website, ANN/AniDB
Impressions: The art for this looks pretty cool.
Watch/Blog: Y/Maybe
* PANDORA HEARTS *Animation Production: XEBEC
Airing on: TBS Fri 01:29
Total Episodes:
More Info: Official Website, ANN/AniDB
Impressions: Probably -the- anime to watch out for this season. A collaboration between Square Enix and Xebec, the art for Pandora Hearts looks polished. Based on the “gothic mystery action” manga (7 volumes and running), Pandora Hearts revolves around a young heir, Oz Bezarius, who gets involved with a mysterious group, Pandora — after some strange coming of age ceremony involving tossing him into the dungeon (poor lad). By the way…what’s with Square Enix and Hearts? (Kingdom Hearts? :P)
Watch/Blog: Y/Y
* PHANTOM ~REQUIEM..~ *Animation Production: BeeTrain
Airing on: TVTokyo Fri 02:15
Total Episodes:
More Info: Official Website, ANN/AniDB
Impressions: Based on the Nitroplus’s Phantom of Inferno visual novel — a manga by Hiiragi Masaki is also in the works, slated for release in Comic Alive’s Feb/March issues.
Watch/Blog: Y/Maybe
* BASQUASH *Animation Production: Satelight
Airing on: MBS Fri 01:25
Total Episodes: 26
More Info: Official Website, ANN/AniDB
Impressions: From the garbled google trans, it’s about Dan (or rather, the LEGEND OF DAN) and a machine called a big foot. Iceman, Dan, and Sela are the three in the linked picture. (left to right) The trailer reveals it’s about robot basketball! Seems funky. Will blog if it turns out interesting.
Watch/Blog: Y/Maybe
* K-ON! *Animation Production: KyoAni
Airing on: TBS Mon 01:30
Total Episodes:
More Info: Official Website, ANN/AniDB
Impressions: K-On, or Kei-An has a site that doesn’t have much either, but the art reminds me of Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu.
Watch/Blog: Y/Y
* GOKUJOU!! MECHA MOTE IINCHOU *Animation Production: DigiEnt.
Airing on: TVTokyo Sat 18:00
Total Episodes:
More Info: Official Website, ANN/AniDB
Impressions: The art for this one seems pretty shoujo, as does the story, which seems to centre around Kitagami Mimi, who aims to be the best class president. Unfortunately, dreadful(ly cute? -ly naughty?) BOYS get in her way… The title, which I admit is a bit of a mouthful, seems to translate to something like “The Best!! Extremely Cool -insert translation for iinchou-”, according to ANN. I don’t know, they said student council president, but I’ve always thought Iinchou was more like class prez. Could be wrong, though. Wonder who might be scanlating the manga this series is based on since 8 volumes have already been released, yet no one’s picked it up…
Watch/Blog: Y/Maybe
* HAYATE NO GOTOKU!! *Animation Production: JCStaff
Airing on: TVTokyo Sat 01:23
Total Episodes:
More Info: Official Website, ANN/AniDB
Impressions: Didn’t watch the first season, don’t have any plans to watch the second.
Watch/Blog: N/N
* SENJOU NO VALKYRIA *Animation Production: A-1
Airing on: ChibaTV Sun 01:35
Total Episodes: 26
More Info: Official Website, ANN/AniDB
Impressions: …Has a very stylish site. Definitely an anime to watch out for, if the drawing there is any hint. Funny thing, though…the character profiles each have an image where the character actually blinks. XD In any case, this is an anime adaptation of the PS3 game, Valkyria Chronicles (Senjou no Valkyria -Gallian Chronicles-). Seems like an alternate universe version of wars in the 1930s, in a fictional land called Gallia…
Watch/Blog: Y/Maybe
* FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST *Animation Production: BONES
Airing on: MBS/TBS Sun 17:00
Total Episodes:
More Info: Official Website, ANN/AniDB
Impressions: Didn’t watch the first FMA, have no plans to watch the second.
Watch/Blog: N/N
* GUIN SAGA *Animation Production: Satelight
Airing on: NHK-BS2 Sun 23:29
Total Episodes:
More Info: Official Website, ANN/AniDB
Impressions: I was trying to muddle out the site (which is in Japanese), when I saw an ‘English’ option. Yay! Supposedly about a warrior with a leopard’s mask fixed over his head, based on an epic (123+21 volumes..) series of books by Kurimoto Kaoru. (That started in 1979..before I was born!) Guin wakes up in a forest with no memories except his name (and the word ‘Aurra’), the body of a warrior and the reflexes and fighting style of a cat. Of the books, one of the reviews says - “A fast read with hardly any internal reflection on the characters’ part, this book will probably appeal most to young adults.”, so it sounds like this would be solid action, and the scriptwriter Yonemura Shoji agrees that the target audience is 15-year-old males. I’ll definitely give this a try, though, if only for Nobuo Uematsu (notably having worked on music for quite a few Final Fantasy games), who’s doing the music.
Watch/Blog: Y/Y
* HANASAKARU SEISHOUNEN *Animation Production: StudioPierot
Airing on: NHK-BS2 Sun 23:00
Total Episodes:
More Info: Official Website, ANN/AniDB
Impressions: The art for this looks pretty dodgy as well. The story seems to focus on a girl with a mouthful for a name - Kajika Louisa Kugami Burnsworth, who gets caught up in intrigue over oil and monayz in a variety of locations. Somewhere in there is a marriage arrangement thingy — the guys in the picture could well be the suitors Kajika/Louisa has to pick from. But wait..there’re four guys, and supposed three suitors… ._. Based on Natsumi Itsuki’s manga which ran in 1987 and was serialised 1989-1994..pretty long time ago.
Watch/Blog: Maybe/Maybe
* KONNICHIWA ANNE *Animation Production: NipponAni
Airing on: BSFuji Sun 19:30
Total Episodes: 39
More Info: Official Website, ANN/AniDB
Impressions: Pushed back from winter 2009 lineup; prequel to Anne of Green Gables. Also known as (predictably) Before Green Gables. Not interested (in either the story or the art).
Watch/Blog: N/N
* CROSS GAME *Animation Production: We’ve
Airing on: TVTokyo Sun 10:00
Total Episodes: 52
More Info: Official Website, ANN/AniDB
Impressions: What, another old-ish baseball anime?
Watch/Blog: N/N
* POLYPHONICA CRIMSON S *Animation Production: Diomedea
Airing on: TVKanagawa Sun 01:30
Total Episodes: 12
More Info: Official Website, ANN/AniDB
Impressions: The art in this worries me. Sure hope it’s not another one like Earl and Fairy..however, the art in the manga does look pretty promising; I hope animation lives up to that. From ANN - “The original story of Polyphonica is set on an alternate world where “Spirits” can exist alongside humans. There are “Dantists” who can play music and communicate with the Spirits, and Tatara Phoron is one such Dantist who is in contact with a spirit named Corticarte Apa Lagranges.”
Watch/Blog: Y/Maybe
* NATSU NO ARASHI *Animation Production: SHAFT
Airing on: TVTokyo Mon 01:30
Total Episodes: 13
More Info: Official Website, ANN/AniDB
Impressions: Niisama says this is about a guy who finds out about a time-traveling girl. Will probably watch an ep or two to have a look..
Watch/Blog: Maybe/Maybe
* SAKI *Animation Production: GONZO
Airing on: TVTokyo Sun 02:00
Total Episodes:
More Info: Official Website, ANN/AniDB
Impressions: Kyaa~ Saki! I don’t play mahjong, though I know the basic rules; nonetheless, I fell in love with the quirky characters while reading the manga. It helps that the art is impeccable. :P Maybe I like it for the same reason I did Hikaru no Go…
Watch/Blog: Y/Y
* SHANGRI-LA *Animation Production: GONZO
Airing on: ChibaTV Mon 00:00
Total Episodes:
More Info: Official Website, ANN/AniDB
Impressions: If Range Murata sounds familiar, it might be because he worked on Rideback, an anime currently airing. (Winter 09) The site seems to be in construction, with many elements ‘coming soon’. The premise is pretty interesting, though — it seems like it might have a bigger environment slant than I think I’ve ever seen in anime. (Not that I’ve watched many. -facepalms-) In Ikegami Eiichi’s original novel, Shangri-La depicts a Japan that’s fallen to global warming in the mid-21st century. The government decides to undergo massive forestation to reduce temperatures by 5 deg C (you think maybe they should have done this earlier -wry-) — resulting in the new forest city, Atlas. Nonetheless, it remains not-quite-habitable — watch it to find out why, and also to see anti-gov protestors try to botch forestation plans. There’re always those anti-gov people. -sighs-
Watch/Blog: Y/Y
* TAYUTAMA~KISS ON MY DEITY~ *Animation Production: SilverLink
Airing on: ChibaTV Mon 00:30
Total Episodes:
More Info: Official Website, ANN/AniDB
Impressions: This looks like pretty decent art, but yet another case of girl overload. Will probably skip. Trailer is sadly boring. :S Tayatama’s summary doesn’t run like a typical H game, though — it reminds me a bit of Kannagi’s premise. -wry- Yuuri Mito, the son of a guy who runs a shrine, finds a relic in school one day. Soon, a girl linked to this relic shows up in school — her name is Mashiro, and she has something to do with the legend of Tayutayu-sama, a local deity thought to have disappeared (from lack of use/belief? :P)…
Watch/Blog: Maybe/N
* TEARS TO TIARA *Animation Production: WhiteFox
Airing on: ChibaTV Mon 01:35
Total Episodes: 26
More Info: Official Website, ANN/AniDB
Impressions: Looks like yet another overload of females. The girl with the huge hammer looks cute, though. Also, yet another H game by Leaf getting the anime treatment. Hopefully this isn’t as boring as White Album. :S
Watch/Blog: Maybe/N
* 07-GHOST *Animation Production: StudioDEEN
Airing on: ChibaTV Wed 01:40
Total Episodes:
More Info: Official Website, ANN/AniDB
Impressions: Art looks decent; given that this one is listed as ‘gothic fantasy’ as well, I’m wondering if it’ll be like Pandora Hearts. When Teito Klein gets pursued by the Barsburg Empire, shaking him out of his pleasant life as a top military student, he seeks sanctury at the church. There, he stays under the protection of a group of people known as the Ghosts. But Teito is left wondering…why is he being pursued? What of his past as an orphaned slave; or is he actually the son of a dethroned king? And what’s up with the mythical Eye of Mikael?
Watch/Blog: Y/Y
* RISTORANTE PARADISO *Animation Production: DavidProd
Airing on: FujiTV Fri 02:08
Total Episodes: 11
More Info: Official Website, ANN/AniDB
Impressions: Based on the manga by Natsume Ono, this one seems to be slice-of-restaurant-life. The art looks pretty decent, but not sure how interesting it’ll be…will be watching a bit to see, though.
Watch/Blog: Y/Maybe
* EDEN OF THE EAST *Animation Production: ProdIG
Airing on: FujiTV Fri 00:45
Total Episodes: 11
More Info: Official Website, ANN/AniDB
Impressions: Enigmatic site. Being worked on by Kamiyama Kenji of Ghost in the Shell fame, this is about yet another amnesiac (Takizawa Akira) with a strange background — set in the backdrop of terrorists, politics, and 82mil in digital cash…
Watch/Blog: Y/Y
* HATSUKOI GENTEI *Animation Production: JCStaff
Airing on: BS11 Sun 00:00
Total Episodes:
More Info: Official Website, ANN/AniDB
Impressions: Not sure what to make of this one. Seems like Hatsukoi Limited has a preview airing a bit over a week before the official airdate, though — midnight on 4th April?
Watch/Blog: Maybe/Maybe
* FIGHT IPPATSU! JUUDEN-CHAN! *Animation Production: StudioHibari
Airing on: AT-X
Total Episodes:
More Info: Official Website, ANN/AniDB
Impressions: Two girls in rather strange insulator suits. When one of them is explained as being “of intellectual beauty and cool glasses, whose chest size and waistline are so perfectly rendered in animation” (with liberal help from google translate), I kinda doubt this is something to take seriously..the plot only confirms this. XD Juuden-chan is an office lady from a parallel world who comes into our world to ‘charge up’ people. ._. Based on Ditama Bow’s manga.
Watch/Blog: Maybe/Maybe
