Summer 2010 Preview

With the summer around the corner, what better way to spend your sunny days than by following a bunch of freshly airing shows? Only one day before the first show starts airing, Sunagan and I take a look at what will be coming at us for the next months.

TV Shows

Mitsudomoe

Air date - 03/07
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLIy6OWlBgk
 

Sunagan: I started hating this show right after the trailer burned itself into the cells of my occipital lobe and my frontal cortex tried to make some kind of sense of the visual input. Everything about it pisses me off – royally, that is. I hate mischievous elementary schoolers. Omurqi, what have we gotten ourselves into…  
Anticipation: 1½-2 stars (just for the record, this is as low as my rating scale goes, I don’t give ½ or 1 stars: 1½ stars is already the pinnacle of atrociousness).

Omurqi: Looks, sounds and smells like the setting of Kodomo no Jikan with the humor of Zettai Karen Children, which sounds like the recipe for disaster when it clashes with my tastes. However, however, the creators of Minami-ke, which was hilarious, working on this will hopefully count for something. I’m not holding my breath though, Minami-ke worked because it was not overly spastic. This one looks like it is.  
Anticipation: 2½ (+?) stars.

 Legend of the Legendary Heroes

Air date - 02/07
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kDxErCZu4s

Sunagan: ‘Are we really going to watch this, Omurqi? The title is retarded.’ Omurqi: ‘Just watch the trailer.’ (…). ‘OMFG I’m SO looking forward to this show! It has EPIC potential, EPIC!’ (and really satisfying bishies as well, or so I thought :-D). Fantasy, action, politics, friendship, betrayal, love, it all seems to be there. If it’s executed in a balanced and intelligent way, this could just become my favourite show of the season. So, there you have it, an  
anticipation of 4-4½ stars.

Omurqi: Early in my anime fandom, I thought Fullmetal Alchemist was a pretty silly name for a show praised by many, and of course, I changed my views after watching it. This time however, they’ve gone full-blown retarded on the title. The trailer however did not disappoint, and I’m genuinely looking forward to this show. The setting is there, now all we need is a slick execution.  
Anticipation: 4 stars.

 Shukufuku no Campanella

Air date - 03/07
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3M39abXGUU8


Sunagan: A sweet, fresh show in a fun fantasy town with a lot of cute girls… my kawaii-overload warning sensors have basically just died. Still, although too much cuteness usually pisses me off, this show in particular looks like fun – and who knows, maybe we’ll actually be delighted with something pleasant! (and haha, Omurqi, I'm by no means a gamer but I still think you hit it right on the mark with your 'show looks like Fantasy RPG staying forever in the starters town' remark xD...)
Anticipation: 3 stars.

Omurqi: Looks fun, candy-eyes cute and calm. I seem to have a thing for slow-paced fantasy (Spice and Wolf, Haibane Renmei and Kino’s Journey come to mind), so if, and this is an important “if”, the character interactions work for me, I’ll probably get a fair share of enjoyment out of it. Not getting my hopes up too much though, as it really looks painstakingly sweet and cutesy.  
Anticipation: 3+ stars.

High School of the Dead

Air date - 05/07
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kl6cNSBg3Wg


Sunagan: Seems like the summer season is going to be a lot more gory than spring. I’m kinda looking forward to this title, to be honest :-D. It’s obviously an action/zombie flick, and the abundance of bouncing boobs everywhere could be a serious indicator of mediocrity, but it might just be something really thrilling and cool. High-school ecchi meets Gantz xD. Anyway, the action scenes in the trailer look drool-worthy, and I somehow think I'm absolutely going to love the male protagonist - or was I the only one who thought that cold glare of his was somewhat sexy ;-P? I hope it will turn out to be a captivating, action-packed survival anime.
Anticipation: 3½ stars.

Omurqi: A genuine zombie-flick? In my anime? Yes, I will watch this. By the looks of the trailer, the animation will be pretty slick, and in all honesty, that’s all it takes to win me over in this particular case. Also, while I haven’t read it, I’ve only heard glaring praises about the manga. How I feel about the huge glands of womanhood bouncing everywhere? Aphetic I guess. Live and let live. Besides, ecchi comedy can be hilarious, we just haven’t seen too many good ones recently.  
Anticipation: 4 stars.

 Shi Ki

Air date - 09/07
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVC4fy9GCik


Sunagan: Let’s just pray that it’s not going to be a Higurashi rip-off T_T, cause that would be sad – both for Higurashi and Shi Ki. I somewhat like the character designs, but my feelings about the show overall are quite ambiguous in fact. It could be an intriguing horror story, but it could just as well turn out to be another generic, predictable show we’ve already seen a hundred times.  
Anticipation: 3 stars.

Omurqi: It looks creepy, it sounds creepy and I’m sure we can be expecting some horror-goosebumps from this one, but a little voice is screaming in the back of my head: ”It’s a trap! We’ve seen it happen two seasons ago, don’t fall for it!” So yeah, I love the genre and all, but don’t go Ookami on us.  
Anticipation: 3 stars.

Ookami-san to Shichinin to Nakamatachi

Air date - 01/07
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwaZOiKFjw8


Sunagan: The tongue-in-cheek approach of the trailer worked well, and if they keep throwing in cynical remarks at the right moments, it has quite some hilarious potential. On the other hand, I’m positive this show will lose its charm the moment it starts taking itself seriously. Also, the cast of 11 people seems just a bit large and will probably yield some onedimensional characters. Still, if they can make it work, I’m all in for a good laugh.  
Anticipation: 3-3½ stars.

Omurqi: Chiakiiii, nooooo! Wait, scrap that, hell yeah. The awesomeness of a parallel-universe grown, tsun-Chiaki aside, I’m less than thrilled for this show. Tongue-in-the-cheek humor it might be, but generic tongue-cheeking is still dull. To me, this looks like little more than the Harem RomCom of the season.  
Anticipation: 2½ stars.

Amagami SS

Air date - 02/07
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8E5e9zjzC4


Sunagan: It looks like it’s just a tad more mature than your average high school romance… Could it possibly be something more than just holding hands in the final episode? Something better than fainting upon the thought of sharing a drink together? A show actually somewhat suited for my age group? I have high hopes for this show and would totally look forward to it, if it wasn’t for Omurqi’s somewhat hesitant but unmistakingly desillusioned remark: ‘but it’s based on a Visual Novel for the PS2’. Lol. Still, I feel it has potential.  
Anticipation: 3½-4 stars.
  

Omurqi: To comment on my statement quoted above, the remark contained no ill intentions towards the fact that it is a visual novel adaption ;P. In fact, what I said right after it is what interests me in this show. I quote from ANN: “The story of the anime will be arranged in an omnibus format, with each heroine getting her own version of the story animated. Each heroine will sing her own version of the ending theme song.” This is something I haven’t yet seen in anime, and I’m curious whether this format will turn out for the good or the bad. Props to the music used in the trailer, it created the right atmosphere. I hope we’ll be hearing more like this.  
Anticipation: 3½ stars.

Kuroshitsuji 2

Air date - 02/07
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pppD_COteHc


Sunagan: As I just watched Kuroshitsuji the other day to be in time for the 2nd season, I have absolutely no complaints if it’s going to be a show along the same lines – although I wouldn’t mind a bit more story and less episodicness, for a change. Anyway, Omurqi had his doubts that I would be able to finish it in time and then I actually felt challenged and watched it in one day T_T *baka*. 
Anticipation: 3½ stars.  

Omurqi: Totally hit or miss, I really have no idea what to think of this one. As much as I love the creators of this show, I’m not so sure about the new couple entering the play. The trailer makes me believe that the master will be a whiny brat with an off chance on awesome, and I don’t like the whiny brat part one bit.
Anticipation: 3½ stars.

Seitokai Yakuindomo

Air date - 04/07
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8Mkp_AilGw


Sunagan: Sounds like your average high school anime. Could be somewhat enjoying to kill time with when I’m bored, but probably nothing special. 
Anticipation: 3 stars.

Omurqi: Why hello there, Seitokai no Ichizon without the parodies. While it looks like yet another bland High School Comedy show, I can’t help but to look forward to it just a little. Maybe it’s the unavoidable abuse the Takatoshi is going to receive, perhaps I enjoy harem comedy more without the SERIOUS romance, who knows.  
Anticipation: a generous 3½ stars.

Seikimatsu Occult Academy

Air date - 06/07
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmD0ZthCx9I


Sunagan: I think this is also going to be a nice one! The somewhat Harry Potter-like, mischievous tune of the trailer got me in a good mood right away and I really cracked up when I saw the line ‘I hate occult’ coupled with the arrogant, bored face of our protagonist. Based on the synopsis I hope the story is not going to be too episodic and repetitive, as a lot of series revolving around solving cases tend to be... Anyway, it could be a great show if the atmosphere and humor are executed well.  
Anticipation: 3½ stars.

Omurqi: This one really piqued my interest. It gives off a huge Ghost Hunt feeling with a twist (although, admittedly, maybe I just want it to be). By the looks of the poster, we’ll be getting some femdom rather than shoujo-comedy though, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Aggressive leads or bubbly fun, I’m looking forward to it.  
Anticipation: 4+ stars.

Nurarihyon no Mago

Air date - 06/07
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-husIVsZMWc


Sunagan: Don’t say anything, I have a HUGE weak spot for this kind of show. As long as the lead won’t turn out to be a whiny little good-for-nothing – or otherwise if the whole thing doesn’t turn into a failure along the lines of an imaginary Rosario to Vampire 3.0, I’m probably going to have a blast with this one. I like humans with a demonic side, and I especially liked the character design of our little demon protagonist *drool*. Anyway, let’s wait and see xD.  
Anticipation: 3½ stars.

Omurqi: On paper, I love tales of sword-fighting, devotion to a mental code and whatnot. For some reason however, the actual deal rarely grabs me beyond the “it’s okay” point. Nevertheless, the premise IS alluring, and if the actual execution lives up to it, this show will be fantastic. For as far as character designs go, I like the way Nura’s demon form looked (I’m going to assume that was his demon form in the trailer). Normal mode Nura and the One Piece-esque meathead? Not so much.  
Anticipation: 2½ stars.

Tono to Issho

Air date - 06/07


Sunagan: As we couldn’t get our hands on a trailer, I don’t have a general impression of the kind of show this is going to be. Based on the synopsis I’d say it “could” be funny. It also could not.  
Anticipation: 2½ stars.

Omurqi: As Sunagan said, we couldn’t find a trailer for this one. For something that appears to be solely about comedy, it could go either way.  
Anticipation: 2½ stars.

Asobi ni Iku Yo

Air date - 11/07


Sunagan: The synopsis sounds awfully bland and generic. It’s not like we’ve never seen this story unfold before, anyway. Still, not to be too prejudiced I’ll go with an 
anticipation of 2½ stars.

Omurqi: Remember when I said Ookamisan to Shichinin was going to be the Harem RomCom of the season? Add this one to the list, most likely. Since we weren’t able to find a trailer of this, I can’t say too much about it yet, but if the show is as bad as the synopsis, I vote for watching it together so we can rant about it while watching.  
Anticipation: 2 stars.
  

OVA's

 

Black Rock Shooter

Air date - 24/07
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWSeSlH-Gdw


Sunagan: Soul Eater, hurray! Anyway, looks pretty badass and as it’s a fairly short ova, there’s not an awful lot that could go wrong.  
Anticipation: 3½ stars.

Omurqi: Now here’s something short, fun and exciting to look forward to. Since it’ll be released as 1 episode OVA, I think we’ll be getting some fast paced action, great art directing and an entertaining story.  
Anticipation: 4 stars.

Black Lagoon OVA

Air date - 27/06
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJbxxroOVvw


Sunagan: I’ll have to finish Black Lagoon 2 before this thing starts airing, but as I’m currently completely enjoying it to bits, I don’t think it’s going to be a problem. I’m actually really looking forward to seeing Levy kick ass some more :-D.  
Anticipation: 3½-4 stars.

Omurqi: OH YES FINALLY.  
Anticipation: 4½ stars.




And that concludes the PAAS Summer 2010 Previews! Both Sunagan and I will be following all of the shows we've discussed here. We will be making a first impressions post for these shows a few weeks into the Summer 2010 season, as well as a post about the previous season, Spring, with our thoughts about the 11-13 episode shows that aired.