Rating: 9/10

Japanese Title: コードギアス 反逆のルルーシュ R2
Genres: Mecha, Sci-Fi
Episodes: 25
OP: “O2″ by ORANGE RANGE
ED: “Shiawase Neiro” by ORANGE RANGE
Producers: Sunrise
Official Site: http://geass.jp/

Impressions:

What I want to say is, CODE GEASS ROCKS!, but I’m past the phase of blurting out random cries of emotion with no backing, so I’ll go back and rephrase everything. I think it was good that I didn’t really anticipate this sequel (which I have no idea why, seeing as I DID enjoy the first season), and the reason for that is, it made everything so much better. I had completely forgotten what it felt like watching Geass, and this first episode does more than enough to remind me. In other words, it’s awesome. I love the feel of change in anime, something which every sequel should cover, as it makes getting back into the show so much more interesting and exciting.

Anyway, enough of that. It’s quite obvious that there’s mean a lot of change made to the setting. In the beginning, Lelouch had lost his memory, the Black Knights had been reduced to mere single figures, Japan had been pushed into an even worse social position, and a few new characters have also magically appeared. Of course, these will (hopefully) be answered in the episodes to come, but leaving them blunt and unanswered really makes R2 seem like a whole new show. Everything has basically been turned back to episode 1, and now we get to see a different route that Zero will probably take.

Speaking of regressing back to episode 1, there are noticeable similarities between the start of Code Geass and Code Geass R2. My favourite is the demonstration of Lelouch’s chess playing skills, which ultimately indicates that he is a master tactician, regardless of whether he knows it himself or not. It really is a nice way of showing that, when it comes down to war, Lelouch is at the top. There’s also, of course, the memorable first meeting with CC and Lelouch gaining (or regaining) his Geass power. There are tons of new variables in play now as well, so I can’t wait to see how things work out. I think I can say CG is probably going to be one of the best shows this season.

Rating: 7.3/10

Japanese Title: 狼と香辛料
Genres: Fantasy
Episodes: 12
OP: “Tabi no Tochū” by Natsumi Kiyoura
ED: “Ringo Hiyori” by Rocky Chack
Producers: IMAGIN
Source Material: Manga/Game(?)
Official Site: http://www.spicy-wolf.com/

Impressions:

I’m not sure whether I want to blog this show or not, but I like the premise, and I really like Horo’s character design. Her unique way of speaking is also quite attractive. Everything builds on her interesting character, and I’m hoping that that’s what’s going to make this show good. Anyway, Ookami to Koushinryou (Wolf and Spice) is about a travelling merchant who comes across a resident wolf-god that brings about good wheat harvests (or, maybe it’s spice harvests?), who ends up travelling with him and supposedly increases his profits. From summaries I’ve read, it seems they’ll be getting trouble from the church soon enough though.

High quality, a good cast and an interesting setting—I really hope the second episode won’t be the result of some large budget collapse. This show has a lot of potential, and the first episode is definitely one of the better starts to the season. Lawrence, the male lead, also seems to be quite a likeable character, without the naivety of your usual shounen lead. I was worried about the outward age of Horo matching with the ‘middle-age-ness’ of Lawrence, but the two make a surprisingly good couple IMO, so there’s nothing for me to worry about in terms of compatibility.

What worries me is the possibility of a heavily episodic series that might result, due to the type of goal that is set in the episode. Horo and Lawrence are to journey to Horo’s birthplace, which may or may not span the entire series, but nevertheless creates a large opportunity for episodic events, which would end up blocky and disjointed. Or they could make use of an interesting storyline, but I find that this is what usually causes an anime’s undoing. Shows with manga bases aren’t free from this either, especially when there’s an episode limit while the manga hasn’t finished.

Rating: 7.5/10

Japanese Title: H2O: Footprints in the Sand
Genres: Harem(?), Romance
OP: “Katayoku no Icarus” by Yui Sakakibara
ED: “Kazahane” by Haruka Shimotsuki
Producers: ZEXCS
Source Material: Visual Novel (there’s also a manga)
Official Site: http://anime.webnt.jp/h2o/

Impressions:

H2O is, as I’m sure most are aware of, a harem with a blind male lead. If you have yet to see it, I recommend you do so, as it’s quite interesting, and not your average harem. People are saying H2O feels like Air (though I personally don’t really think so, as the premises are completely different, but there are indeed certain elements that makes the two alike), which should point out the drama and mystery aspects quite clearly. But it’s certainly too early to tell right now, and I’m still deciding whether to blog the show or not. As of now, the odds are favourable, but there are still some new shows I have yet to seen.

To me, H2O seems really out of place. It’s a mix between classic harem and drama (something like a crossover of Shuffle and Air), which doesn’t really result in anything special. I was certainly impressed at the bluntness of the show after seeing Kohinata getting pummelled by two guys, but then I end up seeing a generic, tsundere-like character behind it all. The two just don’t work together. But I’m going to overlook that for now, since Kohinata is the most interesting person so far. I guess the question that needs answering most regarding her is, why is she hated? And I really can’t imagine why, especially as how her ‘bully’ is such an inappropriate character.

Hirose himself is quite a mystery as well. Firstly, all signs point to him being able to see again, and I’m not sure how real the final scene is, where he seems to be able to see completely as he stands beside Kohinata. There’s also that part where Otoha seemingly makes him see for a brief moment. But aside from that, there’s also Hinata’s family who know who Hirose is, and refer to him with the sama honorific suffix (while Otoha calls him the chosen one). This mystery is the charm point of the show for me, and shows that it’s not just some other generic harem with badly designed/scripted characters.

Rating: 7.5/10

Japanese Title: true tears
Genres: Harem(?), Romance
Episodes: 13
OP: “Reflectia” by eufonius
ED: “Sekai no Namida” by Aira Yuki
Producers: P.A. Works, Bandai Visual
Source Material: Visual Novel
Official Site: http://www.truetears.jp/index.html

Impressions:

This, to me, seems to be the show with the most potential. I decided that I liked it after seeing the trailer, and thankfully, the first episode doesn’t disappoint. True Tears is somewhat of a harem as well, but more like Kanon/Clannad or ef – a tale of memories. It seems that the show uses a harem setting to tell the stories of individual characters, so we’ll most likely not get any of that ridiculous fawning crap that occurs oh so often in ecchi-harem shows. True Tears seems to be a fairly serious show like H2O, but much more stable (and less harem-like). I’m definitely going to blog this show.

True Tears presents us with an average high schooler (like every other harem lead) surrounded by three girls (as it seems). For starters, one of these girls, Hiromi, lives with him, but from this episode, it’s easily foreseeable that things will remain pretty serious for her situation. Additionally, the reason she lives with him is due to her father’s death, and her story is most likely going to be about her opening up to her new family. She’s also my favourite character at the moment, and Shinichiro (the lead) seems to like her as well. But then again, the episode and ED seem to place Noe as the primary female character.

Noe is somewhat peculiar in nature—she likes to climb trees, sees nothing wrong with jumping on people, can apparently tell if people can fly or not, seems to be able to talk to chickens, and also mentions that she had given away her tears. The lattermost detail is likely to be the reason for her strange personality, and also ties her to the title of the show. Noe’s an interesting character, but personally, I like Hiromi more. Oh and while talking about tears, Shinichiro also mentions that he wishes to stop Hiromi’s tears, which again relates to the title. If these have any indication, the show will be about Hiromi losing her tears (thus getting better), and Noe regaining them.

The last girl has yet to be made significant, but I’m sure that will come very soon. I like her least for now, though that’s probably due to the lack of information on her. I’m guessing there will be something about her that relates to tears as well. All in all, this is a solid first episode, and sets up the show nicely for whatever path it’s going to take. The animation quality is also quite high, which I’m very thankful for after seeing Rosario to Vampire. If you like Air/Kanon/Clannad, or similar types of shows, be sure to check out True Tears (which may only be a step down from the formers, or on the same level if you’re hopeful like me).

Rating: 9/10

Japanese Title: マクロスF
Genres: Drama, Mecha, Science Fiction
ED: “Ai, Oboete imasu ka” by Megumi Nakajima
Producers: Satelight
Relations: Macross 7 (prequel)
Official Site: http://www.macrossf.com/

Impressions:

Wow, I haven’t seen a Macross series before, so I’m pretty stunned. I’m sure you can’t compare old series with new ones in terms of production value, but it looks to me like the Macross series had always been a step above the rest. If I were to compare this with Gunda,, or more specifically, the first episode of Gundam 00, Macross Frontier wins hands down. From the quality (awesome 3D too) to the execution, this episode feels exactly like a movie—the jumpiness, lack of explanations, scene-shifting and the ‘verge-of-disaster’ feeling you get are all employed by movies. Explanations come later, when the initial excitement is over. Well that’s what I felt from watching this episode.

Set as a sequel to Macross 7 and the OAV, Macross F follows a different colony ship, and expectedly, a new set of characters. For starters, the main character seemed to be the typical ‘rival’ character in many shows, but it turned out that he’ll be the star of things (if I’m not mistaken). The girl seems to have quite a fun and easy going personality, so nothing to complain about that. On the hand, the pop singer, Sheryl, bothers me with her attitude (and the fact that she’s famous…is this really an anime??) As I haven’t seen the previous Macross seasons, I would have no idea, but from what I’ve read, it seems that song idols like her are an important part to the show…Hm.

Well anyway, I believe this show starts for real in spring 2008 (which should be somewhere around April). First episodes always manage to fool me, so I’m not going to explain any expectations I have, but I’ll be sure to check out the second episode. Code Geass’s sequel also begins at that time, but in actual fact, I’m not that eager to see it. The new character will surely be interesting, and I can imagine some family grief if he and Lelouch ever meet (if he’s alive I guess), but personally, I wanted to see Lelouch keep his role as lead. Oh well, hopefully the sequel will be just as good as the first season anyway. Btw, please vote in the poll to the right!! xD

Rating: 7.4/10

Japanese Title: ef -a tale of memories.
Genres: Romance, School Life, Supernatural(?)
Episodes: 12
Producers: SHAFT
Source Material: Visual novel
Official Site: http://www.ef-memo.com/

Impressions:

So this is the show that I placed a lot of hope in, without practically no backing (unlike Shana II, Clannad and Gundam 00) for my compulsion. So did it satisfy? Sort of…It’s quality (evidently SHAFT’s style), music and storytelling are all very impressive, though I’ve yet to identify a character that I particularly like. I loved sola for Matsuri, so I had been hoping there would be another awesome character like her in ef, but the closest would only be Miyako. Let’s see how she develops…I have to admit though, there seems to be lot of importance in the relationships between the characters, so lacking a particularly likeable character isn’t that bad.

Rating: 7.6/10

Japanese Title: ドラゴノーツ
OP: “perfect blue�? by Jazzin’ Park
ED: “Rain Of Love�? by Yukari Fukui
Producers: GONZO
Official Site: http://www.dragonaut.com/index.html

Impressions:

I’m reluctant to blog this show due to the undetermined episode count, but the first episode, and my initial expectations, are enough for me to get a start on it at least. This first episode is highly explosive, and already multiple characters have begun development. It reminds me a lot of Gurren Lagann, which has a similar beginning, but Dragonaut seems to be more science-fiction—which is a good thing for me. Overall quality is great, while story execution draws viewers in quickly. The sudden deaths of Jin is quite surprising, but a good example of an attention-grabbing first episode.

Rating: 8.2/10

Japanese Title: クラナド
Genres: Drama, Romance
Episodes: 24
OP: “Megumeru ~cuckool mix 2007~�? by eufonius
ED: “Dango Daikazoku�? by Chata
Producers: Kyoto Animation
Source Material: Visual novel
Official Site: http://www.tbs.co.jp/clannad/

Impressions:

Wow, this episode turned out to be a lot more than I expected. I was completely prepared for the kind of beginning which Air and Kanon take, which is pretty slow and usually quite ‘normal’ in terms of characters. However, Clannad brings with it, a very fast start with extremities in the animation already (I personally love the spectators’ view of Tomoyo pwning the bikers in less than a second). The sudden time skips that take place with the voice-overs happening simultaneously are really effective in creating the sort of ‘mystical life’ atmosphere which the past two Key creations reek of. It might be confusing at first, but I’m sure it would be easy to adjust to.

Another point: upon seeing Nagisa, who looks somewhat like Ayu, I immediately began assuming that all the characters would be replicas of another Air or Kanon character. However, in the end, there aren’t really any such characters who remind me much of another Key creation—thankfully. I also find Nagisa to be much more likeable than both Ayu and Misuzu. Already, with the other two Key+KyoAni creations interfering with my current thought processes, I’m beginning to wonder whether Clannad will take a minagoroshi ending like Air (where everyone dies—almost), or a overly happy ending like Kanon, where everyone is saved by some miracle called TV storywriters.

Personally, I like Air’s ending A LOT better. Of course, Clannad doesn’t have to take either option. It’s too early for me to come up with any ideas, but if anything, I certainly don’t want a ‘perfect’ ending like Kanon (which I hardly think was perfect). For now though, anyway, the impressions I got from this first episode, coupled with my general experiences with KyoAni works, I can tell this is going to be one of my favourites this season. Shana will probably still come out on top for me, as it’s my 5th favourite anime series (mostly due to Shana herself). Gundam 00, Dragonaut, ef and some others might be contenders as well. I wonder what else I should blog…

Rating: 7.9/10

Japanese Title: �?�眼�?�シャナⅡ
Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Shounen
OP: “JOINT�? by Mami Kawada
ED: “triangle�? by Mami Kawada
Producers: J.C. Staff
Source Material: Light novel
Official Site: http://www.shakugan.com/

Impressions:

Ahh, Shana…Yup, this is going to be my favourite show this season and the next. It was extremely refreshing to see the old cast (all except for Yoshida, who I hated in the first season, but not sure about now). It’s a shame Yuuji doesn’t remember Shana’s confession, and her reluctance to reiterate it doesn’t further their relationship. I hope something does happen—like always I’m worried that the main female character paired up with the male lead will die in the end (and then Yoshida will take over and the universe will implode x_x). One of the main reasons I love Shakugan no Shana is because of the characters, so I’m highly interested to see how things turn out.

I kind of figured out how Yuuji was seeing his self created world quite a while before it was revealed, though the effect of the revelation was still quite good. This episode serves a recap as well, though apparently the scenes were all redone. I was disappointed at first to see nothing big happen in the beginning (expecting an explosive start with Shana hacking and slashing xD), though once it became clear something was indeed happening, the old Shakugan no Shana memories came flooding back in a blast of nostalgia. Aside from old faces though, I’m looking forward to the new characters that will be appearing in later episodes. =)

I have to say I didn’t (and don’t) like the OP nearly as much as the first and second. In fact, I’m willing to say that Hishoku no Sora is far superior to the current OP. Even the ED is way better. Well, this is of course, all my own opinion. I almost hoped that the producers would use the same OP, because of how awesome Hishoku no Sora is. The ED uses similar still animation as the first season, though I’m a lot fonder of the song. I actually think the ED song should have been used for the OP, despite its comparatively less liveliness. And no, the OP is not a song that I’m going to gradually like over time, as I’ve already watched/listened to it many times. Many.

Rating: 7.8/10

Japanese Title: 機動戦士ガンダム00
Genres: Drama, Mecha, Military, Science Fiction
Episodes: 25
OP: “DAYBREAK’S BELL” by L’arc~en~Ciel
ED: “Wana” by The Back Horn
Producers: Sunrise
Official Site: http://www.gundam00.net/

Impressions:

In a quick summarisation, the first episode of Gundam 00 pretty much meets my expectations, but I can’t say they were as high as what I had for Shana and Clannad. Animation quality, pacing, setting and character introductions are all good/covered, though I was disappointed to see the lack of emphasis on the war between the three major powers. I really don’t want to hear company names—I want to see nations at each others’ necks, with its importance rivalling that of the Celestial Beings. Of course, I still have hope in such themes arising later on, so I’m pretty satisfied so far.

I’m not too fond of any of the characters so far, but the lead with the standard ‘bad childhood’ background looking for revenge, is always a nice choice for these types of shows. It gives the character an impacting characteristic, though I feel Code Geass manages to make much better work of such a character. Actually, I shouldn’t be saying that now as I’ve yet to see the second episode—maybe the storywriters decided to stretch the good parts of the intro over several episodes, instead of cramming a large battle in the first two episodes, or making an incredible slow but detailed introduction that bores everyone to tears.

I really don’t think I should be blogging this series, since it will most likely be longer than two seasons, and so I would have tied myself down for another massive series (sigh, I regret doing D.Gray-man so much now). But knowing me, I probably grow sick of a Gundam series. But still, I already have Bleach, Naruto, D.Gray-man and Hayate no Gotoku, which are series that are going to go for some time, so slapping another long-ass anime onto that list is not really comforting. I’ll see how Gundam 00’s introductory few episodes go first though. Hopefully, the next few episodes will be impacting enough.