Summer 2012 Pre-season Impressions


I stopped writing "season previews" because for all the info you will want for the upcoming seasons, there's only three places you need to go to (except for MAL and such): Random Curiosity (probably the most famous anime blog there is), The Cart Driver (probably the most popular anime blog there is) and Star Crossed Anime Blog (probably the best anime blog there is). There's no point in recreating all that background info when someone else has already done it, and done it better; so from now on, it'll just be Pre-season impressions.

The order here will be based on Neregate's chart.

Kingdom (?)
I don't think I wanna see a Japanese's take on the story of the Warring States in China; besides, I had enough of China's historical stories to last me a lifetime. Everything Pierrot makes sucks anyway.

Pokemon: Best Wishes 2

Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse
I've heard the name a lot but had no idea what the game or story is about. But as Scamp says, the anime has a different set of characters and story, so the only thing that makes this Muv-Luv is the setting. Though, it seems that they are banking on the animation (and delicious bodysuits) to sell anyway, the worth of watching this would mostly depend on its animation quality. As long the plot isn't god-awful.

Chouyaku Hyakunin Issu: Uta Koi

Yuruyuri 2
A quick look at several season previews tells me that I'm not the only one that's really looking forward to this. Yuruyuri was one of my favourite anime in that particular season, enough to warrant it a spot on my 12 moments of 2011 (still one of my most popular posts, somehow). Yuruyuri belongs to the group of anime that is severely underrated, but still incredibly funny, like Mitsudomoe. I didn't expect to see a sequel so soon, but the news is very welcome because I don't have many titles that I look forward to this season, except for this and Rinne no Lagrange.

Natsuyuki Rendezvous
Love triangle between our Protag, a flower shop owner and her dead husband. That sounded pretty boring, until you realize that it's on NoitaminA slot, which had a knack for delivering good shows with really boring synopses. Not very interested in the genre, but might give it a 1 or 3 episode test.

Moyashimon Returns
I thought the first Moyashimon is ok. That's it. I'm not sure why they brought back a sequel so many years after, probably trying to get back to the best years of NoitaminA. Bah.

Sword Art Online
What's the other title that uses the same kind of concept? .hack? If this is going to be anything like Accel World, no thanks, because that bored the shit out of me. I find Matrix stuff like this very cliché already; if this is all the story concept has to offer, they're just trying to be as bland as everyone else. Besides, watching kids struggle for their lives in a fantasy world is pretty darn boring.

Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate
Customary harem of the season, I guess.

Dakara Boku wa, H ga Dekinai
Watching the protag not getting any stimuli from ecchi situations is like watching deadpan porn; unless you're into that sort of thing. The premises makes it sound like the other 9001 witchcraft-related anime out there, only less. Plus, I don't have a really good impression of Studio Feel.

Dog Days'
The first season failed my one episode test for how ridiculous the protagonist is. The premises itself isn't so bad. I heard that it gets much better after the first episode, but I'm not ready for another bombardment of flashy colours.

Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon II
The first season is still stuck on my drive after I lost the willpower to carry on after 4 episodes. I haven't acquired enough brainpower to process this, and doesn't have enough time to read up what's actually going on. Perhaps one day.

Oda Nobuna no Yabou
I'm still trying to find time to finish Hyakka Ryouran: Samurai Girls and Sengoku Otome... both which I found okay, but has been (permanently) on-hold midway through the season. I don't expect this to be very different, but at least I don't think this features an all girl-cast.

Binbou-gami ga!
HANAZAWA KANA AND TOMATSU HARUKA. SUNRISE.

Hakuouki: Reimei-roku

Ebiten: Kouritsu Ebisugawa Koukou Tenmon-bu
Like Divine, I'm immediately reminded of Seitokai no Ichizon. And it looks like it's going to be the exact same kind of anime, with different people writing the jokes. I hope you like talking heads.

Tari Tari
P.A. Works is now my new Kyoani, mostly because they created my favourite anime Hanasaku Iroha last year. There's not a whole lot of info about this title yet, and most people agree that the synopsis does sound pretty generic. I don't wanna draw too many comparisons to HanaIro, but knowing the staff responsible is enough to get me interested.

Kono Naka ni Hitori, Imouto ga Iru!
There is one charm in this title: The average age of the seiyuus of the 5 heroines is 20. If you take out the 25-year-old Oogame Asuka, their average age is just below that. So yeah, you can finally watch an anime where the cast genuinely sounds young. Protip: The show is totally going for the "possible incest" concept. That alone should tell you whether this is your cup of tea.

Campione!
Hisaka Youko, Hanazaka Kana, Kitamura Eri. I can't find anything else that's interesting about this show. Studio Diomedea doesn't inspire a lot of confidence either.

Kokoro Connect
Body swapping is so common that you'd expect at least one movie based on this concept every year. The twist here is that multiple people are swapping bodies at the same time... as far as RC's synopsis tells me. My image of Silver Link was crap because of Tayutama and C3, but I really like Tasogare this season. If nothing else, the arts looks pretty interesting.

Hagure Yuusha no Estetica
Hisaka Youko, Hanazawa Kana, Ueda Kana, Inoue Marina. There's so many demon slaying shit this season, I couldn't care anymore. Besides, it's by one of the worst studios out there.

Rinne no Lagrange S2

Joshiraku
Oh wait, there's actually two series like Seitokai no Ichizon this season. Unfortunately, I found the manga extremely boring. At least I know I'm definitely not going to watch this one.

La Storia della Arcana Famiglia
I used to hate Mamiko Noto, but her role in HanaIro proved that she can be more than a soft-spoken moé a la frappé. I usually avoid Otome (reverse harem) stories, but J.C. Staff can produce something great if they try. Maybe, just maybe, this title can be one of those.

Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita
I have no idea what this anime is going to be like; for now, it looks like a cross between slice-of-life and cute comedy. But being a SoL fan, this seems like "the" series to go for this season, since there isn't anything else that comes close. And I kinda missed Nakahara Mai.

Aruvu Rezuru: Kikai Jikake no Yousei-tachi
Seems that no one has a good idea what this is about.

Chitose Get You!!
No one is RC is going to watch it, Scamp can't think of anything he could be less interested in, and psgels doesn't even think it exists.

Will Watch: Rinne no Lagrange, Yuruyuri, Tari Tari, Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita
Will Preview: La Storia della Arcana Famiglia, Kokoro Connect, Binbou-Gami Ga!, Moyashimon 2