Winter 2011/2012 Pre-Season Impressions

Damn Rinne no Lagrange had an early release before I could complete this, but heck; let's get this over with.

Despite the comparatively low number of series produced this season, quite a number of series caught my eye; and while I don't really have the time to give a first impression on all of those titles, I might end up following many of them, depending on the reviews from fellow bloggers.

12 Moments of Anime #9: Anohana ED

I need a pic, so here's some moé

Here's a short one. I ought to make a top OP/ED of 2011 post to put this into, but Anohana's ED "Secret Base ~Kimi ga Kureta Mono~ (10 Years After)" is special enough to call it a "moment of 2011". There's just something about ED that ties up the atmosphere of the show really nicely. EDs has always been more important than OPs to me; in fact, most of the anime songs in my Ipod are EDs. This particular song is a good example of why.

The drop at 0:42 still gives me the chills.

Runner up: Wired Life (Ao no Exorcist), Shiny Shiny (Deadman Wonderland)

AniBlogger Choice Anime Awards: My Top 12 Favourites of 2011

Unrelated pic... needs to be longer.

Getting my top 12 out is easy. It's true that the more anime you watch, the more picky you are when choosing the anime you rather watch then... you know, doing constructive stuff. I've only completed 30 series this year (including series I intend to complete, but have not finished airing), not counting the 19 series that I've dropped. After striking off the bad ones and voila! 15 series. I only need to remove 3. Here we go.

Series Review: Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai

On the first look, Anohana seemed like a story about teenagers struggling with the death of a close friend, Menma, who came back as a "ghost" and had to rely on the help of her old friends so that she could "rest in peace". The underlying concept are the problems these kids already had at the time of her death; these are petty and childish little problems that could resolve themselves over time, but Menma's death amplified the problems and put a halt on any progress that could have been made, because the group pretty much broke up after the incident. The kids end up having to carry the emotional baggage for many years.

The interesting part is that despite all the efforts the gang put into helping Menma "go to heaven", Menma actually achieved more than anyone else by bringing the group back together and with that, and opportunity to resolve their problems. So, despite that the story begins with Menma's reappearance, most of the story had to do with the emotional baggage these kids had been carrying, not just the death of a close friend.

Unfortunately, while the early parts of the series made us hungry to know more about the possible reasons for Menma's reappearance, we were fed with the less interesting details of the other characters and the introduction to their personal issues. What's even more frustrating is how "physical" Menma is, yet unable to prove her existence in the most simplest way... which turns out to be entirely possible near the end of the series.

It's remarkable how little can progressed in a single episode. Even with only two episodes left to the end of the series, the end seemed to be nowhere in sight. But it's not a pacing problem; the ending worked out beautifully, and it didn't even felt rushed. The story simply took very slow but elaborate steps to play out a character's story. True, there wasn't much character development, but the character's background story are rich enough to be creatively played out throughout the series, and that was good enough.

The bigger problem here is how show can get a little melodramatic. It's not surprising that the characters would somehow deal with their problems all at the same time (for the sake of the climax), but it overwhelmed me for a bit and because of that, certain scenes does make me cringe.

Ultimately, much of the high score accounts to how the series ended. I rarely shed a tear for series nowadays, but I did for Anohana. Who doesn't? I couldn't really think of a better way to end this series except, of course, some Jintan x Anaru action, but we can only hope for an omake on that (dream on).

The animation is definitely one of the best in the season, and probably only lost to Hanasaku Iroha. Together with some awesome BGMs, it really helps to keep things interesting in the more mundane segments. Some of the dialogue fell short of expectations, and would had fell flat without the talented VA crew.

This would be the most difficult review I had to write. Anohaha is brilliant, but it's hard to really praise it for anything else except how it ended. The flaws are aplenty, yet the brilliant execution and direction of the story rendered that insignificant enough to enjoy the show as it is. Anohana is a pretty original series, and definitely highly recommended.

Plot/Concept: Very Good
Story Style: Brilliant!
Audio/Visual: Excellent
Value: 9

Spring 2011 Anime May...ish Review Part 3: AnoHana, Enma-kun and Summary Score

Ok, wow. I've never heard Tomatsu Haruka like that before.

Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi we Mada Shiranai

So what I've feared finally came; the gang starts to second guess Jinta's ability to see Menma, and thinking that's it's his own bullshit all the while. Aside for the fact the Menma's so coporeal, it also bugs me that the gang trust Jinta (somewhat) so easily and had made so much effort because Jinta claims to be able to see Menma. Well, now that Menma proves to be able to communicate with the gang after all (you only realised now?), we'll be able to see the story pick up the pace. But hey, it's nice to see that whatever Menma's wish is, it's already somewhat fulfilled now that the gang has been meeting up for a while now.

Dororon~ Enma-kun Meramera

It was only until around 4 episodes that I realised that I'm watching a fanservice show. It doesn't seem like any kind of plot is going to take place, and most likely the monster-of-the-week and its various ways of exploiting the female characters fomula would carry on until the end of the series. Well, at least it wasn't completely boring; the presentation can very incredibly lazy at times, but the unique style (old-school...) of the show and creative fanservice allows it to be a good way to pass time time <.<

Summary Ranking & Score

1. Hanasaku Iroha - A+
2. Anohana - A+
3. Ao no Exorcist - B-
4. Tiger & Bunny - C+
5. C - C (not trying to be funny, but...)
6. Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko - C-
7. Enma-kun - C-
8. Deadman Wonderland - D

Anohana's whore (ep6)

Poor Anaru's been branded as a local tramp, now that someone caught her heading towards the love hotel with the older dude (ToT) Why didn't the guy follow her until Yukiatsu shows up? Damn, I don't even know how she still managed to bring herself to class.

Her "friends" really screwed her life this time.

Thankfully or Mr. Awkward Protagonist stood up for her, although I don't know if calling her a "love-hotel face" actually made things any better. Doesn't that make her a slut instead? She still appreciated what he said though...

Even though there's still practically no progress in knowing Menma's wish, I thought it's a nice touch to see that Jinta think about a possible deeper meaning to be able to see her, or in fact, if it's better not to have see her at all. I guess he thought better of it since he's closely linked to her death, and this might be a chance for him to redeem himself, or should I say, help himself feel better about it. It's really sad that Menma thought it'll be better for her mom to forget about her too.

Anaru's so cute at the end of the episode, I didn't expect her to be shy about her normal get-up, but of course, Yadomi's actually getting a nosebleed here. Lol @ the "virgin reaction".

The creep in Anohana (and other rants)

Cross dressing AND shaving your legs just to fuel your obsession over a dead girl put you on top of Kimochi Warui Hosaka. You know, that other creep from Minami-ke.

And he looks like this.

I thought he was just the unbearable prick in the show, but now he self-pwn'd and made himself the clown. However, if he manage to come clean with his Menma-fetish, he'll be a valuable role in Menma-hunting.

Anyway, you know what's so irritating about the show? The fact that Menma's so corporeal, to be able to eat, move objects, has mass, and can fucking bake but Jinta isn't going to use those facts to prove that Menma is there. I though there was just some underlying meaning in all the human-things she can do, but Jinta threw it out of the window when he gave the guys the muffins Menma baked.

Lets just do the "pour the paint over in the invisible man" trick.

P.S. And Jinta needs to grow some balls soon and win over Miss Anal, now that she's very likely to lose her pretty friends in the near future.

P.P.S. I've totally fallen in love with the ED, Secret Base. The drop right before the chorus was sick.

Spring 2011 Anime Impressions (Part 2) and Rankings

C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control (3 episodes)

I feel that I'm not enjoying the show as much as I should, because I don't have an ounce of knowledge about how the economy works, so there might be a lot of underlying references I'm missing out. I take it that he got sucked into world where you get to fight other players for cash, with the help of an avatar based on a remnant of yourself. It might not be the correct way to actually "enjoy" the show, but nevertheless I'm quite impressed with what I see. I'll say that it's due to the unique concept and the fast pacing that lets you quickly learn how the "finance district" works.

But that also means that after the "learning" stopped, the uniqueness of the show might wear off and all we'll get is just another angsty teen boy fighting anime. The show can't compare with the level of animation some of the currently airing series boast (look at that guy's face above), and in terms of production values, the only thing I really appreaciate is Tomatsu Haruka voicing the protagonist's avatar, Mashu. I'm doubtful whether it would be all worth it in the end, but for now there's enough content that piqued my curiosity for the show to stay on my watch list.

Outlook: Very Interesting (Watching)

Dororon Enma-kun Meramera (4 episodes)

Enma-kun would definetely be the most unique show this season, even more so than C. Not that it tries any new concept, but the show is directed in the manner you would expect from the 1970s original version. That means its chock full of exaggerated expressions and loud characters. That might be really really off-putting in terms of anime nowadays, but when you factor in that it's a remake of such an old show, you might actually appreaciate that the do it that way.

So, I'm a little creeped out by how childish the show can be at times, and how much they're relying on fanservice to sell the show, but generally the show is pretty entertaining and different for a change. Its no-brainer comedy and fanservice works together really well, and there's still some GAR left for Enma-kun despite his silly stature. The animation are reasonably good too. It's hard for me to recommend this, but if you would appreaciate those really old-school anime, I'd say give it a chance.

Outlook: Good (Watching)

Nichijou (2 episodes)

I've said this before in an earlier post, but Nichijou's brand of humor doesn't suit me. Sure, I've laughed a couple of times at the main character's silliness and over-the-top humor, but I've spent a lot time wishing something moderately funny would come soon. Then I reached the end before that happened. It boast amazing graphic as expected from KyoAni, but not enough to buy me onto the bandwagon.

Outlook: Kinda lame (Dropped)

Steins;Gate (1 episode)

As you might already know, the first episode is extremely confusing if you're not familiar with the game. The way they touches on the topic of time-travelling seemed really cool, but it might also be riddled with plot holes, which are really common for this kind of genre. Anyway, there's very little I could tell from the first episode other that it might look interesting after letting the audience clear the many question marks on top of our heads. I don't like the colors they used, but the animation looks solid. Due to the number of shows I'm following this season I'm putting this on hold so that I could marathon this and absorb the "theories" properly.

Outlook: Promising (On-hold)

Maria Holic Alive (2 episode)

I've confirmed that something must have possessed me to think that like the first season so much, because I remembered straight away what I hated about the show; Kanako's endless ramblings, masochist jokes and bland animation. Some of the segments are quite funny, but Kanako's a pretty lousy lead since she more than often offsets the enjoyment value of show. I might still pick this up some time later, since Mariya and Matsurika are such awesome characters.

Outlook: Fair (On-hold?)

Softenni (3 episodes)

The big shocker here is that Xebec actually produces something I enjoyed watching. Maybe this kind of no-brainer comedy overloaded with fanservice is best suited for the studio; after all, with the comedy already in place in the manga, it's hard to fail at this. The animation is only somewhat acceptable, but the show doesn't really demand anything higher (Nichijou was really overkill). A lot of the show was massacred by censors, but it's still enjoyable. I'm only letting this go due to the number of shows I'm watching now, and would likely pick it up sometime in the future.

Outlook: Unexpectedly good (On-hold)

Aria the Scarlet Ammo (3 episodes)

Tsundere loli voiced by Kugimiya Rie. Male lead voiced by Majima Junji. Baka. Urusai. J.C staff. Doesn't it sound all too familiar? Despite the success of Toradora and SnS, I believe the formula's been done to death already.

So surprisingly, Hidan no Aria almost went up on my watch list. While Aria cling on to Kinji like flies to poop, it didn't feel all that cliched. In fact, it feels like Kinji totally hates her for now. While I don't doubt that the two would end up together in the end, I do feel that the romance part of the story could be almost as good as Toradora. I'm really expecting a lot from Kinji's alter ego too, because the way he subdue Aria is so full of awesome. I just really hate all that pointless fanservice so far. The animation could have been a bit more interesting too. I'm likely to pick this back up in the future.

Outlook: Good (On-hold)

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Astarotte's Toy (2 episodes)

I think most people know about the semen thing by now,  but it's wrong on so many levels. It isn't explicity talked about in the show, but lets for not forget the guy suppose to receive a "service" from Lotte is a full adult, even though he look like a kid. And he's suppose to receive a "service" from 10yo Lotte, less than half his age. And this guy has a kid of his own as well. It was suppose to be my only Horie Yui fix this season, but she voicing a minor character with hideously large boobs.

Story-wise, I haven't seen anything beyond Lotte regretting her decision and trying to get used to the human male. It wasn't even moderately amusing, the fanservice is a joke, and all the magic and otherworldly demons  a plain uninteresting. I suppose the real seller is when Lotte goes tsuntsun for Naoya, but a plain ol' KugiRie tsundere character isn't going to win me over.

Outlook: Poor (Dropped)

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A Channel (1 episode)

I guess the show incorporate a bit of slice-of-life element into it, so it wasn't as funny as I thought it would be. But something feels wrong when one of the four girls becames the antagonist of the group straight away, when they were supposed to sell as a whole group, like you know, K-ON. Although Yuuko (the victim) seems to forgive her for how cute she is, it just feels wrong when the other party totally hates your guts.

All I can tell from the first episode is that it's pretty uninteresting, and the character designs are really unappealing to me. There are some blogs saying how funny it became with the next few episodes, but I'll just wait and see if that would change the general opinion of others.

Outlook: Poor (Dropped)

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Dog Days (1 episode)

Artefact's comment on the show, "Cute but not very interesting", seems to be an understatement. Unless you are Dog Day's target audience, I don't see how you could even find this moderately interesting.

The magical world setup is but a place for these kids to play in; whatever "serious" political issues that they try to factor into the outcome of the battle were as unconvincing as hell. The show is as childish as you thought possible with everyone looking like little children, and that makes the fanservice very out of place. The animation below average, and the bright and colorful template made it impossible for me to enjoy the show at all.

What irks me the most is how much the protagonist fails as a character . I don't know how much he has grown since the first episode, but you can't just makes a character jump into a different dimension and say "I'll stay, cuz it's fun" and leave it at that. Giving him imba acrobatic abilities just to make him an impossibly awesome dudein the magical world doesnt help.

Of course it'll all be very different if you could appreciate something kiddy like this. The main character steals all the limelight, there's girls with hair of every color a five year old can name, there's magic, there's fighting but no one actually gets hurt! What more can you ask for?

Outlook: Subjective. Me? Unwatchable. (Dropped)

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Oretachi ni Tsubaba wa Nai & Hoshizora e Kakeru Hashi (1 episode each)

These two eroge adaptations aren't as generic as I thought it'll be, but it doesn't stand out too much either. I've been spoiled a fair bit on both series, and most likely it would never outdo some of the better eroge adaptations out there. With so much more prospective anime this season, there's no time for me to give these shows a try.

---

Overall Rankings (from the most propective, and from what I watched at least an episode):

1. Hanasaku Iroha
2. Anohana
3. Tiger & Bunny
4. Steins; Gate
5. Deadman Wonderland
6. Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko
7. C: The Money Of Soul And Possibility Control
8. Nichijou
9. Dororon Enma-kun Meramera
10. Aria the Scarlet Ammo
11. Softenni
12. Maria Holic
13. Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai
14. A Channel
15. Hoshizora e Kakeru Hashi
16. Astarotte's Toy
17. Dog Days

Thanks for reading!

Spring 2011 Anime Impressions (Part 1)

You'd think that with the strangely large number of airing series this season, most of them tend to suck. And strangely enough, that is not the case. I've never sampled so many series in one season before and a lot of them looked really promising...

Ok, so recently anime series with a promising start tend to suck near the end (like last season), but I'm seeing really high production values this time round and the chance of that happening is much lower. Still, I'm forced to drop some really good ones so I can spent my time watching the cream of the crop.

Due to the amount of show's I'm going to review, I'm going to split the post into 2 (or maybe 3) parts. Man, it's hard to write a good review when you're trying to keep it spoiler-free.

Hanasaku Iroha (4 episodes)

Hanasaku Iroha is undoubtedly the best anime I've watched this season, and that's saying a lot judging from the number of show I've previewed this season. If nothing else, this show deserves to be watched. Extremely high production values, with really good opening soundtrack and fantastic voice cast. It's nice to hear Mamiko Noto not using her shy voice I hated so much, and Toyosaki Aki taking a break from her Yui voice.

The story isn't much yet, but the character interactions are what made the show so enjoyable. And I must give praise to how realistic they have portrayed the characters; they're not characters you can associate common tropes like tsundere or dojikko, but each of them really does feels like an individual in life. Lead Ohana's monologue and her perspective of her life are the highlights of the show.

Outlook: Best this season!

Tiger & Bunny (4 episodes)

It's a pretty interesting concept, where superheroes are real occupations that's heavily reliant on sponsors to get the job done. I also enjoy the fact that we're looking at the superhero genre from a more mature perspective, because our lead's a middle-guy guy with a daughter, not your usual angsty confused teenager. Lead Kotetsu might be silly and goofy at times, but he's really likable character and has shown to be pretty reliable and mature at times. T&B has really good production values as well, so it's a keeper.

Outlook: Very Good

Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko (2 episodes)

I didn't know what to expect from this due to how little information there was available before it aired, but looks good enough to stay on my watch list so far. The story hasn't quite begin yet so I can't judge, but the series of "Denpa" girls (eccentric, more or less) introduced so far are really likable and it seemed like they will make the coming episodes a lot more enjoyable. The productions values are solid. The opening song feels like it would got on my nerves soon though. Right now the show hasn't prove to be much, but it sure looks promising.

Outlook: Very Promising

Deadman Wonderland (2 episodes)

What do you know, it really feels a lot like Eureka Seven. The pace is faster though, and it already getting interesting with Ganta's newfound powers unlike ES's slow start. Loved how Hanazawa Kana is using the Nessa voice for Shiro too. I have doubts whether the series would make it in the end due to the number of episodes, but for now it looks like the show's going to be pretty entertaining. I do find that the introduction of the story is a bit too implausible to believe, but I can overlook a bad start if they could keep up the current standard. The production values seemed very good thus far, although I've expected nothing less from Manglobe.

Plus Shiro is just too cute. Sometimes I wonder if they're trying to be serious or trying to overload with moe.

Outlook: Excellent

Anohana (3 episodes)

Anohana and Hanasaku Iroha actually shares a lot of traits. They're both beautifully animated dramas, with a lot of detail put into the characters interactions and behaviour, and a lot of the show is driven by the lead's monologue. Both are really awesome shows that I would recommend people to watch, although Hanasaku Iroha does it just a bit better.

If I had to describe the show in one word, it would be beautiful. The animation is top-notch, and I really love how much detail they put into the characters, right up to their dialogue, various outfits and emotion on their faces. I also like how they touch on the elements of friendship and family. It became very thought-provoking, and touching at times. I have a very strong feeling that the series would end up in some kind of bittersweet ending I loathe so much, but I'll continue to watch this if every episode is so enjoyable. I would rank this show right after Hanasaku Iroha, so it's also highly recommended.

Outlook: Excellent

Sping 2011 Preview (and what you should know)

...Actually, I don't know why I use this image. Does it feel like Spring to you?

It's late as usual, but my plans to post this right before the start of the new season got delayed by some unforeseen circumstances...

As you might already know, there's a ton of new shows coming out this season. My original watch list was eight shows but that is a pretty crazy number, seeing that five shows in Winter 2011 is already a bit much. Funny though, despite the number of new shows, there doesn't seem to any really prominent series people are looking for, unlike last season's Madoka and Fractale.


Will Watch

(L to R)
Deadman Wonderland

What you should know:
1. Same author as Eureka Seven.
2. Animated by Manglobe, who made Samurai Champloo and Ergo Proxy.
3. Lead is voiced by Paku Romi (of FMA fame).
4. The female lead Shiro (White) in white body suit is voiced by Hanazawa Kana.

I've got my eye on the manga right before the studio announced plans to animate this series around nearly a year ago, when I just finished the Eureka Seven manga and was searching for more stuff written by the author. Besides the fact that the leads of both series looked really similar, I feel that both series share a similar flaw, which is that the leads are both angsty boys without really a direction in life and are quickly thrown into a chaotic situation. The early parts of both the stories are driven by random new characters popping into the main lead's situation and helping him to adapt to the situation around him, while he does not do anything else and is being lead by the nose by whoever that is helping him at that moment.

While both share a similar story set-up, Deadman Wonderland is set to finish in just one season unlike Eureka Seven's 50 episodes. I guess I shouldn't be so judging, but I really liked Eureka Seven so I hoped to see how Deadman Wonderland can have the same potential as well.

Maria Holic Alive

What you should know:
1. Seconds season, by Shaft.
2. No one I know seems to have a favourable opinion of the first season O.O

I liked the first season. But to tell you the truth, I don't know what I liked about it anymore. I figured it's due to how much I'm impressed with Shaft at that time that I just came to enjoy everything Shaft produces and that seeing the Shinbo-styled animation was enjoyable in itself. Now that I'm all over the Shaft-hype I'll watch this to see if Maria Holic is really worth my praise for the first season. I don't doubt that the studio knows about the complains regarding the show, so hopefully the second season will be better but then again, people says that Shaft's second seasons would never make any improvements. If you ask me, I'll say that it's true for Hidamari Sketch, Zetsubou Sensei and Natsu no Arashi.

Hanasaku Iroha

What you should know:
1. I don't care much about Itou Kanae voice the lead, but there's Toyosaki Aki, Omigawd Chiaki and Tomatsu Haruka on the supporting characters.
2. Animated by P.A works, a studio that (seem to?) only did True Tears, Canaan and Angel Beats.

First things first, while I think Omigawa Chiaki did a pretty bad job on Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru, I loved how she did Mitsuba in Seitokai Yakuindomo. Hopefully the laid-back genre on the series will give her character better lines.

I don't know much about the series, but the character designs, voice actors, country life setting, cute girls, and what looked like drama/slice-of-life genre is something that appeals to me the most. And since it's P.A's commemorative work and they dared to make it a show that span two seasons, I'm expecting it to be really good. Furthermore, shows like these seems to be becoming better after the demand for slice-of-life shows had risen so much.

I expect this to be a relatively low-key show, but it seemed like it has caught the eye of many bloggers as well.

Fireball Charming

What you should know:
1. It's a Disney CG series that is only a couple of minutes long per episode.

I liked the character design so much that I've already owned two Drossel figurines. And no, I don't have many figurines. While it's true that the only thing that is "anime" about the series is that it's made in Japanese, it's still a pretty enjoyable series to watch. Drossel's childish nature, random poses and actions, and nonchalant attitude about the war can be pretty interesting if you're not taking it seriously. Why not? It's just couple of minutes per week.

Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko

What you should know:
1. It's a Shaft sci-fi comedy

It's a guaranteed watch, just as with any other Shaft productions (except for Arakawa, I haven't got around to watch that yet). With a bit of research, "Denpa" roughly translates to "eccentric", so the title roughly means "Eccentric Girl and Adolescent Guy". The plot summary didn't tell much, and the trailer mostly consists of the light novel drawing so very little information is available. I don't wanna spoil myself getting into the novel, but the girl and concept looks interesting, so I hope for the best.

Steins;Gate

What you should know:
1. From the creators of Chaos;Head
2. Nanoha TamuraYukari and Hanazawa Kana are among the primary female VAs.

Despite the number of shows coming out this season, Steins;Gate is one of the most anticipated series coming out this season. I just hope that the show doesn't make too many references to Chaos;Head, because I haven't watch that yet (not that I'm planning to, I've read many negative reviews about it). Still, I'm doubtful if White Fox studios can make a decent piece of work, because while I haven't watch Katanagatari, Tears to Tiara is shit. But like with Hanasaku Iroha, if a show these days can warrant a two-season timeslot, the show should be at least decent. I'm no fan of time-travelling plots, but sometimes (like Haruhi) it could turn out to be pretty interesting.

Might Watch

Moshidora
I never watch sports anime, and combining business logic with sports doesn't seem like a good idea (although it does for the author in person). But this combination does make this series a bit more unique. I might actually watch it for Hanazawa Kana and Hisaka Youko, but I'll watch for more reviews.

Dog Days
Nanoha meets Zero no Tsukaima. While the concept looked like it might work, the kiddy characters and colors is actually a turn-off to me. Like Moshidora, I might watch it for the voice actors, which boast Hanazawa Kana (again) and Hisaka Youko (again) and Horie Yui.

Nichijou
It might seem like a must-watch for any anime fan, and it's a comedy that might actually outdo K-ON, but frankly episode 0 is really disappointing. I haven't watch episode 1, but I just can't seem to find the jokes in Nichijou to be funny. Might give it a try sometime later.

C: The Money Of Soul And Possibility Control
While this might be one of the most anticipated shows this season, and it's on the noitaminA slot, I'm not sure who the target audience was and I feel that it's really a hit-or-miss show. I'll wait for the blogosphere to give me more info and if it's good, it might replace Maria Holic on my watch list.

Anohana
The name roughly translates to "We still do not know the name of the flower we saw that day", if my friend didn't translate wrongly. Like C, it's a noitaminA show, so I'm not sure if it's something for me but I'm likely to give it a 2-episode test, if I had the time.