-blacksheep's Spring 2012 Watch List

I hate the fact that I always choose so many series to watch and only follow a few but then, I guess deciding on so many series is probably a good thing as well since it gives me various series to watch and practically being able to taste a little of everything.

Winter sure is going pretty well with a couple more episodes to go until most of them will end. On my part, it looks like I'll only be finishing around 8 series namely Another, Bakuman 2, Brave 10, Chihayafuru, Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou, Inu x Boku SS, Mirai Nikki (TV) and Nisemonogatari. Hopefully, I'll be able to finish Senki Zesshou Symphogear and Phi Brain: Kami no Puzzle. Oh and I just remembered, Spring 2012 marks my 1year of non-stop download of anime in torrent. LOL.

Now that Spring is about to come, I have decided which series I'll be watching and will try. Here's my list:

~Will surely watch

Kimi to Boku S2 [MyAnimeList | Official Website]

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, School, Shounen, Slice of Life

Synopsis:

Second season of Kimi to Boku.

The story revolves around four teens — the good-looking twins Yuuta and Yuuki Asaba, the effeminate Shun Matsuoka, and the class head Kaname Tsukahara — who have known each other since early childhood. While they are not necessarily good or bad friends, they continue to hang out well into high school. The half-Japanese transfer student Chizuru Tachibana joins the circle of friends in this comedy about the everyday life of adolescence. -MAL

Why I'll Watch: The first season definitely became one of my fave anime. The art is as refreshing as ever. Really lovable characters. Irino Miyu(Tachibana Chizuru, Tadakuni) is back as Chizuru again! :3

Tsuritama [MyAnimeList | Official Website]

Genre: Sci-fi

Synopsis:

Yuki Sanada is a high school boy who cannot communicate with people well and doesn't have a single friend. 

He lives on Enoshima island with his French grandmother. One day, he meets a boy named Haru. Haru calls himself an alien who visited the Earth for fishing. 

Another high school boy, Natsuki, and a mysterious Indian, Akira, join the two and the island becomes the center of the event which determines the fate of the world. -MAL

Why I'll Watch: It's a noitaminA anime. The art looks really good plus getting the knowledge it's producer is A-1 Pictures (AnoHana, Ao no Exorcist, Working!!). The main casts includes: Irino Miyu, Sugita Tomokazu (Sakata Gintoki, Tabata Hidenori) and Uchiyama Kouki (Asaba Yuuta, Tenjo Kaito).

ZETMAN [MyAnimeList]

Genre: Action, Drama, Horror, Romance, Sci-Fi, Supernatural, Seinen

Synopsis:

The story starts off with a face-off between two rival heroes, ZET and ALPHAS, and then traces their origins - Jin Kanzaki, a young man with the ability to transform into a superhuman being known as ZET, and Kouga Amagi, a young man with a strong sense of justice who uses technology to fight as ALPHAS. 

The fates of these two men and those around them intertwine as they fight to protect mankind and destroy monstrous abominations known as Players, who ironically are the creations of the Amagi Corporation, the company founded by Kouga’s grandfather, Mitsugai Amagi.

(Source: ytv ENGLISH) -MAL

Why I'll Watch: Miyano Mamoru (Kida Masaomi, Mashima Taichi) is one of the main characters! The genres look interesting AND the combination of romance and horror looks intriguing. Other main casts include: Hanazawa Kana (Roromiya Karuta, Shiina Mayuri), Namikawa Daisuke (Kazehaya Shouta, Narukami Yuu) and Ise Mariya (Yarizui Sen, Mine Riko).

Sankarea [MyAnimeList]

Genre: Comedy, Ecchi, Horror, Romance, Shounen, Supernatural

Synopsis:

Furuya's obsessed with zombies. He collects any figurines, watches any movie, and plays any game with the living dead, and is even only interested in zombie girls. When his cat dies, Furuya begins trying to raise it from the dead using an ancient book of the occult he bought from a shop. But what will happen when he sees the idol of a nearby all girl's school walking close to where he conducts his experiment, wishing to die and be reborn as a different person?

(Source: MU) -MAL

Why I'll Watch: Another anime with the horror genre + romance. Not to mention comedy (as I have always been a fan of comedy). Oh, and it looks like this'll involve zombies in a funny way though. lol. Ryohei Kimura (Hinata Hideki, Asaba Yuuki) has done a couple of roles I loved. Character Design is done by Sakai Kyuuta (Steins;Gate). Music is done by Hashimoto Yukari who did Mawaru Penguindrum's which I really loved. 

Hyou-ka [MyAnimeList | Official Website]

Genre: Mystery

Synopsis:

Oreki Hotaro is a high school boy, who always acts passively. One day, he enters "Koten Bu (Classic Literature Club)" as recommended by his elder sister.

There he meets Chitanda Eru, Fukube Satoshi, and Ibara Mayaka. Chitanda is a calm beautiful girl but she turns into an embodiment of curiosity once she says, "I'm interested in it (Watashi, Kininarimasu)". Fukube is a smiling boy with a fantastic memory, he never deduces anything on his own. Ibara is a short girl and is strict with others and herself. She loves Fukube, but he always dodges her approaches.

They begin to investigate a case that occurred 33 years ago. Hints of the mystery are buried in an old collection of works of the former members of Koten Club. The collection is titled "Hyouka". -MAL

Why I'll Watch: The art looks really beautiful as expected from a KyoAni (CLANNAD, Nichijou). Mystery is one of my fave genre. Gives off the slice of life feeling to it whenever I see the art. Main casts includes Nakamura Yuuichi (Miketsukami Soushi, Gray Fullbuster). 

Tasogare Otome x Amnesia [MyAnimeList | Official Website]

Genre: Mystery, Horror, Romance, School, Shounen, Supernatural

Synopsis:

The story takes place in Seikyou Private School. A facility that consists of multiple buildings that connect together to accommodate both junior and senior high school students. Sixty years of ongoing renovations and expansions have meant most of the old inner structures have been sealed and abandoned. Classrooms turned into storage rooms, staircases no longer in use, hallways like dark alleys. With the existence of such a maze-like building, it is only natural that rumours of the paranormal would appear.

One day first-year middle school student Teiichi Niiya gets lost in this maze and by chance arrives at an old storage room. This is where he meets Yuuko Kanoe, a mysterious girl with raven black, long silky hair and a tall and slender figure, who introduces herself as the ghost of the old school building. For some unexplainable reason Niiya is the only one able to see this spirit and she herself does not have any recollection of the reasons or time of her death, nor any lingering feelings about life itself. Curious about the circumstances of her death the two create a paranormal investigation club and seek to find out the truth about it and the many other mysteries surrounding the school. -MAL

Why I'll Watch: The synopsis looks interesting enough to convince me. Genre wise, it's somehow similar to Sankarea which I'm looking forward to watching as well this season. BUT I'm not expecting anything in this series in terms of art (<< no matter how beautiful the picture looks) because the producer is Silver Link who did Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu and C Cube. Their characters sure are cute but I'm not a fan of them.

~Will try

Acchi Kocchi [MyAnimeList]

Genre: Romance, School, Seinen

Synopsis:

Wouldn't you just love to poke in a relationship between two young high schoolers who have a subtle distance between each other? Of course you would. Tsumiki and Io have this subtle distance that anyone would want to jump in between just to bug them. That's what the other characters are there for. Tsumiki, being a tsundere and all, won't be honest about her feelings toward Io. Io on the other hand is unaware of Tsumiki's feelings, hence the subtle distance between the two. Now, let's watch these two and see what events await them... 

(Sources: Mamo, Mangahelpers) -MAL

Why I'll Try: The story looks typical but could be pretty good to watch when I need something to watch when I want to just stop thinking about all the other exciting shows that needs 110% of my attention. Main guy, Io is Okamoto Nobuhiko (Nizuma Eiji, Usui Takumi). AIC = Hourou Musuko, Mayoi Neko Overrun!, Special A.

Accel World [MyAnimeList | Official Website]

Genre: Action, Romance, School, Sci-fi

Synopsis:

One autumn day in 2046, Haruyuki has an encounter with Kuroyukihime, the prettiest girl in his school. For the middle school boy who is often bullied, the meeting changes his life. Through a mysterious piece of software from her, Haruyuki learns of the existence of the virtual Accel World. In that moment, the lowest of the "school caste" becomes "Burst Linker", a knight defending a princess.

(Source: ANN) -MAL

Why I'll Try: Action + Sunrise (Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch, Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou) = Must Try. I know Sacred Seven was a little disappointment but hopefully this one can make up for that. Sound director is Tsuruoka Yota who also worked on Bakemonogatari,  K-ON!, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica and many more. Art looks fantastic(:

Hiiro no Kakera [MyAnimeList]

Genre: Action, Romance

Synopsis:

The protagonist is a teenage girl (Tamaki) who revisits a small village, she remembers from her childhood and gets caught up in her family's history and supernatural dangers surrounding it.

While walking along the hillsides waiting for the person who her grandmother sent to fetch Tamaki to the village, Tamaki comes across a small, white round object with sticks for limbs and talks. It runs off soon after, with Tamaki chasing after it. Soon Tamaki finds herself in a place where ‘it doesn’t feel like the world I came from’. She gets attacked by three slime creatures, and a male comes charging in to save her - by clamping his hands around her body and mouth and telling her to be quiet.

(Source: Wikipedia) -MAL

Why I'll Try: Romance + Reverse Harem. End of story. LOL. Oh and Sugita Tomokazu is part of the main cast. Anyway, I just downloaded this and will watch it soon. I'll most likely post a first impression review.

Jormungand [MyAnimeList | Official Website]

Genre: Action, Adventure, Seinen

Synopsis:

The series follows Koko Hekmatyar, a young arms dealer who sells weapons under HCLI, a weapons corporation. 

As one of the company's unofficial weapon sellers, she secretly sells weapons in many countries while avoiding the local authorities and law enforcements as most of her work is actually illegal under international law. Traveling with her is her team of bodyguards who are mostly composed of ex-military veterans. 

Her latest addition to her crew is Jonah, a seemingly emotionless child soldier who is skilled in combat yet ironically hates arms dealers. Jonah joins Koko as he wishes to find the arms dealer responsible for his family's death. 

What follows is Koko and her crews escapades around the world. 

(Source: Wikipedia) -MAL

Why I'll Try: The story seems interesting. Producer is White Fox = Steins;Gate. The director is Motonaga Keitarou who also directed the epic annoying ecchi anime School Days. This should be good. Oh, and music is done by Iwasaki Taku (Ben-To, C: the Money of Soul and Possibility Control, Yakitate!! Japan).

Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? OF THE DEAD [MyAnimeList]

Genre: Action, Comedy, Ecchi, Magic

Synopsis:

Second season of Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?

Aikawa Ayumu is a normal high school boy. One day he is killed by a serial killer and revived as a zombie by a necromancer named Eucliwood Hellscythe. He starts to serve Eu as her guard but he happens to deprive the mahou shoujo Haruna of her magic power. Haruna orders Ayumu to fight against the anti-mahou shoujo system "Megalo" in her place. -MAL

Why I'll Try: Truth be told, even though Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? is ecchi, I certainly liked it but not until the last couple of episodes. Yes, it had a bad conclusion and terrible final episode plus an epic ecchi OVA but I would still like to give this sequel a shot. This probably won't be something I'll be watching on a weekly basis but I will watch this. That's for sure. + I need more of Eucliwood!! :3

Medaka Box [MyAnimeList | Official Website]

Genre: Action, Comedy, Ecchi, Martial Arts, Romance, School, Shounen

Synopsis:

Kurokami Medaka, a first year, is elected as Student Council President, and the first thing she does is establish a suggestion box, later dubbed by students the "Medaka Box". Medaka encourages students to submit any problem to the box without hesitation and promises to take on any issue from anyone. 

Since Medaka won the Student Council elections with a staggering 98% of the vote, she ends up as the Council's only member. She asks her childhood friend, Hitoyoshi Zenkichi, for help and he grudgingly agrees, becoming the Student Council's lowest ranking member. Soon Medaka recruits two more people to the Student Council, the former judo club member Akune Kouki as secretary and the current swim club member Kikaijima Mogana, on loan for 300 yen a day, as treasurer. 

Now the Student Council members spend their days solving the problems submitted through the Medaka Box, whether they be hooligans in clubs where they don't belong, girls who need help writing love letters or people who've lost their pets, gradually earning the respect and admiration of the entire school. -MAL

Why I'll Try: It’s a WSJ anime + it's the SKET Dance and Gintama type of anime wherein they'll help and solve problems and it'll probably be funny (and ecchi). This is another original creation of Nisio Isin who also created the very well received Bakemonogatari and Nisemonogatari.

Natsuiro Kiseki [MyAnimeList | Official Website]

Genre: Slice of Life

Synopsis:

Original anime featuring the four members of sphere (Kotobuki Minako, Tomatsu Haruka, Takagaki Ayahi, Toyosaki Aki) as voice actresses. -MAL

Why I'll Try: Simply because it's slice of life. I like watching slice of life anime even though how boring they get. I'm not expecting anything for this since given the synopsis I got, it doesn't have anything interesting in it. Art director is Ikeda Shigemi, the one who did in Yakitate!! Japan, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED and Destiny and will also work on this coming season's Nazo no Kanojo X(: Director will be Mizushima Seiji who directed Mobile Suit Gundam 00 as well as its Second Season.

Nazo no Kanojo X [MyAnimeList | Official Website]

Genre: Mystery, Ecchi, Romance, School, Seinen

Synopsis:

One day, a strange transfer student appears before Tsubaki. Urabe Mikoto is an antisocial girl, whose hobby is just sleeping during class-breaks. One day, Tsubaki goes to wake her up and accidentally tastes her drool... And gets hooked on that!

After that, he starts going out with her and gets to know her better. Her second hobby, as it turns out, is carrying around scissors in her panties and cutting paper into flowers...

(Source: MU) -MAL

Why I'll Try: The image captured me. LOL. Seriously. The synopsis looks interesting enough to back that up anyway. Plus, like what I mentioned earlier, mystery is one of my fave genre. Also, like I mentioned earlier, Ikeda Shigemi (Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, Yakitate!! Japan) will be the art director. AND the one responsible for the script is Akao Deko who worked on Arakawa Under the Bridge and in X Bridge. So this should be interesting. Finally Irino Miyu is the main guy for this one as well. He sure is doing a number of anime this coming season. 

Ozuma [MyAnimeList | Official Website]

Genre: Sci-fi

Synopsis:

In the far future, the elevated irradiation from the sun has destroyed the environment of the earth and the birthrate of humans has drastically decreased. The government controls society with an army of cloned soldiers called "Ideal Children (IC)". Sam Coin is a trader in a desert. One day, he saves a beautiful woman Maya, who has been chased by Theseus, a corps of IC. He shelters her in his trade ship, but the destroyers of Theseus surround Sam and Maya. -MAL

Why I'll Try: It looks old school :3 HAHAHA, forget that. What really made me want to try this series is  Kakihara Tetsuya (Sarutobi Sasuke, Dragneel Natsu, Amaimon :3) and Tanaka Rie (Lacus Clyne). Yeah, it's so obvious, I'm a sucker for voice actors. I usually watch anime because of the voice actors x3 Oh and reading the synopsis, I was wondering if there'll be romance or something.

Phi Brain: Kami no Puzzle S2 [MyAnimeList]

Genre: Action, Game

Synopsis:

Second season of Phi Brain: Kami no Puzzle.

Kaito Daimon would be a completely average high school student except for one thing: he's a 'demon' at solving puzzles. Kaito is so brilliant, in fact, that when he's asked to take some 'special' tests of his unique ability, he immediately suspects that the test itself is a test. Kaito suddenly finds himself caught up in a lethal Philosopher's Puzzle made by the sinister group POG, a murderous maze of trap upon trap, where failing to solve the secret correctly will result in death! Fortunately, Kaito's skills prove up to the first test, both for himself and his childhood friend Nanoha, who is also caught up in the deadly scheme. But now that he has been designated as a Solver, he is pulled into a new life where he must travel the world with other Solvers, attempting to solve the latest deadly riddles left by POG. There's a new conundrum around every corner and each deception could lead to death, but once a riddle has been posed, you can count on Kaito to unfold, unravel and unlock it! -MAL

Why I'll Try: I usually go watch sequels. No questions ask. It's on my "will try" list because I'm far from finishing S1 but hopefully before this airs I'll be able to do so. Also, I saw the list of new Orpheus Order and Kamiya Hiroshi (Araragi Koyomi, Orihara Izaya) , Sugita Tomokazu, Ono Daisuke (Heiwajima Shizuo, Satou Jun) and Hikasa Youko (Akiyama Mio, Literature Girl) will be there. This is really good news (for me, that is) :3 Oh and final reason for watching this, it's Sunrise. End of story.

Sakamichi no Apollon [MyAnimeList | Official Website]

Genre: Drama, Historical, Romance, School, Slice of Life, Josei

Synopsis:

Nishimi Kaoru has moved from city to city and school to school because of his father's job. So the first day at his new school was just routine for him. Being intellectual and the new transfer student, he has always been seen as an outcast and all Kaoru had to do was bear it until the next time he moved. But things were slightly different this time. First, he started to get close to the class president, Mukae Ritsuko, and, secondly, unlikely as it seemed, grew closer to Kawabuchi Sentaro. Sentaro was infamous for getting into fights, skipping class and was an overall bad boy. Strangely enough, the three of them find common ground in music, namely jazz, and Kaoru finds himself actually enjoying the new town. -MAL

Why I'll Try:  It's a noitaminA anime. The Synopsis gives off a typical slice of life and I've been reading A LOT of interesting comments about this show being really good. Character design isn't entirely my type and the animation isn't that catching for me but the PV looks pretty interesting. 

Saki: Achiga-hen - Episode of Side-A [MyAnimeList | Official Website]

Genre: Game, School, Slice of Life

Synopsis:

The Achiga Girls' Academy in Nara once defeated regional mahjong powerhouse Bansei High School. It advanced into the national team semifinals but lost to the eventual champion, and the mahjong club was later disbanded.

Six years later, elementary school student Shizuno Takakamo befriends transfer student Nodoka Haramura. The two eventually enter Achiga Girls', but Nodoka transfers out of the school in the second year. 

When Shizuno sees Nodoka on television the following year as the national middle school individual mahjong champion, she decides to revive Achiga's mahjong club. -MAL

Why I'll Try: I've never watched Saki before and I'm not even interested in trying it (for now) but I'd like to give this one a chance.The cast looks pretty interesting particularly Hanazawa Kana, Touyama Nao (Nakagawa Kanon, Yune) and Yuuki Aoi (Victorique de Blois, Ichii Tooru).  AND I'm the really pretty-random-watch-anything type of person. 

Uchuu Kyoudai [MyAnimeList | Official Website]

Genre: Sci-fi, Space, Slice of Life, Seinen

Synopsis:

“The older brother should always be ahead of the younger one...”

Once upon a time there were two brothers, Hibito and Mutta. Hibito, the littler brother, had been blessed with good luck since the day he was born. Mutta, the elder, had always had bad luck. One day, looking up at the night sky, the two brothers saw a UFO. This experience made them both promise to become astronauts.

In the year 2025, Hibito has kept his promise and become an astronaut, part of the first wave of people to live for an extended period of time on the moon. Meanwhile, his older brother Mutta has been fired from his job and is unemployed but one message from his brother makes him decide to start being an astronaut again. 

Thirty two year old Mutta will attempt the astronaut candidate examinations. To follow his brother Hibito to the moon, Mutta will attempt to become an astronaut at the age of 32. Unaware of his own talent, elder brother Mutta chases his dreams to get back in front of his younger brother. Believing the words “The older brother should always be ahead of the younger one...”

(Source: ytv ENGLISH (modified)) -MAL

Why I'll Try: Honestly speaking, I don't like the art of this anime ever since I saw it. LOL. Anyway, what actually convinced me is the interesting synopsis as well as the growing number of people who're going to watch this series. Oh and the idea that they don't actually alike for being brothers. LOL.

Overall Impression

This season sure had a number of series I'd like to check out and a few of them have reached almost100% of my interest. I don't have much expectations on any of them so I don't think I'll go on an epic disappointment moment here. This season seems to be offering a number of romance anime (Kimi to Boku, ZETMAN, Sankarea, Accel World , etc) and at the same end, it offers a number of ecchi series (Medaka Box, Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? OF THE DEAD, Nazo no Kanojo X, etc). Oh and the number of horror series (Sankarea, ZETMAN, Tasogare Otome x Amnesia) has increased or the genres written in MAL are just plain random? That's pretty interesting. Oh well, I just like to look forward to this season and hopefully get a number of unexpectedly good shows(:

What'll Blog

Like I mentioned last time, I'd like to blog around 5 series. Hopefully I can manage it as well as it can improve my skills on writing and time management. Anyway, I will most likely post a first impression of the anime that I'll feel like writing for and worth doing so.

Will surely blog: Kimi to Boku S2

Will think about blogging: Tsuritama, ZETMAN, Sankarea, Hyou-ka, Sakamichi no Apollon,Tasogare Otome x Amnesia, I might choose to blog a series that's NOT in this list depending on how I'll like the 1st episode(:

okay. this is my longest post yet. LOL.