Time for the next season of Anime. This season is sure to be another good one. Even if everything else sucks, I'll still have Fate/Zero to watch! I'm going to keep trying out new formats for displaying the series until I find one that I lot. This one shows some promise, I like how much information I can pack in there! Sorry for the lack of consistency. As usual, there are plenty more Anime airing, but I'm only going to preview the ones that I'm going to watch at least one episode of. Let's begin!
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OzumaOfficial Site: http://ozuma.jp/Genre: Drama, Science Fiction Airs: March 16th @ 12:00AM JST on WOWOW Producers: Gonzo, LandQ studios Episodes: 6 |
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| Summary: 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. | |
| Preview: Sadly, I've not watched any Leiji Matsumoto pieces except for Space Battleship Yamato as I've only recently discovered Captain Harlock and Galaxy Express 999 during a music video. (Suddenly there were sweet space pirate ships flying around to a song I know and I'm like: "WHERE HAS THIS ANIME BEEN ALL MY LIFE!?!?") Yeah, I know. Shame on me. It's almost like this little corner of Anime gold has been hiding from me for years. Based on my experience with Yamato, I can already tell why this man is so revered. There isn't much information on this Anime even after it aired early, there doesn't even seem to be a trailer. Instead, here is the OP: | |
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Uchuu KyoudaiOfficial Site: http://uchukyodai.com/Genre: Sci-Fi, Space, Slice of Life, Seinen Airs: April 1 @ 7:00AM JST on YTV Producers: A-1 Pictures, YTV Episodes: ? |
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| Summary: 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. | |
| Preview: This one almost didn't make it on the list. I was about to overlook it, but the dog in the space suit made me decide to at least do a little research. Turns out, this series is being directed by this guy Watanabe who has YEARS of experience making Anime, but the only thing he's ever worked on (other than some 2 episode OAV I've never heard of) is Doraemon. I can only imagine the scene unfolding: "Guys, I'm SICK AND TIRED of working on Doraemon, I'm going to go make a REAL ANIME!" Usually it is those that have the drive to bust out of the routine and do something new are the ones that spark revolution. He is also working on another Anime this season that I am more excited for. Worst case scenario: doods and dogs in space, could be interesting. | |
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Upotte!!Official Site: http://www.upotte.jp/Genre: Action, Comedy, Seinen Airs: April 7 @ 12:00AM Nico Nico Douga (Stream) Producers: Xebec Episodes: ? |
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| Summary: A teacher is looking for a school by the name of Seishou Academy, as he is a new transfer teacher for that school. Seishou Academy is known for having students with excellent marksmanship. However, he gets lost along the way and decides to look for someone who knows where the school is at a summer festival.
He encounters a girl at a shooting range and finds her marksmanship skills to be professional. The girl tells the new teacher that she is an assault rifle, not a student. Her name is FNC and is an assault rifle of Seishou Academy. |
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| Preview: You know how Japan likes to anthropomorphize anything into cute high school age girls? Well this time it is guns. I don't think I need to say much more. I'll watch one episode on the off chance it is really funny, bit with the director of To Love-Ru and the character designer from Kanokon however, I think it's just going to be a giant muck of fan service with no point. One statistic that would be interesting to find out is if characters have matching physical characteristics to their object of inspiration (ie. Clip Size = Cup Size, Calibur = Temper, etc). I don't know anything about guns though, so I'll let you guys do the work. | |
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Kuroko no BasukeOfficial Site: http://www.kurobas.com/Genre: Comedy, School, Shounen, Sports Airs: April 7 @ 1:58AM JST on MBS Producers: Production I.G, Bandai Visual, Lantis, NAS Episodes: ? |
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| Summary: Kuroko is a member from the legendary middle school basketball team known as "The Generation of Miracles", and while nobody seems to know about him, the main 5 players of the team all admit that he is a better player. When he joins the high school basketball team, everyone is surprised to find out that he is small, weak, and easy to miss. What is the secret that makes him so strong, and how will he help his high school team? | |
| Preview: Another Anime that I almost didn't look twice at. As I was scrolling down the lists looking for information about each series the titles Durarara!! and Baccano! caught my eye. While I still haven't finished either due to time constraints that arose during their respective air-times, I do really like their style. However, I didn't know what exactly a "Series Composition" person does, so I asked a buddy who is more knowledgeable than I in the business end of Anime: "They're the coordinator for dividing the story into episodic formats, securing airtime across stations, it's kind of a catch all for taking the story idea and staff schedules and making sure they fill a set amount of episodes." In other words, pretty important. I usually don't watch sports Anime unless there is something quirky about them. I'll give this one a few episodes, even though the trailer is kind of lame: | |
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Eureka Seven: Astral OceanOfficial Site: http://eurekaao-prj.net/Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Mecha, Sci-Fi Airs: April 13 @ 1:55AM JST on MBS Producers: Bones Episodes: ? |
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| Summary: The story is set on Okinawa's isolated island of Iwado, which has seen a growing movement advocating a return to an autonomous government. Ao Fukai, a 13-year-old boy with a missing father, lives on the island with an old doctor named Toshio and is about to enter middle school. Ao's mother was taken away a decade ago by unknown individuals. Naru Arata, Ao's 13-year-old childhood friend and the story's heroine, lives with her father, older sister, and grandmother. She has a "Yuta" power awakened within her due to an incident when she was young.
A mysterious entity called "Secret" suddenly appears and launches an attack on the Scub Coral lifeform on the island. Ao launches a certain military FP called "Nirvash" aboard a Japanese military transport in his fervent desire to protect the island. |
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| Preview: I never actually watched Eureka Seven, but I have a number of friends that swear by it. This series has the same director, but apparently the original writer's participation is unknown. According to a preview by The Cart Driver, the absence of that writer could break the series. The new Anime has an all new cast and story so you can pick it up even if you haven't watched the original. I'll watch a few episodes and if it's at least decent I'll go back and watch the first season. | |
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Tasogare Otome x AmnesiaOfficial Site: http://www.amnesia-tv.com/Genre: Mystery, Horror, Romance, School, Shounen, Supernatural Airs: April 9 @ 12:00 JST on Animax Producers: Silver Link Episodes: 12 |
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| Summary: 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. |
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| Preview: As I said last season, I don't get a chance to watch much in the line of true horror Anime. I enjoyed Another for the most part, even though there were some incredibly dumb things about the characters' decisions. This Anime seems to be riding on whatever wave Another may have had with the director from ef. The staff also has a number of Shaft's old crew which could make or break the Anime. The horror genre is quickly becoming a favorite of mine, so I'll be giving this one a look-see, but I won't be getting my hopes up. | |
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HyoukaOfficial Site: http://www.kyotoanimation.co.jp/kotenbu/Genre: Adventure, Mystery, School Airs: April 22 @ ? on Chiba TV Producers: Kyoto Animation Episodes: 21 |
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| Summary: 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". |
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| Preview: I am guilty of being a giant KyoAni fanboy. I've only been disappointed in a handful of their works, few of which were directed by Yasuhiro Takemoto. The story is based on a light novel written by Honobu Yonezawa. I've never heard of the guy, and it looks like this is the only thing he's ever written, but I trust KyoAni's judgement. The art is a pleasant mix of the super deformed moe-blob style of K-ON and the beautiful everything else of Clannad. Chitanda Eru seems likely to be the next Akiyama Mio due to her emphasis in the rather long PV: | |
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JormungandOfficial Site: http://www.jormungand.tv/Genre: Action, Adventure, Seinen Airs: April 11 @ 12:30AM JST on Tokyo MX Producers: White Fox Episodes: 12 |
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| Summary: 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. |
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| Preview: This Anime looks very much like Black Lagoon. It probably couldn't be nearly as good, but I'll definitely give it a try. There isn't really much else to say for this one as the trailer is just as short as Hyouka's is long... | |
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Shining Hearts: Shiawase no PanOfficial Site: http://shining-world.jp/hearts/info/#animeGenre: Action, Fantasy Airs: April 13 @ 2:55AM JST on MBS Producers: Production I.G Episodes: ? |
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| Summary: One day, a mysterious girl named Kaguya was washed ashore the island of Wyndaria after a great storm. She encounters Rick, a swordsman who wound up working at the island's bakery. Apparently, Kaguya is suffering from having lost her memories and emotions. In addition, the usually peaceful Wyndaria is now swarming with pirates who came seeking for the special spirit stone that is worn around Kaguya's neck. Knowing the situation, Rick and his co-workers, Nellis, Amyl, and Aerie decided to bring back peace to island and help Kaguya regain her lost memories and emotions. | |
| Preview: Game Anime are almost never good, but the trailer for this is absolutely stunning. Between the description and the video, I can't really tell is this Anime is going to be about epic battles of sword and spell or heated matches of yeast and spatula. Seriously. I thought this was going to be a baking Anime. I have played a couple Shining games and I thought they were pretty decent, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't make a baking Anime out of it... | |
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Acchi KocchiOfficial Site: http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/ackc/Genre: Romance, School, Seinen Airs: April 5 @ 2:20AM JST on TBS Producers: AIC Episodes: ? |
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| Summary: 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... | |
| Preview: So... I like blue hair. The description is terrible, the trailer drags on, meh. One episode won't hurt will it? | |
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SankareaOfficial Site: http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/sankarea/Genre: Comedy, Ecchi, Horror, Romance, Shounen, Supernatural Airs: April 6 @ 1:55AM JST on TBS Producers: Studio Deen, Lantis Episodes: ? |
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| Summary: 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? | |
| Preview: A guy with a zombie fetish.... that's.... /swt | |
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Natsuiro KisekiOfficial Site: http://www.natsuiro-kiseki.jp/Genre: Slice of Life Airs: April 6 @ ? JST on TBS Producers: Sunrise Episodes: ? |
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| Summary: Wake up the morning, go to school, and spend the afternoon with friends. The four of them shared their happiness and sadness together. They thought their average, everyday life would continue forever.
Until one summer miracle befell upon them. This is the tale of four girls raised in the city of Shimoda. A fresh, warm summer miracle will surely envelop you. |
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| Preview:This Anime seems to be about the girl band Sphere whose members also do voice acting. Their music is pretty good, but nowhere near my favorite. I'll watch some just because its an original, but it will probably just be another "cute girls doing cute things" Anime, which I am very tired of. Here is another extremely long trailer. This one comes with commentary from the cast. | |
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ZetmanOfficial Site: http://zetman.jp/Genre: Action, Drama, Horror, Romance, Sci-Fi, Supernatural, Seinen Airs: April 3 @ 2:38AM JST on Yomiuri TV Producers: TMS Entertainment Episodes: ? |
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| Summary: 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. |
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| Preview: Ever since the success with Studio MadHouse + Marvel American style super hero Anime has been on the rise. Tiger & Bunny was exceptionally popular. Even though it went under my radar until it was over, I plan on watching it when I get the chance. This show looks a bit more dark in comparison to the others I've seen, maybe it will be like Japanese Batman. | |
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Sakamichi no ApollonOfficial Site: http://www.noitamina-apollon.com/index_en_top.htmlGenre: Drama, Historical, Romance, School, Slice of Life, Josei Airs: April 13 @ 12:45AM JST on Fuji TV Producers: Tezuka Productions, MAPPA Episodes: ? |
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| Summary: The beginning of summer, 1966.
Because of his father’s job situation, freshman high school student Kaoru Nishimi moves by himself from Yokosuka to Kyushu to live with relatives. Until then, Kaoru was an honor roll student who tended to keep to himself, but meeting notorious bad boy Sentaro Kawabuchi starts to change him. Through his devil-may-care classmate, Kaoru learns the attractions of jazz and finds the first person he can call a “friend”. He also discovers how much fun it is to play music with a pal. Other characters include Sentaro’s kind childhood chum, Ritsuko, who is the daughter of a record shop owner; the mysterious upperclassman, Yurika; and Brother Jun, the much-admired leader among their peers. Set against the backdrop of a seaside town with a scent of American culture, this series is a drama about young people coming into their own, crossing each other’s paths, and finding friendship, love, and music! |
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| Preview: I love coming of age stories, but who doesn't? This might be the hit Anime of the season. With the director of Cowboy Bebop and music from Yoko Kanno, what's not to like? I can pretty much give you a 100% guarantee that this will be good. Oh, and there is even an English version of the official site. That's QUALITY. | |
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TsuritamaOfficial Site: http://www.tsuritama.com/Genre: Sci-Fi, Shounen Airs: April 13 @ 1:15AM JST on Fuji TV Producers: Aniplex, A-1 Pictures Episodes: ? |
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| Summary: 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. |
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| Preview: So apparently it's about an alien who comes to Earth to fish. Okay............ O_O!!! DAT WEBSITE. So just because it has a quirky sounding plot and probably the coolest official site I've ever seen, I'm definitely watching this. Oh, and someone is married to a duck. | |
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Accel WorldOfficial Site: http://accel-world.net/Genre: Action, Romance, School, Sci-Fi Airs: April 7 @ 12:30AM JST on Tokyo MX Producers: Sunrise Episodes: ? |
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| Summary: 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. | |
| Preview: Not much to say about this, but the trailer is cool: | |
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Nazo no Kanojo XOfficial Site: http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/nazokano_x/Genre: Mystery, Ecchi, Romance, School, Seinen Airs: April 8 @ 1:30AM JST on Tokyo MX Producers: Hoods Entertainment Episodes: ? |
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| Summary: 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... |
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| Preview: Nothing good has come out of Hoods Entertainment, but this Anime has the same director as Uchuu Kyoudai, maybe it will be good. The trailer also does not have any of Hoods usual over fan servicey garbage from Anime like Seikon no Qwaser. We'll see... | |
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Saki: Achiga-hen episode of side-AOfficial Site: http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/anime/saki2/Genre: Game, School, Slice of Life Airs: April 9 @ 1:05AM JST on TV Tokyo Producers: Lantis, Studio Gokumi Episodes: ? |
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| Summary: 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. |
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| Preview: A side story to Saki where Nodoka's old school is inspired by the team's performance at nationals to revive their Mahjong team. I really like the first Saki. I never knew how to play Mahjong except for the silly tile matching game that comes on Windows PCs. It is a very interesting game and the special effects make it exciting. I was disappointed to find out that this is not the sequel I've been waiting for but, I can't argue if it's good! I'm sure there will at least be some cameo appearances or even continuation of the original story near the end of this season, based on the end of the trailer: | |
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Medaka BoxOfficial Site: http://medakabox.jp/Genre: Action, Comedy, Ecchi, Martial Arts, Romance, School, Shounen Airs: April 5 @ ? on TV Tokyo Producers: Gainax Episodes: ? |
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| Summary: 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. |
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| Preview: Not really expecting much from this Anime. It will probably be something along the lines of Seitokai Yakuindomo but not funny. Gainax has all but fallen apart so the only thing this hinges on is the talent of NisiOisin. Unfortunately, I heard the Manga is terrible regardless. I guess everyone has a bad run eventually. The PV is pretty neat at least. | |
Sources: ANN, MAL, & Various Blogs
I'm looking forward to Eureka Seven: AO (for sure) and also that Sakamichi drumming one seems really interesting since I loved BECK! (as far as music anime goes)
ReplyDeleteYeah, I do really like music themed Anime. Especially Macross.
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