2006 Fall Season Initial Impressions thread

[bobma]

I thought that maybe a general impressions thread for all the new series this season wouldn't be a bad idea, so instead of poking around in series threads for something interesting, one could check here to see how initial thoughts went on a variety of shows, what the others are watching and maybe get a nice suggestion or two they didn't initially consider. If that kind of thread already exists, then some moderator please kindly merge this post with the thread. So here's my tentative list of shows that have piqued my interest:

Asatte no Houkou (ep1-2)
Very pleasant surprise. I haven't heard anything about it prior to it's broadcast and went in with only a one sentence summary in mind. The premise isn't very new, but I was surprised that they went for drama instead of comedy. Interesting characters with somewhat realistic reactions, nice art and good direction. The atmosphere has a laid back feel to it and conveys the feeling of summertime well. This will do nicely as my romantic(?) drama fix this season.
OP&ED: Laid back and nice, fitting with the rest of the series. I like the OP vocalist's voice, which seemed somehow more refined than usual fare.
Verdict: Good start, will be back for more.

Ayakashi Ayashi (ep1-2):
The first episode was a bit on the slow side, but ep2 made up for it. Overall decent production values with some great bits thrown in (like the animated wallscroll) and some unusual monster designs. Speaking of designs, the character designs have a distinct classic feel to it, especially in closeups. I think it's the eyes. Yukiatsu's powers are on the more unusual side of things and I'm curious what Studio BONES will make with those. I also liked the characters' interactions, enhanced by voice actors I enjoy (mainly Keiji Fujiwara (FMA/Hughes) and Michi Niino (SIMOUN/Aeru)). I'm not sure where the show will head, but the few mysteries set up so far left me intrigued (for instance <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>Yuki's imaginary(?) friend</span>).
OP&amp;ED: Nice, energetic opening and probably the last place I'd have expected a Muraki Circus, given the story's setting. ED is also a good listen, by Porno Graffiti (gotta love that name /images/graemlins/happy.gif)
Verdict: Interesting so far. I'll follow that one.

Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto (ep1-2)
That one took me by surprise. As with Ayakashi Ayashi, a historic setting is used as a foundation for this pseudo-realistic samurai story (think Rurouni Kenshin). Beautifully drawn and animated, with nice character designs it sure looked impressive. A story of revenge, loss and intrigue with supernatural themes thrown in, there's plenty of directions where this story could head. Something else I rather enjoy is the way the characters get to speak. Since the main characters are actors in a Kabuki theater, there's plenty of scenes where they can do the "actor speak" of those kind of performances which is plain fun to listen to. Especially their introduction scene left a strong impression.
OP&amp;ED: Strong visuals on the OP with lot's of foreshadowing in there, ED just has boring scrolling text. Nice songs on both accounts though.
Verdict: Definite follow, thumbs up.

Code Geass (ep1):
Technically not bad, and shows promise, but the show managed to push quite a few buttons that made me more annoyed than necessary with it. The shows premise bundled with some public statements of the producer left a bit of a bad taste, though that's not really the shows fault. What annoyed me more was the rather heavyhanded approach to show us who the bad guys are. A little more finesse would have done wonders. I'm curious how the main character will develop. I'm not really fond of asshole mains, so there's another pitfall (from my POV) the show may get into, but it's just the beginning. Still, there's potential in there and if they play things right this could turn out nicely. On another note, I guess I'm one of the few people on this planet who don't like CLAMPmans, who evolved from insects rather than apes, though it's still on the tolerable side.
OP&amp;ED: Opening was quite nice, but I guess I wont become a fan of AliProject in this lifetime (unless they actually manage to produce a new song).
Verdict: With not much else for mech action this season it's wait and see, for now.

D.Gray-Man (ep1-2)
So far, a well done manga adaption of one of shounen jump's darker shounen fight series. Production values and direction are nice so far and make me look forward to some of the more intense future developments. One of the earlier stories got cut, assumedly to introduce all the main characters faster. As long as they include some of the information from there at a later point I have no problem with it, as those chapters weren't all that strong to begin with. I do wonder though, how they plan to do the later story arcs. The manga is currently somewhere around 90+ and doesn't seem to end soon. I'm curious whether they'l go original or try to stall as they currently do with Naruto and Bleach. Well, time will tell.
OP&amp;ED: Both well done with nice visuals, though I like the ED a bit more, due to it's slightly different than usual feel.
Verdinct: With Bleach and Naruto in filler hell, this is my shounen fix.

Ghost Hunt (ep1)
I'm not sure how long I'll follow that one. From the looks of it, it'll feature small 2-3 episode mystery arcs connected by the main characters, similiar to Detective Conan, just with ghost stories. Not something I'd usually pursue, but the characters were rather amusing, especially "Naru-chan" who oozed detached arrogance and made his interactions with the rest fun to watch. Based on how seperate those stories are ("reset button") and how entertaining the characters will remain, I may or may not continue with this.
OP&amp;ED: Boring visuals and equally non-memorable spooky music.
Verdict: Some more episodes, to see how it goes.

Kanon (ep1-2)
Well, there's not really much bad I can say about this. KyotoAnimation has done their usual magic and it sounds and looks simply great. Direction is also rather good, with humorous bits expertly timed for maximum effect. Knowing what this is based on, I guess this'll soon enough go into tearjerker territories, though I hope KyoAni will make it a bit less melodramatic than they did in Air (especially Haruko's final speech made roll my eyes), where I felt cheaply manipulated. Whether the story itself manages to engage me (apart from the expertly adaption and the cute characters), will remain to be seen.
OP&amp;ED: Musicwise nice, but not really memorable to me. Visuals look cool as expected.
Verdict: Will probably follow to the end, unless it really hits some bad notes with me.

Kekkaishi (ep1-2):
One of the manga-&gt;anime adaptions I've been looking forward to and I am pleased so far. I've been wondering whether the staff could make the kekkai techniques look good and they certainly did look rather nice, as did the rest of the series. The character dynamics between Tokine and Yoshimori are fun to watch, both are highly likable and so are the side characters. It seems like they shuffled around with the initial story content a bit, but it worked out well.
OP&amp;ED: Animationwise they simply used footage from the show with some stills interspersed. Hopefully next week we get something better. The songs are ok, but this season has better offerings. Also, I can't shake the feeling that the OP singer was walking along the edge of her vocal range, which made me wince during the refrain.
Verdict: Good adaption so far. Will follow unless they mess up majorly.

Sumomomo momomo (ep1-2):
When I went into the first episode, I expected not to like it, since the premise was somewhat similar to Rizelmine, which I didn't enjoy all that much. Contrary to my expectations I had some great laughs throughout those first two episodes. Rather than annoying, it was fun to see the energetic manner with which Momoko pursues Kouji, who makes for a great straight man for all those jokes. While not the same, Momoko's voice actress reminds me of Nono from Diebuster in the way she says "Kouji-dono!" (Nono: "Onee-sama!"). Also while uber-cheezy, the fights were fun in a bad Hong Kong flick kind of way. With more characters on the horizon, who seem to have similar agendas to Momoko's, this seems to be my pick for this seasons comedy&amp;fanservice purposes.
OP&amp;ED: Both entertaining songs. OP feels unusual with the chinese influences, but still nice. ED wins for those chibi figures. /images/graemlins/happy.gif
Verdinct: As long as they can keep up this energy and fun, I'll keep watching.

There's also Negima, DeathNote and Pumpkin Scissors, though I didn't have the energy left to write about those as well. /images/graemlins/happy.gif

[Splitter]

Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage -- So far, so good. The biggest happy surprise for me is seeing that they kept "Red Fraction" as the OP, as no new OP could possibly compare with the awesomeness of "Red Fraction". Second Barrage itself is off to a very interesting start. There's been very little of Lagoon Company, though from the end of Ep. 2, that's going to change, well with at least one of them. The first two episodes are very heavy on backstory and characterization of the supporting roles from last season. It still has the gritty bizzare feel it had in the first season, but it's a different breed of animal right now. Hopefully Two-Hands will start raising hell again very very shortly.

Kanon -- It's nothing better than I expected and nothing worse. This is a solid remake through and through thus far. The animation quality, music, and seiyuu work are all top-notch as expected... but therein lies the problem. So far Kanon has lived up to expectations but not surpassed them. I'm waiting for them to start veering off into new territory not covered by Toei, but not sure when that will happen. Guess I'll just have to keep watching to find out. Uguu~~...

Negima!? -- Or "How I Learned Shinbo Akiyuki wanted to make a second season of Pani Poni Dash! and learned to deal with it". I mean, I knew they were going to stray, but this feels just too much. Yes, it's better than the craptastic Xebec version, but this is just too much of a stretch. It feels like it wants be a little faithful to the series, but it switches too quickly from light-hearted to dark to keep up. I'm not sure where this one is going at all, but it's definitely strange enough to garner enough attention for a reasonable amount of eps. Let's just hope the bizzareness doesn't smother it.

Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru -- Strawberry Panic! with a crossdresser. Oh, the otaku must be loving this. Honestly, I don't believe there's a penis on Mizuho, and if there is, the poor kid hasn't hit puberty yet. No average boy could have gone through all that he did in the first ep alone and not pitched a tent. Still, Kana's adorable and Mariya's a treat to watch. It's cute and funny, but those chibis really scare me. A lot. It's gonna be an interesting series that's for sure. Any more annoying though and it'll be in "drop" territory.

Yoake Mae Yori Ruri-Iro na ~Crescent Love~ -- Now this was a surprise. I had no hopes for this one at all. Generic harem dreck, and in a sense it is, but there's something very pleasant about it as well. Crescent Love seems to be a very leisurely and easy-going series. No blatant attempts for romance with the milquetoast "hero" and no hyperactive insanity that must be dealt with in an episode's time like most conventional harems. Crescent Love has very down-to-earth and enjoyable characters that are cute but not overtly cute. And I really like the chibiness in this one. Much more than OtoBoku. If you're looking for something relaxing to watch without any strain to the brain while not making you fall asleep, this is a good watch. I'll tell you, it was great watching the first ep after a 10 hour workday ^_^

[Fencedude]

Oh...lets see

Asatte no Houkou: I just finished the first two episodes of this, and if it continues as it is, it might end up being my favorite show of the season. It takes a premise usually reserved for comedy and turns it into a dramatic story. I especially like how the reactions felt more "real" than usual. Both of them were pretty flipped out over it.

Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge: Ok, so its just another "turn the ugly girl into a pretty girl" Cinderella story, but its also very, very funny. I'm somewhat afraid that it won't be able to keep up the premise for a full 26 episodes, so I'm rather hoping its 13 instead.

Yoake mae yori ruriiro na ~Crescent Love~: Only watched one episode of this so far. Its pretty damn generic, but Feena is a character design triumph, though she loses something in the less than stellar animation. I'll stick with it a little longer, but I doubt it'll hold my interest for the entire season.

Kanon: I wasn't exactly the biggest AAAAAIIIIIRRRRR fan around, so went into this without any huge expectations...and its pretty much what I expected. Gorgeous presentation by KyoAni, of course, and a number of Key architypes that I don't particularly like. As of episode 2 the only girls I really like are Kaori and Akiko, though a couple of the other girls introduced in that episode show potential. Ayu and Nayuki can go jump in a lake for all I care about them.

Black Lagoon Second Barrage: Well, its more Black Lagoon, and thats all there really is to say about it. It started off with Psychopathic Gothloli Twincest Vampires, which are very much relevent to my interests, so its riding high at the moment. Oh, and Balalaika is &lt;3 &lt;3 &lt;3

Super Robot Wars Original Generation: The Divine War: This is the show I was most anticipating, and so far it hasn't let me down. Its doing a good job of following the game, but has added in a few new twists, justs to keep things interesting. I'm eager to see what else they add, and just how far into the storyline they are actually going to get.

Happiness!: Jun was the only reason I actually watched this, and to be fair, it was decently amusing, mostly because of Jun. Overall though its pretty mediocre, but I'll give it a few more episodes. And I do like the designs for the girls. Haruhi especially is a very, very Healthy Girl.

Buso Renkin: I only checked this out because of Tokiko and her Valkyrie Skirt. She was awesome, the rest of the show was typical shonen crap. Pass, though I might watch some more just for Tokiko and her Metal Vectors.

Negima!?: While its still not the manga, the first episode was decent enough. I'll miss the fanservice, but if the fights are decent and the comedy continues to amuse me, I'll stick with it.

Pumpkin Scissors: Has a good amount of potential, the female lead is vastly amsuing, and Orland is pretty badass. Has the potential to slip into a rut, but if they avoid that they have a pretty good setup. Hopefully Gonzo won't blow it.

[Fort Max]

So far I've watched

Super Robot Wars Original Generation Divine Wars Which has turned out to be better then I expected and should go on to provide a much needed Hot Blooded mecha fix for some time from now. /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif

Kemonodzume Now this is great, surely this seasons arthouse work like Noein was previously.
From the first episode I was hooked and by the fourth I was enthralled. Mixing monsters &amp; samurai's with just a tiny dash of mecha &amp; doing so with subtlety and style.
Oh, and sex. /images/graemlins/shy00000.gif

D-Gray Man Silly fun, typical shounen stuff. May keep watching if nothing else is around.

Incidentally I watched another show but already forgot what it was it was so damn good...

Show I want to watch but haven't seen yet are Pumpkin Scissors and Code Geas. CG I am pretty much assured of liking as I enjoyed Gun X Sword a great deal.
Also, Ayakashi Ayashi, just found about this the other day and it sounds interesting. I doubt that it'll replace Eureka Seven in my estimations but I'll give it a fair chance.

Finally there is Gothicmade, when is this starting, anyone know, I'm dying to see it.

[Jadawin]

[ QUOTE ]
Bobma said:
Code Geass (ep1):
Technically not bad, and shows promise, but the show managed to push quite a few buttons that made me more annoyed than necessary with it. The shows premise bundled with some public statements of the producer left a bit of a bad taste, though that's not really the shows fault. What annoyed me more was the rather heavyhanded approach to show us who the bad guys are. A little more finesse would have done wonders. I'm curious how the main character will develop. I'm not really fond of asshole mains, so there's another pitfall (from my POV) the show may get into, but it's just the beginning. Still, there's potential in there and if they play things right this could turn out nicely. On another note, I guess I'm one of the few people on this planet who don't like CLAMPmans, who evolved from insects rather than apes, though it's still on the tolerable side.
OP&amp;ED: Opening was quite nice, but I guess I wont become a fan of AliProject in this lifetime (unless they actually manage to produce a new song).
Verdict: With not much else for mech action this season it's wait and see, for now.


[/ QUOTE ]

So we have an Eureka 7 OP and a Rozen Maiden Ending. /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif

I just watched this and was surprised how brutal that show is. Kill 'em all, even if its children. I didnt expect that from a show with Clamp chara designs.

But yeah, stereotypical villains are annoying and the "strange girl gives main guy powers"-theme isnt really new. The way he finished off those soldiers was kinda cool though. /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif
That first episode was better than I expected, but nothing exceptional.

[Gatts]

[ QUOTE ]
Jadawin said:
I just watched this and was surprised how brutal that show is. Kill 'em all, even if its children. I didnt expect that from a show with Clamp chara designs.

[/ QUOTE ]

Haven't seen the show, but CLAMP likes killing people. They kill people in most of their manga.

[Ty]

So far I have watched....

Asatte no Houkou - Keeping this one for sure and it's definitely one of my favorites. I really like the premise and this is very satisfying to watch amongst all the faster paced shows this season. Very nice characterization so far.

Busou Renkin - Jury's still out on this one but I may be dropping it. So far it's come across as a typical shonen show to me but episode two gave me the feeling they might take it above and beyond eventually the way Bleach went. Considering this is based on a manga by the same mangaka who did Kenshin perhaps I just had too high of expectations for it. That information had me excited, but so far it's just been average. Tokiko has been pretty pleasant as a female lead so far, even if I find that huge scar across her face to be overdone and distracting.

Crescent Love - Keeping this one. It has a nice mix of serious and comedy and I enjoy all of the characters so far. None of the main girls has shown a hint of tsundere towards the male lead which is refreshing, and Feena is very cute. Hated the way the show started. By now they should just not waste time on such retarded setups considering how they're never reall utilized later or even rembered anyway. Also, is it just me or does Mia look exactly like Siesta from Zero no Tsukaima?

D.Grey Man - Probably keeping this too. Very cut from the mold and doesn't stand out at all, but it has an overall feel of goodness the way Fullmetal Alchemist did. The writing and characters are all good and interesting so far and the production values are nice.

Death Note - Definitely following this. I wasn't sold on it when I first started watching since I usually skip shows of this style, but the excellent premise and awesome production have me hooked. The writing and directing in this show are best of season and I'm really looking forward to seeing how the plot is going to play out.

Ghost Hunt - Nobody's really talking about this one, but unless it gets more boring than what I've seen so far I think I'll follow this too. It's almost like a break from everything else I'm watching to me. I'm a sucker for a cute school uniform design and the lead girl Mai is entertaining to watch. It will have to entertain a little more or I might drop it considering how many good shows there are this season.

Kanon - Don't even need to say anything here. I was a fan of the original and enjoy everything KyoAni does. The show has been amazing so far living up to it's hype and I'll enjoy watching the rest of it, probably over and over again.

Mamoru-kun ni Megami no Shukufuku wo - Jury's out here. Just sitting down to watch the beginning of this tonight actually. Fanservicey (which there is a somewhat surprising lack of this season really), but it could get on my nerves. I'll have to see more. *edit* Well, now that I've finished watching it I have to admit it was really entertaining, if slightly brainless.

Negima?! - The big surprise of the season for me. I checked it out just to confirm I wouldn't be watching this one either (I skipped the original Negima series), but it seems like it'll be very good. There are some directing/cost cutting scenes that really bugged me, like how they show stills of the girls talking during scenes instead of animating a real scene, but the fights have been entertaining so far and the girls look extremely cute in this version. Nodoka and a couple of the others are adorable, though as perverted as I feel saying it this show actually needs more fanservice. It just seems like odd that it holds back in that department so much. I'll be sticking with this one too.

Sumomo-mo Momo-mo - I thought the first couple of episodes were fun, but unless the show tones down the insanity and starts pushing more towards a real plot with better characterization I may not continue with it. It's fun to watch an anti-tsundere character but it's almost too much. I guess I'll have to give it time and see but I don't think I can stand a whole season of the show as it is now. The fanservice doesn't really work here since it's badly animated fanservice and always occurs in zoomed out shots where you can't see anything anyway.

Tokimeki Memorial - I've only see the first episode of this, and it was totally different from what I was expecting to see. Talk about insanity! I may keep watching just to see whose asses get kicked by that chicken. /images/graemlins/happy.gif The animation has this almost barren digital look to it that, while seeming to be sharp, is also deviod of detail and kind of turns me off to it. I can already see where the show will end up, but it's in how it gets there that counts so the jury's still out on this one too but right now I'm slightly leaning towards dropping it.

Everything else I've either not watched at all on the assumption that I wouldn't like it or know for sure that it's bad (*cough* Lovely Idol *cough*) and don't feel the need to subject myself to it.

All in all a really good and busy fall season.

[BluWacky]

In no particular order:

La Corda D'Oro - bishounen music harem thing with surprisingly good animation but a slightly tiresome plot.

Pumpkin Scissors - nicely animated but otherwise quite dull Gonzo war drama.

Red Garden - utterly bizarre vampire show with metaphorical singing and huge noses. I love it.

Code Geass - Gundam ADHD.

Bakumatsu Kikansetstu Irohani Hoheto - beautifully animated period action show with odd fantasy elements and Kabuki tropes; I'm not a big fan of period shows, though, so even though it's interesting I probably won't stick with it.

Ayakashi Ayashi - oddly boring...period action show with odd fantasy elements. Hmmm. I'm more likely to stick with this because it's Bones x Shou Aikawa, though.

Asatte no Houkou - surprisingly serious body swap drama with lovely artwork and admirably restrained direction.

Marginal Prince - laughably poor cellphone BL dating game adaptation.

Shounen Onmyouji - utterly generic yet strangely compelling period action show with fantasy elements. I sense a running theme this season.

Ghost Hunt - "nice" supernatural mystery show; I love the music and production design but it's a little slow.

Negima!? - it's a shame that I dislike the cast of Negima so much, since Akiyuki Shinbou's direction here is so awesome.

Kanon - it's Air without the interesting lead character and a less beautiful world, plus more moronic girls. Pass, pass, pass.

Busou Renkin - you can feel Xebec's insidious influence seeping through every pore of this. One of the most cookie cutter shounen shows I've watched in a long time.

D. Gray-Man - decent adaptation of the popular manga that sorts out the mangaka's confusing layout difficulties. It's all very dark, though.

Still intending to try - Bartender, Hataraki Man, Kekkaishi, Death Note, Katekyo Hitman Reborn!, History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi, 009-1, Super Robot Wars OG, Yamato Nadesico Shichihenge.

[treatment]

I'm only following a few shows and I already either started or participating in such threads. Nevertheless, here are my thoughts on 'em:


Kanon 2k6 -- I r Mai/Ayu/Kanon fanboy. A++++++++++++ /images/graemlins/catgirl0.gif


Happiness -- good char-designs and nice fanservice quota. A little weak (just a bit) in the first two eps and bizarro "staff(?)" (or was it a horn?), but it seems to be promising a better story in the later eps. I'm giving it a C+ grade for now.


Tokimeki Memorial ~Only Love~ -- surprising first two episodes for this renai franchise, but got a bit bogged down after the third ep. I'm giving it a C+ grade.


Koishiteru -- bizarro gender-bender series. very nice character-designs and quite very funny in the very wrong way. I'm giving it a C+ grade. The chibi-bits on this rulz!


Gift ~Eternal Rainbow~ -- bizarro eye-designs. DaCapo-vibe in the story and stuff. Subtle fanservice. Good enough for now to continue. Giving it a C-grade.


Crescent Love -- after three eps, it's still quite average and generic overall, tho it's funny enough for me to continue. I give it a solid C-grade. The chibi-bits are kewl.


Galaxy Angel Rune -- weird, mindless, random and wacko. it's definitely not for everyone. I'm a fan of it, but I'm still giving it an F-grade.


Lovely Idol -- I dropped this already. poor animation, poor cloned char-designs, poor emo, poor.... F-grade.

[ibby]

My impresions list:
Kanon - Haven't watched yet.
Asatte no Houkou - Haven't watched yet.
Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto - Saw the first episode, and left a good impression on me. I like the story, so far and from what I have been able to see from the second episode, I will watch it when time permits.
Code Geass - A mixed bad of good and bad for me. I will give it another chance cause I'm a fan of the director.
Kekkaishi-A shounen show from sunrise. With this show competing with Bleach, Naruto and D-GrayMan, I decided to start afreash, and hopefully it will quench my shounen thirest.
Sumomomo momomo - I quite like this despite, it being rather formulatic. The interactions between the characters are good, and the quality animation makes this a must watch for me.
DeathNote - Having read the manga this was a easy choice to watch this.
Black Lagoon-The second Barrage: Like the first season, I still enjoy the black humour, and the well executed action scenes.

I'm sure I have missed some shows, but there's so many new shows airing I can't comment on them all.

[something]

So far I've checked out at least one episode of Kanon, Death Note, Happiness and Pumpkin Scissors, and like them in that order. All are good, but the first two are much better, and Kanon is absolutely incredible.

There are so many other shows I need to get to though... from this season, and last season... and the season before that &gt;_&lt; I think top priority for the shows I havent seen from this season goes to Asatte no Houkou. One day I'll have time, hopefully before it's done airing...

[Ty]

Yeah I still have unwatched interests from last season too. I feel ashamed for not having finished Higurashi yet and I'm barely into The Third, though with that last one I may just drop it and look forward to the inevitable R1 release on DVD. I promised myself this season that I'd stay current with things this time so it's the old stuff that's staying on the backburner. With the dvd backlog gone forever (6 months and counting!) I may even pull it off.

[Dagger]

Kanon - It hasn't captured me as quickly as AIR did, but it has many more episodes to work with, so I'm not concerned about that. What does bother me is that people at other forums spew spoilers for the series all over the place. I think I'm going to have to avoid discussions of the show until it's over.

Death Note - The fact that Madhouse will be outsourcing some episodes saddens me, but it's still a strong, faithful adaptation of the manga with some fantastic vocal acting. I'm especially keen on Yamaguchi Kappei as L.

Negima!? - This is why I love Akiyuki Shinbo.

Asatte no Houkou - This show wasn't even on my radar before I finally decided to check it out because of all the buzz that the first episode inspired. Needless to say, I've been really impressed by it. Its beautiful slice-of-life atmosphere reminds me of the best parts of Okusama wa Mahou Shoujo (minus the fanservice), Uta~Kata (ditto) and Koi Kaze. Of everything I'm watching right now, I look forward to new episodes of this series most rabidly.

Pumpkin Scissors - Pretty blah after an enjoyable first episode. I might keep watching it just to MST it, but the third episode was abysmal, and the show as a whole will have to work very hard not to be 100% predictable. It's too bad, really, because I found myself feeling good about both Alice and Randel during episode 1, even though they're of character types that I'm inclined to dislike.

Red Garden - I love it when GONZO ventures off the beaten path... although I was one of those who hated the singing sequence in episode 1--it didn't work for me at all. That said, the show's set-up is intriguing, and the unusual character designs work in its favor IMO. I'm about to watch episode 2.

Ayakashi Ayashi - For all the bad feedback this show has been getting, I enjoyed episode 1. I didn't find the level of the animation to be below that of a typical BONES production. I mean, if you look at BONES' previous doroku show, FMA, its animation (though still solid) is clearly somewhat inferior to that of their shorter series, and I never saw anyone complaining about it. But whatever. The artwork has a delicious old-fashioned undertone to it, and the whole fighting with kanji concept is pretty awesome. Besides, I have faith in BONES. At the least, they have major balls--what other company would start a show of which fans have been skeptical and which would seem to have a lot to prove with lengthy sequences of oyaji nudity?

Code Geass - Gundam SEED redux, basically. I didn't particularly care for SEED, so I hope Geass improves on the "childhood friends on opposite sides of a conflict" premise. The first episode, pretty though it was, dashed my hopes for seeing any real subtlety in the series. I'll keep watching, though.

[Jadawin]

[ QUOTE ]
Gatts said:
Haven't seen the show, but CLAMP likes killing people. They kill people in most of their manga.

[/ QUOTE ]

I knew someone would come up with that kind of reply. /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif Of course I know X and a few other Clamp mangas, but I was mainly thinking about their newest works which are more on the cute (non-killing) side. /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[Dagger]

[ QUOTE ]
Jadawin said:
[ QUOTE ]
Gatts said:
Haven't seen the show, but CLAMP likes killing people. They kill people in most of their manga.

[/ QUOTE ]

I knew someone would come up with that kind of reply. /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif Of course I know X and a few other Clamp mangas, but I was mainly thinking about their newest works which are more on the cute (non-killing) side. /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[/ QUOTE ]
Wait, just to be sure... you're not talking about xxxHOLiC and Tsubasa, right? /images/graemlins/stunned0.gif

[Johnny]

Just Death Note and D.Gray Man for me in terms of new stuff. Death Note I'm absolutely loving whch is to be expected as I love the manga to death.
I put off reading the D.Gray Man manga and wish I hadn't as I've really enjoyed the first 2 episodes of the anime. Seems like standard shonen fare which is no bad thing in my book.

[Shikamaru824]

I'm pretty laid-back when it comes to selecting and critizing anime, so almost everything I've seen this season I'll continue to watch. I'll seperate out the notable ones:

Watched 1-2 episodes of and will follow:
Asatte no Houkou
Yoake mae yori ruriiro no ~Crescent Love~
Busou Renkin
Kanon
Lovely Idol
Mamoru-kun ni Megami no Shukufuku wo!
Pumpkin Scissors
SRWOG - Divine Wars
Tokimeki Memorial ~Only Love~

There are some other new shows I've yet to watch. The most notable shows for me this season are Death Note and Red Garden.

I honestly didn't want to like death note, b/c of a group of yaoi fangirls I know; but I watched the first episode was hooked. Remember your mom/teachers telling you that you need to look out for the "good and quiet" ones? This is why.

Red Garden just took me by surprise. Another dark show (although you couldn't tell by the OP or the ED), but much more mystery then DN. The art only affected me for like the first 5 minutes, then I was over it (except for that one woman with Huge Lips, she's still freaky). The song in the 1st episode didn't really put me off, I was more like "Oh, a singing bit, interesting...". That kind of addition to a show doesn't sway my opinion, but I'll tell you something that does...

Negima...wow, it's just bad. If you bet me a hundred bucks that the one show I would dislike this new season would be Negima, you would be that much richer.

So, I'm supposed to watch this show and suspend everything I know about the show, minus character interactions. Ok I can do that, and in fact that's the only way I was able to watch the 2nd episode. It's like the people at SHAFT said, "We could totally do the action parts better" and they did...then they realized that the action parts weren't 20+ minutes long. So you add a director who plans the show around his style (which, I think I lauged like twice in 2 episodes) and you basically get Negima -Alternative-. I just hope that they don't change the main manga storyline's design to this, and just come out with a whole new manga line based on this Negima (to which I can easily avoid).

The only hope for Negima is that it's so good in it's alternative way, that I don't wind up recommending Xebec's version over this. And if you think I'm being too critical, my friend started to watch it, saw that Asuna's eyes were the same color, and immediately turned it off and refused to watch it.

[Aiia]

I was expecting a lot from Code Geass since I like both the designs and the director. But the 2nd episode (missed the first) left such a bad taste in my mouth that I'm going to stay away from this one. I'm not fond of nationalistic ideas in my anime.

Ghost Hunt on the other hand seems very nice and the designs were better than the manga.

Death Note looks nice, but I'll save myself for the DVDs. I'm kind of tired of it because of the hype around it.

Wallflower is good and I'll keep watching it for a few episodes to see whether its a keeper or not, but the animation quality could have been higher imo.

[TnAdct1]

[ QUOTE ]
Senku said:
Negima...wow, it's just bad. If you bet me a hundred bucks that the one show I would dislike this new season would be Negima, you would be that much richer.

So, I'm supposed to watch this show and suspend everything I know about the show, minus character interactions. Ok I can do that, and in fact that's the only way I was able to watch the 2nd episode. It's like the people at SHAFT said, "We could totally do the action parts better" and they did...then they realized that the action parts weren't 20+ minutes long. So you add a director who plans the show around his style (which, I think I lauged like twice in 2 episodes) and you basically get Negima -Alternative-. I just hope that they don't change the main manga storyline's design to this, and just come out with a whole new manga line based on this Negima (to which I can easily avoid).

[/ QUOTE ]
If you mean that you're worried that the regular manga version of Negima will become something like the new series, don't worry, as a second Negima comic, "Negima Neo", is being released to compliment the new series (although it will be an alternate telling of the Negima?! anime)

[ QUOTE ]
The only hope for Negima is that it's so good in it's alternative way, that I don't wind up recommending Xebec's version over this. And if you think I'm being too critical, my friend started to watch it, saw that Asuna's eyes were the same color, and immediately turned it off and refused to watch it.

[/ QUOTE ]
Personally, my real concern about this show is that I'm nervous about some of the main plot points that I loved in the original manga possibly being ignored in the new series. Hence, I'm somewhat nervous about the next episode, since it focuses on my favorite character in the series, and a certain plot point involving her was one of the things that finally led to me reading the manga version of Negima and becoming a fan of that title.

[Ryan227]

Ayakashi Ayashi- I've only seen the first episode and so far I like it. It's kind of strange and a tad bit boring but I'll defintely watch it. I love Bones! I'll watch anything they make.

Code Geass- I love this. I was really looking forward to this for a long time because of the character design and everything, so much so that I was worried I would be let down but I wasn't. I never watched Gundam Seed, and the nationalism in it doesn't really bother me (I was more offended by Blood+...) Mostly, it's just pretty and I like watching it.

D.Gray Man- I like the manga and so far the anime is pretty good. Allen's voice is cute. I love the OP and the ED.

Death Note- For some reason this isn't working for me. It's very pretty, I love the voice actors and I liked the manga but I feel like I'm forcing myself to watch it. I'll probably stick with it though, or maybe take a break and come back later.

That's all I've seen so far this season.