I know the Winter season is already upon us, but my brain is still on vacation, so better a short post than nothing at all. Anyway, here’s what I’m looking forward to this season. All four shows.
ARIA The Origination - As excited as I am for a third season of Aria, the show’s return to television is a touch bittersweet. With the manga finally coming to an end in the next couple of months, I suspect this will be the last installment of the anime. Aria really is the sort of show that could go on forever and ever and never get old. However, at the same time, I think it’s a journey worth concluding. I suppose I’ll just enjoy the present for the time being.
True Tears - I’m interested in this show for two reasons, really. One, it’s being directed by Nishimura Junji, of Simoun fame. Two, the PV was especially nice. That’s pretty much it. It’s enough, though.
Macross Frontier - Macross was the first big anime franchise that hooked me back in the day. I have a certain affection for it. I never cared much for Macross Zero, however, so things have been pretty dry on the Macross front as of late. Will this series have that old magic? It sure looks like it.
Minami-ke ~ Okawari ~ - To be honest, I’m a little reluctant to watch this show. The recent Minami-ke series turned out to be far more enjoyable than I expected. However, I’m concerned that, should this alternate version turn out to be a flop, all those good vibes from the first series will be forgotten. That, and the character designs bug the hell out of me. But, if it’s the same sort of humor, it’ll probably be worth watching. I generally like this sort of stuff.
Minami-ke Okawari is not as bad as everyone feared it would be. It’s actually really good.
Aria is well, Aria. Everyone that actually plans to watch a third season is already an extreme fan.
Best show this season: Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. It starts with a stupid 10 minute Go Nagai joke, instantly making it more awesome than anything else.
H20 is slightly intriguing. Will give it a couple more episodes.
Last season, I must’ve watched over a dozen episode ones, only to stick with less than a handful (Clannad, ef, Sketchbook, Higurashi-Kai, & Minami-ke). With the exception of ef, most of the shows I chanced ended up being disappointments.
This season, I’ve already given H20 and Rosario+Vampire a try. H20 has potential, but we’ll see. There’s a lot of sequels and continuations this season, so it’ll be tougher to give new shows a try. But I’ve usually found at least one or two new shows each season that I love, so I’ll definitely try my best.
Yeah, the inevitable ending of Aria will be bittersweet, but I’m always glad to see a great series come to a fitting conclusion after a good run, rather than running the franchise into the ground.
And really, three seasons is nothing to be ashamed of, and it’s certainly better than what many other deserving series have gotten.
Besides, Aria never gets old. Years from now I’m sure I’ll be just as happy going back to rewatch this show on a rainy day.
Macross Frontier was great but…it’s coming out in Spring right? :(
The first episode was just for the 25th anniversary–we have to wait so long~~
I’ve had a hard time finding a broadcast date for Macross Frontier, but now that I think about it, Spring sounds right. My mistake. Since the first episode already aired, however, I’ll just leave it in the list. I’m looking forward to the show either way.
As for Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, I still need to finish the first season before I start with the second. It’s a fun show, but it’s kind of low on my list of priorities.
Nice and simple :) I think it’ll be a good season. Cheerio
I’m interested in ARIA. Is it the kind of show where I have to watch the first 2 seasons to understand what is going on? I know I should watch them anyway…
I’m just hoping ARIA would continue on, with Akari and the rest as instructors, teaching new pairs. But that’s improbable, so I’ll just hope for a good ending.
As a recent convert to the glories of that which is Aria (thanks, Jeff!), I’m quite looking forward to catching up to the third series.
Also gimme that Gunslinger Girl II. Loved the first series, and since the new one looks like it’ll be following Triela over Henrietta, its probably the series I’m looking most forward to.
Gunslinger Girl season 2?
Ash, you could probably jump in to Aria with the third season, but you’d be missing out on a lot of character development. That could potentially have an impact on how much you enjoy it. As far as not understanding what’s going on, however, you wouldn’t have much trouble… there’s little in the way of continuous plot in Aria.
On the subject of Gunslinger Girl II, I watched one episode (might have been two or three… I can’t recall) of the first season when it aired four years ago, decided it wasn’t for me, and passed on it forever. I have zero interest in the second season.
Ash, I envy you… you’ve got some great times ahead of you with the first two seasons of ARIA. There’s a real sense of wonder in the show; it feels a lot like Sketchbook, if you’ve been watching that. Or Hidamari Sketch, come to think of it.
Mind you, there’s no similarity at all between the shows, but they FEEL like they all came from the same place…
Other than Aria and Minami-ke, nothing has really grabbed my attention. I still want to check out both Spice and Wolf, H2O, and True Tears, but as of right now, I’m more interested in the leftovers from the fall and watching stuff on my backlog. Winter always tends to be slow for me, and not because of the slimmer selection. It helps that there are simply less shows airing, but most of time, when winter roles around I’m so burned out on the previous summer and fall seasons that I would rather not deal with what’s new and what’s finishing up and watch whatever I feel like. At my own pace. Spring and fall are always nutty, so I view the winter season as a more laid back few months.
You might be interested in Spice and Wolf, Jeff. As someone described it, from the first episode it could go in a number of directions, but I did get strong slice of life vibes from it. I’ve also heard/read comparisons to Kino No Tabi. So yeah, this is definitely one I think you should sample. You can scold me later if you don’t like it.