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Queen’s Blade – Heir to the Throne
http://www.queensblade.tv/
Studio: Arms
Genre: Fantasy, Action
Further Information: ANN Entry
Premiers September 23rd (late night)
Summary:
Direct continuation of the spring season series. Giant breasted women fight each other and impending back problems to find a bra that can withstand the strain.
Personal Outlook:
The first of many shows that I didn’t last through the first segment, so will not be checking out the second. Not even to see if they’re going to explode another person by over-inflating their breasts.
Preseason Swing Rating:
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DOOM IS DISPLEASED, BUT AROUSED.
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Asura Cryin’ 2
http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/asura/
Studio: Seven Arcs
Genre: Fantasy, Action
Further Information: ANN Entry
Premiers September 30th (Late night)
Summary:
And another direct continuation of the series from the spring season, continuing Tomoharu’s battle to discover the nature of this ‘second’ world, alongside and against ghosts that form the souls of mechanized soldiers, and people with supernatural powers called devils.
Personal Outlook:
The first season hit its stride from about episodes 3-8 or so, and then kind of petered out, and since the announcement that it was continuing didn’t happen until after the ‘final’ episode aired, it was a bit more confusing than it needed to be. Regardless, this is a solid, if a bit weird and needlessly complex, action series that I am looking forward to, if for no other reason than to continue making fun of Tomo and the giant magical dildo.
Preseason Swing Rating:
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All sense fled this show when the golden penis became important.
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Kämpfer
http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/kenpu/
Studio: Nomad
Genre: Action
Further Information: ANN Entry
Premiers October 1st
Summary:
Senou was a normal guy, until he woke up one day with a strange bracelet on his wrist that transformed him into a girl. The bracelet signifies that he’s now part of the super powered battle royale going on at his school and grants him super powers, and keeps transforming him into a female at inopportune times.
Personal Outlook:
Looking at the cast list, this seems to be where Nomad was dumping its budget for the last season instead of Modern Magic. Nomad knows how to do action when they want to, but the director is kind of terrible. The head writer is at least a veteran of both Ippo series, but I’m not sure much of that you can apply to psychic girl warriors. I really neither know nor particularly care about the gender swappery all that much. It honestly reminds me of Ranma more than anything else. Hopefully it’ll just nip any silly chivalry nonsense in the bud before someone gets preachy about not hitting girls.
Preseason Swing Rating:
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One sexually frustrated martial artist.
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Nyankoi!
http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/nyankoi/
Studio: AIC
Genre: Comedy
Further Information: ANN Entry
Premiers October 1st
Summary:
Junpei is allergic to cats and so has always hated the furry vermin, despite being surrounded by them. One day, he accidentally breaks the statue of the local cat god and is cursed to understand what they’re saying. Unless he can do enough good deeds to please the dishonored cat god, he’ll be trapped as a cat forever, while still allergic to himself.
Personal Outlook:
I’m not sure how AIC got a hold of director Kawaguchi, a veteran of Hayate and ZKC, but they’re at least solid on that front. Who knows if it’ll be enough to overcome AIC’s normally extremely low budget lack-of-efforts with their shows these days, but I imagine it’ll turn out more or less about the same as most of their comedies, harmless and completely brainless.
Preseason Swing Rating:
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Four neglected dogs.
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Combat Librarians – The Book of Bantorra
http://www.bantorra.com/
Studio: David
Genre: Action
Further Information: ANN Entry
Premiers October 2nd
Summary:
When a person dies, they’re turned into a book and stored forever in the Bantorra library. A fundamentalist organization opposes the library and brainwashes people into attacking it. One of these people has a bomb implanted in him and invades the library, only to touch a book and be sucked into the memories of the past where he falls in love with a girl who lived three centuries ago.
Personal Outlook:
The staff from Black Butler returns for this. It looks like a decent action series, but I’m never really a fan of shows with brainwashing and amnesia built right in. I’m also interested in how they’re going to handle the narrative here between the past and present events. Hopefully the concentration will be on the action instead of the angsty romance, but we’ll see. Fridays are pretty busy days this season anyway, so who knows.
Preseason Swing Rating:
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Two orders of Moon Over My Hammy.
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A Certain Scientific Railgun
http://www.project-railgun.net/
Studio: JC Staff
Genre: Action
Further Information: ANN Entry
Premiers October 2nd
Summary:
Spinoff/prequel of A Certain Magical Index, following level 5 esper who can control electricity named Mikoto Misaka and the overly touchy lesbian teleporter with a crush on her.
Personal Outlook:
On one hand, removing Touma and his god-mode from the equation will probably help things a lot. This is also based on something that isn’t 75% exposition, so hopefully that problem with Index will be fixed as well. That said, action has never really been JC Staff’s strong suit and neither the new director nor writer have almost any experience with action shows… or almost any good shows at all for that matter.
Preseason Swing Rating:
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Volume of music drowning out exposition is directly proportional to enjoyment.
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White Album
http://www.whitealbum-tv.com/
Studio: Seven Arcs
Genre: Romance, Drama
Further Information: ANN Entry
Premiers October 2nd
Summary:
And yet another continuation of a previous series chronicling the relationship issues and the developing love triangle between a regular student, his girlfriend who has just become an idol, and an experienced idol that she works with.
Personal Outlook:
And another one that failed to maintain my attention for over 20 minutes, let alone the 240 or so that comprised the first 12 weeks. Wa-hoo.
Preseason Swing Rating:
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Oh boy, idols. Now it’s a party.
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The Record of Hekiyou Academy’s Student Council Activities
http://anime.webnt.jp/seitokai/
Studio: Deen
Genre: Comedy
Further Information: ANN Entry
Premiers October 2nd
Summary:
Hekiyou Academy has a unique way of choose its student council, by a popularity vote. Since a pretty boy would just antagonize everybody, the vote always ends up going to a pretty girl. However, one guy has studied long and hard to be able to join it in hopes of surrounding himself with beautiful girls, only to discover that all his newfound harem does is sit around and gossip about everything else happening at the school.
Personal Outlook:
The series has been generally called by the name of the first novel, but the Japanese site has it listed as the entire bloody thing, to wit, The Student Council’s Discretion – The Record of Hekiyou Academy’s Student Council Activities. Try saying that five times fast. It seems harmless enough, but I’m never really willing to give Deen the benefit of the doubt, not to mention that the official site has "yearned-for harem" written right into its description. That’s a red flag if ever there was one.
Preseason Swing Rating:
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When Deen gives you lemons, that’s a good time to have a sandwich.
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The Sacred Blacksmith
http://www.blasmi.com/
Studio: Manglobe
Genre: Fantasy, Action
Further Information: ANN Entry
Premiers October 2nd (late night)
Summary:
Cecily is travelling all over the kingdom, looking for a blacksmith who can repair the sword her father left her. She finds a man who wields forbidden demonic powers, and also happens to be a blacksmith, so begins journeying with him in hopes that her sword can be restored.
Personal Outlook:
Fantasy adventure’s always fun, and Manglobe tends to do a pretty good job with productions, but on the other hand, this director’s done nothing but Pokemon and Linebarrels, and the head writer is a veteran of Kanokon and the 2nd season of Minami-ke. That’s not a combination that inspires a terrible amount of confidence in a man. Hopefully the stupidity won’t be too bad.
Preseason Swing Rating:
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It’s dangerous to go alone, eat these.
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Letter Bee
http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/anime/tegamibachi/
Studio: Pierrot
Genre: Action
Further Information: ANN Entry
Premiers October 3rd
Summary:
The Letter Bees are postal carriers tasked to deliver their letters across dangerous wastelands. This is the story of one young Letter Bee and the messages he delivers.
Personal Outlook:
Oh boy! Another Jump show being done by the studio bringing us Naruto and Bleach! THIS IS GOING TO BE FREAKIN’ AWESO– Wait, no… I can’t do this. I should stop before I give myself an aneurysm. Like almost all Jump shows, I imagine people will be crazy over it for two months, then there’ll be a tournament arc or they’ll go to Soul Post Office and Bob’s your uncle.
Preseason Swing Rating:
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T-minus 12 episodes until he becomes a Super Letter Bee III.
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Astro Fighter Sunred 2
http://www.sunred.jp/
Studio: AIC ASTA
Genre: Comedy
Further Information: ANN Entry
Premiers October 3rd
Summary:
Sequel series following the daily life of the superhero Sunred and his assorted supervillains as they try to make it in the real world.
Personal Outlook:
AAAAAAAaaaand another sequel, although this series isn’t exactly reliant on continuity. I’m really just not a fan of these kinds of things any more than I am a fan of the western equivilents like Frisky Dingo. But if you like such, by all means, go for it.
Preseason Swing Rating:
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Four mushrooms past their expiration date.
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Inuyasha – The Final Act
http://www.ytv.co.jp/inuyasha/
Studio: Sunrise
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure
Further Information: ANN Entry
Premiers October 3rd
Summary:
INUYASHA! KAGOME! INUYASHA! KAGOME! INUYASHA! KAGOME! INUYASHA! KAGOME! INUYASHA! KAGOME! INUYASHA! KAGOME! INUYASHA! KAGOME! INUYASHA? KAGOME! INUYASHA!! KAGOME! INUYASHA! KAGOME! INUYASHA! KAGOME!? INUYASHA! KAGOME! INUYASHA!!! KAGOME! INUYASHA! KAGOME! INUYASHA! KAGOME! INUYASHA!? KAGOME! INUYASHA! KAGOME! INUYASHA!!!!!!!!!! KAGOME!
Personal Outlook:
It feels odd saying this, but it really isn’t looking like there’s anything better on Saturdays than this. Not that there’s anything particularly wrong with Inuyasha, it’s just… well… it’s Inuyasha. I already know how the bloody thing ends, and I’m not entirely certain I want to watch it get there. There really is almost nothing else on Saturdays this season for some reason though. Ugh.
Preseason Swing Rating:
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Three approving bishis.
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Dream Colored Pâtissière
http://www.ytv.co.jp/yumepati/
Studio: Pierrot
Genre: Children with giant heads
Information Links: ANN Entry
Premiers October 3rd (late night)
Summary:
Amano dreams of being a chef, so she enrolls in a special cooking school specializing in desserts. On her first day there, she meets a tiny fairy, the spirit of sweets.
Personal Outlook:
Sunday morning television by the geniuses behind Naruto and Bleach. Wonderful. Maybe the fairy will turn out to drink blood, or require one person’s soul per pastry it makes. Now that would… well… still not be worth watching, but it’d at least give small children nightmares, and isn’t that worth something?
Preseason Swing Rating:
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Adding French does not make your terrible kid’s show classier.
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Heaven’s Lost Property
http://anime.webnt.jp/soraoto/
Studio: AIC ASTA
Genre: Comedy
Further Information: ANN Entry
Premiers October 4th
Summary:
Incorrigible pervert Tomoki has been dreaming of a girl begging for him to save her for as long as he can remember. Every time he wakes up from that dream, his face is covered in tears. Finally, he asks his friends for help, and that night, an angel falls out of the sky and binds herself to him as his servant, desperate to do anything to please him.
Personal Outlook:
I’m not sure if it’s a positive thing when the producers decide that an episode they’re planning is TOO HOT FOR BROADCAST months before it airs. AIC ASTA is pretty much AIC’s worst division (and they’re no prize winners themselves these days), and neither the writer nor the director here are any good, so I imagine that this show is going to be full of terrible writing and either censorship or T&A. I think I prefer the former.
Preseason Swing Rating:
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Runs with safety scissors.
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Summer Storm 2
http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/natsunoarashi2/
Studio: Shaft
Genre: Comedy
Further Information: ANN Entry
Premiers October 4th
Summary:
Second season of the comedy about a bunch of people who work at a restaurant that just happen to be able to jump through time.
Personal Outlook:
Man, Shaft. If you’re having this many budget issues, shouldn’t you be churning out a terrible ef spinoff or another half-assed season of SZS instead of a second season of one of the least successful shows you’ve ever made?
Preseason Swing Rating:
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–COMMENT REDACTED BY ORDER OF THE UNITED STATES ASPCA–
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Miracle☆Train ~Welcome to the Oedo Line~
http://www.miracle-train.tv/
Studio: Yumeta
Genre: Pretty Trains
Further Information: ANN Entry
Premiers October 4th
Summary:
The life and times of five Japanese train stations anthropomorphized as the prettiest of pretty men.
Personal Outlook:
You know… it was cute when Japan anthropomorphized operating systems. It was vaguely racist when they anthropomorphized WW2 countries. Nowadays, it’s just weird. People have to go to these train stations you know. Not to mention the horrible horrible imagery of trains going in and out of the stations all day long. That’s not even subtle.
Preseason Swing Rating:
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Two properly anthropomorphized trains.
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Shin Koihime†Musou
http://www.mmv.co.jp/special/shinkoihime/
Studio: Dogakobo
Genre: Adventure
Further Information: ANN Entry
Premiers October 4th (late night)
Summary:
Continuation of the wacky misadventures of the feminized versions of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms warlords as they travel through China.
Personal Outlook:
The nice thing about all these sequels is that it makes my premier week all that much less crowded. I couldn’t get into the comedy of the first season of this and I cannot imagine that I’ll pick up the second either.
Preseason Swing Rating:
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What would Guan Yu think?
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Animal Detective Kirumin Zoo
http://www.kirumin.com/
Studio: Satelight, HAL Film Maker, JM Animation
Genre: Brainrot
Further Information: ANN Entry
Premiers October 5th (Early morning)
Summary:
Three sisters discover magical compacts that let them transform into animals. Wacky antics ensue.
Personal Outlook:
So this is what Japan shows at prime time, eh? The mind boggles. Maybe it’s designed to pull in the girls that the Dragonball reruns don’t grab… or whatever airs at 1730 opposite it. And if I see one more person leave it as ‘anyamaru’ instead of ‘animal,’ I’ll have to physically beat someone. That would be the most entertainment that this show could possibly give me.
Preseason Swing Rating:
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Fourteen shameless toy advertisements.
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The Secret of Haruka Nogizaka – Purezza♪
http://www.nogizaka-haruka.com/
Studio: Diomedea
Genre: Pandering
Further Information: ANN Entry
Premiers October 5th
Summary:
Second season. A guy discovers the school idol’s deep dark secret, that she’s an anime fan. Now he’s stuck being her confidant and friend, and preventing anybody else from learning about it.
Personal Outlook:
This is probably the only one of the sequels that I actually have a personal grudge against. If the world had fewer of these ‘romance’ shows where the girl is some kind of perfect angel that was just waiting for the milquetoast male to glance her way so her life could be whole, I’d be rather pleased. I just dream of the day that psychological pandering is as reviled as physical pandering. Okay, I’m done with the soap box now.
Preseason Swing Rating:
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One trick pony.
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Kobato.
http://www.kobato.tv/
Studio: Madhouse
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure
Further Information: ANN Entry
Premiers October 6th (Morning)
Summary:
Kobato is an innocent girl dedicated to a single mission. She has a wish to journey to a certain place, but before she can get there, she must fill her flask with the heartache of those around her.
Personal Outlook:
Interesting, this is being pitched as a fusion of not only Clamp’s story of the same name that they don’t consider important enough to finish, but also Wish. Maybe it’s just me, but I have a bit of a hard time getting excited for a story that even the creators apparently don’t particularly like. Not to mention that Clamp’s had a pretty bad track record lately. Granted, this dates back to 2005 and Wish to 1996, but neither are exactly Clamp’s A games either. One does have to wonder why they put a period in the title too.
Preseason Swing Rating:
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Robblerobblerobblerobblerobblerobblerobblerobble
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Reaching You
http://www.ntv.co.jp/kiminitodoke/
Studio: Production IG
Genre: Romance, Drama
Further Information: ANN Entry
Premiers October 6th
Summary:
Because she looks creepy, everybody has always avoided talking to Sawako and rumors that she consults with the supernatural gradually spread. However, one day, the most popular boy in the school began talking to her and her life started to change.
Personal Outlook:
Ugh. Girly anime with my most hated VA as the lead role. DAMN YOU, NOTO!!!!!!!!!!!! This is supposed to be pretty popular, but then again, so is Naruto, and this particular genre is… how to say… not exactly my favorite. Especially with the whole "I was just waiting for a boy to talk to me and then I can become the prettiest princess ever," spiel done completely straight. Somebody throw a pie or something.
Preseason Swing Rating:
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Six monochrome nanja monjas out of seven.
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11eyes
http://www.mmv.co.jp/special/11eyes/
Studio: Dogakobo
Genre: Fantasy, Action
Further Information: ANN Entry
Premiers October 6th
Summary:
Kakeru was crushed when his older sister and last remaining family member killed herself five years ago. His childhood friend keeps trying to help him, but he has tuned almost completely out of reality, until the two are thrust into a strange world devoid of people and swarming with monsters. They manage to escape, but get thrust into the world over and over and have to cooperate with the others that are trapped to find a way to escape the world once and for all.
Personal Outlook:
I’m not entire sure why this reminds me so much of Night Wizard, but for some reason, it does. Probably because it airs on Tuesdays. That in itself gives it a leg-up over the competition. I’ve heard mostly good things about the game. Well… mostly I’ve hear that it’s quite the Persona 3 ripoff with a fair bit of Rental Magica thrown in for good measure, not that there’s anything wrong with that. The world could use a Persona adaptation that doesn’t suck. Or a Rental Magica that has an actual plot. Then again, the con promo was not exactly what one would hope for in an action show, so… well… it’s on a slow day.
Preseason Swing Rating:
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Three unspeakable horrors.
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Whispered Words
http://www.sasameki.com/
Studio: AIC
Genre: Romance
Further Information: ANN Entry
Premiers October 7th
Summary:
Sumika is in love with her (female) best friend, but Ushio is only attracted to cute girls. Since Sumika is tall and spent almost all her life learning martial arts, she’s about the furthest thing she could be from Ushio’s tastes, so is stuck just watching Ushio try to hook up with every girl except her.
Personal Outlook:
If Ushio was male, this would just be ignored as some generic shoddy romance, but because she’s a female, suddenly this supposedly becomes creative and interesting. Since everybody seems to be pushing the "HEY, THIS IS A LESBIAN SHOW" so hard, I imagine that it probably will not be particularly welcoming or attractive to us heathens.
Preseason Swing Rating:
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FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!
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DARKER THAN BLACK – Gemini of the Meteor
http://www.d-black.net/
Studio: Bones
Genre: Action
Further Information: ANN Entry
Premiers October 8th
Summary:
Sequel series exploring the mysteries of the Hell’s Gate that appeared in Tokyo, granting special powers to certain people, along with imposing a price every time those powers were used.
Personal Outlook:
Something I doubt I’ll be covering past episode 1 just because everybody and their dog will be doing that, and there are about 6 other action shows on Thursdays this season. The first season was solid enough, but like most of Bones’ recent stuff, I was pretty displeased with the ending. Hopefully they’ll at least do a better job of that this time around.
Preseason Swing Rating:
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*HONK* *HONK*
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FAIRY TAIL
http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/anime/fairytail/
Studio: A-1 Pictures, Satelight
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure
Further Information: ANN Entry
Premiers October 12th (Morning)
Summary:
A young mage named Lucy is rescued from being forced into slavery by Natsu, a kid who can control flame. The two join the Fairy Tail guild and start taking on odd jobs while searching for the dragon, Igneel.
Personal Outlook:
This comes on following the anime version of Tamagotchi. That should give you a general clue as to who the target audience for the show is. Ergo, I think it’s safe to assume that you’ll need about as many braincells for this as you would for Tamagotchi. Granted, it’s the same director as Tokyo Majin, but I’m not sure my ears would survive a show with Hirano playing a rich spoiled brat while Kugimiya Rie voices a squeaky mascot. I can feel a migraine coming on just thinking about it.
Preseason Swing Rating:
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One bullet. Back of the skull. QED.
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Thriller Restaurant
http://www.toei-anim.co.jp/tv/kaidan_restaurant/
Studio: Toei
Genre: Fantasy
Further Information: ANN Entry
Premiers October 13th
Summary:
Ako’s school receives a new transfer student, a boy who has travelled around the world collecting ghost stories. They start visiting the rundown ‘Thriller Restaurant’ to tell their own ghost stories.
Personal Outlook:
Aaaaand this one airs after Japanese Lilo and Stitch. It bears mentioning that anybody with half a brain would translate 怪談 as Ghost Stories, not Thriller, but hey… who am I to argue with terrible official translations? It looks like yet another kid’s show, through and through, but if you like mythology and for some reason have been ignoring the plethora of similar existing shows, then I guess it might be somewhat interesting.
Preseason Swing Rating:
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The funk of forty thousand years.
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Kiddy Girl-and
http://www.kiddygrade.com/
Studio: Satelight
Genre: Sci-fi, Action
Further Information: ANN Entry
Premiers October 15th
Summary:
50 years after the events of Kiddy Grade, a new pair of heroines emerge to face the new crisis facing the galaxy.
Personal Outlook:
Yeah, elaborate premise, I know. It’s hard to get a read on it since they’ve apparently completely scrapped the original one that they got as far as making a 7 minute promo DVD for two years ago. Although, given that this has been in production for over two years, I imagine it’s going to look fantastic. I’ve also always liked gimik’s character designs. However, it does bear remembering that Kiddy Grade and Uta∽Kata were both pretty obtuse shows for the most part and were obsessed with panties. Hopefully they’ve spent those two years ironing out the writing problems. Thursdays are really really full though, so I’m not making any promises.
Preseason Swing Rating:
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Come with me if you want to live.
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Trapeze
http://www.kuchu-buranko.com/
Studio: Toei
Genre: Thriller
Further Information: ANN Entry
Premiers October 15th
Summary:
People come to the psychiatrist, Dr. Irabu, and he gives them an injection, usually just to see what will happen, but his patients have a way of getting far worse before they get better.
Personal Outlook:
Pretty much the spiritual successor to Ayakashi and Mononoke, two shows that I could never really get into. Maybe this one will be a little more interesting and less reliant on the weird style in place of actual production, but since it’s Toei, I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Preseason Swing Rating:
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A spoonful of sugar cocaine helps the bad medicine go down.
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Winter Sonata
http://anime-wintersonata.com/
Studio: G&G, JM Animation
Genre: Romance, Drama
Further Information: ANN Entry
Premiers October 16th
Summary:
Joon-sang falls in love, but after an auto accident, he loses all memories of his previous life. His mother decides that his life was unhappy, so moves away and does her best to erase all traces of his past. Ten years later, a chance encounter brings him in contact with his old girlfriend and his memories start to stir.
Personal Outlook:
This is the anime adaptation of a pre-existing Korean drama that Japan became obsessed with about a year ago and is being produced pretty much entirely by Korea, which makes the whole thing a bit of a cypher to me. I’m not really a fan of sappy romantic drama, and even less of a fan of deus ex amnesia, so I really cannot imagine doing anything beyond making fun of the VAs’ accents.
Preseason Swing Rating:
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The first step in Jong-il’s circuitous plan to transfer his brain into Jimmy Kimmel.
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Celestial 
Aroduc 
Gil 
Nemo_N 
Azure 
Solaris 
andou-san 
anon 
Yue 
kadian1364 
Foreverichigo 
Nanaya 
lubczyk 
Shinji103 
Travis 
WeatherMan 
Irie 
SOSAnimeBoy 
sora 
The Phantom 
Anonym 
Shiro, Long Tail's 
I was actually more excited for next season before this preview.
Oh well, I guess there’s always Inu Yasha to fall back on.