Next week marks the start of the Summer 2006 season, so it’s time for another preview. What the last couple of seasons have taught me is that I’ll watch the first episode of almost every show within certain parameters (in other words, not the kiddie shows). So instead of specifically saying what I’m going to watch and not going to watch, I’m going to outline my initial thoughts here most of the shows based on preliminary information and trailers. In addition, I’m adding a line about the chances of me blogging the first episode with at least screencaps and some impressions, if not a summary. Keep in mind this list does not quite include everything, and in particular does not have the two WOWOW series Taiyou no Mokushiroku (which appears to be a short) and Kemono Zume (which isn’t starting until August and doesn’t have much information to go on right now). Finally, even if chances are good that I’ll blog the first episode of a series, that doesn’t mean I’ll stick with it for more than an episode. Certain days of the week – Thursdays and Saturdays – have always had too many interesting shows, and I have to ultimately make a decision on what to follow and what not to. This season fortunately doesn’t have the insane number of new shows that Spring did, but we’ll see how it turns out.
Note: All times are given in a 24-hour, relative-day format where times are extended to show which day they belong to. For instance, Friday morning at 1:30AM would become Thurday at 25:30 to show that the episode aired late Thursday night.
By no means is this list complete, these are just the series I watch/am planning to watch. Check out MOON PHASE for an entire listing, syoboi’s calendar for specific air-times, and AndrewLB’s Summer 2006 Wiki for who’s tentatively subbing what.
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FLAG http://www.flag20xx.net/ Premieres June 16th, 2006 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Every Other Friday at 12:00 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Every Other Thursday at 23:00 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo A camerawoman follows around a mobile suit group in a not-so-far future setting with global strife. This is a mecha series, but it has a little similarity to current geopolitical situation. I’m not a big fan of the character designs, though the premise and the fact that this is a mecha series has me interested at least a little. Technically the first episode of this show has already aired, and the second episode is due in a few days, but it’s on Bandai Channel, which is a premium service. Odds I’ll Blog This: Decent |
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Night Head Genesis http://www.nighthead-genesis.jp/ Premieres June 17th, 2006; Regular Airing Starts July 29th, 2006 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Saturdays at 24:00 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Saturdays at 11:00 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo Two brothers with psychic powers on the run. I watched the trailer on the main site, and it looked rather horror supernatural. Personally though, I doubt this is my type of series. Odds I’ll Blog This: Poor |
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Honey and Clover II http://www.hachikuro.net/ Premieres June 29th, 2006 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Thursdays at 24:45 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Thursdays at 11:45 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo The series that needs no introduction, this is the continuation of the highly popular series from last year, meaning the return of Morita, Takemoto, Hagu-chan, and all the others. This time around, the series will only be 13 episodes. I’m most looking forward to a lot of good music by Suga Shikao and Spitz. What’s more, this season will feature background music by the popular acoustic guitar duo DEPAPEPE, which makes me doubly excited. Odds I’ll Blog This: Guaranteed |
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Binbou Shimai Monogatari http://www.toei-anim.co.jp/tv/binboushimai/ Premieres June 29th, 2006 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Thursdays at 26:40 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Thursdays at 13:40 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo A pair of poor girls in a slice-of-life series. I haven’t gotten around to reading the manga yet (that may soon change), but I’ve heard some good things about it. I’ll direct you to Kotonoha for more information about the story. Odds I’ll Blog This: Decent |
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Powerpuff Girls Z http://www.toei-anim.co.jp/tv/ppgz/ Premieres July 1st, 2006 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Saturdays at 7:00 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Fridays at 18:00 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo PPGZ is the mix of the popular American cartoon with the Japanese animation style. This version has the same characters, but the storyline appears to be dramatically different (see the Wikipedia entry). The thing that sticks out in my mind is that this is now a henshin/magical girl-type series. Having seen a lot of the original cartoon, I’m quite curious about this rendition of it. Odds I’ll Blog This: Good |
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Mamotte! Lollipop http://www.mamololli.com/ Premieres July 1st, 2006 |
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Tsuyokiss http://www.tsuyokiss.jp/ Premieres July 1st, 2006 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Saturdays at 26:05 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Saturdays at 13:05 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo On face value alone, this looks like another school harem series based off an ero-game. But there appears to be a good bit of production money going into this one and I’ve heard a lot of good things about the game. It has been heavily publicized in certain anime circles on the net – Mentar told me, “Watch Tsuyokisu if you’re looking for a good comedy harem with strong girl characters who do NOT fawn over the male lead, and which has a low angst ratio.” Odds I’ll Blog This: Guaranteed |
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Le Chevalier D’Eon http://www.chevalier.tv/ Preview July 2nd, 2006; Regular Airing Starts August 19th, 2006 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Saturdays at 19:00 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Saturdays at 6:00 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo A historical drama set in 18th century France just before the French Revolution. Production I.G calls this a gothic mystery series about the Chevalier d’Eon (based on the real person) investigating the murder of his sister and the supernatural things that go with it. I’m staying cautiously optimistic about this one – I can see myself really enjoying this or really hating it. Odds I’ll Blog This: Decent |
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ProjectBLUE Chikyuu SOS http://www.projectblue.jp Premieres July 2nd, 2006 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Sundays at 23:00 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Sundays at 10:00 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo Three friends investigate mysterious disappearances that lead up to an alien invasion of Earth in the future. MOON PHASE lists this as an OVA airing once a month and each episode is an hour long. I have a feeling this will turn out to feel more like a movie than a series. Odds I’ll Blog This: Poor |
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Zero no Tsukaima http://www.zero-tsukaima.com/index.html Premieres July 2nd, 2006 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Sundays at 24:30 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Sundays at 11:30 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo A witch who has no magical talent and is in magic school suddenly summons and contracts with a boy through a kiss. They’re not exactly selling me on premise here, but the promo on the official site looked cute and interesting enough. This is a J.C. Staff production, and in particular the characters designs are by Fujii Masahiro, the same person who did Mahoraba’s designs. Odds I’ll Blog This: Good |
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Bokura ga Ita http://www.bokuragaita.com/ Premieres July 3rd, 2006 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Mondays at 26:00 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Mondays at 13:00 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo To me, this series screams typical shoujo girl-slowly-falls-in-love-with-popular-guy. However, I’ve heard that this is a sad story, and I’m a sucker for sappy shoujo series (at least on paper). Lots of people have mentioned that Daichi Akitaro is going to be the director, though that doesn’t mean all that much to me personally. The thing that this series has going for it is that it has the same art director as Honey and Clover, Shibata Chikako. But then again, why watch something that’s like H&C when you can watch the real thing? 🙂 Odds I’ll Blog This: Good |
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Coyote Ragtime Show http://www.ufotable.com/coyote/ Premieres July 3rd, 2006 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Mondays at 26:10 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Mondays at 13:10 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo My very first impression of this series comes from the trailer I reviewed a while back. It had really good music and made the show look quite high production quality, though the angsty-man-protecting-the-special-young-girl story has been told before. Also intriguing are Marciano’s 12 Sisters characters, who are each named after a month. Production is being done by ufotable so that is a plus. Odds I’ll Blog This: Good |
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Muteki Kanban Musume http://www.onimaru.net/ Premieres July 4th, 2006 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Tuesdays at 26:00 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Tuesdays at 13:00 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo A comedy revolving around a spunky girl working in her family’s Chinese restaurant. The reviews I’ve read about the manga, were lukewarm, particularly in reference to the comedy aspects. Now that doesn’t mean that the animated version won’t be funny, but I’m not going to hold my breath. Odds I’ll Blog This: Decent |
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Koi Suru Tenshi Angelique ~ Kokoro no Mezameru Toki ~ http://www.gamecity.ne.jp/neoromance/tv/ange/index.htm Premieres July 8th, 2006 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Saturdays at 21:30 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Saturdays at 8:30 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo A fantasy series about a girl chosen to the legendary Étoile who will save the universe. To help her, she’s got nine bishounen. The promo video on the official site looked and sounded like a parade of male models. I really can’t see myself enjoying this show, but that’s left up to the first episode to determine. Odds I’ll Blog This: Poor |
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Tona-gura! http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/tonagra/ Premieres July 8th, 2006 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Saturdays at 24:30 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Saturdays at 11:30 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo A romance-comedy about two childhood friends being reunited after many years, but the guy is now rather perverted. This is the next Starchild series, taking Himawari’s Saturday timeslot. The manga was romantic-comedy-haremish fluff, one of those guilty pleasure reads because there’s nothing better of actual substance around (or that’s the way it was for me). I liked the art in the manga, and likewise the animation’s art style isn’t bad, but I’m not expecting much out of this series in terms of story. Odds I’ll Blog This: Good |
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NHK ni Youkoso! http://www.kadokawa.co.jp/hikky Premieres July 9th, 2006 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Sundays at 24:00 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Sundays at 11:00 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo I don’t think it’s possible to talk about this series without first bringing up the word hikikomori, which refers to people who withdraw from society and stay enclosed in their room all the time. That’s exactly what you’d call the main character here, but fortunately (or not), a girl appears who wants to help him. The NHK in the title refers not only to the TV station, but also to the Nihon Hikikomori Kyoukai (Japan Hikikomori Society). The manga for this series is quite popular, but I actually didn’t like it that much (a bit too weird for me). The character designs on the front of the official website look really different from the manga (in a bad way), though the actual character page is much more similar. I’ve tentatively got this penciled in to replace Haruhi as a Sunday show, but I’ll have to see how the first episode turns out. Odds I’ll Blog This: Guaranteed |
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Chokotto Sister http://www.chocosis.com/ Premieres July 11th, 2006 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Tuesdays at 24:00 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Tuesdays at 11:00 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo A college student gets a present from Santa Claus (a female one) that turns out to be the little sister that he always wanted. Now theoretically, I should be excited about this series because of how much I enjoyed the manga. However the character designs for the animated version look really bad in comparison to the original work. That alone is almost enough to throw me off this series, but we’ll see how the first episode goes. As a side note, the website URL “chocosis” just sounds so wrong… Odds I’ll Blog This: Decent |
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Gundam SEED C.E.73: – STARGAZER – http://www.seed-stargazer.net/ Premieres July 14th, 2006 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Not Applicable (see below) Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Not Applicable (see below) Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo A Gundam series whose story is set during the Destiny timeline and will feature a pilot for the Earth Alliance/Phantom Pain side. I don’t even know why I’m including this here because this series is an original net animation, with only three 15-minute episodes each airing a month apart (July 14th, August 11th, and September 15th) on Bandai Channal. Maybe it’s because I continue to consume every Gundam related series, whether it’s good or not. Oh well, I can always hope… Odds I’ll Blog This: Guaranteed |
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Innocent Venus http://www.innocent-v.com/ Premieres July 26th, 2006 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Wednesdays at 24:00 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Wednesdays at 11:00 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo In a post-apocalyptical world, Odds I’ll Blog This: Decent |
What are you going to be watching?
As usual, Comments, Questions, and Suggestions are welcome.