Though quite late, I hope that this list will be a helpful guide for people who want to tackle new series.
So here it is, the winter 09 anime lineup, full of much-awaited sequels and promising premiers.
image by オニグンソウ on pixiv
Shikabane-hime Kuro – 01/01/09 (Official Site) (ANN) (Wiki)
Story: “The title “Corpse Princess” belongs to Makina Hoshimura, an undead girl who seeks to hunt down 108 corpses in order to go to heaven.” (ANN-Shikabane-hime: Aka)
Extras + Opinion: Sequel to the Shikabane-hime: Aka. Don’t know what’s up with this one since I haven’t watched it nor am I planning to. Summary seems self explanatory. I’ll have a better story summary once its up in ANN or if I can find a better one somewhere.
Maria-sama ga Miteru 4th Season – 01/03/09 (Official Site) (ANN) (Wiki)
Story: to be added. Basically its about girls in a prestigious school called Lillian Academy and their relationships with one another.
Extras + Opinion: Another sequel to a series, Maria-sama ga Miteru. All I see are girls, which makes me not want to watch it. The ads are very suspicious, though as I haven’t watched it, I can’t be sure. But if that’s your sort of thing, go right ahead.
Akikan! – 01/03/09 (Official Site) (ANN) (Wiki)
Story: “Daichi Kakeru is a sixteen year-old high school student who has never had a girlfriend. Little did he know that everything was about to change when he bought a melon soda on his way home from school. His first sip became his first kiss, as the can came to life in the form of a beautiful girl, who he called ‘Melon’. The can is part of a government project called ‘Akikan’, where certain empty cans turn into beautiful girls.” (ANN)
Extras + Opinions: While the melon soda is interesting, I’m just utterly speechless at how stupid the government in this series sounds.
WHITE ALBUM – 01/03/09 (Official Site) (ANN) (Wiki)
Story: Tóya Fuji, a collage student is dating a rising idol singer named Yuki Morikawa. There are numerous chalanges to the couple’s relationship from the other people at Fuji’s collage, Morikawa’s work, and elsewhere. (ANN)
Extras + Opinions: I haven’t read the manga so I don’t know the quality of the story. If its good, it can turn out something along the lines of Nana. If its bad, then well we got ourselves a trying-hard idol thingy. The quality of the animation isn’t all that amazing and after all those advertising images, it’s a disappointment.
Maria†Holic – 01/04/09 (Official Site) (ANN) (Wiki)
Story: The story centers on a sophomore named Kanako who enrolls in all-girls school because she has a phobia of men and wants to find her destined yuri partner. She meets a captivating freshman named Mariya who fits her criteria — except her seemingly ideal mate happens to be a cross-dressing sadistic boy. (ANN)
Extras + Opinions: The summary certainly got a laugh out of me, in a good way.
Minami ke Okaeri - 01/04/09 (Official Site) (ANN) (Wiki)
Story: “A year has passed since “Okawari” and the 3 sisters have grown up. Their likings and mods are almost the same, Haruka the older sister is a love-giving mother to the younger sisters, but she’s also a discipline follower, Kana the middle one leaves everything to the last possible moment and always gives trouble to this trio, and Chiaki the little one is the calculating and manipulating one, she likes to be admired and loved by Haruka and always gives trouble to the less blessed Kana. An unbalanced family, but appart of all that they love each other with their whole strength. This family’s daily life is as funny as ever, trouble and love is always present, now its time to see if they’ll survive this age change since Haruka now is a Young adult and she has now to watch over the younger while integrating to the adult life.” (ANN)
Extras + Opinions: That was probably the most detailed summary I found so far. Seems pretty decent a heart-warming, family drama.
Zoku Natsume Yuujin-chou – 01/05/09 (Official Site) (ANN) (Wiki)
Story: Natsume Takashi has the ability to see spirits, which he has long kept secret. However, once he inherits a strange book that belonged to his deceased grandmother, Reiko, he discovers the reason why spirits surround him. Containing the names of these spirits, a binding contract was formed between the spirits and the owner of the book. Now, Natsume is determined to free the spirits and dissolve the contracts. With the help of a spirit cat, his days are filled trying to return the names to these spirits. (ANN- Natsume Yuujin-chou)
Extras + Opinions: OMG ITS HERE! Sequel to Natsume Yuujin-chou. It seems like the animation quality has gone up? Oh and the OP (by LONG SHOT PARTY) and ED (by Kourin) are amazing. I’m getting all giddy just thinking about this series. It’s sad that not many people like this sort of anime and some people compare it to xxxHOLIC, which it isn’t even close to. First of all, Natsume would never act like Watanuki. There’s seems to be a new character, which I presume to be a girl (?) that will probably become a regular judging from the OP and ED. GAH WATCH IT PEOPLE.
Sora o Kakeru Shoujo – 01/05/09 (Official Site) (ANN) (Wiki)
Story: The story is set in the year 311 of the Orbital Calendar, when humanity has migrated to countless colony clusters in space. A space colony girl named Akiha Shishidō encounters a malevolent artificial intelligence named Leopard that has been installed on a colony. Akiha is joined by an Inter-Colony Police officer named Itsuki Kannagi, a taciturn young girl named Honoka Kawai, and a robot named Imoko “Imo-chan” Shishidō. (ANN News)
Extras + Opinions: It’s probably inspired by The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. Though the revealing costumes turns me off.
VIPER’S CREED – 01/06/09 (Official Site) (ANN)
Story: The story revolves around the members of a private military company (PMC), and the uneasy tension between them and the regular military after a war that caused massive environmental destruction. (ANN News)
Extras + Opinions: If the images remind you of Appleseed that would be because one of the series’ creators is none other than Aramaki Shinji, the Appleseed movie director. This sounds like a more violent and seirious version of Library Wars. It’s quite heavy on the CGI though, as expected with the collaboration.
Hajime no Ippo New Challenger – 01/06/09 (Official Site) (ANN) (Wiki)
Story: Ippo Makunouchi continues his boxing career and his goal on knowing the meaning of being strong, and the desire on fighting his idol Ichiro Miyata once again. Along him are pro boxers Takamura, Aoki and Kimura that each one of them aspire to their own dreams. (ANN)
Extras + Opinions: Sequel to Hajime no Ippo and adapted from a classic manga of the same name.
Asu no Yoichi – 01/08/09 (Official Site) (ANN) (Wiki)
Story: The titular character Yoichi decides to leave his family’s mountainside home after his father tells him there is nothing more he can learn in martial arts there. The teenaged boy ends up in a martial arts dojo in the city with four girls. (ANN News)
Extras + Opinions: Harem basically
The Tower of Druaga ~ The Swords of Uruk~ – 01/08/09 (Official Site) (ANN) (Wiki)
Story: Jill embarks on a quest with his companions for a fabled and powerful artifact rumored to be in the highest floor of the Tower of Druaga. However, other competitors, including the kingdom of Uruk itself, want the treasure for their own reasons. (ANN)
Extras + Opinions: A sequel to The Aegis of Uruk. I watched a couple episodes of the first season but stopped since I couldn’t handle the comedy. For me it was just a bad mix of trying to be funny and trying to be serious about the mission.
Kurokami the Animation – 01/08/09 (Official Site) (ANN) (Wiki)
Story: In this world, there are three identical looking people in existence who split between them an energy-like force called “Terra.” This energy can be attributed to the amount of “Luck” or “Life Energy” that an individual possesses. There also exists beings who observe the human world, maintaining the balance of Terra, known as the “Coexistence Equilibrium.” These beings possess ability that surpass that of a normal human being and reside in hiding in places known as the “Pure Place” in tribes. They are called the Terra Guardians. This is a tale of battle that begins with a chance meeting between a human boy named Keita and a young Tera Guardian girl named Kuro. (ANN)
Extras + Opinions: Adapted from the manga of the same name. I’m actually quite interested in this. I read a couple of chapters of the manga and it was action-packed. The plot is detailed enough to enjoy and is quite refreshing.
Birdy the Might DECODE:02 – 01/09/09 (Official Site) (ANN) (Wiki)
Story: Tsutomu Senkawa is an average high school kid who is busy studying for his senior entrance exams. Tsutomu goes out for some fresh air, after a hard day’s work studying for a big test, when he runs into a guy fleeing from a pretty young lady. The pursued man is actually an interplanetary criminal on the run from a Federation agent called Birdy Cephon Altera. Caught in the midst of this chase, Tsutomu gets thrown by the man at Birdy, which kills Tsutomu. Fortunately for Tsutomu, there is a way to keep him alive, although it comes at the price of discarding his body. He ends up merged into Birdy’s body. (ANN)
Extras + Opinions: I didn’t watch the first season so I won’t be watching this sequel but it was fairly popular when it came out so I’m thinking it’s atleast a bit good?
Major 5th Season – 01/10/09 (Official Site) (ANN) (Wiki)
Story: Shigeharu Honda is a Major Leauge batter on the rise. His son Goro is a Little League pitcher who one day hopes to follow in his father’s footsteps. Momoko Hoshino is Goro’s schoolteacher, and the first woman Shigeharu has been interested in since the death of Goro’s mother. The destines of these three individuals will become intertwined as father and son experience both heartbreak and triumph on the baseball diamond. But when an unspeakable tragedy visits the family, it will take everything they have to pick up the pieces and reclaim their dreams. (ANN)
Extras + Opinions: Another sequel. This is coming from a long running classic manga. It’s quite good. I enjoyed reading it since I tend to like sports related mangas, especially about baseball. So if you like sports anime, here’s your slice for winter.
Kemono no Souja Erin – 01/10/09 (Official Site) (ANN)
Story: Kemono no Sōja Erin (The Beast Player Erin) will center around a girl who can control the greatest of beasts as if she was playing a musical instrument. However, she gets embroiled in a war for supremacy between kingdoms. (ANN News)
Extras + Opinions: Well this hit me. The story is by author Uehashi Nahoko, Seirei no Moribito‘s creator. That pretty much made me want to watch this. It’s going to be done by Production I.G. and Transarts and a couple of well known anime staff (not seiyuu wise) will be working on it. As Seirei no Moribito was just OMFG quality and floored me, I want to have lots of expectation from this. However, its airing in NHK, which mostly has kiddie shows with a few hit shows here and there and the disappointing animation quality, I just don’t know what to expect.
Koukaku no Regios – 01/10/09 (Official Site) (ANN) (Wiki)
Story: In this school fantasy story set in the distant future, creatures contaminated by pollution have overtaken the land, forcing humanity to live in isolated mobile cities called Regios. One such city named Czerni is a self-contained school in which freshman Reifon Aruseifu has just enrolled. Reifon reluctantly joins the 17th Martial Arts Studies Unit led by the third-year student Nina Antōku and embarks on a series of adventures. (ANN News)
Extras + Opinions: The plot actually sounds quite interesting. Though it has a bit of a cliche feeling to it, I’m willing to try it out. Based on the trailers, it looks very action packed while having a romance side to it. I’m suspicious about that. To me, it takes a lot for a show to succeed in the action category if it has to cater to the romance audience. Looks amazing though.
RIDEBACK – 01/11/09 (Official Site) (ANN) (Wiki)
Story: Ride Back tells the story of a girl a her “Iron Horse” robot motorcycle in 2020, a tumultous time of anti-goverment student protests. (ANN)
Extras + Opinions: Summary’s not enough for me to judge the series. All I know is that there’s heavy CGI involvement with respect to the motorcycles.
Slayers EVOLUTION R – 01/12/09 (Official Site) (ANN) (Wiki)
Story: to be added
Extras + Opinions: Sequel to the sequel of Slayers.
Sora wo Miageru Shoujo no Hitomi ni Utsuru Sekai – 01/13/09 (Official Site) (ANN) (Wiki)
Story: The original fantasy anime centered on a seemingly ordinary girl named Yumemi who can see a magical world in the skies above our world, and the king named Munto who must find Yumemi to save his own world. (ANN News)
Extras + Opinions: Okay WHOA. Who ever said that the Munto OVAs will get a TV series >_>. WILL DEFINATELY WATCH. Munto was one of those series that never got popular because the movies weren’t that good. They were short, very clipped, not well developed, and simply shoujo-ic. Though I always thought that maybe, JUST MAYBE, if Munto series got a longer timespan to tell its story, then it would be gorgeous. And maybe then perhaps we will finally know the relationship between Munto and Yumemi. Though of course that may be just my imagination wishing. WE SHALL SEE.
Genji Monogatari Sennenki – 01/15/09 (Official Site) (ANN) (Wiki) <– wiki site on tale of genji background
Story: *go research The Tale of Genji, its too detailed and complicated to summarize here” Basically its about a motherless-son of a Japanese emperor and much of the story tells about his romantic life.
Extras + Opinions: It’s about time we get a Tale of Genji anime. I mean, it is one of the oldest stories of history. Apparently the anime’s creation is done to celebrate the 1000th year anniversary of the book, despite the fact no one knows the exact time it finished. Should be an intriguing romance series.
Hetalia Axis Powers – 01/24/09 (Official Site) (ANN) (Wiki)
Story: The “cynical gag” story mainly recounts the era between World War I and World War II, with the stereotypical characteristics of each country or region (particularly northern Italy) anthropomorphized as bishounen. For example, Italia Veneziano is into pasta and women. Deutsch (Germany) loves potatoes and sausages, and Nippon is an otaku boy. (ANN News)
Extras + Opinions: I think this is one of the most anticipated anime series or atleast a lot of people are expecting. I’ve seen a few of the comic strips and I must say that they’re quite educational. The sterotyping is hilarious. The animation quality is jumping back and forth from regular anime style to a more comic-style. However, due to the controversy and whatnot, its only available through cell distribution.
For some reason, this lineup doesn’t interest me that much.
However, JUST YESTERDAY, I saw the appearance of the manga Maria-Holic. I started reading it… and whaddya know, now you’re doing a review on the anime already. Yeah, I am DEFINITELY going to start reading it for real.
By the way, I’ve been reading a manga about the Tale of Genji, and yes, I agree so much that FINALLY, it’s about time they created an anime about it. It’s a classic; you’d think there’d be more stuff about it. Then again… maybe people have gotten bored of it since it’s pretty much studied as much as WE study Shakespeare here. -_-;;
Just wanted to thank you for your effort on these — It is well written and tremendously useful
ej