Fall 2012 Anime Season

[Keropi]

This is an anime season poster from September 8th:

http://www.squidoo.com/anime-season-fall-2012

From this TV/ONA airing list I'd say I'm most interested in:

Jormungand S2 ------------------------ I thought the first season was alright.
Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai! ----- sounds interesting
Busou Shinki TV ----------------------- I liked some parts of the ONA. Hopefully I'll like the TV series more
Onii-chan Dakedo Ai Sae Areba Kankei Nai yo ne— ----- yeah, I know...it's another Oniichan anime. I think this was a novel.
To Love Ru Darkness ----------------- the manga is mostly about the nice art and massive ero fanservice, but it does have some plot to it. It's not for most people.
Haitai Nanafa ------------------------- hard to tell if I will like this
Little Busters! ------------------------- Lot of people really liked the game.
Code Breaker
Ixion Saga DT
Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo
Girls und Panzer ----------------------- wasn't interested in reading the manga, but maybe I'll like the anime version
Robotics;Notes
Seitokai no Ichizon: Shin Anime (Kari)
Psycho-Pass ---------------------------- with that Madoka writer working on this who knows where it will go. Psycho stuff is good.
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure TV ----------- I still have fond memories of the first OVA. I'll give this a try.
Btooom! -------------------------------- I like the manga, but I'm sure the fanservice will turn some people off.
Initial D Fifth Stage
Shin Sekai Yori

There are other anime that could interest me, but it's hard to tell if I will like them until I actually view them.

What are you most looking forward to seeing?

[AR-99]

Jormungand is at the top of my list. Since Viz is releasing the manga so slowly I'll know what the ending is all about before the final volume comes out. Will check out Btoom since I have an idea about it (never read the manga) and Girls Und Panzer for the curiosity factor. Saw some of the original Jojo OVA and I know that it is somewhat of a cult favorite, but am apathetic ATM re. a TV adaptation.

[JWR]

I can't say anything jumped out as must see. Hopefully when some better info comes out I might find something.

[theultimatebrucelee]

looks like a potentially fun season. I'd be interested to check out....

Jormungand season 2 only because:

no offense to other members but in my opinion first season epic failed at the end...they totally skipped the final boss fight!! that and I didn't like how the entire happy go lucky crew taken zero casualty while sweeping every single opponent they ever faced...I guess its the production company's strategy to attract return viewer, cause that annoyed me to no end and it somehow made me feel like I got ripped off watching the entire series. so I'm seriously eager to see every single one of those characters getting put down for good one ep at a time I really hope season 2 is not a repeating teaser

otherwise I'm interested to check out:

Litchi DE hikari club
Btooom!
Jojo no kimyou
Code: breaker
Ixion saga
phycho-pass

[AR-99]

I started reading the manga and the anime is very close to it with some changes. A big one is how Chinatsu and Shisho met, which was never shown in the manga. I work on the Jormungand Wiki as well under a different SN, so there's more info on there. So to get back to the Valmet vs. Chan fight - the reason they showed nothing is because the manga doesn't show anything either. The anime actually adds Valmet attacking Chan and him blocking. And as for no casualties among Koko's crew, they pretty much do own everyone they come up against the entire series. Since the manga is finished, you could look up the final volume and to see who is still left standing if you want to spoil yourself. I'm not trying to say that your disappointment isn't warranted, just pointing out that some omissions that the anime made are largely due to the manga.

[theultimatebrucelee]

So to get back to the Valmet vs. Chan fight - the reason they showed nothing is because the manga doesn't show anything either.

I wonder if they have a good reason for that because for a season's finale it was a pretty big disappointment for me, since the anime started at a good pace and was fully action packed. I was hoping for a grand final showdown like most other anime of similar gene but I guess somehow its too much to ask-_-"

as for no casualties among Koko's crew, they pretty much do own everyone they come up against the entire series.

that's good to know. since the anime seems to be following manga fairly close I'm guessing it would likely have the same plot overall a second time. think when the full series is release I'll check out the ending and see if I'll like it.

[AR-99]

It will finish up the manga for sure since there are 11 volumes and Season 1 already covers Vol. 1-6 since it is pretty fast paced. I'm really looking forward to the upcoming arc with Hex.

[GuyvarIII]

Lychee Light Club (Litchi Hikari Club)
Code: Breaker
Psycho-Pass
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure

And, maybe, Jormungand: Perfect Order.
However, I have to agree with theultimatebrucelee.
I, too, was disappointed with the end of the first season of “Jormungand.”

It felt like I was a victim of bait-and-switch. The anime’s opening song proclaims, “We have always stood on (the) Borderland. I’m enjoying the view from here. Eeny, meeny miny, moe … much the same.” describing a group of amoral arms dealers -- not taking sides, doing whatever they needed to, having sacrificed their own sense of right-and-wrong in order to survive in their world. In the beginning, this seemed to be true. Within the first two episodes, we saw them setting up and selling out their own kind. However, by the end of the season, they had clearly stepped way over the “borderline”, the grey area of good and evil.

In the “Dragon Shooter” arc, we are introduced to the thoroughly-evil-with-no-redeeming-qualities-whatsoever, brutish and violent, Dragan Nikolaevich and his militia; and he’s about to kill a bunch of saintly Médecins Sans Frontières clones, the “Outspoken Doctors for Human Rights.” Even though Koko had told the doctors she wouldn’t hesitate to sell them out if anything happened … suddenly, just to protect these 100% good doctors, her tiny cadre of “good” bad guys take out the 100% bad soldiers. It was as if I had changed channels to the “A-Team.” The whole arc could’ve ended with Koko saying, “I love it when a plan comes together.” Things only got worse in the “Hill of Ruin.” Valmet should’ve died. Karen Lo should’ve been the one waking up with Koko at her side. Koko, smiling like an angelic Satan, should’ve said something like, “An arms dealer recognizes a useful weapon…” followed by Karen filling the just recently opened up spot in Koko’s team, and not changing the team dynamic. Instead, the “real bad” bad guys died, and all our “good” supposed bad guys lived.

From what AR-99 says of the manga, this doesn’t seem like it’s going to change. It’s not a “real bad” show, but it’s not what was advertised.

[Keropi]

It will finish up the manga for sure since there are 11 volumes and Season 1 already covers Vol. 1-6 since it is pretty fast paced. I'm really looking forward to the upcoming arc with Hex.

Oh? So the manga is that "short"? Maybe we'll get a true ending to the story then. We don't get that many of those anymore.

Or maybe they'll just make up another ending again.

[AR-99]

Some non-canon filler elements could be added, same as in Season 1. Some events in the manga are quite short and were extended in adaptation, although there were also some omissions.

The scenario posited by GuyvarIII is interesting, but...

...probably would not happen. With several exceptions since they weren’t shown or mentioned (e.g. Lehm, Lutz, Tojo) everyone else in the squad was recruited by Koko first before they joined (Jonah’s case is a little different but she did research him) and she had no prior contact with Karen which would enable her to form any judgments. She is shown making quick decisions in inviting Ugo and Chinatsu to work for her and her decision to spare Dominique and his fellow assassins was based on just one thing, the mention of them opening up a restaurant. Recruiting Karen could have happened if Koko had had some prior interaction with her and she noticed something about her that could lead her to make an offer in a face to face meeting. However Karen leaves in the night so the opportunity to even do this doesn't arise assuming that the former scenario had occurred. Koko is also shown (later) to care deeply about her people although she largely keeps this to herself. She also has a unique relationship with Valmet and would not cast her aside so casually. Both of you bring up good points though with the Chan vs. Valmet fight not being shown. If I didn't have access to the manga I probably would have been annoyed too that it was left out.

I do agree that the series blurs the line between what is good and bad since the "good guys" are an arms dealer and her bodyguards who routinely engage in killing (but not without some provocation usually) as a matter of doing business. Especially with Jonah one would think that the depiction of a child soldier himself playing a key role in this would be disturbing, but I don't find myself having an issue with this, probably due to the fact that he settles into the role and what he thinks and feels about it aren't really focused on.

[GuyvarIII]

I do agree that the series blurs the line between what is good and bad since the "good guys" are an arms dealer and her bodyguards who routinely engage in killing (but not without some provocation usually)...

This is my problem with how the series has developed. Why have Koko and friends been turned into “good guys”?

I feel that all the characters in the arms dealing / soldier for hire business should be treated as equally “evil” (or equally morally “flexible”), while they all possesses some kind of identifiable humanity that is often at odds with their actions and/or the decisions they must make to succeed and thrive in the volatile, predatory, unforgiving, arms trade. This seemed to be what was presented at the beginning of the series,

and shown in the deaths of Shisho and Chinatsu,

but this idea was thrown away by the last few episodes of Season One. I don’t like how the series now is implying that Koko and her team are in some way better or special … not like the other “bad” arms dealers.

Regarding the handling of the Valmet at the end, of Season One

She had achieved her character’s life-goal, so she would’ve died completed at this point. Her deal with “the devil” (Koko) would’ve paid off in achieving the desired bloody revenge and death. If the story had gone with Karen killing Valmet, this would be the event that connects Koko and Karen. And the hospital room would’ve been a handy location where Koko could recruit Karen. As if Koko was picking up a loaded clip, after dropping an empty one (if it was felt that Karen’s defeat of Valmet didn’t prove that she was skilled enough to join Koko’s team, it could’ve been inferred that Koko looked into Karen’s past during the one week time lapse after Karen was shot). The characters Valmet and Karen fulfill the same roles -- just for different “bosses” (Koko + Valmet vs. Karen + Chen). Since Karen has lost Chen (her “embodiment of battle and power”) she would have to latch on to a new source of chaos and violence to fulfill her reason to exist. If Karen was seamlessly joined into Koko’s group, it would help prove the hollowness of the friendly banter between Koko and the members of her team. That despite their loyalty and her feelings for them, Koko’s group members are really just another kind of weapon… and that deep down everyone on the team already knows this. She supplies them with the violence they’ve been tempered to desire, and gets the use of them as tools to help achieve her own goals.

This idea was visually shown in the starting cuts of the opening: that they are all weapons. And Valmet’s easy “interchangeability” would’ve given the series the more challenging, harsher edge that it seemed to want to go for, but, at this point, ultimately lacks.

p.s. I really enjoy "The A-Team," and I would've had no problem with Jormungand if it had started out as, and been consistent with the elements of that kind of lighthearted show, either.

[Keropi]

The Random Curiosity season preview is up:

http://randomc.net/2012/09/15/fall-2012-preview/

[Keropi]

It doesn't seem like Crunchyroll has picked up as many new shows from this season compared to usual.

How many new shows have they picked up so far? Only nine or ten?

I've gone there a few times to watch something , but they were either not there or they were too far behind.

[AR-99]

Currently watching Jormungand: Perfect Order, Btooom!, and Girls Und Panzer.

A big surprise for someone who has read the manga is that in the first episode of Perfect Order they flipped the order of a couple arcs around. Specifically the launch of the rocket doesn't occur until sometime after the Hex arc. However now they are back on the Hex arc.

Btooom! is alright so far. I understand that some of the more explicit content from the manga was toned down in the anime.

Girls Und Panzer is also alright so far, although some of what has happened, particularly in episode 2, is stretching the imagination.

[Keropi]

I'm not caught up on everything, but so far I've been enjoying Zetsuen no Tempest, Psycho Pass the most. I already know how Btooom goes so it's hard to be as excited about it. They are supposed to be making an anime only ending for Btoom. That doesn't sound exciting.

There are a few anime from this season that are listed as "shounen", but the content in them seem to have been tweaked to attract more of a female audience compared to what they would have had otherwise.

Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun I might like I'll see. Code Breaker is going about as expected. There are some changes in it already. I do find Girls und Panzer to be amusingly fun. Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo might be interesting if you can see through the other stuff they're pulling in it. I don't have much interest in K, but I'll see how it goes. Shinsekai yori has a much more intriguing storyline, but it's not my favorite genre. To Love-Ru Darkness is just like the manga only less ecchi. Iixion Saga DT was funny for me in the first episode, but not so much in the second. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure should be alright once the story gets rolling. I liked Oniichan Dakedo's and Magi's second episodes a lot more than their firsts.