Early Impressions & Diabolik Lovers (Lilac's Impressions: Fall 2013)

So we’re coming into the new season of anime! Today, I figured I talk about the series that I picked for my Impressions and also talk about the first episode of one of those shows since it’s the only one of the list that has aired as of right now. This doesn’t mean this is Week One of my Fall Impressions, but just an early look at what’s to come. First, let’s take a quick look at Diabolik Lovers.

Diabolik Lovers
Episode 1

So this show... It exists. A little background on this series. It’s produced by ZEXCS the same company that gave us Say I love you and Flowers of Evil. They have been becoming a good studio to me based on these recent works. However, I’m not so sure that I should keep that statement after seeing the first episode of Diabolik Lovers. First off, the episode is under fifteen minutes so it’s not a normal episode length. Second of all, it just throws everything at you at once and you can’t quite digest it. Third off, what the f*** is with those vampire guys?! Nearly all of them are just blood thirsty demons who want Yui. It just bugs the crap out of me! I have so many reasons to hate this series right now, but I also kind of want to know about this whole bride business that’s been mentioned. And I get a sense that there’s going to be some sort of Beauty and the Beast story in there some where, but I could be completely wrong. I guess, for now, I’ll see what episode two brings. I’ll wait till I start my actual Impressions for the Fall season to talk about the second and third episodes (if I make it that far). But for now, this series has a lot of work to do cause episode one doesn’t give me a lot of hope. If you’re interested in watching the series, it’s over on Crunchyroll.

Now let’s talk about the new season! Normally, I start off with ten shows to watch at the start of the new season and narrow down to a final five or six series. However, this season is rather difficult to narrow down to my ten shows. What I decided, for this season, to start with eighteen series (including Diabolik Lovers) and try to narrow it down to eight or nine shows to watch over the course of the Fall season. I got one out of the way now, so I’m going to briefly talk about the other seventeen series I picked this season and my hopes for them. Also, some of the titles are roughly translated and may be changed once the series starts up. I also included any Previews of the series that I could find in case you wanted an idea of what these series will look like.

 

Ace of Diamond

I don’t really watch a lot of sports anime. The most I’ve seen out of a sports anime was some Prince of Tennis when it was on Toonami back in the day. But this series, along with another show I picked for this season, I’m curious about because of the fact I haven’t seen nearly any sports anime. In the case of Ace of Diamond, specifically, it’s the partnership between Madhouse and P.A. Works that I’m really interested in. As of posting this, there is no listed director for the series so it’ll be interesting where this show is going to go under who’s hands. But Madhouse and P.A. haven’t let me down yet. If I had to pick someone to license this series, I can see it going to either Sentai Filmworks or Aniplex of America. Sadly, due to the lack of success of Big Windup, FUNimation has been steering clear of sports anime. This show seems like an Aniplex show for sure, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Sentai Filmworks decided to give the sports genre a go. Maybe they’ll have better luck than FUNi did.

Arpeggio of Blue Steel: Ars Nova

When going through the list of shows over and over again and trying to decide which ones to drop, Arpeggio was one of the ones I considered dropping. I don’t know much about this series. First it’s from Sanzigen, an animation studio that has more credits in assisting in series rather than their own. Then there’s the director Seiji Kishi, who’s been the director for series such as Angel Beats, Humanity Has Declined, and more recently Danganronpa. But what’s keeping my interest is the preview of the series. It looks nice and it seems like it’ll be a decent action series, so we’ll see where it goes. I can only see Sentai Filmworks taking this one. Considering their license of Girls Und Panzar, this would make sense for them.

Beyond the Boundary

So Kyoto Ani managed to get my interest over the summer with Free! Now the question on not only my mind, but on the minds of others is can they now hold that interest. And I have to say, this one has potential. It’s also rather different than what Kyo Ani normally does along the lines of Free and Haruhi Suzumiya. It looks nice and I am interested in seeing Kyoto Ani going back to action after it gave it a shot with Full Metal Panic (which I have yet to see, shut up). This is certainly a Sentai Filmworks show if I ever saw one, however I would be up for a FUNimation simulcast as well.

BlazBlue: Alter Memory

BlazBlue is another series, along with Arpeggio, that I had considered dropping early on. The reason for this is because it’s based on a video game and not all video game adaptations are really amazing. You can lump Persona 4 and Danganronpa into this area, though I do enjoy both. What sucks for me as, what good old MexicanAnime calls me regarding video games, a casual is not knowing how well it will translate from game to TV show. Granted this can be the same with manga and visual novel adaptations, but video games have certain mechanics that may seem rather confusing to the viewer of the TV show. For example, the Social Links of Persona 4 or the Classroom Trials of Danganronpa. But Danganronpa managed to make it through over the summer, so I’m willing to give BlazBlue a chance. With this one, I’m leaning on a FUNimation simulcast because this seems like a series FUNi would typically pick up. However, Sentai may have a chance at this one as well.

Coppelion

This is one of the series I am extremely excited for, and also a series that has had many rumors circulating around it. What I didn’t know was that this series had been announced a few years back but then was pulled for some reason, making a lot of potential fans upset. Will that time lapse possibly damage this series? Who knows. But I love the premise and the art is a little shaky but it might get better. As for who this could get a simulcast from, it better be FUNimation cause this is totally up their alley! I would be really upset if they didn’t pick this up.

Galilei Donna

A-1 Pictures has had some hits and misses in the past couple of years or so. Will Galilei Donna fall under the miss area? Beats me. But this is the first series I saw on the Fall Ani Chart, and sometimes when I see the first one of the chart I am prone to watching it, like I did with Red Data Girl this past spring. But I am interested in the plot of the story and would like to know how they’re going to make three girls into criminals. If I had to make a guess as to where this show will end up, I would have to say Sentai Filmworks again. Why? Because they seem to being picking up similar shows in style and design such as Say I love you. But I could be wrong and it could always fall into FUNimation’s hands.

Golden Time

How often do we get series set in college and involve adults? Not extremely often, especially in recent years. In walks Golden Time, a comedy/romance series from J.C. Staff. When I look into series I would be interested in watching I try to keep a very open mind about those series going in and try to reserve judgements about them till I’ve seen a few episodes. This is one of those shows that I believe I will enjoy, but I will have to wait and see. It looks really calming and charming, but this is also a comedy so I have no idea what kind of humor this series will be going for. If I had to pick a company to see a simulcast from, then Sentai Filmworks would be a strong contender here. Again, with Say I love you and Natsuyuki Rendezvous, this seems like it would be up Sentai’s alley.

I, Who Didn't Become a Hero, 

Reluctantly Decided to Find a Job

With my recent enjoyment of The Devil is a Part Timer from the spring season, I saw this series listed late in the announcement game I knew I wanted to give it a chance. It will probably be in the same vein as Devil is a Part Timer, which is perfectly fine, but the problem that will come out of this series is all the comparisons to its proceeding cousin. This is a double edged sword here, because it has the chance to either blow us away with how much better it is or it may want us to kill it with fire. Either way, we’ll see how this goes. I would not be surprised if FUNimation picked this series up. After Devil is a Part Timer, it’s logical for them to take this one.

Kill La Kill

This is one of the other big series that everyone has been talking about. So it’s no wonder why I had to go for it as well. I don’t know much about Studio Trigger aside from watching Little Witch Academia with some friends. As for director Hiroyuki Imaishi, the only other work I’ve seen from him was Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, so I’m a little worried. HOWEVER, he has also directed Gurren Lagann and, even though I have not seen it, I know it’s a favorite with anime viewers. I’m excited to see where this one is going to go. Kill La Kill and one other series, as of posting this that has been licensed, that being Aniplex of America. So get ready for all of the expensive box sets!

Log Horizon

Remember the double edged sword I mentioned earlier? Log Horizon is under the same area due to it having the same premise as last summer’s show to watch, Sword Art Online. While SAO kind of flopped, in my opinion, Log Horizon has the chance to be better than SAO. And from what I saw from the trailer, it may be able to do that by not taking itself so seriously and having some comedy to it. But if it gets too silly, this one may end up dropped on its head. For licensing predictions I would say if FUNi doesn’t get Coppelion, then Log Horizon would be a good one to snag. If not, then Sentai for sure.

Meganebu!

The only reason I picked this series is because it involves guys wearing glasses. I am dead serious. I took one look at the poster for the series and I was sold! But after looking a little more, I kept finding reasons to love it. As you can tell from the trailer, it looks like it’s going to have some comedy to it which is nice since this is a Slice of Life show. And Studio Deen does have its good shows. As for who should get this series, I would LOVE to see FUNimation handle this one. Mostly because, if it gets a DVD release it would be nice to see some of my favorite FUNi VA’s voicing the roles.

Nagi no Asukara

Again, a series I was considering dropping cause I didn’t know enough about it. However, when I saw this as a P.A. Works original project, I was intrigued. Add on to that the trailer for this show and I have some semblance of what the series is going to be about. But I still have some reservations about this show and how it will be executed. But I guess we’ll see where the pieces lie. If I had to guess where this show will end up, then I will say either FUNimation or Aniplex. Though Aniplex already picked up one series, they may not pick up anything else. But we’ll see.

Pupa

So I realized something. Since starting the Impressions series, I have yet to look at a Horror anime. I have looked at series from almost every genre except Horror and Sports. Pupa is one of the shows I am most excited to see because I am a huge horror fan! Even though I am a horror fan, I still can’t let myself get blinded by the fact that it’s a horror series. I would love to keep this one as one of my eight shows for the fall, but there is no guarantee. As for who I think should get this series..... PLEASE FUNIMATION!!! PLEASE GET THIS SERIES!!!

Samurai Flamenco

So here’s another original anime series, this time from Studio Manglobe, who also made Samurai Champloo and Deadman Wonderland. As of posting this, there is absolutely nothing to go on with this series. Aside from posters and the tag line, “Hero will never give up, never hide, never be defeated, never accept evil” there is almost nothing. I can only imagine, at this point, what the series will be about. This is also a series I considered dropping, however not only did the attachment of Manglobe stop me but a previous season where a series was in a similar state. I originally passed up Psycho Pass due to lack of information, but was told to put the show right back in again after friends told me to watch it. I’m not going to make, potentially, the same mistake twice. It was announced yesterday that Aniplex of America snagged this one. Yay more expensive box sets...

Strike the Blood

I feel like Kill la Kill, Choppelion, and Strike the Blood are going to be the three big shows of the season. All look wonderful and are going to be action packed, so it’s not going to be a surprise that these three will be fighting each other all season long. With Strike the Blood in particular, this is an early favorite as well. However, I am hoping that it won’t turn into huge mess early on, making me drop the show. Predicting who will take this series to simulcast is kind of tricky. Aniplex already has Kill la Kill and I want to see Choppelion go to FUNimation, but I don’t see this as a Sentai series. I’m going to go with my gut on this one and say FUNimation will take this. Again, I could be wrong, but I’m just making predictions right now.

Unbreakable Machine-Doll

Before I talk more about my early thoughts on this series, I predict that this will go to Sentai Filmworks. This is probably the most sure I’ve been about any of these series listed. It just seems like something they can manage and make into a good release, wether bilingual or subtitles only. This is another series I picked early on due to the premise. However, I am a little worried based on what I saw of the trailer. Something just doesn’t sit well with me about this one, so of course I have to be concerned. But I am going to give this show a try and hope for the best.

Yowamushi Pedal

So we’ve reached series number eighteen for the fall, and it’s the other sports anime I will be covering. Again, this series is here because I want to expand myself a little and get a chance to see more sports anime. That being said, it looks like fun and I am interested to see where this series is going to go. As for predictions, I feel like this will be in the same situation as Free! It will get a Crunchyroll simulcast, but no license; at least not right away. I mentioned that FUNi is steering clear from sports anime, and I feel like Aniplex and Sentai aren’t going to bite either. It’s kind of saddening, but we’ll see what comes out of this in the next few weeks.

Well that’s all of them! The eighteen shows I’ll be looking at for this season and some predictions as to licensing and what I may or may not drop. Think there’s an upcoming series that I should look into? Let me know in the comments below, and I will see you all with Impressions stuff in a few weeks! Until next time, otaku on my friends!