Japanator's Spring '10 preview, part 1

8:00 PM on 03.22.2010   |   Brad Rice

That's right, the Spring 2010 season is almost upon us! So in order to keep you abreast of what the hit shows are likely to be this season, we'll be detailing each of the shows airing for the next three months throughout this week. From the looks of things, there are going to be quite a few good ones in the crowd.

For today's batch, we'll be looking at the following shows: Angel Beats!, Arakawa Under the Bridge, B Gata H Kei, Big Windup season 2 and the Black Rock Shooter OVA. It's a rarity for us to include an OVA, but it's created enough of a storm here in the office that it's worth mentioning.

So follow us after the jump to see which shows you're interested in, and see who'll be covering them.

Angel Beats
Studio: P.A. Works (True Tears, Canaan)
Director: Seiji Kishi (My Bride is a Mermaid, Ragnarok the Animation)
Air Date: April 3, 2010

Written by Jun Maeda of the visual novel company Key, about a boy who's been enrolled in an "afterlife school," where he must attend with other recently dead in order to move on to Heaven. While the kids aren't covered with their deathly injuries, they still feel pain from their time on earth.

Think this is going to be one of those sad, sappy visual novel-type shows? Well, you're wrong. There's a group of students, organized as the SSS, who are leading a war against God for what he's done to them. With guns.

Expect Jon Snyder to be covering this, in case you couldn't have guessed.

Arakawa Under the Bridge
Studio: SHAFT (Hidamari Sketch, Bakemonogatari)
Director: Akiyuki Shinbo (Dance in the Vampire Bund, Bakemonogatari)
Air Date: April 4, 2010

Originally a gag manga, Arakawa Under the Bridge is about a young guy who believes in never having debts. If someone helps you out, you pay them back. So, in a twist of fate, his life is saved by a strange girl who believes she's a Martian and lives under the bridge of the Arakawa river.

What is he to do?

He starts living there with her, of course. Should be interesting to see where this gets taken, especially by the creative minds over at SHAFT.

Expect Ben Huber to be covering this.

B Gata H Kei
Studio: HAL Film Maker (Aria the Animation, Princess Tutu)
Director: Yusuke Yamamoto (Welcome to the NHK, Sakura Taisen: Le Nouveau Paris)
Air Date: April 1, 2010

This high school girl is looking to have 100 casual sex partners. I don't really need to say anything more, because I know I've sold about 75% of our readership.

Fine, I'll continue. Yes, our heroine is a virgin, and so has some slightly unrealistic expectations. But she soon finds herself pursuing just one boy, because he's oh-so-dreamy or something like that. I'm expect this to consist mainly of fanservice and win.

Expect Pedro Cortes to be covering this.

Big Windup Season 2
Studio: A-1 Pictures (Kannagi, Big Windup)
Director: Tsutomu Mizushima (The Legend of Koizumi, Genshiken OVA)
Air Date: April 2, 2010

Picking up where the first season left off, we'll be watching the boys of Big Windup! aim for the stars and try to capture the championship flag. Sadly, the show won't be coming over to Western shores due to poor interests from fans at home, but the show is well worth taking a look at.

Expect Brad Rice to be covering this.

Black Rock Shooter OVA
Studio: Ordet
Director: Shinobu Yoshioka

It's a character from Supercell and a figure. I'm not really sure where things are going to go with this property, but it's got everyone hot and bothered about it.

Expect either Colette or Jake to be covering this. The cage match fight will determine it all.