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Japanator's Winter '11 preview, part 3 photo

We've passed the half-way point for our Winter 2011 preview, and now it's time to delve into a new set of shows as the snow obliterates any work I may have done to clear out my driveway. Seriously, it looks like nobody even touched my street!

In this edition of our preview, we talk about: Nyaruko-san, Houkago no Pleiades, Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?, Level E, Maho Shojo Madoka Magica and Mitsudomoe Zoryochu. All in all, not a terrible batch.

Be sure to check out our previous iterations of this series (Part 1 and Part 2) for a so-far complete list. Down below, you'll see just who is covering what. Let us know what you're looking forward to!

Haiyore! Nyaruko-san
Studio: DLE Inc. (No primary works)
Director: Azuma Tani (Consulting Producer on GI Joe: Sigma Six)
Air Date: December 21, 2010

This is everyone's favorite flash animation bastardizing HP Lovecraft! Bob's already given you the lowdown on the show in his First Impressions piece, so check that out.

Houkago no Pleiades
Studio: Gainax (Neon Genesis Evangelion, Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt)
Director: Shouji Saeki (FLCL Episodes 3 & 5, He Is My Master)
Air Date: Unknown

So Gainax and Subaru walk into a room together...and out comes an anime project. The two companies are teaming up to produce an anime, that will be streamed on YouTube, about what I believe to be three girls representing the star clusters in the Subaru logo.

So yeah, enjoy, Gainax fans.

Right now, Mike LeChevallier will be covering it. Will he buy a Subaru after watching this? We'll wait and find out!

Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?
Studio: Studio DEEN (Higurashi: When They Cry, Ranma 1/2)
Director: Takaomi Kanesaki (Magician's Academy)
Air Date: January 11, 2011

Boy gets killed. Boy gets resurrected as "zombie" by girl with powers. Boy wakes up in an alternate world named Soul So--. You get the point: this show sounds an awful lot like Bleach, just with a different power set. Similarly, the staffing behind this show doesn't have the best fit -- the two writers attached to it have worked on Gundam SEED and Lucky Star.

The staff is a bit wary on this one as a whole, and nobody has stepped up to claim it. I'd love to be pleasantly surprised by the show turning out good, but I don't have high hopes for this one.

Level E
Studio: David Production (Dogs, Ristorante Paradisio) and Pierrot (Beezlebub, Bleach movie 4)
Director: Toshiyuki Kato (Code E, Mission E)
Air Date: January 11, 2011

Does this direction have some special attachment with the letter E? Well, here's a typical plot with a twist: A boy, about to start high school, moves into his own apartment. I find this really hard to believe, but it's a classic anime trope, so I'll run with it. Of course, he finds someone else already living there who says they're an alien. The twist?

It's a guy!

That's right, no super-typical female alien lurking here! I suspect from this point on, the story will be a mixture of action and comedy, as the story's original creator also wrote Yu Yu Hakusho

Kristina Pino, with her love of all things shonen (and bishonen) is tackling this one. She's going to be a busy beaver!

Maho Shojo Madoka Magica
Studio: Shaft (Bakemonogatari, Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei)
Director: Yukihiro Miyamoto (Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei, Arakawa Under the Bridge)
Air Date: January 7, 2011

It looks like Shaft is turning its sights back to cute girls, this time with magical powers! With a strong cast including Aoi Yuki (Mina Tepes from Dance in the Vampire Bund), Chiwa Saito (Francesca from Strike Witches) and Eri Kitamura (Ami from Toradora!), this show looks like it'll induce sugar shock into even the most jaded of hearts.

This follows a group of middle-school girls who have magical powers and grant peoples' wishes. I don't expect the show to be too complex, but it should be pretty, and might have a bit of unexpected fanservice.

Interestingly enough, Ben Huber has been corrupted to the dark side, and will be watching this show. Expect him to be poor for the rest of his life, after buying copious amounts of Madoka Magica figures.

Mitsudomoe Zoryochu
Studio: Bridge (Mitsudomoe)
Director: Masahito Ota (Minami-ke)
Air Date: January 8, 2011

A sequel to this summer's show, I've got to admit, nobody on staff is hopping on board the Mitsudomoe train. After Karen's relative panning of the first season and eventual drop of it, nobody has gotten fired up about it. If you've already watched and enjoyed Mitsudomoe, then you'll enjoy the second season. If you haven't watched this show, check it out on Crunchyroll before diving into season two.


Japanator's Winter '11 preview, part 3 photo
Japanator's Winter '11 preview, part 3 photo
Japanator's Winter '11 preview, part 3 photo
Japanator's Winter '11 preview, part 3 photo
Japanator's Winter '11 preview, part 3 photo
Japanator's Winter '11 preview, part 3 photo


MOAR Winter 11 season:




Legacy Comments

Because I'm a tool, I'll be watching Maho Shojo Madoka Magika. Not too sure about anything else here, although anything by Gainax is worthy of notice.
Pleiades must be the first Gainax anime that doesn't blow the roof of the internet. I think that has everything to do with it not being P&SwG S2.

Which is never gonna happen, BTW.
Hmm. Houkago no Pleiades and Level E look pretty awesome. I suppose I'll check out Madoka Magika too, for the hell of it. Everything else is rather 'blah'.
I'll probably watch Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? Because a guy becoming the servant of a necromancer sounds like Zero no Tsukaima. Also Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica, since i'm a sucker for magical girls.
Maho Shojo Madoka Magica is a Shaft anime so I guess I should watch it... but this hexagonal heads are really ugly.
Maho Shojo Madoka Magica is getting a lot of hype and its understandable.
SHAFT and a whole bunch of top name people are heading this anime. It'll be pretty great if this anime became Hidamari Sketch but with magic and a personality change with most of the characters.
...
*suddenly has a premonition of the Gainax series starting out as described for half the first episode, then being sharped swapped with P&S S2 out of the blue suddenly*

... and the strangest thing is that I can't tell if that would be a good thing or not...
Yeah, I'm watching Madoka Magica because of the amazing staff behind it. I mean, how often do you get to watch a SHAFT show with a (possible) budget?!
Wait, wasn't Madoka directed by Shinbo?

"I don't expect the show to be too complex, but it should be pretty, and might have a bit of unexpected fanservice."

It's SHAFT. Of course it'll include shitloads of fanservice, especially if it airs at night

Houkago no Pleiades and Level E for me. Might also check out Maho Shojo Madoka Magica.
Damn, another season of much anime lameness. Level E will be checked out, along with Supernatural and Wolverine.
Madoka Magika: Mandatory SHAFT watch (Although I got bored of Arakawa after awhile...).

I know nothing of Level E, and it seems like quite a gamble: It could either turn out:
A: Good or OK
b: Something boy-love related
C: The next Cromartie

I'm hoping for C
To my surprise, Mitsudomoe was the only series from the season it aired in that I kept up with every week and finished on the airing week of its final episode. The comedy really isn't for everyone, and some of the early episodes did go a bit too far, but there was some stuff in the later episodes that was hilarious, and the series did find its groove. If it's more of the same as the first season (but with some kinks worked out), I'm up for another season of Mitsudomoe.
all I'm really aimed at right now is Hourou Musuko, as the manga took 19 hours of my life, all at one time. for some reason..... i seem to
Houkago no Pleiades is a mandatory watch for me due to its nature as a Gainax show. Now whether I'll watch all of it depends on how well Gainax can convince me this isn't simply a cashout.
I really would like to see Level E live up to the manga. While it wasn't the action typical of Yu Yu Hakusho, it was pretty amusing
Houkago no Pleiades will be added to my growing list of anime to watch this season :P
Really? No on on the Jtor staff ants to follow Mitsudomoe?? That show was probably the best comedy of the summer, no question. Yeah, as an above poster says, the first couple of eps pushed the limits but the rest of the season was nothing but hilrious. I implore that one of you finish off the first season and tell me that it isn't funny.
More SHAFT? Yes please.
TOO MUCH MOE!!!!!!!!!!! Ill take a shitty Shonen like Naruto over "Kore WA Desu Ka". When will they adapt some more Urasawas Manga? sadface.jpg


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