I know it will take forever for even fansubbed tapes to get over here, let alone official releases, but there’s such a hoarde of anime coming out over the coming Autumn/Fall season that I thought a preview would be a great way to garner some hype and anticipation. Anyway, enough of an introduction, time to introduce the anime that are coming up over the next 3 months!

I’ll be going through these anime in order of release date. That means when the first episode is shown on TV for TV anime, first video release for OVA’s and when it’s going to start screening for movies. Dates are liable to change but I know a few people inside the industry so I’m pretty confident my information here is accurate. I’m also skipping over kids shows and hentai.

Gokinjo Monogatari

Type: TV Series

Air Date: 10 Sep

Studio: Toei

Synopsis: The protagonist, Kouda Mikako, is a student of “Yaza Gaku”. Specialising in fashion design, Mikako dreams of becoming a fashion designer with her own brand. Living next to her is her childhood friend, Yamaguchi Tsutomu. Even though they have been close since young, they share a platonic friendship. However, Tsutomu has been gaining popularity after he was recruited as the vocalist for a band and somehow, Mikako begins to see him in a different light. This is a story about how youths cope with dreams, love and friendship.

While I’m not a fan of shojo myself, this looks rather promising. The mangaka is meant to be an up and coming lass, Ai Yazawa, although I bet she’ll drop off the map within a few years. The manga only began this February so chances are we’re looking at something that won’t be fully completed. Still, worth a shot if you like shojo I guess. She does have a rather original unusual style.

Galaxy Fraulein Yuna

Type: OVA

Air Date: 21 Sep

Studio: ANIMATE

Synopsis: Yuna Kagurazaka won the interstellar Galaxy Fraulein contest to become the Guardian of the Light. After defeating several threats to galactic peace (As seen in the PC Engine games), old enemies have framed Yuna for attacking and demolishing her hometown. Yuna’s friends now must attempt to rescue her from her pending execution, with comedic results.

Based off a video game. OVA release. Lots of cute girls plastered on any release information. Yup, I think I know what’s going on here. Just your regular release that’s all about selling games and figurines. Nothing of interest to see here.

Hyper Dolls

Type: OVA

Air date: 25 Sep

Studio: Triangle Staff

Synopsis: Mew and Mica are alien androids sent by their boss to defend the Earth. Unfortunately for our planet, they are the laziest superheroines you will ever meet. Now most superheroes would drop whatever they’re doing, transform, and proceed to kick monsters’ butts… but these two would do no such thing. Mew and Mica just can’t let their duties interfere with their ice cream, arguments, or whatever activities they happen to be engaged in at the time. When they are not Hyper Dolls they seem to be just ordinary, rather cute school girls, lusted after by the boys.

We might have a winner on our hands here. Traingle Staff did the excellent Macross Plus OVA, which is a definite plus (hur hur hur). The plot sounds rather ho hum and I haven’t heard anything about the manga it’s based off but I have faith that these guys will pull it off. Plus, the girl in the promo picture do look kinda cute.

Macross 7 the Movie:

The Galaxy’s Calling Me!

Type: Movie

Air date: 30 Sep

Studio: Asahi Production

Synopsis: While investigating a sound anomaly across the galaxy, Basara crash-lands on a snowy planet and receives an unfriendly welcome from the local residents. On the planet, he befriends Pedro, a four-year-old boy who watches the Galaxy Network and idolizes Fire Bomber. Basara also discovers that the sound he’s searching for is generated by Emilia, a lone Meltrandi struggling to make music of her own.

MA-KUU-ROSS! Ah Macross. Not that many people seemed to like Macross 7. Those people are probably better staying away because the same director is back on board. Not much else to say to be honest though. It’s Macross. You all know what to expect.

Idol Project

Type: OVA

Air date: Sometime in September

Studio: Studio OX

Synopsis: Mimu wants desperately to be an idol, like her inspiration Yuri. Various obstacles rise up to keep her from reaching her audition and singing, and she wonders if her dream of being an idol be realized.

Idol fluff. Actually otaku in Japan are going wild over this before of the real life idols voicing the on screen wannabe idols. Now that’s meta. But also unwatchable, unless you truly are a nutter for names like Mariko Kouda and Aya Hisakawa.

Virtua Fighter

Type: TV

Air date: 2 Oct

Studio: Studio Uni

Synopsis: Based on the popular Virtua Fighter video game franchise, this series follows the adventures of Akira, a lone martial artist who has lost his ability to see the mystical constellations that reveal a truly strong man’s destiny. Now, his path of wandering has forced him into the fighting ring with several martial arts champions and into an insidious international conspiracy that he must not only break out of, but find a way to destroy. With the help of Jacky, Sara, Pai, and other characters from the Virtua Fighter games, Akira must find the strength to take on greater powers than himself and regain his lost sense of destiny.

Game adaptation says it all really. Don’t recognise the staff and have nothing interesting to say about the studio either. If you really want to watch a bunch of dudes beating each other up then I suppose you could give it a shot. I doubt there will be much in the way of plot though

Sorcerer Hunters

Type: TV

Air date: 3 Oct

Studio: Xebec

Synopsis: In the continent of spooner, sorcerers, who are the continent’s aristocrats, have begun to abuse their powers. Under the guidance of Big Momma (their boss) Carrot (who turns into a giant monster every time he’s placed under a magic spell), Gateau (a bodybuilder), Marron (a mage), Chocolate and Tira (who can transform into dominatrix’s at will) must stop the evil sorcerers from picking on the weak. However, none of them (except maybe Marron) have a clue to what’s going on.

Will admit I’m mildly interested in this one. Xebec have piled together some interesting staff. The guy who wrote the manga has worked on everything from the most cutey pie to the animation for Genocyber, which is about as non cutie-pie as you can get. So don’t be tricked by this shows pretty cover art. He also wrote the script for Video Girl Ai so we’ve got some semblance of quality on board. Could be worth a shot.

El Hazard: The Wanderers

Type: TV

Air date: 6 Oct

Studio: AIC

Synopsis: Makoto Mizuhara is working on his latest experiment in the school science lab, but when he takes a break his lifelong rival Katsuhiko Jinnai shows up and attempts to destroy the device and discredit Makoto. This overloads the experiment and transports Makoto, Jinnai, his sister Nanami, and their teacher Mr. Fujisawa to the strange and magnificent world El Hazard. Makoto and Fujisawa land squarely in the Kingdom of Roshtaria, and quickly befriend the princess Rune Venus. Jinnai allies himself with the Bugrom, a race of giant insects bent on taking over El Hazard, while his sister tries to eke out her own living in the desert. Makoto searches desperately for a way to return home, all the while fighting off the Bugrom, enlisting the help of the Holy Priestesses, and stopping the demon god Ifurita from destroying everything.

It’s some sort of alternate re-telling of the El Hazard OVA that was released earlier this year. I’ve heard that it’s pretty good but it does beg to question why are they making an alternate re-telling and not, you know, a sequel or something. Heck, the OVA series hasn’t been completed yet. Seems like a strange move. Still, since it’s an alternate re-telling I should be able to jump straight into this one.

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Type: TV

Air date: 10 Oct

Studio: Gainax

Synopsis: At the age of 14 Shinji Ikari is summoned by his father to the city of Neo Tokyo-3 after several years of separation. There he unwillingly accepts the task of becoming the pilot of a giant robot by the name EVA01 and protect the world from the enigmatic invaders known as “angels.” Even though he repeatedly questions why he has accepted this mission from his estranged and cold father, his doing so helps him to gradually accept himself. However, why exactly are the angels attacking and what are his father’s true intentions are yet to be unraveled.

*sigh* I’m finding it hard to care about mecha anime anymore. Macross 7 stuck down the coffin lid and I doubt Hideki Anno and Gainax are going to revive the genre or anything. We’ll just get some elongated version of Gunbuster (which, btw, sucks and don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise) with more girls wearing figure hugging suits and boobs and piloting robots. It’s an original anime production so that might bode well but eh. According to my inside sources, Anno got depressed while making this anime. He must have known what a flop it was going to turn out like.

Saint Tail

Type: TV

Air date: 12 Oct

Studio: TMS Entertainment

Synopsis: Meimi Haneoka, 14, is a normal girl during the daytime, but during the night, she assumes the “position” of Saint Tail, a modern-day Robin Hood who steals from thieves and gives items back to their original owners. She is aided by her friend, Seira Mimori, a nun-in-training, and she is chased by her classmate Daiki Asuka.

More magical girl stuff. Really not my sort of thing but I know there’s plenty of people out there who lap this sort of stuff up. Director has been around a bit, working on Magical Knight Rayearth amongst other things. Seems to look pretty well animated as well so I guess if you like your mahou shoujo, this is perfect for you.

Shadow Skill

Type: OVA

Air date: 25 Oct

Studio: Zero G Room

Synopsis: In a war torn world of deadly conflict, one small group of heroes stands against the forces of darkness, armed only with two weapons – their unswerving dedication to good and the superhuman martial art known as the Shadow Skill…

Now this looks fucking awesome. I have no idea who Zero G Room are and I think it’s only one episode long, but this looks like it could pack all the ingredients to become a classic. Fighting, super martial arts and whatnot. Maybe I’m hyping this up too much but I think we might be onto a winner here. Just a gut feeling ;)

Elf Princess Rane

Type: OVA

Air date: 27 Oct

Studio: KSS

Synopsis: Gou has woved to find the legendary treasure of Salamander. Searching for it he meets Ren, a fairy, who is looking for the four treasures of Heart. Gou’s childhood friend Mari is frustrated with Gou running after treasures, but befriends with another fairy Rin. Gou and Ren’s treasure hunt messes with a secret project led by Mari’s father. It turns out Salamander isn’t what Gou thought it was in the first place…

Was there always this much magical girl stuff coming out of Japan or have I just not been paying attention? I guess part of the reason these succeed is they have the duel combo of appealing to both young girls and hardcore otaku. Mind you, this is just an OVA so I have no idea how this is supposed to reach the eyes of young girls. Just otaku then. It is an original anime production mind you, but I find it hard to get excited about mahou shoujo to be honest. Over saturation. I wonder what the next fad in anime will be when this mahou shoujo boom finally ends?

Golden Boy

Type: OVA

Air date: 27 Oct

Studio: KSS

Synopsis: Kintarou Oe doesn’t look like it, but he is a genius who completed all his university courses and then quit before graduating. He becomes a wandering student, going from place to place on his bicycle, seeking to learn what he can about life, the world, and women. He is willing and able to do any job he has to prove himself. His travels take him to a variety of locations and a variety of women, each who learns to love the hardworking guy, but not before he can run off.

KSS with another OVA eh. Golden Boy is a highly ecchi manga. In fact, it’s full on porn in some of the later volumes, but I’ve heard more than enough people proclaim its greatness to get my interest up. Mind you, it’s still a long way off being completed so I dunno why they’re making an anime already. This is probably one of those ones where they make an OVA before the manga ends and then go back and start from the beginning with a TV series. Don’t expect this to be the last you’ll see of Golden Boy.

Gunsmith Cats

Type: OVA

Air date: 1 Nov

Studio: Oriental Light and Magic

Synopsis: Rally Vincent knows her weapons well, while her partner Minne May Hopkins loves to play with explosives. The pair run a gun-shop illegally and one day Bill Collins of the ATF, blackmails Rally and Minnie May into working for the ATF. Little do they know, that they are getting involved in a mission larger than they could imagine

Spin-off from the Riding Bean OVA from several years back and we’re delighted to see it. Plenty of gun pr0n for us all to enjoy with hot ladies wielding them. Oriental Light and Magic are a good studio, albeit with a stupid name. The director was also the director for Otaku no Video (clearly Gainax lost the good director and are stuck with that Gunbuster creating idiot). In short, this looks awesome. Watch it.

Ghost in the Shell

Type: Movie

Air date: 18 Nov

Studio: Production IG

Synopsis: In the year 2029, the barriers of our world have been broken down by the net and by cybernetics, but this brings new vulnerability to humans in the form of brain-hacking. When a highly-wanted hacker known as ‘The Puppetmaster’ begins involving them in politics, Section 9, a group of cybernetically enhanced cops, are called in to investigate and stop the Puppetmaster. The pursuit will call into question what makes a human and what is the Puppetmaster in a world where the distinction between human and machine is increasingly blurry

The totally obvious hit of the season. Director of Patlabor and Uresai Yatsura. The mangaka is a genious. The whole thing looks awesome. There’s no way in hell this won’t rock the world. Which is why I’m a bit wary. Everything looks so perfect, surely something will go wrong. I should stop being so pessimistic though.

Afterword

I doubt any of you had heard of Gokinjo Monogatari before. However the name Ai Yazawa should ring a few bells with some of you. She is the mangaka who later went on to write Paradise Kiss and, more importantly, Nana. It was rather surprising to find one of her series lying back in 1995. If you’re a fan of either of her other works then it might be a good idea to check out Gokinjo Monogatari as well.

You can expect more of these false season preview posts. I’ve got a few more lined up already.

Also 400th post get~!