More anime not to watch.
GENSHIKEN is returning for a second TV series. I enjoyed some episodes of the first series, but stopped watching after episode 9. Not because I thought it was bad, but that it was so good there was no way it could have been bettered. Different director this time round according to ANN. And that new director is Kinji Yoshimoto, cohort of noted nipple enthusiast Satoshi Urushihara, and director of such works as Another Lady Innocent, Legend of Lemnear, Plastic Little and Night Shift Nurses:Experiment~!~?~! If ANN has the credits correct this is Yoshimoto’s most “mainstream” directorial work yet. It could be interesting, like Russ Meyer directing Spaced…
GHOST HOUND is Production I.G.’s big 20th anniversary show. It’s the creation of director Ryutaro Nakamura (Lain), screenwriter Chiaki J. Konaka (Lain), and Masamune Shirow (pictures of oiled up cowgirls). This is totally going to get licensed for English language release on the basis of those three names and the fact that it’s no doubt gonna get a heaping budget given to it. While Nakamura and Konaka produce solid stories, none of their work really sets my world alight any more, though Lain did at the time. And I don’t really care for Shirow’s dense stories either.
GUNDAM 00 is the 28490128490128th Gundam series. On the plus side, unlike the past few years, more than one face will appear in a Gundam show. Fullmetal Alchemist’s Seiji Mizushima directs, and Yousuke Kuroda writes. Kuroda’s part of, and indeed creator of, the Studio Orphee writing company/machine/collection of hacks. As such he has a massive resume of writing credits that veer from the very good to the mediocre. I wouldn’t say anything is outright appalling, and I suspect he’s writing to order for the most part. The quality this show will likely hang on what sort of show the Sunrise production behemoth wanted, at first glance it looks far more enticing than Gundam SEED did.
JYUSHIN ENBU – HERO TALES boasts character designs from it’s manga artist Hiromu Arakawa (Fullmetal Alchemist). Unfortunately by the looks of the website the actual animated versions haven’t captured the charm of her characters as well as FMA’s anime did. Director Osamu Sekita’s resume is lacking anything notable, as is the production company Studio Flag’s. Unless I hear wonderful things I shall give this a miss.
KAIJI is the one I’m looking forward to. From the same team that brought you the same author’s Akagi two years ago, Kaiji is another sport manga of sorts. Only this time the “sport” is gambling~! Director Yuzo Sato showed with Akagi that he can wring every last ounce of tension from Nobuyuki Fukumoto’s work and get it onto the screen, so this is a must see.