Monochrome Factor
Pretty boys fight shadow monsters. This is also pretty much the same plot as the show Neo Angelique Abyss, that I mentioned last post. And there’s yet one more show to come that is said to have shadow monsters.
Oh, Bleach, what have you wrought.
You know what we need right now? A new Devilman series. Preferably directed by Jun Kawagoe.
Uchino 3 Shimai
Anime for normal people! It’s based on a parenting blog. Is this the first televised animation based on a blog?
It also looks like it will be fairly terrible flash animation.
Real Drive
Production IG’s first big show of 2008. This is the second spring season show that Kazuhiro Furuhashi is listed as director on. I’m guessing this is most likely wrapped production already, as it’s likely the show IG want to sell overseas.
Because, it’s yet another Production IG series with some Masamune Shirow input (credited as original creator). I know Shirow’s name helps sell things in the US and UK, but it seems like Production IG go to that well a little too often (along with the Mamoru Oshii well too). It’s probably worth a look, but I found Furuhashi’s Le Chevalier D’Eon rather stiff and disappointing so my hopes aren’t super high.
Glass Maiden aka Crystal Blaze
Talking of shows that have one eye on the international market. Crystal Blaze is Japanese title, Glass Maiden is the international title. Why it has a different English language name for the Japanese title is frankly bewildering.
The show itself looks to be a reunion of staff from Saikano. And it appears to be some kind of reverse engineered Cowboy Bebop (complete with it’s own Corgi) with a extra dash of City Hunter for taste. It doesn’t look terrible, more just desperately US-friendly to the extent of being totally unoriginal.