Spring Anime Catalogue 2014

winter14-mainimage

Welcome to METANORN’s Spring Anime Catalogue of 2014!

Winter is gone with a blink of an eye and we are now stuck with Spring (mostly summer in many places), and what a season this is. There are just too many titles that are releasing compared to last few years. It could be the effect of a few two-cour anime ending but unlike previous year, we are covering around 40 TV series, a first even after many that went under our skip list. This season is full of Action and Mecha with the right dash of fantasy, shoujo, comedy,sports and supernatural. I’m definitely looking forward to JoJo, Mushishi, M3, Hanamonogatari, Mekakucity Actors and Hakyuu!!
Yay! Winter is finally gone, which means less cold weather as we make our way through Spring and with every passing season we get more anime to watch! So, what are you looking forward to watching? I am all for the mechs like Captain Earth, Break Blade, Knights of Sidonia and Kenzen Robo Daimindaler, Fuuun Ishin Dai Shougun and M3: Sona Kuroko Hagane! Wow this feels like it will be one great season for giant robot lovers and that makes me very happy for the spring season to start.
In Spring, I will have graduated from University! What does my personal life have to do with an anime preview? Well, graduating means I’ll have more time to blog about anime! That’s some pretty sweet timing considering that the upcoming spring season has some killer continuations (JoJo, Mushishi, and mayyyyybe Soul Eater Not!) and new stuff too. Get ready to become a recluse this spring if you plan on trying to watch it all.
Yeah, while there were a few good shows in the winter, I’m ready to move on to spring now (if only the weather would take a hint). Winter was kind of dead for otoge anime adaptations, but it seems that spring is trying to make up for that with two of them. …I’m kind of wary of Kamigami Asobi, since Broccoli has had a bad streak with disguising borderline BL games as otome ones. Those two genres are good separately, but REALLY shouldn’t mix. However, Kin’iro no Corda should be so shoujo and cliche that it hurts (…in a good way). The game has been full of cheesy lines and sparkling performances, anyways. Oh, I’m really excited for Mekaku City Actors too, since the Kagerou Project songs are awesome.
I can’t say I’m too sorry to see winter season coming to an end. Plenty of shows started with promise but have proven to be utterly mediocre when it counted, like Noragami or Nobunagun. Though admittedly this season was host to some fine shows like Witch Craft Works or the 2nd half of Kill la Kill. Still, I’m ready to try my chance at another round of new shows, such as Madhouse’s magical fantasy Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei or the CG animated knights of Sidonia. As usual, I plan on trying out a bit of everything in this new season before I settle down to the 10 or so shows I keep up with.
As you might have noticed, I’ve been less active lately due to school and other commitments, but I’ll hopefully start to have more time once the semester winds down. Anyway, Winter is over and Spring brings with it an unusually large amount of shows. The romcom and slice of life genres are highly populated as usual, but it seems this season we’re also getting an influx of mecha shows. Not to mention, these shows are actually surprisingly diverse. From Knights of Sidonia with its CG to Kenzen Robo Daimidaler with its Highschool DxD director, there just might be a flavor of mecha for you!
Another season preview, and another instance of me not knowing what to say! I always take these season changes as just the start of a bunch of new things, and while sometimes I’m disappointed to see shows from the previous season end, it’s always fun to start some new shows! And with the number of shows that we’re seeing, there’s probably going to be some good ones.
I’m pretty excited for what Spring has to offer us. It’s bringing us top-tier sequels in Mushishi and Jojo that are so great in very different ways from each other. Brain’s Base has a couple romcom-type shows I’m interested in, Bones has some nice shows as well and even J.C. Staff with one of those Edo Period shows I typically shrug my shoulders at I have interest in. Spring definitely has variety with so many time slots to fill and I think this season has potential to be a pretty solid one all-in-all.
Winter, Spring, does it make any difference? It has no difference for me since I’m still stuck in this hot weather and the endless amount of papers and projects that I have to do in real life. The shows in Winter, however, were the source of my sanity among my works, so I’m a little bit sad with the departure of Winter (shows). Spring shouldn’t be so bad though, since some shows for this Spring sound decent… At least they sound enjoyable.
So, is it just me or did Winter seem to just drag on and on? Of course, not that it was a bad thing; I actually enjoyed a good number of shows this time around. However, I think it’s time for some new shows to make their appearance. I’ve always been favorable towards Spring season and there looks to be a few potentially good things coming out, like Selector Infected WIXOSS that had one of the most intriguing PVs I’ve seen, Akuma no Riddle, and Haikyuu!! (finally!). Though, not the most exciting Spring season, I’m still looking forward to it~

Enjoy our comprehensive listing of Spring anime 2014, meticulously organized under categories for your viewing pleasure as always (let’s forget about the bloody tears some of us shed while slaving for hours). Read ahead and

>>  BE POWERED UP FOR SPRING YO~~~  ☆*:.。. o(≧▽≦)o .。.:*☆

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125 Responses to “Spring Anime Catalogue 2014”

  1. Di Gi Kazune says:

    No Metanorn, No Life.

  2. MR.KLAC says:

    yet after having 1000s complete anime watching yet seeing spring 2014 batch most of them i wait for dub version on it.

    but for sake at least one series i’m only got on my watching yea only got blade & soul series to watch.

    the rest of spring still not yet tempt me.

    • Foshizzel says:

      Blade and soul should be fun~

    • BlackBriar says:

      I find it hard to stick to just one series when there are so many more choices right beside it. The temptation would eventually get to you until you’ve seen what it has to offer.

      • d-LaN says:

        Unless you are very picky abt anime you watch, there literally no way to stop one frm watching multiple series within a season. The anime industry is *not* as bad as ppl tend to make out if ppl can still pick animes of different genre to watch every season.

        • skylion says:

          But if it isn’t that bad, then who will save it?

        • Highway says:

          I continue to chafe at the people who say “anime just isn’t good anymore.” I consider that to be looking at history with rose-colored glasses, not seeing the bad things in a season, and comparing only good things in a season to current. Sure, maybe the balance of things isn’t what you like, but that doesn’t mean that the best things aren’t as good as the best things from most other seasons (if not the best things out of your entire memory). And it doesn’t mean the bad things are any worse than the bad things from previous seasons were.

          • skylion says:

            I think a great many come to anime seeing it as a genre of “WTF 2Deep4ME, CRazy AWesOME” stuff instead of embracing it as a medium, much like any television or film is capable of. They keep it as a big old BLAM rather than just a good storytelling vehicle.

            In that regard they may ignore tastes they could develop as tastes mature and grow.

  3. BlackBriar says:

    Ahh!!! Nooo!! All my favorite Winter and carry over series are at an end and now I feel so hollow but it’s safe to say this Winter was stronger than those of the previous years. Hopefully this Spring will have good enough shows to fill that huge void. This is one of the seasons of the year that has a serious reputation to uphold. At least this time, I’ll be on the lookout for anything romance heavy and save myself the trouble by avoiding it right away. So far, it doesn’t look like there are any like that here.

    Akuma no Riddle
    Atelier Escha & Logy: Tasogare no Sora no Renkinjutsushi
    Black Bullet
    Blade & Soul
    Break Blade
    Date A Live II
    Fuun Ishin Dai Shogun
    Gokukoku no Brynhildr
    Hitsugi no Chaika
    Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san
    Love Live! School Idol Project 2nd Season
    M3: Sono Kuroki Tetsu
    Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei
    Mekaku City Actors
    No Game No Life
    Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin
    Seikoku no Dragonar
    Selector Infected WIXOSS
    Soul Eater Not!

    Maybe:
    Captain Earth
    Fairy Tail (2014)
    Mangaka-san to Assistant-san to
    Mushishi Zoku Shou
    Sidonia no Kishi
    Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii

    It’s always funny seeing series with the bottom of their column being stated that no one wants it, then later you find it’s being blogged and sometimes, the whole way through. Like Kore wa Zombie desu ka S1, Strike the Blood and High School DxD (First season only got a first impression while the second got the full treatment). More props to the statement “Don’t judge a book by its cover”. Look at how Guilty Crown turned out after everyone swarmed in from seeing a trailer that mostly beautiful animation.

    Pfft, hahaha!! Looks like Fosh has a lot shows to appease his mecha addiction. Good for you, bud. I’m not sure how I feel about Kenzen Robo Daimindaler after watching the PV on ANN a while back. The premise seemed interesting but seeing those black and white things with apparently their nether regions sticking out, I was seriously put off. The fact the team behind the awesome High School DxD has a hand in this has me even more skeptical.

    Yes, more Date A Live!! Hard to believe the first season was exactly a year ago. Though it’s too bad it’s going the way of Kore wa Zombie: Of the Dead with only 10 episodes but it’s alright as long as there’s a lot of Tohka and, of course, more of that sexy, yandere, psychopathic murderess Kurumi Tokisaki. The bad girls are always more appealing than the good ones.

    I heard this Fairy Tail is a reboot so I’m curious to see what makes it so acclaimed by a handful of commenting sites. I may have missed the new Hunter x Hunter but won’t make the same mistake with this and if it doesn’t work out for me, at least it was checked out first.

    Akuma no Riddle has a been a show I’ve been anticipating since Fall last year, especially due to its premise and now that Winter’s shows are all practically over, it sounds like Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge (Insane, murderous competitors) meets Sakura Trick. Anyway, more yuri is always welcome with me.

    Post-apocalyptic settings always make a good stage for a dark story and is a side interest of mine so Black Bullet sounds right up my alley. The preview, in a way, gave me Burst Angel vibes.

    Hitsugi no Chaika:

    The lead role is voiced by a relatively new voice actress so we’ll have to see how she does

    If you mean Chika Anzai, I don’t think it’s entirely accurate saying she’s new. If anything, she’s ascending from voicing side characters because she’s had roles in Chihayafuru seasons 1 and 2, Hunter x Hunter, Kakumeiki Valvrave and Shingeki no Kyojin.

    • Highway says:

      Well, it’s good that the seasons are kinda long, and we can figure out after a couple whether we want to cover a show. With the information that’s out before the season starts, what we’re blogging is just a guess, sometimes better than others, sometimes worse. Personally, I’m trying to hold back on committing this season so I can possibly pick one or two things up. 🙂

      • belatkuro says:

        One very minor mistake, Kyokai.
        In Mahouka, there’s a mistake in mentioning Nakamura Yuuichi’s previous roles. He didn’t voice Kyon from Haruhi. That’s Nakamura’s bro, Sugita Tomokazu. You could replace it with OreImo’s Kyosuke(and Hayami Saori also did Ayase there)
        I’m very nitpicky in terms of seiyuus so sue me 😛

        Will post my list of picks later on but I’m pretty sure my count is around 28 shows. Overloaded as usual but definitely lower than back in Fall. And not much carryovers so it’s much lighter than in Winter when I have 35 in my watch list in MAL because of the 2-cours of Fall. So once again, goodbye life.

        • belatkuro says:

          Damn, that wasn’t suppose to be a reply to HW. Ah well.

          • BlackBriar says:

            Don’t beat yourself up about that. People make mistakes. 😉

            • Kyokai says:

              Oh btw, BB, seiyuu industry is cut-throat. Few support roles are nothing in terms of experience for a lead role. People work on credit-less voice-cast and then move up to small roles and what not for a wish to get a break on big series. This will be a big step for Miss Chika and so my thoughts. 😉

        • skylion says:

          By contrast, I am going to count on far fewer shows than I have in past. Unless, of course, the good folk here can persuade me otherwise. I have about maybe ten shows that I will count on as solid watches. The rest I can catch up on in back log…cause that never shrinks, right?

        • BlackBriar says:

          True. Knowing there are hardly any carryover shows this time makes the anime load a lot lighter. But most of the ones that continued from Fall 2013 were pretty good and it’s sad to see them finally come to an end. I’m already wishing for more seasons for a handful of certain choices.

          • skylion says:

            Yeah, Niskoi and ZAAA FUUUUUL are the carryovers for me. But I think Captain Earth is a two cour show.

        • Kyokai says:

          @belatkuro, no worries, I would do the same in terms of seiyuu. I dunno what I was thinking while writing, I actually wanted to write Tomoya from Clannad but wrote Kyon from Haruhi instead. I guess, it was the KyoAni effect that got me after long hours of work and staying up night to finish this huge post. >>;

  4. MgMaster says:

    As usual,tons of stuff to try out although I’ll probably end up dropping half of them like I always do,heh. I’ll be trying out the following:

    – Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei
    – Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou
    – Break Blade
    – Sidonia no Kishi
    – M3: Sono Kuroki Hagane
    – Gokukoku no Brynhildr
    – Date a Live II
    – Isshuukan Friends
    – Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii
    – Hitsugi no Chaika
    – Mangaka-san to Assistant-san to
    – Mekaku City Actors
    – Kanojo ga Flag o Oraretara
    – Seikoku no Dragonar
    – Black Bullet
    – Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin
    – Kenzen Robo Daimidaler
    – Captain Earth

    Here’s to a good spring season.

    • Kyokai says:

      Your list is very mecha heavy and I like it! :3

      Indeed, let’s hope for a good and quality season!

      • BlackBriar says:

        Looks like mecha fans have really gotten a huge fix this season. Though I’m sure some shows of the genre are going to be dropped.

  5. Namika says:

    UUUUU~ spring list~ finally, a chance to fangirl 😀

    • BlackBriar says:

      Try not to wear yourself out. You have a whole new row of shows to check.

  6. skylion says:

    Farewell, long cold winter. And a somewhat sad goodbye to all the shows you unleashed. But with Spring comes renewal in both shows and of mind.

    I think I am going to pull back on the amount of shows watch. I can only point out about eight of the 20 last season that I would call my rock solid watches, the rest just killed some time, or were dropped at some point along the way.

    So with that in mind, I would call most of this slate a solid maybe, with only a few being not at all.
    But I do have some potential solid shows for my tastes in mind.

    M3: I call the creative team a win and would love to see them pull of more intense mecha action.

    Black Bullet: I like the manga fairly well. One of the things it underlines is that even in the face of catastrophic change we will still cling to the same social structures we had all along; even fears and prejudices. Some of the earlier action scene read as pretty muddled, so I hope the animation can clean it up.

    Soul Eater, NOT! : I enjoyed the original show, and I dig slice of life. So this is not a bad combination for me…

    WIXOSS: I’m somewhat remiss to follow a show based on a card game; not just because it’s a card game, but that I don’t really know how much marketing and other non-storytelling concerns will shape the composition. That being said, the director of Steins; Gate (and also of Ichigo Mashimaro) and Mari Okada teaming up sounds to good to ignore. The character designer of Ichigo Mashimaro does the same job here. So….cute moe designers, twisted storytelling, psychological plot line….have we seen this before?

    JoJo: FK YA! Nuff said….

    Mahouka: I loves me so magitek, and the PVs done by FFF/IB=FBI show off some crunchy bits that I just cannot resist. I just hope the school life story doesn’t swallow up to much of what could be a good world build.

    • d-LaN says:

      cute moe designers, twisted storytelling, psychological plot line….have we seen this before?

      The BRS anime?

      And well, personally Z/X Ignition is actually pretty decent for an anime adapted frm card game (it helps that there a lot of lore setting for the card game) so I won’t write it off just because its based on one.

      • BlackBriar says:

        And well, personally Z/X Ignition is actually pretty decent for an anime adapted frm card game (it helps that there a lot of lore setting for the card game) so I won’t write it off just because its based on one.

        True, Z/X Ignition is an alright series. A little close to Devil Survivor 2 in comparison, though. And I see you’re giving the series some support with that avatar of yours. 😉

        • skylion says:

          I kept up with DS2 and wasn’t all to pleased with it. If Z/X is good, it’s only as good as it can get. I don’t thing the card game as anime approach is universal for the context of WIXOSS. Just as LN or Manga as a success is as good as it’s anime adaptation could be.

          Case in point. JC Staff’s working of Kamachi-san’s Index is much better than the LN’s.

        • d-LaN says:

          When I saw the pics of the chibi Sieger keychain, I KNEW I had to use it as my avatar. Best (preverted) neko material (ΦωΦ)

    • akagami says:

      I’m going to miss all that snow. The North-East got a good dumping this year, wish that had happened to my area as well~~~

      Well, here’s to the (hopefully) nice and hot summer around the corner~

  7. zztop says:

    Haven’t decided on anything yet, but will keep a watch. Will keep on following Nobunaga in the meantime.

    Kamigami no Asobi: Too bad Yato isn’t part of the cast, being a male (somewhat bishie) god. Then he’d be able to enjoy his high school life with the other gods!! & sucker them into endorsing his godhood 😛

    • BlackBriar says:

      Something’s telling me you’re going to have a number of series to watch soon enough. Some tend to hook you when you’re not expecting it, those you never thought you’d be interested in.

      While the story is all over the place and unpredictable, Nobunaga The Fool is becoming more fun by the episode. He may be headstrong and absurdly arrogant but Nobunaga proves to be a good strategist and considerate of his people. You just got to peel back the thick layers of ego to see it.

  8. akagami says:

    AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

    And here I was thinking I was managing to clear up some of my backlog, not realizing that spring season is about to start. So much for whittling down my backlog
    (;-_-)ノ

    Last season was 24 started (9 dropped). I kind of wish I had dropped Hamtora earlier on, but I was already at episode 8 and decided to kill all the remaining in one sitting… I sincerely regret doing so.

    Let me check out the previews and report back… though I’m sure it’s going to be 20+, mwahaha… oh wells

    • skylion says:

      The Backlog! It shrinks all the time, right????! kdfj;alkdfja;sdlkfjas;dlkfas

      • belatkuro says:

        No. You just let the backlog grow over time until you don’t get to finish it in your lifetime. It’s a fearsome thing really.
        I will conquer my backlog someday, even if it takes several lifetimes!

        • skylion says:

          Toumafist.jpg.

        • BlackBriar says:

          Yeesh, having a huge backlog is a fearsome thing. That’s why I try my best to finish my intended series in the season they’re airing whenever I have some free time that I can lay back and relax. Sometimes, I’d download an episode of a show but leave it until a post of it comes along, then I’d watch it just so my thoughts would be fresh when I’m about to comment.

      • akagami says:

        I remember once, some long times ago, when I had only one series on my backlog (Aria S2 or S3 on DVD)… and was eagerly looking forward to the next season. Just a faint memory now…

        • BlackBriar says:

          That’s funny. I have quite a backlog myself. To this day, I haven’t finished Tamako Market, Gosick, Genshiken Nidaime, Kamisama no Memo-chou, Moretsu Pirates, both seasons of Nurarihyon no Mago or Yumekui Merry yet.

          • Kyokai says:

            I don’t think I would ever overcome by backlog but hey, that’s what most of the fans are like.

    • Highway says:

      Everyone needs to learn and live the prevention of the fallacy of sunk cost. Finishing a crappy show because you’ve wasted time watching it isn’t better, it’s worse! Free yourselves! If you’re not enjoying it, don’t watch it!

      I think I finished last season somewhere around 27. I dropped some, some mercilessly early, some late. And my backlog isn’t shrinking, but it doesn’t really grow with new shows.

      • belatkuro says:

        That’s why I dropped WUG, ImoCho and Pupa immediately.
        I’m behind by 3 episodes of Sonico so I’m also thinking of just dropping it. Should I?

        • skylion says:

          That rather depends on if you value SOL. I do, so the expenditure into Sonico week by week was well worthe the time.

          Hindsight is a beast, that each of of tame in our own way.

        • Highway says:

          I liked the way Sonico ended, but then I liked the entire series. The final episode was a payoff for the whole rest of the series, it’s not really spoilers to say that it’s a concert that everyone shows up to and lots of people help with. If you liked the show up through episode 8, it’s not like it changes after that. If you didn’t like it, then it didn’t change either. Personally, I always thought it was a great thing to look forward to on Mondays.

      • Di Gi Kazune says:

        Hence why I am picky. Apart from Log Horizon (which was picked up halfway because Kotominyaa) there wasn’t anything I was seriously watching.

        Nourin was pretty disappointing despite the catchy OP. Didn’t bother with Imocho after first episode. FFS, if you want to go down the incest route, at least have a decent story. It seriously made Oreimo look like Oscar material…

        Randomly picked out eps 23-25 of Magi, Magnostadtt arc just to see the Extreme Magic. Summary: reading manga better. The animation was just plain and nothing out of the ordinary.

        As for this season, I expect to finish NGNL. Do not expect violence except for the parts where Steph bangs her head hard objects. Francois + Chiara + Hecate + Shana/Koboshi + Tiriel/Misha + Kotarou/Puchiko-nyu. I expect Izuna to go -nyu. Nyu. Nyu. NYU! I also expect the scene where Shiro makes fap material out of Dora for her Nii to be taken out.

  9. Irenesharda says:

    Hello ladies and gentleman of Metanorn! Long time, no see!

    It feels like ages since I’ve last been on here and it really has been a long time since I was in the anime game. Grad school has been eating me alive this latest semester and my new fellowship research job has been downright murder. So, I had to stop dead in the first few weeks of the Winter 2014 season and just drop everything. I’ll probably marathon the ones I really liked (Nagi no Asukara, Buddy Complex, etc.) once school is out for the summer.

    However, on to the Spring Season! And hopefully, with school drawing to a close I can actually get back on track again. There’s some nice stuff here, not as much as last spring, but a nice sized amount.
    As a mecha fan, I’m glad for all the mecha that has been offered to us so far this year. 🙂 But be that as it may, of the 5 or 6 out this season, I’m really only looking at 3 that have caught my eye:

    M3~Sono Kuroki Tetsu~
    Captain Earth
    Knights of Sidonia

    Break Blade looked good too, but I then I later realized that its the same stuff as that Broken Blade series that came out a few years back and I really wasn’t into that, so I’ll pass. Knights looks good, despite the CGI, and I like the action scenes. Captain Earth sounds like a play-by-the-numbers stock mecha anime, but that can be fun too, and I enjoy them. M3 is the wild card, and I really want to see where that one goes.

    Other, than those 3, Tricks of the Gods ~Ludere deorum~, and Black Bullet, have also caught my eye. Black I’m not sure about since I’ll need to see more of it, however, the plot sounds interesting, so it’s worth a look.

    And the bishie reverse-harem one, well? What can I say? It’s a guilty pleasure of mine. Probably won’t be very good, but I’m a sucker for these! ^_~

    • Foshizzel says:

      Welcome back Irenesharda! You were missed <3

      Nagi no Asukara is great but I have issues with Buddy Complex namely the two main characters Dio and Aoba! They are kind of boring and so far the overall story is a gundam seed clone complete with characters on opposing factions getting stranded on an island together!? Athrun/Cagali = Aoba/Hina

      Hell ya I plan on blogging Captain Earth and doing a first impression for M3 and who knows maybe this season will be a fantastic one for mecha! We have like seven different ones to pick from if you count Nobunaga ZA FOOOOL~

      • Irenesharda says:

        Aww, thanks! ^_^

        Well, I knew Buddy Complex was a SEED copy from the beginning, I just hoped they could put something fresh into it with the whole time travel angle. (Really? they did the island thing again? SEED, Geass, Gundam The 08th MS Team, etc. Why does so many series like the island premise?)
        However, it looked good from where I stopped (Ep. 2), but I was afraid the series might end up not having enough time to tell it’s story. It’s a single cour show that’s trying to copy a series that had at least 4+ cours to tell unfold itself. I had high hopes that maybe they’ll succeed, but maybe I’ll keep them safely low when I go back to it. I thought the MC looked as boring as grass when I saw him in the first episode, but I hoped he would get better. It’s sad he never does, and somehow he took the other guy down with him.

        Anyway, totally dropping Nobunaga, I wasn’t impressed before, and I’m not going to put it into my backlog. However, some of the new shows look pretty good. Captain Earth looks like Gundam rip-off fare (still interesting), but M3 and Sidonia looks like they may be going for a more brutal, gritty theme, so I’ll be watching those two.

        Summer looks like it will be good for mecha too. I’ve already got Aldnoah.Zero and Argevollen on my list. So, the future is looking really bright for us mecha fans! 😀

        • BlackBriar says:

          I’ve already got Aldnoah.Zero and Argevollen on my list.

          You do realize the story for the former is being helmed by Psycho-Pass and Suisei no Gargantia’s Gen Urobuchi, right? So expect some kind of tragedy and heart wrenching scenarios.

          The Urobutcher sure is busy this year. Not only does he have Aldnoah Zero set for Summer but he has the first season of Psycho-Pass returning at the same time, edited as an 11 1-hour episode series with added footage and Psycho-Pass 2 set for Fall right after that and the movie for Winter 2015.

          • Irenesharda says:

            Interestingly enough, the only thing I’ve seen by Urobuchi is Gargantia, which I’m guessing is not the best example og his work. (I tried Psycho-Pass, but like something like Monster, I have to be in the mood to watch it, and so I’ve never gotten past the first few minutes of the first episode. And that creepy smiling cat thing scared me off Madoka)

            However, his presence in Aldnoah actually has been intrigued. If there is any genre where I like to see tragedy and harsh scenes, it’s in mecha. Mecha to me is futuristic war stories, and I’m interested in seeing what he does with this. Plus the animation looks really good despite the simple, childish design of the characters, and the music sounds awesome. So, I’m totally on board, and I’m interested in seeing what the Butcher can do. 😉

            • d-LaN says:

              Gargantia is co-created by Kazuya Murata and Gen Urobuchi. Urobuchi only wrote the first and last episode acc to wikipedia so it might explain some of the issues ppl had with it.

              Urobuchi also wrote some LNs and VNs like Fate/Zero (there an anime of it), Eisen Flugel (there a little bit of it translated here), Saya no Uta (Be warned, its a very disturbing VN) and etc. You might want to check them out if you have the time for it.

            • Irenesharda says:

              I think somebody from Fate/Zero is supposed to be involved in the project as well, so that could be interesting. Thanks for the suggestions.

              Aldnoah remains one of my most highly anticipated of the summer. Can anyone tell me, has Urobuchi ever worked on a strait-laced mecha series before?

            • zztop says:

              Gargantia’s getting a 2-part OVA sequel, the first coming this Fall.
              Apparently it’ll be focusing on Ledo, Amy and the Gargantia crew once more.
              http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=5052747&postcount=31

            • d-LaN says:

              He worked on Blassreiter, but I don’t think that can be defined as a “proper” mecha series. There are some LNs/VNs tht I do not recognize on his wikipedia page so I’m not too sure.

        • d-LaN says:

          Buddy Complex is not over yet. It will have another season to wrap up everything (hopefully nicely).

        • Irenesharda says:

          Interestingly, from what I read, A-1 is expecting Aldnoah to be the start of a new franchise that will surpass Gundam.

          I have a feeling they’re putting the cart before the horse here, since Gundam has a 35 year head start on them. However, I’m glad to see they are so confident in it. It does look better than Gundam’s new series for this fall, Gundam: Reconguista in G, which looks a little too much like AGE for my taste.

    • BlackBriar says:

      Welcome back, fellow vampiro aficionado!! It’s good to have you back. Props to you surviving grad school and best wishes to you finishing it.

      Clearing a backlog is never easy but can fun if it’s a show you really like. If you’re going to burn through Buddy Complex, I suggest you do it with haste. I haven’t even seen the final episode yet but like the way of Valvrave, I hear it’s been confirmed for a second season.

      And if you haven’t finished Seikai Seifuku, I strongly urge you to do so. It’s great and got surprisingly serious in certain parts along the way.

      Spring 2014 looks alright but I’m hoping there will be a series that will keep on edge like Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S and Shingeki no Kyojin did a year ago (Hard to believe it’s been that long). Maybe Black Bullet will be up to the task.

      • Irenesharda says:

        Hi! I just saw that they approved a second season for BC, which I guess I should have expected. Rare is the mecha series that end in only a single cour. Most of their stories are just too big and grand to be condensed in such a small amount of time. It can be done, but you have to be a genius to pull it off and for the show to not be rushed as heck and still be good.
        I’ll definitely finish it, just to see how this series holds up.

        As for Seikai, I might continue it. It wasn’t high on my list, but I’ll think about it. Right now the one’s I’m really thinking about are finishing Buddy Complex, Nagi no Asukara, Kill la Kill, and maybe Noragami.

        • Highway says:

          Yay, more yelling at characters for me in Buddy Complex. Quit being morons! And damn the Alliance is pitiful. Terrible tactics, terrible strategy, the best they can do is retreat. They try to attack that huge gun and “Let’s fly in close formation so they can take out all of our ships in one shot!” Aho! Baka!

          • d-LaN says:

            Seeing all the timelines and strategy arguments/debates makes me glad that I can enjoy stuff while shutting my brain off. 🙂

            As for the idiots higher up, I just chalk it up too “mecha anime writing 101”.

            • Highway says:

              Tactically, the Alliance is hopeless. Zogilia has acceptable tactics that only work because the Alliance is stupid, and that only break down because Dio and Aoba outperform their estimation.

              When they get 60% of their attacking formation vaporized because they were all crowded together flying toward a giant cannon (that they knew would be firing at them, even!) all I can do is roll my eyes and yell at the screen. And I think my favorite character now is that put-upon political officer lady, because every time she walks into a room, some guy makes a wisecrack about her past performance or something, so I want her to just calmly say “shut up.” and then get on with what she was talking about.

            • Highway says:

              I just watched ep 13 of Buddy Complex, and I like what they’re doing with the breaking of the time loop.

          • Irenesharda says:

            Well, at least I’ll know what I’m in for. Hopefully it won’t be too bad. The stupidity of the military can be half the fun sometimes. I still remember yelling at the idiocy of the Earth Alliance for deciding to sacrifice a huge chunk of their armada and soldiers in that Alaska fiasco in SEED.

            I was like, if you thought these soldiers were no good, why did you hire them? Doesn’t that cut into the reason you had these soldiers in the first place? You needed the manpower? So destroy billions of dollars of weaponry and ships, kill tens of thousands of military personnel and soldiers, simply on the off chance that you might take out some of your opponent’s ground forces? Yeah…not to bright are you.

            Anyway, hopefully it will just end up being a fun time.

  10. Irenesharda says:

    Also, tell me, does anyone else get a Titan A.E. vibe from the premise of Knights of Sidonia? You know, with the Earth being destroyed by evil monster aliens that for some reason hate humanity, and then humanity is lost among the stars and they have this one ship and this one guy that has possession of a ship that will be the future of mankind?

    I don’t know, it just sounded really familiar to me once I read the full synopsis.

    • Di Gi Kazune says:

      The anime version of Battlestar Galactica. I expect the Cylons to turn up sometime with the Five.

      • skylion says:

        …only this time Jimi Hendrix shows up for reals and gives them space co-ordinates, right?

      • Irenesharda says:

        I’ve never watched Battlestar, but I know what it’s about. However, somehow Titan AE seemed to match up better in my mind, I guess since they are both animated and the Drej seem a lot more similar to this series’ alien villains than the Cylons do.

        Plus while BG seems to be focused on an entire group, Titan and this series, seem to concentrate on one guy, and his journey to save humanity.

        • zztop says:

          @Irene:I’d strongly recommend watching Noragami, and then reading its manga afterwards. The final 3 anime-original eps are pretty good too. 😉

  11. Bonk says:

    I think I’ll watch that Hamatora recap just for Eguchi’s voice.

    • Foshizzel says:

      Yeah I dunno if I will watch that because I gave it a 2/10 on Mal…

      • Bonk says:

        Pretty much. It has all the potential to be the story I like(supernatural detective agency), but the story is rather clumsy and doesn’t know what to do with itself, and the character a basically one-dimensional despite all the potential charisma they had. It’s like they thought up a dozen of awesome characters in an interesting world and nothing else.

  12. Joojoobees says:

    It’s gotta be Ping-pong all the way. Best show of Spring 2014.

  13. Highway says:

    As he does every season, hashi has posted his calendar of anime. I find it something helpful to at least know when new shows are starting (for instance, while some shows are starting Tuesday April 1, there’s almost nothing that anyone here will watch until April 3, and most stuff is the 5th / 6th on the weekend).

  14. Liza says:

    I’m allliveeeeeee.

    So currently I have 37 animes on my to-watch list. Let’s see how many of those I keep watching. >_>

    The ones I’m really excited for:

    -Kindachi Case Files(I really liked the original and was really sad when I couldn’t find more subs for it)
    -Date a Live S2(more pretty designs! :D)
    -Mekaku Actors(*hyperventilates*)
    -Mushishi(Because…mushishi…)

    • BlackBriar says:

      37 animes?! Wow, that’s high number and a scary one at that! Do you think you manage? Every season, the number of shows I intend to watch always ranges within the mid 20’s then a few would be dropped. I had 30 series to watch for Winter because I was also following 8 carry over animes from Fall 2013. That was a challenge!!

      • skylion says:

        I had 28 last season, with five carryover’s. I dropped two. My goal this season in around ten to 12.

      • Liza says:

        I’ll probably end up dropping a couple so it won’t be THAT bad. I just like first episode testing everything that sounds interesting. After that, it’s a matter of making some shows a priority and then watching the rest at my leisure. But I do tend to watch way more than I should at one time. XD

        • BlackBriar says:

          Yeah, the first sets are always trial and error periods.

          But I do tend to watch way more than I should at one time. XD

          I’m in the same boat on that one. I’d download the recent episodes of shows on my list, put them onto a flash drive and watch through my PS3 one after the next. I prefer doing that than to go streaming on some anime site where I’d have to wait for the buffering to see the entire video.

    • akagami says:

      Take a deep breath and have a drink ~~旦_(・o・;)

      Good luck with those 37! That’s a very terrifying number (unless you’re under 18, in which case you can breeze through school on < 30 minutes of studying and just breathe, eat, and sleep anime).

      • BlackBriar says:

        Sounds like a really strict and structured regimen. 😀 However, that’s still a lot to keep up with. Imagine how much time that would consume.

      • Liza says:

        Haha, I’m 22 so juggling college on top of anime. XD It’s going to be a challenge, that’s for sure.

        • Kyokai says:

          Good luck with managing your time! If you are determined enough, you can do it! ^^

    • Irenesharda says:

      Are there even 37 anime premiering this season? Have fun with that…
      I will stick to my 5-6. 🙂

      • Kyokai says:

        We covered 40 this time around (a first for a spring season!), while 59 actually are coming out.

  15. skylion says:

    I’ve actually read the managas for Black Bullet and Dragonar.

    Black Bullet places it’s LOLi front and center along with her field partner, and it does have a dramady feel to it, not quite slice of life.

    Dragonar’s dragon LOLi is certainly a focus of attention, but her high and mighty nature and power scale make her a character they use sparingly. They focus more on the male and female leads with political intrigue and school life.

    • Irenesharda says:

      Black Bullet concentrates on a loli? Sigh…
      I was thinking the loli girl was just going to be the team mascot. Well, we’ll see…

      • skylion says:

        She has some traces of Rin from Kodomo no Jikan….but the show completely doesn’t! Thank goodness! I won’t spoil, but seeing as how much of the world building ties into who and what she is, she is going to get the attention in the story.

      • d-LaN says:

        Doesn’t mascot = pretty much the “face” of the series which usually means the main girl of it like how Shana keep appearing in every LN cover of SnS?

  16. akagami says:

    I don’t watch PVs, but here is my initial list at a glance. 30 shows, god damn. The next couple of weeks are going to be rough (or the next few months if I don’t end up dropping any). ヘ(。□°)ヘ

    Definitely going to check out!
    Selector Infected WIXOS: Z/X Ignition managed to be decent card-themed anime, and this has got some seasoned staff in there… color me interested.

    Mushishi Zoku Shou: Mushishi was great, while the episodes were slow-paced with very little action, they were very calming and enjoyable to watch (like Aria!). If you don’t mind or like slow-paced/relaxing anime, definitely check the original!

    Kenzen Robo Daimidaler: AHAHAHAHAHAHA. This premise sounds so ridiculous I can’t help but laugh~. They also gave us High School DxD, which was a surprise hit for me as I was expecting it to be an average ecchi show, but managed to keep me highly entertained. Count me in!

    Seikoku no Dragonar: Dragons! Dragons! Dragons! Loli… Dragons!?! *bzzzzt…. can not compute… overload…please reboot *bzzzzt* How can something so big be something so small? I will watch solely to determine the answer to this important question.

    Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei: I haven’t read the LN, but I’m enjoying the manga spin-off, and I do so enjoy magic shows. So not sure how this’ll turn out, but it should be fun to watch (after all that disappointment of hyped shows last season, this season has to be better, right? Right? Clearly I haven’t learned from losing in casinos).

    Captain Earth: BONES and Star Driver staff!!! YES YES YES. I am lady.

    Love Live! Season 2: School idol~~~ Had a blast watching S1, so definitely in for S2! (Maki-fan).

    Isshuukan Friends.: School romance combined with cute character designs? Automatic shoe-in.

    Kanojo ga Flag o Oraretara: Genres are right up my alley, and throw Cuteg into the mix? I’m in. It does remind me of Iris Zero, a manga I highly enjoyed but unfortunately was on hiatus (due to the mangaka being hospitalized) and only recently resumed.

    Black Bullet: Customary action show of the season. The character designs look solid and the premise sounds entertaining enough that only a Guilty Crown trainwreck would stop me (and I somehow finished that series, so much hope and got disappointment instead, each and every time). I see a common theme here… I’m a sucker.

    Soul Eater Not!: As a big Soul Eater fan, I would be doing a huge disservice (to the show, anime, the world, God) to not watch the spin-off. (I secretly want more Death the Kid though).

    Gochuumon wa Usagi Desuka?: Cute girls doing cute things? I have an unlimited appetite for these things.

    Date a Live II: Nothing amazing, but Date A Live was a highly enjoyable show, so I’ll be following to see more~~~

    Mekaku City Actors: I can always use more SHAFT in my life.

    M3: Sono Kuroki Hagane: Don’t know much about this show, but is has mecha and it has a good staff, so interested to see how this turns out.

    Monogatari Series: Second Season +α: You either like the -monogatari series or you don’t. I’m the former.

    Tentative
    ———————————————-
    Blade and Soul: I don’t know anything about this mmorpg (last I played was FFXIV:ARR, and before that was WoW in the early days), and I’ve never played any Korean mmos. Actually, the only one I know about is Lineage because they had awesome looking elves. I guess I’ll give this a shot… I mean, if I could manage Ixion Saga: DT (which was all over the place), I could probably enjoy this. Can’t remember the last GONZO show I enjoyed though…. I’d have to say likely Last Exile.

    Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou: Romance, comedy, and school in a single sentence is usually instant gold, but those ancient character designs… ugh. I’m superficial and my hips don’t lie.

    Kamigami no Asobi: I figure if I watch enough otome shows, I’m bound to find a gem or two.

    Kiniro no Chord: Blue Sky: This is apparently the 3rd VN in the Kin’iro no Corda series… WHAAT?!? I enjoyed the first season, even if it wasn’t anything spectacular… and now you tell me there was a second season (two OVAs)?!? And I can’t find any seeds for the life of me *cries in a corner*. This doesn’t have Kahoko, so not sure how I’ll like this one… (btw, if anyone knows where I can find the 2009 OVAs, do please let me know!)

    Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii: I don’t know really anything about this show, but it’s shoujo and romance, so that’s enough to warrant a look from me.

    Gokukoku no Brynhildr: I normally don’t like the mystery genre, but it has enough other genres mixed in that I was somewhat curious. I checked out the first two chapters of the manga and it seems interesting enough that I’ll probably give this one a whirl and see where it takes me.

    No Game No Life: Sounds similar to Mondaji, but swapped out super-powered kids and throw in NEETs… ehhhhh. Well, still sounds like it’ll be a decent watch.

    Hitsugi no Chaika: I really have no idea how this’ll turn out. I’ll give this the three-episode test to see where it goes. After the semi-disappointment that Mahou Sensou was though… (I keep wanting to drop it, but there are bits in each episode that make me want to watch… hmmmmm)

    Escha & Logy no Atelier: Tasogare no Sora no RenkinjutsushiTop: No other reason that to see how Atelier will turn out animated. Hopefully better than that Bakery show, lol.

    Sidonia no Kishi: A sci-fi space of humanity driven to the brink? Definitely interested… the only (big) downside. omgithurtsCG. History says this will end bad.

    Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san: For 5 minutes, I could do a lot worse with my time. I’ll see if the 5 minutes of cuteness is enoguh to keep me going.

    Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin: Noitamina has been disappointing me of late, but I’ll still give the new series a whirl before passing judgement. I liked Galilei Donna (another treasure hunting show), so hopefully this will be just as enjoyable.

    Mangaka-san to Assistant-san to: The comedy levels sound like they’ll be good… will this be the first manga-themed anime I enjoy?

    • Liza says:

      I feel your pain. XD There’s so many good shows that seem like they would be good coming out. Also, like you, I don’t watch PVs so I go only based on description.

    • d-LaN says:

      As a LN reader of Black Bullet, it should be a decent show (or at least the first LN since I only read one). The only thing I don’t like is the main loli and how the females treat the MC but its toned down in the serious scenes.

      Hitsugi no Chika have nothing to do with Mahou Sensou though? Its written by the same guy who wrote Outbreak Company and animated by BONES. Madhouse did Mahouka and NGNL this season.

      Did you watch the Bayonetta: BF movie? Its also animated by GONZO and it turns out OK to me.

      • akagami says:

        The only link between Hitsugi no Chika and Mahou Sensou was that they’re both action shows that both seemed to be good initially… except Mahou Sensou ended up disappointing me. So hoping this one doesn’t end up the same.

        I never looked into Bayonetta because I’ve never played the game. I find it hard to get into game-based shows if I’ve no interested in the underlying game.

        • d-LaN says:

          That what you get for cramming 7 volume into 12 episodes. Still the only thing that really bothered me abt MS is it QUALITY and the WTF ending.

    • Kyokai says:

      I feel ya, akagami! Gambatte!

      @d-LaN, good that you reminded me, I have to watch Bayonetta myself.

    • akagami says:

      I totally forgot about Puchimas!! ~~~~~~~~~
      The first season was full of several minutes of chibi awesomeness. So happy am I.
      (^・o・^)ノ”

  17. anaaga says:

    I was this close at picking Dai Isshin Shougan/Shogun/whatever until I found its catchphrase: “I’m proud to be a virgin!”

    Besides that, cool season. Looking forward to all my reverse harem and gay boys

    • Kyokai says:

      He gets cooties when girls touch him. HAHAHAHAAA! Anyways, I am sure you are looking forward to Wild Adapter. 😉

  18. Namika says:

    Sooooooooo my list that I will neglect anyways is this –
    Break Blade, because why not? Production I.G, great seiyuu list with my beloved Souichirou Hoshi in it.
    Sono Kuroki Hagane
    Soul Eater NOT – How can I not take a look at this??? Why would Bones even tamper with the genius of the original Soul Eater anime? I have to see this. And I hope I won’t die of disappointment.
    Isshuukan friends – I’m not the person who goes for drama stuff. But the plot sounds so cute that I can’t keep myself away. And I don’t think I’ll be dropping this show either, because I’ve been keeping an eye on it for a while.
    Kiniro no Corda and Kamigami no Asobi for the seasonal bishie dose I’ve developed a need to lately. :3
    Mahouka koukou no Rettousei – this looks kinda interesting. I feel dangerous vibes from the premis, if you know what I mean, but I’m gonna try it anyway.
    Tasogare no Sora no Renkinjutsushi – First of all, because it has Alchemy involved and that’s (almost) always a good thing. I actually hope this show to be good and meaningful. I REALLY hope it will be good because it looks really nice and promising. What I like the most is the graphics though. I don’t know why
    Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii – Maybe? Why not? o-o
    Sooooooo this is about it I guess. I wonder, how many series will I end up watching this season??? 😀

    • d-LaN says:

      Atelier Escha & Logy original character designs are done by Hidari (Sasami-san @ Ganbaranai, Fractale, Natsuiro Kiseki) and I quite like his work on the Dusk series.

      The source material is a pretty different type of JRPG as it focus more on the characters day to day life instead of “save the world!” type of plot. It also have emphasis on synthesizing materials. Should be a fun and relaxing show if done right.

      • Namika says:

        it totally has a pleasant feel, as far as I can judge from the trailer

  19. Namika says:

    And is anyone besides me fangirling about how awesome this year will be? Love Stage anime, Free season 2, Psycho-Pass remake, 2nd season and a movie(I’m pretty sure all of these 3 come out this year), Kuroshitsuji OVA, Sekaiichi Hatsukoi goodies, Suisei no Gargantia OAV, Durarara 2…
    I just can’t get over how much awesomeness we’re gonna get this year o-o

    • Kyokai says:

      OH HELL YEAHHHH! All good things are coming back to us. I’m going to put ufotable’s fate/stay night in this list too and damn, am I happy about Mushishi as well.

      Overall, a very promising year for anime indeed.

      • Namika says:

        It has to be epic, there’s just no other way around it. *O* I’m being too gullible but so many good stuff – so many epic sequels ‘n stuff >_<
        I'm super-hyped. This summer is going to be the best I've seen, probably. Though I'm probably going to eat those words I typed when the time comes and I'll be proven wrong.

    • BlackBriar says:

      Psycho-Pass remake, 2nd season and a movie(I’m pretty sure all of these 3 come out this year)

      No, but you’re close. The first season of Psycho-Pass is returning for Summer 2014, the second season is in Fall and the movie is set for Winter 2015.

      • Namika says:

        As far as I know about the movie it was scheduled somewhere in 2014. But which winter season do you know about, 14/15 or 15/16?

        • BlackBriar says:

          I don’t know anything specific. I’m just following the Psycho-Pass info that was on ANN some time ago.

  20. BlackBriar says:

    Oh btw, BB, seiyuu industry is cut-throat. Few support roles are nothing in terms of experience for a lead role. People work on credit-less voice-cast and then move up to small roles and what not for a wish to get a break on big series. This will be a big step for Miss Chika and so my thoughts. 😉

    Well, I’ll agree the seiyuu industry is cut-throat but it’s never short of aspiring upcoming talent, especially what we have these days. There’s Ibuki Kido (OniiAi, Pupa), Rie Suegara (Diabolik Lovers’ Yui Komori) and Shiori Mutou (Nobunagun’s Sio Ogura). Even Miyuki Sawashiro’s younger brother, Chiharu, is said to be joining in the voice acting business.

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