Continuing with the shows that I’m checking out for this fall season of anime (as mentioned in this post), I was very happy to see the start of the second season of Ajin. Nothing much to report other than it’s still very good, continues the story of the manga, and I’m very much looking forward to seeing how they portray the big events that I know are coming in animated form.
Continuing with the shows that I’m checking out for this fall season of anime (as mentioned in this post), I was very happy to see the start of the second season of Ajin. Nothing much to report other than it’s still very good, continues the story of the manga, and I’m very much looking forward to seeing how they portray the big events that I know are coming in animated form.
Towards the end of 2004 I started writing two monthly columns for a culture site called Tokyo Q, and one of them was about anime. Each edition was usually made up of reviews of shows, as well as news items, but at the start of each Japanese TV season I’d usually do a round-up of what I thought looked promising in terms of new (and returning) series. In that spirit — and with the warning that I don’t watch a lot of anime series at this point in time, because I have zero interest in the vast majority of what gets produced these days (i.e. the moe type cutesy animated stuff that rules the airwaves) — here’s what I’m at least interested in checking out once the fall season kicks off in October (based on what I’ve seen announced on AniChart’s Fall 2016 page).
Ajin (Season 2)
I’m a huge fan of the manga series this is based on (I’m still currently reading it) and I loved the first season that aired earlier this year — it was a very close adaptation of the manga storyline, with a nicely done cell-shaded animation style (similar to what you see in Knights of Sidonia, which was done by the same studio). I can’t wait to watch season 2, which I expect to be just as good.
Fune wo Amu
I don’t know anything about this series other than the description, which says that it’s the story of a man who works at a publishing company, who is trying to find a successor as he approaches retirement age, and may have found one to work on a dictionary they are looking to publish. Sounds like an interesting setting, and I like the character designs in the preview art.
Occultic Nine
I was sort of interested in this, about a group of students brought together through a blog for some paranormal and occult happenings, but then seeing the ridiculously floppy breasts in this trailer really turned me off.
Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans (Season 2)
I’ve only recently become a fan of Gundam, and am currently watching the 1985 series Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam. The thing with Gundam is that you get stuff that follows the timeline of the original series (“Universal Century”), and then wild spinoffs that have absolutely nothing to do with the original setting, but share certain ideas and themes. So far I haven’t been interested in watching any of the spinoff shows, but I’ve heard very good things about Iron-Blooded Orphans, so I’m tempted to give the first season a try, just as the second season is about to start.
Update: I’ve started watching these series, including Occultic Nine and Iron-Blooded Orphans. Also part of the new season, I checked out Izetta: The Last Witch.
Update: Here are my posts for Ajin and Fune wo Amu.
I recently wrote about really getting into the Ajin manga, and now that I’m all caught up we get an anime series that debuted today on Netflix (although it originally aired in Japan at the start of the year). I’ve watched the first two episodes, and I’m really digging it, but that’s maybe because I like the manga series so much – so far, this is a straight adaptation. I also really like the look of the show, which is done in cell shaded CG, like Ghibli’s Ronia – makes everything look very sharp, which is a nice contrast with the occasionally messy manga art (the backgrounds are sharp, but the character art can veer towards the slightly cartoony). There’s also a trilogy of animated films happening (the second one will be out soon), but I’m not sure what it covers.
A friend recommended the manga series Ajin to me earlier today, and I then proceeded to start reading it feverishly, currently up to volume 3. I so love it when a manga series draws you in like this, and you just can’t stop reading chapter after chapter. It tells the rather violent story of a boy who finds himself to be an Ajin, some sort of immortal non-human (we don’t really know the details yet) that when discovered, get hunted and dissected. I wasn’t so crazy about the art style at first – especially the character designs – but it’s grown on me, or I’ve just gotten used to it. Recommended if you like stuff like Gantz.