Winter Anime Season (Part 8)

Title: Sekai Seifuku: Bouryaku no Zvezda (aka World Conquest: Zvezda Plot)
Release Date: January 11, 2014
Studio: A-1 Pictures
Genre: Action/Adventure, Sci-Fi, Comedy
Synopsis: Precocious little girl Kate Hoshimiya is the leader of a mysterious secret society composed of social misfits and odd characters. Their goal: world domination.

Verdict: From the anime that started it all, Osamu Tezuka's Tetsuwan Atom (aka Astro Boy), to last year's break out hit, Attack on Titan, successful series have usually been based on popular manga, video games or light novels. However, although anime began as a means of adaptation, every once in a while a completely original work will come along and blow your mind. In the late 90s, it was Shinichiro Watanabe's Cowboy Bebop. In the mid-00s, it was Imaishi's Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. This year, it just may be Bouryaku no Zvezda.

Bow to your new (adorable) lord and sovereign!

Everything about the show is bursting with originality and inventiveness. Studio A-1 Pictures, which was behind 2010's Anime no Chikara (lit, "the power of anime") series, is right at home developing an original project. Director Tensai Okamura, whose given name translates to "genius," has helmed several successful series over the course of his multi-decade career (including original series Wolf's Rain and Darker Than Black). To complete the production trifecta, scriptwriters from dojin circle-turned-industry giants Type-Moon have designed a colorful cast of characters to fill out Zvezda's roster.

Gathered here for a group photo.

Apart from their chibi-sized leader, the society's ranks include a hulking skeleton with a penchant for military dress and cake; a scantily-clad scientist and her robot sidekick; and a crass, katana-wielding femme fatale. Second-year middle school student and runaway Asuta Jimon rounds out the rogues gallery after finding himself caught up in the gang's latest skirmish with the JSDF. Just how Hoshimiya and company plan to take over the world remains to be seen, but, with the personnel involved, it's sure to be an exciting romp.

Winter Anime Season (Part 4)

Title: D-Frag!
Release Date: January 6, 2014
Studio: Brain's Base
Genre: Comedy, School Life, Slice of Life
Synopsis: Kenji Kazama and his band of delinquents are determined to take over their new school but hit a snag when they stumble upon the weird shenanigans of the school's Game Creation Club and its even weirder president, Roka Shibasaki. Based on the popular manga series by Tomoya Haruno.

Verdict: Don't expect any life-changing revelations or shrewd commentaries on man's complicated nature here, this is pure, wacky, escapist comedy at its finest. Not surprising considering Brain's Base has a penchant for putting out quirky comedies with bizarre characters (e.g. Princess Jellyfish, My Teenage Comedy SNAFU, and Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun). The first episode features a wide range of feats of absurdity, including the most hilariously twisted parody of Pokemon since Egoraptor's PokeAwesome series.

"Defeated now, bitch?!" indeed.

D-Frag isn't here to make you think, it's here to make you laugh, and it's doing a bang-up job so far.

Winter Anime Season (Part 2)

Title: Noragami
Release Date: January 5, 2014
Studio: Bones
Genre: Supernatural, Fantasy, Action/Adventure, Comedy
Synopsis: Up-and-coming god Yato finds himself down on his luck when his Sacred Treasure, a type of living weapon, tenders her resignation. He resolves to fight evil by himself until a chance encounter with a high school girl changes his fortunes.

Verdict: This could be an early candidate for best anime of the Winter season, if not the year. Studio Bones has a successful track record as long as my arm, so the world of mangaka Adachitoka springs to life with vibrant colors and smoothly animated action sequences. Phantoms, supernatural ripples caused by strong emotions, come in all shapes and sizes; the first episode alone finds Yato facing down a giant red snake born from the malicious competitive spirit of exam week and a towering, gluttonous neon blue frog. Playing opposite Hiroshi Kamiya's Yato is Maaya Uchida as Hiyori Iki, a spunky, MMA-loving high school girl who finds herself caught up in the fledgling god's world after saving him from getting hit by a bus. Hiyori serves as a fitting stand-in for the audience since she often balks at the bizarre nature Yato's swashbuckling lifestyle. Although it looks like this is Kotaru Tamura's first turn as director, so far he seems to be doing a good job of balancing the fantastical with the everyday. After learning that her new companion fancies himself a god of immeasurable power, Hiyori's initial reaction is to call the police. Light moments like these sprinkled in between impressive supernatural action sequences make for an engaging viewing experience. If Noragami doesn't turn out to be one of the best series of the year, it'll still be one of the most fun to watch.

Summer Premier Season (Part Seven): Blood Lad

Title: Blood Lad
Release Date: July 7, 2013
Studio: Brain's Base
Genre: Supernatural, Comedy, Action/Adventure
Premise: An otaku vampire promises to return a human girl to life after she wanders into the demon world and dies during a skirmish over his territory.

Verdict: Ah, yes, another anime adaptation of a popular manga. This is the bread and butter of the anime industry, along with visual novel and video game adaptations, and the success of such work usually depends on the quality of the resources and staff being thrown at the project.

So far, so good. Studio Brain's Base has been responsible for some pretty stellar shows over the past few years. The seiyuu for main character Staz, Ryota Osaka, is also having a breakout year so far with lead roles in two other anime I've enjoyed: The Devil is a Part-Timer and Valvrave the Liberator. The series is currently listed as scheduled for 12 episodes, so I doubt they'll be able to adapt all nine volumes of the source material, but judging from the animation quality this is a going to be a solid piece of work.

Vampires have undergone a sort of renaissance over the past decade. Once dismissed as soulless monsters, they have been recast as everything from reluctant allies to (most popularly) love interests. This has been pulled off with varying degrees of success, both good (thank you Joss Whedon) and very, very bad. Staz and co. seem poised to end up in the first group, but if not, it'll still be better than at least one story about vampires...