Winter 2013 Animé First Impressions

Hello, everybody! Here's the list of shows we'll be following this Winter 2013 Animé season! Don't worry, it won't be the huge pack of 20 shows like the busy Fall 2012 season! This time it will be a modest 10, 2 of which are sequels to animé shown in previous seasons, so that means 8 new shows! Are you excited? I know I am! Here they are, in alphabetical order:

Source: nindoushuriken.blogspot.com

AKB0048 Next Stage – The continuation to last year’s show that boasted CG idol girls performing on flying platforms while wielding microphone beam / light sabers against fascist power armor goons who are out to ensure all sorts of entertainment, down to even humming a tune to yourself, are outlawed. Watching the first season is a must, unless you've been spoiled a lot concerning the previous events. I, for one, am convinced that the acronym AKB was selected because it can also be construed to mean "Ass-Kicking Belles" - they sure are capable of it!

Source: crunchyroll.com

Bakumatsu Gijinden Roman (trans. Bakumatsu Tale of the Selfless Man Roman) – It’s the story of Robin Hood, only set in feudal Japan instead of Europe, specifically when Japan hadn’t closed its doors yet to foreigners, allowing things like floor traps powered by electric eels to exist alongside German-made zombies created from flour. Our noble thief isn’t just an ordinary cat burglar, he’d give Kamen Riders a run for their money! I'll just say that this show is Lupin The Third meets Sengoku Basara, and leave it at that.

Source:  crunchyroll.com

Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT (trans. I Don't Have Many Friends NEXT) – The continuing adventures and misadventures of the Neighbors Club, who have yet to a) get more friends aside from their club members, and b) notice that they don’t have to look outside their loony, zany club for friends. Of course, that would take the fun and purpose out of the franchise, so it looks like their missing the forest for the trees will most likely continue. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to see more of my favorite maniacs Rika and Sena.

Source:  crunchyroll.com

Cuticle Detective Inaba – This is absurd fun at its best. Our protagonist is a police dog werewolf who has decided to leave the bureaucracy and go the private detective way, so that he could better search for his missing brother. However, his old handler, er, partner from the police force brings him back in to combat a certain Mafia lord, who is a cape-wearing goat no taller than our protagonist’s knee and eats paper currency. I swear I am not making this up. I mentioned absurd fun, right? Starting from the second episode, you get a double dose of insanity as each episode features two different stories!

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Maoyuu Maou to Yuusha (trans. Demon King and Hero)– The manga adaptation I've been waiting for. Our human hero charged into the demon king's lair, ready to end a war with his sword, but is shocked to learn that the pretty, buxom babe in front of him is the demon queen. After an awkward start, followed by lots of persuasion and boobs in his face (seriously, look where our Hero is looking at in the promo image!), our hero agrees to side with the demon queen in her quest to end the war in the best way possible. Some people will watch it for the Economics 101 segments, others for the romance between the former not-really-enemies, and some for the commentaries on human life. Me, I watch it for the demon queen's hilarious attempts to get score with the hero.

Source: anifecta.org

Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai kara Kuru Sou Desu yo (The Problem Children Come from Another World) – Three children - a self-styled delinquent who’s craftier than your usual thug, a haughty rich girl, and a girl with an affinity for animals are summoned to a world of bets, games, and beings of every imaginable sort. Two episodes in, the three learn that they weren't summoned just to have fun. They'll soon be finding themselves playing for the survival of a little community, and their opponents have no intention of turning the fight into a bonus round.

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Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru (trans. Caught In the Carnage Between My Girlfriend and My Childhood Friend) – One teen-aged boy gets blackmailed into becoming the boyfriend of the hottest girl in his class, courtesy of her somehow acquiring his chuunibyou notebook. It's all a sham, as she is desperately tired of all the boys confessing to her, and who better to play the role of pretend-boyfriend than a guy who doesn’t believe in love, similar to herself? Of course, the poor guy's childhood friend gets wind of this, and for her, this means war! If the image above is any indication, two more girls will be joining the fray - expect havoc!

Source:  mdzanime.me

Sasami-san@Ganbaranai (trans. Sasami-san@No Effort) – This appears to be the season’s love it or leave it series. At its core, the series is about a female hikikomori who, despite treating her doting brother like a mere servant, is actually quite possessive of him, as shown in the first episode via her attempts to brave the outside world to keep those ‘evil women’ away from him. Suddenly, the world turns to chocolate, and the ‘evil women’ – actually the Yagami sisters – start kicking the asses of chocolate monsters, and somehow restore the world to normal. If that description intrigues you, watch it. If it confuses you, find something else to watch.

Source: animefree4you.blogspot.com

Senran Kagura – Ninja girls, bouncing boobies, and panty shots, oh my! But wait, there’s more - there’s also combat! Anyway, these are the adventures of 5 high school girls who are enrolled in the secret side of a prestigious private school – you guessed it, a ninja training school. If the first two sentences haven’t clued you in yet on what to expect, this series is bursting (pun intended) with fanservice and action. This is exactly my cup of tea. It's less Queen's Blade and more of Ikkitousen.

Source:  vnsharing.net

Vividred Operation – Magical girl, er, technology-sufficiently-advanced-it-can-be-considered-magical girl show of the season, Vividred Operation boasts beautiful visuals, though some might be put off by the glorious detail and attention lavished on middle-school girls’ body parts. Seriously, I shudder thinking how many perverts made a copy of episode 1 just so they could pause the video at certain key points for their own nefarious purposes. That aside, this promises to be the action-heavy offering of the season, barring the AKB0048 continuation and the Problem Children show. If schoolgirls flying in the sky and taking on mechanical alien monsters is your thing, then watch this!