Anime Series Fall 2007 Preview

Here's the List of Anime Series Fall 2007 Season, thanks to OMNI - Random Curiosity for the list. Please note that NOT ALL of this series will be uploaded, but we'll try our best to carry the most interesting series, also the sequels are pretty much sure will be uploaded here.

FULL PREVIEW LIST

Technical Note: All times are given in a 24-hour, relative-day format where times are extended to show which day they belong to. For instance, Friday morning at 1:30AM would become Thursday at 25:30 to show that the episode aired late Thursday night.

	D.C.II ~Da Capo II~ http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/dc2/ Premieres October 1st, 2007 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Mondays at 24:00 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Mondays at 11:00 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, syoboi Da Capo is back with a sequel set 53 years after the first two series. It’s got a whole new cast of characters who are the descendants of the previous cast, including Junichi’s two granddaughters, but some things stay the same - Suginami’s still around, a Shirakawa is still the school idol, etc. Though the animation production is still being done by Feel, character designs are now being done by Shimazawa Noriko (who also worked on Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru), and it’s scheduled to be only 13 episodes long. Hopefully that’ll be a good thing and they won’t waste any time getting to the story.
	Bamboo Blade http://www.bambooblade.jp/ Premieres October 1st, 2007 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Mondays at 25:30 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Mondays at 12:30 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, syoboi From the staff that brought you Gun X Sword comes a story about a high school teacher who has to find five girls to compete in a kendo match so that he can win a year’s worth of free meals through a bet. I thought the concept of five girls doing kendo had potential, but after reading the first volume of the manga, I didn’t find the story to be really exceptional, despite some interesting characters.
	Sketchbook ~full color’s~ http://www.sketch-full.net/ Premieres October 1st, 2007 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Mondays at 26:00 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Mondays at 13:00 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, syoboi This slice-of-life story based on a 4-koma manga is about a girl who enters high school and joins the art club. The promo video for this had a very peaceful piano piece and showed a lot of landscape and sky views, giving me the feeling that this could be similar in style to a series like ARIA. Hal Film Maker is animating this and it’s being supervised by Sato Junichi, so that might not be too far off the mark. Fans of Makino Yui should also note that she plays a role and sings the ending song here too.
	Kaiji http://www.ntv.co.jp/kaiji/ Premieres October 2nd, 2007 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Tuesdays at 24:59 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Tuesdays at 11:59 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo If you’ve seen any of Akagi, you should recognize the art of Kaiji since it’s by the same creator Fukumoto Nobuyuki. This is also produced by the same team at Madhouse and will have Akagi’s voice actor playing Kaiji, so I’d think that if you enjoyed that, you’d probably enjoy this. Unlike Akagi’s mahjong though, Kaiji has various types of games and is about a guy who enters into the dangerous world of gambling. I never got a chance to watch Akagi though, and with the large field of other shows on Tuesdays, I suspect that I probably won’t be watching this either.
	Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro http://www.ntv.co.jp/neuro/ Premieres October 2nd, 2007 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Tuesdays at 25:29 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Tuesdays at 12:29 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, syoboi The title character of this series is a demon who comes to the human world to devour mysteries. Enlisting the help of a girl named Yako whose father was recently murdered, Neuro starts solving mysteries and eating them. I’ve enjoyed what I’ve read of the manga, though it’s less because of the murder mysteries and more because of Neuro himself. He’ll be voiced by Koyasu Takehito in the anime while Yako will be voiced by Ueda Kana, and with Madhouse animating the series, this might turn out to be pretty good.
	Suteki Tantei Labyrinth http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/anime/labyrins/ Premieres October 2nd, 2007 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Tuesdays at 25:30 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Tuesdays at 12:30 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, syoboi This story takes place in the forgotten Old Tokyo where mysterious incidents that are beyond human understanding are occurring. Challenging these is a boy detective with a special insight power that allows him to understand the whole picture behind them. I was originally considering writing this one off because I could just watch Neuro if I wanted a mystery series, but this show actually has a pretty strong cast - including Sawashiro Miyuki in the main role, Paku Romi and Inoue Marina playing a pair of (male) twins, and Horie Yui too - that might warrant it a look when it airs.
	Night Wizard The ANIMATION http://www.nightwizard.jp/ Premieres October 2nd, 2007 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Tuesdays at 26:00 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Tuesdays at 13:00 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, syoboi Based on a pen & paper RPG, this series takes place in a world where Wizards with magic are fighting invaders called Emulators. The anime version revolves around a female transfer student who has the power to end the war, and the others at her school. The whole thing looks and sounds a little generic to me, and the PV didn’t impress me that much either, so this isn’t on my priority list.
	BLUE DROP ~Tenshitachi no Gikyoku~ http://blue-drop.jp/ Premieres October 2nd, 2007 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Tuesdays at 26:00 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Tuesdays at 13:00 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, syoboi Blue Drop is the story of two girls: one who is the sole survivor of a mysterious incident where all the people of an island disappeared, and the other who is an alien sent to Earth to do reconnaissance for an invasion. Like the manga it’s based on, the anime looks to have yuri themes (the aliens only have one gender - female), and as it’s been a while since I’ve watched a yuri show, I’m looking forward to seeing how it turns out. The animation quality looks like it’ll be really good too, so I’ve got my fingers crossed in hopes that this won’t disappoint.
	Myself;Yourself http://www.anime-myyour.com/ Premieres October 2nd, 2007 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Tuesdays at 26:15 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Tuesdays at 13:15 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, syoboi Myself;Yourself is a new title that’s had a light novel going since earlier this year and has a game for the PS2 coming out in November. The story involves a boy who moves to Tokyo when he’s in the fifth grade and returns back to his old town five years later, but he finds that things have changed, especially the girl who was his first love. It sounds rather average as far as these kinds of stories go, and without a review or word-of-mouth on the game to rely on, I have no idea if this’ll turn out to be any good, but I’m not very impressed by this at first glance.
	Mokke http://www.avexmovie.jp/lineup/mokke/ Premieres October 2nd, 2007 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Tuesdays at 26:43 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Tuesdays at 13:43 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, syoboi Mokke is about two special sisters who live in a rural town with their grandfather. The older sister can see spirits while the younger sister is easily haunted by them, and through their grandfather and their own experiences, they learn to respect and co-exist with all the spirits around them. This is a good series for those of you who are folklore buffs since each chapter of the manga deals with a different situation and spirit, and I imagine the anime will take a similar approach. I’ve gotten used to the manga, so the anime adaptation’s character designs look a bit odd to me, but Kawasumi Ayako and Mizuki Nana voicing the two sisters should more than make up for it.
	Dragonaut -The Resonance- http://www.dragonaut.com/ Premieres October 3rd, 2007 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Wednesdays at 25:50 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Wednesdays at 12:50 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, syoboi The background here is that, faced with impending doom from a huge asteroid, humanity created a weapon called a Dragonaut after the discovery of a dragon egg under the ocean. That sounds like standard sci-fi/mecha stuff, and the 3-D battle from the preview didn’t really excite me, but the contrast of red and blue between the two lead characters reminds me enough of Romeo and Juliet to think that their romance could be interesting. And unlike the majority of shows this season, Dragonaut is an original concept not based on a manga, game, or novel, though those of you wary of Gonzo productions should probably take note since this is one. It’s also worth mentioning that the three main voice actresses from the Suzumiya Haruhi anime (Hirano Aya, Gotou Yuuko, and Chihara Minori) are in this.
	Mahou Sensei Negima! Drama http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/negima-drama/ Premieres October 3rd, 2007 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Wednesdays at 25:50 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Wednesdays at 12:50 Information Links: Here and here I am expecting this to be a complete disaster, but morbid curiosity compels me to watch it. The recently released trailer pretty much confirmed my suspicions, but I’ll need to see the entire first episode to see just how ridiculous it really is. At least Setsuna doesn’t look too bad…
	Goshuushousama Ninomiya-kun http://pc.webnt.jp/ninomiya/ Premieres October 3rd, 2007 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Thursdays at 27:13 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Thursdays at 14:13 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, syoboi The title character here finds himself - thanks to his own sister - living with a pair of siblings who are incubus and succubus, and it turns out that the succubus is afraid of men, so the main character has been chosen to help her get over it. But that’s not all! The rich and popular student council president is also his live-in maid. The whole succubus aspect sounds like it could have potential, but having not read the light novel that this is based on, I can’t vouch for how good the story is since at first glance it sounds rather haremish. Note: This is premiering on a Wednesday, but normal weekly first airings are on Thursdays on a different channel.
	Taiho Shichauzo Full Throttle http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/taiho/ Premieres October 4th, 2007 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Thursdays at 25:25 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Thursdays at 12:25 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, syoboi The third You’re Under Arrest series reunites Natsumi and Miyuki after their respective stints with the Special Forces and the LAPD. It’s been many years since the last series, but they’ve managed to keep all the original voice actors, and Studio DEEN is animating it again. Given the other two big shows airing on Thursday though, I’ll probably be skipping this.
	Shakugan no Shana II http://www.shakugan.com/ Premieres October 4th, 2007 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Thursdays at 25:25 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Thursdays at 12:25 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, syoboi When the first Shana series ended, most of us were sure there’d be a sequel, and after a year and a half of waiting, it’s finally here. Unlike the second season of Zero no Tsukaima (which had a change of director and writer), the entire first series staff is back for Shana II, so I expect that this will be as good as or better than the original. I’ll need to brush up on my Shana terminology, but this series should turn out to be a lot of fun. The first arc is apparently going to involve an original character from the Shana DS game named Mare.
	CLANNAD http://www.tbs.co.jp/clannad/ Premieres October 4th, 2007 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Thursdays at 25:55 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Thursdays at 12:55 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, syoboi CLANNAD is easily the most anticipated show of the season for me because of all the great things I’ve heard about the original game coupled with Kyoto’s Animation’s record of beautifully animated and faithful adaptations. Having such a talented cast too - including Nakahara Mai, Kanda Akemi, Kuwashima Houko, Nonaka Ai, Inoue Kikuko, and Noto Mamiko - is just icing on the cake. I’ve been trying my best not to read up on the story before seeing this, so all I’ll say about it here is that it starts with a troubled delinquent whose life changes when he meets the main heroine.
	Shugo Chara! http://shugo-chara.com/ Premieres October 6th, 2007 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Saturdays at 9:30 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Saturdays at 20:30 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, syoboi Joining the Saturday morning lineup on TBS is a shoujo story about an elementary school girl who finds three eggs in her bed, each containing a small character that can grant her a personality (and costume) transformation. The manga turned out to be a better read than I thought it’d be, but I just don’t think this is the kind of series I’d regularly follow.
	Mobile Suit Gundam 00 http://www.gundam00.net/ Premieres October 6th, 2007 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Saturdays at 9:30 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Saturdays at 20:30 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, syoboi The newest title in the Gundam franchise is about a group that wants to stop war on Earth, and they have (in a bit of an ironic twist) the power of four Gundams piloted by Gundam Meisters. It feels like it’s been way too long since I’ve watched a Gundam series, and since this isn’t taking place in the Cosmic Era, there’s no reason for me not to be excited about it. The promos have thus far shown lots of action, and I look forward to seeing how popular director Mizushima Seiji influences the show. It should be also noted that although this series totals a year’s worth of episodes, half of it is going to be shown in the next two seasons, and the other half will be reserved for a later date. Popular speculation right now is that CODE GEASS will replace Gundam 00 in the spring of 2008 before Gundam 00 comes back in the fall.
	ef - a tale of memories http://www.ef-memo.com/ Premieres October 6th, 2007 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Saturdays at 25:35 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Saturdays at 12:35 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, syoboi ef is a story that starts with a guy who draws shoujo manga who by chance meets a girl on Christmas night as he’s going to his childhood friend’s party. I’m cautiously optimistic about this series because the prologue has some wonderful animation (by SHAFT, though at some points I could have been fooled into thinking it was Kyoto Animation), and I love the music, but preview DVDs aren’t the best judges of what the actual series will be like. It’s 12 episodes long - which I think is a good thing for these kinds of series - and the game this is based on apparently had set pairings, so I don’t think ef will be anything like how people view traditional harem series to be.
	Kimikiss pure rouge http://www.kimikiss-pure-rouge.jp/ Premieres October 6th, 2007 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Saturdays at 26:55 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Saturdays at 13:55 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, syoboi As the title implies, Kimikiss is about the protagonist trying to get a kiss from one of the six main girls. The primary reason I’m interested in this show is because it’s being directed by Kasai Kenichi who is probably best known for directing Honey and Clover and Nodame Cantabile. However, as far as I’m aware, he’s never directed a series based on a game like this, and this isn’t airing in the Noitamina programming block like those two series did, so I’m very curious how Kimikiss will turn out.
	Maple Story http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/anime/maplestory/ Premieres October 7th, 2007 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Sundays at 08:30 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Sundays at 19:30 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, syoboi Based on the popular Korean MMORPG, the plot of the anime adaptation revolves around a boy on a journey to restore a world tree. This is taking Gurren Lagann’s timeslot, but I’m pretty sure it’ll be nowhere near as good, even if it does have an OP by YounhaRagnarok The Animation, and well, that wasn’t the best of shows, so I don’t have high hopes for this either.
	Rental Magica http://www.kadokawa.co.jp/sneaker/magica/ Premieres October 7th, 2007 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Sundays at 24:00 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Sundays at 11:00 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, syoboi Replacing Lucky Star in many channels’ lineups is a show based on a light novel about a boy who succeeds his father as the president of a magician employment agency. Though he himself possesses no magical power, he apparently has a legendary demon eye that allows him to see everything. The image at left reminds me a lot of a similar shot of Allen from D.Gray-man, but since Fukuyama Jun is voicing him, I can’t help but make the bigger connection to Lelouch and his GEASS eye.
	Prism Ark http://www.p-ark.tv/ Premieres October 7th, 2007 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Sundays at 24:30 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Sundays at 11:30 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, syoboi Prism Ark centers on a guy and girl who are training to be knights at a school during a time when war is looming. The predominately female cast - likely due in no small part to the fact that this was developed as an eroge - wield various weapons and magics, and the promo material seems to emphasize the action (including some large mechanical looking weapons called Angels) as well as the romantic relationship between the two main characters. Those trailers didn’t seem too bad, so I may give this a look when it airs.
	Minami-ke http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/minami-ke/1/index.html Premieres October 7th, 2007 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Sundays at 25:30 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Sundays at 12:30 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, syoboi This is a comedy that follows three sisters in high school, middle school, and elementary school who have very different personalities. I’ve read a few chapters of the manga and found it pretty funny, but I worry a little because the director and animation studio working on this - Oota Masahiko and Doumu, respectively - also did Yoake Mae yori Ruri Iro na -Crescent Love- together. The interesting thing is that Minami-ke is scheduled to run for two seasons, and the second season (coming January of next year) is being worked on by the Hosoda Naoto and asread, the combination behind SHUFFLE!. Maybe if this season doesn’t work out, the one in the winter will be better.
	Jyuushin Enbu -HERO TALES- http://www.jyushin.jp/ Premieres October 7th, 2007 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Sundays at 26:00 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Sundays at 13:00 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, syoboi Jyuushin Enbu is originally a manga from the author of Fullmetal Alchemist, Arakawa Hiromu, that takes place in ancient China and has some elements of Chinese folklore. It features a headstrong boy with special powers who embarks on a journey with his sister and his friend to recover a sword that was given to him after his coming of age ceremony but was subsequently stolen. The manga’s still relatively new, so the anime will probably take a different route than the manga like FMA did, but it’s hard to say whether this’ll end up being a good thing or not since it seemed to work out pretty well in that case.
	Genshiken 2 http://www.genshiken.info/ Premieres October 9th, 2007 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Tuesdays at 25:30 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Tuesdays at 12:30 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, syoboi Genshiken 2 continues the story left off from the OVAs from earlier this year, which got into volume 6 of the manga. That leaves plenty of material to work with for these 12 episodes, and I imagine Ogiue will be getting a large part of the focus if they go all the way to the end. I probably won’t blog this since I read through the manga not all that long ago, and the anime thus far has been a pretty faithful adaptation (meaning that there’s a good chance I’d get bored of it), but I might watch it casually just to see how some of the important story points turn out.
	Kodomo no Jikan http://www.kojika-anime.com/ Premieres October 10th, 2007 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Wednesdays at 26:00 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Wednesdays at 13:00 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, syoboi Kodomo no Jikan is a controversial series about the lives of three elementary school girls, one of whom has a crush on their male teacher. Critics say that the series is just an outlet for loliconwriteup of the OVA earlier this month, the anime adaptation could go either way. He’s also expressed an interest in continuing blogging this, so I’ll be leaving this series up to him.
	Moyashimon http://www.kamosuzo.tv/top.html Premieres October 11th, 2007 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Thursdays at 24:45 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Thursdays at 11:45 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, syoboi This series has one of the more interesting concepts of the season, with a first-year college student who is able to see and talk to germs that, as you can see from the image, are portrayed in a fairly cute way. This figures greatly into his life because he’s enrolled in the agriculture department, so things like fermented food and alcohol production come into play. It looks like it could be a fun and maybe even educational series, but with CLANNAD and Shana II on Thursday, odds are low that I’d pick this up.
	Shion no Ou http://www.shion-oh.com/ Premieres October 13th, 2007 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Saturdays late night Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Saturday afternoons Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, syoboi For those of you familiar with Hikaru no Go, Shion no Ou has some similar qualities, except with the game of shougi instead of go. However, there’s also a deep sense of mystery because the lead girl’s parents are murdered when she’s young. She gets adopted by the professional shougi player next door, and although she turns mute after the incident, she herself is becoming a pro at the beginning of the manga with part of her motivation coming from the fact that she thinks a shougi player killed her parents. The anime adaptation is set to be 12 episodes long, and while the character designs look a bit off to me, I look forward to hearing Kawasumi Ayako as Shion (despite being mute, she does have a few lines here and there). Note: As of this writing, Shion no Ou still doesn’t have an airtime to go with its premiere date.
	Shinreigari/Ghost Hound http://www.ghosthound.tv/ Premieres October 18th, 2007 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Thursdays at 23:30 Airtime in U.S. (EDT, GMT-4): Thursdays at 10:30 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, syoboi Being billed as a Production I.G’s 20th anniversary project in collaboration with Shirow Masamune, Ghost Hound has three boys who all experienced trauma in their childhood and have learned a sort of soul escape that lets their spirits enter what’s called the Unseen World. The character designs might look very familiar because they’re done by Oka Mariko of Jigoku Shoujo fame, but more importantly, several members of the staff from Serial Experiments Lain are working on this including the director and writer. Like Moyashimon though, I probably won’t be watching this because of the two other big Thursday shows.