In a little under a month, the Fall Anime Season will kick off and a whole slew of new and interesting shows will start up.

The fall season is, in my opinion, generally the strongest season of the year. Four years ago, during the fall of 2003, a number of excellent new shows aired, most notably Fullmetal Alchemist, Read or Die TV, and Gunslinger Girl.

Fall ‘04 saw the beginning of many popular (infamously so, in my book) series, including Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Rozen Maiden, and Bleach, all of which have proven to be tenacious as cockroaches, continuing to air all the way up to the present.

Fall of ‘05 brought us such classics as Akagi, Aria the Animation, Shakugan no Shana, and of course Mushishi, all four of which still reside on my Top Ten list.

Fall 2006, while a comparatively weak year, nevertheless had a few diamonds in the rough - Code Geass, D. Gray-man, OtoBoku, and the Kanon remake, among others.

This fall also shows excellent potential for new anime, with a number of strong sequels premiering, as well as several intriguing new series. More after the jump…

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DO WANT

Shows that we’ll definitely be watching, and quite possibly blogging.

Shakugan no Shana II
“Loli Flame Haze dominates all life and melon pan.”

Trailer

This is without a doubt the series I’m looking forward to the most. I absolutely loved the original, and even got hooked enough to read a few of the light novels and play through the Shana DS game. I still list this series in my Top Ten all time favorites.

There’s just so many things to love about it. Shana herself is obviously the highlight of the show, but the rest of the cast includes a number of unique and interesting characters, and all of the voice acting is top notch (assuming we can all pretend that the atrocious English dub just never happened).

The melon pan, the cat fights between Shana and Kazumi, the wonderfully questionable physics of the fuzetsu, the diversity of the various Flame Haze, and of course the awesomeness of Yuuji’s mom - any one alone would be reason enough to watch the show. However, much like Bruticus, when combined it becomes much more than the sum of its parts, and certainly more than meets the eye.

Basically, all that to say, when this show airs I’ll be all over it like Shana-tan on melon pan.

Though I haven’t read any of the light novels or manga, I was thoroughly impressed and entertained with the first season of the anime. Solid story, compelling character structure, and excellent fuzetsu combat sequences made this show one of my favorites of last year. I’m definitely looking forward to round two.

Gambler Kaiji
“Man takes on a friend’s debt and becomes a professional gambler.”

I read some of the manga that this anime is based on, and it’s definitely a story with a lot of entertainment potential.

Akagi was awesome, of course, and I absolutely love Fukumoto Nobuyuki’s art style, so I’ll definitely be following this one.

It’s a definite must, just for the nosestab factor, if nothing else.

Now if we can just convince The Triad to sub this instead of Kodomo no Jikan…

Akagi currently holds a place in my top ten favorite anime; I was so completely engrossed with the dark gambling underworld and the “genius that descended into the darkness” that I’m willing to watch anything Nobuyuki touches. Hard nosed (pun intended) gambler becomes entrenched in a world of chance and skill - oh yes, I will definitely be watching this one.

CLANNAD
“Key bishoujo game turned anime.”

Trailer

I couldn’t stand Air; it bored me to tears. And yes, I watched it all the way through.

Kanon was fun to watch once, but I probably wouldn’t go back and watch it again.

Hopefully CLANNAD, the third installment of the Key/KyoAni partnership, will continue the bullish trend and prove itself to be an entertaining series with some real value. Based on the trailers I’ve seen, it certainly shows strong potential. Worst case scenario, it’ll prove to be a delicious trainwreck of a show, which is still good enough reason to watch it in my book, so I’ll be keeping up with it either way.

After watching Haruhi and Lucky Star I’m convinced that KyoAni indeed is capable of incredible work; as such, I’ll be giving this series a glance. I don’t have any preconceived notions about the series because of the fact that I’m completely glib as to the story or the characters involved. Hopefully, the show will turn out well, and if not, well…Haruhi’s due for next year.

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MAYBE WANT

Shows that we’ll check out to see if they’re any good.

GHOST HOUND
“Shirow Masamune mindfuck series.”

Trailer 1

Trailer 2

Now, in all fairness I haven’t seen the trailer or gotten any real notion of the story, but it’s SHIROW MASAMUNE. Is it really possible to go wrong? Ghost in the Shell is one of my all time favorite anime series. Masamune’s stuff has been nothing less than stunningly brilliant as far as I’m concerned. I’m utterly enthralled at this point; hopefully the series will deliver.

I watched the trailers for this and wasn’t too impressed, but it’s by Shirow Masamune and Production I.G., and with that pedigree it would be just irresponsible of us to not check it out.

Moyashimon
“Guys talks to chibi bacteria and brews alcohol.”

A student in Tokyo Agricultural University has the unique ability to see bacteria with the naked eye. He interacts with them through his many argicultural endeavors, which apparently includes lots of alcohol brewing.

That description alone would be enough to get me to watch any series. On top of that, however, people who have read the manga are recommending this series for Mushishi fans, and with an endorsement like that I can’t not check it out.

Sounds like it could be a cross between Mushishi and Bartender, and that certainly doesn’t sound like a bad thing. Also, that bacteria on the left somehow makes me think of the principal from Hidamari Sketch.

It deals with the brewing of sake, which is an admittedly interesting concept for an anime. Kind of like the Dr. Doolittle of bacteria. The personification of animals has been done to death, but personification of bacteria is another ballgame entirely. That, combined with the that fact that it seems to be getting the Mushishi vote, and this definitely seems worth a shot.

Gundam 00
“Yet more Gundam…”

Seriously, what else is there to say about it?

I’m not really a Gundam fan, nor a fan of giant robot shows, so I don’t really have much desire to watch the latest installment of the series.

Unlike my esteemed colleague; I’m personally a fan of the Gundam series. The original Mobile Suit Gundam ranks among my top 10 favorite anime. It was just so groundbreaking and original for its time. Yes, I feel that Gundam Seed and Seed Destiny were apocryphal and should not even share the same title as the original masterpiece.

However, in the hopes that this could possibly be another Gundam Wing, or Gundam: 08^th MS Team, I’ll at least check the series out. Cross your fingers and hope for the best Gundam fans.

OK, one of the characters is named “Lockon Stratos”, and another is “Allelujah Haptism”.

HAPTISM.

And they’re both totally gay looking. Is it really possible to take this show seriously?

Minami-ke
“Three girls, slice-of-life, you know the drill.”

Trailer 1

Trailer 2

Slice-of-life…mmm, my favorite. I also really like the character designs for this show.

Not many details available yet, but what I have seen seems most intriguing.

Mokke
“Two sisters - one who can see monsters, another who attracts them.”

Trailer

More slice-of-life, with a touch of supernatural drama, and fabulous looking art. Mmm, my favorite.

Sketchbook ~full colors~
“Art school, happy days.”

Trailer

Three new slice-of-life series in one season?! Much ado about nothing, and I love it!

This looks like it could be the next Hidamari Sketch. We can only hope, anyway. Mmm, definitely my favorite.

Rental Magica
“Magicians for hire.”

I know next to nothing about the show, but I’m sold just based on the promo art and the name.

We’ve got a Gin clone on the left, and a girl who looks a little like Tsuruya on the right, and then this kid with the eye-patch right in front, whose name is Astral. Apparently he inherited some kind of rental magician business from his father, and he has some sort of awesome Geass-style gigan under his eyepatch.

BAMBOO BLADE
“All-girl kendo club.”

A high school teacher who’s in bad financial shape bets that he can train up an all girl kendo team that’s capable of defeating his colleague’s kendo club.

Although not a kendoka, I am a practitioner of naginata, so while I’m generally not a fan of sports anime, I’ll certainly give this one a whirl. Took a look at the manga and it seemed kind of meh, but hopefully the anime will be better.

Shion no Ou
“Shogi action + murder mystery + reverse trap.”

Yasuoka Shion lost her parents, and her voice, when she was young…in a murder.

She was found amidst a blood-soaked room, and the only hint for the suspect was a Shougi board and one piece: the King. Now, Shion steps into the world of female professional Shougi players. As her popularity and fame slowly rises, so do the questions about her past, particularly the murder case that was never solved.

Source: mangaupdates.com

As a semi-serious go player, I appreciated Hikaru no Go, although I wished it had been more about the game of go and less about coming-of-age drama. I also enjoy playing mahjong socially, having been introduced to the intricacies of the game by Akagi. Although I know the rules of shogi, and have some limited experience with the game, I could count on my two hands the number of games I’ve played in my life.

Even though Shion no Ou seems like it’ll be more along the lines of another Hikaru no Go, I’ll probably watch it anyway. It could prove to be a good way to learn more about the game of shogi.

BLUE DROP
“Aliens come to Earth, potential yuri ensues.”

Trailer

The protagonist is a girl named Mari, the lone survivor from Kamikakushi Island, where all the inhabitants except her mysteriously disappeared. She transfers to a new school and there she meets another girl named Hagino, who is actually an alien conducting surveillance on Earth in preparation for an invastion, and who was involved in the disappearances at Kamikakushi. The two apparently form some kind of love/hate relationship, and as Hagino interacts with humans she starts to have second thoughts about invading Earth.

Somehow whenever I hear the name Hagino, I can’t help but think of the loli chick from Canvas 2. Reading the summaries for this show, I kept picturing her as an alien and chuckling at the mental image.

Da Capo II
“Magical sakura tree + lolicon + siscon action.”

Much like the musical term, seems to repeat itself over and over.

I watched the original Da Capo and enjoyed it, but D.C.S.S. kind of killed my enthusiasm for this series. I’ll reserve judgment on this one until I’ve had a chance to get a few episodes in.

ef -a tale of memories-
“Fred Gallagher-tastic.”

Trailer

Yet another visual novel anime adaptation. Looks like it has a strong musical theme to it. Ho-hum.

I’ll give it a try, nevertheless, in hopes that the soundtrack will be as awesome as the music in the trailer and on the official site.

Maple Story
“Level grinding on horny mushrooms.”

Wow, that sounds so wrong, somehow.

Anyway, this show might not be particularly interesting on its own, but it could be lots of fun to read people’s reactions to it. Hopefully some intrepid bloggers will take up the torch and produce funny write-ups mocking it. I’ll watch it for the lulz.

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DO NOT WANT

Shows that people are talking about, but that we have little to no interest in. If you’re a fan, convince us that it’s worth watching.

Dragonaut ~ The Resonance
“Typical shonen fighting action.”

There’s a lot of big name seiyuu behind this project, but it looks to me like nothing more than another fantasy themed shonenfest with big swords and bonds of friendship. I also, wasn’t particularly impressed with the art style or character designs.

Prism Ark
“Lolis with sharp objects!”

Trailer

Looks like typical magical girl fare, with swords, brightly colored costumes, and nekkid transformation sequences.

Kodomo no Jikan
“PEDOTASTIC~ HAPPIEST TOME IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD~ THE END~”

‘Nuff said. Cookie for you if you get the reference.

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Is that pedo-bear on the horizon? Why indeed it is.

Just…no. There is a line, and the creators of this monstrosity crossed it somewhere back in Paleolithic era.