As the year comes to close, so does the fall anime season. But the end of a season is also the beginning of a new one. The winter anime season begins with the new year, which is also the time of year it gets the coldest, so everyone should stay inside, drink hot coco, and watch some anime!
Like every winter season, there are many fall leftover anime that are maintaining their timeslots, so there are less new anime compared to other seasons. Even so, there are still a few that show promise. Although we won’t cover all the anime, you can see the full list over at anichart.
Death Parade
Death Parade is the anime series that originates from the Anime Mirai 2013 Death Billiards project. At the time, Little Witch Academia garnered the most attention of the productions from Anime Mirai 2013, but Death Billiards was still quite good in its own right. The premise involves 2 people who must battle each other in a game – a game which determines who lives or who dies. However, the twist (spoilers) was that they are both dead and the game is one to decide who goes to heaven and who goes to hell. During the game, the lives the people led are revealed. The most interesting part of the show was the end when the game master notes: he never said whether the winner of the game would go to heaven or hell…
While Death Parade’s premise may be an insult to those of us with Christian beliefs, it still presented interesting ideas of morality and what people “deserve.” The show itself notes that the game is hardly a fair one. Rather, the concept appeared to be more interested in exploring human nature. It’s certainly possible the series will be unable to maintain the same level of interest, but for now, it is definitely one to look forward to.
JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken: Stardust Crusaders 2
Goldy: This is it, the moment we’ve all been waiting for. And finally, we’ll get the explanation for why the ending theme of the first part of Stardust Crusaders is “Walk Like an Egyptian”.
Ever since the beginning of Part 3, when Cruchyroll started streaming it and the two parts before it, Jojo has been steamrolling into popularity and I suspect will continue to build excitement as the finale for Part 3 draws close.
It’s a given that fans of the series will be enjoying the second part of Stardust Crusaders this cold winter with the heated battles and fabulous character from Jojo, but it’s never too late to start watching!
Kantai Collection: KanColle
Well, after several delays, the KanColle anime is finally happening for real this time. We’ve gotten some more info, but nothing that really tells us what they actually plan to do. Still, it is probably going to be an anime solely to fanservice fans, so it could be very uninteresting to you. Of course, in Japan, KanColle has become the most popular phenomenon in otaku culture history, surpassing the Touhou giant at Comiket after a little over a year, so perhaps curiosity alone will get you to watch.
As said before, KanColle is a game centered around WWII Japanese ships, so anyone with knowledge in that area might find it amusing. The game and subsequent adaptations have all been quite accurate with the references to real history. On the other hand, maybe all the jokes will go over your head. All that said, I’m keeping my expectations low.
Yuri Kuma Arashi
A storm of lesbian bears, literally. That doesn’t make sense, nor does the description. But then again, nothing Ikuhara ever writes has ever been straightforward, which you would know if you’ve watched Utena or Penguindrum. I’m not sure whether to call his works hit or miss or just really strange and rife with symbolism. Either way, if you are familiar with his past works, that should be enough to decide whether you want to watch or not. If you aren’t familiar with his works, I don’t know how to concisely explain it other than expect very strange, abstract symbolism and potentially mentally crazy characters.
The title implies yuri, but with Ikuhara, it’s hard to say how much yuri there will actually be. The two mains are female, but maybe they are actually bears. So maybe they are lesbian bears. Or maybe the bears are as relevant as the penguins in Penguindrum. I don’t know. Ikuhara’s works are weird like that.
Did we not cover something you’re excited about? Feel free to tell us what and why in the comments!
Dibs on Death Parade, if I can stand the characters. Jojo is too gar for me. The other two look not nearly gar enough. 😀
We need a gar recommendation page.
Any such recommendation page that didn’t start with Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann wouldn’t be worth its pixels. 🙂
#ReplyingSixWeeksLater
Speaking of TTGL…guess what the subject of Zeroe4’s post is going to be this Thursday? It’s GARrrreat!
“nothing Ikuhara ever writes has ever been straightforward, which you would know if you’ve watched Utena or Penguindrum. ”
I don’t think that guy actually has a story that he wants to tell. I think he just throws out disconnected images and tells the audience, “Hey, if you don’t understand, it’s too deep for you.”
Haha, that’s not a bad theory, actually. I’m just hoping someone much smarter than me blogs this new series so that I can understand what I’m watching (at least somewhat), as a couple of really great sites did with Mawaru Penguindrum.
Penguindrum had some attempts at symbolism. E.g. the pair of pretty girls who appeared in adverts were not just background characters, they were psychological symbols.
Likewise, the behavior of the siblings’ penguins symbolized the personalities of the siblings.
There’s a whole school of “symbolist” art, but we can debate whether that school is worthwhile as art. It’s interesting to reflect that I can start with the axiom “symbolist art fails to deliver the essential requirements of art” and then develop that into a theory of what art is supposed to be in *my* school of thought – of course, no one in the larger society cares about *either* my school of thought *or* symbolist art!
Despite the mechanics of the game, that series looks interesting.
Maybe if the third part of JoJo is popular enough, the fourth part could be adapted soon.
That promo image doesn’t looks very fanservicey… maybe the anime wouldn’t be a fanservice one? that would be good.
What’s with that author and yuri?
Utena, Penguindrum and now this one.