There are a lot of new shows this season, so we’re here to help make things easier for you. Our first batch of fall season impressions includes Akane Iro ni Somaru Saka, Casshern Sins, Kemeko Deluxe, Shikabane Hime Aka, Toradora and To Aru Majutsu no Index. Take it easy! Kick back with a beer (or strawberry milk if you’re not old enough to drink) and read on.

Akane Iro ni Somaru Saka:

How did Nanoha Takamachi sneak into this show?

Eat your heart out, Ranka Lee. There’s a new moe idol in town.

The yaoi fangirls are gonna have a field day with this…

I-I’m not a tsundere. Honest!

With friends like these, who needs enemies?

Nanoha: Do you want to be my friend? *smile*

That’s one way to bust a nut.

A generic but fun show based on an H-game, and it’s obvious since most of the cast is female. Junichi Nagase saves a wealthy girl, Yuuhi Katagiri, from being bullied by some goons. She shows up at his school the next day as a transfer student. For some reason or another he kisses her in class and Yuuhi later moves into his house announcing she is now his fiancee. Akane Iro has a notable all-star voice cast including the likes of Rie Kugimiya, Rie Tanaka, Akira Ishida, Aya Hirano and Ryou Hirohashi. The girls in this show also have some really bizarre hair.

Looks to be decent if you like VN adaptations and/or harem anime. Akane Iro has worked a way onto my watchlist.

Casshern Sins:

That’s a sweet costume.

Casshern - Voiced by the magnificent Tohru Furuya.

Yamcha is GAR for Tohru Furuya.

The show’s retro look has a certain charm to it.

What’s old is new again. A modern retelling of Robot Hunter Casshern that originally aired in 1973. The styling and storytelling of this show is a harkening to old-school robot sentai anime (without the sentai) as it retains the style of the original show. Madhouse delivers with very unique styling, gorgeous animation and exciting action sequences to make an interesting show. It’s cool to see old-school designs implemented into a modern anime ala Cyborg 009. Casshern is also voiced by the legendary Tohru Furuya which is win in itself. Onto the story, it seems that Casshern is a cyborg in a post-apocalyptic world and everyone wants to kill him for some reason or other. The premise is interesting, but I’ll have to put this on my backlog since I already have enough on my plate this season.

Definitely worth putting on your watchlist if you have the time.

Kemeko Deluxe:

*nosebleed*

I think there’s a kink in the evolutionary line.

Someone got lucky.

Too close for comfort.

I’m moe and I have a gun. Don’t move!

A love comedy so bizarre I don’t know what to say about it. A boy and a girl make a promise to get married ten years later, girl leaves and comes back ten years later to marry him. Kemeko Deluxe certainly isn’t short on fanservice and weirdness. I guess the main selling point is the moe girls, particularly Kemeko who is voiced by the lovely Chiwa Saito. I’ll probably watch a couple more episodes and then drop it.

Insanely weird. Try if you must have a moe fix or thrive on non-sensical comedy.

Shikabane Hime Aka:

You are already dead.

Don’t talk with your mouth full.

One time I caught a fish thiiiiiiiiiis big.

DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE! HA HA!

Based on a manga, Makina is an undead Shikabane Hime (Corpse Princess) that exterminates rogue Shikabane. I couldn’t truly get a gauge on this show after one episode, but it’s got plenty of Gainax’s trademark stylish action and slapstick humor. The atmosphere is pretty dark and Shikabane plays itself off as a supernatural action show. Overall it doesn’t look spectacular but should be a solid show from Gainax. I’ll watch a few more episodes to see where this goes.

Solid but probably won’t be too special.

Toradora!:

All together now… “URUSAI!”

Generic light novel adaptation that follows the ‘guy meets girl’ formula. In this case Ryuji is a good hearted guy that has no luck with women until he meets the fearsome Taiga Aisaka, a tsundere loli with a very short fuse. I say Toradora is generic, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s bad as I found it to be enjoyable. Then again I’m a sucker for this type of show. Taiga is yet another typecast role for Rie Kugimiya, but I’ll go along for the ride.

Generic but still fun.

To Aru Majutsu no Index: (Summary by Meu)

Warning: This character may look more ominous than she actually is.

Talk about a solid first episode and colour me impressed, but I believe this show has some very strong potential. Coming from JC Staff, the Shana comparison is inevitable (Though I’ve watched little of the latter), but there’s a lot going for this one. Some wierd satirical humor, the cynical hero and heroine, and the sparky psycho who’s out for our protagonist’s blood… Or not. Regardless, the cast is quite an intriguing bunch. The production quality is also top-notch, with the details going into the backgrounds being some of the more intricate I’ve seen.

First episode aired last week. A solid pilot makes this a highly-recommended watch.

Next Batch of Impressions: Chaos Head, Tytania, Hyakko, Yozakura Quartet, Kurozuka and a few more shows yet to be decided.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 9th, 2008 at 3:54 pm and is filed under Anime, Articles, First Impressions.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.