Allison and Lillia

Original Title: 「アリソン」 - Allison, 「リリアとトレイズ」 - Lillia and Treize
Air Date: 3rd of April 2008 (Thursday, 23:32)
Station: NHK Animation Studio: Madhouse x Tezuka productions
Opening Theme: 「溜め息の橋」 - Tameiki no Hashi by Kuricorder Quartet and Shione Yukawa
Casts: Mizuki Nana (Allison), Kumai Motoko (Will), Yamadera Kouichi (Benedict), Noto Mamiko (Fiona), ?? (Lillia), ?? (Treize)
[Teaser Trailer] [Full Trailer]


Story: In a world where only one giant continent exists, there is a long and unproductive war between two federations. The story begins when an orphaned girl, Allison and an orphaned boy, Will, are going on an adventure to look for a treasure which supposedly can end the war. Allison and Will eventually have a daughter called Lillia, who partnered up with a boy called Treize.
Interest: Medium. This anime is actually based on two consecutive light novels from the creator of Kino's Journey. The novels are: Allison (4 volumes) and Lillia and Treize (6 volumes). As a result, the first half of the anime will cover Allison's story while the 2nd half will cover Lillia and Treize's adventure. I'm a bit amused by this because it feels like one of those tv movie kind of series where the son/daughter of the characters from the first book end up going on adventure in the second book. However, since Madhouse and Tezuka productions are in charge of the series, I can only assume that the story must be quite interesting. And check out those VA talent pool: Mizuki Nana!! Yamadera Kouichi!! Noto Mamiko!!. So I'll be on the lookout for this one.

Macross Frontier

Original Title: 「マクロス F」- Macross F
Air Date: 3rd of April 2008 (Thursday, 25:25)
Station: MBS Animation Studio: Satelight
Opening Theme: Triangular by Sakamoto Maaya
Ending Theme: 「愛・おぼえていますか」- Ai, Oboete imasuka? by May'n
Casts: Nakamura Yuuichi (Saotome Alto), Nakajima Megumi (Ranka Lee), Endo Aya (Sheryl Nome), Kamiya Hiroshi (Michael Brown)
[Full Trailer] [TV Spot]


Story: Music idol Sheryl Nome arrives at the Macross Frontier fleet for a concert performance. Meanwhile, a girl called Ranka Lee aspires to be like Sheryl. Ranka, however, is just an ordinary female high school student who works part-time at a Chinese restaurant. Ranka's only relative is her brother, Ozma, whom she's been apart with for a year. Ozma is actually an elite pilot who commands the Valkyrie unit in S.M.S. special military force but he hides the fact that he has such dangerous job from his sister. While in a rush to see Sheryl in the concert hall, Ranka meets Saotome Alto, a high school student who's taking a pilot training course. Meanwhile, "Frontier" encounters an extraterrestrial enemy which manages to destroy one military authority after another. Because of this, New U.N Space (N.U.N.S) deploys VF-25 to remedy the situation.
Interest: Medium. Personally, I'm not a big fan of space opera like Gundam, Macross, etc. But we'll see. As a side note, this series was created to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the original Super Dimension Fortress Macross TV series. This is also a direct sequel to Macross 7. The first episode was already aired on December 23th last year.

xxxHOLiC: Kei

Original Title: 「×××HOLiC・継」 - xxxHOLiC: Kei
Air Date: 3rd of April 2008 (Thursday, 25:25)
Station: TBS Animation Studio: Production I.G
Opening Theme:NOBODY KNOWS by Suga Shikao
Ending Theme: Honey Honey」 by SEAMO feat. AYUSE KOZUE
Casts: Ohara Sayaka (Ichihara Yuuko), Fukuyama Jun (Watanuki Kimihiro), Nakai Kazuya (Doumeki Shizuka), Mochizuki Hisayo (Moro), Kojima Kazuko (Maru), Kikuchi Mika (Mokona)


Story: Okay, who doesn't know the story by now? Oh well, xxxHOLiC is a story about a witch called Yuuko and her unwilling 'assistant', Watanuki. As a witch, Yuuko occasionally gives help to someone who asks for one, provided that the person are willing to pay the price for it. xxxHOLiC often crossover with CLAMP's other series, Tsubasa Chronicle. As a side note, one normally doesn't pronounce the xxx in xxxHOLiC because the title is actually called HOLiC, as in "Alcoholic", "Internet-holic", or "Sex-a-holic". Don't look at me like that. Some people are addicted to that last item.
Interest: Low. After the drab and crappy-looking 1st season, I can't say I'm enthused about this one. Sure, the animation quality slightly improves if you watch the Widescreen version but that still doesn't fix the color and character design problem.

Kure-nai

Original Title: 「紅」 - Kure-nai
Air Date: 3rd of April 2008 (Thursday, 26:00)
Station: Chiba TV Animation Studio: Brain Base
Opening Theme: Love Jump by Kuribayashi Minami
Ending Theme: Crossing Days by Shintani Ryouko
Casts: Sawashiro Miyuki (Kurenai Shinkurou), Yuuki Aoi (Kuhouin Murasaki)


Story: Kurenai Shinkurou is a 16 year old guy who works as a dispute mediator. One day, a young girl called Kuhouin Murasaki asks him to be her bodyguards. He later finds out that Murasaki is the daughter of a wealthy family.
Interest: Medium/Low. This sounds like Aishiteru, baby, which is not exactly the kind of series that I go for. On the other hand, the illustration for the light novel looks beautiful and that seems to be translated into the anime rather well. Having said that, I've never heard of Brain Base animation studio before so I have no idea what to expect from them in terms of quality.

The Tower of Druaga: Aegis of Uruk

Original Title: 「ドルアーガの塔」 - Doruaaga no tou
Air Date: 4th of April 2008 (Friday, 25:15)
Station: TV Kanagawa Animation Studio: GONZO
Opening Theme: SWINGING by Muramasa
Ending Theme: 「塔頂者たち」- Touchousha-tachi by KENN
Casts: KENN (Gill), Orikasa Fumiko (Kaaya), Hayamizu Risa (Amei), Horie Yui (Fatina), Sakurai Takahiro (Niva)
[Teaser Trailer]


Story: In summer, once every 5 years, the demons inside the Tower (of Druaga) lose their powers due to the power of God called "Anu". By using a demon-like disguise, the ruler of Uruk Kingdom, King Gilgamesh, infiltrates the tower to find out the secret behind it. 80 years later, Uruk army manage to keep the demon away from Metz Kier, a fortress city and safe heaven which they built on the first floor of Druaga. The story begins when a warrior called Gil and his companions leave on a quest to obtain a powerful item called Blue Crystal Rod, from the highest floor of Druaga. They quickly face competitions from others, including the Uruk Kingdom, who want to obtain the item for their own objective.
Interest: Medium. If the story sounds like a typical dungeon crawler, that's because the series is based on a game of the same name that was once released for NES and other classic consoles. The storyline sounds interesting but I wonder if it's enough to churn out 13 episodes. Animation-wise, I'm pretty impressed by the trailer but as usual, since this will be animated by GONZO, I have the right to be wary. I find it interesting, however, that the ED theme singer, KENN will voice the lead character, Gill. Plus, the character design looks awesome.

Amatsuki

Original Title: 「あまつき」 - Amatsuki
Air Date: 4th of April 2008 (Friday, 26:30)
Station: KBS Kyoto Animation Studio: Studio DEEN
Opening Theme:「Casting Dice」 by Kanno Yuuki
Ending Theme: 「名まえのない道」 - Namae no Nai Michi by Kaori Hikita
Casts: Fukuyama Jun (Rikugou Tokidoki), Kouji Yusa (Shinonome Kon)
[Teaser Trailer]


Story: In order to improve his grade, a first-year high school student called Rikugou Tokidoki visits a next-generation museum. This museum is one of its kind because it uses leading-edge technology to create a theme park simulation of Bakumatsu (the end of Edo period). While exploring the theme park, he's attacked by an Ayakashi and a Nue, sending him to "Amatsuki", a world which looks similar to the end of Edo period but one where both humans and Ayakashi exist. In this world, he gets to meet a girl called Kuchiha and another student who got stranded in this world 2 years ago, Shinonome Kon.
Interest: Medium. Sounds like Fushigi Yuugi with male character as the lead. I'm kind of ambivalent about this because the manga illustration looks fantastic. However, the anime's character design looks plain. At the end of the day, it depends on how the story goes. If it's like Ayakashi Ayashi, then I'd rather sleep or rather, it'd probably make me sleep. If it's like Fushigi Yuugi then it could be fun. Just as long as the two lead characters don't start calling each other's name everytime the other goes missing ("Miaka!!", "Tamahome!!!").

Itazura na Kiss

Original Title: 「イタズラなKiss」 - Itazura na Kiss
Air Date: 4th of April 2008 (Friday, 26:25)
Station: TBS Animation Studio: TMS Entertainment
Opening Theme: 「キミ、メグル、ボク」- Kimi, Meguru, Boku by Hata Motohiro
Ending Theme: 「片思いファイター」- Kata-omoi fighter by GO!GO!7188
Casts: Mizuki Nana (Aihara Kotoko), Hirakawa Daisuke(Irie Naoki)


Story: When her newly constructed house collapsed, Aihara Kotoko and her father decide to live with her father's best friend. Much to Kotoko's delight, her father's best friend is the father of Irie Naoki, a boy that she has a crush on but one who rejected her love letter not too long ago. Now that she lives under one roof with him, however, she can shamelessly make an advance on the guy. Unfortunately, the guy doesn't seem to be interested in girls.
Interest: Medium/High. Sounds kind of amusing. It's like that other series that was aired a few years ago, except this time I don't have to cringe since it doesn't feature loli character. My only reservation is the anime character design which looks okay sometimes but looks bad in others. Interesting but sad trivia: the manga from which this series is based on was never completed because the artist died after a house accident.

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2

Original Title: 「コードギアス 反逆のルルーシュ」
Air Date: 6th of April 2008 (Sunday, 17:00)
Station: MBS Animation Studio: Sunrise
Opening Theme: 「O2」by ORANGE RANGE
Ending Theme:「シアワセネイロ」-Shiawase Neiro (ORANGE RANGE)
Casts: Fukuyama Jun (Lelouch), Sakurai Takahiro (Kururugi Suzaku), Yukana (C.C), Koshimizu Ami (Karen Stadtfeld)
[Full Trailer 1] [Full Trailer 2] [30s TV Spot]


Story: Lelouch is a megalomaniac boy who's been kicked out of his rightful throne by his own crazy father. Because of this, he swears that he'll bring down the Britannia monarchy. Suzaku, on the other hand, is a stuck-up, hypocritical ass who thinks his way is the right way. He's a sell-out too because even though he's Japanese, he works for Britannia to oppress his own people. Together, they have this shounen-ai vibe with each other but they pretend that they like girls anyway. As a result, there are these bevy of tramps who are vying for their affections (except for that one crazy lesbian girl). And oh, Lelouch is also the leader of this rebellion group called "The Black Knight" and he's always accompanied by this mysterious, God-knows-how-old, green-hair nymph called C.C. Thanks to this wicked witch, he has this power called Geass. No, it's not what you think. It's basically the ability to hypnotize someone to do your bidding.
C.C is hot for Lelouch too ........that is, of course, when she's not too busy stuffing her mouth with Pizza Hut. Last season ended with Suzaku's hanger-on/girlfriend, Princess Euphemia, died after she accidentally got hypnotized by Lelouch and going on Japanese killing spree. Lelouch felt sorry for her and gave her a pity kill. Suzaku eventually found out about this and became emo. Actually, most characters turned emo towards the end. You should see some of the facial expressions. It's precioussss. So the question is: will Lelouch and Suzaku start killing each other now or will they go yaoi instead?
Interest: Are you kidding me? It's worth sticking around just for the LOLs. Not everything has to be oscar-calibre, you know. And yes, to be honest, my actual idea of what the series would be was completely demolished halfway through the first season. It doesn't help that CLAMP's design for this series is a bit underwhelming, IMO. However, somehow I managed to find enjoyment from the series' hilariously trashy plots. It's like watching soap opera but with mecha/war background. So even though I am not sympathetic to the characters, it doesn't mean I can't have fun laughing at the intentional/unintentionally silly plots. Plus, the OP/ED theme usually are pretty good with famous groups providing excellent soundtrack. This year, the honour goes to ORANGE RANGE. The only way this second season can suck if it puts more focus on politic and less on trashy catfights.

Nabari no Ou

Original Title: 「隠の王」- Nabari no Ou
Air Date: 6th of April 2008 (Sunday, 24:00)
Station: TV Tokyo Animation Studio: J.C Staff
Opening Theme: Crawl by VELTPUNCH
Ending Theme: Hikari by ELISA
Casts: Kugimiya Rie (Rokujou Miharu), Fujimura Ayumi (Fujimura Raimei), Namikawa Daisuke (Kumohira Durandal Tobari)
[Teaser Trailer]


Story: A boy called Rokujou Miharu is being hunted by ninja clans because he apparently possesses a hidden technique hidden within him.
Interest: Low/Medium. The premise sounds generic and typically shounen. However, it is being produced by J.C Staff and just by looking at the trailer, the quality shows. Plus, from the snippets of soundtrack in the trailer, there seems to be a genuine effort to not just dump a bunch of Japanese rap song and call it a soundtrack.

S.A - Special A-Class

Original Title: 「Ｓ・Ａ～スペシャル・エー」- S.A - Special A
Air Date: 6th of April 2008 (Sunday, 25:30)
Station: Chiba TV Animation Studio: GONZO X AIC
Opening Theme: Special Days by Goto Yuuko
Ending Theme: 「陽だまりのゲート」 - Hidamari no Gate by Fukuyama Jun, Shimono Hiro, Yonaga Tsubasa, & Horie Kazuma
Casts: Goto Yuuko (Hanazono Hikari), Fukuyama Jun (Takishima Kei), Takagaki Ayahi (Yamamoto Megumi), Shimono Hiro (Karino Tadashi), Nabatame Hitomi (Toudou Akira), Horie Kazuma (Tsuji Ryuu)


Story: Special A is the story of Hanazono Hikari, a girl who goes to an ultra-elite, rich, private school Hakusenkan Academy. In this school, the class are divided by using alphabet A to F. Only students with the best grades are placed in the top class (A). Within the A class itself, there are those from first year to third year, that are known as the Special A, the elites amongst the elites. Those who are respected by other students. The Special A's class is located in separate annex known as "The Paradise". Here, the students get to wear different uniform and have a choice whether to attend class or not. Hikari is a member of this group but she is not satisfied until she can reach her goal: to defeat her childhood friend, Kei, in academic achievements. When she was six, she was defeated by Kei in a wrestling match when they were six. Ever since then, Hikari always competes with Kei in academic achievement, not realising that Kei is actually in love with her.
Interest: High/Medium. This will really depend on the animation. I hope GONZO doesn't mess this one up because the premise sounds interesting. It's like Ouran High School Host Club but with competition between the two lead characters. I have to admit that this wasn't on my radar until I saw some screenshots and read the story description. I am personally intrigued by the level of classes that the students are placed. It must really suck to be someone who's in the lowest class but it must be awesome to be one of those elite students.

Soul Eater

Original Title: 「ソウルイーター」- Soul Eater
Air Date: 7th of April 2008 (Monday, 18:00)
Station: TV Tokyo Network Animation Studio: BO