Yeah, quite late, I know (I blame work and Winter Sonata), but finally done with my quick first impressions on some of the Fall 2009 anime. This the 2nd and final batch.
In this batch: (1) Kampfer; (2) Fairy Tail; (3) 11eyes; (4) Yumeiro Patissiere; (5) Aoi Bungaku; (6) Winter Sonata.
———————————————
(1) Kämpfer
More info – Official Site
Cast: Inoue Marina, Horie Yui, Mizuki Nana, Tamura Yukari, etc.
- The OP ["Unreal Paradise" by Minami Kuribayashi] is your typical upbeat song for these types of series.
- Kampfer are elite fighters who are all female.
- So the guy Natsuru has been chosen by the “moderators” to be a Kampfer, and as such he has to turn into a girl since you must be female to fight as a Kampfer.
- Lol, looks like his guy mode hasn’t broken into his puberty voice yet xD
- So Kampfers wear bracelets which serve as a warning device (it glows when you’re about to transform) and identification tag (same color, same team). The glow effect isn’t enough. It should have an alarm or vibrate mode and not just glow. What if he wasn’t paying attention? He’d transform for everyone to see?
- Pretty quick transformation compared with other magical girl transformations. Um, is Natsuru classified as a magical girl?
– Apparently, Natsuru’s Kampfer power is shooting fireballs from her/his hand.
- Lol, the girl Natsuru likes apparently likes girls too. Poor guy.
- Lolwut? So even if you’re already a girl, Kampfers transform into a different girl appearance and their personality also changes…
- Haha, “entrails animal series” of plushies? Black Seppuku Bunny? How morbid. xD
- So I heard they use German words for naming stuff in the Kampfer world.
- Quite a lot of fanservice poses everywhere and suggestive(?) language.
- Upbeat ED ["One Way Ryou Omoi" by Marina Inoue and Megumi Nakajima]
- Watch it? Uh, so after episode 1, it doesn’t seem to make any sense why they’re fighting against each other. They’ll probably explain next time, but I won’t be watching.
———————————————
(2) Fairy Tail
More info – Official Site
Cast: Hirano Aya, Kakihara Tetsuya, Kugimiya Rie, Ohara Sayaka, Nakamura Yuuichi, etc.
- The OP ["Snow fairy" by FUNKIST] sounds kinda nice.
- I like the “Fairy Tail” symbol. It’s pretty cool.
- I initially thought this series was gonna be quite interesting and bada$$. Um, it’s a little interesting and Natsu has some pretty cool moves, but nothing awesome. I find it a little on the boring side, but it can be funny and there’s some action once in a while. And Lucy is getting on my nerves a bit.
- The ED ["Kanpekigu~no ne" by Watarirouka Hoshiri Tai] is another song this season that sounds like the Minami-Ke OP/ED themes (Hey! Hey! Let’s go!). The characters’ chibi forms in the ED sequence are cute~
- Watch it? Hmm. The first episode isn’t much of an attention catcher. I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt and check out the next episode.
———————————————
(3) 11eyes
More info – Official Site
Also known as 11eyes -Tsumi to Batsu to Aganai no Shoujo-
Cast: Ono Daisuke, Goto Mai, Asakawa Yuu, Morikubo Showtaro, etc.
- The OP ["Arrival of Tears" by Ayane] has an unusual intro adding a touch of strangeness and the supernatural, which reminded me of Umineko no Naku Koro ni’s OP. Sounded OK to me.
- Kakeru is another eye-patched lead guy reminiscent of Rental Magica and a tad bit of Geass too, I guess. The series is on the occult/supernatural side of the spectrum.
- Kakeru has a pretty tragic background. Quite a few pantsu shots here and there.
- The story has a hodgepodge of elements… it’s cheerful, creepy, weird and confusing all at the same time. Kakeru is an OK character. Yuka is so-so. I like Kusakabe, the red-haired sword-wielding girl. She’s pretty cool.
- The world seems to have a creepy alternate reality which they dubbed “Red Night.” Not much was really explained in the first episode, so you’d end up staring at the monitor for a bit and scratching your head exclaiming “huh?”
- The ED ["Sequentia" by Asriel] sounded alright.
- Watch it? I like mystery, but it seems there’s too much mystery and supernatural stuff going on here. I’ll check out the next two episodes and decide from there.
———————————————
(4) Yumeiro Pâtissière
More info – Official Site
Cast: Yuki Aoi. Taketatsu Ayana, Okamoto Nobuhiko, Hamazoe Shinya, Yonaga Tsubasa, Kishio Daisuke, etc.
-Fun and upbeat OP, which sounded to me like Minami-Ke OP/EDs again. ^^;
- The lead girl Ichigo is a young girl with a good heart. She loves cakes and stuff, and she wants to be a pâtissière (female pastry chef). She enters St. Marie Academy through the recommendation of Anri(?)-sensei, and her baking adventures with Shugo Chara-like “sweets spirits” and teenage bishounens start from there
- Watch it? Sure, why not? It’s a light story and the cakes and pastries look so delish!
———————————————
(5) Aoi Bungaku Series
More info – Official Site
Also known as Blue Literature series
- I won’t go into the details of this one as it’s an anime series that will feature an adaptation of a number of Japanese literary pieces.
- ANN reports that the Aoi Bungaku television series is set to have 12 episodes and will be comprised of:
- Osamu Dazai’s “No Longer Human” (“Ningen Shikkaku,” four episodes)
- Ango Sakaguchi’s “In the Forest, Under Cherries in Full Bloom” (“Sakura no Mori no Mankai no Shita,” two episodes)
- Soseki Natsume’s “Kokoro” (two episodes)
- Ryūnosuke Akutagawa’s “Hell Screen” (“Jigoku Hen,” one episode)
- Osamu Dazai’s “Run, Melos!” (“Hashire Melos!,” two episodes).
- Ryūnosuke Akutagawa’s “The Spider’s Thread” (“Kumo no Ito,” one episode)
The anime studio MADHOUSE is producing the 12-episode series with character designs based on the novel cover illustrations by Death Note artist Takeshi Obata (“No Longer Human,” “Kokoro”), Bleach creator Tite Kubo (“Hell Screen”) and The Prince of Tennis creator Takeshi Konomi (“Run, Melos!”).
- Um, yeah, so reading through the plot of the stories, most of them are quite sad and tragic. 
- Watch it? It’s highly likely that I will. I’ll take my time, though. And I think it would be best to watch it in batches (per arc) rather than weekly to get a better grasp of each story.
———————————————
(6) Winter Sonata
More info – Official Site
Also known as Fuyu no Sonata
Cast: Bae Yong Joon, Choi Ji Woo, Park Yong Ha, Park Sol Mi, Jung Dong Hwan, Kim Hae Sook, Lee Eye Heun, etc.
- A QUICK 411… It’s an anime adaptation of the popular 2002 Korean drama of the same title. The actors will reprise their respective roles by lending their voices to the anime series. Hence, it will be voiced in Korean with Japanese subtitles.
- I’ve never seen an episode of the K-drama, though I’ve heard the song. The anime’s OP song [“From the Beginning to End” by Ryu] was the same as in the K-drama. It’s a very nice and somewhat sad-sounding ballad. I think it fits well since, well, it’s gonna be a series filled with much, much drama.
- I found watching it a wee bit weird since I’m not hearing it in Japanese (not that it matters much though since I don’t really know enough Japanese to save my life xD)
- Pretty good animation. I love, love, love the background music. Especially all the instrumental pieces and that Nutcracker-ish sounding music when he picks up the kid’s book. ^^
- It starts with “episode 0″… A prologue, I suppose?
- It starts off with the lead guy leaving airport, but the girl didn’t make it to catch him before he left. So, now, the guy is living in New York while the girl is living in Paris.
- The guy’s voice sounded a bit flat to me. It kinda lacked emotion. The girl did a pretty good job voicing her character (well, at least better than the guy) as she had more feelings while uttering her lines.
- The coffee place the girl was at reminded me of UCC 
– So it seems like he has some sort of brain injury. Big question I had after watching this episode: Why did they go their separate ways when it seems so obvious that they still love each other? This much I know… It’s obviously gonna be a really dramatic love story.
- Did I mention how much I loved the music? I want the OST.
- The ED ballad [“Believe You” by Yoonji] sounded nice, but I like the OP way better. The ED sequence showed a bit of background story… So it looks like the guy had a pretty bad accident (got hit by a vehicle) that’s why he’s having issues with his head.
- Watch it? Hmm. I never saw the K-drama, but maybe I’ll watch this one. The probability is high if the story doesn’t end tragically… (So, does it? I can take all the drama as long as it has a fairly happy ending)
———————————————
You might also wanna check out my other posts:
- Anime Preview: Fall 2009
- Anime Preview: Fall 2009 First Impressions – Batch 1
- Other anime season previews
Batch 1 of my quick first impressions on some of the Fall 2009 anime series. This will be divided into two batches.
In this batch: (1) Miracle☆Train ~Oedo-sen e Youkoso~; (2) Nyan Koi!; (3) Kobato.; (4) The Sacred Blacksmith; (5) Kimi ni Todoke; (6) Letter Bee; (7) Darker than Black: Ryuusei no Gemini; (8.) Seitokai no Ichizon.
————————————————-
I’ll watch at least one episode of each story in Aoi Bungaku because directors are different.
I love music in Winter Sonata, but have issues with directing.
On the other hand, Kobato is excellent in almost everything
@ Kitsune: Yeah, Winter Sonata’s BGM is great! I mostly enjoy watching Ioryogi in Kobato. ^^