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.
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(1) Miracle☆Train ~Oedo-sen e Youkoso~
More info – Official Site
Also known as Miracle Train: Welcome to Ōedo Line
Cast: Kenn, Okiayu Ryotaro, Ono Daisuke, Kaji Yuuki, Sugita Tomokazu, Morita Masakazu, etc.
– The OP song [“montage” by Kenn, Ryotaro Okiayu, Yuki Kaji, and Masakazu Morita] sounded OK. I kinda like the beat.
– So basically, the first episode is about helping a damsel in distress find her lost dog. If I were that girl, I’d have freaked out a wee bit when all those bishies suddenly surrounded me saying they’re actually train stations. xDD Oh, and I did get to learn some trivia about the train stations and Japan’s train system. Maybe that’d be helpful to me someday if my plan to visit Japan sometime would pan out…
– Tsukishima, Roppongi and Conductor-san are pretty hawt~! Conductor-san reminded me a bit of Tuxedo Mask from Sailor Moon. :3 Lol, Roppongi can be a little too friendly sometimes. xD
– The ED song [“Stories” by Shuhei Kita] sounded OK. It didn’t sound too good at first, but it started to sound quite nice after the beat picked up.
- Watch it? Hmm… the story is pretty random and has not much depth at all, but I can deal with that. Oh, and there are some useful(?) train trivia too. The guys are pretty to look at after all, so I’ll probably watch it for a dose of eye candy every now and then. 😀
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(2) Nyan Koi!
More info – Official Site
Cast: Asanuma Shintaro, Iguchi Yuka, Fukuyama Jun, Kobayashi Yu, etc.
– The OP song [“Nyanderful!” by Yui Sakakibara] was so-so.
– Junpei can suddenly hear cats thoughts and communicate with them after accidentally damaging a cat deity’s statue. Apparently, he has to grant 100 wishes from cats or else he’ll turn into a cat himself (lol, and if that ever happens, he assumes he’d probably die from self-allergy xDD)
– Lol, Fukuyama Jun as Tama (the monk’s cat) is WIN! His voice fits the character so well. xDD Tanaka Atsuko also did a good job as Nyamsas (the Kousaka family’s cat), same goes for Asanuma Shintaro as Kousaka Junpei (the lead guy with a chronic cat allergy). If you can communicate with and understand cats, there’s guaranteed to be lots of lulz along the way. (I can almost imagine even more lulz if Nyanko-sensei joins in the cast of cats xDD)
– The ED song [“Strawberry ~Amaku Setsunai Namida~” by Asami Imai] was OK. I think it sounded better than the OP.
- Watch it? Yeah. It was surprisingly very enjoyable! I kept laughing so hard at Junpei’s antics, as well as Tama and Nyamsas. ^^
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(3) Kobato.
More info – Official Site
Anime adaptation of CLAMP’s manga of the same title.
Cast: Hanazawa Kana, Inada Tetsu, Saito Chiwa, Maeno Tomoaki , Orikasa Fumiko, etc.
– Pretty cute OP song [“Magic Number” by Maaya Sakamoto]
– Hmm… I can’t think of anything much to say about the story. Basically an introduction to the main characters, mostly Kobato and Ioryogi. The song number she did in the episode was quite nice. Kobato is a pretty naive character, she reminded me a bit of Nagisa and Fuuko from Clannad.
– The ED song [“Jellyfish’s Confession” by Megumi Nakajima] is pretty cute too, but the bottle is so much cuter.
- Watch it? Hmm. It’s not that bad, and Ioryogi is a pretty fun character. I also haven’t heard Maeno-san speak much as Fujimoto yet! So, I’ll check out the next episode and decide from there.
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(4) The Sacred Blacksmith
More info – Official Site
Also known as Seiken no Blacksmith
Cast: Fujimura Ayumi, Okumoto Nobuhiko, Toyosaki Aki, Inoue Kazuhiko, etc.
– Typical upbeat OP song [“JUSTICE of LIGHT” by Mayumi Gojo] for this type of show.
– The lead girl, Cecily Campbell (how could I forget her name? She introduced herself for like, maybe more than 5 times! xDD) talks too much. Blah blah. She’s not good with the sword, as apparently, she had no choice but to become a knight to continue the family honor (Lol, Mythbusters alert! Swords keep getting cut in half in this episode). She bugs this tsundere guy, Luke, to fix her sword or make her a new one as she heard he’s an excellent blacksmith… And that he is (it’s a new sword forging technique that’s automated, voice activated, and portable! You just need to have Lisa around xD)
– The ED song [“Miracle Happy Day” by Aki Toysaki] was fine. It actually reminded me of Minami-Ke‘s OP/ED themes (Let’s go! Yay! Oh! Yay!)
- Watch it? Um, I wouldn’t exactly recommend it to others, but I probably will watch it. It’s a good candidate to be my (mindless) action series of the season.
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(5) Kimi ni Todoke
More info – Official Site
Also known as From Me to You; Reach You; Reaching You.
Cast: Namikawa Daisuke, Noto Mamiko, Hirano Aya, Sanpei Yuko, Nakamura Yuuichi, Sawashiro Miyuki, etc.
– The OP song [“Kimi ni Todoke” by Tanizawa Tomofumi] is kinda an upbeat ballad. Pretty catchy. I like it. ^^
– The first few scenes made me laugh right away. It’s Sadako! xDD Her name’s actually Sawako, but she actually responds to people when they call her Sadako. xD Voice cast did a well. Animation is good too, it’s Production I.G after all. ^^
– Man, Kazehaya is so cool and nice.
– Sawako admires, idolizes and highly respects Kazehaya as he’s like the total embodiment of a cheerful and nice person that Sawako aspires to be. Lol @ the scene when while talking to a friend, Sawako compliments Kazehaya (“He’s not just pleasant. He’s 100% pleasant. It’s like he’s made out of pleasantness!)… but it sounded like insults/sarcasm. Lol, apparently, she’s prone to being misunderstood by people around her.
– Man, Kazehaya is sooo pleasant and nice! Instead of storming off after overhearing that, he asks Sawako how he should take those comments. Sawako bashfully and honestly answers that they’re compliments, which Kazehaya gladly accepts. ^^
– Lol @ Sawako’s confession to Yano and Yoshida that she actually can’t curse people or see ghosts, as the rumors say. xDD Sawako’s naivete is just too adorable.
– Man, Kazehaya is so cool and nice! Such a gentleman.
– Slice of life + romantic comedy + Production IG + good story + great characters = always a winning recipe for me. ^^
– The ED song [“Kataomoi” by Chara] is quite a nice ballad… I’m not a fan of Chara though, so I didn’t like it that much.
– It reminded me so much of the hilarity and the warm and fuzzy feelings I had while watching/reading Lovely Complex. I’ve been waiting for something like this ever since Love*Com ended its run. I’m glad I found it~ ❤
- Watch it? Did I mention how cool and nice Kazehaya is? Did I mention how adorable Sawako can be? Did you guess that I’m totally gonna follow this series? I actually picked up the manga too. It’s just that awesome. ^^
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(6) Letter Bee
More info – Official Site
Also known as Tegami Bachi
Cast: Fujimura Ayumi, Sawashiro Miyuki, Koshimizu Ami, Kishio Daisuke, Fukuyama Jun, Mizuki Nana, Konishi Katsuyuki, etc.
– Nice and catchy OP song [“Hajimari no Hi” by Suga Shikao feat. Mummy-D] OK, I think it’s awesome. I love the melody and I really love Suga-sama’s voice~ ❤
– It’s an adaptation of the manga series about a boy who runs deliveries as a “Letter Bee” messenger throughout a strange fantasy land. There are quite a lot of terminologies. Gauche does a pretty good job of explaining stuff (though I also had its wiki page open while watching to keep up). Pretty strong cast list, and they did deliver on the first episode, particularly Fukuyama Jun (as Gauche) and Sawashiro Miyuki (as Lag). Pretty good BGM too.
– Gauche and Roda were pretty awesome to defeat all those Gaichuu thingies by themselves. Oh, and FukuJun voices another character whose younger sister is in a wheelchair again *cough*Lelouch*cough*
– The ED song [“Hatenaki Michi” by HIMEKA] sounded OK.
- Watch it? Yeah. It’s quite interesting. The first episode caught my attention. I’ll check out the previously released OVA and proceed watching this series.
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(7) Darker than Black: Ryuusei no Gemini
More info – Official Site
Second season of Darker than Black. Also known as Darker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor
Cast: Kiuchi Hidenobu, Mizuki Nana, Fukuen Misato, Hanazawa Kana, etc.
– No real OP theme yet, just a funky beat along with the title for the first episode. Some nice BGM throughout the episode too.
– Ack. It showed just a wee bit of Hei awesomeness! No Yin and no Kirihara yet either. It basically gives us a quick overview of what happened over the past 2 years since the Hell’s Gate incident from season 1 and a bit of backstory/quick intro to the new characters, Suou and Shion.
– very nice ED rock ballad [“From Dusk Till Dawn” by abingdon boys school]
– Oh, and do keep watching until the ED song is done because the episode actually ends after it, along with the next episode preview. 😉
- Watch it? Definitely! I love DtB and this is the one series that I’ve been most looking forward to this season. I’ll be watching and blogging it (the first episode summary is even done already). ^^
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(8.) Seitokai no Ichizon
More info – Official Site
Cast: Honda Mariko, Kondo Takashi, Togashi Misuzu, Saitou Yuka, etc.
– typical upbeat OP song [“Treasure” by Hekiyou Gakuen Seitokai] for this genre.
– The lead(?) guy is the only guy in the Student Council (SC), and he’s surrounded by 4 cute SC girls. He insists that the SC is his harem and that he aims to achieve for a happy harem ending. xD
– it includes a parody of a lot of shows, and the pop culture references are pretty funny. In general, it’s pretty random since it’s supposed to chronicle the activities of the SC. It has some funny lines, and some fanservice here and there.
– Typical upbeat ED song [“Mousou☆Fetish!” by Heikyou Gakuen Seitokai]. It’s marked as an episode 1 ED in ANN, so I guess they’d have a number of ED songs for this one.
- Watch it? I think I’ll pass.
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You might also wanna check out my other posts:
- Anime Preview: Fall 2009
- Anime Preview: Fall 2009 First Impressions – Batch 2
- Other anime season previews
More info – Official Site
Also known as Miracle Train: Welcome to Ōedo Line
When: 10/04/2009
Production: Yumeta Company
Cast: Kenn, Okiayu Ryotaro, Ono Daisuke, Kaji Yuuki, Sugita Tomokazu, Morita Masakazu, etc.
My favorite is Kobato 🙂
I found Miracle Train educational 😛
Nyan Koi has kitties…
Great cast and art in Kimi ni Todoke 🙂
Letter Bee has an interesting world 🙂
@ Kitsune: We have the same list, though I’m still 50/50 on Kobato. 😀
I definately think this fall/winter will have some good series spring up; so far I’ve been blown away by Darker Than Black’s new season (although only one episode has been released; it was completely badass) Kimi Ni Todoke was so cute 🙂 I love the animation as well as Lovely Complex! I kept squealing like a fangirl throughout episode 2 too .
@ ka: Yay! Another DtB fan~ I squealed like a fangirl for KnT too. It’s simply wonderful. ^^
@hazy and kitsune,
I’m not so amazed with Kobato so far because I can’t see the plot yet, plus it seems to me some sort of so cheesy show but nothing really happens -_-. I’m watching it but I’m not having high hopes, I just can’t see the possibility of the show being spectacular as of now XD.
@ foomafoo: I still haven’t gotten around to Kobato’s ep 2 yet. ^^; I do agree with your sentiments. I’m being patient with it and willing to check more episodes for a different reason *cough*Maeno Tomoaki*cough* xD
I added your blog to bookmarks. And i’ll read your articles more reguarily!