Now comes the part where I talk about titles that I placed marking pins on. I’ve been eyeballing some shows the moment the list of shows for Fall 2007 came out on the intarweb. I marked them because I was definitely not going to miss them and because I had certain expectations for them.

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Minami-ke
I did not watch Ichigo Mashimaro, so for now, I think Minami-ke is one of the most hilarious shit I’ve seen this year. It’s about three sisters, each with distinctively different and clear-cut personalities. Easy to identify with and easy to laugh at. It doesnt attempt to score points with too much moe, but it’s got some pretty wacky moments of its own.

Almost feels a wee bit like watching Azumanga Daioh - but not quite. Still, there’s a winning factor in this show: the Bible Black moments.

I am NOT kidding you. Watch it yourself and careful not to burst your belly.

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Genshiken II
The most awesome - and most pathetic - group of anime lovers are back. This time, Genshiken is also animated by a studio that produces h-anime! I must say, it was a brilliant decision. The ecchi scenes were absolutely fabulous! Thanks to a healthy dosage of jokes and references to otaku culture, I figured that this isn’t really a comedy show that would suit the general public.

If you have, at any point in your life, participated in any anime community of any kind at all - club, society, forum, chatroom etc.- please watch the first season of Genshiken, and continue the fun in the second season. It will change your life forever.

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Hero Tales
Well, a fancy shonen adventure by the mangaka of the now-famous Fullmetal Alchemist [thanks for the crappy BM dub, Media Prima!]. Unfortunately, Kuroneko Fansubs suffered some drawbacks due to lack of donations, and there were no other subbers picking up the show. Yes, it’s important for you to understand that fansubbing costs time AND money, and in significant amounts, too.

Hero Tales is a lot of simple-minded fun to watch [so far], although I have yet to see anything special about it. It should turn out to be a fun ride. Should.

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You’re Under Arrest - Full Throttle
I can’t really say I’m disappointed, but for the record, let’s just say that I actually expected a lot more than what I’ve been getting so far. It’s not so disappointing since as of ep 11, things seem to remain in line with all YUA seasons before this. You know, that recyclable formula?

Crime happens, unorthodox way of solving it, plot device Natsumi, and happy ending all in one episode [or two, sometimes]. So far, there has yet to be any continuity from the last season.

I just wanna see Nakajima spill his beans. For that, I’m willing to wait.

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Shakugan no Shana II
I’m not exactly a big fan of Shana [or any loli characters for that matter] but I honestly do think that the first Shakugan no Shana is one of the better shows I’ve seen last year. I watched the first season and found myself captivated by the OP song [Hishoku no Sora], of all things. For one thing, I don’t like the character designs. All except Shana’s coat which works almost like Doraemon’s Dimensional Pocket and the Alastor amulet, which was pretty cool.

The second season had a nice OP song, too. Although the story has a tendency to swerve into filler-like pointless episodes, which frustrates me every now and then. Plot build-up seems to be going in a nice direction, so I’ll be looking forward to more.

It’s all right, I suppose. Nothing too much to hype about aside the very nicely done animation sequences.

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Ghost Hound
It’s Production IG’s 20th Anniversary project and it’s by far the weirdest one I have seen out of all their releases [okay fine, Dead Leaves was pretty weird, too]. The first three episodes barely tell you anything. However, after a while, pieces of the puzzle start coming together, and an awesome mystery adventure begins to materialise. Well, the adventure’s not there yet, you see, but yeah. I figure it’s going to be quite a mind trip.

The only problem is, Ghost Hound seems to be targeting a small market. It’s probably trying to give a different flavour of candy to ye olde fans of the GITS franchise because only they could be bothered to put up with this thing long enough and still be loyally optimistic.

I’d love to tell you about the quality of the audio-production of Ghost Hound [which is the best part] but I don’t think I can do much justice to it with just words. You just have to hear it for yourself.

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The final part of this review will be talking about things that went under my radar, and suddenly exploded all over my face! These are the fun things that make watching anime such a special experience. The titles are a surprise, and believe me, if you haven’t watched them you’d be pretty surprised, too. :D