Fall 2012 Picks and Predictions

The approach of the Fall season means a strange new world of anime opens before us.,

Welcome to the Abandoned Factory Fall 2012 Picks and Predictions. Each season I attempt to do three things,

1. Point you toward comprehensive season previews,
2. Provide you with a list of my picks for the interesting shows to keep an eye on in the new season, and
3. Predict which show will stand the test of time, despite being sadly overlooked while it is airing.

So … I suppose it should be called “Pointers, Picks, and Predictions”. Eh, whatever.

Pointers

Each season I point people to a couple of other sites for two reasons. First, I don’t do a comprehensive preview, and you might find something you are interested in watching on a more complete list. Secondly, enjoying any form of entertainment is very subjective, so hearing what multiple people think can give you a broader sense of what is coming up. I therefore present to you these three sites worth checking out for more information on the Fall 2012 Anime Season:

• Star Crossed Anime Blog ~ Psgels has seen a lot of anime, he knows a lot about the various production companies, and directors, and so forth.
• The Cart Driver ~ Scamp is full of himself, and highly opinionated (which is a good thing, when you are looking for someone who is willing to tell you their opinion on something).
• Lost in America ~ Guardian Enzo also has great taste in anime. An added plus on his preview is that he has listed when the shows premiere.

Picks

There is a lot of interesting-looking anime coming out this season. I’ll be covering the following:

Tier 1

• Kamisama Hajimemashita
• Psycho Pass

Tier 2

• Chuu-ni Byou Demo Koi ga Shitai!
• Code:Breaker
• K
• Robotics;Notes
• Shin Sekai Yori
• Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun

Tier 3

• Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure
• Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo
• Suki-tte Ii na yo

Tier 1 ** Predictions **

Kamisama Hajimemashita (AKA “Kamisama Kiss”)

Classic Shoujo styling pushed this show to the top.

Some people have commented that this looks like just another shoujo comedy, but we don’t typically get anywhere near as many of those as people seem to be imagining. Personally I think this art style is a classic, and I’m looking forward to watching the show. The preview looks like the series will be full of humor, and I actually like the mystique anime has built up around Shinto shrines and supernatural experiences.

Psycho Pass

Not much known about this title, but what is known is exciting.

This title already has quite a bit of buzz, so I normally wouldn’t have selected it for the “prediction” slot, but given how little we really know about it, I figure this pick is at least a leap of faith. All we really know about the plot is that it is about a police force in a future in which, “it is possible to instantaneously measure and quantify a person’s state of mind and personality”. The official website is playing up Production I.G.’s previous work in the “near future police” genre, such as Pat Labor movie 2, and Ghost in the Shell. Maybe this will turn out to be the mature Science Fiction anime that we (well, I) keep hoping to see each season. Make it happen, Noitamina!

Tier 2

Chuu-2 Byou Demo Koi ga Shitai! (AKA “She has delusional fantasies, but I still want to love her!”)

Kyo-Ani has finally been delivering on their immense potential.

Chuu-ni Byou looks great, which is no surprise, since Kyoto Animation are truly amazing. The problem they suffer from is not working with material that is really worth the effort they put into it. I really enjoyed Hyouka, however, and I’m glad to see that Chuu-ni Byou has a lot of opportunities for Kyo-Ani to exercise their considerable talent. Maybe this will be the next logical step for them to take toward working on a proper action show.

Code:Breaker

Conflicted morals, a tale of supernatural assassins … definitely enough to make the list.

Code:Breaker has a possibly ridiculous premise, a high school girl tries to convince a supernatural assassin that killing is wrong. Maybe they can pull that off. Maybe. I’ll check it out to see if they do.

K

This.

The animation in the promos that have been released for this show are amazing. Not only are they colorful, and full of action, but the kind of action that is shown is often very complex and too expensive to animate. I have no idea if the plot is going to be interesting, the characters might have been created with a cookie-cutter, and the fighting looks like it is not reality-based, but that skateboarding sequence was enough to blow my mind.

Robotics;Notes

Augmented Reality and Giant Robots.

This show has garnered a lot of attention because it takes place in the Steins;Gate universe (or at least one of the theoretical World Lines). Steins;Gate was a great show, but it had certain weak elements. If this turns into another “loser science geek gets a harem” show, I’ll have to seriously consider dropping it, given how many promising shows are airing.

Shin Sekai Yori (AKA “From the New World”)

Psychic powers in a dystopic future.

I wasn’t going to include this one at first; the trailer looks like a cross between a horror story and kids save the world. Then I started reading about how the novel this was based on is actually quite good. Maybe this will be a complex and interesting story. Worth checking out.

Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun (AKA “The Monster Seated Next to You”)

Brains Base makes this a must. Just check out that trailer!

Another Shoujou title, but this one has a very different sense of style. The trailer honestly looks great. I have to say Brains Base is a production company that knows good projects to work on, and they do a great job with the material.

Tier 3 ** Honorable Mentions **

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure

People have been talking about this title for decades.

I’ve never seen any of the earlier works derived from the same source, but I have been hearing comments about them for a long time. It really doesn’t seem like the type of show I would enjoy, but I dig David Production’s niche of resurrecting older source material. I’m just too curious to not watch the first episode, but that isn’t much of a bar.

Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo (AKA “The Pet and Girlfriend at Sakurasou”)

The typical combination of solid art skills with harem hijinks.

First, I wish I could paint like the folks at JC Staff. They have a wonderful technique with their watercolor-like style. This title will be another to feature this great technique. A previous show that used this technique, and not only LOOKED great, but was an excellent program all around, was Nodame Canatabile. Now Pet (if I might call it that) shares a lot (I mean a LOT) with Nodame Cantabile. Instead of taking place at a music school, it takes place at an Art school. Also the female lead is a genius in that one respect, and pretty much a mess aside from that. Just based on the summary of the premise, it sounds like JC Staff are trying to recreate some of the magic they had with Nodame Cantabile. The problem is, I just don’t think it is going to happen. I plan to watch an episode to confirm my suspicions (and see how great the JC Staff watercolor style looks), but I have every expectation that this will fall into every generic harem-comedy convention that exists.

(No video, because none is available for embedding).

Suki-tte Ii na yo (AKA “Say, I love You”)

Just not enough information to judge.

There really isn’t enough pre-release information to make a competent judgement on this title. I read a tiny bit of the first chapter of the manga and it annoyed the hell out of me, though. Basically I get infuriated at seeing people getting bullied, and that happened a lot in the first few pages. Probably the easiest way to find out if this show is any good is to check the first episode out when it airs.

(No video, because none is available).

Final Thoughts

I hope you enjoy the upcoming season! There are shows that look intriguing across quite a spectrum of genres. Even if I just stick to my top two tiers that will be 8 titles that I am picking up, which is a fair commitment of time. If this wasn’t quite enough anime for you, make sure you check out the pointers near the top of this page.