Love Stage!!
7.10.2014
Romance, Shounen Ai
J.C.Staff

OMG! Do you know how long its been since I’ve seen a good shounen ai series? Well its been waaaay~ too long. Plus this is being brought to us from the greatest studio evar, J.C. Staff!!! It’s going to be tots unbelievable. I can’t wait to see these b-e-a-utiful boys get their romance on. I’m calling it rights now. This is going to be the BEST anime of the year!

Black Butler: Book of Circus
7.11.2014
Supernatural, Action
A-1 Pictures

If I’m understanding the summary right, this sounds like an FMA Brotherhood situation, except instead of restarting the series from the beginning, it will go from where the anime split off from the manga. The Noah’s Ark Circus Arc technically fits in as episode 16 (and beyond) of Kuroshitsuji. I admittedly have no experience watching the series and only know of its popularity. It looks like the bulk of original seiyuu cast is back, so that’s a win for Black Butler fans.

Terror in Resonance
7.11.2014
Psychological, Thriller
Mappa

While the noitaminA time block hasn’t been quite as good to me as of late, it is still a time slot that has premiered some of the best anime I’ve seen. So when I see a new original anime from Watanabe Shinichirou it peaks my interest even more. This is going to be a psychological thriller about guys committing terrorist attacks, so the subject matter is going to be quite serious and intense. I’m all about a good psychological series, so I am pretty pumped about it. With season 2 of Space Dandy also coming out this season we certainly have enough Watanabe going around and that is just good news for all of us.

Persona 4 Golden
7.11.2014
Fantasy, Mystery
A-1 Pictures

The announcement of P4 Golden was a complete mystery to me. I mean the original P4 animation isn’t even that old, and it just seems weird to make an anime adaptation of a remake of a game that already had an anime adaptation. That said, what’s most mysterious to me is exactly what The Golden will cover in its allotted time. Will it focus on the new content introduced in P4G, namely the mysteries surrounding Marie, or will it retread the main plot points we’ve already seen? P4G as a game made sense since it was not only a visual upgrade but featured new game content and story to entice previous players. In a sense, P4G will also be getting a visual upgrade with A-1 Pictures taking over in AIC A.S.T.A’s place. Will that new content and hopeful visual boost be enough to justify P4GA? I dunno, but you can damn well be sure I’ll be watching.

Tokyo ESP
7.12.2014
Supernatural, Action
Xebec

To be perfectly honest, I don’t know why, but this show speaks to me. Something about the description and the images I’ve seen that just make me curious. This show kind of has that standard supernatural vibe to it. Someone gains powers and fighting ensues. Well, I might be generalizing it a bit too much, but that is the gist of it. Xebec really hasn’t produced much that I’d hold to high regard and it comes from the same author that brought us Gai Rei, which was something I dropped after one episode. Still I find myself wanting to see more. Hopefully this will pan out to be something good, but for now I’ll leave it as something I am looking forward to seeing the first episode of.

Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!?
7.12.2014
Comedy, Romance
Silver Link

I guess high school dudes living in a haunted low rent apartment is a trend now. Here our main dude has not only a ghost to worry about, but also a magical girl, a miko, and other weird girls invading his private space. The art style doesn’t look bad, if a bit generic, and this might be funny, but I can’t say it’s really grabbed my attention just yet.

Nobunaga Concerto
7.12.2014
History, Action
Fuji TV

Did you seriously think there wasn’t going to be a new Nobunaga anime this season? This might shock you, but it also involves someone traveling back in time to take his place… Original right? Alright, alright. I can’t be that upset or annoyed by this series. The Japanese love their Oda Nobunaga like us American’s love our hamburgers. So speaking from a directly cultural standpoint, I can’t really jest on their love of Nobunaga. I will say that this series is adapted from a popular manga and already has a live action TV series and movie in the works. It gives the show a little more clout and makes me a bit curious to see what all the hubbub is about.

Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance
7.14.2014
Supernatural, Action
THK

I once had hopes for Daimidaler because it was being made by the same staff as High School DxD. By now, we realized that it’s just that High School DxD’s source material is much better than Daimidaler’s. Lesson learned, I’m thinking Blade Dance is just going to be another novel adaptation about cute magical girls with a dude as the centerpiece; having a tough time drumming up excitement or care here.

Shounen Hollywood: Holly Stage for 49
7.??.2014
Slice of Life, Drama
Zexcs

This anime is based off of a popular Japanese novel that was released a few years ago. It isn’t quite an adaptation, more like a sequel of sorts. I’ve never read that novel so I can’t say too much about it, but from what I understand you don’t have to have read the novel to watch the show. Boy Bands are still ridiculously popular, whether it is One Direction in the western world or it is Arashi in Japan. So it shouldn’t be surprising that there is an anime about a one. Normally I might just trash this silly looking series, but it is based on a novel so it might be more than just the crappy moe idol anime we get every season. Plus I’m going to let you in on a little secret… I am a huge fan of Arashi.

Kantai Collection
7.??.2014
Sci-fi, Action
Diomedea

KanColle is kind of a big thing. I’m not sure you can get past one page on a -booru site without seeing one of the many battleship girls the series has. Whereas Arpeggio of Blue Steel was a story of action and war with moe girls as battleships, I’m thinking KanColle is going to be handled with more fluff and moe as a more prominent theme. The anime is based off of an online card battle game, and historically, adapting from similar source materials doesn’t go all that deep with the story or narrative. With that said, I think it’s easy to get a sense of how KanColle will go, which makes it easier for anime fans to decide whether it’s a keeper or if it should be passed over.

Hanamonogatari
8.16.2014
Supernatural, Action
Shaft

It’s been delayed twice and currently is scheduled to air on August 16th, so let’s hope this date holds and that we’ll finally get all of Second Season animated. In terms of storytelling, perhaps it’s fitting that Hanamono will be the final story of Second Season that gets animated as it’s the last in chronological order. Araragi and Senjougahara have moved on to University and Kanbaru is the core character in Hanamono. It’s also good that all 5 episodes will be released at the same time, as I’ve felt that the Monogatari arcs are best enjoyed all-at-once over week-by-week; a benefit that light novel readers have had over anime viewers from the very start. Obligatory “I hope Kizumonogatari comes out soon” comment to close out my preview on Hanamonogatari.