Animes to watch in Summer 2006

With the summer animes starting from this week, it's time to make a list of those which I'm going to watch but I may drop some of them along the way. And it also depends on whether I can manage to find them to watch. My backlog of animes to write reviews for is going to swell again though... ^__^

Hachimitsu to Clover II
Starting from 29 June, FujiTV, Noitamina slot on Thursdays.
As a Hachikuro fan, I'm very excited over seeing the sequel. Although 13 episodes will mean that this runs for one season, I guess this can't be helped since there won't be enough content to cover from the manga which will only release Vol 9 next month. Rather than having meaningless fillers just to drag through two seasons, I would prefer everything to be kept succint and faithful to the original instead. As the Rika-Mayama-Yamada love triangle will be complicated further with the introduction of Nomiya, I'm looking forward to seeing more of Nomiya who's extremely "cute" towards the later stage which I hope the anime can cover in time. On the other hand, we get more information on Morita's background and from the way it's implied in the manga, Morita and his elder brother have a reason or aim for being so obsessed with making money. As for the love triangle between Morita, Takemoto and Hagu doesn't look headed anywhere, I guess the anime will leave it as that instead of creating a conclusion from nowhere. That may increase the chances of having another sequel provided the manga has enough content for at least one season by next year.

Innocent Venus
Starting from 26 July 06, Wednesdays on WOWOW
The setting is rather interesting where it depicts the world losing more than half of its population due to a hyper hurricane in 2010. As such, the Japanese government sets up special economic zones at various locations and the elite living in such areas call themselves as the Logos while leaving the rest of the people to suffer outside the boundaries in slums. Fast forward to 2035, two guys from the Phantoms, a group meant to suppress uprisings within the special economic zones, break away from the organisation and help a girl, Todo Sana along the way. Seems like they have a mission to accomplish or they just want to leave the elites?
Well, I usually have a soft spot for mystery or suspense stories so that's why this caught my eye. The character design is fine and I see a few familiar names in the seiyuu list whom I happen to like i.e. Ookawa Tooru and Sakurai Takahiro so I suppose I should be able to stick to this till the end unless the story gets really unbearable to watch.

Night Head Genesis
Starting on 29 July via GyaO/BS Fuji on Thursdays. Official blog of the series here
This is based on a 1990 drama starring Toyokawa Etsushi and Takeda Shinji about two brothers, Kirihara Naohito and Naoya. In this story, the Kirihara brothers are abandoned by their parents as a result of a certain power they possess. Subsequently, the two are confined to a research institute housed within a forest for as long as 15 years before they finally break out and go back to society where they strive to live on. From the looks of it, this looks like a suspense thriller which I'll like and the fact that the two brothers look very good is another plus point. Takeda Shinji who played the younger brother in the original drama, will be doing the opening narration.

FLAG
First episode available for viewing via Bandai Channel from 16 June. First 6 episodes will be uploaded before end of August while the remaining 7 episodes will be provided in autumn.
This anime is set in a warzone where a female photographer has to cover the gore and misery there under such harsh conditions. One of the biggest selling points for animes these days is getting a celebrity to be the main voice actor and in this case, we have Tanaka Rena who's a well-known actress active in movies. However, the problem is that you have to be a member to watch this anime and that means having to pay for it. As such, I doubt I'll be able to watch this though.

NHK ni Youkoso!
Showing from 9 July on Chiba TV, Sundays
Well, the title has nothing to do with the national broadcaster but rather, it's an abbreviation for the organisation by the name of Nippon Hikikomori Kyoukai (The Japanese Association for Stay-at-home People) i.e. NHK. The story is about a young man who quit from university and became a hikikomori i.e. those who stay at home, avoid contact with others and rarely step out of their houses, who believes that his condition is caused by NHK. A girl then appears before him and declares that she wants him to take part in her project where she will help him to get back to society. I find the genre quite interesting and its obvious reference to NHK is sure to get people's interest too. Besides, it will be nice to see something which reflects society trends among the various fictitious stories we get these days.

Bokura ga Ita
Starting from 3 July, KBS Kyoto, Mondays
I've heard a lot about the manga where many people heap praises on it so I'm approaching this anime mainly out of curiousity. However, I am very impatient when it comes to draggy stories especially those caught in love triangles and keep changing their stands. From the idea I get, this looks set to fall into the category of those stories which I tend to shun or give up halfway. I just hope that this anime can present it in a way that can sustain my interest and prevent me from losing my patience. One interesting point is that I see Sasaki Nozomu playing the lead character Nanami and wonder how he will sound like. And it looks as if this is going to be a sad tale after all since I read from the manga's summaries that Nanami will be in anguish because of Motoharu's pining for his ex-girlfriend. I have a bad feeling that I may not stick to this till the end...

Kemonozume
Showing on WOWOW from 5 Aug
Well, the setting is not exactly new because we have two characters i.e. a monster and a monster hunter who fall for each other. What this means would be them having to grapple with feelings and logic where they know that they do not have the means to be together given their identities. A case of Romeo-and-Juliet? Anyway, there's not much information on the series at the moment for me to judge whether I'll be watching this till the end but the twist to the tale i.e. the monster setting seems more interesting than having the two characters being unable to get together due to overused reasons like family background.

Taiyo no Mokushiroku
Showing via WOWOW on 2 July and 27 July
I believe this is the prequel to the actual series starting in autumn and there will only be 2 episodes in this OVA. The setting is quite similar to the upcoming summer disaster remake blockbuster, "Nihon Chinbotsu" but the difference is that the movie shows Japan sinking into the sea while the anime shows Japan being split into two due to an earthquake. As a result, the Japanese are becoming refugees after other countries use aid as a pretext to invade the country. Since this is based on an award-winning manga, I think there is a certain level of quality in terms of the story but it remains to be seen if the disaster scenes are done in a good way.

Binbou Shimai Monogatari
Showing from 29 June, Thursdays via TV Asahi
This story is about two sisters struggling to survive after their father disappears due to gambling debts and their mother passed away. From the description on the official website, I doubt that the aim of the anime is not to show how miserable these sisters are but rather how they make use of whatever they have and are given a helping hand by those who live in the neighbourhood. As such, I think this is positioned more as a heart-warming tale. Besides, there's only 10 episodes so I guess I will be able to watch this to the end barring unforseen circumstances e.g. a boring storyline. As for the character design, it's not particularly impressive but also not that unbearable.