Sengoku Basara

Release Date: 04/01/2009

Director: Itsuro Kawasaki

Kawasaki directed both “Rental Magica” and currently airing “Regios”. I can’t say either of those series were better than ok, so we will have to see.
Side note: Honami-han made me much more interested in “Rental Magica” than it otherwise warranted…she needs a GK =/.

Animation Team: Production I.G
Music: It looks like music is being produced by flyingDOG.

flyingDog is a major producer of anime music, they produced the soundtrack for “Macross F”, which was awesome.

Seiyuu:
Date Masamune : Kazuya Nakai – Zoro (”One Piece”) , Mugen (”Samurai Champloo”)
Oda Nobunaga: Norio Wakamoto – Charles Brittania (”Code Geass”)
Sanada Yukimura : Souichiro Hoshi – Brera (”Macross F”), Kira (”Gundam Seed”)

Wakamoto is one of my favorite male seiyuu, whose range of ability is wide. His performance as Charles in “Code Geass” was great and he made Onsokumaru from “Ninin ga Shinobuden”  hilarious. Casting him as Oda Nobunaga will do a lot to make this series even more enjoyable. That being said Japanese historical anime tend to not fare too well in the States because they often assume a certain amount of knowledgen. The flash back arc in “Tenjo Tenge” made foreigners scratch their heads, while natives, I imagine, recognized what was going on.

Summary: “In the age of the Warring Countries, Japan was fragmented in semi-independent provinces, governed by feudal lords or daimyo, who confronted each other in an endless struggle for power. Ambitious daimyos from every corner of the Archipelago had shouted their battle cry. They were Takeda Shingen from Kai, Sanada Yukimura, Uesugi Kenshin from Echigo, Azai Nagamasa from Omi, Tokugawa Ieyasu from Mikawa, and many more…

Those were days of unrest and chaos. As war spread throughout the country, the map of power underwent rapid and dramatic changes.
In this never-ending conflict, one man finally seemed to be just one step from establishing total control over the country. He was the lord of Owari, the Sixth Heavenly Devil King. His name was Oda Nobunaga.

But now, a young general clad in azure makes his unexpected appearance in this confused scenario, heading a huge army of cavalrymen from the Northern provinces. He is known as Date Masamune, the One-Eyed Dragon. And he is coming for Oda Nobunaga’s head, and for ultimate supremacy!”

More Information: AniDB. ANN.
Extras: Wallpaper. Trailers.

Queen`s Blade: Rurou no Senshi

Release Date: 04/02/2009

Director: Kinji Yoshimoto
Unsurprisingly they have hired a hentai director for this series. He directed “Night Shift Nurses:Experiment” and did character design for “La Blue Girl”. Apparently he also directed “Genshiken S2″, which slightly raises my interest in this.

Production: GENCO
GENCO has done production on quite a few well done series. Both “Toradora” and “Maria Holic” are recent productions of theirs. They also produced “Nodame Cantabile,” “Honey and Clover,” and “Genshiken.” So at the very least they have an eye for popular series.

Animation Team: ARMS
ARMS has done quite a few hentai titles (”KITE”) but was also responsible for “Genshiken S2″. Not really sure how animation will stack on this one, It seemed alright in “Genshiken S2″ but we will have to see.

Seiyuu:
Claudette: Atsuko Tanaka – Motoko Kusanagi(”Ghost in the Shell”)
Nanael: Aya Hirano – Haruhi-sama (”Haruhi no Yuutsu”)
Leina: Ayako Kawasumi – Nodame (”Nodame Cantabile”)
Tomoe: Mamiko Noto – Yakumo Tsukamoto (”School Rumble”)

For whatever else this series will be, they brought out the seiyuu powerhouses for this show. Chances are talking bad about this show might just get you stoned in some part of the internet.

Commentary: For my part I will give it a chance, but I am not so sure about the armor design in this show. I have no idea how she keeps that metal plate on her chest. At the very least it isn’t as immediately annoyingly. Claymore’s sword design was pathetic, which inevitably made me drop the manga.

Summary: “In 4 years time the competition that will decide who the next Queen shall be will start. The strongest warrior will continue to rule the country according to tradition and expand it. The contestants need only be older than 12 years. They need not be human, intelligent or even of that country. The rules for the tournament are simple: murder is allowed. Any weapon can be chosen. The winner is decided when one of the participants flees or can’t move anymore. Such event is broadcasted trough a crystal sphere by the court’s magic teacher to all population to see and enjoy.”

More Information: AniDB. ANN.
Extras: Trailer. Official Site has wallpapers if you click special (Flash only websites are lame).

Asura Cryin’

Release Date: 04/02/2009

Director: Keizou Kusakawa

Kusakawa has done quite a bit, he directed ‘Nanoha” as well as it’s subsequent sequels. He has also directed “Tsukuyomi: Moonphase,” “Sekirei” and “Triangle Heart.” That being said, “Sekirei” was a horrible anime and “Moonphase” was merely average.

Producer: Starchild Records

Starchild has a huge list of hits under its belt both musically and anime wise. Anime music production of note are “Neon Genesis Evangeleion,” “FLCL,” and “Toradora.”

The OP/ED are done by angela who also did the OP/ED for “Stelvia” and “Fafner” both of which were pretty good.

Animation Team: Seven Arc (”Sekirei,” “Nanoha,” “White Album”)
We can probably expect decent animation though nothing spectacular. I haven’t seen “Nanoha” to comment but their work seems to be appropriate for dramas containing a little bit of action, though I hope they don’t try the photoshop filter nonsense they have been pulling in “White Album.”

Seiyuu:
Tomoharu Natsume: Miyu Irino – Saji Crossroad(”Gundam 00″) , Sena (”Eyeshield 21″)
Kanade Takatsuki: Ai Nonoka – Shima Katase (”Stellvia of the Universe”)

Guessing by the seiyuu choice, Tomoharu will be a wimp who will be bullied in the beginning before attaining godlike powers.

Summary: “Adaptation of Gakuto Mikumo and Nao Watanuki’s light novel series. The novel series relates the story of a high school boy haunted by the ghost of a childhood girl friend.”

More Information: AniDB. ANN.
Extras: Trailer.

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