The most surprising anime from the Winter 2009 season in terms of development – Sora no Woto.

My initial impressions were off by a long shot; don’t be fooled by the K-ON! style character designs, this series has a solid story that wants to be told.

It effectively utilizes each of the 12 episodes in moving the plot forward while unraveling the persona of each character along the way. While they may display a carefree attitude, their past contains memories of the previous war and the tragedies associated with it. Just like a real person, no character only has one side.

I love how the anime begins with a cheerful and carefree atmosphere, situated in a peaceful town seemingly unaffected by the previous war. Then as the series progresses, things start to become more serious as the peace talks grind to a halt and everything builds up to the climax. It is at that moment you appreciate all the intricacies and details revealed to us before. Afterwords, it ends abruptly and leaves us wanting more, even though the conclusion was perfectly fine.

After finishing Sora no Woto, I must say that it deserves an improved rating on my part.

Rating: Excellent

It’s close enough to the middle of the Winter 2009 season to give a quick update on my impressions.

Durarara!!: My favorite series this season. It has met and exceeded my initial impressions. Each episode focuses on a different character and reveals to you their past history while creating connections to other characters.

Sora no Oto: The setting helps to make the story shine. On the outside it may all seem like fun and games with the lighthearted atmosphere, but…

Katanagatari: Slow releases at 1 episode per month, but at least they’re 50 minutes long. The witty wordplay is the defining characteristic; you’ll either love it or hate it.

Nodame Cantabile: Finale: The story just keeps pushing on. Can’t wait to see how it all ends.

Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu: These past few episodes don’t seem as funny as some of the initial ones, but still amusing nevertheless.

Dance In The Vampire Bund: Failed to keep me hooked. Need to pick this one up again.

Ookami Kakushi: The beginning plot build-up felt a bit slow. Need to catch up on this one too.

Omamori Himari: Standard harem/fan service fare.

Seikon no Qwaser: Besides having a gg premise, they have to censor their normal airing due to the content.

Ladies versus Butlers!: Blatant fan service to the extreme; dropped it after the first episode.

Chuu Bra!!: The premise is too gg for me to even consider watching episode 1.

Hanamaru Youchien: It’s okay I guess, but not my cup of tea.

There doesn’t seem to be that many anime series coming up next season, but at least there’s Angel Beats! and K-ON! Second Season.

The first of four Darker than Black OVAs is out and subbed.

These OVAs take place between the first season of Darker than Black and the second season, Darker than Black: Ryuusei no Gemini. The focus of course is on Hei and Yin, and it will hopefully provide some much desired details on what happened to Yin before the start of Ryuusei no Gemini.

As always, Bones is continuing to achieve excellent animation work on their projects with this not being an exception. The first episode focuses on the relationship between Hei and Yin while placing fast-paced action scenes at the beginning and the end. Be ready for the first few minutes, it’s epic.

My initial impression after watching the first episode was that this will be a strong contender for my favorite anime series of the Winter season.

Katanagatari is based on a light novel series by Nishio Ishin, who is of Bakemonogatari fame.

Here’s a somewhat longer summary from AniDB:

The legendary swordsmith Shikizaki Kiki made 1000 swords in his career. The more swords a state had, the greater success they had in the wars. When the Shogun emerged victorious, he collected 988 of the swords…but those were just practice. The final twelve swords were the pinnacle of his career. Each of them has powers so extraordinary, one man could defeat small armies. Shogunate strategist Togame has been ordered to recover them. She first hired a ninja…but the worth of the swords is so great the entire ninja clad defected the moment they recovered one. Then she hired a swordsman…but he kept the sword for himself. Her last hope is Shichika, the seventh and last practitioner of the Kyotoryuu — No Sword School. He and his sister live on an island cut off from civilization — they have no need for money. His sword school does not use swords — he would not want the swords for himself. So why should he help her? “Because you will fall in love with me.”

The series will be 12 episodes long, one episode devoted to each of the 12 swords. The length of each episode will also be 50 minutes, which is a nice change of pace since it gives more freedom for the story to work with.

Interesting premise, a unique art style, and the wordplay we’ve all come to love – what’s there not to like?

Rating: Excellent

I usually do a first impressions post after watching the first episode, so this one is a bit late. After watching the 3rd episode of Baka to Test to Shokanju, I must admit that it is the funniest anime this season (although there isn’t much competition in that area).

The premise of this series via a summary from AniDB:

Based on a light novel series by Kenji Inoue with illustrations by Yui Haga. The light novel series, which debuted in 2007, is set in a school that strictly stratifies students, and the comforts of their classrooms, by test scores. The lowest ranked class rallies to use experimental fantasy summoned monsters to battle the higher ranked classes for school supremacy.

The main amusement is derived from the character interactions with one another along with the antics of the main character, as you can see from the image above. At the moment, the whole class versus class exam battles felt more like a backdrop for the characters to express their personalities instead of actually being the main focus.

Each episode just gets better and better in terms of amusement factor. I actually found the 3rd episode, which did not involve the exam battles, to be the funniest one yet. Hopefully they can keep this trend up in the episodes to come!

Rating: Bravo!

The final season of Nodame Cantabile is now airing.

If you’ve been following this series and saw the previous two seasons, then you already know what it’s all about. If you haven’t, it’s definitely worth watching and ripe for marathoning.

At the start, you already see the usual dynamic relationship between Chiaki and Nodame – our two main characters. Essentially, this entire series is a romance focusing around music. It’s an added bonus to hear parts of various classical music pieces, whose titles and composers are thoughtfully given. The animation style with its watercolor-like coloring reminds me of Honey & Clover, and it complements the theme of music nicely.

My rating is heavily influenced by the fact that I’ve been playing the piano for well over 10 years (I forget the exact year I started), but regardless of that – this anime merits some serious consideration if you aren’t watching it already.

Rating: Very Good

The overall premise of the war between the Church and the Adepts (aka alchemists) is an overused concept, but that’s not really the issue here.

My main problem is with the excessive fan service and the method that the Adepts use to recharge their powers. It’s just simply gg.

Otherwise, this series has nice battle scenes and a serious business male lead. I’ll stick with it for a bit and see what else it has to offer.

Rating: Mediocre

From the creator of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni comes this anime based on a PSP visual novel of the same name.

Hiroshi is a 16 year old boy that has recently moved with his family to a town situated in the mountains. So far it has been your somewhat typical high school anime except with some wolf cult chasing down people.

The series could turn out to be very good if it develops the story in an intriguing way and throws us some mysteries to ponder about. Judging from the creator’s previous works, we have something to look forward to.

On a side note, Isuzu is such an annoying character but the first few minutes of episode 1 gives me hope.

Rating: Good

My favorite series from the Winter 2009 Anime Season so far would have to be Durarara!!

Considering it’s from the same author that wrote Baccano!, I expected it to cycle through a ton of characters who are all connected somehow. The series begins with Mikado, who has just arrived in Tokyo, and is given an informal introduction of Ikebukuro by his old friend Masaomi.

So far in the first episode we are already introduced to a cast of unique individuals: a man that throws vending machines, the headless horseman on a motorcycle, and more. I also like the OP style; the way it jumps between all the characters is fun to watch.

This type of anime feels refreshing since it gives me a break from the usual cookie-cutter series. *cough* Omamori Himari *cough*

Rating: Very Good

The first episode of this series completely caught me off guard.

I was expecting an action series with your typical anime start. Instead, we see the events transpiring through a television program where they are debating whether vampires exist or not. This beginning sure isn’t something you see everyday, yet it serves its purpose.

The small bit of action near the end is hopefully just a hint of what’s to come.

Rating: Potentially good