Of New Unlicensed anime fresh from Japan

As I mentioned before in my Vlog, I plan to start watching unlicensed anime again as they come out of japan. It’s been a long while since I’ve played this game. Going online watching all the new unlicensed stuff coming out, deciding what is and is not good, and betting with myself on what will get licensed and how long it might take. So sit down and I’ll tell you some of the factors I personally look into, though keep in mind, If I say I’m not going to eve look at a series, it’s not that it’s bad, it’s just not my tastes or I just don’t have the time. At the end of this I have told myself I would come out with 5 series that I’m going to follow. My New Year’s resolution was for 3 unlicensed episodes a week; well if I’m following 5 I’ll hit that mark nicely.

Now first thing if you’re following along and doing this yourself is to find an accurate list of all the unlicensed that is out, or coming out. Since I’m limiting my field of vision to the new anime of winter 2011 the internet is full of wonderful image charts that say what’s getting released, what studio is releasing it, a quick summery of the show, and an image that gives an example of the show’s art style (usually). This Particular time I’m using a chat I grabbed from Neregate.com though just do a Google search for “Winter anime 2011” and pick a chart of your choosing, you might find one better.

Alright now on this chart there are 24 anime series coming out this season, this is not including OVA’s OAD’s and Movies, as I generally don’t watch those as a general rule unless it’s from a series I’m familiar with or it’s recommended to me by friends. Now I need to bring this list down to 5 that I plan to follow, and I usually do this in stages, first stage is to pick out all the shows that I plan to watch the first episode from, and out of those I watch the episode then decide which series to continue to the 3^rd episode. After the third episode If I continue watching a show it means I like it well enough to go all the way until the end, it also means that as a personal conscience thing since I like being legal and helping the industry, If I watch past episode 3 when it is unlicensed I’m obliged to buy the show when and if it comes out. That’s a personal choice though most people don’t and even then I have made exceptions though that’s for another time.

Anyways, out of these 24 unlicensed anime I can immediately say I’m not going to be watching (As a bonus I also linked all the titles to their respective pages on My Anime List in case you use that particular site, Speaking of I linked mine to the little toolbar up top so check out my list sometime if you want.):

Mitsudomoe – Season 2
Kimi Ni Todoke – Season 2
and Suite Precure

Guess why? Well the first two are obvious, they are second seasons to a show I have not watched. And as I need to cut something might as well cut those. Again I don’t cut because they are not good, I just don’t have the time. With Precure however all the chart is telling me is that it’s related to the Precure series a show which to be honest I’m particularly a fan of. So if I’m not going to enjoy it from the get go I just don’t bother.

Ok now we are down to 21. At this point I list the show I know I want to watch, either by me liking the studio and their previous work, what the art style is like, or maybe even the summery. Something about these shows has me interested, so now let me make this list for you:

Gosick – It’s bones
Fractale – Made by A-1 Pictures and I liked their work with Black Butler and Valkyrie Chronicles.
Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? – Studio DEEN are the ones behind Fate/Stay Night and Higurashi, Two of my favorite anime. Let’s see if they can make another favorite eh?
Level E – I’ve been a fan of Si-fi longer then I have anime and this seems to be the most serious show on the chart so figured I’d give it a chance.

Ok so the immediate ones list at 4, meaning I need to drag in 1 more to fill it to 5 and then a few more in case I end up dropping some. So let’s try:

IS: Infinite Stratos – From a new company and this looks to be their first breakout work on their own, which is always exciting, I like the art too. Here’s hoping.
Dragon Crisis! – It’s always good to have a show that can be described as “Fun” in any season, also its another work from DEEN, plus I liked the last show done by the same director. Though I hope the ending to thing is better than that one.
Yumekui Merry – Art looks good, summery was alright and the staff seams competent. This one is a gamble for me but hey it could work out.

So I have 8 new anime to keep track of, and several older ones to keep me busy as well, on top of what I normally review in a week, adding a total of 15 new shows to my anime list. Should be fun times.

Where does this leave the blog? Well as part of this whole shindig I’ll make posts for each of the New series that I’m following with opinions on each of the episodes in case you want to follow along and discuss them with me. Hopefully we can get a nice thing going on here.