What Animes to Look Out for This Spring 2014

Hey everyone! Long time no post, I know. I've been very busy with school, but I've also been really busy reading and watching anime and manga to give you some reviews! So look forward to that very soon. In the meantime I'm looking at Spring 2014 shows that myself, and other josei fans should look out for and check out. So here's my list!

 

Futsuu no Joshikousei ga [Locodol] Yatte Mita.

Comedy and Seinen

Summary via Anichart: The story is about the life of a high school girl, Nanako, and her senpai, Yukari, who end up becoming the town’s local idols (locodol) upon the request of her uncle. However they would soon learn that their new idol lifestyle is less than stellar as they are only be interviewed by the town’s shopping center, appear on low-budget cable television, and perform concerts on top of the roof of department stores. The girls’ salaries come from the town’s taxes.

My Thoughts: There's a lot of animes focusing on becoming or being an idol nowadays, but this one seems to appeal to an older audience by painting it in a not-so-picture-perfect way. I'm wary of young girls and the seinen genre, but I'm going to see what it's all about anyway.

 

Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii

Shoujo, Romance, Fantasy and Adventure

Summary via MU: Nike, the fourth princess of the Rain Dukedom and one who holds the power to call forth the rain, travels to the Sun Kingdom to marry Sun King Livius for her country, despite her own reluctance. She soon discovers that the King, who conquered the world in only three years after his ascendance to the throne, is still a child!! Furthermore, for trivial reasons, he has demanded that Nike call forth the rain…!?

My Thoughts: A fantasy shoujo title will always pique my interest because it will be in the female perspective, and it reminds me of a nostalgic favourite of mine, The Vision of Escaflowne. I wonder how it's going to flesh out a romance that involves a child king, but perhaps he's not the love interest after all. Either way it has my curiosity.

 

Mekaku City Actors

Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi and Supernatural

Summary via AniChart: Shintaro Kisaragi--a HikiNEET who shut himself inside his room for 2 years and has been living his life normally until he met a cyber girl named Ene, who appeared in his computer screen when someone anonymously sent him a mysterious e-mail one year ago. One day, Ene had been messing up with Shintaro's PC. which cause him have to go to outside world for first time in 2 years.

My Thoughts: I just looked up HikiNEET which is a combination of someone who is a NEET (not employed or educated) and a Hikkomori (being socially withdrawn). I think having a strange main character always makes for a more interesting story as we see it through their eyes. I can imagine that this anime will also be colourful and full of life (as you can tell from the artwork above). It reminds of Durarara! which had a similar style, so who knows what this anime will explore.

Kiniro no Corda: Blue♪Sky/La Corda D'Oro: Blue♪Sky

Shoujo, Music, School and Reverse Harem

Summary via Lacordadorowikia: 8 years after the adventures of Hino Kahoko, it is now time for Koihinata Kanade to step on the stage. Soon after transferring to Seiso Gakuin, Kanade finds the orchestra club in the middle of preparing for the National concur. Teaming up with the other members, she will improve her skills, meet new rivals and create memories for what will become an unforgettable summer...

My Thoughts: This is coming from the otome series La Corda D'Oro which has had multiple animes, and multiple otome games released in Japan. Otome games have always been a guilty pleasure of mine and I've never watched any anime from this series, so I'm willing to find out more about it. Maybe if I like this one I'll check the others out.

 

Kamigami no Asobi ~Ludere deorum~

Shoujo, School, Romance, Historical and Reverse Harem

Summary via AnimeNewsNetwork: The story revolves around heroine Yui Kusanagi, who is ordered by Zeus, a god and the headmaster of a school he created, to teach the meaning of love to young and handsome gods. The reason he has for doing this is to cancel the negative effects of the weakening bond between the world of the divine and the world of the humans.

My Thoughts: Reverse harems seem to be pretty popular as there's typically one every season now, and this spring there's two! (No wonder spring is considered the season of new love) This one is based off an otome game that was on the PSP, so it appears to be the typical fare again for this type of otome-to-anime release. It's likely to be very gimmicky, but if it has any interesting plot points like another otome anime Amnesia had then I'll continue watching it.

 

Gokukoku no Brynhildr

Drama, Seinen, Mystery, Sci-fi and Fantasy
Summary via AnimeNewsNetwork: The original manga revolves around high school boy Ryōta Murakami, who cannot forget his female childhood friend whom he let die in an accident. Feeling that he must fulfill their promise of proving the existence of aliens, he has continuously looked up at the sky as a member of the astronomy club. One day, a girl named Neko Kuroha who looks exactly like his childhood friend appears as a transfer student. It turns out that she is a magic-user that has run away from a research lab.
My Thoughts: I always waver on sci-fi seinen titles but this one appears to have a romance element that could be quite interesting. Heavy topics such as death can create a lot of depth in an otherwise shallow anime so that also has me interested in the potential of this series.