Yes, I know that gia and co. have been trickling info about new/continued stuff coming our way, but seeing this large chart from " chartfag" and on a caffeine rush I feel the need to comment on some things that interest me in one way or another. Feel free to comment whether you agree, disagree, or just feel like ranting about something.
 
Queen's Blade: Heir to the Throne--Either you give me money for booze, or you can write the summaries yourself. I mean it. For realz.
 
Nyan Koi!--Appears to be the perfect show for the crazy cat lady...or man in this case.
 
Kampfer--What little I read of the manga I found strangely fascinating, probably because of the ecchiness. Great, now I feel dirty just writing that.
 
Asura Cryin' second season--appears to be a giant ploy to sell toys, because as much as I like the show they keep introducing new characters and subplots each episode without resolving the ones they brought up in the previous ones. Stop toying with me, dammit!
 
Inuyasha Final Act--Dammit, how long have they been on Namek/found the Shikon Jewel/not killed Naraku? I gave up on Inuyasha a loooooong time ago, this probably won't change much.
 
Armed Librarians--In a world where books are actually dead people, a suicide bomber with amnesia will probably fall in love with a big breasted librarian who will be more attractive than most real-life librarians and hold some hidden power that leads to an ultimate showdown of ultimate destiny. Sounds interesting, but the trailer didn't quite sell me on the idea.
 
A Certain Scientific Railgun--A friend of mine is real hyped for this series, apparently an offshoot of To Aru Majutsu no Index. Maybe I'll give this one a look.
 
Romance of the Three Kingdoms--Wait, you mean Ikkitousen and all those Dynasty Warriors games weren't enough?
 
New Three Musketeers--Fuck you.
 
Aika Zero--I'd say "take a shot of hard liquor every time you see a flash of pantsu," but then I'd be implicated in several alcohol poisoning deaths before the end of one OVA.
 
Kiddy Girl-and--The sequel to Kiddy Grade, a.k.a. "The show with the title that made you feel like a pedophile every time you watched it." Might be worth a look, maybe.
 
The Sacred Blacksmith--What's that, a show that appears to be an amalgamation of JRPG cliches but mostly with a straight face? Here's the sound of me not caring.
 
Darker Than Black: Gemini of the Falling Star--Y'know, I keep hearing that DTB was a decent show. Maybe I should watch it one of these days.
 
Shakugan no Shana--see previous comment
 
Miracle Train-- To quote chartfag, "War Heroes, Soft Drinks, Countries and now this. Imagine something mundane or ordinary you can turn into anthropomorphic sexual symbols and make an anime out of it quick, while the trend still lasts!"
 
Fairy Tail--I get the feeling it'll turn out like One Piece where it starts out interesting then doesn't know when to stop. Based on what I've seen with the manga, I'd say I'm pretty close.

Ever read the webcomic No Need for Bushido? Whether you have or not, one of the guys behind it apparently headed a panel based on how he's become disgruntled with the Naruto-verse. Whether you're a fan or just a casual hater like myself, follow the link here and see if it makes you chuckle.

Need to rant about something insignificant, might as well do it here...
 
Okay, it sounded interesting at first: a Haruhi-ish character who was using her powers for good instead of self-interest, slowly gathering up her awesome own student council that would work for the greater good of the school. Okay, fine, I can stomach overly-powerful student councils if only for parody reasons. The problems arise when too much of the focus is on Medaka herself instead of the much more interesting supporting cast. It started out with descriptions of how smart, talented, and strong Medaka was. The problems started arising when Medaka actually became God in all but name. Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, and at one point she actually balances her entire body on a single waterwing floating in the pool just so she could make a point.
 
But no chapter illustrates the Mary-Sue-ness of Medaka more than chapter 17 of Medaka Box. To sum it up, her main rival in the school's Discipline Committee or whatever cackled that his subordinates were going to strike down each of her council members/friends when they didn't see it coming. One of them carried a bicycle (yes, a whole bicycle) as a weapon, the second had Wolverine-like claws, and the third had a hidden chain. This could have been a point where all the "good guys" showed off their skills while Medaka proclaimed her confidence, and it would have been enough material to last at least three chapters. But instead, Medaka simply runs so fast that she leaves an afterimage and saves them all with her sheer awesomeness before the chapter ends, while the other students watch and go, "Yeah, that's our Medaka."
 
Basically, take what you know about The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and think about it for a second. Now imagine if the majority of the story was told from Haruhi's point of view instead of Kyon and the supporting cast. It would not be as good. Why? Because she's (allegedly) GOD. She can do ANYTHING. Everytime she saved the world before the end of the chapter, you would just shrug your shoulders and go "Yeah, so what else is new?" just like the bystanders in Chapter 17 of Medaka Box. I guess my point is if you're going to give a character near godlike power, either focus on his/her supporting cast (because that's where the real drama is) or you better be real damn creative with how you tell the story. Otherwise, it gets boring and predictable to the point where it may be dropped altogether.

I'm bored, I'm listening to blues music in the background, and I'm going to try and use this valuable time by slapping down some quickie reviews of various animu I've been watching on and off over the past month. Some of it is recent, some is not, but feel free to read it and then draw your own conclusions:
 
 
Solty Rei: Started out interesting, but then seemed to forget where it was going. A cop on the edge with nothing left to lose? Fine. Have him fighting people with cybernetic enhancements? Fine. Give him a green-haired cyborg to replace his missing daughter? Fine. But then you throw in a well-known thief who has no trouble walking around in broad daylight, a few supposedly-deep villains that last only 1-2 episodes, and a quirky team of car-named girls who don't seem to do much more than get outsmarted and smacked around and eventually killed off? It felt kind of like the movie Hancock in terms of progression, where it felt like the writers were trying to insert four different stories instead of a clear one.

It wasn't a bad show, just kinda boring and forgettable.
_________

Speed Grapher: Apparently, they spent most of the budget to license "Girls on Film" by Duran Duran for the opening theme. The entire main cast seems to be full of people who just can't get laid unless they do something that kills other people while they're doing it. Hence, the whole "Euphoria" shtick. The main character (Saiga) can only get hard while holding a camera, he fights villians ranging from a rubber-suit man to a guy who loves dentistry a little too much.

Plot? Oh yeah, basically, the girl who gives these "Euphorias" all their powers is a walking, talking MacGuffin.

Sounds strange, doesn't it? However, it's actually a decent show, and if you are not against the gratuitous sex and violence sprinkled liberally throughout the show you'll probably like it.
___________

Sumomomo Momomo: I decided to watch this thing on a lark after hearing about it on AV. I guess this show is what would happen if you gave a high-school-aged Phoenix Wright an unwanted harem, and that harem was composed of girls who all had martial arts skills from some generic action anime.

The plot here revolves around a guy named Koushi who is studying to be a prosecutor, and then finds out he was part of an arranged marriage to this little pink haired girl who wants to make babies with him at nearly every opportunity. Everyone wants him to be a great martial artist, even his father, but he just wants the comfort of his law books while some secret war of the zodiac rages on around him, sort of. Depending on your POV, this show is either really hilarious or real fucking annoying (hearing the pink-haired thing scream "KOUSHI-DONO!" over and over nearly made me quit).

For an extra challenge, try saying the title five times over.
_____________

Burst Angel: The crime ridden streets of a semi-futuristic Tokyo are no match for a lady scorned, especially if she has a pair of pistols and a gigantic fucking mech (excuse me, "Cybot") that no one seems to notice. Feel free to take a shot of hard liquor every time Meg gets kidnapped or taken hostage, and take another shot when Jo angrily yells at the nearest teammate about the need to save her. You'll probably die of alcohol poisoning by the end of the series. Some yuri overtones present, but other than that this series feels rather forgettable.
_____________

Bakemonogatari: Trades in a lot of puns that probably make more sense in the original Japanese. I'm still not entirely sure what this thing is about, but it's definitely a little more interesting than the generic crap I've been watching. Definitely surreal with some strange animal spirits that seem to be fucking with people (a crab god that makes a girl weightless, a snail that makes a loli unable to find her home). This show is awesome, and you should totally watch it.
___________

Needless: If Bakemonogatari is the anime equivalent of an abstract painting in an art gallery, Needless is the kindergartner's crayon drawing hanging on some proud parent's fridge. A true homage to 90's action anime where everyone calls out their attacks, the personalities and powers are twisted to the extreme, and the clothes of any female fighters inevitably get ripped or torn off during and after battles. You'll probably find it amusing, especially when you see the ED contains little more than three little girls macking on each other.
 
Or as a friend of mine put it: "They sold me at Dragonforce music, a guy who looks like Dr. Wily, and ludicrous fanservice enough to choke an anthropomorphic horse."
___________

Princess Lover: No one else seemed to care about this series, so I figured I'd give it a shot. It's the only show where you'll see a horse-drawn carriage inexplicably outrun a sportscar. Some poor Japanese kid somehow inherits a giant fortune, gets thrown into a super-rich school, and manages to have four different girls with large breasts all wanting to jump his bones by the end of the first 2-3 episodes. Oh, and he has a sword, just because. If only it didn't take itself too seriously, it would be a little more interesting. Otherwise, it's standard wish fulfillment with a PG-13 flair. On the other hand, there are a couple of episodes with an awesome butler guy, I'm talking like a more serious Klaus from Hayate the Combat Butler.
___________

Fight Ippatsu! Juuden-Chan!: Something about little girls in tight rubber suits sticking giant plugs into people to make them less likely to become "an heroes". Basically, if you have a latex suit and/or loli fetish you'll probably like this one. Not exactly my style. The only thing I like about this show is that the first male lead isn't some whiny angsty teenager but a guy with a baseball bat who actually stands up for himself. Then again, there's one girl who apparently enjoys getting smacked by said bat.

Upon further reflection, I'm starting to think that this is a parody of the "magical girl" genre. Either that, or just another show that shouldn't be shown to little kids.
 ___________ 

Feel free to agree or disagree with me in the comments.

Bored and browsing through the manga section of a local Barnes & Noble today, I picked up a copy of a manga I hadn't really heard of called 10 Beautiful Assassins. It seemed rather interesting and now that I've skimmed through the manga I think it was actually worth spending money on. From what I've gleaned, it's an Original English Language manga (though arranged in right-to-left style). The story involves a thief named Bernie who poses as the driver of the daughter of a Richard Branson lookalike in order to steal a valuable necklace while she's touring Cannes. However, Bernie runs into several problems: He's kind of awkward around women (it even says so on the back cover), the necklace gets stolen from him by a rival female thief, and the rich guy suspects Bernie of working with her. 
 
So not-Branson calls upon the leader of M.A.D.A.M. (Mistresses of Assasination, Destruction, And Mayhem) to get back the necklace and kill the thieves, and she obliges by sending the 10 Beautiful Assassins (dun-dun-dunnnnn) after them. Ranging from the dominatrix and the biker chick to the French maid and the policewoman, all of them are tasked with hunting down Bernie. It's kind of like a harem comedy, if the harem was trying to kill the main hero all at once instead of throwing themselves all over him.  I don't want to spoil too much for the few of you who might actually be tempted to go out and buy a copy of this thing. However, if you can deal with the (tongue-in-cheek?) stereotypes there's plenty of stuff to like in what I call this inverted harem comedy.  There's action, there's romance, there's a bunch of violent, beautiful women for the average self-styled otaku to ogle...what's not to like?
 
If there's one thing that irked me about the book it's that the middle of the book kinda flip-flops around with the chronology of the story, where it becomes difficult to tell what's being told in flashback mode and what's being told in the present. Also, the liberal use of chibis throughout the manga. I can understand the need for comedic effect but it was kinda blunted by the over-saturation of the midgets where it became a bit annoying.
 
When I say "buy it while you can," I guess I should also mention that I just found out this is a Seven Seas Manga, and an original IP (intellectual property) at that. If you've seen their track record with other original IPs like No Man's Land, Blade for Barter or Dead Already (to name a few), they have a habit of lasting just one or two volumes before being strangled in their crib. Maybe it's Seven Seas fault for not making enough copies available or for having crappy distribution, maybe the company is bleeding cash (a charge that has neither been confirmed nor denied), maybe the PR needs some work or maybe the market for manga in America is slowing down...
 
Whatever the reason, if you're at all interested in buying this manga, you should probably do it while the books are still on the shelves.