List of Winter 2009 TV Anime [Updated 12/15]
#1
Arrow 
Well, the winter anime season is coming up. So this is a (non-exhaustive) list of the new anime series to air beginning January 2009, along with some commentary from yours truly. This post will be continuously updated whenever new anime are announced. Spring 2009 list will be up when a bulk of anime series have confirmed slots for April 2009. OVA or movies have not been included in this list. Don't ask about Haruhi, KyoAni will release it when its ready - I'm hoping it'll debut this spring, but that's just wishful thinking.

Note: This list is final, unless if there are any last minute announcements.

Update 11/13: Konnichiwa Anne and Queen's Blade are on the bubble as they have not yet been confirmed to begin airing this coming January. There is a possibility that they may begin airing in April for the Spring anime season.
Update 11/17: Z Mazinger added.
Update 11/20: Hatsukoi Limited added.
Update 12/3: Finalized. Hatsukoi Limited removed from list, doesn't look like it'll be airing this winter - a possible spring premiere.
Update 12/15: Finalized deux. MUNTO 3 swapped in, it's airing in this season after all, Queen's Blade is on the bubble as there's no word on whether it's going to be a late arrival or really going to air this spring.

If you rather see the whole wall of anime series airing this winter, check this link out ~ image is approx. 950KB.

Without further ado, I present to you the Winter 2009 anime season lineup (25 total):

Afro Samurai: Resurrection ~ Action
Afro "loses his way" and gets tired of killing, but wants to fulfill his destiny of being the world's number one warrior.

Akikan! / Empty Can! ~ Comedy/Romance
Based on the light novel of the same name, revolving around your typical high school boy named Kakeru Daichi who buys a can of soda from a vending machine. The can transforms into a girl and Kakeru names her "Melon", more of these "empty cans" appear. In order for all of them to survive, they need to be infused with carbon dioxide.

Asu no Yoichi! / Ashita no Yoichi! ~ Comedy/Romance
Yoichi, a boy 17 years of age, has completed swordplay training his father has given him, and since he does not have any more training for him, his father sends him off from the mountain where they reside to enroll into a dojo (place of martial arts training). At this dojo, there are four sisters that live there, and Yoichi begins some new training.

Axis Powers Hetalia ~ Comedy/Fantasy/Historical
Based on the popular web comic of the same name about world history where each character represents a certain characteristic/stereotype of each country. For example, Canada pours maple syrup over everything, America loves to eat pizza, etc.

Fresh PreCure! ~ Adventure/Comedy/Fantasy
Children's TV show about magical school girls, sequel to Yes! Precure 5 GoGo!.

Sims: Think Sailor Moon, that pretty much sums it up in a nutshell.

Genji Mongatari Sennenki Genji ~ Drama/Historical/Romance/Shoujo
It's based on a historical legend thousands of years old.

Hajime no Ippo Season II / Fighting Spirit S2 ~ Comedy/Drama/Sports
Guy who gets bullied by others gets the inspiration to take up boxing and be a professional boxer, picks up from the first season.

Kemono no Souja Erin ~ Drama/Fantasy/Mystery
Based on the novel of the same name, that seems to take place in a fantasy world with dragons, revolving around an abandoned child and her adventures.

Sims:This anime is also 50 episodes long, so that's a long one for ya.

Kokaku no Regios / Chrome Shelled Regios ~ Adventure/Fantasy/Sci-Fi
Based on the light novel, set in the distant future, global warming and pollution contaminate creatures and overtake the land forcing humans to live in mobile cities known as "regios".

Kuro Kami / Black God ~ Action/Drama/Seinen/Supernatural
Based on the manga, a manic girl gets involved with a guy's life after he looses his arm during an unexpected battle involving the girl.

Major S5 ~ Sports
Baseball, sports, fifth season. Homerun!

Sims: There's FIVE seasons of this!? Quite an impressive run.

Maria†Holic ~ Comedy/Romance
Kanako, a sophomore, enrolls in an all-girls school looking for her life partner among her classmates. She finds someone she's interested in, but doesn't know that this person is really a cross-dressing sadistic boy.

Sims: I. Don't. Know. What. To. Say. Blink Oh, I know: IT'S A TRAP!

Maria-sama ga Miteru Season 4 / The Virgin Mary is Watching Over You S4 ~ Slice of Life
Fourth season of Maria.

Minami-ke Okaeri / The Minami Family: Welcome Home ~ Comedy/Slice of Life
Three sisters depend on and help each other through life regarding various topics and activities from cooking to love confessions. The third season of the series and adaptation of Coharu Sakuraba's Minami-ke manga series.

Sims: Think of being it similar to Lucky Star, where both don't have plots, and Azumanga Daioh, for their crazy humor. Unlike these two series, Minami-ke has more than one season. If you saw both seasons, you'll know that season two (Minami-ke ~Okawari~) was more slice of life than comedy due to a production company change.

Munto 3: Sora wo Miageru Shoujo no Hitomi ni Utsuru Sekai ~ Fantasy
In English, that's The World Reflected in the Eyes of a Girl Looking Up at the Heavens. It's part of the Munto franchise, and an alternative retelling of the OVA (original video animation) Munto 2: Beyond the Walls of Time. However, unlike Munto 1 or 2, both were released as OVAs, Munto 3 will be aired as a TV series.

Animated by KyoAni. Where's my Haruhi season two, KyoAni? [/endrant]

Ride Back ~ Mecha/Sci-Fi
A girl and robot and their adventures set in the future during a time of anti-government student protests.

Shikabane Hime: Kuro / Corpse Princess: Black ~ Action/Horror
Second season of a machine-gun totting zombie girl who needs to kill 108 other zombies in order to go to Heaven.

Sims: Wow, the first season [Shikabane Hime: Aka / Corpse Princess: Red] is airing this fall, and already a second season?

Slayers Evolution-R ~ Adventure/Comedy/Fantasy
Fifth series of Slayers.

Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo ~ Adventure/Comedy/Sci-Fi
That's Girl who Leapt through Space, a Sunrise Original.

Sims: SUNRIIIIIISSSEEE!!!!

Tetsuwan Birdy Decode 2nd Season ~ Action/Comedy/Sci-Fi
Guy runs into girl before a big exam, girl is chasing a criminal, criminal kills guy, girl merges guy into her body to keep him alive. Continuation from first season.

Tower of Druaga - the Sword of Uruk ~ Adventure/Fantasy
Second season, revolves around a various groups of heroes to save or destroy the world during the summer.

Sims: Seems to be an interesting take on a fantasy genre, same genre as World Destruction.

Viper's Creed ~ Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi
Takes place in the mid 21st century after a devastating world war, revolves around a group of characters in the "Viper" unit of a private military company (PMC).

White Album ~ Romance
Based on a visual novel.

Z Mazinger ~ Action
Retelling of the classic mecha anime Mazinger Z set in the contemporary times ancient Greek mythology.

Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou ~ Supernatural
Second season anime based on Yuki Midorikawa's Natsume Yuujin-Choo shoujo ghost-story manga.

Sims: Heard it's very much like xxxHOLIC, Mushishi, and Ghost Hound.
SimsHsia
EZS Web Services
"I've reached field capacity!"
#2
Well now, looks like the 1-cours anime series for the fall season are almost complete. Some of them have been interesting, that, I'll leave for later discussion in another thread. The 2-cours anime series, however, continue to muster on until their completion before April 2009.

With that said, the above list has been finalized, the above is the 25 new anime series airing until its completion either before April 2009 when the Spring season begins, before June 2009 when the Summer season begins, or longer (i.e. Kemono no Souja Erin) depending on the running length of the show.

As for me, I'm definitely following Minami-ke as I enjoyed the first season very much, but the second season was disappointing - there's less comedy in the second compared to the first season - but, still, there were enjoyable moments.
EDIT: I plan to do weekly (or almost weekly) postings for Minami-ke. Since this is a slice of life anime, it'll be nice and easy, not as episodic as Toradora! or (gulp) Tales of the Abyss. I haven't reached a final decision yet, so I may or may not do this.

Akikan! I'm iffy on, I'll watch the first five episodes to get an impression on it. Asu no Yoichi!, I get a Zero no Tsukaima feel from it, I might pick that one up. Queen's Blade also a maybe. The rest that I'm even remotely interested in (Ride Back, Viper's Creed, etc) I'll see when I have some free time.
EDIT: After reading the first three volumes of the manga, I was spot on with getting a Zero no Tsukaima feeling from Asu no Yoichi! I will definitely be following this series.

Anyways, there's the Spring 2009 list that's in draft mode, there's certainly some interesting ones that will be airing come April. Hayate the Combat Butler Season 2 and Fullmetal Alchemist 2, anyone?
SimsHsia
EZS Web Services
"I've reached field capacity!"
#3
Late arrival to the list: Munto 3: Sora wo Miageru Shoujo no Hitomi ni Utsuru Sekai, animated by the famous Kyoto Animation (KyoAni for short). Yeah, they're still teasing Haruhi Suzumiya fans by still not announcing anything about its second season. Oh well.

Queen's Blade is on the bubble, it may begin airing later in the season or airing this spring, no final word on it. Until then, it's tentative for a winter '09 airing.
SimsHsia
EZS Web Services
"I've reached field capacity!"
#4
Queen's Blade is officially airing in April. I have a friend who's disappointed about this news.

Anyways, some thoughts about this season's anime offerings I've watched so far:

Akikan! — Apart from some animation quality issues (i.e. eyeballs out of sync), over usage of man-service in the first episode (I'm still recovering from it) and the voice actor of Lelouch (Code Geass) as the main character I'm iffy on this one. It has your usual cliches of boy meets girl, girl lives in his house, and guy has childhood friend who likes him.

Asu no Yoichi! — I read the manga when I heard it was being adapted for a TV series just to find out what it was about and ended up enjoying it. Turns out it was something I was looking forward to watch.

Maria†Holic — A.k.a the TRAP anime. OK, to expand on the synopsis from above, Kanako enrolls in an all-girls school and is greeted by Mariya who is Kanako's ideal mate. Turns out "Mariya" is a crossdressing boy. I watched this on a whim, and turns out I actually enjoyed it. Is it because Kanako gets a nosebleed whenever she is greeted by other classmates and fantasizes about them, the fact that Mariya is continuously monitoring Kanako because she knows Mariya's true gender? Kanako's inner thoughts? The character traits? Mariya playing "her" maid as a guitar in the OP? All of the above? I can't decide which to pick. By the way, the opening sequence is really something... EDIT: YouTube's been removing videos relating to Maria Holic, search it up and you'll find one eventually.

Minami-ke Okaeri — Yup, the character designs are a combination of the first and second seasons but it took a while to get used to this new design. It's too early to tell, but still it's much better than the second season. I just hope they don't try too hard, as they did in the second, to surpass the outstanding first season. Well, more Hosaka-madness, Mako-chan traps and the Minami brothers are back.

Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo — That's "Girl who Leapt Through Space", the title word plays on an animated film titled Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo (or Girl who Leapt Through Time). If anyone would care to explain to me, after watching the first two episodes, what this ORIGINAL series is about please feel free to indulge me. EDIT: More information came in, basically Earth has overcrowded and humans (and chibi-robots) now live in colony clusters in space. Looks like another Sunrise logic-buster! Since this is an ORIGINAL series, there is no manga or light novels to get a feel or what to expect from this series. Oh, and it's from Sunrise, so it's expected. EDIT: By the way, I guess I can say this: Lelouch (from Code Geass) is reborn as an A.I robot called LEOPARD, and with some help from a girl named Akiha Shishidou, to, quite possibly, take over the galaxy. Word to the wise: this show is not to be taken seriously, turn off your brains while watching. Thank you.
EDIT2: The plot for this anime is revealed after watching the seventh episode.
SimsHsia
EZS Web Services
"I've reached field capacity!"
#5
Alright, a few weeks ago I watched the first two episodes of Sora wo Miageru Shoujo no Hitomi ni Utsuru Sekai *gasp* or MUNTO for short (it's appropriate to say Munto TL;DR, I guess). Since I haven't seen the first two OVAs, I'm in no position yet to put my thoughts in it. I guess you can call by a KyoAni fanboy, whatever KyoAni makes, it must be good...maybe.

I watched the first few episodes of Chrome Shelled Regios just yesterday. Here's the general idea of the show: high school kids, in numbered platoons, battle freakishly huge monsters to protect their population (all living in "regios" or mobile city) and get a vital resource. In addition, each platoon battle other platoons for their ranking. The anime is very RPG-ish, and has a good soundtrack during battles or periods of come-uppance/action. There's quite a few girls (possible harem alert) going after the main character, Layfon. For one, that girl at his home "regios" named Lilin kissed him, another he saved on his first day by the name of Mei-Shen, possibly Felli, the psychokinesist in his platoon, and Nina, the captain of his platoon. This anime looks promising, if only for the action and the soundtrack. Seriously "Yasashii Uso" (or Gentle Lies) by Chrome Shell — which I helped someone over at MAL figure out that the band consists of five members, three male and two female; where the male members all look super highly feminine — the ending song, is just awesome. Felli's really something in this anime, I'll tell you that.

Watched the first few episodes of Hetalia Axis Powers, despite its length being five minutes long and recent boycotting of TV broadcasting in Japan by South Korea and instead is a webcast with the usual YouTube-like video quality, it looks promising. The show's mainly centered around Italy and Germany during WWII, but starts off with the waning events of WWI. The anime takes on a very cheery note of WWII: Italy is always bullied by his older brothers (Holy Roman Empire, for instance). During WWI, Italy is found by Germany and is taken prisoner. However, Italy notes in a song to Germany that he doesn't mind being a prisoner because the food there is much better than Britain's. Then WWII comes around, and Italy wants to be an ally with Germany. The first thing Germany does upon hearing this: boots Italy out, but then suddenly he returns only to say that he was booted from the other side. So, in the end Germany and Italy team up together and become friends...err...looks like Germany will have a stomachache due to Italy always cooking pasta all the time! Hilarious. Oh, and PASTAAA!

Next up, I'll have to check out RideBack. Despite it's name having the potential of an innuendo, it's something about mecha-motorcycles and racing? I don't know. I'm still deciding on White Album...maybe I'll watch when I'm not following 15 animes at once.

EDIT:

Ah, yes, how could I forget about Suzumiya Haruhi-chan no Yuuutsu (that's with three u's, and that's The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya-chan) and Nyoron Churuya-san webisodes premiering on KADOKAWA's YouTube channel. Despite Haruhi-chan's "Nice Boat" School Day's anime parody with the message "It wasn't finished" last Friday, 20 hours later, the real 5 minute-long first episode of both Haruhi-chan and Churuya-san premiered with a heavy voice actor line up: the original voice cast. It's certainly nice to see Haruhi, Kyon, Yuki, Mikuru, Itsuki, and Kyon's sister once again ... although in chibi-er proportions.
SimsHsia
EZS Web Services
"I've reached field capacity!"
#6
Managed to watch two episodes of RideBack. The general story takes place in the future at Musashino University where the main character, Ogata Rin, is locally well-known ballet dancer and recently enrolled student in the theater department. However, reasons unknown to most people, Rin has quit being a ballet dancer two years prior to attending university due to an injury she sustained during her first performance as lead dancer. Deviating slightly here to the general background story, a group known as the GGP are utilizing mechas to successfully overthrow superpowers during a time of war. It is a time of change and revolution, but life continues on regardless of this fact. Continuing on before the deviation: Rin eventually finds herself in a RideBack club and is offered by one of the members to ride back on a RideBack Type L "Fuego", a voice-command recognition mechanized motorcycle that can transform from standing to spread legs form, which she became accustomed to rather quickly despite some issues.

This anime has both action and racing elements to it and the first two episodes had me saying "woah" a few times when Rin was on her RideBack performing stunts. Now, even though Rin is wearing a dress, ladies shouldn't wear such an article of clothing when riding what amounts of a motorcycle - but with the angle of depiction for this anime, there weren't any full-blown flashes of her undergarments like in some other anime series (i.e. Shakugan no Shana, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, etc). Well, looks like Rin will be involving herself in several RideBack races and the GGP will become a bigger part of the plot soon in this 12 episode series. I'll close this out with a short note about the opening song, "RideBack", by MELL ... the song is sung entirely in English, but it's very difficult to tell what the lyrics are. The official lyrics were released a couple of days ago so now the song is understandable; by the way there's also a Japanese version of "RideBack".

---

Watched the first three episodes of Kurokami or Black God. We're following Keita who, unfortunately, lost his mother due to an accident because she saw someone who looked exactly like her. Risa, a classmate of his who sits near him, and Mayu, his neighbor's daughter, suffered the same fate as well. There is a terminology used in this anime that describe people who look the same, no not doppelgangers, but "doppeliners" where there are "roots" and "subs". Each doppeliner has varying luck, and if one "sub" is annihilated, the "root" absorbs the luck from the "sub". Keita meets Kuro, out of all places, at a road-side ramen shop where the latter barely has any money to buy any food so Keita offers his bowl of ramen to her. Kuro isn't an ordinary girl, when she is unexpected walloped by some large dude, she unleashes a fury of punches at him to later leave Keita behind vowing she's going to kill her brother who's somehow involved with these killings.

Originally, I didn't want to watch this anime until I heard it was something like Shakugan no Shana (SnS), and I wanted to judge it for myself. Yes, it has certain elements that are found in both series: a.) one girl who has black hair and black eyes but can transform into rage mode with red hair and red eyes; b.) an unsuspecting normal boy who becomes involved with girl; c.) death is seen in the first episode; d.) girl saves boy's life; e.) terminology introduced with little to some explanation; and f.) 24 episodes long. Unlike SnS, there doesn't seem to be any revivals of those who perished due to the element of doppelgangers who live completely separate lives. Kuro's likeable, she's able to fight and is not as irritated at the main character like Shana. Keita sort of reminds me of mixture of Shirou from Fate/stay night and Yuji from SnS where they don't want to fight and yet he somehow has a supernatural power because something was transferred into his body. To note, they are simultaneously airing Kurokami in both Japanese and English dubs, although since I've been spoiled too much by viewing anime in their original Japanese dubs, you'll know which dub I'm watching.
SimsHsia
EZS Web Services
"I've reached field capacity!"


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