Genkina hito’s Autumn 2013 Anime Preview Selection Part 1 – Definite Picks

If I had to describe anime in one word it would be diverse. The large numbers of titles released every season contain a highly varied number of concepts. Some of them may be sequels or plumb familiar themes and settings but there is usually something to set them apart and make them unique. It’s all down to the efficient production model the Japanese entertainment industry uses where any manga/light novels gets treated to a multi-format adaptation. In recent years we have slowly edged out of a trough of moe into some more sophisticated titles that can be described as post-modern or meta-narratives with interesting characters. Compared to anime alone (not including films or dorama), western television is absolutely unimaginative. Diversity best sums up what’s on offer with the Autumn 2013 Season.

I finished the Anime UK News Autumn 2013 Anime Guide last week Tuesday while listening to the soundtrack to Hana and Alice non-stop. It took a while (hours) what with checking the autumn 2013 anime season guide (on the right) and looking up things on Anime News Network/MAL and news reports I do for AUKN. The spring and summer seasons had a large number of titles but the autumn one blows them all away with over forty. There are some sequels and a lot of manga/LN adaptations but after a disappointing summer season (the only stand-out anime was the incredible Watamote) I felt energised by the variety and imagination on offer with the autumn season which starts September/October. Here are my selections:

Essentials (I’ll see it through to the bitter end!):

Coppelion             

Original Manga Creator: Tomonori Inoue, Director: N/A, Series Composition: N/A, Scripts: N/A, Character Designer: N/A, Chief Animation Director: N/A

Voice Actors: Haruka Tomatsu (Ibara Naruse), Kana Hanazawa (Aoi Fukasaku), Satomi Akesaka (Taeko Nomura), Yui Horie (Kanon Ozu), Rikiya Koyama (Onihei Mishima), Maaya Sakamoto (Shion Ozu)

Studio: N/A

It is the year 2036 and a nuclear accident has caused Tokyo to suffer radioactive contamination which has resulted in the city being put under a blockade. Three high school girls have been sent to the city. These girls aren’t normal, though since they have been selected for this deadly mission because they are the results of genetic engineering which has made them impervious to radioactivity. They are a special forces unit codenamed “Coppelion,” in the 3^rd Division of Japan’s Ground Self-Defence Force and they know how to use guns!

This was the first title to get my attention thanks to the detailed key visuals and a quick read of the manga which is by Tomonori Inoue which is full of girls and guns and…, yes, pantsu. It was originally going to be adapted a few years ago but was put on hold after the Tohoku Earthquake and Tusnami which hit Japan on March 11^th, 2011 and all of the subsequent problems with Fukushima Daichi nuclear power plant. The nuclear problems haven’t gone away as news reports and films reveal (Land of Hope review last week) but inappropriate or not, I think this manga is definitely due an adaptation because it’s pretty action-packed and a lot of fun.

The trailer is full of great animation and music. Three girls taking out giant robots and stealth bombers with rocket launchers? I totally want to see this now!

There are no details of the staff list at the time of writing but it will be updated when that info comes to light. The Japanese vocal cast has been announced with industry vets Maaya Sakamoto (beautiful but tough Funamushi in Fuse: A Gun Girl’s Detective Story), Haruka Tomatsu (the big existentialist speech giver Older Sister Maid in Maouyu), Yui Horie (the sexy and deadly Masako Natsume in Mawaru Penguindrum) and Kana Hanazawa (the so cute I’d die for her Mayuri Shiina in Steins;Gate) filling the lead roles.