I am so freaking late with this one this time round. Lots of reasons contributed to the lateness of this post, largely personal or blog-related. Well, now it is here, despite two of these series already having aired their first episodes. Who gives a shit, most of it starts in January anyway. This time round too, I had to elicit the other guest writers’ opinions on the anime they want to or not want to watch, so the delay is somewhat explained too. This will be a rather long post.

Of course, my heartfelt thanks to T.H.A.T. Anime Blog’s winter anime preview, Hashihime’s winter anime preview and j1m0ne’s winter anime preview posts for the information regarding these anime series below. I will not be using summaries for any of them, only what each guest writer thinks, and what I think of the series.

Air dates are thanks to Hashihime again, in this post.
 

Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou
Airs: January 6 0100 hrs (Tokyo time; GMT +9, EST +14), Tuesday

Panther: I really liked Natsume Yuujinchou, it was the best anime of summer for me. Despite its subtle hints at gay families, Natsume Yuujinchou was something that talked about humanity through spirits and interactions with both spirits and humans in a very humane context. Definitely, I will be continuing with its second season.

Kona: I’m not watching since I haven’t seen the first season.

Littleneko: I haven’t seen the previous season so I won’t be watching this one either.

YuKi-To: I didn’t like the first season so I’m not keeping watch on this.
 

Viper’s Creed
Airs: January 6 2200 hrs, Tuesday

Panther: At first I was not planning to watch this, but seeing as how it is a military anime, I decided I would give this the 3-episode test treatment. As for seiyuu, it stars Toyoguchi Megumi, whom I only remember from one series I watched, which was Claymore (and she had a minor role), but she seems pretty famous in other series such as Gundam I think. It also has the gay Fukuyama Jun.

Kona: The picture didn’t really catch my attention at first. I might try it after I’ve tried the others.

Littleneko: The whole military stuff seems boring and the trailer wasn’t inspirational to me, so again no.

YuKi-To: Kind of hate the suit design but will watch the first episode to see how it’s like.
 

Kemono no Souja Erin
Airs: January 10 1825 hrs, Saturday

Panther: One of my most anticipated anime for this season, Kemono no Souja Erin (or Erin the Beast Controller) was done by the same female, Uehashi Nahoko, who wrote Seirei no Moribito (both in their respective manga versions), and is being animated by Production I.G. It is very likely that I will finish this entire 50-episode series. I have not heard of Hoshii Nanase, but apparently she is very famous in the J-drama and singing circles recently and now she takes the lead in an almost year-long anime series. The only name I recognize is veteran male seiyuu Ishida Akira.

Kona: Will see how it goes. Hopefully I.G. will do a good job with it and I need some fantasy!

Littleneko: There doesn’t seem a lot of fantasy related anime this winter, and I need at least 1 or 2 that will keep me warm until the snow melts, and with 50 episodes this one should do just fine. Production I.G. made some of my all-time favorite animes, like Blue. They also make beautiful animation, just look at Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles and Blood+. I also like the fact that a girl can control animals, this reminds me of a book series I like.

YuKi-To: The art doesn’t seem appealing, will watch episode 1 to check.
 

Genji Monogatari Sennenki
Airs: January 16 0045 hrs, Friday

Panther: Japanese history is not my usual style of anime, especially if it is too close to history without some supernatural element or something, like Tenpou Ibun Ayakashi Ayashi, so no.

Kona: Now, I’ve forgotten why I didn’t want to watch it…maybe because I didn’t have mood for history at that time I wrote that short comment. I’ll give it a try by watching the first episode, see how it goes.

Littleneko: This was actually the first anime I picked out of all the ones coming this winter. I think the drawing I saw of it was what made me go, “Ohh, I so want to watch this!” even though I didn’t know the premise of the story. So then I found out by myself and it seems to be a pretty good one. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is a favorite amongst anime fans. Now the animation studio that is producing this is Tezuka Productions. I’ve actually only watched one anime that they’ve ever helped on and that is Romeo X Juliet.

YuKi-To: Read tons of Genji manga, this looks boring so will pass.
 

Minami-ke Okaeri
Airs: January 5 0130 hrs, Monday (I made a mistake with the date but got the day right, wow, the date is right now)

Panther: Though the second season was disappointing compared to the first, and this season will again be animated by the same folks that did Okawari, I will still watch the third season and likely finish it since I really like the series for its potential. More Minami Haruka is always good too, and expect Hosaka to again come up with more weird stuff. Needless to say, the cast is strong once again, so there is no real need for me to touch on them.

Kona: Not watching because I have not seen Okawari. I did watch the first season though. XD

Littleneko: I’ll be watching this on the side because it seems sort of interesting.

YuKi-To: Didn’t watch the first 2 seasons, so will pass on this.

Related posts:

1. Winter 10 Anime Watchlist
2. Spring Anime 2008 Watchlist
3. Summer 2008 Anime Watchlist
4. Autumn 2008 Anime Watchlist
5. Anime Episodic Plan