Spring 2012 Anime Preview

This is a preview of the shows that are expected to air in the Spring 2012 block. This season is packed full to bursting with idols, bishonen and moe from major players like Sunrise and Studio DEEN. Here’s your chance to see the shows and some of the talent behind them.

Accel World

Synopsis: The story of Accel World takes place in 2046 and follows bullied middle school student Haruyuki who encounters Kuroyukihime, the prettiest girl in school. She hands him a mysterious piece of software which turns Haruyuki from the weakest of the school caste to the strongest, a “Burst Linker”, a knight defending a princess.

Staff: Masakazu Obara (Director), Hiroyuki Yoshino (Series Composition), KOTOKO (Theme Song), May’n (Theme Song) Voice Actors: Sachika Misawa, Yuki Kaji, Aki Toyosaki, Shintaro Asanuma

Studio: Sunrise

Acchi Kocchi

Synopsis: A romance concerning two high shoolers named Tsumiki and Io. Tsumiki is a tsundere and has a crush on Io who is unaware of her feelings. Others around them are more than aware and love to torment the two.

Staff: Fumitoshi Oizaki (Director), Kaoru Suzuki (Assistant Director), Nobuhiko Amakawa (Series Composition), Atsuko Watanabe (Character Design)

Voice Actors: Rumi Ōkubo, Nobuhiko Okamoto, Kaori Fukuhara, Shintaro Asanuma

Studio: AIC

AKB0048

Synopsis: It is the 21st century and after a devastating war that has left the Earth’s environment destroyed humanity departs for the stars and starts anew under the control of the Super Galactic Alliance. Unfortunately the Alliance has taken extreme measures to enforce their rule with entertainment and songs being censored, regulated and eventually banned due to their emotional impact. For one idol group this situation cannot stand and they launch secret performances, bravely risking arrest and worse. That idol group is AKB0048.

Staff: Yoshima Hiraike (Director), Shoji Kawamori (Director), Mari Okada (Series Composition)

Voice Actors: Sayaka Nakaya, Amina Satō, Sawako Hata, Sumire Satō, Haruka Ishida, Kumi Yagami, Mayu Watanabe, Karen Iwata, Mao Mita

Studio: Satelight

Dusk Maiden of Amnesia

Synopsis: The story takes place in Seikyou Academy, an old school which has been undergone numerous renovations over the years and has become labyrinthine. It is also the site of strange events and well-known ghost stories including a mystery surrounding how a girl named Yuuko died due to a mysterious occurrence. One day, while lost in the school, a freshman named Niiya Teiichi stumbles into Yuuko. He has the ability to see her in spirit form and he listens to her story about how she became a ghost and lost all of her memories and vows that he together they seek the cause of her death with the help of a mystery solving club set up by Niiya.

Staff: Shin Ōnuma (Director), Katsuhiko Takayama (Series Composition), Yukiko Ban (Character Design, Chief Aniation Director), Konomi Suzuki (Theme Song)

Voice Actors:  Sayaka Nakaya, Amina Satō, Sawako Hata, Sumire Satō, Haruka Ishida, Kumi Yagami, Mayu Watanabe, Karen Iwata, Mao Mita

Studio: Silver Link

Eureka Seven Ao

Synopsis: Eureka Seven Ao has follows to major protagonists: Ao Fukai is a kid on the island of Iwado. His mother and father are missing and he lives with an old doctor named Toshio and he’s about to enter middle school. Naru Arata is Ao’s friend. She lives with her father, older sister, and grandmother. She also has a “Yuta” power awakened within her due to an incident when she was young. She might need to use her power because a mysterious creature is attacking the Scrub Coral life-form on the island and Ao is part of a Japanese military fight-back.

Staff: Tomoki Kyoda, Kenichi Yoshida, Yasushi Muraki, Shoji Kawamori

Voice Actors: Yuutaro Honjou, Kanako Miyamoto

Studio: Bones

Fate/Zero Second Season

Summary: The second series continues charting the events of the Fourth Holy Grail War.

Staff: Ei Aoki (Director), Atsuhiro Iwakami (Producer), Luna Haruna, Kalafina (Theme Song)

Voice Actors: Ayako Kawasumi, Rikiya Koyama, Jouji Nakata, Sayaka Ohara

Studio: ufotable

Ginga e Kickoff!!

Synopsis: Based on the 2006 novel Galaxy World Cup by Hiroto Kawabata the story follows a boy who was in a soccer team until it was disbanded due to the lack of interest. When he meets a female professional soccer player it inspires him to bring the team back.

Staff: Konosuke Uda (Director), Takashi Yamada (Series Composition)

Voice Actors: N/A

Studio: TYO Animation

Haiyoru! Nyaruko-Chan

Synopsis: Nyaruko is a formless Cthulhu type deity of chaos known as Nyarlathotep who takes the form of a silver-haired girl. Mahiro Yasaka is a normal high school boy. One night Mahiro is chased by aliens when Nyaruko steps in.

Staff: Tsuyoshi Nagasawa (Director), Noburo Kimura (Script, Series Composition), MONACA (Music)

Voice Actors: Kana Asumi (Nyarlko), Eri Kitamura (Mahiro), Matsuki Miyu (Cthuko)

Studio: Xebec

Hiiro no Kakera

Synopsis: Tamaki Kasuga is a high school girl who is staying with her grandmother in the ountains due to her parents working overseas. On the day she arrives in the village she encounters a strange white ball-like creature with sticks for ibs that runs off. Tamaki chases after it but gets attacked by slimes but a mysterious boy named Takuma Onizaki rescues her. Tamaki soon gets involved with her family history in order to find out what is going on.

Staff: Bob Shirohata (Director), Yone Kazuki (Original Character Design), Naoyuki Onda (Chief Animation Director), Fujita Maiko (Theme Song)

Voice Actors: Kousuke Okano, Hiroki Shimowada, Marie Miyake, Daisuke Namikawa

Studio: Studio Deen

Hyou-ka: You Can’t Escape

Synopsis: Oreki Hotaro is a passive high school boy who enters the classic literature club as recommended by his older sister. There he meets a Chitanda Eru, Fukube Satoshi and Ibara Mayaka and together they investigate a mysterious case from thirty years earlier which inoled previous members of the club.

Staff: Yasuhiro Takemoto (Director), Futoshi Nishiya (Character Design), Kouhei Tanaka (Music), Honobu Yonezawa (Original Creator)

Voice Actors: Satomi Satou, Daisuke Sakaguchi, Ai Kayano, Yuuichi Nakamura

Studio: Kyoto Animation

Jormungand

Synopsis: Koko Hekmatyar is an unofficial arms dealer for HCLI, a weapons manufacturer. As an unofficial seller she must avoid the authorities of different countries because her work is illegal under international law. To protect her she has a team of bodyguards who are mostly ex-military. The latest recruit is Jonah, a seemingly emotionless and highly skilled child soldier who hates weapons dealers. As he follows Koko and her bodyguards he is searching for the weapons dealer responsible for the death of his family in order to exact revenge.

Staff: Motonaga Keitarou (Director), Yousuke Kuroda (Script, Series Composition), Mami Kawada (Opening Theme Song), Nagi Yanagi (End Theme Song)

Voice Actors: Shizuko Itou (Koko), Mutsumi Tamura (Jonah), Unsho Ishizuka (Lehm), Sayaka Ohara (Sofia)

Studio: White Fox

Kimi to Boku

Synopsis: The Kimi to Boku saga continues but with a half-Japanese transfer student named Chizuru Tachibana joining the group.

Staff: Kiichi Hotta (Original Creator), Elements Garden Music

Voice Actors: Ryohei Kimura, Kouki Uchiyama, Toshiyuki Toyonaga, Miyu Irino

Studio: J.C. Staff

Kore wa Zombie Desu Ka? Of the Dead

Synopsis: High school boy Ayumu Aikawa leads a normal life until he is killed by a serial killer and turned into a zombie by a necromancer named Eucliwood Hellscythe. Ayumu must serve his necromancer master as well as a magical girl named Haruna who he strips of her power. He must also battle Megalo the anti-magical girl power.

Staff: Takaomi Kanasaki (Director), Makoto Uezo (Series Composition), Rie Yamaguchi (Theme Song), Iori Nomizu (Theme Song)

Voice Actors: Iori Nomizu, Youko Hikasa, Aya Gouda, Junji Majima

Studio: Studio DEEN

Kuroko no Basuke

Synopsis: Taiga Kagami has just enrolled into Seirin High School where he meets Tetsuya Kuroko who plays on the school’s basketball team. In the past Kuroko was the unsung member of an elite basketball team known as Generation of Miracles. Now Kagami and Kuroko both aim to head to the inter-high school championship but one thing stands in their way – Generation of Miracles.

Staff: Shunsuke Tada (Director), Noboru Takagi (Script), Tadatoshi Fujimaki (Original Creator), Granrodeo (Theme Song)

Voice Actors: Yuuki Ono, Kensho Ono, Chiwa Saito

Studio: Production I.G.

Medaka Box

Synopsis: Medaka Kurokami is elected as Student Council President with a huge 98% of the vote. The first thing she does is create a suggestion box, which is later called the “Medaka Box”. There’s one problem. Medaka is the only member of the student council and the only way she can solve all of the suggestions in the box is by getting others to join. Her first recruit is childhood friend Hitoyoshi Zenkichi, followed by former judo club member Akune Kouki and swimmer Mogana Kikaijima. Together they help solve problems ranging from finding lost pets and writing love letters to beating up hooligans.

Staff: Shouji Saeki, Isin Nisio, Akira Akatsuki

Voice Actors: Yuuki Ono, Aki Toyosaki

Studio: Gainax

Mysterious Girlfriend X

Synopsis: Tsubaki is your relatively normal high school kid until he meets a strange transfer student named Mikoto Urabe who is antisocial and likes to sleep during class breaks. One day, Tusbaki tries to wake her up and accidentally tastes her drool and becomes addicted to it…. which leads to him going out with her and discovering more about her which includes her second hobby of carrying around scissors in her panties and cutting paper flowers.

Staff: Ayumu Watanabe (Director), Deko Akao (Series Composition), Kenichi Konishi (Character Designs)

Voice Actors: Nobuhiko Okamoto, Chiaki Omigawa

Studio: Hoods Entertainment

Natsuiro Kiseki /Summer Coloured Miracle

Synopsis: N/A

Staff: Seiji Mizushima (Director), Sadayuki Murai (Script), Tatsuhiko Urahata (Script, Series Composition), Hiromi Kikuta (Sound Director)

Voice Actors: Sphere – Minako Kotobuki, Haruka Tomatsu, Ayahi Takagaki, Aki Toyosaki

Studio: Sunrise

Ozuma

Synopsis: Set on a future earth where the environment has been wrecked by the sun’s radiation, the main protagonist is Sam Coin, a trader in one of Earth’s many deserts. When he saves the life of a beautiful woman named Maya he finds himself chased by government forces and their cloned soldier named “Ideal Children”.

Staff: Ryosuke Takahashi (Director), Takahiro Ikezoe (Director), Junki Takegami (Script), F.T. Island (Theme Song)

Voice Actors: Tetsuya Kakihara, Atsuko Tanaka, Rie Tanaka, Takurou Nakakuni

Studio: LandQ Studios

Phi Brain: Kami no Puzzle 2

Synopsis: Kaito Daimon is a teenager who loves to solve puzzles. Things get better when he acquires an item called the Armband of Orpheus that allows him to fully utilize the power of his brain. It comes with a dangerous side-effect which leaves him drained of energy. He gets into Root Academy as an honor student and there he confronts a secret organisation named POG who create deadly Sage Puzzles to protect invaluable treasures and challenge the select few individuals capable of facing them.

Staff: Kiichi Hotta Junichi Satou (Director), Hajime Yatate (Creator), May’n, Natsumi Kiyoura (Theme Song)

Voice Actors: Chiwa Saito, Kouki Miyata, Shintaro Asanuma, Satsuki Yukino, Kaori

Studio: Sunrise

Pretty Rhythm Dear My Future

Synopsis: The story focusses on a new form of entertainment named Prism Show which takes place on ice. Prism Stars are idols who take to the ice and sing and display their fashion sense. Aira Harune and Rizumu Amamiya are two of these stars and they aim to be the best. The second series takes place three years after the first when a five-girl Korean idol unit take the roles of rivals.

Staff: N/A

Voice Actors: Sayuri Hara, Kana Asumi

Studio: Nomad. Tatsunoku Productions

Queen’s Blade: Rebellion

Synopsis: After the 30th Queen’s Blade tournament Claudette takes the crown. At first she governs the country well by abolishing the heavy taxes and the aristocracy but things turn sour when she repeals Queen’s Blade and enacts unpopular laws. Brave knight Annelotte musters together a rebel army and declares war against Claudette.

Staff: Yukiko Ishibashi (Character Design), Rin Sin (Character Design), Masaru Yokoyama (Music)

Voice Actors: N/A

Studio: Arms

Naruto Super Determined: Rock Lee no Seishun Full-Power Ninden

Synopsis: Rock Lee no Seishun Full-Power Ninden, a spin-off from Naruto, which focusses on popular character Rock Lee.

Staff: Masahiko Murata (Director)

Voice Actors: Yoichi Masukawa

Studio: Studio Pierrot

Saint Seiya New Omega

Synopsis: Thirteen year old Koga has assumed the role of Saint of the Pegasus constellation and takes up the role of warrior for the goddess Athena and must save her from Mars.

Staff: Morio Hatano (Director), Yoshihiko Umakoshi (Charater Design), Reiko Yoshida (Scripts)

Voice Actors: N/A

Studio: Toei Animation

Sakamichi no Apollon

Synopsis: It is the 1960s and the story focuses on Kaoru Nishimi, a smart but naive young boy who has had to move around Japan a lot due to his father’s job. His circumstances make him something of an outcast but at his latest school he starts to get close with class president, Mukae Ritsuko, and bad boy Sentaro Kawabuchi who tends to skip class and get into fights. What unites the three is their shared love of jazz!

Staff: Shinihiro Watanabe (Director), Yoko Kanno (Music), Yuki Nobuteru (Character Design), Yoshimitsu Yamashita (Chief Animation Director), Ayako Kato (Script), Yuko Kakihara (Script)

Voice Actors: N/A

Studio: Studio Tezuka, MAPPA

Saki: Achiga-hen – Episode of Side-A

Synopsis: The Achiga Girls’ Academy once had a mighty mah-jong club but it was disbanded after a defeat. Shizuno Takakamo wants to revive it after being inspired by her friend Nodoka Haramura and her achievements which are broadcast on television.

Staff: Manabu Ono (Director), Kenji Setou (Co-director), Tatsuhiko Urahata (Series Composition), Ritz Kobayashi (Original Creator)

Voice Actors: Nao Touyama, Kana Hanazawa, MAKO

Studio: Studio Gokumi/Lantis

Sankarea

Synopsis: Furuya is a high school boy with an obsession. That obsession is zombies. He collects anything connected to the living dead be it movies, games and figures. He’s also only interested in zombie girls. So when his cat dies, Furuya uses an ancient book of the occult to raise it from the dead. At the same moment when the idol of a nearby all girl’s school walks by his experiment, wishing to die and be reborn as a different person….

Staff: Mitsuru Hattori (Original Creator), Kyuuta Sakai (Character Design), nano.RIPE (Teme Song), Yukari Hashimoto (Music)

Voice Actors: Ryohei Kimura, Maaya Uchida, Sayuri Yahagi

Studio: Studio Deen, Lantis

Sengoku Collection

Synopsis: This historical anime story takes place during the tumultuous period of Japan’s history known as the Sengoku Era. Various factions strive for power and part of this struggle is the search for treasures that contain God of War Cards. Two major figures from this period are Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu. And they have both been reimagined as female versions!

Staff: Keiji Gotou (Director), Shinjuurou Mitaka (Series Composition)

Voice Actors: N/A

Studio: Brains Base, NAS

Shining Hearts: Shiwase no Pan

Synopsis: After a great storm a mysterious girl named Kaguya is washed up on the island of Wyndaria. She encounters a swordsman named Rick who works on a bakeryand he finds out that Kaguya has lost her memory and emotions. Things get worse for Rick because the island comes under attack from pirates. Rick, along with his bakery co-workers, decide to kill two birds with one stone and save the island and recover Kaguya’s memories.

Staff: Itsuro Kawasaki (Director, Script, Series Composition) Tony Taka (Original Character Design), Ike Nobutaka (Art Direction)

Voice Actors: Houko Kuwashima, Shiori Mikami, Hiroshi Kamiya, Mai Aizawa

Studio: Production I.G.

Space Brothers

Synopsis: Two brothers, the eldest named Mutta and the youngest named Hibito, once saw what they thought was a UFO heading to the moon and decide to become astronauts. Only Hibito makes it while Mutta lives a traditional life working for a car company. Until he gets fired and finds it hard to get a job. Mutta decides to reignite his dreams.

Staff: Ayumu Watanabe (Director), Chuuya Koyama (Original Creator), Toshiyuki Watanabe (Music), Kato Hiroshi (Art Director)

Voice Actors: Kenn, Hiroaki Hirata, Masako Ikeda, Miyuki Sawashiro

Studio: A-1 Pictures

Tsuritama

Synopsis: Adolescence, sci-fi and fishing – Tsuritama concerns the lives of four high school boys on the island of Enoshima. The first, Yuki Sanada, lives with his French grandmother and is uncommunicative and has not got a single friend. One day he meets Haru, a boy who thinks he is an alien and is visiting earth to indulge his love of fishing. They are soon joined by Natsuki and the mysterious Indian Akira who has a friend named Tapioca. Who is a duck. Just as they happen to kick things off together the island becomes the stage of an event that will affect the earth.

Staff: Kenji Nakamura (Director), Toshiya Oono (Series Composition), Atsuya Uki (Character Design), Kuricorder Quartet (Music)

Voice Actors: Miyu Irino, Ryota Ohsaka, Kouki Uchiyama, Tomokazu Sugita

Studio: A-1 Pictures

Upotte

Synopsis: This anime follows the bizarre adventures of a new teacher at a school where the students are actually assault rifles that have taken the form of moe girls.

Staff: Takao Kato (Director), Naruhisa Arakawa (Series Composition), Takaaki Suzuki (Military History Advisor), Kitsune Tennouji (Original Creator)

Voice Actors: Iori Nomizu, Misuzu Togashi, Misato, Kaori Sadohara

Studio: Xebec

Zetman

Synopsis: Jin is a poor kid living with his grandfather and other destitute people near a river. The only thing strange is the angel mark on his hand. Then, one day, his life changes forever when a monster known as a ‘Player’ appears and starts to massacre the riverside residents. Jin has to do something and transforming into Zet might be a good idea.

Staff: Osamu Nabeshima (Director), Katsura Masakazu (Original Manga)

Voice Actors: N/A

Studio: TMS Entertainment