So last year I posted up an early list of the anime that would be airing in the winter and from those descriptions, things didn't look to be very promising. Fortunately, after I had a chance to watch the new shows, it turns out that the winter season is turning out to be better than I had originally thought. Anyway, here are some of my thoughts on the new winter lineup: 
 

Beelzebub 

Production: Studio DEEN

Let’s make this clear from the onset: Beelzebub is a shounen comedy that’s in the vein of something like Gintama, but with a baby that happens to be the son of a demon king. That alone probably already means it’s sort of a love or hate type of show. If you like the type off-beat, wacky, sometimes nonsensical humor of Gintama, you’ll probably like this show. Otherwise, well you’ll probably hate it. Personally I found the first episode to be pretty damn funny at times though the problem with these shows is always maintaining the laughs throughout its run time. Even with Gintama, there were spurts were I kinda of got tired of the style of humor and had to take a break. Hopefully since Beelzebub is only slated for 12 episodes, we shouldn’t run into this type of problem. 

Dragon Crisis

Premiere: Jan 10th

Fractale

Premiere: Jan 14th

Production: A-1 Pictures, Ordet

Something about Fractale’s animation style and fantasy backdrop reminds me of Studio Ghibli’s past works. While this is definitely a plus in my book, the show itself, however, doesn’t quite deliver as I thought it might have in the previews--at least not yet. As you may or may not be aware, director Yutaka Yamamoto has said in the past that he was “putting his life on the line” to make this anime happen and from what I’ve seen of Fractale so far, it definitely doesn’t live up to that hype. Still, this is an original series (always a selling point in anime these days) by a director responsible for the likes of Haruhi Suzumiya and Kannagi so I’m definitely looking forward to the rest of the episodes (it’s only 11 episodes long). And hey, the story (which seems so far to be a futuristic fantasy) at least looks to be very promising. 

Gosick 

Premiere: Jan 7th

Production: BONES

As a mystery series set in the early 20th century, Gosick certainly will attract some attention for it's non-typical setting as well as the fact that it's a mystery series (there aren't a lot of those around these days). Despite what can be considered a dull setting though, BONES isn't messing around when it comes to the storytelling as so far it's been fast-paced and to the point. This means that we should expect the narrative to be delivered quickly but it also means that there's somewhat of a lack of character development (so far at least). And as with any BONES series, the animation is well produced, despite the lack of any big action sequences. There's also some bits of wit and humor spread about as well, which is always nice to see in this type of show. I just hope that the mysteries in this series end up actually being mysteries, and not the type that you can see coming form a mile away.

  
 

Infinite Stratos 

Production: 8-Bit

Infinite Stratos is one of those shows that on the surface sounds like just another generic seinen sci-fi series with harem overtones. The first couple of episode definitely showcases the show’s use of classic anime tropes (really, Ichika is the ONLY male in the world that can operate an IS, really?) as well as a questionable backstory, but despite these shortcomings, I still quite enjoyed the first two episodes. The character designs are attractive, the animation is competent, and the overall story has some promise, and while I don’t particularly care for the designs of the IS themselves, the action sequences are fairly well done. Also, I appreciate how the relationship between Ichika and Houki are being handled so far and that Houki isn’t being portrayed as just your typical tsundere heroine. 

Kimi ni Todoke 2nd Season  

Premiere: Jan 4th

Production: Production I.G.

There’s not much that needs to be said about this series other than it’s basically a continuation of Kimi ni Todoke’s first season. Now to be honest, my feelings towards the first season were a little ambiguous. While I did enjoy the story and the characters, there were quite a few frustrating moments (mainly due to the pacing) that left me a little disappointed with the show. Still in the end, I did find the first season quite enjoyable to watch, I just hope Production I.G. paces the second season a little better than they did the first. 

Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? 

Premiere: Jan 11th

Production: Studio DEEN

Level E  

Premiere: Jan 11th

Production: Studio Pierrot/David Production

Level E is a strange adaptation as it’s based on a 13-year-old manga from the well-known creator of Yu Yu Hakusho and Hunter X Hunter. It’s also clearly designed to be more of a sci-fi comedy than anything else. As such some supposedly-serious parts of the show need to be looked at with this in mind (i.e. the ending reveal in the first episode isn’t what you think). Also, given that this is a Studio Pierrot show (co-produced with David Production which has assisted with shows like Code Geass and Soul Eater), the animation and character designs are surprisingly good. Still, the dry humor is probably not to everyone’s liking and as such, I’m still not quite sold on this series yet. Like any comedy series, the main hurdle will be to maintain the laughs through its 13-episode run. 

Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica  

Premiere: Jan 6th

Production: SHAFT

Wolverine  

Premiere: Jan 7th 

Wolverine is the second part of the four-part Marvel Anime project by Marvel and Madhouse. Wolverine was always one of my favorite comic book characters and with his background and skills, he’s probably one of the better fits as far as of anime inspired by western comic books goes. As such, I was somewhat looking forward to this series (despite Madhouse's disappointing Iron Man) and Madhouse didn’t let me down with the first episode. While I’m not a huge fan of the character designs (for the record, they are pretty typical Madhouse), the animation is pretty well done and the plot so far seems to be focused on Logan and his life before he joins the X-men. Also, so far we haven’t been given a heavy dose of backstory (I doubt many people watching anime don’t know who Wolverine is), though I expect that there will be some backstory told in the form of flashbacks at some point. But as enthusiastic as I am so far, I’m still keeping my expectations in check as a 12-episode series about Wolverine is probably going to run into a lot of backstory/pacing issues so we’ll have to see how Madhouse chooses to resolves this problem. 

Yumekui Merry  

Production: J.C. Staff 

About 30-seconds into the first episode, I said to myself: "Man, this is so J.C. Staff." Yes, indeed the animation is very typical of a J.C. Staff series (or better or for worse) and the story/premise has some intriguing elements to it (it’s certainly not your typical seinan premise) though not nearly enough is shown in the first episode for the viewer to gauge exactly what the hell is going on. Also, J.C. Staff is clearly being budget-conscientious with the production values, and as a result the animation can feel stiff (not a surprise to me as most of J.C. Staff’s efforts is probably still being put into Index) and unlively. Still, like I said the premise is not your typical seinan, Merry is a pretty kawaii character, and there were some pretty weird scenes involving cats so all and all my interest is peaked.