Winter 2011 Anime Releases
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Last Updated: Jan 29 2010 - 9:19pm PST
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Note: Reminder that winter and summer are condensed guides.

Continuations:

Format:
Title in alphabetical order - number of eps if known
Recommended Groups: the (probably) better groups subbing it/group I'm watching/only group
Summary: taken from a site or the 1st ep if I can't find any info
My First Impressions: I give my first impressions honestly, I do have specific tastes and I don't expect you to think the same thing as me, but it's there for those who know whether they have similar or very different tastes from me.
Link: link to more info

Beelzebub - 12+? eps
Groups: SGKK & Tomodachi
Summary: The story follows the "strongest juvenile delinquent", Oga Tatsumi, a first year in "Ishiyama High" the school for delinquents. One day while sleeping next to a river he sees a man floating down it, he pulls him to shore and the man splits in half revealing a baby boy. This boy is the son of the demon king and he has been chosen as the one to raise it with the baby's demon maid Hilda. The story follows his life with the child and at the delinquent school. [from ANN]
My First Impressions: <definitely not watching unless recommended (tried ep1 and couldn't get through it)>
Link: ANN

Dragon Crisis! - 12 eps
Groups: WhyNot?
Summary: A normal high school boy Kisaragi Ryuji's peaceful life is turned into an adventure by the return of his second cousin Eriko. Ryuji and Eriko seize a relic box from a black broker. In the box, they find a red dragon girl Rose. In order to protect Rose from the black organization, Ryuji decides to fight using his power as a relic handler. [from ANN]
My First Impressions: <not watching unless recommended or I'm sick, at home, and have nothing else to watch>
Link: ANN

Freezing - 12+? eps
Groups: Hatsuyuki Fansub, Hiryuu Fansubs, WhyNot?
Summary: Set in a slightly futuristic world where Earth has been invaded and is at war with aliens from another dimension called the Nova, the story follows the adventures of a Japanese boy named Kazuya Aoi who enrolls for training at a special school for genetically modified girls called Pandoras who battle the aliens, and their male partners, called Limiters, who use a special power called "freezing" to limit their opponent's mobility. The protagonist makes the acquaintance of an unusual older girl named Bridgette L. Satellizer who appears to be the most powerful Pandora in her class, but has not yet chosen a male partner to be her Limiter, and in spite of the warnings of all his friends, he decides to be her Limiter. [from ANN]
My First Impressions: Watched ep2 and it seems fairly standard. You have your ice queen who can't touch guys, but the main guy is okay so she gets confused, he pursues her for innocuous reasons and will probably thaw the ice, yada yada... but it also has potential on the action bit. It's a bit reminicent of Elfen Lied though in that it has a lot of fanservice going on with the violent fighting. So, it's okay, but I don't have high hopes for it either.
Link: ANN

Fractale - 11 eps
Groups: Unlimited Translation Works, Umee
Summary: With the completion of the Fractale world administration system, humanity has, for the first time in history, reached the ultimate paradise in which living requires absolutely no effort. It is now 1000 years after the System's activation. Even now, the System still operates, but there is no one alive who understands it. The vast majority of people unquestioningly believe that its preservation is the sole condition to human happiness. Our story begins on an island in the far corner of the continent as Fractale begins to show signs of decay. Clain is a boy who lives an aimless life. One day, he helps a girl, Phryne, who is being pursued by unknown persons. However, she soon disappears before his very eyes, leaving only a broach. Contained within the broach is data, which projects itself as Nessa, an avatar in the form of a girl. Clain, together with Nessa, leaves on a journey in search of Phryne. In doing so, he will learn the truth behind the System. [from anidb]
My First Impressions: Very slice of life style. Things happen, but it still seems kind of slow paced. I don't know, there characters are weird, but it seems sort of interesting. Still, for whatever reason, I just couldn't get into it. <not continuing unless recommended>
Link: ANN

Gosick - 24 eps
Groups: Tsuki Fansubs
Summary: GOSICK takes place in 1924 in a small, made-up European country of Sauville. The story centers on Kazuya Kujo, the third son of a Japanese Imperial soldier, who is a transfer student to St. Marguerite Academy, where urban legends and horror stories are all the rage. There he meets Victorique, a mysterious yet beautiful and brilliant girl who never comes to class and spends her days reading the entire content of the library or solving mysteries that even detectives can't solve. [from ANN]
My First Impressions: It has potential, but Victorique is a strange character. She's you're bored gloomy girl one second, genius mystery case solver the next. I'll need another couple of eps to really tell if it's any good. <will update again later>
Link: ANN

Hourou Musuko - 11? eps
Groups: ANBU, Umee
Summary: Shuicihi Nitori appears to be a shy and quiet preteen boy, when he transfers to a new school he quickly makes friends with the tomboyish Yoshino Takatsuki who sits next to him. It soon becomes apparent that both Shucihi and Yoshino are more than simply a sensitive boy and masculine girl, they both are transgendered. Together they decide to take the first steps toward becoming the people they want to be. [from ANN]
My First Impressions: Watched ep1, looks like a quiet, slow kind of drama, but it's kind of interesting in the way that it approaches the subject of gender. There's something about the strange group of characters that appeals to me. I also find it interesting how the other characters react to the two main characters.
Link: ANN

IS: Infinite Stratos - 12? eps
Groups: Ayako
Summary: Infinite Stratos (IS), a weaponized exoskeleton system, has become the dominant tool of warfare and conflict. Unfortunately for the men in society, only women are able to operate Infinite Stratos... with very few exceptions. One of those exceptions is ORIMURA Ichika, an orphan raised by his older sister who is herself a famous IS pilot. When his compatibility with IS is discovered after he accidentally touches an IS at the age of 15, he's given a scholarship and enrolled in a school that specializes in training IS pilots. Which of course means an... intersting life surrounded by girls for this shy, unassuming boy. [from ANN]
My First Impressions: This seems like your typical school harem anime but with some mecha stuff. I was bored to tears in the first ep because there was just nothing to hold my interesting. The subs were not very good either, which didn't help. <not continuing unless recommended>
Other Comments: <Buncho> IS is just another harem anime with mecha and pretty boring
Link: ANN

Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? - 12+? eps
Groups: Underwater & Commie
Summary: Aikawa Ayumu is a normal high school boy. One day he is killed by a serial killer and revived as a zombie by a necromancer named Eucliwood Hellscythe. He starts to serve Eu as her guard but he happens to deprive the mahou shoujo Haruna of her magic power. Haruna orders Ayumu to fight against the anti-mahou shoujo system "Megalo" in her place. [from ANN]
My First Impressions: Watched ep1 and uhh no, just no. I see how it's trying to parody magical girl shows and all that, but it's just so dumb! And the fanservice bits of a boy are dumb too no matter what it's parodying. I'm scarred for life. <not watching anymore unless highly recommended>
Other Comments: <Buncho> [it's] pretty funny
Link: ANN

Level-E - 12+? eps
Groups: WhyNot?
Summary: In the present day, hundreds of extraterrestrial species walk the Earth. Some are pacifistic, others violent. Some are here for research purposes, others are career criminals. However, humans don't know they are here. Now, one more alien has arrived on Earth. One of the universe's foremost geniuses with a personality that's bound to attract all sorts of trouble. [from anidb]
My First Impressions: I tried watching an ep and got rather bored. Just not my thing I guess. <not watching anymore unless highly recommended>
Other Comments: <Buncho> level E is actually pretty hillarious
Link: ANN

Onii-chan no Koto Nanka Zenzen Suki Janain Dakara ne!! - 12+? eps
Groups: Ayako & Shikkaku-Fansubs, Gotwoot Fansubs
Summary: Junior High student Nao's brother complex is so strong, it's almost at the point of incest. She's determined to make her brother, High School student Shuusuke, see her as a woman. So determined, that she goes as far as going into his room to throw away all his non-incest related porn. But as she's looking for his porno stash, she finds a photo album... and she's not in any of his childhood pictures. [from ANN]
My First Impressions: <not watching unless recommended>
Link: ANN

Puella Magi Madoka Magica (aka Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika) - 12+? eps
Groups: gg Fansubs, Chihiro-Fansubs
Summary: Having a loving family, close friends, experiencing times of joy and times of sadness. These are the things that make up an ordinary life. Kaname Madoka is a normal 2nd year middle-schoolgirl who lives such an ordinary life. Until, that is, a strange encounter occurs. She does not know if this encounter is coincidence, or the vagaries of fate, but two things are certain... This is the moment when her destiny changes... This is the start of a new magical girl story! [from anidb]
My First Impressions: The art and animation could be better, especially the weird bits are just meh, but I don't know. I think it has potential, probably the show that I have the highest expectations for at this point, but I'm still a little skeptical about it, since the art and animation aren't great, and I'm not a big fan of the characters either. I get the feeling my reaction would be, if you want magical girl, go watch nanoha instead, but the story is really not happy-go-lucky, which makes it different.
Other Comments: <ninotachi> story and style is and should be interesting, monster "art/animation" is jarring and i wish it was done differently that part is too trippy and surreal. they're being as subtle as a brick with the faustian overtones though. won't be typical magical girl. kajiura music so that's a plus. unlimited flintlock works in the first episode alone would have had me watch it for three episodes further anyway. has a bit of creepy factor that still remains to be seen how it'll pan out.
<Mai no Ken> Madoka has the potential to be great, now it actually has to reach greatness. I think that sums up the series :P It has great animation, possibly an unconventional but effective story that breaks away from conventional magical girl. It needs to be able to execute that.
Link: anidb

Starry Sky - 26 eps
Groups: StrawberryMintSubs
Summary: The heroine, Tsukiko, enrolled to a school that was recently changed from all-boys school to co-ed. Since the area where the school is conveniently rural and the rather exclusive curriculums the school has, up until now the heroine is the only one female who enrolled to the school. [from ANN]
My First Impressions: The encoding for this series is pretty bad, so there aren't enough frames and such. The animation is a bit meh and the art is so bishie they all look like girls, which isn't very nice either. Interestingly, it seems to focus on the guys rather than from the girl's perspective. Still, the frame skipping thing just drove me nuts. <not continuing unless recommended>
Link: ANN

Yumekui Merry - 12+? eps
Groups: gg Fansubs
Summary: High-school student Fujiwara Yumeji possesses the unusual ability to see other people's dreams. One day, he meets Merry who had wandered from the "Dream World" into the "Real World". This meeting raises many questions for Yumeji. Who exactly is Merry? What is the Dream World and what are Nightmares? What purpose do the Nightmares have for entering the Real World? On the boundary between the Real World and the Dream World, the duo's battle against the Nightmares begin! [from anidb]
My First Impressions: Watched the first ep and it was just boring to me. There was some action and stuff, but it seemed so much your typical shounen. And yet, it seemed worse because the characters didn't even strike me as interesting as many other shounen do. I've heard the manga is good though. <not continuing unless recommended>
Link: anidb

Useful Links:
envirosphere - list of all new unlicensed releases
Baka-Updates - list of all releases (DVD and fansubs)
anidb - anime database, similar to animenfo
animenfo - anime database, some manga too
Anime News Network - news and anime/manga encyclopedia
Black-rogue - forums with reviews (by someone I know)
AnimeSuki - unlicensed BT database, forum includes current series dicussion
tokyotosho - BT for anime/manga including raws
Anime Planet - anime recommendation database (not the best for new series, but great in general for summaries, screenshots, and recommendations)
MangaNews - list of all new unlicensed manga releases
Baka-Updates Manga - list of all new manga releases