(L) Hiiro no Kakera (1st & 2nd seasons)

[Bern-san]

More seiyuus and singers for the OP and ED:

Additional voice actors replacing the game's original actors are:

Tamie Kubota as Shizuki Ugaya
Suzuko Mimori as Kiyono Takara
Hiroki Yasumoto as Eins
Yoshihisa Kawahara as Zwei
Youji Ueda as Drei
Sayaka Ohara as Vier
Rikako Yamaguchi as O-chan

The other new listed roles are:

Chihiro Aokawa (returning) as Mitsuru Kotokura
Yoshikazu Nagano (returning) as Masataka Ashiya
Kazunori Nomiya as mysterious boy

Opening: "Nee" by Maiko Fujita
Ending: "Kono Te de Idaki Tomeru kara" by Shuhei Kita

source: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/inte...me-cast-listed

[Katapan]

PV:

NicoNico

http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm17037377

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

The production values look pretty good - I suppose we've got Hakuouki to thank for that.

[PreSage]

Nice! At least animation so far looks as good as Hakuouki (and voice acting isn't too bad) - now only hoping it won't be an open ending/non-pairing ending (...or all males get killed off like in Hakuouki0. D:

[Forsaken_Infinity]

This is like a compilation of things I can't stand but I shall give it a try - if only to try and make myself grow out of my comfort zone.

[Dr. Casey]

Seems like this one might be airing rather early; according to the TVTropes Spring 2012 Anime list, it starts March 6th. (Dunno if this was stated in the preview or not, I can't get it to work for me.)

[MisaoFan]

According to YTV English site, the series will have 26 episodes, but I'm sure that fans will be happy by this announcement even though Deen is animating this one.

[LKK]

Crunchyroll announced today that it will begin streaming Hiiro no Kakera this coming Monday, March 5, at 11 am PST. The stream will be available to the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Netherlands, Brazil, and Portugal. [Source]

[PreSage]

Originally Posted by LKK

Crunchyroll announced today that it will begin streaming Hiiro no Kakera this coming Monday, March 5, at 11 am PST. The stream will be available to the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Netherlands, Brazil, and Portugal. [Source]

Whoa, this early? For some reason, I thought the series was coming out later. Nice!

[Katapan]

Originally Posted by PreSage

Whoa, this early? For some reason, I thought the series was coming out later. Nice!

Only the first episode is airing one month early. The rest of the series will be coming in April, though.

[PreSage]

Originally Posted by Katapan

Only the first episode is airing one month early. The rest of the series will be coming in April, though.

That's an odd way to debut a series. I don't think I've come across any series that debuted that way before.

[Dr. Casey]

It might be a pre-airing, which along with split cours have become a quasi-trend recently. I know that Working Season 2 and Rinne no Lagrange both debuted the same way.

[LKK]

Spoiler for ep 1:

Not a spectacular first episode, but a solid one. Interesting enough to make me want to see what happens next.

However, the scriptwriters did use one standard plot device that I've come to dislike. Person gets thrown into a never-imagined before situation. Others are supposed to help and lookout for newbie. But no one actually bothers to fully explain the situation or its ins and outs to the newbie. They just expect her to know what to do, what to say, and more importantly what not to say. On top of that, they get mad at her when she does something wrong. Hello? A little explanation or two or three or maybe 500 would go a long way to helping her adapt to her new life.

Of course, she doesn't help matters by not asking any questions or getting mad back. A simple "How was I supposed to know?" might have worked wonders several times during the episode.

[Utsuro no Hako]

The backgrounds are beautiful and the characters are reasonably good, but there were a number of places the animation was jerky, like the inbetweeners were on strike or something. Hopefully it's just because of the early premiere and later episodes will be better animated.

As for the plot itself, I'll go ahead and choose my preferred ship now. Since I'm a strong believer in equality for women, I'm going to opt for the harem route -- Tamaki gets all the guys, the maid and the transfer student.

Originally Posted by LKK

Spoiler for ep 1:

However, the scriptwriters did use one standard plot device that I've come to dislike. Person gets thrown into a never-imagined before situation. Others are supposed to help and lookout for newbie. But no one actually bothers to fully explain the situation or its ins and outs to the newbie. They just expect her to know what to do, what to say, and more importantly what not to say. On top of that, they get mad at her when she does something wrong. Hello? A little explanation or two or three or maybe 500 would go a long way to helping her adapt to her new life.

Yeah, that bugged me too, especially since I was just reading Gate 7 which uses the exact same plot device. (In fact, Gate 7 is remarkably similar in a number of ways.)

[ars89]

Good first ep, i think i could get into this.

[PreSage]

Spoiler for ep1:

A reasonable first ep - although it felt a bit fast-paced for me; maybe because everyone was introduced all at once so quickly.

The heroine so far isn't too bad. Some of her actions suggest that she may have some backbone and not be a total dud after all...but that could just fall apart in the next ep or so when we meet the enemy.

Still need to remember their names but the white-haired guy falling asleep so easily is LOL. Wait, he can remain awake while reading a book but fall asleep while talking to a group of people? I wonder if he'll snooze through a battle too?

I don't know what what the heroine was complaining about but I wouldn't mind suddenly finding a hot guy sleeping in my room like that. (gomen, my fangirl side is a bit rampant right now )

So much eye-candy...will certainly enjoy that part at least!

Originally Posted by LKK

Spoiler for ep 1:

However, the scriptwriters did use one standard plot device that I've come to dislike. Person gets thrown into a never-imagined before situation. Others are supposed to help and lookout for newbie. But no one actually bothers to fully explain the situation or its ins and outs to the newbie. They just expect her to know what to do, what to say, and more importantly what not to say. On top of that, they get mad at her when she does something wrong. Hello? A little explanation or two or three or maybe 500 would go a long way to helping her adapt to her new life.

Of course, she doesn't help matters by not asking any questions or getting mad back. A simple "How was I supposed to know?" might have worked wonders several times during the episode.

I got the sense that they (at least the guys) all assumed her grandmother told her everything or that she already has some knowledge of it. Maybe they figured that since she's part of the lineage that she would have some background or training (like them). I do agree that she should have made her position clearer (like say "I don't know about any of this.")

About her getting mad and retorting back, I wonder if this is a Japanese cultural thing. Since those guys are still basically strangers to her (met them only in a day or so) that she may have felt it rude to retort back so suddenly? But then it seems most typical anime girls are stereotypically meek and passive (which are not my fav characteristics in my heriones).

[MisaoFan]

Spoiler for Episode 1:

One of the few shoujo I have watched, but the story looks interesting. However, I can't watch it in its entirety due to lack of time, but I'll hook up with few episodes. Also, the main heroine has some knowledge despite she's an airhead.

[Kaoru Chujo]

Spoiler for episode 1:

I really enjoyed it. A nice setup with good characters and every opportunity to hit some satisfying emotional notes. Things surprise but don't shock Tamaki, and the guys really have her back.

Miyake Marie, who plays Tamaki, has had one other major role: Ringo in Mawaru Penguin Drum. Like Yuuki Aoi and Kayano Ai, she is with the up-and-coming Pro-Fit seiyuu agency. She is 26.

Her grandmother is played by Kubota Tamie, who played a similar role in Hanasaku Iroha, as the grandmother who ran the inn.

This business of having the first episode previewed a month ahead is unusual but not unique. A few shows have had previews a week or so ahead, but Hyakka Ryouran and Working are the only ones I can remember that had previews a whole month ahead. Not a bad idea for generating interest.

[ookamigirl]

Takuma... I like him the most ^^
On the other hand Tamaki really is kinda clumsy & confused.
A typical damsel in distress with the power to be the hero.
Osaki fox was sooooo kawaii ^^
Guess there was no way to avoid the school life part...
Atori is interesting too, with his short temper ^^
Komura is the silent, calm type though.
So those three are her bodyguards, really nice (#^-^#)

[warita]

I started watching the episode because of the youkai setting. Those who know me better would know, that I love youkais.

Well, what can I say. It smells of a reversed harem.... a small one anyways. And unfortunately, it makes use of the typical "girl cant take care of herself so she needs handsome dudes around her, who will do that for her".

Now, I under normal circumstances I would love to see a good reversed anime again, but not as cheesy and weak as this one.

I didnt even finish watching the episode, because the moment the small sempai introduced himself, I felt pretty turned off. That tsundere attitude and the "I am so cool despite being small" show off totally turned me off.

Too bad, it could have been an interesting title the next season.

[Master_Yoma]

Well it a good first episode but it did seem a little fast