The next two seasons of anime look very promising. To start off, there's Aria the Avvenire, a three-episode OVA series which will come out later this year. I had always been a fan of the Aria series - Origination, in particular, is probably one of the best SoL ever made. Aria seems to get the mixture just right: a perfect balance of drama and comedy, with a hint of sentimentality here and there. I was, of course, very excited when Avvenire was announced, even more so when I heard that the show will once again be directed by the capable Junichi Sato. Even though the manga finished in '08, Kozue Amano is handling the story and character designs. The animation quality, as seen from the PV, also looks very high. Overall, I have a lot of hope in Avvenire to live up to the 'Aria standard', so to speak.

In every season, there's always one or two shows that everyone ends up watching. Most KyoAni shows, the Fate franchise and the Monogatari series falls into this category. For the upcoming season, I think Charlotte will be the one show that everyone (for better or worse) is going to watch and hate. For those who don't know already: Jun Maeda is handling the writing. Partnered with P.A.Works, Maeda's latest creation will most probably end up like every other Key anime: plenty of awful drama, unexplainable illnesses, slightly autistic protagonists, and more awful drama. The picture above (props to 4chan) illustrates my point very well. I'd be very shocked if the dots don't line-up by the time Charlotte finishes.

P.A.Works and Maeda had previously partnered on Angel Beats, a show which was moderately enjoyable when it aired but in retrospective was pretty awful. For the most part, I expect the same with Charlotte. I honestly think that Maeda's writing is long past its prime. Now, I'm not saying that Air and Kanon were good by any means - but at least they were entertaining soap dramas while they lasted. However, I feel that upcoming writers like Mari Okada have produced dramas (like Nagi no Asukara) that are just as heart-wrenching as Maeda's best works, without having to fall back on the same plot devices time after time. Granted, I'm still going to watch Charlotte regardless, in the hopes that it ends up being a decent show and not a half-baked effort to make its viewers cry.

Yuru Yuri season 3 is coming soon. While waiting impatiently for season 3 to arrive, I've picked a couple of other series for my daily dose of yuri. First, there's Hibike Euphonium. Every KyoAni show since Nichijou has been disappointing for me, but Hibike Euphonium looks very promising. Its art looks very pretty, and most importantly it has yuri in it. Yuri and KyoAni seems like a mix that just might work. Second, I'm also watching Strawberry Panic, an older series that showcases yuri's ties with its shoujo roots. Lots of fanservice (aka hand-holding), beautiful art, and very relaxing to watch. A different kind of yuri compared to what I usually watch, but enjoyable nonetheless. Sometimes I think that if I watch anymore yuri, I have to go see a psychologist...

I also bought like 170 dollars worth of goods yesterday. They'll get reviewed in a few days time.