Another new year, another winter season of anime!

The past year has certainly been an interesting one to keep track of … for myself it has been filled with unexpected surprises. As the anime production world seems to be veering more and more towards “safe money making formulas” (which can in some sense be excused, I think, but in other ways should be seen exactly for what it is and the drawbacks it will cause in the long run) I found myself consistently stumbling across 1 or 2 series each season that I was not anticipating before it aired, and I found this to be so more than previous years watching anime.

There have been movements and fads for formula over the years regarding anime content, though, and the current “cute girls doing cute things” mode may indeed simply be another fad. But even if one likes the fad itself (I happen to be very fond of it, for example) one must accept the fact that focus on only a couple of successful genres that sell means that the other genres get ignored or very little attention, which means creativity and variation within a specific art medium (the pattern exists in other art mediums – popular music is an especially clear example – and even in intellectual mediums as well) becomes more and more limited, stuffy and confined.

Objectively cross-pollination with other art forms is one of the most important (not THE most important) activities that contribute to making any individual art form vibrant, varied and creative, and this is so whether or one intermixes a “longing for the good old days” coloring, or allows a growing cynicism to grow inside one inch by inch – there is nothing wrong with seeing things clearly or even bleakly, what matters are the emotional attitudes that sprout alongside these perceptions and intertwine with them.

From this perspective, then, I must admit that the Winter season for 2014-5 looks rather drab, even for a “cgdct” fan like myself. Thankfully there are some excellent carryover series from the Fall 2014 season to help round out the offerings.

Well, on the other hand perhaps the other writers here at anime-evo.net may have different perspectives and ideas. We touched on a few series last season and covered two series on a weekly basis (thanks FlareKnight), and in the upcoming season we will hopefully be able to get a few more in.

Currently (highly subject to change and whim of the writers, mind you) some possibilities for series to be blogged weekly include:

Setsuken – continuing with Fairy Tail s2 and Durarara s2 (an anime classic stretching its wings for a second season).

FlareKnight – Dog Days Double Dash (FK is a big fan of this series, by the way).

Flower – possibly one of the following: Idolm@ster Cinderella Girls (if I am brave or foolhardy), Kofuku Graffiti (the more likely, seeing as I am a big Kirara fan) or possibly Rolling Girls (this is one of my possible “dark horse” guesses for the season).

I would not be surprised if some of us did “Initial Looks” at other anime series that struck us as well. The above schedule could be completely different for all we know! Perhaps the pattern of surprises will stretch into the Winter 2015 season as well.

Finally, a big thanks to all those who have stuck with the various writers and lurk and read and even give feedback to our blogging efforts of the art medium we all enjoy over the years. ^^

Last note; to this interested to check out the Winter 2015 listing go here: http://anichart.net/winter