Judging by what has been shown so far, “Ghost in the Shell Arise” will tell the story of how Section 9 came to be and show the life altering encounter of Motoko Kusanagi with Aramaki Daisuke, Batou, Togusa and the other future Section 9 members.

Consisting of four episodes of 50 minutes each, “Ghost in the Shell Arise” will premiere next month in cinemas in Japan. The BluRay and DVD versions have been slated for release shortly after in July.

Interesting note, lead character Motoko Kusanagi will not be voiced by Tanaka Atsuko who voiced the major in all of the movies, anime seasons & OVA episodes. Instead, Sakamoto Maaya will voice this younger incarnation of Motoko, she actually already voiced the younger version of Motoko in the original “Ghost in the Shell” movie.

As a fan I can hardly wait for this new story in the GitS world, though am curious to see if it will diverge from what has already been shown in “Ghost in the Shell: Stand-Alone Complex 2nd Gig” about the origin of some of the characters.

You can watch the earlier promotional video here on the Youtube GITSChannel.

“はいたい七葉” is all about the daily life of happy-go-lucky Nanafa, her sisters Nao & Kokona at their grandmother’s soba restaurant. However, there’s also tree spirit girls or fairies joining them leading to plenty of silly comedy moments.

With the spirit characters added in, this series feels more like a mix of shows like “Bottle Fairy” or “Binchou-tan” with leisurely slice-of-life elements from series like “Tamayura ~hitotose~” or “Sketchbook ~full color’S~”.

While overall a fun and relaxing show to watch, personally had hoped this series would be more of the normal slice-of-life style like “One Off”.

I definitely would have loved to see a full length version of this show without the silly fairy element. In fact, did enjoy the episodes that focused on the Kyan girls themselves far more than the other episodes as they were more slice-of-life styled.

Would still recommend this series to those who like the slice-of-life genre or have enjoyed shows like “Bottle Fairy” and “Binchou-tan”. After all, each episode of “Haitai Nanafa” is only 2 minutes long so you can sit through the entire first season in barely half an hour.

While it may not have the hype, overall appeal or be as striking as some of the other anime airing this season, “Suisei no Gargantia” has been a very good, solid quality series so far.

A science fiction story set in the distant future, its main plot combines previously seen elements such as mankind surviving on an Earth entirely covered with water, the greater portion of mankind having leapt to the stars centuries ago and then finding the Earth once more, advanced space faring mankind fighting for survival against aliens and having a very rigid, military based society,…

Although a few of those important aspects are all background used to build up Ledo’s character, they are essential as they serve to show who Ledo is and not only explain how he views life, society but also why. His upbringing, beliefs and entire world couldn’t be more in contrast with that of Amy and life on Earth.

Perhaps where “Suisei no Gargantia” excels is how it tells this story without using too much drama, each episode has the necessary high and low key scenes typically seen in most anime of course. But even when Ledo ruthlessly exterminates the human pirates attacking their fleet in second episode, Amy and the others’ reactions are not presented in an overly dramatic way.

Instead, the series focuses on showing the characters interact, communicating about their own views and beliefs, showing Ledo’s feeling lost in this unknown world, as well as all the wonder, joy, horror and all the emotions that Amy and her friends experience dealing with such an unprecedented situation.

Am quite curious to see how the characters and plot in “Suisei no Gargantia” will evolve. Even though this series may not have the appeal or success as other science fiction shows or movies about a future earth or the clash between two vastly different human civilizations, it definitely provides a solid story with interesting, believable characters.

With studio Production IG at the helm, the animation is gorgeous, with rich colourful characters, luscious backgrounds featuring the ships and oceanic environment. All the action sequences are very fluid and well animated, though most care seems to be on animating the characters and their facial expressions.

Noteworthy voice acting performances are Kanemoto Hisako who voices Amy, she previously voiced Ika Musume in “Shinryaku! Ika Musume”, Kanata in “So-Ra-No-Wo-To”, Haruka in “Kotoura-san” and Yui in “Kokoro Connect”.

Bellows -whose character quite reminds me of Yoko from “Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann”- is voiced by Itou Shizuka, she also voiced Koko in “Jormungand”, Haruka in “Amagami SS”, Kaori in “To Aru Majutsu No Index” and Hinagiku in “Hayate no Gotoku!”.

Rigid is voiced by Ohara Sayako who tackled roles like Alicia in “Aria”, Sayomi in “Tamayura”, Irisviel in “Fate/Zero” and Yuuko in “xxxHOLiC”.

Quite impressed with “Suisei no Gargantia” and eagerly await its latest episode every week. If you like solid science fiction series, then definitely give this show a try!

Based on the “RDG レッドデータガール” light novels written by Ogiwara Noriko, must admit this show has not turned out how had initially expected it would be, it has somewhat of a shoujo romance vibe in a story with supernatural elements.

While am not especially a fan of shoujo or similarly styled series, am rather enjoying “RDG Red Data Girl” so far. Oddly, with those slight shoujo, spirits and Eastern wizardry elements it somehow reminds me a bit of shows like “Ayashi no Ceres” or “Wagaya no Oinari-sama”.

Animation by studio P.A. Works is very good, solid as usual like their work on “True Tears”, “Another” and “Tari Tari”. Artist Kishida Mel created some of the light novel’s original illustrations and studio P.A. Works has done a good job at merging their own signature style with that of Kishida Mel’s typical art style. Off course, the studio is no stranger to his work as he did the original character designs for “Hanasaku Iroha”.

The first four episodes form small story arc on their own, a prologue of sorts that set up Izumiko’s character, background, as well as her strained relationship with Miyuki all before they enroll into the Houjou academy. Seems that their time in high school and the awakening of the deity that Izumiko channels will the main story.

Shy, soft spoken Izumiko is voiced by Hayami Saori, she also voiced Sawa in “Tari Tari”, Sayo in “One Off” and this season she also voices Ayase in “Ore No Imouto Ga Konna Ni Kawaii Wake Ga Nai.” and Yukino in “Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come wa Machigatteiru”.

Yonezawa Madoka voices Mayuru, she previously voiced Ui in “K-ON!” and Izumi in “Another”.

Although a male character, Wamiya is voiced by Kugimiya Rie who next to tsundere characters like Shana in “Shakuna no Shana” and Louise in “Zero no Tsukaima”, also voiced male characters such as Hasuta in “Haiyore! Nyaruko-san” or Alphonse in “Fullmetal Alchemist”.

Himegami, the deity that uses Izumiko’s body as a vessel is voiced by Tanaka Rie, she has tackled many roles like Yomi in “Azumanga Daioh”, Maria in “Hayate no Gotoku!”, Lacus in “Gundam Seed”, Minna in “Strike Witches” and Chizuru in “Shinryaku! Ika Musume”.

If you like shoujo style romance shows or series about Japanese mythology and the supernatural, then definitely give “RDG Red Data Girl” a try, you might like it.

Did catch the first two episodes of this sequel, but have yet to watch any new episodes since. Did watch the first season, but was never that fond of it although I did like the OVA episodes that aired later more thanks to their focus on Ruri/Kuroneko.

Do not mind watching a good harem comedy occasionally, even though this franchise and its female lead character Kirino have many fans, personally am not one of them as I simply can’t bring myself to like Kirino or even understand Kyousuke’s behavior.

Sometimes one may have to wrestle through some episodes, a movie sequence or many pages to get to a point in the story where you discover more to finally understand and accept the characters better, but alas for me am simply not enjoying “Ore No Imouto Ga Konna Ni Kawaii Wake Ga Nai.” enough to faithfully watch it every week.

Hopefully can give the rest of the season a go when time permits, but right now am favoring shows like “Suisei no Gargantia” or “Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come wa Machigatteiru”.