It's a little late for a winter preview isn't it? But that's alright, because while a few shows are about to premiere this weekend--some, as early as this morning, others still have yet to be released, Crunchyroll hasn't completed their winter simulcast list, and this season's anime chart hasn't been completed yet. 

This season, I didn't follow any news on releases aside from the much anticipated titles, which were announced earlier this year. I've also decided to tend to my 'plan to watch' list for a while, so I probably won't be watching any seasonal anime for a bit. This ultimately means that my winter preview is a short list of titles, compared to the last one, that I find particularly interesting. I also won't be doing a round-up again until I resume seasonal watch lists. 

The most exciting part of winter 2014, in my opinion, is that we'll be seeing a second season of Silver Spoon, and Space Dandy will be premiering after much buzz about it in the summer. Sailor Moon will finally be making a comeback this season (supposedly)!Unfortunately, only Space Dandy appears to have a PV at the moment, so no sneak peek at what to expect from Silver Spoon and Sailor Moon. And before I forget, I must let you know, in case you're a fan or interested in watching it, that Mushi-shi is getting an OVA, which aired earlier today. It also seems that Pupa is finally premiering, because it didn't last season despite the fact it was planned for the fall slate. What's more is the adaptation of a very well known Shonen Jump manga series called Nisekoi, which I will talk more of in detail later. So, let me know which anime you're excited about, whether it's posted below or not, and once the anime chart is completed, I'll provide it of course.

The Pilot's Love Song 

Adventure, Fantasy 

Tomorrow (Sunday) The first episode of The Pilot's Love Song will premiere. The story follows Charles, a member of the lower caste in the country of Levamme, who dreams of becoming a pilot in the air force. He gets a chance of realizing his dream one day, when a warring country known as Amatsuvian bombard's the noble family of Levamme in order to kill the soon-to-be empress Fana. In order to ensure her safety and that her marriage is realized, Charles is entrusted by the noble family to take their daughter to her fiancé Prince Carlo.  

Z/X: Ignition

Card Game, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Adventure 

PV 

January 10, 2014 

 Five portals to parallel worlds appear in various points of the world, whereby several creatures appear. These monsters come from five different time frames of the same world, and to make sure that their own time frame survives, they battle each other out to eliminate the other time frames. This seems like a very interesting twist on the card game genre, and it doesn't seem like the typically cheesy kodomo appeal that this category has nowadays. 

Hozuki No Reitetsu

 Comedy, Supernatural 

PV 

January 10, 2014 

A comedy about a sadistic god aide named Hozuki: Hozuki attempts to resolve various problems in Hell while also smiting over animals and caring for his 'Goldfish Flowers'. I love (intentionally) weird, out-of-the-box art, and I think this anime fits that bill. The manga art is just amazing too. 

Hamatora

Mystery, Game, Super Powers, Shounen

PV 

January 7, 2014 

Only a few humans are born with the special power of 'Minimum'. Those humans are known as the 'Mininmum Holders'. Two detectives, Nice & Murasaki, are part of this limited group of people who posses these powers. They decide to form an agency called 'Hamatora', where they wait for clients to come ask them for help. Eventually their friend Art asks for their aid in a serious case of recent serial murders, and the duo soon discover the murderer's target, which (of course, as you can imagine) are Minimum Holders. I'm a fan of the art in this anime, and I very much like the plot; it seems pretty badass! 

Noragami

Supernatural, Action, Adventure, Shounen 

PV 

January 5, 2014 

At the boundaries between the physical realm the spirit world exists gods, and the spirits who either serve them or choose to interfere in the lives of the living. Miyori, a young girl who gets bullied at school, discovers a phone number in the bathroom stall one day, with a message that reads 'I solve your troubles'. After having called it, she encounters a young lad who claims he's a god.   

Tonari no Seki-Kun: The Master of Killing Time

 Pure.Comedy. Gold. 

January 5, 2014 (tomorrow) 

This beloved anime is about a high school kid named Seki who is always playing all sorts of games at his desk, without ever getting caught by the teacher. The girl who sits beside him, Rumi, always finds herself  interested in what he’s doing, and sometimes she plays along with him. This seems like a unique anime: it’s super simple, and, judging from the plot, it’s not trying to be anything other than what it is, which is some guy whose bored at his desk at school trying to kill time, while the person sitting next to him gets involved out of curiosity. Amazing! Who’s going to watch this one? 

Nisekoi

Rom-com, Shounen 

PV 

January 11, 2014 

Nisekoi is the story of a high school boy named Raku, who happens to be the heir to a Yakuza family. He made a special promise to a certain girl when he was younger, and since then he has not let go of the pendant given to him by that girl. One day he encounters Chitoge, and they start to gradually dislike each other. Meanwhile, Raku is also crushing on another girl at school by the name of Kosaki, and he soon finds himself stuck in a love triangle (or square?) because, due to a certain turn of events concerning the Yakuza, Raku and Chitoge must pretend to be lovers. 

I feel like talk about the anime adaptation of Nisekoi was a bit on the low, because I had only read about the probability of an anime adaptation once, a while ago, and I was totally surprised to see that the manga did in fact get an adaptation. Nisekoi has been running in SJ since 2011, so I'm not sure if plans are to make this one a long running series or not. My guess is that, considering the plot—which to me is very poor— this will not be a long running series. What do you think? 

Pupa

Sci-Fi, Shounen, Horror, Fantasy, Psychological 

PV 

Known as the "life-and-death sibling" story or “the ultimate love of the brother and sister”, the tale follows Yume Hasegawa, whom after having seen a red butterfly, undergoes a metamorphosis where she transforms into a man-eating monster. Her brother Utsutsu, who has the power of rapid cell regeneration, feeds her his body. (Um, what’s with guys and hairclips this season?)

Space Dandy

Comedy, Sci-Fi 

PV & PV 

Premieres TONIGHT on Toonami (you lucky Americans (✖╭╮✖) ) at 11:30 pm/ 12:30 central!

Join Dandy, the dandiest guy in space, on his adventures as he travels the universe on his quest to discover new species of aliens he’s never seen before! Watch him collect them all!