Sorry, but with nine shows in the queue, brevity is the soul of wit.

Comet Lucifer – 01

This series comes from 8bit, not BONES, but as much as anything the premiere of Comet Lucifer played like a low-rent Eureka Seven.  You’ve got a middle-school-aged male lead living with a Grandpa figure in a slightly retro-futuristic backwater, a childhood friend (that part is more AO) and what seems altogether like a blue-haired alien-human hybrid girl.  The boy even rides a hoverboard in a manner that looks a lot like lifting, sans Trapar.

Generally speaking this episode was more derivative than groundbreaking and not especially distinctive, but it’s an anime-original sci-fi and a mecha series at that, both of which have been in short supply the last couple of seasons.  So I’m going to give Comet Lucifer a bit of time to prove itself, and the first ep was solidly entertaining in a slightly too-familiar manner.

The boy in question is Amagi Sougo (Kobayashi Yuusuke), the osannajimi (and fiancee) Kaon Lanchester (Takahashi Rie) and the alien girl Felia (Ohashi Ayaka, though she doesn’t talk yet).  There’s also a nobleman with a shota sidekick trying to marry Kaon off, and a glowing red mineral that’s obviously going to be the key to the plot mystery.  A big “we’ll see” on Comet Lucifer, but while I don’t see much chance of this show being exceptional I’d really like it to work, because I think anime needs shows of this type and isn’t getting enough of them lately.

Onsen Yousei Hakone-chan – 01

I didn’t realize this was a short, and obviously that makes the blogging decision pretty much a no-brainer.  It was a cute enough three minutes, nothing special – but I love onsen, so maybe I’ll watch a few more eps to see if it wins me over.

Heavy Object – 01

There’s some decent, experienced staff on-hand for this sci-fi from J.C. Staff, along with a fairly heavyweight (no pun intended) cast.  But all in all it didn’t make much of an impression on me.

I struggle with clumsy exposition, and Heavy Object starts out with about 10 minutes of straight explanation.  That’s a rough beginning, and when the action starts up there’s a lot of so-so CGI powering it.  I didn’t find the post-apocalyptic storyline especially grabby, and none of the characters really stood out.  Not terrible and it’s good to see a lot of sci-fi out there this season, but I hope some of it is a little more memorable.

Shingeki! Kyojin Chuugakkou – 01

It seems somehow fitting that on the 20th anniversary of the birth of Evangelion, we get the premiere of Shingeki! Kyojin Chuugakkou.  After all, probably no series in anime history has been leveraged for financial gain with as many tangentially related side projects as Eva, and probably no anime since Eva has crossed over into the general public consciousness like Shingeki no Kyojin.

I’m perfectly fine with the concept of Shingeki! Kyojin Chuugakkou – as cash-ins go it’s not especially labored.  And I’m fine with the execution too, more or less – Attack on Titan is so comically grandiose that it’s already dangerously close to self-parody.  Chuugakkou isn’t hilarious or anything, but it’s funny enough at times – though I don’t think anything made me laugh as much as the OP spoof of “Guren No Yumiya” (which is fitting, as that was one of the best things about the original series).

The gag here – titans are reviled because they steal humans’ bento boxes – certainly could get one-note pretty quickly.  Will the appeal of seeing the iconic moments of the parent show lampooned have staying power?  Honestly, I don’t know – I don’t see signs of brilliance in the writing here.  But I did laugh a few times, and there’s a chance this series could turn out to be pretty fun.