Speaking of which, I don't think Alan has heard the news regarding Persona 4 getting licensed by Sentai Filmworks for a North American release. I doubt he's going to be very pleased with that development. Also, thanks for reminding me about that anime. I'll get around to watching it...eventually. I might as well just stick with fansubs, because I don't have much faith in Sentai's ability to handle it properly.
Yeah, I actually heard the news. Not pleased as it likely means that the dub cast won't return and the volumes will be grossly overpriced. However, I likely wouldn't be purchasing P4A anyway as, in my opinion, it's a very, very bad and lazy adaptation. I'm going to give it a couple of more episodes, but if it doesn't impress me soon, I'm just sticking with the game.
The bigger news is Aniplex's Madoka Magica pricing. THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS if you want the LEs. They're also breaking a twelve-episode series into three volumes. Is this 2003 again?
Ben-To is a nice show, but best this season? I don't think so. XD
To me Guilty Crown is at the top of my list for best show this season. It might change once some of the other shows picks up, but right now it's Guilty Crown.
My biggest prob with Guilty Crown is like what many others have said... feels like Code Geass. And true be told... I'm not the biggest fan of Code Geass (the first season I liked, but R2 left a bad taste in my mouth). Both Robo and David made the comment tonight "Looks like Code Geass", Robo said that while watching the first ep and David said that while watching the second ep (he might have also said it while we watched the first ep). I know they've got a good many Code Geassy things but I do hope they break away from that. Because I dislike shows that tries to be like other shows to the point where EVERYONE sees it.
Ben-To is the only show this season that shows the moment when a DOG becomes a WOLF. Until Guilty Crown can do the same, it doesn't stand a chance.
Really, I'm not seeing the Code Geass parallels in Guilty Crown beyond an external military force using mechas to take over Japan. On this point, it has about as much in common with Rideback as it does Code Geass, and just TRY to compare those two series, hah. When it comes to parallels, it's possible to match any show up with any other show on some level through enough tortured logic. You could say that GC is like Gundam SEED because they both have a popstar in the leadership of a military resistance force, say that it's like Revolutionary Girl Utena because they both involve pulling a sword out of a woman, or even compare it to Evangelion because the main character is still attending high school while the rest of Japan pretty much dies around him.
Basically, I'm not ready to color my expectations for the show based on a few parallels because there's virtually no chance it reaches the glorious trainwreck heights that Geass did and I might be setting myself up for disappointment when I would have otherwise enjoyed it on its own terms. I wasn't super-excited by the first episode, but it has two whole seasons to prove itself.