Just saw two brand new ones on Sci-Fi channel's Ani-Monday - "Gurran Lagann" and "Now and Then, Here and There." Two VERY different series, so I'll give a brief review of what I have seen thus far (just the first two eps of each from Sci-Fi, plus I watched ep 3 of Here and Then online.
Gurran Lagann: From Gainax, care of Bandai, and you know what this means - big robots. However, GL is more of a humorous series, with obvious artistic inspiration taken from FLCL, though it is not as random as FLCL, but it is definitely more in the ridiculous column when it comes to the extreme nature of the show and the action. That's not a problem as such, just setting the stage for what kind of anime it is. The three main characters, Kamina, Simone, and Yoko fall into fairly basic archetypes - Brash Hero, Timid Sidekick, and Gun-Girl - however I will say that they are atypical enough within their respective archetypes to make them more interesting than they sound initially. Kamina may be brash and overly concerned with his "manly image", but he's also encouraging and selfless. Simone is a timid tinkerer-type, but he has heart when called for, but little of his character has been developed beyond this basic level yet. Yoko looks very much the part of the Gun-Girl - clad (and barely mind you) in the skimpiest possible clothing, and the camera loves to view from angles that focus upon her ass, breasts, and what have you. Her primary role is obviously fan-service, but her personality is fortunately atypical of the Gun-Girl type - she is not cold and removed, or super-violent and bitchy, but lands somewhere in the middle. She's friendly enough, but she can really use that big gun, and even though she looks pretty extreme, she doesn't act like it as much as other members of the "Gun-Girl" club. So far I can't render a rating, but it's good enough for me to keep watching, even though I'm usually not a fan of Big-Robo - except when it is obviously funny (and it isn't all yuks, but it is definitely light hearted. This is not Neon Genesis, and while funny it is also not FLCL).
Now and Then, Here and Now: I had to go look up info on this one after I watched, and I must say if you are judging the series by the first part of the first episode - don't. This is not a happy, cheerful story, and lovers of light-hearted anime should stay far away from this. The animation is incredibly simple, almost looking like a product of the late 80's/early 90's, and having some definite relation to the art of Tenchi. It is super basic, almost amateurish compared to the works of today, even though this series is only a few years old. But what must not be ignored is the very adult content of the series. it deals with themes of war, children forced into military service, extreme brutality, torture, animal cruelty, and rape. It is a profoundly dark story, and obviously allegorical to the real world and many issues that concern it. The basic premise is that a young boy named Shu is going about his normal life until he sees a girl sitting atop an old, inactive smokestack. Shu had never seen anyone climb that stack but him, and he went to investigate. There he finds a silent, mysterious young girl watching the sunset. He tries to strike up a conversation, but she is less than communicative. Eventually he learns her name and tries to continue to talk to her, but then something bizarre happens.
Shu is sucked into another world, and the young girl, Lala-Ru, is being attacked by a woman and some soldiers in strange machines. Lala-Ru pleads for his help, and Shu fights to free her. I won't reveal anything more than the set-up, but the basic gist of the story is straightforward and linear - Shu endeavors to free Lala-Ru from the strange place he finds himself in and gets to experience the horrors of this war-torn world, a shadow reality of Earth.
The series might even be considered a fairly heavy handed and even polemical argument against a number of issues that affect our world, but it is a worthy series from what little I have seen and is definitely a more adult story, even though it is relatively simple in construction. It will be one I want to finish, and I believe it is relatively short - 13 eps I believe.
