I didn’t recognize most of the staff and didn’t think much about it last night when I posted this, but now that you mention it, that is a pretty big point of concern, especially the first-time director. And the character designer. Shirow’s art is too beautiful to be butchered here… I’m secretly hoping that Taneguchi’s involvement will be bigger than it sounds currently; I at least have faith in that guy. The idea that only the first volume will be adapted is also reassuring. An OAV would be great, though I could also see them stretching the story out to fit into 12 or 13 episodes — all of the characters’ pasts have points worth expanding on, even from the little bits we’re given in Stray dogs. Hinting at things and skirting around things that are revealed in Bullets and Carnage would also stretch things out a little. Like I said, the environment gives for a lot of potential exploration and expansion beyond what the manga already offers.

I always have a hard time with satires that sit on that line between actually being a satire and falling into the trap of what they’re supposedly mocking — the little bit of Ouran I read didn’t really give an impression of satire (I think this may be because I’d read it shortly after a volume of Perfect Girl Revolution), so I wasn’t impressed. I’ve heard plenty of good things about the anime though, so yeah, a series for one of these days… when I hack down my current to-watch list. :3 Utena is also something I’ve been meaning to check out for years.

And as for Ouran – one thing to remember is that it’s an affectionate parody of the shoujo romance genre, especially the anime. I found that while the manga often cops out or resorts to clichés (and in the end it turned into exactly what it was parodying in the beginning :/), the anime cheerfully wallows in being over the top and making fun of itself, its characters, practically every theme and trope of the genre and even its audience (oh, RENGE) – and does it in a very understanding and intelligent way. (Which is no surprise as it was written by Enokido Youji, the often overlooked man behind Utena.)

Also, they’re both typecast so often that for me at least, they both have an image that’s completely at odds with these roles, especially in case of Ishida. It’s sort of like watching Arnold Schwarzenegger in the role of Romeo or something. He may not be half bad, actually, but you (well, me) just can’t get over the fact that it’s Arnold Schwarzenegger. Not to mention that I can’t shake the feeling that they weren’t chosen for these roles because they were the best the sound director could find but because they’re both very popular.

Anyway, seiyuu aside, what makes me scared is the staff. First-time director, a chara designer who’s never done characters till now (he did monsters and mecha), the writer who did Linebarrels and Chocolate Underground, and wrote scripts for Nabari no ou and Kaze no stigma…) Not very promising.

Hm. I may have to check out Host Club eventually. I read a few pages of the manga and was pretty turned off by over-the-top shenanigans, but it may be easier to stomach as an anime.

Saimaisama – Agreed, I think. I’m not sure how scared exactly I am for the integrity of the story uet though — I think I’ll wait until more is revealed, though I’m a little bummed that Miwa Shirow doesn’t seem to be connected to the project much at all.

I agree with Kuromitsu. Ouran was fantastic.

I’ll admit I’m scared for DOGS though. Really scared even. On the other hand I’m happy with Sakurai and Ishida. I thought their voices were awkward with the characters at first but damn …. I grew to like Bandou/Ishida.

Well, if I dislike the adaption I’ll be at least satisfied with voice acting.

Ouran Host Club. At least in my opinion the anime is 100% wonderful, and better than the manga in every possible way.

On the other hand… WHY DAMMIT, WHY DIDN’T THEY CHANGE THE CAST?! I like both Sakurai and Ishida, but they’re simply NOT RIGHT for these roles. On the drama CD they both did a good job but didn’t sound authentic to me at all. Argh.