Anime Summer 2014

[Kyubey]

It's that time of year, everyone! The spring shows came outta nowhere and were way better than what anyone was expecting, and while we didn't get any Attack on Titan-level spring shows, that's... well, probably for the best, really. Now is when the studios are pulling out the big guns, and it'll (probably) be great. Can't find a decent chart image for some reason, so use this link right here to see what's happening:

livechart.me/summer

So, what is it that you'll be watching? Which series will be the undisputed darling of the season? Anything in particular you're hoping to get out of the season? I'll post the shows that I'll be trying later.

[Morcombe]

the chart for thsoe who want it

SPOILER: Click to show

I will be watching or at least attempting to watch.

Rail Wars, Tokyo Ghoul, Aldnoah.Zero, Akame ga Kill, Momo Kyun Sword, Majimoji Rurumo, Persona 4 Golden, Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!?, Tokyo ESP and Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance

[Kyubey]

Thanks for the chart, Morcombe!

Anyways, here's the anime that I'm planning on watching for the moment:

Aldnoah Zero - Gen Urobuchi's involved? Hiroyuki Sawano's doing the music? Of course I'm watching this! Animation looks... okay, but just the names attached to it are enough to win a viewing from me.

Ao Haru Ride - Chosen at random, because every season there's some show that's absolutely brilliant that I just never pay attention to until midway through the season. Maybe this'll be that show this season. I never can tell...

Glasslip - Nagi no Asukara didn't impress me all that much, but I still have a lot of faith left in P.A Works after The Eccentric Family last summer, so I'll give this a try. If nothing else, the concept is interesting, and the art looks simply wonderful, so it has that going for it.

Rail Wars - The character designs are already giving me some bad vibes, but the concept and aesthetic is too appealing for me to not give at least one episode a chance.

Sailor Moon - Because Ceej will murder me if I don't watch Sailor Moon.

Space Dandy - First season amused me. Let's see if Season 2 holds up!

Terror in Resonance - Shinichiro Watanabe and Yoko Kanno back together at last! By far, this is the anime I most anticipate. The question isn't whether or not it will be good, it'll be how good that changes everything.

Tokyo ESP - Honestly, I know nothing about this, but everyone and their mother is putting this on their to-watch list, and I would be a failure as a reviewer by not watching even one episode to see what the fuss is about.

[Morcombe]

Akame Ga Kill

SPOILER: Click to show

Well this seemed to be your typical little fantasy adventure show until Night Raid attacked the mansion and shit hit the fan XD. Tatsumi being a bad ass at the end was great as well, no moral dilemma crap just get the job done and kill the bitch who killed his friends.

Tokyo Ghoul

SPOILER: Click to show

The fact that it's categorised as a psychological show really should have told me exactly what this show was gonna happen but here I am expecting the main guy to somehow gain powers to fight Ghouls, instead he becomes one, nice twist if your not expecting it. so far so good.

Aldnoah.Zero

SPOILER: Click to show

I'm Pretty sure the princess isn't dead, seeme dto conveniant, gotta be a set up so the alien dudes could attack eartha nd ffs all they have to do is land thur ship to have the effect of a nuklear bomb, soundtrackw as awesome at that scene. well humanity looks royally fucked.

Rail Wars
woo something lighthearted yay. nothing exceptional just a story of students who train to become security guards for a railway station, decent action/comedy.

[Kyubey]

Seen at least one episode of every series I wanted to. So, what holds up to expectations, and what doesn't?

Aldnoah Zero
Wow, this was really good. My fondness could be somewhat explained by my preference towards well-told serious space war dramas, but amongst the genre, this stands by its own merits, particularly in the technical front. Hiroyuki Sawano kills it again with the music, even if I am beginning to catch on to his common trends and habits. Urobuchi's distinctive touch is present almost constantly, which means that anyone watching is getting their money's worth right from the first minute. The suspense in the action scenes is absolutely stellar, and while I've seen giant robots handled better and more feasibly in other works, Aldnoah Zero holds up for being rather reminiscent, in setting and storyline at least, to the Mobile Suit Gundam series. Dark, gripping, powerful, on top of just being beautiful to look at, the only real marks I have against this series is that the CG is out of place and rather dumb, and the main character is a huge drag. Come to think of it, none of the characters are all that great, but not offensively bad. Otherwise though, this has my recommendations!

Barakamon
You may notice that I didn't list Barakamon in my last post as a show I planned on watching. You may also notice that I listed Rail Wars as a to-watch thing, and it isn't here. That is for two reasons. A) I didn't notice Barakamon until it came out and after I wrote that post, and the premise intrigued me, and B) after much consideration, I decided that life's too short to be spent watching fucking Rail Wars. So, hows about Barakamon? Well, it's not the prettiest show of the season. It's probably not the most well-written, though I will say it is in the running as of right at this moment. And I get the feeling it won't end up as the most memorable, either. However, this is still the most charming anime of the summer, hands down. The story, about a city-boy calligrapher who moves to the country and winds up befriending a local child, is really endearing, and I found myself caring about both the lead characters almost immediately. In setting, premise, and tone, the closest comparison I can think to make is Silver Spoon-meets-Bunny Drop, and while it's not quite as good as Silver Spoon so far and doesn't nearly come close to reaching Bunny Drop's level, as it's own series, it's surprisingly good. Heck, just the fact that the main character is a fully grown man and not some high-school kid gives it points that nearly all the other things I'm reviewing here sorely lack. Barakamon comes across to me as an anime that could only come out in the summer season. It's bright, upbeat without being hyperactive, fun, and I always feel just plain refreshed after watching an episode, having a mood that's really indicative of the season. Give it a shot, it's worth at least one episode of your time, I think.

Blue Spring Ride
In the first few moments of the series, I was amazed, and fully captivated. The writing was simple, but graceful. The pacing was subtle, yet fluid. Even the smallest details in the animation helped tell the story. And, to top it off, the watercolor-esque art style nearly made me swoon. The first couple of minutes alone gave me huge expectations, which, in the long run, I'd argue is both good and bad. Good, because it drove nearly every other moment in the story, and made me want to see what the rest of it was like. Bad, because in the end, the rest of it just didn't match up. The watercolors, by far one of the most interesting and attention-grabbing elements, turned out to only be utilized in flashback sequences. The writing kinda drooped to the side after standing up so well in the beginning. And there was plenty that I flat-out didn't think was all that great. The characters (and by this I mean the two protagonists, everyone else so far is pretty much a one-note stand-in for a person) don't seem to have anything about them, aside from their initial personality traits and their relationship with each other. The male lead, while his personality is a bit understandable, given his implied circumstances, still comes off as something of a jackass, and there's no indication this will ever be changed or even addressed at any point. Meanwhile, the lead female, and by extension every female character around her, just seemed kinda shallow at times. The writing keeps insisting that the main character has more depths to her than she puts on at first, but since we hardly see what she, or her love interest for that matter, are really like deep down, that doesn't mean anything. Not to say the latter part of the first episode was bad. Even without watercolors, the atmosphere was still captivating, and the writing still wasn't bad by any means. Blue Spring Ride still hasn't fully earned my respect, but if first impressions are anything to go by, it has a lot of chances to change my mind.

I do have one question though, as someone who never went to a big school like the one in the anime (my high school was really small, only about 150 students altogether). Are high-school students usually so... petty? Anyone who's seen the first episode should know what I mean, in that the supporting characters just seem too superficial to be real, but that may be my inexperience talking. Who can say?

Glasslip
Usually, the reason I start watching an anime by P.A Works is because I think it will be pretty. I started watching Glasslip because I thought it would be pretty. As it turns out, Glasslip is, in fact, really pretty. Sadly, it's nothing but pretty. Okay, that might be unfair. The premise isn't bad, the setting is a nice breather from what one would normally expect, and the opening theme is just lovely, though not as much as the one for Mushi-shi Sequel Series. Otherwise, the characters are little more than archetypes, and a whole mess of them look almost identical, to the point where I had to guess who was talking in some scenes. In a series that should have been held up by the character interactions, they simply aren't strong enough to carry that weight. There are more scenes that feel forced and arbitrary than natural, and the small nuggets of honest charm that are there just feel like excuses for all the parts that don't work. Even the backgrounds, the true stars of the show, begin to become more a distraction than a positive, and, while polished and detailed, almost completely lack any sort of personality. If you just need a nice, shiny thing to put on while you unwind, Glasslip is perfectly acceptable, but don't expect anything challenging or riveting. Of all the anime this season, it's the one I'm closest to dropping, and, considering that P.A Work's The Eccentric Family was far and away the shining highlight of last summer, I'm left feeling disappointed.

Sailor Moon Crystals
I don't want to talk about this. I simply don't. I understand why this is important. I understand why Sailor Moon means so much to so many. I understand the feelings that this must have given others. I can even understand what it means for the current generation of anime, and the value it has on the medium's history. And, most of all, I know how important it is to a certain member on this forum. Which is why I don't really want to talk about why I didn't like it all that much. And I recognize who this was aimed at, I really do. I get why this would be something great for those it was meant for. But critically, as a stand-alone product, untouched by anything around it, which, unfortunately, is the only thing I can see it as, it wasn't what I, as one entirely new to the franchise, was hoping for. I could go into detail as to why, but, with a series like Sailor Moon, that would just be mean, so I won't. I will say, however, that as a piece of anime history, I do find it fascinating, if only to see what inspired the things I do like, and I just love Kotono Mitsuishi in everything she does. So I'll keep watching, just don't expect me to do more than observe from here on out.

Space Dandy
On the lighter side of "anime that some wouldn't find value in and others would," oh hey Space Dandy! ...why am I writing about Space Dandy again? Seriously, this isn't so much as a second season as it is the belated latter half of the first one. Not even the theme song's different! Still, it's good to see the crazy trio of space-weirdos back, making me smile with their crazy-as-shit adventures, like always. I always felt that what Space Dandy lacked as an actual story, it more than made up for in creativity, like an injection of style and innovation that, while you're watching, feels like it will never end. I just find it so neat, to take some truly interesting minds in both animation and writing, give them a world where anything can happen with no limitations, and see what they make from it. Some episodes are dazzling, some are hilarious, some are intriguing, and some are just a blast, but it's always fun. Anything else I could say would be pointless, as you probably already know if you like Space Dandy or not, so... Space Dandy! He's a dandy guy! In SPACE!

Terror in Resonance
When I heard that Shinichiro Watanabe and Yoko Kanno were teaming up again to rock the world with another original series, I got way more giddy than is necessarily appropriate for a guy my age. And, while I wouldn't say that the first episode of Terror in Resonance is the best work from either of them, that's still more than enough for it to win my award for best first impression of the season. The tone is dark, but enthralling. The buildup is intense, the premise captivating, the style memorable, and the action wastes no time coming in, and keeps building and building, leading to nothing but promises for an even better next episode. There was some CG used, but only in fast-paced scenes, and even then mainly to give a sense of depth to everything when it would have been difficult otherwise. The dialogue is what writing should be in anime. It's direct, without very much of the wasted nonsense explanatory lines you hear in most other things of its genre, while still keeping the mysteries open and alive. I can't wait to see where the story unfolds, and even if it wasn't for the names attached, this is definitely one anime to watch out for.

Tokyo ESP
There are two rather high profile anime with Tokyo in the title this summer. This is the one I watched. It, more than anything else here, is decidedly... decent. The premise, setup, and execution are all nothing new, but it does what it can to keep things at least looking fresh, and takes advantage of the fact that so many have used the same ideas and scenarios before to pick and choose what worked best. In the end, Tokyo ESP, while nothing all that special, is polished, keeps the viewer's attention, has some outstanding action and violence and blood and what have you, and is as entertaining as you can hope for. That being said, right from the outset there was a lot of potential that was left ignored. The way the special abilities possessed by most of the cast are presented is inventive and fun, and the opening does make things seem like the tone is something more than most other products in its genre and demographic, but unfortunately it neither has the whimsy and cleverness it could have, or, alternatively, isn't quite as dark as it may have been either, existing at a sort of middle point that misses both marks. Making up for this are the characters, who, while mainly just showcased in the first episode and not developed all that well, still manage to be interesting, and I did like most of them. And hey, there's female characters in an action anime that aren't sexualized, and aren't treated as secondary to the male members of the cast! And non-combatants who manage to be useful! Yay! If any of that sounds appealing, go ahead and check this out, but don't be upset if you're not amazed.

[Kyubey]

Summer's been over, and before I take the leap into fall, let's look at the anime the season gave us.

First of all what I DROPPED:

Blue Spring Ride
While not a story that's going to change anyone's lives, it was a decent addition to the genre that it was a part of. Considering all the attention it's been getting, I imagine that it made at least something of an impact on a lot of people. Why'd I drop it, then? Simply put, I forgot to watch it one week, and realized that I wasn't engaged enough to continue spending my time watching it. Overall, the main character was still shallow, her love interest was still kind of a jackass, and while their depths as characters were hinted at more here, they took so much time in getting to them, that I lost my patience with the people they were on the surface. A weak supporting cast didn't help them get much further, either. A bad show? I wouldn't say that, but it's not one for me, either.

Glasslip
The anime satire website Anime Maru had an excellent article about this show, that basically discussed how forgettable it is, to the point where the reviewer doesn't remember a single thing about it, even after watching five episodes. More or less, that describes perfectly my experience with Glasslip. It's a whole lot of nothing, that only barely tries to pretend it has meaning. Oh, and an incest subplot. Because of course it does. If there's one good thing about Glasslip, besides the pretty visuals, it's that it helped me realize that the P.A Works that made The Eccentric Family is never, ever, coming back.

Tokyo ESP
What started with an interesting beginning turned into just another shonen action series. A painfully standard shonen action series. I don't even like most good anime like this. Yeah, dropped, dropped, dropped.

And now, the ones I stuck with:

Aldnoah Zero
I'm not as enamored with this as I was when I first started it, but I did enjoy what's there. The solid elements kept on being solid, and while it never achieves the level of greatness, there's enough twists, turns, and exciting fights for it to be a nice roller coaster at the least. The main character actually managed to grow on me, a lot more than how I felt at the beginning. Most found him boring, and I can respect that, but his straight-laced stoicism is actually what made him stand out to me. He's quiet, calculated, and takes the thoughtful, pragmatic approach whenever possible. In other words, he's the logical answer to every other anime hero to ever get in a giant robot. Some of the other characters get rather irritating, but their story is competently handled, with unexpected moments and surprising elements of complexity, all placed in an engaging setting with an atmosphere that only true experts can pull off.

Barakamon
And the surprise treasure of the season is... wait for it... this show! This really took me off guard, but in the best possible way. Barakamon never strays from being mellow and calming, but that mostly just serves to cleverly disguise its true strengths. Naru is one of the best child characters I've seen in an anime. She's adorable and endearing, but there's honesty in the way she's portrayed, and her antics, rather than being annoying, make her genuinely likeable. The same goes for all the characters, to some extent. The little town that is the setting exudes warmth and friendliness, with the writers neither falling into the trap of making fun of small towns, or unrealistically glorifying them. The part of Barakamon that will always be most special to me, however, is how it deals with inspiration. The main character, a young artist trying to discover his own style while still keeping his craft as good as possible, was someone I could very much connect with, and his own path mirrored my own in a lot of places. How he eventually discovered what it was he wanted to write, and how he went about it, gave me inspiration in turn. So don't let the cheery, slice-of-life setup turn you off. This is a show with weight behind it.

Sailor Moon Crystal
I might just not get it. That may be what's happening here. It's sort of what I want to believe. All I can see when I watch this is a children's show like the kind I used to watch all the time as a child. It follows the same formula and everything. I don't want to give the impression I think that it's a bad thing, and for what it's worth it's not that bad at being that. I do like many of the artistic choices, even if the quality is gruesomely sub-par at points. It's just that I was hoping it would be so much more. I was just waiting for the point when the writing would ratchet upwards, or when I would notice that one thing I was missing, for that one moment that showed me just how wrong I had been. It never came. So I've concluded I have failed to grasp the meaning of Sailor Moon. There must be something more to it. There must be some reason it means so much to so many. It just doesn't mean much to me. My deepest and most genuine apologies.

Space Dandy
So the adventure has finally come to an end... OR HAS IT? Either way, I just had a blast with this show. For the longest time, I haven't seen anything that so filled with passion. The good things just keep getting better, and the talent behind these episodes becomes more clear every time. My favorite moment would have to be the musical episode, though nearly all of them can be considered winners to some extent. I'll save the rest of my thoughts for the OIO article I'm gonna write, but for now, I will say that, as a venture, I consider it to be a tremendous success.

Terror in Resonance
Speaking of tremendous successes, there's this masterpiece here. In terms of quality and quality alone, Terror in Resonance takes the cake as being the true stand out of the season. The art and atmosphere was top notch, letting the intense gravity of the show sink in until it's completely infected the viewer. Always compelling, with painfully gripping mysteries and scenes that become so engagingly intense they're almost beautiful, every moment feels like a reminder of why Shinichiro Watanabe is on a level all his own. This is also a really smart so, with symbolism so cleverly placed, I almost feel like I'm not qualified to talk about it. The theatre geek in me particularly appreciated the Oedipus references, though. It's, of course, not without flaws (some dramatic scenes became funny due to abysmal usage of Engrish) but it definitely deserves to be remembered outside this year.

So! That's summer! The next season features the grand return of a couple of titles that I adore, as well as some new properties that, if not exactly good, could be at least interesting. And, in the world of anime, interesting is what we're in need of most. Lay it on me, Fall. I'm ready for you.