Not-So-Endless Summer 2014

Okay, I apologize for the uncreative title. I was so excited, not for the end of the Summer Season, but to tell you about my two favorites of the season…only to read that I’m totally not special and that pretty much everybody loved “Barakamon” and “Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun”/”Gekkan Shoujou Nozaki-Kun.”

So if you haven’t seen them, I highly recommend “Barakamon” and “Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun.” I laughed every episode and rewatched (and re-laughed) every episode at least twice.

Now, for my other winners of the summer!

Hunter x Hunter: WAHHHHH! I’m so sad it’s over, though I couldn’t think of a better place to end it. I can only hope that sometime during my lifetime we’ll see the next arc animated. Though perhaps I should just be glad if the Dark Continent Arc is ever finished in the manga, let alone makes it to animation..? (Also, the link goes to the crunchyroll page, but “Hunter x Hunter” is now available on Netflix too.) I do realize this might not actually count as a “Summer Season” anime since it started…wayyy before this summer. But it’s over now and I had to mention it.

Free!: Yeah, okay, I wish I was cool enough to *not* like “Free!”. I wasn’t even that excited about it when the second season started. But I resisted for all of about two seconds before I was sucked back in to the world of emotional but muscular swimming boys. Rin’s stripper-cop-dance in the ending theme made me smile every week. I can’t lie–I’ll miss “Free!”. And Makoto’s back muscles.

Haikyu!!: One of the most tight, well-done sports anime I’ve seen. I think after every episode, I said, “Wow, that was perfect.” Sports anime distilled to its purest essence. I hope we get more of this and I’d love to see the manga in English (sorry, I don’t read Japanese).

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: If you’ve read any of my previous posts, you know I fuckin’ LOVE “JoJo’s.” I can’t wait til this comes back in January. (I almost didn’t include it because it’s not really “ending” this summer, but I had to say SOMETHING about “JoJo’s”)

Samurai Jam-Bakumatsu Rock: I know right now people are screeching (assuming anyone reads this, anyway). “Bakumatsu Rock, a ‘winner’ of the summer?!” To me, YES. Is it stupid? YES. Over-the-top? YES. Possibly the most ridiculous thing ever? YES. Did I love the shit out of it? TOTALLY YES. (I think I might’ve said this last time?) Plus, the last 30 seconds or so gave me one thing I waited all series for, just *hoping* it would make it after seeing the character design somewhere.

Black Butler: Book of Circus: I absolutely loved this and thought it was very well done. The opening, the ending, and everything in between was delicious sinful one hell of a Black Butler anime. Hehe.

Space Dandy: I know a lot of people got irritated with the randomness of “Space Dandy” but I loved it. The final episode was fantastic. I’ll miss “Space Dandy” a lot–Junichi Suwabe’s voice, the nonsense, the weird musical numbers, Meow’s social media addiction, the great boobs vs butt debate…but I find comfort in knowing that no matter what, Space Dandy is a dandy in space.

Maybe Not Winners But Shows I Really Liked:

Hamatora: I loved it, I didn’t, then I loved it again, then I didn’t. Then shit got crazy at the end and I thought, “This is what I’ve been waiting for.” “Hamatora” was far from perfect, and maybe not even good, but I was pot-committed and glad I saw it through to the end.

Love Stage!!: I started the anime, then couldn’t get enough & started reading the manga, then went back to the anime…it’s great. BL might not be for everyone and I’m definitely no expert in the genre, but I really enjoyed “Love Stage!!”.

Nobunaga Concerto: The animation style took some getting used to but was totally worth it. I love pretty much everything Nobunaga/Sengoku Era but this show was just really fun and clever.

Sabagebu!: Cute girls playing survival games with cute guns…or…something? Whatever this show is, it’s hilarious!

I Don’t Even Know If I Liked Them But I Finished Them Anyway:

Blue Spring Ride: Would I watch it again? No. Would I read the manga? Yeah, probably. It wasn’t “bad”…just kind of a slow, generic shojo.

Captain Earth: I’m glad I finished it and was quite relieved it was over. I can see why people might like this show but I just couldn’t really get into it.

Terror in Resonance: I wanted this to be fantastic. It was “okay.” I think it had the potential to be “whoa!” but somewhere along the way fell flat. However, I did enjoy the final episode.

Aldnoah Zero: I was kinda ready for this to be over but now I’m curious to see what happens. Bring on Season 2!

Okay, I think that’s all the endings for the summer…

…now onto Fall Season 2014!

4-13-2014

Nobunaga the Fool Episode 14: This was a surprisingly good episode! I loved this series in the beginning and then kind of started making fun of it but I’m hoping these recent episodes (episode 13 was pretty good too) signal a positive turn. I enjoyed this episode more than I expected and while Caesar’s obsession with Ichihime should be creepy, it’s grown oddly endearing to me.

One Week Friends Episode 2: I want to say this anime is “cute” but it’s almost too complex to be cute. Cute, complex, whatever it is, it’s wonderful.

Rowdy Sumo Wrestler Masutaro Episode 2: The first episode was pretty lousy and this episode does nothing to make us think that Masutaro has any redeemable qualities at all. However, we at least met some sumo wrestlers so I’m hoping it takes off soon.

The World is Still Beautiful Episode 2: I am really enjoying this one. It has a kind of new-spin-on-a-tired-concept feel to it, and I mean that in a good way. The pacing feels good, like we’re plugging right along without a lot of unnecessary angst.

Captain Earth Episode 2: I liked it better than the first episode, things are getting a little more fleshed out. However, it all feels like something I’ve seen many times before and perhaps because of that, the characters all feel pretty generic (for now, at least).

The Irregular at Magic High School Episode 2: Still incredibly boring. I wanted to like this show so much–why is it so uninteresting?

Kamigami no Asobi Episode 2: I won’t lie, this is my guilty pleasure and I love it. It was stupidly refreshing after my “watch the first episode of everything” run. And yes, I laughed out loud at Apollon astride a pegasus with his hand outstretched. I just thought, wow, this is no-holds-barred, these guys know exactly what girls want.

The Kawai Complex Guide to Manors and Hostel Behavior Episode 2: Between this episode and Zeppeli’s bubbles in “JoJo’s” I’m thinking bubbles are where it’s at. I still can’t decide if this show is irritating or endearing. I think I want to be a senpai.

My current favorites:

Haikyu!! Episode 2: This whole thing just feels very well-done to me. The first episode was a hard act to follow but episode two kept it up. The characters are already wonderful and it had that great sports anime feel from the get-go.

Fairy Tail (Season 2) Episode 2: I’ll just say right now that I don’t think there’s an episode of Fairy Tail that I *don’t* like. I look forward to this show every week.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Episode 2: LOVE LOVE LOVE. I marathoned the second half of the first series and I feel like I could just watch JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure forever. It is so bizarre and lives up to the name but I can’t get enough. Just prepare to have “Roundabout” stuck in your head for days.

 

First Impressions (Updated)

Winter anime season is over and so many good anime ended… *sob sob sob* But Spring is supposed to be a time of new beginnings and all that, so let’s see what the new anime season has to offer! First off is…

Fairy Tail (Season 2) Episode 1: YES YES YES! I was SOOOOO excited that one of my favorite anime is BACK. I kind of wish I’d been able to watch the final episode of the first season as a refresher but it felt so good to be back in the guild again!

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (Stardust Crusaders) Episode 1: My brother had watched the first series and loved it, so when Crunchyroll picked up the first nine eps of the first series and Stardust Crusaders, I did a marathon. This show is absolutely ridiculous in the greatest of ways. I can’t wait for more.

Kamigami no Asobi Episode 1: Brother saw this in my Crunchyroll queue and said, “When I read about this, I thought, ‘This is right up Sister’s alley.” And…he was right! The beginning sequence was hilarious, the first half pretty boring, but the end theme is hilarious to me and I’m looking forward to the next episode. Like any otome-game anime, this is full of tropes and stereotypes but hey, if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.

The Irregular at Magic High School Episode 1: I don’t remember why, but I was excited about this anime and really wanted to like it. But this episode seemed really boring and I couldn’t wait for it to end.

Captain Earth Episode 1: I didn’t really know what to expect after all the hype. Maybe I have “Episode One Burnout” right now, but this did not keep my attention. I’ll give it another try when episode two comes out.

Rowdy Sumo Wrestler Matsutaro Episode 1: I thought this show had a lot of potential (being about sumo and all). I hope it gets better soon.

The World is Still Beautiful Episode 1: I liked it. I wasn’t sure whether to be annoyed or entertained by some of it–like the characters breaking the fourth wall, which usually I like–but by the end, I was looking forward to another episode. Plus, I think I heard Tomokazu Sugita there at the end…

Haikyu!! Episode 1: LOVE LOVE LOVE. One of the most perfect first episodes I’ve ever seen.

The Comic Artist and Assistants Episode 1: This really has potential. It’s ridiculous and the perviness should be annoying, but right now I think it’s actually really cute.

One Week Friends Episode 1: Great first episode. Very…pure? feeling.