Final Summer Anime 2013 Thoughts

So before I could finally tackle my backlog, I had to go finish off the Summer Season. It was not too bad. MILES better than Spring that’s definitely for sure. I don’t think there were a lot of great shows though. Thankfully there were some that did their job and entertained me well enough. Admission: there was only one show I actually watched consistently enough (Blood Lad). Everything else I had to marathon. So, might as well share with you the anime that I ended up finishing, along with a not so surprise as my best summer show.

Blood Lad: 6/10

Feeling pretty down on this anime. Started out well enough, as it satisfied my requirements of being a comedy referencing other franchises, but then it got into its story and I couldn’t care less. Then around the end the episodes felt…good? At least, I thought they were good enough that I was genuinely looking forward to them each week. Then the last two episodes were pretty meh. So its quality was crap. Hydra Bell is too beautiful for me. Everyone else was hard to care about, and the story wasn’t very memorable or good at all. Music was lacking as well. Except the OP.

Senyuu 2: 6/10

This is Yamakan’s greatest project. What more needs to be said?

Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya: 6/10

Aside from the excellent fight in the middle of the anime and me (maybe unfortunately) wishing Illya and Miyu got together, this was ok. Maybe I shouldn’t have made this the first Type-Moon series I’ve finished, but what’s done is done, and it…wasn’t terrible. Too bad it ended up getting distracted by other stuff, but what can I say? It was based off a doujinshi. At least I found it enjoyable.

Hyperdimension Neptunia: 6/10

I came into Neptunia expecting that David Productions would do a decent job with this series, as off the high of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, it’s starting to become clear this studio is on the rise. Of course, I haven’t played any of the games, so it just had to be ok enough for me to understand enough of the references for me to get by. I’m not sure it did. But in the end, I ended up having enough fun with the video game references and some of the fanservice, and I somehow was never bored. I’d say the music was ok, but only the tracks at the end I felt were really composed well. Also, the series is aware of what it is. No, it’s not enough for me to call it a favorite because I still felt like I was lost (and…some scenes felt cut? Ended abruptly?), but I never did get bored of this anime. That’s commendable enough for me.

Sunday Without God: 6/10

(Ben’s thoughts on the series)

Yeah, this was kind of a disappointing adaptation of the Light Novel. I know Ben had his issues with the anime, and well, I did as well. The biggest problem is the anime staff must have decided to adapt four separate storylines after the conclusion to Episode 3. This is on par for the course when adapting ongoing LN’s. But if this is the case (I say that since I haven’t read the LN), then it was a mistake, since the quality of the episodes were pretty uneven and not exactly very strong. I know some people had been watching the series were impressed at Ep 3 and Ep 6, but all I could do is shrug and say, “…uh…I guess that was an episode.” The only arc that honestly I really enjoyed was the Class 3-4 arc, and that was the last couple of episodes. It shouldn’t take that long for an anime to get good. That’s what bumped my rating for the show, but otherwise, a meandering storyline and hard to care for characters makes this series unmemorable. I say it’s ok, but yeah, a disappointment overall.

Free!: 7/10

(Sabrina’s thoughts on the series)

Free! will be overhyped and loved forever by most fujoshi everywhere. Free! will be despised forever by those uncomfortable with seeing half-naked, athletic high school boys. What about someone like me who’s neither of these things? Welp, it was ok. The most important thing it did to me was actually represent a sport (swimming) well enough to my taste. Otherwise, I feel like it lost its energy from its first episode, and from there it was just ok. Nothing ended up impressing me enough to love it, but at the same time, there was nothing there for me to hate it. Except maybe the last episode and Rin. Aside from the swimming part, that episode was…

Actually, I’ll leave it right there. Free! was an ok sports show. That is all.

Servant x Service: 7/10

Servant x Service managed to be really hilarious at the start of the season. The office jokes were funny, Hasebe proved to be the best character, and it only seemed to get better…until I stopped watching it halfway through the season. Kind of like every other anime. When I finally went to go finish it, while some moments were funny, the anime was pretty dry and unmemorable. Maybe I expected too much. Maybe I ended up wanting Lucy to finally just admit that she likes Hasebe. Also, damn this anime and making Lucy wear that dress. Otherwise, ended well enough. Not entirely certain I want to check out how the manga is now though.

And now, just like that, the budget for Watamote disappeared pic.twitter.com/g5StNMdWJ1

— Justin Stroman (@Kami_nomi) October 5, 2013

Watamote: 7/10

Oh, how I wished I could love this anime more. Alas, when I think back to it, I can’t. It had literally the most perfect first episode in anime in a long time for me. Then…it kind of meandered around, with some occasional jokes in there, but otherwise nothing came close to capturing Ep 1′s spirit. Then Ep 8 showed up (or didn’t show up, you can say) and was what eventually turned out to be the crescendo episode of Watamote. It combined just about everything that made Ep 1 funny, made me want to slap Tomoko for just being an awful human being, and again pointed out some biting commentary on interacting with people. (Also you shouldn’t lie to kids.). Then it kind of went back to its usual ways. Really unfortunate for me. I’ll still look back on it fondly…just not as fondly as I wanted to.

Gatchaman Crowds: 7/10

(Ben’s thoughts on the series)

I’m probably the only one that’ll remain ambivalent on Gatchaman Crowds. Overall, I think it’s a solid show, and its themes are pretty interesting. But aside from having great energy (and fantastic…let me repeat, FANTASTIC music), I felt like it was a mess of a show. The characters were fine (better than having leads with little to no redeeming features whatsoever), but the characters aside from Hajime I felt never really got their time to shine. I felt like the plot and the story was mostly hard to connect with all the way (aside from trolling on the internet and social media being its obvious themes). Overall, something about this anime held it back, and I can’t say, compared to the anime I have ranked before it (or the one I rated a 9), that this was a must watch or excellent anime. Maybe I’ll look at it again down the road, but for now, it’s a solid anime.

Love Lab: 7/10

Aside from it coasting down the finish line, Love Lab was the biggest surprise for me this year. Didn’t think it would be any good, and yet, it turned out to be just fine. With a nice aesthetic, some good characters, and actual funny jokes, this was one of the highlights of my week. Too bad I stalled on every anime midway, and then in finishing this anime, I felt the show lost its spark around the end of it. Still, I definitely recommend you check this anime out, if only to see the weirdest love you’ll ever see. Honest.

Yamishibai: 7/10

Admittedly, this is rated highly thanks to three episodes: 6, 7, and 13. I have yet to watch a horror anime that…actually scared the crap out of me…then Yamishibai showed up. It’s 4 minutes and 30 seconds of sheer fright. It manages to strike a tone between being generally creepy, freaky, the works. But only the episodes I listed really got to me a lot. Especially 6 on the train. Oh, and I know for sure to be careful using the toilet thanks to this anime. THANKS FOR NOTHING YAMISHIBAI!

Rozen Maiden Zurückspulen: 7/10

I didn’t think it was possible, but this anime has now gotten me interested in the franchise. First, the anime itself: it was fine, but it managed to stay at a lesser level in the middle of its run. Why? Because it spent time with Jun moping around, had a bit of inconsistency in regards to action and scene placement, and, I guess since the manga’s ongoing, there was some character development with Kiraikisho I felt was lost, and I don’t think she came off as sympathetic as she might have been. However, everything else got me into the series: the atmosphere, the background music, and the dolls themselves. I found myself at the end really wanting to know what happens now.

And that’s where the manga comes in. Looks like I’ll be checking that out now whenever I find some time. I hear the two anime series did their own thing separate from the manga, so I’ll check those out after I finish the first manga, and catch up with the current version of Rozen Maiden. Hopefully I’ll like it more than I did Rozen Maiden 2013, but otherwise, I would say that if you’re up for something atmospheric, check out this anime. Just endure the recap of Jun winding the clock. I think.

The World God Only Knows: Goddess Arc: 8/10

You think that I would cower in fear after that rushed recap episode didn’t you? And did any of you really believe that I would rate this pretty badly? Unfortunately, I’ve put on the biased glasses for TWGOK, so just about whatever it does will impress me. And once again Manglobe has impressed me with what they did with this version of the series. They skipped the third leg of capturing the girls part in the manga (unfortunate, but the first two seasons sold like crap so…), but after that rushed recap Ep, it was mostly smooth sailing from there, with some impressive pacing and the growth of Keima that’s rare in most “harem” anime series. I have no idea if this is better than the prior two seasons, but I do know I enjoyed it all the same.

Silver Spoon: 9/10

(sjw’s thoughts on the series)

If you paid attention to my Summer Compendium and my re-do of my Summer Compendium, then you would have already known that this would be far and away the best show of the Summer for me, and one of my contenders for Anime of the Year. It manages to tell a story about an aimless kid who thinks he can get away with going to an agricultural school (whoops), and not be boring as heck. Whatever Taku Kishimoto is doing he needs to keep doing it as he’s been a part of my favorite anime series (Well, it’s just two, that’d be Usagi Drop). Granted, the source materials were pretty strong, but we’ve seen great source materials die because of who adapts it, so to make sure it’s as respectable as the manga is impressive. Thankfully we’ll see it again next year, and I expect to praise it again when it’s running again.

Now What?

My current anime watch list pic.twitter.com/TC0RLH0tFP

— Justin Stroman (@Kami_nomi) October 7, 2013

For the last time (at least, in reminding you in a post), I have dropped the Fall Anime Season…sorta. As expected, aside from ongoing stuff, and I’m probably picking Valvrave up again (although I’m tempted to wait on that just like I’m gonna do for Freezing: Vibration), I was only going to bother with the shows I had to do impressions on. They had to prove to me they would be good enough for me to keep watching. I had 5 shows. I’m going to keep up with 4 (Yowamushi Pedal, Ace of The Diamond, Wanna Be The Strongest in The World, Kill la Kill). Strike the Blood…unless I hear it gets really good, I’m not even going to bother with it anymore (so I’d consider it a soft drop, unless told otherwise). Otherwise, everything else I’m not going to watch until I put a good dent in my backlog. My backlog, in case you want to know (here’s backlog 1, backlog 2. Ignore the stuff over 50 episodes, they’re just there for now.). Thanks to everyone who commented, this is what I will be watching after I finish Tasogare Otome x Amnesia and Zetman:

1. Persona 4
2. Ben-To
3. Blue Exorcist
4. From The New World (Shin Sekai Yori)
5. Btooom!
6. Uta-Pri
7. Sakurasou
8. Henneko
9. Phi Brain
10. Magi
11. Love Live
12. Kimi to Boku

You can feel free to suggest what I should finish first, or what to finish next. That’s if you want. Now if you excuse me, I think I need to get ready for NYCC.