What Ben’s Looking Into in The Summer Anime 2015 Season – Part II

It feels like I posted about starting the summer season just yesterday, but it’s already been well over a month since that post. I haven’t been very busy in my life, so that just seems strange.

Anywho, based off the shows I’ve been keeping up with, this season has been a lot better than both the last spring season and the last winter season. There have been a few surprises this season (both good and bad), and I have found two shows that are truly worth watching. Like always, I can’t watch every show in all the seasons, so if I’m missing a show you think I should be watching, don’t be shy! Tell me what shows I’ve been missing out on!

Alright, let’s get this started!

Gate: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri

We’re starting off with the one show I’m the most conflicted about. Yes, I haven’t seen all the episodes that are out for this anime, and no, that doesn’t mean it’s bad. Gate isn’t bad, but it isn’t the most engaging show I’ve ever seen. It has a good enough plot and setting, a good main character, and nice visuals. For some reason, though, I find it hard to get into this show. I like it just fine, but it’s so forgettable that I had to remind myself multiple times that I’m watching this show.

Although I find this title to be largely forgettable so far, I have to say that I really like the main character. He’s a guy who has no motivation at all, but ends up getting a big promotion in the military that he didn’t want nor ask for. I probably would have completely dropped this one if not for him, which is easily the biggest redeeming quality of the show.

The plot is pretty neat, and a much bigger story unfolds than that of the one originally let on. Maybe it’ll be fun to marathon this one at the end of the season.

Gate isn’t special, but it has its moments and the show at least tries. Will I remember this one in a year? Probably not, but a forgettable show is better than a bad show.

Durarara!!x2 Ten

I guess this is as good of a time as any to eat my words; I went back and watched Durarara!!x2 Shou before watching Ten, and I finally figured out why I didn’t care much for it when it was broadcasting; Durarara!! doesn’t work very well as a weekly show, at least not for me. It became tiring watching Shou on a weekly basis because the pauses in the complex story hindered my overall enjoyment. After rewatching Shou uninterrupted, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s actually pretty good, and the same goes for Ten.

Ten is the second cour in the three-cour project, so it naturally advanced the story we saw in Shou. It seems impossible to fathom, but even more characters are introduced in this cour, making the total of characters that we have to be invested in become even higher. Not only that, but some characters seem to be “repurposed”, so to speak, and occupy different roles than they did in Shou.

I’ve finally become accustomed to watching a series like this on a weekly basis, and I can’t wait for the third cour of this series.

Charlotte

In theory, Charlotte should be an anime that’s at the very least enjoyable. The show packs a lot of great ideas: superpowers, comedy, and interesting situations, but doesn’t do much with them. I’ve seen wasted potential before, and even though Charlotte isn’t the worst offender of that by far, it’s still disappointing to see potential being wasted.

Charlotte is the worst kind of show in the fact that instead of having a boring start, this anime had a pretty solid start with a very good first episode; superpowers were introduced, our main character was introduced, and a story started to emerge.

In fact, Charlotte is easily my least favorite show this season, not only because my expectations were much higher, but also because it takes a good premise and does nothing with it.

But the biggest, most unforgivable fact of this show is that all of the characters are nothing more than tropes with no personality whatsoever. We have the “edgy” protagonist, the tsundere, the idol, and the overenthusiastic dork. None of these characters go well with each other, thus making the dialog nothing more than expository and dull.

No, Charlotte isn’t the worst anime I’ve dropped, but it’s the weakest show on this list. DROPPED.

Gatchaman Crowds Insight

If you liked Gatchaman Crowds, chances are you’ll also like this sequel. The only immediate differences between the two are that there is a different villain, and there’s a new Gatchaman who joins the roster. No, this show isn’t great, but it at least does right what so many other shows do wrong.

What this series has done a great job with is its characters. For the most part, every character is distinct and memorable, and the newcomer, Tsubasa, is no different. She’s sort of like Hajime with her personality, but less wired.

Other than that, the story centers more around the CROWDS rather than intergalactic madness, or at least what I’ve seen so far. I think that this is a good change of pace because the CROWDS weren’t given a lot of explanation in the first season, and making them the main focus of season two just seems like a good idea.

Like I said, if you liked the first season, chances are you’ll like the second season. The characters, the surreal art, and the vibrant color scheme all make a return, and it feels good to be watching this again.

Aoharu x Kikanjuu

I had no idea what Aoharu x Kikanjuu was going to be about going into it… but I certainly wasn’t expecting what I saw. The story basically centers around Hotaru Tachibana, who is a high-school girl disguised as a boy, and her involvement in “survival games”. What that boils down to is just another sports anime where the protagonists want to be “the best in Japan”. In true underdog fashion, Hotaru must learn the ropes, starting from nothing and working her way to the top.

I have two big complaints with this anime: one, the main character is bland. She has little to no character, and the only traits that define her are her sense of justice and her desire to conceal her gender. Two, what should have been the main plot of the series was wrapped up in the third episode! Horaru gets coaxed into playing survival games after she causes a lot of damage to a club, and a host there suggests that she play survival games with him to repay the debt, but it’s paid off after two episodes!

Other than that, I have to admit that Aoharu x Kikanjuu can actually pull off both comedy and limited amounts of drama, which is much more than I expected from it. Only a handful of characters have actual, distinct personalities, and when they show them off, it’s usually done so in a nice way.

I’m not dropping this one… but that doesn’t mean I’m a big fan of it. I’m giving it an unenthusiastic pass, but a pass nonetheless.

Gangsta.

I saved this one for last, but damn if this isn’t one of the best shows I’ve seen in a while. It’s the only title on this list that’s a Funimation title, therefore it’s been a real pain trying to watch this without a subscription. But through all the ads, the low quality, and the freezing streams on Funimation’s website, I’ve still found that this is a title that I’m going to be enjoying thoroughly until it’s done… which is soon, because it’s only a 12 episode series.

The story centers around two mercenaries, Worick and Nicolas, who do odd-jobs for whoever’s paying. These jobs usually entail killing street thugs and lowly organized crime startups, and as the series progresses, we learn a lot about there two’s backstories. Along the way, they save a hooker named Alex, and she comes along with them to help them in their jobs.

The dynamic between the characters and how they all interact with each other is astoundingly good. One of the main characters, Nicolas, is actually deaf, so it’s interesting to see him interact with people and fight.

Another positive is the bleak setting. It really feels like a run-down, crime ridden world where the gangsters rule the underworld with the help from mercenaries and corrupt cops. I’m really looking forward to see how the story is advanced and what happens to all of these great characters.

Gangsta. is looking to be the best of the season if Durarara!!x2 Ten slips in quality.

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That’s about it. I did have one other show on this list, Ranpo Kitan: Game of Laplace, but after hearing less-than-flattering reviews of it, and the fact that it’s on Funimation with their video playback that gives me so many issues, I decided to not even try. Maybe it’ll be a good show, but we won’t know that until the end. I might check it out one day, but today’s not the day.

Well, that’s it so far; two really good shows, a couple of good shows, and some average ones. I have to say, I wasn’t expecting to find two shows this season that I would like as much as Ten and Gangsta., but I’m glad that this season is better than the last season.