Summer is here in full swing and along with the scorching heat comes a new season of anime for us to enjoy. Spring 2013′s anime season had two great shows come out of it (Suisei no Gargantia and Shingeki no Kyojin) and many shows were filled with action and robots. This summer’s season is a bit more bland and has a lot less action, but there might be one or two worth checking out. Let’s see what we’ve got here.
Love Lab
This is a slice of life show about girls practicing romance with, on, and for each other. The show takes place at an all-girls school with most of them showing some amount of infatuation towards one another. The main character attempts to show a classmate how to act around boys. She shows her things like how to meet boys and how to hold hands by playing the part of a potential mate in practice.
Likelihood of me watching another episode: Not good. I can’t see any reason I would want to continue this one.
Danganronpa
This show is based on a game of the same name. The game is sort of a Persona/Ace Attorney hybrid as I understand it. Like a murder mystery type thing with day/night cycles. Anyway, the main characters are all trapped in a high school and the only way they are allowed to leave is if they kill one of the others gathered there. There is no time limit, so they can all live together in the high school for the rest of their lives if they wish.
Likelihood of me watching another episode: Pretty good. The first episode definitely intrigued me.
Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi
God has forsaken humanity and the world he left behind is one without birth or death. There are beings called Gravekeepers who are tasked with laying people to rest once they have finished living their lives and the only way to attain eternal rest is through a Gravekeeper.
Likelihood of me watching another episode: Average. I feel like a lot was left unsaid in the first episode so this show probably deserves another episode or two.
Silver Spoon
The reason most people are excited about this one despite its premise is the fact that it’s based on a manga by the same person that did Fullmetal Alchemist. This is your standard high school anime setup, only the high school is a farm school. As far as I know, there aren’t many (if any) anime shows centering around livestock like this one.
Likelihood of me watching another episode: Not good. If it starts getting a lot of attention later I might come back around to it but right now I have no desire to watch any more.
Free!
This show is probably the most anticipated one this season. At least it’s the one I’ve heard the most buzz about, anyway. It seems to be mostly geared towards girls as all the main characters are high school swim club pretty boys, and they can also at times be a bit too affectionate towards one another.
Likelihood of me watching another episode: Pretty good. I know this show is geared towards girls, but the production values are just so good in this one that I might end up following it anyway.
Uchouten Kazoku
The main characters in this show are all shape shifting creatures (tengu andtanuki). They coexist with humans and occasionally eat one another. Compared to the other shows this season, this one seems to have a decent amount of uniqueness to it.
Likelihood of me watching another episode: Not so good. I might come back to it if people start gushing over it, but right now it’s not doing anything for me.
Servant x Service
This show is about civil service office workers and the show seems to take place almost exclusively there. The main character’s reason for working there is to seek revenge on the civil servant who allowed her parents to bestow such a ridiculously long name upon her.
Likelihood of me watching another episode: Bad. This show interests me not.
Inu to Hasami wa Tsukaiyou
This show stars a domineering lady author and one of her obsessive fans who happened to be reincarnated as a dog. She abuses him with a pair of scissors. It’s unclear from the first episode where they plan on going with the story, but the show seems pretty shallow overall from my first impressions.
Likelihood of me watching another episode: Bad. One episode was enough for me, thanks.
Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou
The show centers around some tarot card fortune tellers. The main character is really into it but her cousin is not at all so they have kind of a strained relationship. It’s all about magical girls and the sort of stuff that magical girls find themselves getting into.
Likelihood of me watching another episode: Bad. This show left no impression on me. Very forgettable.
Kiniro Mosaic
The first episode takes place mainly in London, so the main character speaks Japanese and the girl in the homestay family she is staying with hardly speaks any. This makes for some pretty entertaining situations. It looks like the rest of this show will be taking place exclusively in Japan, so the hilarious English situations will probably be much less from here on.
Likelihood of me watching another episode: Average. I would be willing to watch and laugh at this show with someone else, but I won’t be watching it solo.
Below Average Shows and a Recap
Sunday, October 20, 2013
This show is definitely a weird one. It’s entertaining enough, but it really doesn’t seem like my kind of show. I can see how other people would enjoy it though. Slice of life shows usually don’t do it for me, and Love Lab is no exception.
Who should watch this show: People who like awkward high school girl-girl romance interactions.
This show has some pretty interesting character designs. I like that. The premise is pretty interesting too. It reminds me of Battle Royale in a way, only it’s confined to a high school and there is no time limit. I have the feeling it’s going to be kind of like the drama Liar Game. Good, but a bit too drawn out for my liking. It’s hard to tell at this point. This first episode was basically just setting the scene for everything, so I feel like it deserves having another episode watched before I pass full judgment.
Who should watch this show: People who like murder/survival/mystery shows and interesting, diverse characters.
The premise of this show is pretty interesting. I like religious alternate-reality type things so this speaks to my interests. However, I’m not really a fan of the characters so far, at least not the main girl. The main guy might end up being kind of cool though. I feel like the show might eventually blossom into something worthwhile, but the first episode here isn’t very strong.
Who should watch this show: People who like religious alternate-reality type things.
The characters themselves are all okay enough, the premise of the show just doesn’t really interest me. If you have any interest in farming or livestock type stuff though, you’ll probably find this show more interesting than I did. I could never get into Fullmetal Alchemist, but this show has pretty much nothing in common with it from what I can tell.
Who should watch this show: People who like livestock. And farms and stuff.
The animation and the sound effects and music are pretty great in this one. I usually don’t take much notice of the music in shows, but the soundtrack playing through most of this show was actually quite pleasant to listen to. The characters are all funny and likable, but I’m not entirely sure where to expect the story to go or develop. The show is definitely well done and I’ll probably watch another but I’m not too sure if I’ll want to see it all the way through. It’s really a very well done and polished anime.
Who should watch this show: People who like pretty boys, cool music, or swimming.
That being said, this show is a little odd. The animation is a little goofy and I don’t like how some of the character’s ears and noses look, but overall the show isn’t too terribly exciting. I highly doubt I’ll be watching any more of this one. I don’t know where the story is going but I also really don’t care. Some parts of this first episode were pretty amusing, but the in-between parts were pretty dull.
Who should watch this show: People who like tengus, tanukis, and transformation!
Everything about the show seems pretty average and not all that interesting. The show wasn’t bad enough for me to want to shut it off, but I definitely do not plan on watching any more of it. Even though I work in an office, I felt like I couldn’t relate to this show at all. It’s not good.
Who should watch this show: People who like sub-par office comedy involving civil servants.
This show is about a dog that used to be a human. It’s also about books. The show is pretty goofy, but it has its amusing moments. The best parts probably are the ones involving the dog and his wacky expressions. His counterpart is a strange girl who is capable of reading his thoughts for whatever reason. The dog is kind of funny but I don’t really care about the show as a whole.
Who should watch this show: People who like abusive scissor wielding women and human souls trapped in wiener dogs.
There’s a lot of supernatural stuff going on in this show. I feel like the show could be cool, but the way everything is executed is not that cool at all. Everything just seems kinda cheesy. I dunno, it’s just not for me. I don’t really care about any of the characters either.
Who should watch this show: People who like magical girls and tarot cards.
I like the music in this one. It’s very soothing and pleasant. The show is hilariously over dramatic at times and takes cutesy to the max. Also, the English dialogue in the show is not authentic sounding at all. It’s highly entertaining in the “so bad it’s good” kind of way. This is the kind of show I would watch with a friend to laugh at, but it’s not a show I would want to continue on my own. I also have no idea what to expect from the story. Probably not much.
Who should watch this show: People who like lolis and Brits in Japan.
Almost every season there are a few shows that just don’t sit right with me and I abandon them before they’re done. Some are unhappy to see that I treat some shows this way, but these are just my first impressions. If a show doesn’t grab me and get me engaged within the first 5-10 minutes or so, I’m moving on.
Hyperdimension Neptunia: Jiggly boob overload right here. This show seems a bit too juvenile for my tastes. I couldn’t find the strength to watch more than 5 minutes or so.
Gifuu Doudou!!: I’m not a fan of the art style at all in this one. It reminds me of older style animations. I gave up after about 5 minutes or so because nothing in the show appealed to me. Sorry.
And as usual, there were also a handful of shows that I just didn’t check out and a handful of sequels that I never watched the original for (sorry!).
Last Season’s Recap: As predicted, Suisei no Gargantia and Shingeki no Kyojin were the ones to watch for me. I’m not current on either one at the moment (mostly due to them not being quite as awesome as I was hoping for), but I do still plan on seeing them all the way through eventually.
This Season’s Bottom Line: Free! and Danganronpa stand out the most to me, I think. And then maybe Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi and Kiniro Mosaic. Free! is definitely the most polished and best looking anime out of the bunch in my opinion, but overall I feel like this season is pretty weak. Too bad.
So tell me, how do you think this season compares to the last one? Any new shows look good to you? What’s your favorite one so far? If you’re a guy, how do you feel about Free? Share your thoughts down in the comments!
