Welcome back to more glorious Anime viewings. I actually quite enjoyed the spring’s anime viewing, and the same with this summers selection as well. Lots of enjoyable anime shows to be enjoyed.
(All images taken using Fraps from their respected shows. Feel free to click on little screenshots)
This summer anime is also quite enjoyable. Not sure if I’m late or not in sharing this as it’s quite a few episodes into the season. Loving the anime shows that are mostly clustered into the weekend area while also enjoying the scattered ones on the weekdays. The more serious ones aimed for the weekends with the “side-entertainment” more aimed at the weekday portions.
Also want to recommend that one shouldn’t set limits and barriers when watching Anime. I’m noticing quote a few people forcing barriers of adding age restrictions while also making some kind of excuse or barrier to simply avoid something that they would otherwise find fun. Busy with life? Watch what you enjoy when you’re actually tuned in. This summer anime has lots to offer, you simply need to welcome it and enjoy it. If its also loudly implied that I’m worried about what people are thinking then I’m simply worried that people aren’t enjoying anime when they constantly say “this sucks”, “poor writing”, “reminds me of 90’s anime” (bad meaning), or whatever excuse they give. If that’s what you want and if you’re going to force yourself to not watch your anime then I feel sorry for you while also not being able to stop you.
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– Shirogane no Ishi:Argevollen:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argevollen
A typical mecha show with one side fighting another. A show that even gives off a tiny bit of the original Gundam formula vibe of finding a prototype mecha to strengthen whatever side obtains one. The Argevollen unit itself is a prototype that was supposed to do field trials to only end up in the main character’s hand after he continuously would disobey orders. It sounds typical, yet is somehow quite enjoyable for me probably because it deals with the nitty-gritty ground war without getting ahead of itself too much.
I find Tokimune a bit off an annoyance, yet somehow tolerable because he still gets stuff done. His recklessness is toned in the way that he does what feels right while nearly toned in the way the audience constantly requested, though still obviously unsatisfied because you just can’t satisfy people. I also find the whole Tokimune + Jamie Hazaford love-quarreling quite comical. It reminds me of the Muv-Luv type quarreling. In the later episode I was amused how direct he was to Jamie by asking if she loved him. Too direct.
The music is something I also can praise. It’s quite enjoyable with me actually curious enough to pick up the OST to listen to its beauty. The OP and ED are actually quite enjoyable. They’re however not my favourite for this season.
– Final Thoughts: Highly enjoyable and recommendable. Enjoying the mecha ground combat, the lover’s quarrel, and the designs. Sure, it may be “typical”, it’s still quite enjoyable. OST also seems to be praisable.
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– Aldnoah.Zero:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=16028
I’m highly impressed with this show so far. From Black Lagoon to Jormungand, Psycho-Pass, Attack on Titan, and even Kill La Kill has me being kept attached close to both the Anime scene and this show. I enjoyed Urobutcher’s anime dealing with Psycho-Pass and even Gargantia to the point I was expecting serious stuff from this show. This show still hasn’t disappointed me so far, though it did for the picky others who either can or can’t tune in to this show’s frequency. I quite love this show, though there are a handful of people who don’t.
I love how serious it is so far, how “eventful” it has been, the sass from the ship captains, and how the characters actually use tactics instead of relying on over-powered mecha. It has a nice mixture of elements that it is quite easy to enjoy, unless otherwise picky or not on the right viewing frequency. How can you not? The ship captain sassiness level is quite high, as is the combat tactics used by our odd main character of a Inaho who is unhumainly calm. Things like using bridges to drop over-powered enemy mechs into the water, and the same with hitting another using shipping crates. Then we have the overly arrogant and blood-thirsty Vers Empire and Knights who want to simply brutally destroy the Earthlings that they descended from all because they landed on Mars to obtain otherwordly mechs. The hatred that runs through the Vers Empire being similar to how America treats its blacks, and even further back to the Chinese as slave labor. Or I guess with Nazi Germany’s treatment of the Jews, though done by the British. Maybe worse in this show. The Vers Knights also resembling that of the Old England/British nobleman going out for a brutal fox hunt and with a touch of Code Geass similarities. Twisted justice and honour that they become hypocritical when trying to insult and degrade Terrans.
It goes without saying that the show itself has an awesome soundtrack. The opening, ending, the OST itself, and aLIEz being all awesome. Hearing Kalafina at the beginning is quite neat while also seeing the opening sequence. It however doesn’t hook me in. Still nice though. A lot of resources and effort went all into the show (for people to say it’s generic) that I’m quite enjoying this show a bit far too much. I’m always waiting for the next episode.
I’m also curious if Urobutcher is testing out Inaho’s overly calm and calculating personality to please those who whined and bitched about all the Gundam whiny teens. It’s a thought that has been running through my mind as even Inaho’s silent personality is causing people to whine and bitch. You just can’t please people no matter what character type you add.
This show is basically the overpowered strong enemy vs the overly fragile and weak Earthlings (Terrans). Basically something Zechs from Gundam Wing would comment on in episode 1 with how the enemy is always technologically advanced. I’m also surprised as to how much weight and purpose vehicles have in this show. They actually feel “realistic” to a degree.
Keep your sharp eye out for any references in this show. A Konami code has been apparently found in ep 4 with an eMac error found in episode 5 when Inoha’s trainer received an error message when in battle with a Ver’s Knight. One of the beauties of this show and anime in general.
Lastly, the most amusing thing was how America was attacked after their Independence Day. New Orleans can’t catch a break. Even wanted to belatedly note that the pendant gifted to the Princess would have been her lucky charm saving her. Instead, she had a double to save her due to her being sick upon arrival. She was saved by being sick and having a double. Poor girl that died in her place. RIP.
– Final Thoughts: I’m enjoying this greatly and would recommend it highly as well. I just love the seriousness and all the resources that so far went into this show. Everything, including the OST, is highly enjoyable. Loving the grittiness of it all while expecting great things from this show.
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– Akame Ga Kill:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akame_ga_Kill!
This show seemed quite enjoyable from the PVs I viewed and caught me a bit off guard. I wasn’t sure what to fully expect. It caught my attention within the first few minutes with the brief narration with the main theme playing loudly in the background discussing what Night Raid is and what their goal is. A group of assassins cleaning up an overly corrupted dark fantasy world of corrupted and horny pigs high up in authority. Bluntly put – “Cleaning out the trash” – as said by Sheele in the first episode. The whole world being your typical fantasy setting from one anime to the next, though this being interestingly done in that dark manner with the viewpoint of harshly scared characters dealing with their problems by attacking the problem directly.
I’m loving how each assassin has an interesting personality attached to them. Nice comical and dark personalities, masks, memories, and pasts to make you feel for them and to get nicely attached to them. Some having more comical personalities than others along with having darker personalities than others. I find Leone the most amusing out of the bunch. Nice kemonomimi girl who has also been compared to two RWBY characters. I was fearing that comparison once the first episode ended. I guess you could say that they’re a “more realistic” anime version of the Power Rangers if you look at the above images of colour-coding.
I however have to say I both enjoy and dislike Tatsumi’s personality due to him being naive with his country-raised personality. He is quite gullible thanks to his country-raised self with his two close friends. When Tatsumi is serious I enjoy him more to only dislike him when he changes back to his country-born self. Plus side of his gullible country side being the humorous punchlines.
The soundtrack itself also sounds praisable. Nice and enjoyable, though fearing it might lean more into the low budget range. I’m hoping it leans more towards an enjoyable Witch Crafts Work region with its enjoyable OP + ED, and the OST in general. Skyreach sounds awesome for while synced up to a nice opening sequence. It seems visually enjoyable. It has that nice Middle-Eastern vibe to it which I sadly can’t pin-point to any specific region. It however sounds quite enjoyable for this show with its overly enjoyable main theme.
– Final Thoughts: Highly entertained and enjoying this highly. I’m always impatiently waiting for this show to pop up on my viewing list so I can watch its light and dark sides. I always want to see more of the interesting vibe in this show. Soundtrack may or may not be enjoyable in the end with it sounding awesome so far. Loving the characters.
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– Sword Art Online 2:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=15804
I’m wishing that SAO would pace itself more like how it is doing in this anime. Less skipping and more focus on one thing at a time instead of stuffing two plots into one season. More focus on Aincrad for S1, ALO for S2, with GGO to be S3. Instead, we have GGO being what made SAO awesome in the first place with it stuck more without jumping and more on of a flow while dealing with both Death Gun and Shino in the GGO world. It is so far quite enjoyable.
I’m quite amused by Kirito’s gender-bend in the virtual world forced to behave as a trap. Of course he had to also meet up with Shino to learn how to play while also showing his old skills in this newer version of the game. Some temptations to be had here, some embarrassments to be had there, and some jokes to be pulled cracked to appear cool. The show also decided to place Shino in a traumatic purpose of firing a gun as a kid when being bank robbed which then triggers her traumatized self whenever a gun is shown, talked about, or held. This thus has her bullied by her classmates. Shino resorts to playing GGO as a form of therapy which brings various forms of irony and split personality type effects. One who is effected by her killing a bank robber vs the one who wants to be an overly serious GGO sniper. The strongest gun in the game.
It apparently seems that gamers are stuck playing their own gender in this “Seed”. Can’t roll a character that’s an opposite character, unless you hack or have some “outside” help. Or so is being hinted…..
I was briefly amused by how SAO II showed male characters harassing female characters in online games by using Kirito’s female form in GGO to show such. All the “cat calling”, pointing, and staring to the point you simply want to hide or run away.
I actually find this quite interesting. SAO is quite easy to bash due to the rushing, skipping, and ALO insertion. This however looks quite promising.
– Final Thoughts: Surprisingly good. If it sticks with GGO, and just GGO, this shall be the better SAO out there. I’m enjoying what I’m seeing so far that made the first half of SAO for S1 enjoyable before it rushed itself horribly.
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– Tokyo Ghoul:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Ghoul
Not really sure what to make of this show, though I do find it interesting. Even though I find Kaneki’s constant whining overly annoying and pathetic I still continue to watch because of how interesting the show itself is. The concept of having Ghouls behave intelligently like vampires in a social setting is quite interesting to me. Having them co-exist with humans while feeding on the dead, or feeding on the living for the more rogue-like ones. I find that this show continues on like a 2D Mario game scrolling the screen at a set pace. Kaneki is just there for the ride to eventually, and hopefully, mature both his body and mind so be less of an annoying embarrassment.
I found Rize’s character quite interesting. Preying on our overly innocent Kaneki to only end up inside him as organs in a transplant during surgery. She haunts him during urge and cravings for human flesh. Can’t eat food because it tastes like garbage. Thus, ghouls train themselves to temporary eat food to co-exist with humans to only end up puking it out later.
The OP itself is quite nice, as is the ED. I prefer the OP to the ED on this as it has a nicer sounding vocal track to it. The opening is also quite neat with the “Unravel” track being used reminding me of Psycho-Pass during a serious incident occurring in the show with robots roaming down the streets. It’s a neat track and opening. The soundtrack itself wasn’t all that noticeable. It however did sound interesting when I went back to grab the screens so having some hope it’ll be awesome.
I find this show a bit troublesome to watch when it comes to skipping events. When you’re expecting a scene to happen it just doesn’t, or left hanging when another episode begins. It jumps. And as mentioned, Kaneki’s constant whininess gradually pisses me off nearly making me not watch this show. I was just about to leave this show hanging.
This show has this interesting aura of street-punk fashion and style going into it. The ED shows such which might be what it is aiming for, similar to the street-punk-gothic type area of fashion and sub-culture that I’m overly unfamiliar with in Japan.
– Final Thoughts: Enjoyable. Love the concept and the theme of it. Watching it whenever it pops on out of simple curiosity while enjoying Rize’s and Kirishima’s character and personality. It is quite enjoyable.
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– Re:_Hamatora:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Re:_Hamatora_episodes
At first I found Re:_Hamatora to be overly comical, which it was, with me now enjoying it a bit more. I’m enjoying seeing Art turn from a well trusted friend to turning into a more serious of Morale, the antagonist from last season. With no Minimum powers he forcefully gains them try stealing them from others while injecting himself with those powers. Someone who was seen as powerless now seen as a big threat.
I actually quite enjoy this show, as with the soundtrack that I never got to listen in full. I enjoy the more serious side of Re:_Hamatora now showing the side-effects of possessing and using the powers of Minimum. Honey reverted back to her child-like state, Three turned into a beast, Nice nearly fainted, and others simply lost control or were overly addicted to their triggers. And interesting twist of balance.
I’m still amused how Hamatora uses English words as names for their characters. More were recently added this season.
– Final Thoughts: Enjoyable. I’m actually quite curious to see where Art is taking this as he’s the only one I’m interested in within this show. I’m of course interested in the others, especially Honey. It’s just Art makes things more interesting with the whole Minimum powers side-effect.
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– Tokyo ESP:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_ESP
This show gave me nice enjoyable vibes during the first episode and the beginning of the second. Nice Ga-Rei: Zero references made to the yuri couple Yumi and Kagura with their Christmas date. Even the main cast from the first episode made it into this episode to fight off some evil-aligned ESP users. I found the first episode to be quite catchy, yet slightly disappointing when it didn’t continue on from episode 2 onward. Instead, we happily get to see Rinka struggling to control her abilities while fan-servicing the audience in a lovely manner. I admit I enjoyed that. No hiding that obvious fact.
I actually do enjoy seeing it go further in the past to show us how they gathered all together with one side fighting out the other side. The more I know the better. The problem however are those picky people who drop shows because they do this who miss out on the jackpot during and later in the show. Their loss is our gain so sucks to be them.
The soundtrack for this is on the same tune as the one for Ga-rei:Zero. Nice and serious in that mysterious ESP manner. I actually can’t wait for the OST to drop for me enjoy fully. During the first episode after Yumi and Kagura’s date scene passes there is this one tune I quite enjoy when a cat looks up to see swimming fish. Love that tune, and when the enemy starts their rampage through Tokyo. Both the OP and ED are nice, they however don’t catch my interest.
I’m actually quite enjoying Rinka giving in to her abilities without giving up. That’s how you do some lovely characters <3. Rinka wins over the whiny Tokyo Ghoul main character.
– Final Thoughts: Highly enjoyable and entertaining. Loving where it is going and I like Rinka’s character. Seeing the espers fighting it out is enjoyable along with the character growth and grouping. The OST sounds awesome as well.
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– Fate/Kaleid Liner PRISMA Illya 2wei!:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fate/Kaleid_Liner_Prisma_Illya_2wei!
I quite liked and enjoyed the first season of this show. I of course had to pick up the second running of it because of the first with me still being able to enjoy it quite a lot. There are less battle scenes due to it being more of a “slice-of-life” Kuro incident which is still actually enjoyable.
I’m actually quite enjoying Kuro’s more mischievous and perverted character. The requirement of kissing to regain mana energy which naturally spawns more yuri entertainment for those into loli-yuri scenes. I’m not as they’re too young. Comically and plot wise I can tolerate the yuri scenes. Even been joked that Kuro reminds a fellow anime comrade of mine that she is like Caster Extra (CastFox) with her desire for a lover with that playfulness.
There area lot of eye candy scenes showing off Kuro’s facial expression. Lots of overly brightly drawn and animated facial expressions that it floods various image sites and episodes with such. Distractingly gorgeous with how beautiful Kuro’s eyes are.
Not bad. I’m genuinely curious as to how Kuro is going to co-exist or settle to. Surely there’s going to be a final battle of some sort.
– Final Thoughts: Interested and amused. I find the humour it has amusing while also curious about Kuro. It’s also quite beautiful. Loving the soundtrack to it as well.
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– Fairy Tail Season 2:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy_Tail
I enjoyed the first running of the show that I mini-marathoned it from beginning to end. I managed to catch up to the games being held before it went on a hiatus to lead into season 2. Took me quite a bit to get back into the mood of Fairy Tail as I had basically moved onto other anime. I’m still enjoying it more and more now that it’s ramping back up. Thing are once again getting quite interesting now that we’re finally at the arc dealing with the dragons.
The music is of course quite a unique blast. Loving the new tracks I’m hearing, or at the very least “newish”. Looking forward to more Fairy Tail fun. I’ve also had my nice share of morale boost thanks to Natsu’s morale boosting shouting and summoning fellow dragon slayers at the end of ep 18. Hearing Natsu shouting is best done hearing it for yourself.
I’m not really a fan of the openings and endings of Fairy Tail. Only one was interesting and that I forgot the name of. Any that air are more or less ignorable.
– Final Thoughts: Enjoyable. Not as hyped as I was before, but I’m gradually getting that back slowly a week at a time when more of the story unfolds.
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– Favourite Summer Anime:
-> Aldnoah.Zero –
It feels like a form of Anime that I’ve been waiting for and craving for a long period of time. Something to remind me why I love and enjoy anime on a quarterly reminder. That animation, that seriousness, the mecha, the feels, the vibe, the characters, and the music. Urubutcher is basically behind the anime so I’m expecting great things from this as I did with past anime. Love the whole Mars vs Earth; Strong vs weak idea thanks to being influenced by Zech’s quotes on the battlefield in ep 1 of Gundam Wing. aLIEz ended up being the most attractive song to the now “needing a break” due to how often I looped it. I want to hear more variety in its musical beauty.
-> Akame Ga Kill! – This comes in a very close second because of how unique and enjoyable it is. A dark fantasy with lovely music and enjoyable characters with dark troubling pasts. Thanks to the darkness in the show and how deep the characters are I’m close to being highly in love with this show. The soundtrack just might be highly praisable and enjoyable. Please don’t disappoint! Leone is also one of my favourite characters from this show due to her being a kemonomimi aligned character thanks to her “Imperial Arm” weapon.
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– Best Anime Opening:
-> Akame Ga Kill! – Only because Skyreach and the animation sound and look awesome together. It looks awesome and it sounds awesome with all the assassins while hinting at some character’s past.
(I guess you can tie it up with Tokyo Ghoul and Aldnoah.Zero because they’re also neat. Tokyo Ghoul has that nice peacefulish OP. In order – Akame Ga Kill!, Tokyo Ghoul, Aldnoah.Zero, then Tokyo ESP.)
– Best Anime Ending:
-> Aldnoah.Zero – aLIEz wins out everything because of how awesomely composed it it with an animated computer background. It hyped myself and others up to cause me to find loops of it to the point I need to time-out in listening to it.
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– Spring Anime:
Seeing as how I enjoyed the Spring anime I thought I would come back to give my final thoughts and recommendations on them.
- Date A Live S2: First season was quite enjoyable, as was the second season with our singing Miku diva. Loved how it progressed and enjoyed the introduction to new spirits to “tame. I recommend this lovely series for how much it pleased me. Seeing newer spirits fighting with the older while even seeing the older ones spreading their wings further in better animation quality was a nice fun plus. Even seeing Shido turn into a girl just to talk to Miku was a nice amusing way of dealing with things. Highly recommended for how comically awesome and musically awesome it is. Loved the spirits <3 Find this in a “worst anime of 2014” and you know that person is talking trash
- Akuma no Riddle: This was enjoyable in that dark yuri manner. Two vs other assassins while trying to survive to the very end. Loved the dark atmosphere, the sadistic smiles, and the musical side of it. A very lovely show I can easily recommend. Each assassin taking their turn, though not always, with an advanced warning while also plotting things out the best they could in the most sly way possible. The soundtrack and the character ending tracks are also a nice positive point of this show. A must watch!
- No Game No Life: An anime that was at the top while also being the definition of fun. It was very fun to watch, especially with the foxy bonuses, to see how the opponents would be outsmarted. It was very bright and beautiful on the animation side while also being highly amusing with all the jokes and jabs. Lots of references to other anime as well for the anime fans. Recommended highly because it’s one of those rare shows that knows how to be comical, fun, and serious all at the same time. If you can’t watch it now then watch it later. Keep it on your list at the very top!
- Hitsugi no Chaika: This anime was slightly above the middle line of quality and enjoyability. Was quite entertaining and nicely done. Wishing more funding was added to make the Chaikas higher in quality. A lovely show I can recommend for general viewing.
- Knights of Sidonia: A top anime of spring. A must watch for the void-space feeling it constantly gave off of modified humans trying to survive in space from Gauna attacks. Humans forced to turn themselves into plant-like creatures for energy resources to clone and to choose their gender. Loved the oddity of it, the humour, the combat, and the dark space OST vibe. Recommended highly, especially with S2 announced.
- Blade & Soul: It at first seemed like a gorgeous anime to gradually lack as the anime reached the end. The show began to degrade in animation quality with horrible particles and noticable animation errors. I however enjoyed what I saw from beginning to end while seeing a unique side of turning a shell into an emotion-filled Alka girl. From a skilled assassin to one who now knows how to use emotion.
- Brynhildr in The Darkness: Was a decent anime with obvious flaws being noticable all around. Didn’t enjoy the second OP. I however did enjoy where it went and how it ended with partial satisfaction for the ending. Wished it concluded more appropriately. I still enjoyed it, and I did enjoy the musical vibes of things. Wish it was more detailed on the OST front and a bit better polished in the show.
- Nobunaga The Fool: Not really a spring anime, though it did conclude then. It was an enjoyable jumpy plot with enjoyable characters. The ending to it was 50% enjoyable while giving me a Little Busters and Angel Beats vibe with how Nobunaga and Jeanne re-met. Was enjoyable, just odd in how to summarize it. I also felt Jeanne obtained something she shouldn’t have while also being a semi-unnecessary damsel in distress character. Himiko wins in the female area over Jeanne for me.
- Black Bullet: This show surprised me numerous of times with its constant plot twists and surprises. It was highly enjoyable from beginning to end with hard-hitting episodes and moments thanks to how the “cursed children” were treated. Their existence being abused which let to sad moments. I recommend this highly for viewing.
- Soul Eater Not!: Was occasionally difficult to watch with the partial second-hand embarrassment level in this show. Enjoying the main series I was expecting the spin-of to be silly, and that’s what I received with also being the cause for constant pauses in viewing. Did enjoy the characters being introduced along with the return of those for a prequel appearance. A nice reference and prequel to the main show with some combat with many comical moments.
- Wizard Barristers: Took me a long while to finish this one. Enjoyed it for the Canadian-Japanese character named Cecil who wanted to save her mom by becoming a Wizard Barristar to force a retrial in court. I enjoyed the anime itself, however not the animation quality being quite low in the most important episode (11 & 12) of the show. The frog familiar “Nana Djinni” seems to be a Quebec jab due to the “frog” used to describe the French as an insult along with thed the pervertedness of Quebec that the rest of Canada makes fun of Quebec. Seems appropriate and comical. Also enjoyed the Mezzo DSA cosplay reference while also making comical jabs at USA (Boston) and Canada itself. A nice show, just was hard to pick up and complete on my end.
(Note: Mahouka is of course being viewed. Just didn’t find it fitting to place up here. Also other anime are on blacklog that I may get through also not fitting to place here. All from past season and beyond.)
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Thanks for viewing and hope you’re enjoying the summer anime season. Hope you found this article enjoyable and useful.