2016-08-11

The State of the Summer Season

The Summer anime have hit their 5 episode marks, so it's time to go through whats sticking around in my cue and whats getting/got cut.


Staying:

  Rin-ne: While Rin-ne is really falling into some of the same problems Ranma 1/2 had in it's later seasons, it's still entertaining enough to remain in the viewing cache.


  Bananya: It's hard to tell if this is aimed at pre-school aged children or if it's designed to appear that way.  At around two minutes the show is cute enough to not be removed.  There is absolutely no substance to this show, its just cute.

  Heroic Legend of Arslan - Dust Storm Dance: We finally move beyond the original OAV series as new twists bring the series back to Arslan and company having to survive on wits much more than force.

  Orange: I read and enjoyed the manga, now its just a matter of following the anime through to enjoy the story a second time.

  Sweetness & Lightening: Tsumugi is one of the cutest anime characters ever.  I love the manga, and sadly the anime doesn't have the recipe at the end of each episode like its source material did.


  Highschool Life of a Fudanshi: The ideal concept and delivery for a short series.  Plahying up to all of the typical BL lover tropes, good for a 2 minute chuckle.

  91 Days: Possibly the best series of the season.  While somewhat devoid of background characters this is an entertaining mod revenge story.  Waiting for the crazy machine gun battles to start.

  Mob Psycho 100: One Punch Man made fun of shonen battle stories, Mob Psycho 100 is more interested in telling a comedic story about a kid who has deep dark emotional issues.


  This Art Club Has A Problem: This is a middle of the road comedy that uses some innocent ecchi comedy and weirdness to good effect.  Not the best slice of life school comedy ever but its got some bright spots to it.

  The Disastrous Life of Saiki K: The second series this season dealing with a normal kid trying to hide his psychic powers.  Unlike Mob, Saiki K is a gag comedy, with each episode comprised of a series of short sketches.  There is some top notch 'breaking the fourth wall' stuff in this one.


  Handa-kun: Much like his older self, Handa-kun is a completely different anime from Barakamon.  Odd ball, almost 4koma type comedy in which Handa is the worlds most oblivious person.


Cut:

  New Game: I was hoping for a video game version of Shirobako but instead we get a fantasy land otaku moe fetish pile of panty shots and annoying characterization.


  D.Gray-man: The first two episodes were OK, but afterwards it fell pretty hard into shonen battle tropes to waste my time on.  There was a point when I enjoyed D.Gray-man but that time has passed and I could care less about how the story wraps up.

  Berserk: I don't mind 3D CG, in fact I try to defend it, but this is some really really bad animation.  It also doesn't help that I have never been a fan of Berserk either.

  First love Monster: At first this was a fun series but that wore off by episode 3 when I realized that this series would have been better served if each episode only ran for a few minutes and it was trimmed down to the comedy instead of the uncomfortable in between parts that aren't very interesting.  The joke of the series can only run so long before its tiring.

  Regalia: I'll be honest I only watched the first episode and this was some pretty horrible moe hodgepodge bullshit.
  

Completed:

  ReLife: This series was dropped in one go via Crunchyroll, as it was in Japan on a similar streamin service.  It is still being broadcast weekly on TV in Japan.  I like the manga, liked the anime, hoping for more of both.

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