Now that most Spring
Anime are about to end, I guess it's about time for me to share my thoughts and
my picks for this coming Summer Anime season :D
On a quick overview
of how spring has been going around for me, before summer begins I'll most
likely be able to finish around 12 series
namely: Acchi Kocchi,
AKB0048, Haiyore! Nyaruko-san, Jormungand, Kimi to Boku. 2, Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? OF THE DEAD, Natsuiro Kiseki, Sankarea, Tasogare Otome x Amnesia, ZETMAN, Tsuritama and Sakamichi no Apollon. Similar to what I did
last
season, I'll be posting my top 3 anime for Spring 2012 soon. Most likely
these series will be the ones I'll be choosing from and I'm pretty surprised
that they're all Spring Anime, there weren't any 2-cour Winter Anime. Oh well.
Aside from these 12 series, I might be able to add Upotte!!, Nazo no Kanojo X and Medaka Box if time allows me to watch these 3.
Now for this summer
season, I have decided on my partial list to watch. Depending on the first
episodes and how people would see the other series I didn't add to my list, I
might consider them. Similar to what happened this season, I suddenly watched
and liked Kuroko no Basuke and AKB0048 due to reasons I just said. So now,
here's my Summer 2012 watch list:
~Will
surely watch...
Natsuyuki
Rendezvous [MyAnimeList
| Official Website]
Genre: Drama, Romance, Supernatural, Josei
Synopsis:
A
young man with poor eyesight named Hazuki works part-time in a flower shop and
falls hard for the shop-owner Rokka. But what happens when he discovers that
residing in her apartment is the spirit of the man she can never forget?
Why I'll Watch:
noitaminA anime - definitely my
number 1 reason for watching this. Now the genre definitely caught my attention
and the synopsis suggests that this'll be a truly heartbreaking story. I also
like the two male leads: Nakamura Yuuichi
(Gray
Fullbuster, Oreki
Houtarou) and Fukuyama
Jun (Lelouch
Lamperouge, Okumura
Yukio). And I'm definitely looking forward to that OP by Matsushita Yuuya
:3
Genre: Romance
Synopsis:
The
story takes place on the small island of Regalo in the Mediterranean Sea. The
island has been protected by a vigilante committee called "Arcana
Famiglia". The members of the family have psychic powers gained by a
secret ritual.
Felicita
is a 16-year-old girl who was raised by her strict mother. She visits Regalo to
see her father who is the head of Arcana Famiglia. He tells her to become the
leader of "Serie of Sword", the arbitrator section of the
family.
As
one of the members of Arcana Famiglia, Felicita interacts with other handsome
but eccentric members.
Why I'll Watch:
It's not in the genre but this
synopsis definitely screams reverse harem!
Now that's one good reason for me to watch this(: Anyway, with J.C. Staff
taking this series, it just makes me wonder how they'll be working on this
since I don't remember seeing a J.C. Staff reverse harem anime before. Either
way, I've definitely loved the cast once I saw it: Noto Mamiko (Kuronuma Sawako),
Fukuyama Jun (Lelouch
Lamperouge, Okumura
Yukio), Yonaga
Tsubasa (Niiya
Teiichi), Yoshino
Hiroyuki (Nishijou
Takumi, Allelujah
Haptism), Sugita
Tomokazu (Sakata
Gintoki, Yamada Akira
Agarkar), Nakamura
Yuuichi (Gray
Fullbuster, Oreki
Houtarou), Kosugi
Jurota and Yusa Kouji
(Haitani Seiji).
Finally, the director Kon
Chiaki tells me that this will be a really romantic anime although I
haven't really seen her notable romance anime :3
Genre: Comedy, Slice of Life
Synopsis:
The
"love and teen pentagonal comedy" follows the strange phenomena at
the Yamahoshi Academy's Culture Club, starting with the five male and female
club members switching bodies with each other.
Why I'll Watch:
It's an anime that have
switching bodies as it's main story! XD Switching bodies is one of the funniest
thing to happen in an anime. Although I disliked Silver Link's style in Baka to Test and in C Cube, they have definitely regained themselves with Tasogare Otome x Amnesia. Setting the
production company aside, I'm glad to see Terashima Takuma
(Ittoki Otoya)
and Sawashiro
Miyuki (Celty
Sturluson, Honda
Masazumi) in the cast :3 AND that director, Oonuma Shin (Baka to Test, Tasogare
Otome x Amnesia), I don’t know if I should be happy or be wary about it
but I guess I won't really care much about it because I'm so set about watching
this series.
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Magic,
Shounen
Synopsis:
The
second season of Dog Days.
Republic
of Biscotti faces a predicament by the invasion of Galette Leo Knights. In
order to save the country, Princess Milchore summons a "hero" from
the outer world. Shinku, a junior high school boy living in the Earth, is
chosen as the hero.
Why I'll Watch:
You all know that's it's for
the sake of hearing more of Miyano Mamoru (Mashima Taichi,
Kida Masaomi).
LOL. Other than that obvious reason, I
definitely want to see more of DOG DAYS and from what I've read somewhere, this sequel will
not only involve more of Izumi Cinque but we'll also see more of Cinque's best
friend. SO I expect some interesting fight for Cinque moment here :3 Now who
said that this was a kid's show when you all saw those 'knights' poof-ing into
dogs and cats in the first season? I know I did but I was stand corrected.
Genre: School
Synopsis:
The
story centers around five Japanese high school students who are too young to be
called adults, but who no longer think of themselves as children.
Wakana
Sakai once took music lessons, but she withdrew from music after losing her
mother. Konatsu Miyamoto is a positive-thinking girl who loves singing and
spends time after school at the vocal music club. Sawa Okita is a spirited
archery club member who dreams of becoming a horse rider. Daichi Tanaka is a
chronically late badminton team member who lives with his college student
sister. "Wiin" just transferred into Wakana's class after 12 years
abroad in Australia.
Music
brings Wakana, Konatsu, Sawa and the others together into an ensemble during
their last summer in high school.
Why I'll Watch:
When I saw how beautiful this
series looks like through the PV, I instantly hit Plan
to Watch in MAL because I just know that I'll like this series. Furthermore,
I'm practically a huge P.A. Works fan when it comes to stunning art and
animation as shown in Angel Beats!, Another and Hanasaku Iroha. I know that no one will object to that. Also
some of the MCs' V.A. also lack experience but still, I know that I won't be
disappointed(: AND did I mentioned that the V.A. of Takatsuki
Yoshino from Hourou Musuko, Seto Asami, will be
voicing a main character? HAHA. (I'm just saying since I have Takatsuki as my
picture :3)
~Will
Check Out...
Genre: Fantasy, Seinen
Synopsis:
It's
been several centuries since human beings declined due to the steep drop in
birthrates. The most prosperous species on the Earth are "Fairies",
10 cm tall creatures with high intelligence. I became a UN arbitrator between
the humans and the fairies and returned to my hometown to help my grandfather.
I thought my job would not be a tough one and visited one of the fairies'
habitats to say hello to them but...
Why I'll Watch:
Okay. I don't really have some
strong reasons of watching this anime but after seeing this, I just had the
feeling that I need to watch this. Looking further at this anime's credentials,
the director is going to be Kishi Seiji who also
worked on my fave anime, Angel Beats!. I'm not entirely sure if it's a good up or what
but I guess we'll see once this begins. Looking further at the staff, I see Sakai Kyuuta on
character design (Sankarea, Steins;Gate ) and Otani Kow on the music
(Another). Should I say good combination? I
guess we'll see about that.
Joshiraku
[MyAnimeList | Official Website]
Genre: Comedy, Slice of Life
Synopsis:
A
group of girls discusses random things and usually reaches an unusual or
humorous conclusion that's far from the initial discussion topic.
Why I'll Watch:
I just simply enjoy watching
comedy-centered anime. Assuming based on the synopsis, I'm thinking that this
will be a four-koma style comedy but either way, I'm pretty positive that I'll
enjoy watching this anime. I did a quick check on the cast and it looks the
like the MCs is a set of little experienced voice actors except for Gotou Saori (Kiryuu Moeka).
Being the next J.C. Staff I saw on my list, I'll be looking forward to this
nice series(:
Dakara
Boku wa, H ga Dekinai [MyAnimeList
| Official Website]
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Synopsis:
Kaga
Ryosuke is an ecchi high school boy. One day, he meets a girl standing alone in
the rain. She is Lisarah Restor, an elite Death, who visited the human world in
order to find "Singular Man".
Ryosuke
makes a contract with Lisarah and she sucks energy required for her activity in
the human world from Ryosuke. The source of the energy is his ecchi
spirit.
To
recover the sexual desire, Ryosuke has no choice but to help Lisarah's search.
Why I'll Watch:
That
synopsis was just funny that I'm getting the feeling that that MC, Kaga Ryosuke, is a freaking pervert.
XD Anyway, other than the synopsis, I also did a quick check on the cast and
it's looking pretty… decent. Okay, probably this time it didn't made me all
excited because I only know Shimono Hiro (Katsuragi Keima,
Tsubaki Sasuke)
but still that synopsis will keep me going :3
Genre: Action, Fantasy
Synopsis:
In
normal RPGs, a hero defeats the Satan king and the story ends. But what does
the hero do after that? Ohtorizawa Akatsuki defeats the Satan king in the
fantasy world of Alleyzard and returns to the real world. He is sheltered by
the international organization BABEL, which protects and controls people
transferred from the outer worlds. BABEL is astonished to know Akatsuki has
really defeated Satan and brings Satan's daughter Miu from Alleyzard. In the
academy of BABEL, Akatsuki confronts other "returners", who have
psychic powers.
Why I'll Watch:
That production company turns
me off. LOL. Also, the synopsis isn't the most interesting although the art
definitely looks decent. I haven't checked out the PV but I've decided to add
this to my list either way. Do I even have to spell it out? LOL. The cast has
definitely caught me off guard again AND WHY ARE MY FAVE Bakuman CASTS IN HERE!? Okamoto Nobuhiko
(Nizuma Eiji, Otonashi Io), Abe Atsushi (Mashiro Moritaka,
Sakakibara
Kouichi) and Hino
Satoshi (Takagi
Akito, Kamui).
Other great casts includes: Hanazawa Kana (Tachibana Kanade,
Hasegawa
Kobato) and Sakurai
Takahiro (Kururugi
Suzaku, Matsuyuki
Atsumu) .
Sword
Art Online [MyAnimeList
| Official Website]
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Game,
Romance
Synopsis:
The
only way to escape is to 'clear' the game. Death in game means actual 'death'
----
The
ten thousand who have logged onto the as of yet mysterious game 'Sword Art
Online' using their Nerve Gear have been forced into this perilous death game
and are trapped inside.
Protagonist
Kirito, one of the many gamers, has greeted this 'truth'.
He
plays as a solo player in the giant castle that is the stage for this game ----
'Aincrad'.
To
meet the conditions of clearing the game and leaving this twisted virtual
world, he must get through all 100 floors. Will Kirito have what it takes to
clear the game, or will he die trying?
Why I'll Watch:
It seems that a number of
people are so thrilled to watch this anime. The synopsis looks pretty
interesting so there's no harm in trying although I don't really want to expect
anything from this series. Also, I'm glad to see a familiar production company
here, A-1 Pictures (Tsuritama, Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada
Shiranai). I've read that the creator of this series is the same as Accel World which will be going to its second
half this coming Summer but I still haven't got the time and interest to watch.
Genre: Comedy, Historical, Romance
Synopsis:
The
historical romantic comedy follows 17-year-old high schooler Sagara Yoshiharu
who one day time-travels to the Sengoku period, where all the major Samurai
lords are cute girls. Yoshiharu meets Oda Nobuna, the girl counterpart of Oda
Nobunaga, and begins to serve her as a substitute of Kinoshita Tokichiro, who
has been dead in the world.
Why I'll Watch:
Seeing the main character get
handled by Eguchi
Takuya (Kujou
Kazuya, Watanuki
Banri) makes me want to see how he'll do this time around. Although I have
to admit that he's pretty good as Koganei Shinji
from Kuroko no Basuke. He should do more roles
like that. LOL. Anyway, I definitely like historical stuffs. I actually plan to
watch other historical series (but I'm just taking it slowly). I smell harem
but and I'm glad to see another male character here - Hanzou Hattori
(Sakurai Takahiro)
:D
Muv-Luv
Alternative: Total Eclipse [MyAnimeList
| Official Website]
Genre: Action, Mecha, Sci-fi, Military
Synopsis:
Since
1973, an invasion of aliens known as BETA upon Earth is driving human
civilization into nearly collapse. Facing an enormous mass of enemy force,
mankind has developed large humanoid arms called as Tactical Surface Fighters
and deployed them to its defense lines through out the world. However, all
those efforts could slow down defeats but could not stop BETA, and mankind is
forced to abandon major area of the Eurasian Continent. For 30 years, mankind
is bogged down in an endless war against BETA without any hopes of victory.
In
2001, the Imperial Japan faces difficulties in the development of a
next-generation main Tactical Surface Fighters (TSF) as it defends the front
lines of the Far East. The UN has proposed a joint development program between
the Imperial Japan and the United States as a part of its international mutual
development project of TSF, the Prominence Project.
Yui
Takamura, a surface pilot of the Imperial Royal Guards of Japan, is given
responsibility for the project and sets off to Alaska. Meanwhile, Yuya Bridges,
also a surface pilot of the US Army, was heading to the same destination.
Yet
they never knew that their encounter would change their destiny drastically.
This
story with exciting human dramas and robot actions takes place in the
development of a new Tactical Surface Fighters, the most important and
effective weapons against BETA, at a crisis of human extinction.
Why I'll Watch:
The synopsis screams typical
mecha plot but who cares about that? The main character is voiced by Ono Daisuke (Midorima
Shintarou, Heiwajima
Shizuo)! Okay, that's not really my point. Although it was a pretty good
plus for the series :3 Although I haven't really watched a lot, I actually like
the mecha x military genre. AND don't you think it's a pretty good thing that
Satelight's (AKB0048, Macross Frontier) the one working on this?
I just added Macross Frontier there
although I haven't really seen it but I checked Satelight out and they have
worked on a number of mecha anime(: Also, I'm really excited to see the art
since the art director, Ichikura Kei, was
the one who worked on Angel Beats!'s and Kore wa Zombie Desu Ka?'s background art :3
Kono
Naka ni Hitori, Imouto ga Iru! [MyAnimeList
| Official Website]
Genre: Comedy, Romance, School, Harem, Seinen
Synopsis:
Abiding
by his father's will, Shougo was transferred into an academy where many young
girls attend. It appears as though his younger sister (separated from him at
birth) also attends this academy, and that she is trying to get closer to him
without letting know him who she actually is. Problem is, Shougo seems to be
popular with the other girls as well! Can Shougo "properly" reunite
with his little sister and while making a girlfriend at the same time?!
Why I'll Watch:
No particular reason. Really. I
just want to watch. The synopsis isn't really anything special and the cast
isn't really my fave. Although I'm pretty glad to see Sakurai Takahiro
there.
Kyoukai
Senjou no Horizon II [MyAnimeList
| Official Website]
Genre: Action, Fantasy
Synopsis:
Second
season of Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon .
In
the far future, humans abandon a devastated Earth and traveled to outer space.
However, due to unknown phenomenon that prevents them from traveling into
space, humanity returns to Earth only to find it inhospitable except for
Japan.
To
accomodate the entire human population, pocket dimensions are created around
Japan to house in the populace. In order to find a way to return to outer
space, the humans began reenacting human history according to the Holy book
Testament. But in the year 1413 of the Testament Era, the nations of the pocket
dimensions invade and conquer Japan, dividing the territory into feudal
fiefdoms and forcing the original inhabitants of Japan to leave.
It
is now the year 1648 of the Testament Era, the refugees of Japan now live in
the city ship Musashi, where it constantly travels around Japan while being
watched by the Testament Union, the authority that runs the re-enactment of
history. However, rumors of an apocalypse and war begins to spread when the
Testament stops revealing what happens next after 1648.
Taking
advantage of this situation, Toori Aoi, head of Musashi Ariadust Academy's
Supreme Federation and President of the student council, leads his fellow
classmates to use this opportunity to regain their homeland.
Why I'll Watch:
It's a prequel. LOL. It's no
surprised that I struggled a bit in finishing this series. It was pretty
difficult to understand at the beginning because of all the things they are
saying and making you quickly understand. Although the action this series have
is pretty outstanding. All the battle at the second half of the series has
definitely caught my attention and I love how well they were done. That's
definitely something Sunrise can always be proud of. Now I'm pretty sure that
this 2nd season will be pretty interesting as given by that cliffhanger at the
end of the 1st season. Ever since I've finished it, I've been looking forward
to watching this. Hopefully it doesn't disappoint(:
Binbougami
ga! [MyAnimeList
| Official Website]
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Magic,
Supernatural
Synopsis:
Sakura Ichiko is a 16-year-old girl who leads a charmed life
and is blessed with beauty, brains, and health. She has an abundance of
"Happiness Energy", which can make people happy, but at the cost of
absorbing all the Happiness Energy from her surroundings. She has caused the
energy balance of the world to become unbalanced and because of this, she
becomes the target of a Poverty God named Momiji. Momiji goal is to remove
Ichiko's power of absorbing other people's Happiness Energy and to return all
the energy she has taken to its rightful place.
Why I'll Watch:
Another Sunrise anime with a
WTF? synopsis. I decided to watch this because… the synopsis looks stupid. LOL.
Seriously. The "Happiness Energy" idea makes me laugh at this series
but at the same time it makes me want to watch this. The cast isn't the most
interesting other than seeing familiar ones such as Hanazawa Kana and Shimono Hiro. The one
in-charge of the music, Hamauzu Masashi,
is pretty new. I don't really know what to expect BUT the director, Fujita Yoichi (Gintama'),
tells me that the comedy genre of this series will definitely be worth it(:
Koi
to Senkyo to Chocolate [MyAnimeList
| Official Website]
Genre: Drama, Romance
Synopsis:
Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate follows the protagonist
Yuuki Oojima, who attends Private Takafuji Academy, a large school with over
6,000 students. Yuuki is a member of the food research club, along with seven
others, including his childhood friend Chisato Sumiyoshi. The members leisurely
spend their time in the club not doing much activities. When the election of
the next student council president comes up, the front runner Satsuki Shinonome
proposes that clubs that have no merit should be sorted out and abolished. The
food research club seeks advice from the current student council president
Yakumo Mori, who suggests Yuuki run in the election as an opposing candidate.
Yuuki learns about the issues facing the school and decides to run in the
election.
Why I'll Watch:
There isn't anything special
for this series. It seems more like a typical school - slice of life anime
although this isn't really one of those slice of life that gets me going. With
a production company like AIC and under their "AIC Build" (Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai, Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai)
division, I pretty much know what to expect. Seeing Nakamura Yuuichi
(Oreki Houtarou,
Tsutsugami Gai)
playing the main character gives me more motivation on watching this series.
Genre: Historical, Josei
Synopsis:
Uta Koi tells the "super-liberal
interpretation" of the Hyakuninisshu anthology compiled during Japan's
Heian period of 100 romantic poems from 100 different poets such as The Tale of
Genji's Murasaki Shikibu.
Why I'll Watch:
When I read the synopsis of
this series, it instantly reminded me of Chihayafuru. No one can blame me for that, I'm pretty sure
most Chihayafuru fans had the same
thought. I'm not expecting anything from this series. I just watched this out
of the love for the historical genre and the quick idea of Chihayafuru in me. The cast doesn't really
catches my attention BUT probably the greatest plus in this series for me is
the director, Kasai
Kenichi, who works on the Bakuman franchise.
Campione!
[MyAnimeList | Official Website]
Genre: Comedy, Magic, Romance, Harem
Synopsis:
A harem love comedy plus magic battles. Kusanagi Godo
is a 16-year-old high school boy, who once killed the god
"Verethragna" and acquired the title of "Campione (god
killer)" when he was 15. Erica Brandelli is a 16-year-old Italian girl,
who is a "Great Knight" of the magic society "Bronze Black
Cross" and had fought together with Godo to defeat Verethragna. Godo
doesn't like fighting but his title of "Campione" makes him get
involved in battles against other Campiones and uncontrollable gods.
Why I'll Watch:
No particular reason. Really. I
just want to watch this. The synopsis isn't really something interesting and it
really looks more like some typical magic-genre anime. BUT on the side note,
the one handling the music of this anime is Katou Tatsuya who
also worked on Mirai Nikki and Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon. Guess there is something to look forward in here. Somehow.
Ebiten:
Kouritsu Ebisugawa Koukou Tenmonbu [MyAnimeList
| Official Website]
Genre: School, Shounen
Synopsis:
Noya Itsuki just started his school year at the
Ebisugawa High School and since he has always had a fascination with space, he
decides to join the astronomy club. However, he mistakenly walks into the all
girls Otaku Club. He notices that the members are really weird, but Itsuki has
yet to realize that he isn’t in the astronomy club. His life is about to get
complicated by being surrounded by so many girls.
Why I'll Watch:
The art probably caught
my attention. LOL. Anyway, looking over at the cast, half of them are fairly
new and I a haven't entirely heard of. As for the others, they are definitely
to lookout for: Satou
Satomi (Chitanda
Eru, Tainaka
Ritsu), Asumi
Kana (Nyaruko,
Taneshima
Popura) and Ise Mariya (Killua Zoldyck).
Overall
Impression
I'm pretty happy
with how poor this season is since I'll be pretty busy until Fall Anime Season.
Despite my busy schedule, I still decided to pick a number of shows and do my
best to watch all of them. In fact, I'm glad that this season only have a few anime
compared to last season. The most disappointing idea that came to my mind
instantly is this season's lack of interesting slice of life anime. I was
desperately looking for them. Other than Tari
Tari and Kokoro Connect, I'm also
looking at Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate and
Ebiten. When I was looking through the
synopsis of each series this season (while I was writing this watch list
preview), I find that most anime aren't really interesting at all and the cast
doesn't entirely catch my attention unlike this spring anime season. Despite my
poor outlook on this season, I'm just hoping that I'll still have a fun time
watching these series. If not, I'll go watch past anime to kill the 3-month
length wait for my most awaited fall anime season.
Blogging
Plans
As disappointed as I
have been with these series, I find it pretty difficult to choose which series
to blog because there aren't enough interesting anime to watch. Other than that
problem, I have the knack of looking for slice of life anime (because I love
writing about them) or easy to explain anime because I hate over thinking and
explaining a lot. With how I see this season, I'll definitely blog both Tari Tari and Kokoro
Connect. Aside from those two, I'm also eyeing on: Oda Nobuna no Yabou, Natsuyuki Rendezvous, Dakara Boku
wa H ga Dekinai, Sword Art Online
and Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate. Most of
the anime I'm eyeing to blog is pretty much new to my style and I still have no
idea how I'll talk about them but I definitely want to try - most especially Dakara Boku wa H ga Dekinai because it's the
farthest from my comfort zone when I saw the PV. Anyway, as usual, everything
will still depend on the first episode. I'll try to post more first impressions
this season and also choose which anime to blog by then.
