We’ve tripped over the halfway point now with all currently airing shows (except RWBY and Sailor Moon Crystal), so here is the basic rundown of how I’m feeling on everything.
Excited to Watch Each Week: Zankyou no Terror, Argevollen, Haikyuu!!, Hunter x Hunter, Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun
Entertained: Aldnoah.Zero, Glasslip, Free! Eternal Summer
Just Watching: RWBY, Fairy Tail, Sailor Moon Crystal
New plan, guys: just become friends with the nasty dragons!
Oh, look. We’re at the halfway point of the season. Where does the time go?
I do really appreciate how many P.A. Work parents are good at being parents.
A couple drops this week (Tokyo ESP, Rail Wars!) mean my schedule is starting to free up for those inevitable midseason pick-ups. Barakamon is probably first on that list right now.
Trending Up: Nozaki-kun, Zankyou no Terror, Glasslip
Trending Down: Free! Eternal Summer, Sailor Moon Crystal
Someone at Rooster Teeth has been watching SHAFT anime.
My week in anime this week was yet another confirmation in my belief that the 3-episode rule is complete bunk and that 4 episodes is a much better standard if you want to box yourself in by arbitrary numbers. Argevollen, Glasslip, and Aldnoah.Zero all engaged me at a much deeper level in their fourth episodes this week, moving each of them solidly into “keeper” territory. By the way, 4 episodes is actually not an arbitrary choice. In traditional three-act structure terms, the fourth episode is the start of the second act. I’m not saying its unreasonable to drop a show because you didn’t like the three episodes of set-up, but waiting to see how the show is executed at the beginning of the real substance seems to be a smarter thing to do, at least if you aren’t just looking for reasons to drop shows.
Rinka and I share the same opinion about her show.
This season feels like it’s going by really slowly. There’s only one show (Nozaki-kun) that I really love so far, but there are a few I’m definitely keeping an eye on. We’ll see. It might end up being a really backlog heavy season for me after all.
Note: There is now a Full Series Review available!
Note: This article was later published in the Crunchyroll Newsletter.
I know I already have a general First Impressions post up, but Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun is good enough to merit a first impressions post of its own—if you aren’t already watching this show, you should be. It’s the best Dogakobo show since Summer 2013’s Love Lab, and that’s high praise. We’re three weeks in, and Nozaki-kun has shown itself to be a top-shelf comedy anime—one based around endearing, colorful, and funny characters with the production quality to back it all up.
When does the week start and when does the week end? I’m flummoxed. This is week two for most shows, but then we’ve got the rebellious Zankyou no Terror and Tokyo ESP that just started up this week. Whatever. I guess two shows can be behind or something. It just IRKS me that I can’t have all my shows at 2/whatever on Hummingbird at the same time. I mean, I could if I waited a week for some shows, but HA! like that’s going to happen. Anyways, let’s talk about some anime.
Free!, I may not be in your main target audience, but keep this up and we’ll get along just fine.
Summer 2014 anime are rolling in, which means it’s time to decide how right I was about some shows and realize how miserably wrong I was about others. Fortunately, I don’t pollute my blog with those abominable season previews (I recently wrote a post that tackles more generally why you can’t judge a show’s quality without having seen it), so you’ll never know exactly what I was expecting. Instead, you get my generally unfiltered thoughts on the new shows of the season, based on what’s actually aired.
That’s the way I like it, and that’s the way I’m gonna keep it. And anyone who doesn’t like it—you can talk with my new best girl Sakurai.
Not included, but will be watching: Terror in Tokyo, Tokyo ESP.
Mage in a Barrel 