Y’all know I was looking forward to selector spread WIXOSS after the first cour ended solidly in the at the end of the spring season. Episode 1 gets us started back up in what seems to be chronologically only a few weeks or so after the events of last season’s finale, and I was happy to see that we got good end-of-season WIXOSS instead of episodes 2-5 WIXOSS.
The stage is set. Open!
Yuzuki, I have missed you.
I’m back to school these days, and last week I had a paper due that I really didn’t want to write. This is also know as the prime conditions in which I marathon a lot of anime, so of course I wound up cranking through a couple shows, finishing both Dream Eater Merry and the exhaustively titled Problem Children Are Coming from Another World, Aren’t They? I’m not reviewing them together solely because I finished them in the same week (although that’s part of it), but more because I had somewhat similar responses to them.
Both shows finished with a 5/10 rating (Rankings).
“If you did find a dream, what would you do?
If you had told me at the beginning of the summer season that I’d be sitting here thirteen weeks later about to write a review of Free! Eternal Summer, one I knew it would be impossible to write without talking about its themes…well, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. I came into this season of Free! expecting nothing less and nothing more than a slickly produced, super-shiny fanservice show featuring a bunch of muscular high school boys swimming half-naked in pools. And you know what? I was fine with that. Free! Iwatobi Swim Club, the first season of the franchise, was more than enough fun for me to want to watch the second season. But Free! Eternal Summer felt, at times, like a completely different show. So, for a noticeable improvement, for being fun, and for looking decadently pretty, I’m giving Free! Eternal Summer a 6/10 (Ranking).
I’m not sure I can smile again. Goodbye, Hunter x Hunter.
Oh, were there other shows this week?
Kiyoko-san dodges like a boss.
What an absolute breath of fresh air Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun [Dogakobo, 2014] was for this season of anime. From beginning to end, from Sakura’s confession to the finale’s fireworks, from the groovy first notes of the OP to the final line of dialogue, Nozaki-kun has been nothing but warm, relaxing, and hilarious. Whether it was engaging in parody, using character-driven comedy, cracking jokes about writers, or just being pleasant to watch, Nozaki-kun stands as one of the top anime comedies I’ve seen. I’m happy to give it an 8/10 (Ranking) and I can confidently say that it was my favorite show of the season.
I suppose I have to be honest going into this review: I don’t like Aldnoah.Zero [A-1 Pictures + TROYCA, 2014] very much and, aside from a few episodes in the middle of the show, I never did. So, although the finale had me spitting venom and wanting to blackball the show, that’s merely an enhanced version of my overall opinion of the show. So, for annoyance, misery, good graphics and soundtrack, Inko’s cool name, and everything else, I’m giving Aldnoah.Zero a 4/10 (Ranking).
Nope. Not really.
Surprise! It’s a bonus Thursday post! (Don’t worry, Zankyou no Terror will be happening later today.)
So, I recently backed the Kickstarter anime OVA Under the Dog (directed by Masahiro Ando, notable—to me—for his work as the director of Blast of Tempest) and since I’ve done that, the UTD team has been sending out pretty consistent updates on the project that get sent to my email.
Their most recent update, #27, details a piece of the animation process and, to be frank, it totally blew my mind. Like, I knew creating anime was no cakewalk, but the frame-by-frame focus necessary to produce this stuff (even on a crappy level) is just…amazing. For someone like me, who has essentially no skill in drawing at all (have you seen my manga?), this kind of stuff is almost beyond my comprehension.
Director Ando’s celebratory sketch for the achievement of the Kickstarter’s initial goal.
And while I’m talking about it, here’s the link to the Under the Dog website. The Kickstarter is over, but they’ll be opening up for Paypal backing soon. If you haven’t already, I really do encourage you to consider it if you love anime and are concerned about the direction the industry is heading. The producer of Under the Dog, Hiroaki Yura, did an AMA on reddit not long ago that addressed a lot of industry-related questions and how UTD fits in there. It takes a while to sort through some of the less interesting questions, but (again) if you care about the industry and anime, this is information you might find of interest.
As you know if you read my ask.fm or my Anitwitter rantings or (occasionally) my blog, you’ll know that I have totally disavowed season preview posts. Thus, to preserve my dignity, I will not be writing a season preview post for at least another season before I probably change my mind because I can’t keep my mouth shut and want to hype up anime I know nothing about and want to do so badly enough to eat my words and mocking of season preview season and endure all the people who will (righteously) come to shout at me, “You said you’d never do a season preview and that they’re stupid! Look at you now, you hypocrite!”
Those days are coming, but they aren’t here yet! So for all my friends out there who are writing your season previews, here are 5 easy steps to writing a good season preview blog post. And for all of you readers who are sifting through piles of season previews and trying to decide what’s good or not, just check these steps to make sure the post you’re reading is worth your time. You’ll know how they’re supposed to be written after this; I trust you can make those decisions.
Just imagine she’s saying “aniblogger.”
Sometimes when I watch BONES anime, I get the sense that this studio and I were just destined for each other—it’s as if they’re making anime specifically for me. I love the way BONES does anime, and Gosick [BONES, 2011] is just another in a long line of shows from this studio that I have watched and genuinely enjoyed. Gosick isn’t a spectacular show, but it’s a warm, kind show with a particular awareness for a small selection of themes and an easy charm. I’m glad to give Gosick a 7/10, and place it near very good company in the Rankings.
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!
Mage in a Barrel 