The Student Room Group

AJ's Summer Anime Preview 2018

Scroll to see replies

Asobi Asobase


By far the best episode of the Summer so far. I don't think anything I say here can do it justice, just watch it. FANTASTIC humour, brilliant faces, puppets after the ending theme. YES. This is what I needed this season. I haven't seen school club members be such jerks to each other since Sabagebu! in 2014, so this is a welcome change from the usual cutesy, friendly dynamic. Everything from that first slap during Rock Paper Scissors, to the Pinfinger game, to Olivia's terrible Japanese act was perfect. I wasn't sure what to make of the last part, testing out whether briefcases could float in water was a bit random... but that ending with the teacher was phenomenal. Easily takes Chio-chan no Tsuugakuro's place on my watching list.
(edited 5 years ago)
Satsuriku no Tenshi


One minute our main character Rachel is in counselling, after witnessing a large number of people being killed. The next minute, she wakes up in an unfamiliar building, reads some writing on a wall, has a conversation with a typewriter, then gets into a lift. A voice announces that she is now a 'sacrifice', and she travels up to the next floor of the building, where she is attacked by a scythe-wielding maniac. The floor above isn't much more welcoming: she is reunited with her counselor, but he seems to have an unhealthy obsession with her eyes... So, we have no idea what's going on here, but it's certainly intriguing! Feels a lot like a horror adventure game - no surprise since it's adapted from one, but presumably it's a good adaptation if it's maintained that feeling while also working as a non-interactive anime. I like it, but it goes on the 'maybe' list for now.

Dropping Island, as I've found a better mystery series.
(edited 5 years ago)
Shichisei no Subaru


Unlike Isekai Maou to Shoukan... with its single over-powered MMORPG-playing main character, here we have a party of over-powered MMORPG-playing main characters, primary school kids to boot. They take on a brand new quest that nobody has been able to clear before... and one of them dies in game during the boss fight. And also dies in real life. Though Asahi's death is ruled as having nothing to do with the game, protagonist Haruto quits playing entirely, until he is forced back in years later by friends who needed a third party member. In a chest inside the game, he finds the avatar of the dead Asahi, complete with her memories and personality. It's an interesting take on the whole 'trapped in a game' trope, though the .hack// has done similar things in the past. Average production values. Not terrible, but not great either - dropped.
(edited 5 years ago)
Jashin-chan Dropkick


A lamia, a goth-loli, a cow girl, some sort of Ancient Egyptian priestess and an angel with a thousand-yard stare sit around a kotatsu eating sukiyaki. The lamia bullies the angel, eats all the meat, and gets cut to pieces and served up as food herself. That was the first of 3 segments in a nutshell - no introduction or explanation of what was going on, but seeing them interact around the dinner table, it was easy to get an idea of the characters' personalities and relationships. The other 2 segments were virtually identical to each other: Jashin-chan got her friend(?) Medusa to buy a weapon for her, planned to kill Yurine, inadvertently announced said plans in front of Yurine, and ended up getting sliced to pieces instead. I complain a lot about comedy series' being repetitive; this one already is in ep 1, but it has some real charm to it, so I'll give it a chance.

Dropping Ongaku Shoujo to make room for it.
(edited 5 years ago)
Angolmois: Genkou Kassenki


This series focuses on a group of exiles: former pirates, disgraced generals, monks and merchants, ranging from children to the elderly. All people who might otherwise have been sentenced to death for some crime or other. Instead, they are sent to the far extremes of 1270s Japan, to defend a small island from Kublai Khan's enormous invading Mongolian forces. A solid first episode - decent action, a really varied cast whose characters already stand out from each other, nice animation style with a grainy sepia filter over everything. Above all else, it's just such an interesting setting for a series. I really look forward to seeing how this bunch of misfits manage to ward off an organised armada of 900 ships. :zomg: That's assuming they do, I'll admit that my knowledge of this period of history in this region of the world isn't great!

Dropping Planet With. :rip:
(edited 5 years ago)
Hyakuren no Haou to Seiyaku no Valkyria


This had some interesting ideas, I'll admit. It's another 'person in a strange world' anime, but spares us the boring details of how he got there. He just did. Also the 'strange world' appears to be our Earth, circa the Bronze Age... though I'd prefer it if the characters didn't have magical powers, thanks to that it may as well be set inside a game or on Mars instead. Our MC's goal is to get home, and to achieve this he becomes the patriarch of a clan and conquers other clans, supposedly to make his search easier and more peaceful. He rises to power using his smart phone (which works and has internet access) to look up and introduce technology and battle tactics that didn't exist at the time - iron spears, the phalanx formation etc. That whole 'convenient internet' part is where I lose interest, coupled with the budget animation and generic characters. Dropped.
(edited 5 years ago)
Shin`ya! Tensai Bakabon


3 years after Pierrot reimagined one of late manga-ka Akatsuka Fujio's works for a modern audience as very popular Osomatsu-san, the same studio is doing the same thing with the same manga-ka's other series. Just like in Osomatsu-san, the first ep started with the characters looking just as they did in the 70s anime, complete with grainy effects. Just like in Osomatsu-san, the cast (one character in this case, Bakabon's father) changes everything to appear original and relevant. Just like in Osomatsu-san, he takes it too far for comedic effect, and the ep ends with a glimpse of what a revamped Tensai Bakabon will really look like. Basically, it's Osomatsu-san S3, but with a new cast. That's not a bad thing if you like the humour... but it does lack the originality that Osomatsu-san had on its side. Dropped, I've picked up enough comedy for one season.
(edited 5 years ago)
Zoids Wild


Zoids in HD. :coma: Though that's about all that's changed since Zoids Genesis 12 years ago. The character designs are still ridiculous, but cute. The 3D animated Zoids themselves (giant robot animals and dinosaurs) still look clunky - perhaps this is deliberate, to make them look more like the plastic models that the series is ultimately being made to promote. Once again our main character manages to win over a notoriously stubborn Lion/Liger-type Zoid, and if the parallels with Genesis continue, he'll end up joining some resistance force to battle the threatening 'Death Metal Empire'... what a name. This was very enjoyable, if I still picked up 18-20 series each season then it'd likely make the cut. But seeing as I only have two spaces left on my watching list, and since (at the time of writing) it lacks an official release, I'll have to drop it.
Free! Dive to the Future


Great to see the cast of Free! once again~ I haven't watched any of the OVAs, specials or movies that got released since Eternal Summer in 2014, so it has been a while. Time has moved on, and the Iwatobi Swim Club we knew have mostly parted ways, with the older members now attending different universities (and in a different country in Rin's case!). But of course, they're all still swimming. :yes: Old friends from middle school are reunited (that's where the back story from High Speed might have helped, but ah well), new characters are introduced, and while this first episode did focus more on our old protagonist Haru than anyone else, it does seem as though we'll get to see snippets of what the other four are up to, which is nice. Same high production values I've come to expect from Kyoto Animation. Picked up!

[EDIT] On second thoughts, and to make room in my watching list for the glorious Grand Blue, dropping this until after I've gone back and watched those specials and movies. I'll probably appreciate it more after doing so.
(edited 5 years ago)
Happy Sugar Life


Satou is a schoolgirl with a reputation for sleeping around, but this all changes when she picks up a much younger girl from who knows where, starts living with her, and becomes convinced that she's found her true love. There's nothing sexual going on here (or at least I assume not, from the lecture she gave to her creepy employer about underage relationships!), it's more a constant feeling of happiness, always wanting to be together. But they need money to survive. And so Satou is forced to tear herself from her 'happy sugar life' at home, and venture out into the bitter and twisted outdoor world. In keeping with the all-pink yandere tradition started by Mirai Nikki's Gasai Yuno, Satou has a murder room full of dead bodies, because she'll do anything to protect her new life... MEH. I'm not feeling it, the creepiness feels very forced. Dropped.
(edited 5 years ago)
Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight


My first impression was that this series had decent production values, and a likable (if generic) cast, but that there was nothing overly special about it. It's set in a school for aspiring actors, but it didn't feel any different from the myriad 'idol school' series out there. Our main character is airheaded, clumsy and oversleeps, but is super passionate about acting. She made a promise to a childhood friend who she hasn't seen in over a decade, but who suddenly transfers into her class; however, she acts cold and distant for reasons unknown. I was enjoying it despite all the predictable tropes, but knew I wouldn't have space for it on my watching list... then suddenly, mysterious school lifts, random talking giraffe, and dramatic acting battles. I don't know what those last 5 minutes were all about, but they won me over all the same! Picked up.

Dropping Chuukan Kanriroku Tonegawa - despite my early praise, after two episodes the slow pacing is becoming really apparent, and I feel it's heavily relying on viewers' nostalgia for Kaiji more than on the quality of its own gags.
Grand Blue


"Probably not for me" was my pre-season reaction, based on the trailer and synopsis - I don't drink, and try to avoid rowdy drunks IRL, so couldn't see it appealing to me. Even if it ended up focusing more on the diving, I had plenty of that in last season's Amanchu! Then, I found out that it was by the same author as BakaTest (which I loved), so I decided to give it a chance anyway. And that first episode was amazing. Great faces, hilarious comedy, and watching the main character's swift descent from decent normal guy to half naked guy on the run from the police was great. The voice acting was glorious. I didn't think that anything this season would out-do Asobi Asobase's first episode in terms of making me laugh, but Grand Blue managed it. Also, the lead female looks just like BakaTest's Hideyoshi, that's a definite plus. Definitely for me!

Since I have to drop something to make room for it, but I like everything in my current lineup, it'll have to be Free! Dive to the Future that goes! It feels wrong picking it up without watching the High Speed movie first and getting the backstory on their middle school days, so I abandon this sequel with the full intention of returning to it one day.
(edited 5 years ago)
Kyoto Teramachi Sanjou no Holmes


Generic highschool girl is desperate for money to buy a train ticket, so steals some of her family's heirlooms to sell. However, it turns out that the young trainee appraiser at her local antiques shop is a super detective as well, immediately sensing that something is amiss. As well as correctly deducing tons of facts about her upon their first meeting (Sherlock-style), he also exposed a counterfeiter, and went into some detail about how you could correctly identify the genuine article from a fake. Schoolgirl ends up taking a job at the store to raise money for her ticket instead, and will no doubt serve as his 'Watson' in the antique-related mysteries to come. Not bad by any means, but given that I'm not all that interested in antiques, I've seen enough.
Hi Score Girl


Set in 1991 and revolving around the real-life arcade games that existed at the time, getting permission from all the necessary copyright holders to use the titles, characters and game footage must have been a nightmare for Japan alone... and is probably the reason this doesn't have an official English translation, as bringing it to the USA or UK would open up yet more licensing issues. A real shame, as this was another great first ep, but I won't pick it up without reliable subs. Main character lives for arcade games and is pretty good at them, but one day his 'sanctuary' is invaded by his popular and wealthy classmate. And she's considerably better than him. I love that she doesn't speak either, communicating only with angry faces, punches and kicks, not unlike an arcade fighter character herself. Oh, but it does have 3D animation if you're put off by that.
(edited 5 years ago)
Harukana Receive


Main character Haruka has just moved to the sunny beaches of Okinawa, and pictures days spent surfing and diving... but when she sees two girls practicing beach volleyball, she finds a new passion. If the jiggling breast shots in Hanebado! weren't enough to satisfy, Harukana Receive might be the Summer anime for you! But despite the show's obvious ecchi appeal, I feel it did a good job of showcasing that beach volleyball is an actual sport, and how it's different from regular volleyball - the unstable sand underfoot, the unpredictable wind, the blinding sun overhead etc. And with only two players per team, there's plenty of potential for strong partnerships and drama. Not as bad as I feared it would be, but far from good enough to make my own watching list.
Shingeki no Kyojin S3


One week later, the season's heavyweight makes its (actual) debut. Once upon a time, this series seemed like a simple tale of survival, of hunted humans versus the enormous monsters that threatened their peaceful lives... now, it's full on humans versus humans, as the conspiracies and mysteries of the walls and what the titans really are start to come to light. All made that much more complicated by the introduction of a Military Police-hunting serial killer! This was a decent reintroductory episode, a nice mix of humor (Potato Girl being Potato Girl, and Hange being all mad scientist as usual) as well as deadly serious moments, but with no recap for those who've forgotten what happened last time. Unsurprisingly, this takes the last spot in my watching list that I'd been saving for it.

One additional change to my lineup: dropping Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight (2nd episode wasn't great, still haven't warmed to the characters), and giving Satsuriku no Tenshi with its adventure game vibes a chance instead.

---

And with that, I'm *probably* done sampling Summer anime first eps. There are a handful more that I haven't watched, but they either don't appeal to me, or lack official subs, or both. Still, I *may* give one or two a go if I get bored. Who knows, they might surprise me like Grand Blue did!
(edited 5 years ago)

Quick Reply

Latest