Glancing Upstream: Spring 2015 Retrospective and Review

Well, that was certainly a season of anime.

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Okay, maybe I’m being too hard here. Winter 2015 was a nigh impossible act to follow in terms of sheer depth and breadth, and it’s not like Spring didn’t have its fair share of light, fun series. Plus there were a few clear standouts along the way as well, particularly if you enjoy more realistic YA-style fiction. Still, I’m finding that, while last season I was recommending just about everything to just about everyone, this season is a lot more about “Well, if you like {Genre}, you’ll probably enjoy {Title}.”

Weaker seasons tend to tell you more about your own tastes than the stronger ones, and now that I’ve officially blogged a full year’s worth of anime seasons, I think it’s safe to say that I have a wide range of genre and story interests and will watch just about anything so long as I can get halfway invested in the characters, whether that’s through humor or emotional drama. There are some definite clumsy and/or questionable shows on this list, but I stuck around largely because I liked hanging out with at least a portion of the cast and wanted to see what became of them. So, really, this season’s list is as much about who I liked as it is about what I liked.

Hit the jump for the best characters of the season (and their corresponding series).

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Panning the Stream: Ranpo Kitan, Classroom Crisis, GATE

Gather round, gang. It’s time once again to meet the new crowd of anime.

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As a reminder, I watch every licensed premiere and do at least a brief writeup about them. I’ll do full meet ‘n’ greets for shows that caught my interest enough to warrant it. Everything else gets a blurb explaining what I liked, didn’t like, and why the show might not or didn’t make the cut.

Happy one-year anniversary to these Panning the Stream posts! The summer season has returned, and with it a slew of new titles. It also happens to be Fourth of July weekend here in the states, which means grilling and beering and other friend-related activities, so you’ll have to excuse me if these get posted a bit later than intended. But get posted they shall, starting with our first trio, which all managed to surprise me to more-or-less pleasant degrees. Hit the jump to shake hands with our first batch of new shows!

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Sailor Moon Newbie Reviews: Episodes 118-119

The gang’s all here…

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If you were wondering why the sailors skipped a planet along the way, wonder no more, for we’ve found Saturn at last, and she is… somewhat less interested in saving the world than the others are, it seems. And the Outer Guardians are a VERY exclusive club and don’t seem inclined to let her join. But that’s fine. I’m sure the Moonies can print up another Inner Guardian membership card if she asks. They gave Jupiter one, after all, so clearly their definition of “inner” and “outer” planets is already real flexible.

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My Love Story!! – Episode 13: “Today Is On Me”

A new challenger appears!

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There are really 2-3 stories this episode, which would make it feel disjointed if they hadn’t smartly tied them all together with a through-line: Takeo enjoying his newfound financial freedom by treating his friend and girlfriend to fun times. The first story is my favorite in terms of sheer enjoyment, as Takeo and Yamato giddily take Suna to the movies and up to the mountains, a day trip which turns into a surprise birthday party and naturally ends in a Yamato-baked cake.

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Series Review: Sound! Euphonium

Kyoto Animation and novelist Takeda Ayano make beautiful music together.

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Sound! Euphonium is the story of a high school concert band trying to figure out who it wants to be. Are its members content to hang out for a couple hours after class, making friends and fooling around? Or are they willing to set and work towards goals, to find something they want and go after it with everything they have?

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Utena Watch Party: Episode 39

In which it’s time for more than just the audience to wave goodbye to Ohtori Academy.

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Click here for an explanation of the watch party, and an invitation to chime in with your own thoughts (Tumblr tag: #Utena Watch Party).

For Returning Viewers, Vrai’s episode analysis is here for your reading pleasure:

And my own newbie-friendly commentary is below the jump.

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Sailor Moon Newbie Reviews: Episodes 116-117

Roses and absurdism? Man, it’s almost like Ikuhara’s the showrunner or something.

mimete-okAbsolutely no one will be surprised to learn that Episode 117 was storyboarded and directed by Ikuhara himself, as it is hands-down the weirdest Sailor Moon to date and also one of its silliest. I’m not sure anyone else in the ani-business combines both meanings of the word “funny” so skillfully as Ikuhara does, and the result is just endless sight gags and WTF-ery that kept startling laughs out of me.

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My Love Story!! – Episode 12: “My Grades”

Takeo takes on his most formidable foe yet: Math I.

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As the title suggests, this is the week when Takeo’s poor grades threaten to catch up to him, but it’s less about Takeo’s school work and more about his future plans, and how those plans mesh (or clash) with those around him. As a result, it’s full of college talk, hilariously overbearing and eager-to-please parents practically proposing to Yamato, and a lingering question of where everyone sees themselves after high school. Oh, and it all basically turns out to be Suna trolling Takeo for a solid 20 minutes. Now that’s future planning for you!

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My Love(ish) Story: Anime, Aces, and Suna-min Rolls

Caution: This post contains, like, personal feelings and stuff. Also minor character relationship spoilers for My Love Story (Ore Monogatari). You have been warned.
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As a Millennial growing up in Midwest America, I was fortunate to live in a community and among friends who were relatively sex-positive and accepting of different lifestyle choices, even at school. While our health teachers still pushed abstinence as the best form of birth control, they also covered the other “safe sex” options and made it clear that it was “perfectly normal” to have “those urges.” Which is great, and a damn sight better than shaming or ignoring adolescent sexuality entirely.

Looking back, though, I sorta wish they’d also mentioned that it was perfectly normal to not have those feelings, too.

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Sailor Moon Newbie Reviews: Episodes 114-115

The Side-Eye is strong with this one.

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We’ve been in High Octane Plot Mode for a while, but we take Episode 114 off this week to spend some time with the charmingly psychotic Mimete and attend (another) creeper-tastic Sailor Moon casting call. It had its moments, but felt almost out of place given the amount of linear storytelling that happened both before and immediately after it.

I like silly Sailor Moon, but at this point I’m so invested in what’s going on with Hotaru and the Death Busters that any breaks from it feel like time-wasting. The series seems to agree with me, because we went right back to the central story in Episode 115, with backstories told and alter egos unveiled. And at this point, that’s very much as it should be.

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