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Panning the Stream: Summer 2016 Midseason Review

Smooth sailing through the summer stream.

Boueibu 6-7 (1)

I’ve trimmed my watchlist down to a manageable number and am happy to announce that pretty much everything is either holding steady or improving on itself. So if I sound like I’m repeating some of my Rule of Three comments, well, blame these series for being so darn consistent, the little jerks! And then cross your fingers that that trend continues. I’d much rather come back in another five-ish weeks singing these shows’ praises than sighing about how they dropped the ball in the back half, doncha know.

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Rule of Three Review(ish): Summer 2016 Anime Digest

Guess I oughta call it a “Rule of Four Review” at this point…

Amanchu 2-3 (18)

Between the two shows I’m covering for Evo this season, the standalone posts I still need to finish (I solemnly swear those last two Tanaka-kun mini-essays are gonna happen someday!), a potentially expanding load of freelance geek writing, and Moving Day Part Deux, getting a full Rule of Three post out this season just wasn’t in the cards. (Actually, if the other work stays steady, I may wind up retiring the Rule of Three Reviews entirely so I can focus on other posts, but if I hear a Great Outcry to keep them then I’ll reconsider.)

Still, I figured I owed it to you to pop in and at least let you know what my summer watchlist looked like. There isn’t a ton that I’m excited about, but I am really excited about a few of them, and given everything else that’s going on I’m more than happy to sacrifice quantity for quality. Hit the jump for a quick run-down.

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Panning the Stream: Summer 2016 Premieres, Round 2

One final explosion of titles before we settle into the new season.

Mob 1 (2)

I somehow managed to stop hunting Pokemon long enough to write my second and final batch of premiere reviews. With one exception (baseball anime BATTERY, which I’ll cover in my Rule of Three if it makes it that far), the summer rush has swept on by, leaving me to sort through the silt and see if I can find some gold. I wouldn’t call it a deep season, but there’s variety and potential, and one show that has me positively giddy.

Hit the jump to say hi (and goodbye) to the rest of the summer premieres.

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