The waters are getting choppier.
I sat on a lot of mini-reviews because I didn’t want to do a Panning post without at least one full meet ‘n’ greet, but the list was getting longer and the shows weren’t getting better, so I finally decided to buff my one “maybe” into a full-length blurb and chuck the latest batch up. The weekend’s “unpolished but potential-packed” series have been swiftly replaced with nopes and sighs, but feel free to hit the jump for some thoughts on ’em, at least.
MM Land: The happiest place on earth?
Okay, maybe not, but it does have a certain magic to it, existing in a world slightly removed from our own—much like My Love Story itself, perhaps. That’s the theme running through this episode, from Oda’s encouragement that Ai try on a goofy hat because she’s taking a break from “reality” to Suna explaining that jinxes aren’t about magic but hard facts, as it’s “more common for relationships to not work out.”
Love is in the air, but the sparks ain’t always flying.
We come at last to my most anticipated new series of the season—and no, it isn’t either of the ones about dudes with monster harems. Animation studio BONES is doing a shoujo for the first time since—geez, Ouran High, I guess—and the results are predictably lovely. As for the rest… well, it wasn’t all bad, it just wasn’t all my cup of tea. Of course, some of it was rull bad, too. Hit the jump for some goodies, some not-so-goodies, and of course, some dudes with monster harems. Only in anime, I tell you what.
It’s okay to be a little GARish sometimes.
Summer shows continue to run the gamut in terms of genre and content, and so it’s unsurprising that today we turn to series that look nothing like anything else we’ve seen so far this season: A criminal underworld drama and a classic shounen action/adventure. Oh, and a weak attempt at satire which earns a spot as my first official dropped show of the season. But mostly the first two. Hit the jump for even more summer series that caught my eye and popped with potential.
Well, that was certainly a season of anime.
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).
The gang’s all here…
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.
A new challenger appears!
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.
Kyoto Animation and novelist Takeda Ayano make beautiful music together.
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?
Roses and absurdism? Man, it’s almost like Ikuhara’s the showrunner or something.
Absolutely 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.
Takeo takes on his most formidable foe yet: Math I.
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!
The Josei Next Door 