With the Summer Anime season now out for a little while, I thought it was time to watch all the first episodes and figure out what was going to be my go-to Anime shows for this season. After a couple of days of marathoning, I have checked out most of the brand new Anime. So here’s what’s going on my queue list!
“91 Days”
Summary: Set during the prohibition era, the mafia kills Angelo’s entire family on his birthday. We jump 7 years into the future where Angelo receives a strange letter, returns back to his hometown and begins to sell moonshine.
Thoughts: This show looks very promising, as it has no source material and after the first half of the episode, it models itself after an American mafia film. On top of that, the music is filled with jazz sounds and that’s always a plus.
Rate: Keep Watching
“Amanchu!”
Summary: The story of two girls, one who is peppy and the other who is introverted, as they become friends during their first year of high school.
Thoughts: It seems like a cute slice-of-life, which I’m always down for, but I’m not sure if it will be generic. It does have a very interesting art style and it had me laughing a few times. I mean look at this picture!
Rate: 3 Episodes
“The High School Life of a Fudanashi”
Summary: Your everyday highschool guy just so happens to enjoy reading Yaoi manga, as he makes friends with a bunch of girls over his passion.
Thoughts: I mean, I don’t know what to say about this. Apparently Fudanashis are a thing and I find it strange myself, but each episode is like 3 minutes long and it is pretty funny.
Rate: Keep Watching
“Ange Vierge”
Summary: The universe is split up into 5 different worlds, on including Earth, and one day they all join together. It’s up to a group of girls with the power called “exceed” to try to save the worlds.
Thoughts: Honestly, the premise sounds amazing, but I’m not sure if I can keep watching. We’re given a huge exposition dump at the beginning and we do one of the backstories as to how the girls got the powers, but my main problem is: the fanservice. The whole cast is females and they are in the nude for 15/23 minutes. Along with this, since it’s a new anime streaming on Crunchyroll, there is a massive amount of censoring, so 75% of the show is white fog and light covering up the nudity, which is extremely harsh on the eyes.
Rate: Stop Watching
“Bananya”
Summary: Cats and bananas become one species. Seriously, that’s it.
Thoughts: I actually already wrote an article for this one, if you’re not watching it yet, do yourself a favor and take 3 minutes to watch the first episode.
Rate: Keep Watching
“B-PROJECT”
Summary: Sumisora Tusbasa is employed under Gandara Music to work with the three-group idol unit called “B-PROJECT.”
Thoughts: My first assumption was that I wouldn’t like it because it’s just about Japanese boy bands and a reverse harem, but after watching the first episode, I still feel the same way. There were times where the music talk was cool, since, as a musician, all of the music talk is nice to hear. However, it’s just not for me.
Rate: Stop Watching
“Aldermin on the Sky”
Summary: The Katjvarna Empire is currently in war with the Klorka Republic and a young man named Ikta has taken up the position as High Grade Military Officer. Ikta dislikes war, is slothful and loves women, while also being really talented as a soldier.
Thoughts: After getting past all of the fictional names that sound similar to Russian, I’ve already grown to like this one. The art style is unique, which makes me want to see more and while the premise is not all that unique, it does look like it will be executed well.
Rate: Keep Watching
“Berserk”
Summary: Guts is a wandering mercenary who has an evil curse that attracts demons. Set in a medieval-Europe inspired dark fantasy world.
Thoughts: When I first heard that “Berserk” was getting a new anime adaptation, I was pretty excited. I have heard about “Berserk” now for a while and was told that the manga was the best of its kind, plus it’s an inspiration for the Dark Souls games (which I’ve recently gotten into and love). With that being said, there was a Berserk anime released in the early 2000’s, though it wasn’t received well. After watching the first episode of this reboot, I’m not quite sure if I can bring myself to keep watching it. The animation is this mix between 2D and 3D that doesn’t set well. The character models are extremely mediocre and the animation sequences just doesn’t flow well at all. I love that there is a heavy metal soundtrack that works well with the theme, but I think I’m just gonna go read the manga when I get the chance.
Rate: Stop Watching
“Days”
Summary: Tsukushi just entered High school and his new classmate Kazama invites him to play soccer one day. Tsukushi enjoys it and decides to join the high school soccer team, but he’s also a complete beginner. Even though he’s worse than everyone else trying out, something in him is pushing him to keep working hard.
Thoughts: I’ve never watched a sports anime and I’ve never enjoyed watching sports, so coming into watching this, I didn’t think I’d like it. Instead what I got was a really well done opening episode of an anime I’m excited to keep watching. Both main characters are interesting and the premise isn’t new, but it looks like it will be executed well. I’m hoping that it focuses more on the main character’s growth rather than the actual sport itself.
Rate: Keep Watching
“Hitorinoshita – The Outsider”
Summary: Cho Soran is a college student who comes back to his hometown one day to visit his grandfather’s grave. At this time, he finds out that someone has dug up the graves, his grandfather’s body is missing, there’s a mysterious girl claiming to be his sister, and there’s zombies.
Thoughts: So far there are a lot of questions I have answered, so I’m gonna have to continue watching at least the next 2 episodes. I felt like the premise was pretty good, but the first episode was a bit mediocre. I’m interested to see how another zombie show will turn out, because there’s no way it could compare to Highschool of the Dead.
Rate: 3 episodes
Mahou Shoujo? Naria Girls
Summary: Ordinary girls become anime magical girls.
Thoughts: The show is only 8 minutes long and I’m still not sure what I just watched. The voice actors were horrific, the camera shaked the whole time. Half of the show is still pictures, while the other half is some of the worst CGI I’ve ever seen. The OP and ED themes are both annoying. There didn’t seem to be any editing involved with the audio. Do not recommend at all. This isn’t even so bad, it’s good.
Rate: Burn it with Fire
Mob Psycho 100
Summary: Mob is a normal kid who has incredible psychic powers. He has trouble suppressing these powers and when his emotion level reaches 100, he losses complete control.
Thoughts: First of all the art style is really weird in this one, but I love it! “Mob Psycho 100” started as a webcomic with weird visuals and I think that they animated it well for what they had to work with. The comedy is perfect as well. This one is probably the most watched of the season so far and I can definitely understand it.
Rate: Keep Watching
Momokuri
Summary: A sophomore girl in high school has fallen in love with a freshman from afar and has the guts to ask him out. He says yes, but she’s still super obsessed with him without him realizing it.
Thoughts: Let me just say that I love “Momokuri” so far. Unlike other romance anime that hint at the two getting together throughout the whole series, “Momokuri” has them get together in the first episode. The dynamic between these two is cute and innocent and I think the whole series will definitely be worth the time.
Rate: Keep Watching
New Game
Summary: High school graduate Suzukaze Aoba joins the video game company Eagle Jump in her pursuit to be a game developer.
Thoughts: So I really like this one. It’s a nice slice of life anime about working in the game industry (which is my personal career) and I’m sure I’m gonna love the whole serious. My only issue with it, is that it’s not entirely accurate with the game industry. Aoba only knows how to draw, yet she was hired on in a video game company right after high school? With no knowledge about the tech, that’s kind of absurd, but as cute as the show is, I think I can excuse that.
Rate: Keep Watching
Orange
Summary: 16 year old Naho receives a letter from herself 10 years in the future. Inside the letter are regrets that she has and the way to make the regrets gone.
Thoughts: Orange isn’t your typical romance anime. For starters, there’s a bit of a twist at the end of the first episode that’ll make you want to cry. The premise is pretty strong and I’m really excited for the rest of this story. I’m not the biggest fan of the art style, but I can look over that.
Rate: Keep Watching
Ozmafia!!
Summary: Fuuka has amnesia and ends up being chased in an unfamiliar town. She is saved by a mafia member and has to decide who is good and why doesn’t she remember anything?
Thoughts: As this is a short (4 minutes and episode) and also a promo for a video game, there really wasn’t any substance in it for me. I’m not saying it’s bad, it’s just that the first episode only does character introductions and I got nothing else out of it.
Rate: Stop Watching
