Summer 2015 Anime Season Preview and Expectations

There’s a week until the Summer 2015 season begins in earnest, so it’s time to put behind us this underwhelming Spring season in order to clear the plate for new and exciting shows! Wait, I’m only excited for 4 shows, and half of those are returning or continuing shows? Welp. Well, let us see what’s what.

As always, in these posts I cover shows I plan to follow, or have thoughts on why I will not follow them, or considered following and decided not to. As always, I try to strike a balance between giving you enough information on the show, and telling you why I think it is or isn’t worth watching. Shows ordered by day, and by expectation within the day, as that affects pick status. The “Almost In” category returns, describing shows that I’d pick up in prior seasons, but decided to put aside in order to make more time for backlog, after growing unhappy with how many of the shows I pick up ending up “not worth the time”, let alone “good”.

Most of the information about the shows can be had from the helpful Neregate Chart, and what I’ve happened to see on various sites, such as The Cart Driver. Check them out if you want more information, or information on shows I didn’t cover (such as follow-ups to shows I don’t watch).

Sunday:

Almost In:

God Eater – Shows (and films) based on video games almost always suck. The more of a storyline the game has, the worse it usually is. Exceptions, such as last year’s Rage of Bahamut: Genesis exist, but they’re few and far between, and atrocities such as the BlazBlue show are much more common. God Eater is a Monster Hunter clone, so expect team dynamics in the face of monsters to be the draw, which is a pretty standard fare as far as anime goes.

The stand-out aspect here is that this is made by Ufotable, who make really pretty shows, and that the voice acting talent is pretty respectable. Hirao Takayuki, the director, is the man behind the best regarded Kara no Kyoukai (Garden of Sinners) film, the 5th, Paradox Spiral. The art-style in the preview is interesting, somewhere between CGI and water-colours, of all things. The faces seem not very expressive, and while it is definitely interesting, it reminds me more of indie video games, or short flash animation. Dunno.
Interest Rating: 1/3. It’s likely to be really pretty, but as Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works has shown, pretty is not enough. And hey, if this ends up being surprisingly good, as has happened with Bahamut, I’m sure people will let me know and I’ll pick it up.
Airing Date: July 5th. Preview.

Media Month in Review – July 2014

I use this post to go over all the media consumed/experienced over the past month, with 2-4 sentences per item. A way to give short thoughts on each topic.

Games:

• BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma – Played some more in the beginning of the month, then shelved it in order to play the following game:
• Tales of Xillia – I finally, a year down the line, began playing my Day 1 Edition, which was on sale for half-price about half a year after day 1… Well, I wanted to finish it before ToX 2 came out, to see if I want to get it. I really like it, it’s a good action-RPG that has good action, and solid RPG, after the snooze-fest that Final Fantasy X’s first 12 hours were. I poured in 15 hours or so, but then got distracted. I want to play, but I keep putting it off, and then it’s 1 AM, and I know it’d end up 5 am if I were to start playing it at 1 AM, and then it ends up 5 AM without me playing it anyway… But I’m enjoying it quite a bit. The English dub is good, though I do wish I could have the Japanese dub as well. No real reason not to, right? This is also my first Tales game.

Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma☆Illya – Fan-Service, Not Poe’s Law

Fate/Kaleid aired between June and September of 2013. I’ve only watched the final episode this week. I might have a small issue with finishing shows, sometimes. But, in terms of understanding this show, which I’ve mostly rewatched before writing this piece, I think this additional time was useful for my understanding of it. Having watched more of “this” type of show, I can look back on my notes from when it aired and where I’ve questioned whether it’s parody and realize that it’s not. But even back then, I knew it didn’t matter.

Now, before we go on, a couple of words on “Fan-service”. Fan-service is quite literally content that’s there to please the watchers. Of course, content aimed to please an existing fan-base is often what’s meant, such as the Steins;Gate film which revisits many situations watchers of the series enjoyed, or even something as nebulous as in-jokes, which is what many “comedy series” employ in order to make the fans feel smart and appreciated, by speaking in their language.

(This is a Things I Like post, it’s not a review, but more a discussion of the show and of ideas that have risen in my mind as I’ve watched it. There will be some spoilers, one of them large.)

Summer 2014 Anime Season Expectations

Summer 2014 is nearly here, and the season actually begins on Wednesday, July 2nd. So time to see what I’m more interested in. I wasn’t very good with my Spring season predictions (M3 2.5/3), but it’s more about my interest levels, than how good I think it’d be. Shows that “didn’t make it” are usually shows I’m slightly less interested in, or find it interesting to remark on.

As always, organized by days of the week, because I might pick a show on an empty day or cut shows I enjoy on days already overfilled with other shows. Order is by expectation within that day. I plan to do write-ups for no more than 3-4 shows this season. Furthermore, I’ve realized I don’t enjoy action popcorn shows (shounens) as much when watching them weekly, so more are likely to only be watched when the season ends.

Descriptions will be short, more on why I find them interesting. “Didn’t make it in” could also be seen as shows I might pick up after dropping others based on buzz or free time. Most of the information about the shows can be had from RandomCuriosity’s page, the helpful Neregate Chart, and what I’ve happened to see on various sites, such as The Cart Driver. Check them out if you want more information.

I’m liking the shape of next season, even if not a lot truly stands out to me.

Sunday:

Akame ga Kill! – A battle shounen in a medieval setting, corruption and mystery, reveling in over the top action and “grimdark”. I actually like this sort of thing. That’s what B-Movies are made of. So long the material knows what it is and embraces it, why not? Yes, the quest for “Maturity!!!” is usually pretty immature, but so long you know it. It looks pretty, and that’s the most important thing.
Interest Rating: 1.5/3. I’m not expecting anything great, just some fun. Might go on hold after a few episodes since popcorn shows do better in a burst.
Airing Date: July 6th.
Write-ups/Notes: Nope. Almost tempted to watch it after it airs. Trailer.

12 Days of Anime #8 – I’m Here for The Spectacle (Fight Scene of the Year)

Sometimes, you just find yourself staring at the screen, mouth agape, as the shiny pictures flash in front of your eyes, and they’re just so pretty. I know it seems weird coming from someone who writes (well) over a thousand words on so many shows, but sometimes I just look at my monitor, realize I have no idea what’s going on or how to approach it, and just let the shows wash over me.

Stills do this no justice, check the YouTube video down-post

Originally, this post was going to be about Bakemonogatari (and Nisemonogatari) and Mawaru Penguindrum, which I’ve watched this year, and are so incredibly rich in imagery, and actively assault your senses through multi-layered visual vectors that you just don’t know what to look at, and what is real within the show’s world. But then, I remembered that there’s actually been a single moment which made an entire show worth it, and was just spectacularly well done, and that moment had been the huge fight in Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya – Episodes 5-6.