Saturday, July 26, 2014

Summer 2014 First Impression : Aye or Nay

by kuro-hime

The summer anime line up is currently in full swing.

Everyone has seen some episodes and slowly, we begin to perfect our watch list this summer.

Usually, every line up has its' good shows and best shows.
And sometimes, there are awesome epic shows.

But this season is extremely wonderful because there is just so much good shows out there.
It's like the god of anime himself has descended and decided to bless us.

I haven't had a season where I watched so many shows and is enthralled by most of them.
This is rare.
Usually, it's just one or two.

But not this summer. (almost everything is good this summer)

Anyhow, let's get to the first impressions for summer 2014. (no ranking in particular)

We only watch this series for only one reason.
And that reason is NOSTALGIA.
So far, it's bringing the nostalgia and so, it's good.
Watching this is like returning to my childhood.
So it's all good.
The art is pretty alright. I find it pretty but personally, I prefer the original.
I am not a fan of the transformation 3D sequence but it's still okay.
To be honest, I hate that there is only two episodes every month because I would prefer it to have an episode per week.
But overall, AYE.

It's almost like rewatching Psycho Pass original season 1 series.
The only difference is that, it's more of a summary and there is some added extra scenes where you get to know the character's thoughts more.

If you are a hardcore fan of Psycho Pass, this will be an AYE
because watching everyone again makes you so happy and seeing extra scenes makes your scream.

But if you are not a hardcore fan, this is a NAY
because why would you want to watch this when you can watch the original. Might as well wait for season 2.

The premise of this story is actually pretty interesting.
And in the first two episodes has been pretty good.
Assassins who try to get rid of the corrupt to make a better world.
But of course, they know that killing itself is not a good act so they don't make themselves to be heroes.

Honestly, if this show was in another season with not so much good anime, this would have been a hidden gem but sadly, it came out this season with a lot of other shinier gems.

It has the typical anime comedy to ride out the darkness and the typical wacky characters in an anime. Thus, making it slightly typical and generic.
However, because of the interesting premise, it's an AYE.

I sat down to one episode of typical anime school life with typical characters doing typical things and saying typical things.
Obviously, you know where I am going with this.
It's typical.
But it's also boring.
Thus, after one episode, I decided that this is a NAY.

Ah, the awaited Kuroshitsuji continuation where it renders the complete wreck of a season 2 non-existent.
Well, it's not special or anything.
Everything that we are used to in the original Kuroshitsuji series is here.
The victorian era, the angsty Ciel and the awesome butler Sebastian.

But the interesting part is when they join the circus because it's slightly different from what we are used to.
For now, it's been hilarious and enjoyable.
Therefore, it's a pretty good series to catch.
But if you are a hardcore Kuroshitsuji fan, then, this is a MUST WATCH.

For me right now, this gets an AYE.

Gen Urobotchi doing another Mecha series. Hmm...do you run or do you watch?
Anyhow, I am basically watching this because I want to see where Gen Urobotchi goes with this.

The premise has been set up in the first two episodes and it's pretty interesting.
By the way, humanity is in a dire circumstance.

Personally, I am not a fan of the main protagonist because I find him a little indifferent and unaffected. However, in episode 3, the episode showed him in a better light so I am very curious now as to where the show will go and what the character himself will do.

Oh, did I mention the soundtrack? I love the soundtrack in this series. It just adds to the entire feel of the show. It's really good.

All in all, because of my curiousity and love for the soundtrack, this series gets an AYE from me too.



BANG.
Yes, that is how the first episode ended.
And the second episode?
Also BANG.
What about the third?
No bang but still awesome.

This series is my favourite of this season simply because we have these main characters that are terrorists. And the way they excute their terrorism is so brilliant.
Not only that, their characters are still vague and mysterious. But it looks like they had a bad past.
And we don't know their motives yet.

Thus, it's all very interesting.
The soundtrack is great here too.
And the animation, together with the directing is simply superb. 

It's like this epic psychological series. I just want to see where this all goes.
Thus, this gets an AYE.

This is a very ordinary anime of where boring ordinary introvert girl meets crazy energetic transfer student.
Very ordinary, right?
So it should be boring.
But surprisingly, it isn't.
The main female character, the shy one is very relatable.
And the crazy transfer student is just so enthusiastic that it's hard to hate her.

So even though it's a very simple and ordinary premise, it's quite interesting to watch.
And it doesn't help that it has a killer Opening song and sequence. 
Anyhow, surprisingly enough, this gets an AYE from me.

Precious Swimming Anime Boys.
What can I say?
Is there anything that should be said?
Anyhow, this is good because it makes me so happy and proud to see how much Rin has grown compared to season 1.

Hot precious perfect swimming anime boys.
There is nothing else to say.
If you are not here for the story, you are here for the fanservice.
But honestly, the story here is pretty good too. So yea. 
It also doesn't help that I look forward to season 2 since season 1 ended.

Anyhow, I cannot give this anything else except AYE.

Boy from the future who goes back to the past and becomes a lord because he looks like the lord.
Yes, the plot is not original at all.
And it doesn't help that the art is 3D-ish and so, it's not my thing at all. In fact, I don't like it at all.

But the saving grace of this series is the character itself and the voice actors.
The character itself is so hilarious and so, it's hard to hate him. So in the end, you end up liking him and laughing your ass off as he says or do the darndest things. 

The voice actors really can emote the character's action so despite the lack of emotions in the 3D art, it's made up for in the voice acting.
Over all, this series gets an AYE.

A sweet love story.
Or rather a to be love story.
Honestly, I am not sure.

But this series is so sweet that it gives me diabetes.
The two main characters interactions are so adorable that it makes me squeal in happiness.

It also doesn't help that the two main characters are likable so it's not hard to like them and root for them.

This series feels like a fluffy candyball so far. 
So if you like a sweet high school love story, here you go.

Anyhow, to me, this series gets an AYE.

This series.
The first episode left me wanting more.
There is gore in this series and this series is not for the faint hearted.

But what I love about this series is that it's about a boy who lost his previous world and is trying to adjust to his new one.
It's about a boy finding himself in a place where he is none and yet both.
It's about a boy who is confused.
It's about a boy is just trying to figure things out.

So yes, it's a little of a lame whiny ass right now but I want to see how he turns out from this internal dilemma.

There have been complains from manga readers that it left out a lot of important scenes. However, as a person who only watched the anime, I have no complains at all because I have no problem following it and I think it's pretty damn awesome.

This series is my number two favourite after Zankyou no Terror. So yea.
Ps, this series has an awesome Opening song.

Yea, since this is my number two favourite, it's obviously a AYE from me.

The first episode left me hungry for more and absolutely curious.

The second episode.....umm....not so much.

In the second episode, the pacing felt rushed. It's as if the creators wanted us to understand the main character and the guy who changed her.
But to me, it didn't really work.
It just felt rushed.

But since the premise is good, I will still catch it.

Therefore, it's an AYE.

Honestly, this wasn't even in my watch list.
But everyone seemed to be praising the shit out of this so I decided to catch it.
AND I HAVE NO REGRETS.

This series is hilarious to the point where your tummy hurt because you been laughing too hard.
And it's adorable because of the little kid, Naru.
But most of all, it's also filled with important warm life lessons.

It's a great slice of life series.
And thank god, it isn't a school one.
But the main character and the kid is really lovable.

Obviously, this gets a huge AYE.

I only watched one episode.
And I thought it was weird.
Weird clothes.
Weird hair.
Weird circumstances.
I don't get what's going on.

So quickly, I dropped the series.
I know it's a BL series but even the BL appeal wasn't enough to make me stay. Or leave. 

Yup, this series is a NAY to me.

Warning, this is a BL series.

Okay, now that we got that out of the way, I can say that this series is seriously hilarious.
I mean, it's crazy funny.
And it's pretty adorable.

Right now, it's just a really enjoyable series to catch.

Therefore, this gets an AYE.

That's all from me so far.

Hope that this is useful.

And most of all, I hope you enjoy this beautiful season's line up. 
This season has one of the best line up in my opinion.