Final Thoughts: Summer 2014

Summer 2014 Anime Season

AS it turns out, Free has lied to us. Summer is not eternal and is quickly coming to an end, and with it, an amazing anime season. There were really some amazing shows that entered our lives this summer, and unfortunately we have to say goodbye to so many of them. But before we say our final goodbyes, let’s give those shows one final look over. These are my final thoughts on the summer 2014 anime season. 

But first, let’s look at the few shows sticking around. 

Sailor Moon Crystal- The biggest problem with the new Sailor Moon anime is that is comes out every two weeks. This creates this really slow pace where I keep feeling like I am missing out on the show. I want to watch it, people want to watch it. Making people wait for it just isn’t a good model. But I do understand. The show is being released online, from what I understand, so it doesn’t have to follow the normal conventions of an anime. It can take it’s time, stretch its budget as much as possible, and make decisions and changes from time to time, with the extra week being a good buffer. I mean, how many shows that ran weekly had to take a week off because it fell behind schedule. At least with Sailor Moon Crystal, the only reason it will take a week of is because of actual holidays or big events. It is trading convenience for consistency basically. It is just a part of me still wants both. But aside from that, Crystal has been a stand up series. For someone like myself who has only memories of the anime from their childhood, it is really cool seeing things that both feel familiar, like the introduction of the other Sailor Scouts, but also from a slightly new angle, with the show focusing more on apparently what was in the manga, which means that things are generally different. I look forward to seeing some of the larger departures the show will have from its 90’s counterpart. I am loving Sailor Moon Crystal, and if you aren’t watching it, you should start now. There are only about 6 or 7 episodes out at time of writing, you have still have time to catch up. 

Cardfight!! Vanguard: Legion Mate- Of the four main seasons for this franchise, Legion Mate has been a very interesting departure from what the show usually offers. One of the things I really like about this seasons is that it shows that the show can work well without Aichi as the main lead. The previous season played with this, by having mini arcs within the show where Aichi would just not have any involvement in the games being played, but at the end of the day he was still the main character and ended up saving everyone. My hope is that the next season of Vanguard after this one will just not have anything to do with Aichi and his mates, taking more of a Yugioh approach with subsequent series of the franchise following just completely different characters. But besides what this season might be hinting at with the future, the season itself has been interesting, to say the least. The reveal of why Aichi is locked away on the moon makes sense for the overarching universe of the show, but Aichi’s reaction to it, locking himself on the moon with four people he barely knows protecting him and his girlfriend there too, is just kind of ridicules. It is like he didn’t think the plan out that well, but that also kind of fits the character. The whole self-sacrifice of Aichi makes sense for his character, but it is also just overly stupid of him. I think what I like most about this season though is that I have no clue what it’s ending means for the future of the show. After you go to the moon, where do you go from there? Can Aichi and Kai go back to fighting in high school and national tournaments after literally going into space and fighting the embodiment of nothingness? We will have to wait and see, but whatever the future holds for this little show, I will be happy to watch it.

In the name of the moon!... I need more episodes of this show to come out faster.

Majin Bone- I’ve said this before, but Majin Bone is a great example of just a great shounen show. While it isn’t exactly changing the genre or making any waves, it is just a good, fun, solid show. What is interesting with the last couple of episodes we are starting the whole enemy that becomes a good guy storyline. Again, while it is not doing anything too special with this concept, it is presenting it in a very good, solid way. I like how they are having some of the enemies actually question everything, about their god and their way of life, while also not being too disrespectful. It is like, they have to reach the point where they realize what they are being asked to do isn’t necessarily something a good god would ask you to do. This is all very basic level philosophy about god and also something that many shounen shows do. I feel like this show is so middle of the road sometimes that it is easy for someone who doesn’t like shounen anime or action shows to get bored very easily. But I am having fun with it so far, and I look forward to seeing where the show will go.

Sword Art Online 2- Why does he use a sword in a gun based game? Why did the bad dude make a sword in a gun based game? How did he do that? That doesn’t sound like something that should be put in a game. You can’t make a gun a Skyrim, even though all the components are technically there. Why would the game makers program that in? Why was the girl’s character reduced to being the girl again? She could have been interesting, but nope. Why is this show so boring? Why is Kirito still the main character? There are so many more interesting characters in this show. You don’t need the Shinji everyman anymore. His time has pass. He is no longer an interesting character. He was never an interesting character. Half a season left people. Half a season left. Let’s hope it gets better from here.

This ending theme is still amazing. Rock on you crazy Bone warriors.

And these are the shows that will follow us into the next season. But now, let’s give a final look to the shows ending this season.

Baby Steps- First off, yay second season! Second of all, this is a very well done show. The strength of this show is that from the start we know that we are here for the long haul. This is not the story of a team trying to win Nationals or anything like that. This is one guy’s journey, to both become a professional tennis player and one of self-discovery. He knows, as does the audience, that this is going to be a long journey, and we are here for literally every step of it. This is another show to put into the sub-genre of realistic sports anime, where no one has super powers and very few people are magically great at the game they play. This kind of makes the show more realistic then possibly intended. In fact, that is something else very startling about the show, just how realistic it is. I think the craziest hair color in the show is blond, with everyone else having brown or black hair, and all in realistic fashions. This is a show heavily set in the real world. That might not sound crazy, most shows are supposed to take place in the “real world”, but it all feels like it is done to help cement the story. This is not the almost impossible story of some random dude who wanted to become a pro tennis player. This is the story of one boy who discovered a love for the game, and worked incredibly hard at reaching that dream. And to be fair, I don’t know if he will ever reach it, though with the show getting a second season it sounds like a safe bet. Baby Steps is arguably one of the most realistic anime I’ve seen, which really helps in creating a very in-depth experience with the show.  This is another really great sports anime that I have had the pleasure to watch, and I recommend it to everyone who likes sports anime. I might even recommend it to people who don’t watch anime, as it’s realistic setting and pace make it a good starter show, without throwing anyone too deep into the anime deep end.

Barakamon- This was an amazing little show. One of the problems with shows that pair up an older guy and a little girl is that, even unintentionally, anime like this sometimes have creepy undertones. Usagi Drop comes to mind, though that is mostly the fault of the manga. The anime did a good job of avoiding the creepiness, for the most part though. But the point is that Barakamon did an even better job of avoiding the creepiness factor. The relationship between the main character and the main kid he hung around with was that of a parent and child or of siblings. They played and helped each other learn, and it was all done in a way that felt truly innocent and not at all creepy. Part of the reason for this was because of one of the main themes of the show, the rediscovery of childhood. The main character’s whole arc in this show was an attempt, a successful one at that, to rediscover his own inner child, something that he didn’t even know he lost. In an attempt to find his own style, he had to reconnect with why he loved making the art in the first place, the childlike innocence of making something that you love. The main character grew, in a sense, back to being a child, and his interactions with the other kids fit because he was really just a big kid. And that is what makes the show so good. The kids act like actual kids, the adults act like real people, or as close as real people are allowed to be in anime. I loved this show, it was a really fun series, and I wholly recommend it to anyone who wants just a quality show that is funny and kind of relaxing. Go watch this show, it is great.

Dramatical Murder- Oh man this is a terrible show. This was the anime equivalent of being thrown into a wind tunnel with debris just flying at you. Shit just happens, and for the entire ride I am just sitting here, confused, but also not exactly not enjoying myself. DRAMAtical Murder suffers from the same curse that many other shows with similar source materials suffer from. Because it is a harem game with both good and bad endings, but each ending still having the main character end up with another character, the anime is tasked with showing the story ends of each of those story lines in the game, but without the emotional payoff of the romance blossoming or coming to a head. So instead of Aoba ending up with anyone, he ends up with no one, but everyone is friends. Well, I say that, but I am pretty sure the robot dog who is also a personality embodiment of Aoba’s restraint that is now in the body of Aoba’s twin wins the romance award. So yes, he does fuck the dog. I don’t feel like I should blame the show for something that is literally wrong with the subgenre of anime in general, but it is something that hurts the show. But outside of that problem, the show also has a problem of just throwing stuff at the audience. Every character has a complicated and tragic backstory that really only gets explained for about half an episode and then they are cured by Jesus Aoba, where in they would presumably fuck in the game. Again, the game would have had more time and space to explore these backstories, but in the show it just seems like something random would pop its head from the past, and then be fixed just as quickly. Hell, they did it twice in the same episode once. This show isn’t going to win any awards, it is clunky, strange, and the game it is based off of is creepy and unfortunately typical of its genre of dating simulator. But if you need something really dumb to laugh at and nitpick for fun, I would recommend it. Outside of that I would try find something better to watch.

Look how sad she is to see the show go. Don't go show. Please stay with us.

Free! Eternal Summer- I am still surprised by how good this show is. The show hits all the trademarks of a good sports anime, and even goes further into other areas that many sports anime over look like recruitment of new members, but is also a decent drama. Haru’s arc for the season, in my opinion, was really well done. It built off of the events of the previous season while casting those events in a new light for the audience. We thought we got to see how much Rin’s behavior in the previous season effected Haru, yes it nearly drove Rin to the breaking point but it also made Haru worry about his friend and question what he was doing. The second season builds on this. Haru’s actions and behavior in the second season makes sense when you put it in that light. Haru saw how much competitiveness hurt and nearly broke Rin, and how it consumed him, winning becoming his only reason for swimming. While he got better, it made Haru more conscious of why he swam. Haru swims for himself and his friends, not to win or anything like that. But to continue swimming, to continue doing the one thing in Haru’s life he has passion for, he has to swim to win. People don’t make a living just swimming for fun, they do competitions and win races and make money. Haru recognizes this, and thus the conflict is created. He wants to swim professionally, but he is afraid that swimming to win will lead him down the same path that nearly broke his friend. And seeing this internal drama in Haru play out was really done well. It made him retreat into himself further and further, until Rin showed him what he would be missing, and that what happened to Rin isn’t the standard for professional swimming. I think this was a well written and well played out drama this season, and the ending had me in tears. Well, the part where the entire Iwatobi swim team was in tears had me in tears. This whole season had a ton of high points, from the expedition to Australia with Rin speaking English and actual English speaking voice actors, to actually seeing everyone’s parents in the final episode for one frame. Free turned out to be a really good show. If there were no more Free seasons, I would be satisfied with what they gave us. But I wouldn’t say no to a season three with all new characters. If any show could make it work, it would be Free.

Futsuu no Joshikousei ga [Locodol] Yatte Mita.- Locodol really turned out to be a really fun show. I have always loved Idol show, this has been true since the day I started this blog, and Locodol is no exception. I think what this really brings to the table that other idol shows I have seen don’t is this excellent sense of scale. Most Idol shows usually have the buildup of the idol group in the beginning, but by the end the group will always be this larger than life group with a million fans. Love Live is the closest show to subvert this, with them being a high school idol group, but even then at the end they were winning a national prize and considered a national success along with a high school success. Locodol is kind of different. The shows focuses on the small town and how interlocked the girls are to this small town, and that really helps the show. Almost everything in the show is from this perspective, of a small town. When the go to national events, they are just another face in a large amount of other idols. This is as close as we have gotten to a slice of life anime in the idol genre, and I think that it really hits it out of the park. I really liked this show, but to be fair it isn’t especially deep or anything. It is, at its core, another moe girls are nice to each other show. It also can be a bit fanservicy at times, but it makes up for that with the girls actually have a decent personality and being slightly more than the usual 2d moe girls in anime. Again, that might be because of the very rural environment in the show that is used to flesh out the characters a bit, and make them not completely cliché, but still. As an idol show this was a fun adventure and I totally recommend it to those who like the genre.

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun- I have to admit, this might just be the show of the season for me. (Citation: I am not counting Jojo or Hunter X Hunter because they started in previous seasons, and I was already a fan of both before the animes started) Everything about Nozaki-kun was amazing. I love that the characters, each one is a surprisingly fleshed out, funny, interesting character. I love how it plays with shoujo anime and manga clichés by exploring them while not just making fun of them. And I love how the romances are all equally strange yet surprisingly believable. I think what I like best about the show is how it plays with gender role expectations. Everyone in the main cast outside of Sakura and Nozaki are also represented in Nozaki’s manga as people of the opposite gender, even his main heroin in the manga is based off of his male friend Mikoshiba. But at no point is this done to make a character look weak or strange. Mikoshiba is strange because that is who he is, a person who covers up his social ineptitude with cheesy lines straight out of a shoujo series, and then gets embarrassed when he does so. Others can and have written much more about how Nozaki-kun is a great show for its depiction and breaking down of gender roles, especially within the medium that the show loves itself, so I won’t get too into it here, but suffice it to say that it is an amazing depiction of how gender roles should be approached. Just because a person is female and acts masculine, or is male and acts feminine, means that they are weak, strange, or a bad person. And Nozaki-kun exemplifies this, at least as much as modern Japanese values allow. And aside from all of that amazingness, the show is also just plain funny. Every episode had me laughing and cheering with something. My only complaint is the cope out with the ending, but I can understand that because the manga series is still going on. But dammit, I want Nozaki and Sakura to get together! What can I say, for better and for worst I have an inner shipper. Watch Nozaki-kun, it was an amazing show that I hope will one day return so I can watch more of the characters antics. If not, I might just have to go out and read the manga.

Seriously, this was one of the best shows this season, possibly this year. Watch it.

Haikyuu- I’ve said before that Haikyuu is a very stereotypical sports anime, and I stand by that. The show itself is built around all the clichés that surround sports anime as a genre. It has the third years whose last chance at succeeding in their sport of choice is this year, the same year that just happens to have the prodigies come to their practically no name school. The prodigies themselves are great in one specialized area, but still have enough room to grow so that they are not perfect from the start. And of course every other team is incredibly strong, but our heroes will survive and win the match! What Haikyuu does differently is that it takes all the usual clichés and elevates them. It is like when a professional chef puts something that sounds normal on his menu. His menu might say that he is serving meatloaf, but instead of the thing your mom made, it is some exquisite meal made with the best cuts of meat and some homemade tomato paste sauce instead of ketchup. Haikyuu is that meal. Everything about the show is an examination and elevation of what makes a good sports anime. The best example is what occurs in the last episode. They lost their last match, which would normally mean that the third years are going to have quit the team to focus on their studies. Of course everyone is depressed that they lost also. In most shows, when this lost occurs, the characters are depressed for a bit, but bounce back relatively quickly and start looking toward the future, and the third years stick around and sacrifice their immediate future to make their dreams come true. And all of this is what happens. But instead of all this being one emotional moment, it was drawn out, over the course of a whole episode. The third years had to seriously think about leaving or staying, and while they decided to stay after all, it was shown how much this decision meant to them and those around them. We also got to see just how much the loss effected the star two characters. We saw them beating themselves up, and then finally exploding in a burst of anger, having to tire themselves out just to think straight. That sort of frustration is both understandable and was presented perfectly. While Haikyuu is a stereotypical sports anime, that doesn’t stop it from giving us a first class dish using those clichés. Now all I need from this show is a second season. Baby Steps got one, why not Haikyuu? If you like sports anime, or if you want to get into the genre, check out this show.

Hunter X Hunter- I swear, this show never stops getting me right in the heart. Hunter X Hunter might be one of the best shonen anime ever made. Of course, most of the credit goes to the spectacular manga, but the animation in the series was perfect, bringing to life these characters I’ve read from years ago. I have to give so much credit to the animation team, especially with animating the last two big arcs. The manga author was in and out of the hospital and hiatuses so much that sometimes he would just send in sketches for the chapters, and they would be published. Just really rough sketches that would convey the action, but would still never quite make everything clear. Stylistically they really added to the series, but seeing everything clear for the first time was a godsend. The anime ended right where I thought it would, with Gon completing his goal, meeting his father and actually talking to and hanging out with Ging for a while, and even learning from his old man. Something I’ve always liked about Ging’s character was that it is accepted that he would be a terrible father for Gon, in the sense that he probably would be terrible at raising a child. But his interactions with Gon show that while the actual raising and rearing of Gon, or any child, would probably turn out bad, Ging is not a bad person. He still respects Gon and actually teaches him some really important stuff about life. Ging isn’t a completely terrible father, though only after the child in question can talk and fend for himself is that probably true. Something the anime did that I don’t remember the manga doing was giving a bit of closure to a lot of stories, and even referencing back to almost every story arc in the show. Of course the manga didn’t end with Gon meeting Ging, it kept going, so it had no need to show Moral and Knov’s bet being settled, or the swans that Kite and his (now her) friends tried to save being saved. But for the anime it was perfect. The whole last episode was just the perfect ending for the series. I wouldn’t have wanted it to end any other way. Hopefully the manga will continue on, as of writing this the manga is on yet another hiatus after just coming off of the longest one yet, but hopefully one day the manga will end, and a second series will begin. I love Hunter X Hunter, it is both one of my favorite manga series and one of my favorite anime series over created. I cannot recommend it highly enough. If you haven’t watch it, please do. It is worth the trip.

Jojo’s Bizzare Adventure: Stardust Crusaders- While Stardust Crusaders isn’t my favorite part of the manga, Diamonds are Unbreakable still has some of the best characters while Vento Aureo has my favorite Jojo, it is still a really fun ride from start to finish. Unfortunately we are going to have to stop right in the middle for the time being. Yes, Stardust Crusaders is going for a season break and coming back in the winter, if I am correct. What he have so far has actually been pretty good. The animation studio is doing a great job of bring to life some of these fights while still staying true to the manga. My favorite fights are still Steely Dan and Death 13, both just being really fun rides and pushing what the Stand powers can really do. But to be fair to the manga, the first half is the weaker half. Once we actually get to Egypt is where all the real action begins. Because of that there isn’t much to say about the first half of the show. So far it has been good, the fights interesting and Stands are fun. Little actual story has happened outside of them moving closer and closer to Egypt, and the show carries Araki’s special brand of 1980’s sexism, which even he admits he had a closed mind to female characters and woman in general until he was a little older and regrets some of his unintentionally/intentionally sexist stuff, but outside of that it has been fine. Can’t wait to part 2. And then for the rest of the manga to be animated too.

This series man, it will forever remain in my heart.

The Files of Young Kindaichi Returns- I definitely had some problems with this show. The mysteries all felt too slow. A felt as if a different show wouldn't draw out the conflicts as long, maybe cutting each mystery down by one episode or so. And Kindaichi himself was mostly unlikable, except when he was actually solving mysteries. But with that said, they mysteries themselves were very interesting. almost every single one was well put together, well thought out, and had some really fun twists. Though a problem with them was that they would never give the audience all the information, just enough to lead the audience on and then completely fake us out with a twist. I know other detective series do the same thing, but the twist is usually better handled, or it still presents all the information but in a way that the audience just can't see. At the end of the day I am conflicted about this show. I can't say it is bad, it was enjoyable at times and the mysteries were cool. But I also can't give it a full recommendation, there are just so many better mystery shows or detective shows out there. If you like Detective Conan, and you want something that is basically the same but with no greater plot line, then give this show a shot. If you hate Cased Closed, then just go watch Kami-sama no Memo-chou. Now that is a good detective show.

Re: Hamatora- Why wasn’t Art in Jail at the end of the series? He committed so many crimes, broke into many restricted places including freeing a bunch of prisoners from the police holding cells that he broke in to, and even killed a guy. Two people if you count the bad dude from last season, but still, he committed murder, assault, and many other crimes. Why was he walking around free in the final bits of season 2? Can someone answer me this. I really need to know. I think the second season of Hamatora ended up being a better season of the show, but that is unfortunately not saying much. This show is still a very self-aggrandizing, heavy handed commentary on society and stuff like that, mixed in with idiots with powers. But to the shows credit, this can be a funny show at times. It really started to own its ridiculousness towards the end. Arts plan was crazy, the fact that he was faking people out by acting like crazy mutant Jesus, Hajime having the ultimate nope power, and of course Nice having someone else’s heart, and that heart has the strongest power in the show. Honestly, this was a really bad show, but if you start with the idea that this is a bad show, it is amazing to make fun of. This is like Dramatical Murder, in that it is the perfect show to marathon with friends and mock mercilessly and have a great time with. If you like bad shows, watch this.

Sabagebu- It ended with a John Woo movie! There was a church and Gun-kata and doves and everything was super over-dramatic. It was honestly an amazing end to a really funny series. This was a show that new what it was, a silly, stupid show about girls with guns killing each other, but not really. And by god it reached that lofty goal every single episode. Also it had some amazing parody episodes mixed in, with a Mad Max chase scene and a juggle battle to the death that was a perfect homage to Predator. I am a sucker for good reference humor, and this show knocked it out of the park. I believe I mentioned how much I loved the idea of a good asshole character in my first thoughts of this series, and by the end I can safely say that that opinion stands. The main character girl is a fantastic example of the unrepentant, greedy, selfish, bitch of a character that I love. It was a joy to watch her sacrifice her friends at the drop of a hat, and try to cheat everyone else out of their well-earned money. And the rest of the characters are just as great. This was a great, kind of awful series that you need to watch. Seriously, go watch this show, it is worth the sit through, especially if you enjoy stupid, great comedy.

Best advice the show gives you. But still a really fun ride.

And that was the 2014 summer anime season. The highlights were Nozaki-kun and Barakamon, and there will now be a Hunter X Hunter sized hole in my heart, at least until the next chapter comes out…whenever that will be. This past summer was amazing, and had some really great shows. But now we must look forward to the fall, and what new shows will be brought to us then. So until next time, have fun watching. 

How I felt about this season in one word. And hopefully how I will feel about the next.