Summer 2019 anime

She improves. Rather quickly. It's worth holding out for.

Oh, there is a manga actually… which is also written by Okada Mari? Now that's a rare case.

Yeah. And it's good stuff. Like, y'know, most of her stuff.

Edited by TheLovecraftian on Jul 13th 2019 at 9:57:11 AM

…Sonezaki trying her hardest to think of an elegant euphemism only to end up with a S.E.X. acronym had me spitting my drink. She might be my favorite of the bunch honestly.

Next, and probably my last try for this season >

Given: Richika, a grumpy guitarist, stumbles upon Mafuyu, a dreamy and slightly stupid guy who has a guitar but doesn't know how to play it. Mafuyu wants Richika to teach him guitar. Richika is reluctant, but Mafuyu is stubborn, and you probably know where this is going.

Pretty nice first episode honestly. I didn't go in with the best expectations, considering the last BL-ish music anime I tried to watch was… Dynamic Chord… yeah… but here the pacing is nice, the dialogue is pretty funny and there's some attention to detail in the music's animation. I might follow this.

Okay, last of the premieres

BEM: Huh, two police-based urban fantasies set in vaguely-American cities in the same season. Cop Craft is probably better, but it's using some tropes I really dislike. Anyway, BEM has a generally strong presentation but runs into tonal problems with the villain of the week, being a cackling, clownlike creature in an otherwise straight-faced story. Still planning to follow it, though

Dropping Kimetsu (the characters fans kept saying would make the series good in fact ruined the parts I liked), and not following Dumbbell (the conversion to CGDCT not only means there's a lower joke density than was intended, but without the energy it originally had, the jokes don't hit as hard), Re:Stage (still rushed, and now having animation issues), or Genome (did not get better) after all

This gives me a watchlist of Machikado Mazoku, Fire Force, Granbelm, El Melloi, Symphogear, and BEM

Assorted thoughts on the season:

• Genome has noticeable sameface issues... for the guys. The girls are fine. Kinda the opposite of how that normally pans out. Not helped by the rest of their character designs being fairly similar, too (shortish hair, dark clothes, average build). The artist has a clear type
• Granbelm is very, very Fate/. Conceptually, at least. Not tonally. Seven mages in a battle royale using familiars granted to them by the artifact that holds the power they're fighting for. From what we've seen, they even correspond to the standard servant classes fairly well—Mangetsu is a saber, Shingetsu an assassin, Anna a lancer, etc.
• It's interesting how in a season with so much great stuff the standard "comfort food" genres of cute girls doing cute things and power fantasies (currently isekai) had rather poor showings: JoshiMuda and ICM have shitty direction, Dumbbell and Arifureta's scripts were chopped up, and neither Machikado Mazoku nor Maou-sama have much animation budget

Mangetsu seemed about as messed-up as Shirou, too. Seriously, her speech at the end screamed 'untreated depression'.

Oh, no. I wanted to check out Dumbbell because I quite like the manga... :(

Alright... The last summer anime that I checked: Yokai Ningen BEM:

Have to admit the character got a major redesign which is understandable and it was set on night urban city. So the first episode has Bem and co. Has them fighting against water creature Serial Killer who has a passion on killing? Alright. And I guess Summers, the police lady, is the heroine who will become fish out of the water when meeting with Bem and co so yeah...

For those watching Danberu/Dumbbell episode 3 yes Machio did lift 100 kg when he first tried lifting weights. He's just that much of a natural freak of nature even before he started training.

You can tell it is the same universe as Kengan Ashura that way.

Edited by OmegaRadiance on Jul 17th 2019 at 11:49:44 AM

Well, time to start my watching for the season.

Araburu Otome/O Maidens is very clearly not for me. It's pretty, yes, but I was bored six minutes in. Fiddly, involved character melodramas aren't my jam, "pure literature" is for snobs, and "main character gets mocked by high school bitch squad" is something I have very low tolerance for. Hard pass from me, but I'm sure others will like it just fine.

Dr. Stone is not something I have high hopes for, mostly due to people saying it's pretty pure shonen, but we'll see. And now, having seen episode 1, I actually kinda like it! It's like those Primitive Science shows you get on Discovery Channel. I do like how Taiju and Senku aren't just 'shouty man' and 'science man', though they could definitely use some more expanding still. Also can't say I'm a fan of the weird 'glamour girl' design for Yuzuriha's face.

Edited by RedSavant on Jul 20th 2019 at 6:41:31 AM

Taiju falls to the background pretty quickly anyway.

And yeah, O Maidens is definitely not for everyone, but boy is it totally for me.

I was gonna say, there was no way they were keeping Tsukasa around for more than an episode, since he's basically 'what if Taiju understood what Senku was saying'.

I can admit that it's personal preference, but to me, O Maidens is actually surprisingly therapeutic so far, since not only is it entertaining, it's actually helping me deal with my own past problematic experiences with its subject in my former study-years...

The amount of psychological relief I get from processing this past trauma through watching this show is immense...and I'm greatly thankful for that as I had no idea how much I needed that knot to be loosened up.

Will definitely see this through.

Isekai Cheat Magician episode 2:

this episode was surprisingly good and i really liked the relationship between Rin, Taichi and their mentors are well handled

they were also not the first ones to have been summoned that way and their mentors figured it out despite them trying to hide it

Maou-sama, Retry episode 3:

the MC reveals his alt-account, Zero, and charms Killer Queen into falling in love with him, this is no doubt gonna bite him in the ass

Accelerator episode 2:

Accelerator continues to be invincible, to no ones surprise

the Level 6 Shift project has planted it's seeds in this plot

Danmachi Season 2 episode 2:

and the episode starts with the Apollo Familia chasing Bell and Hestia out of their home, forcing them to fight until they're forced to accept the War Game

Granbelm episode 3:

this episode was pretty much about building up the supporting cast's backstory and motivations, i feel like we're in for a dark twist next episode

Might going to do some catch-up because man, I recently skimmed Queen's Blade so yeah...

Given continues to be interesting − and pretty damn relatable for a beginner guitarist like myself. Between this and Carole and Tuesday, it seems like rotoscoping is becoming quite popular for musical anime…

The characters frankly feel a bit archetypal − you got the tsundere, the meek boy, the mellow guy and the tough guy − but they bounce off each other nicely. I wish I was as impressed by Mafuyu's singing voice as I'm supposed to be though. But I guess it's easier to depict the "actually a great singer" trope on paper…

Yeah, been watching given with my wife. So far, so good. I especially like how Uenoyama struggles with teaching guitar as a self-educated musician himself.

Givens pretty good!

Just watched both episodes.

Catching up for the animes that I missed since I spent my week watching Queen's Blade:

• Isekai Cheat Magician Episode 2: Yep, the two protagonist trained each other to become stronger and seems that they mastered great magics especially the girl who already mastered 4 elements and has unique skill going for her. For the guy MC, he got some interesting powers that could make him destroy or rule the entire country but at the same time, he was haunted by a cheerful child voice... Wonder who she is though. And yeah, they won't be leaving in Remia's house anymore because they will go to the city to start their own adventure.
• Maou Sama Retry Episode 3: In this episode, we meet again with the Holy Maiden's sister who has a huge Hair-Trigger Temper and fight against the satanists who tries to summon the demon lord. However, the demon lord managed to defeat him by summoning a powerful kung-fu jock like character named Zero Kirisame and he's badass as shit :3 Although it was revealed to be the demon lord's alternate account though and boy the Holy Maiden's sister does fall in love with him. In the meantime, there are two new characters that will face the demon lord someday: The witch and the Swordsgirl so yeah...

BEM Episode 2: Nice, an episode focuses on one of BEM's teammates, Bela (Whose full name is Annabella and looks like Morigana from Magi). And it's actually about her getting manipulated by someone named Emily who murdered her childhood friend that has the same resemblance with Bela due to her positivity being annoying to Emily and yeah, she also murdered her childhood friend, Dominique, who is a rich woman who did nothing wrong. Oh yeah! Today's opponent is actually a Elvis Presley bowling dude who got contracted by Emily. And so that's why Bela got that form and yeah, Bem stopped Bela killing the enemy and let the police handle it so yeah...

Given episode 3: Drama ahoy!

I know this show is adapted from a manga, but I keep thinking that it feels like a Korean webtoon for some reason…

Edited by Lyendith on Jul 25th 2019 at 10:57:10 AM

Its the artstyle.

I thought the same.

Edited by OmegaRadiance on Jul 25th 2019 at 1:58:04 AM

Machikado Mazoku 3: I have to admit, I'm enjoying this a lot more than I thought I would. Who knew a show about a magical girl training the clumsy demon girl trying to defeat her with some biting class commentary on the side could be so charming? Shamiko remains endearing in how she knows she's worthless, but sometimes puts in the effort to better herself. Momo is both fun and has enough mystery surrounding her to keep me guessing. Why does she have enough money to buy a warehouse? Is she being honest when saying other magical girls are dangerous? Is she just training Shamiko so that she doesn't lose control, or is there something more? Keep it up and I think this could be a sleeper hit.

Isekai Cheat Magician episode 3:

our M Cs investigate food shortages that's causing price hikes, the best part of this anime continues to be the relationship between Taichi and Rin

Maou-sama, Retry episode 4:

we finally meet the scientist that was shown in the OP, she's and underling of Kunai and a total sadist

A Certain Scientific Accelerator episode 3:

we finally get a good look at Esther's necromancy and the main villain actually made a tactical retreat when he realized he was up against Accelerator, more people should do that when they realize that it's him

Danmachi season 2 episode 3:

Hestia and Apollo makes preparations for the War Game while Bell trains to get stronger with Aiz and Tione

Lili is also finally freed from the Soma Familia after Hestia tried to save her

• Isekai Cheat Magician Episode 3: The episode now focuses on the MC and the girl trying to figured who's sabotaging the food supply and the first appearance of insane female knight who is responsible for the food supply sabotage and scaring the travelers so yeah...also, that Ginos guy is suspicious as hell
• Maou Sama Retry Episode 4: First appearance of the sadistic mad scientist who cured Aku from feet injury. Seems she had a cordial relationship with Maou sama so no comment and they now have a house together

Edited by ElfenLiedFan90 on Aug 3rd 2019 at 6:54:57 PM