#{{ plot twist -- reg is fantastic with children }}

[lia-nikiforov]

Summer 2017 Anime: Final Impressions

My excuse for this being so late is that I was waiting for The Reflection to end, but also school is kicking my ass and depriving me of my will to live lol. The summer was a mysterious season, with shows I was very hyped about turning out to be a disappointment, whereas shows I expected to be utter trash ended being quite entertaining, and even a sequel I thought was bullet proof self-destructed in the end. So let’s get down to business to defeat the huns (I just watched Mulan yesterday, I can’t help myself I love that movie too much, I swear I won’t do it again... too soon)

1. Boku no Hero Academia 2: Season one of HeroAca was an entertaining and very well executed example of why the Shonen Jump formula still works. Season two is absolutely fantastic in every possible way.  The pacing was good, the animation was excellent (praiseth be BONES) and this second part of the story did an outstanding job in fleshing out its extended ensemble cast, something many shonen manga fail to do. It also has the balls to question its own idealized hero society and even bring in some complex topics regarding radicalization. It’s just an overall really good show with an extremely lovable cast, and I can’t wait for season 3. Easily takes the gold for this season.

2. Fate/Apocrypha: I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Fate might be my favorite new show this season. It’s not without its deficiencies –Jeanne pretty much does nothing but run around and be Shocked and Confused, Palurdo-kun is a boring potato, we don’t really feel like we know any of the characters- but it’s definitely better written and less pretentious than UBW and although the characters are shallowly written, they’re pretty likable and share interesting dynamics. Heck, in the latest episode (I wrote this like two weeks ago oops) I even felt bad for Vlad Tepes of all people. Also Astolfo and Mordred are too excellent to exist.

3. Made in Abyss: This one was a lot of folks’ fave anime of the season, and it is indeed a very unique and marvelous production in many different senses. It has an original main idea, with imaginative creatures and landscapes, lovable characters with interesting dynamics and very well placed twists and turns to keep the audience engaged. It meanders quite a bit in the middle, and I couldn’t help wonder what purpose exactly Ozen’s training served when Reg and Riko were proved to be hugely unprepared to face the deeper layers of the Abyss, but the final few chapters were superb in every way. I do however have to take points off it because of how it casually throws around the idea of extreme physical punishment for children and the mangaka’s gross pedo omorashi fetish. I’ve heard it was severely toned down for the anime and it was still uncomfortable to watch, I distinctly remember at least three different scenes about Riko peeing herself. It was unfortunately recurring and notorious enough to damage my impression of the show permanently, but it’s still a highlight in an otherwise dry season.

4. Kakegurui: I didn’t have a lot of expectations for this show, but it turned out to be pretty neat trashy entertainment. The whole ahegao aesthetic wasn’t much my thing, but other than that it was a lot of fun, Yumeko was a unique and interesting protagonist, and her wildcard personality made the results of the bets not necessarily predictable. I’ll say the final episode, which was an anime original, was quite a disappointment because it basically achieved nothing in terms of plot or character development –except maybe for Suzui. You could tell they rushed through some plot elements and struggled with the pacing overall, and I’d say the episode with the girl with the gun fetish was kind of a waste, not because of the icky concept itself, but because the bet was pretty boring and kind of achieved nothing. Otherwise it was pretty fun and Sayokan’s opening was A+++

5. Katsugeki Touken Ranbu: Well I actually finished this one, as opposed to Hanamaru, so that’s already a small victory. It still wasn’t the show I wanted it to be and specially the faceless, aimless quality of the villains makes it pretty much impossible to get invested in the plot, but I really liked the direction they took in the last few episodes. Episodes 9 and 10 were specially brilliant. I think Horikawa’s defection could’ve been handled in a much more interesting way, but of course since all of the characters are meant to be sold as merchandise, there were things they weren’t ever gonna do, so I’ll take what I can get. Hopefully other Tourabu projects will follow along the same vein and explore the different swords in regards to their relationships with their former masters, hopefully adding more shades of gray to those dynamics. east three 

6. Shoukoku no Altair: It had a slow start, but the show really picked up steam with the conflict over the Sultanlus and Mahmut orchestrating a coup. I still think the show loses potential by making the German Empire so unequivocally evil; a more daring writer would’ve made out a more nuanced conflict in which Torqye’s obsession with controlling the four sultanlus could be as manipulative and imperialistic as the Empire’s own ambitions. Still, it was a unique portrayal of a political conflict that was resolved quite creatively and in a very exciting and satisfying manner in spite of there not being a lot of action. I was definitely hyped seeing the four new sultans gathered together at the end before departing to their respective lands.

7. Shingeki no Bahamut: Virgin Soul: I find myself quite conflicted about what to do with Virgin Soul. I loved most of the show. It had some hiccups here and there, but overall, it had been one of my favorite series of the season –and potentially the year- Until the last three episodes. Since Mugaro’s murder, the series took a nosedive and it just never recovered. Though it might be more accurate to say that the problems the writing had been dragging along became unavoidable and, predictably, they were incapable of resolving them properly. Especially regarding Charioce. There almost seems to be a disconnect between the first and second halves, because the second half completely sweeps under the rug most of Charioce’s evil deeds. His motivations were awfully predictable and were insufficient to explain all the tyrannical shit he did in the first half. In light of how everything ended, Jean and Nina’s trip to the land of the gods turned out to be completely inconsequential. Even Mugaro’s death was completely meaningless. I assume it was meant to be a catalyst to send the Gods and Demons to fight the Humans, but then that confrontation didn’t come to real fruition because of the last minute Bahamut plot. And what was the biggest slap to us all was the final reveal that “Bahamut isn’t dead after all”. So the status quo is completely restored and the entire show was pointless. It’s frustrating because I can almost touch the threads of a great story –Nina and Charioce’s final dance would’ve been beautiful if they had earned it-, but in the end it’s reduced to a disappointing pile of missed potential.

8. Isekai Shokudo: Definitely meandered for at least one third (maybe even half) of its run, overdoing it with the over glorification of the most boring foods imaginable (no matter how much glossy effects and sparkles you put on it, there is no way to make natto on rice look luxurious and appetizing), but it was still a fairly pleasant show to watch, and the final episode had a few reveals that neatly wrapped up a few “plot points”, particularly the reveal of the chef’s ancestry and how that connects to the otherworldly visitants. I think it could’ve been a lot better, but I’m also not horrified by what it ended up being, which I consider a victory this season (looks at my top 3 from the pre-season anticipation post and weeps)

9. The Reflection: What a weird show. I have very mixed but not very strong feelings about it. The first episode was really bad, but it developed a few interesting ideas along the way. I think the crux of it though, was that it had more potential than the writers could develop in 12 episodes. My biggest disappointment is that Stan Lee wasn’t the final villain and in fact, his character didn’t really do a lot. Though I guess that could be applied to most of the characters, specially the villains. The final confrontation reeked of X-Men ripoff. Incidentally, I-Guy’s story and how that came to a climax at the finale was probably the strongest part of the show. I think it’s worth a watch, if only for how weird it is, even if it is ultimately a shrug overall. The ending –as in, the literal final scene- was terrible though. They should know this is never getting a sequel unless Stan Lee funds it with his own pocket money, so that ending makes noooo sense.

10. Centaur no Nayami: What a weird show. Why do we have so many weird shows this season. I was unsure about whether to put this one above or underneath The Reflection, Although in overall enjoyment, I liked this one more I gave it minus points because of all the icky fetishy stuff (is it too late to make another Miyazaki joke?).  Also I needed more snake-girl centric episodes. Snake girl was too good, she was the best girl of the season and I will fight you about it. Idek what to say about this because it was so weird, which was good at times, and bad very bad at other times. Definitely not what I expected.

11. Re:Creators: I’ve already kind of talked passingly about this show’s multitude of problems so I won’t go too deep into it here. I think the show itself kind of plays itself with this final dialogue. Supposedly, director Ei Aoki said this was supposed to symbolize “how sometimes even if you try your hardest you still fail”, but that doesn’t excuse 20 episodes of floundering around with characters that got stunted development arcs, often resolved with the power of convenience, and that served no real purpose to the plot. Except for Magane who was a plot convenience walking, to the point she goes off scott free after literally murdering half a dozen people, but I guess it’s fine because she helped Sota to solve his manpain in the end. It really is a shame because the concept itself was fascinating, but the execution made it just a giant masturbatory “aren’t we anime makers the greatest” fest it just didn’t manage to be as cool as it believed itself to be.

12. Hitorijime my Hero: I guess it wasn’t worse than Super Lovers and that’s about the best kind of praise I can offer this show.  Even if you look past the extremely questionable aspect of both relationships (idek which is worse, the teacher that wants to fuck his student or the guy that blackmails the other guy to have sex with him. At least neither is worse than the guy that grooms his own little brother?????) the show just isn’t good. It treads familiar melodrama plot points, but they’re executed so mechanically they fail to make any impact. What little drama there is, it’s terribly forced, which in tail causes the resolutions to be flat and anticlimactic. The production values are also butt, most of the time the characters look like they have balloon heads. Will we ever get the adaptation of an actually good BL manga that we deserve? Will I die before there is a Honto Yajuu anime?

13.  Welcome to the Ballroom: Sigh, what is left to be said about Welcome to the Ballroom? I think calling it the biggest disappointment of the season would be an understatement. Although the introduction of Chinatsu has made the gender dynamics slightly more tolerable, it’s still too little to truly throw a wrench in a show that has systematically treated every woman in its cast like second-class citizens. I’ll keep watching the second half, and at least there seems to be an intent to occasionally use actual dance music –not that the sound editing does anything to favor that music, and the latest episode had more silence than music, but it’s a step-. I’d love it if Chinatsu and Tatara turned into a revolutionary, unique pair, with the woman playing the role of the leader. Now that would be the fix this show needs. Alas, I’m pretty sure that’s not going to happen, and that their relationship arc will be about Tatara learning to be a proper leader and Chinatsu a proper follower, so teasing us with Chinatsu’s leading proficiencies seems borderline cruel. We get it show, you hate women. Can you at least show me any actual animated dancing before the 24 episodes are over?

14. Vatican Miracle Examiner: This show is such a bizarre, surreal watch because it makes not a single ounce of sense whilst taking itself insanely seriously. It’s one of the many weird, confusing shows this season, but it’s probably the one that’s less self-aware. Although Ballroom is way more unpleasant and a way bigger disappointment, at least it has a coherent story (a terrible one, but coherent) and an attempt at good production values. Vatican Miracle Examiner doesn’t have any of those. But hey, it has a serial killer Santa Claus, rainbow cocaine Jesus and criogenized Adolf Hitler sperm, so who’s the real winner here?

I think I’ve checked out all the shows I intended to check out for the fall season but there are a few that I’m still undecided about, so I’ll give them a week or so beore I make my somewhat definitive watchlist