(It’s been too long since I’ve used a Yotsuba image out of context to start my post off!)
Considering I somehow managed to watch about 13 different series this season and for the most part, a lot of them were good, I figured I’d make a list cause everybody likes lists. The three series that didn’t make the cut were: Sacred Seven, Kamisama no Memochou, and Dantalian no Shoka. Sacred Seven just sucked and everybody knew it, including those who made it, Kamisama no Memochou was one of the most blandest series I’ve seen in awhile, and Dantalian no Shoka was close to making the list, but it was too inconsistent in actually delivering good episodes.
Although some of the good series from this season were just carried on from the Spring, I’m going to deem this summer season a great one! I always used to underestimate summer anime, which is something I’ve got to stop doing because last year we got Shiki and High School of the Dead, while this year we got quite a worthy amount of titles worth checking out too!
Anyway, all hyperlinks you’ll find after the jump lead to my real reviews, cause I’m only going to bother writing just a little bit about each series…Anyway, onwards to the list!
Ever since this series ended, whenever I remind myself of it, I can only think of bad memories. I guess it just has a bad aftertaste quality to it. As my somewhat good impressions slowly dwindles away, I feel I’ve got to give it one last appreciation for the days where I remember I used to like it. At least Shion and Nezumi are still cool.
9. Ao no Exorcist
(I might write a “real” review for this one if I have the time) Okay, well the reason this made the list at all was because it was one of the most entertaining series I’ve seen in a long time. Sure it totally messed up the last five episodes, but before that it was just a good lighthearted shounen school comedy. It probably could have been a more successful execution from the source material if they had just waited another year for the manga to develop its story more, but of course that wasn’t going to happen. Anyway, there’s still a movie on the way and I’m excited for that because no matter what this anime throws at me, at least I know its going to be a fun time.
8. Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu Ni!
This sequel sorta seemed ignored by the blogs I was reading, but I’ll stand by it because I most definitely thoroughly enjoyed it. It is an anime comedy that is actually funny. I didn’t love the last three episodes in contrast to the rest of the season, but episodes like two, three, and eight were some of the best of the whole series and had me laughing out loud the whole time. I don’t care much for the actual “battles” in this series and this season decided to focus less on that idea, so that was a plus for me. This is a must see for comedy fans!
7. Ikoku Meiro no Croisée
I didn’t fall in love with this series like some people, but I still really liked it for its art and characters. It definitely came as a surprise how good it managed to be. Some of my favourite parts actually happened to be the ones that gave back story about Claude. I don’t think I can say so much more besides that this is a really peaceful, cute, and happy anime that would be hard to hate.
So I already wrote a super long review for this anime giving all the reasons why this series doesn’t take any true top spot. It was intriguing and different from the anime we usually get, but its execution of its story was not always perfect.
The true smash hit of the season! Marvel and even Stan Lee have both tried to create anime that gives us a superhero flare and failed. Somehow Tiger & Bunny gave a go at what they have been trying and succeeded. This is definitely a great action pact series with awesome animation. Still “patiently” waiting for season two to finally get greenlit!
4. Usagi Drop
My thoughts on the first episode weren’t nearly as full of praise as everyone else. It just seemed like it was going to be a slice of life where a cute girl did cute things. Sure that did end up being part of it, but it also had a lot of themes about parenting, mostly focusing on single parents. At times I almost felt like I was trying to not love this series just because of how senselessly people seemed to craze over it (cause sometimes I like to be snobby like that), but I couldn’t do it. I had to give in. This is a truly fantastic series. Although Rin and Daikichi were very interesting, I much preferred the episodes that made a shift onto Kouki and his mother Yukari. They were the most realistic characters in this series from Yukari’s hardships to Kouki’s true and naive childlike nature.
So some people have already started asking why I regard this series so highly and I’ll try and explain it better here. It’s more of a personal view towards the series, but the Kissuiso, which is where most of the series’ setting is seems like such a fantastical place to me. I used to be that kind of kid that always liked to live through my imagination, such as how I used to love pretending to be Pikachu or a cardcaptor. I guess Hanasaku is the older version of that idea for my imagination that I would love to live through. I guess it goes to show the importance of setting, which is as you could expect my favourite aspect of this series. Take this awesome place and combine it with characters I came to even admire, I ended up with a series that I wish I could live in. So far, unlike with No. 6, I remind myself of this series and I feel happy. Its just that type of series. So ya, just read my actual review for something that actually makes sense.
2. Mawaru Penguindrum
The only reason why this doesn’t make it at number one is because the actual number one spot went to a series that I felt was more conclusive in this summer season, but otherwise they both border a line of near perfection. I kid you not. Although Penguindrum is popular around the internet, I still met someone recently who said they watched the first episode, didn’t care for it, and thought it was going to about incest. I totally spazzed and told her she needed to see it and how she was so wrong for thinking in any way poorly of this series. I definitely recommend you use this tactic to anyone who either disses or just doesn’t watch this series as well. Why? Cause Penguindrum is worth it. Anyway, this series is truly turning out to be one of my favourite things ever. Its so unique and detailed, you won’t find something like it anywhere. It always leaves me on the edge of my seat and although a lot of questions have been introduced, this series will pull it off. Penguindrum has had perfect pacing so far and even though some of the twists thrown at us are so unbelievably crazy, I can tell this series knows what its doing. I cannot praise it enough.
Although I’m totally excited for the upcoming season of Natsume, I have a feeling it won’t measure up to the greatness of this third one. I’ve been talking about how great this series was since its release and with every new installment it has yet to disappoint. From start to finish it just blew me away. The final episode of the season was pretty much perfect. It captured everything that Natsume Yuujinchou is and presented it beautifully within those 20 minutes. I can’t help but admit I got a bit emotional because it really felt like a closing to the series. Of course it wasn’t actually a finale episode, but it would have made for a great one!
