Summer 2015 – Season Preview

For anime characters, summer means vacation, sun, the beach, bikinis, shaved ice, matsuri, fireworks, catching bugs, and doing all your homework on the last day before it’s due. For me, summer means another season of anime, and it’s time for me to preview all the new and exciting anime that will air over the next three months. What anime am I looking forward to the most this summer? Let’s check out this Summer 2015 anime season together!! (except not because I already reviewed and wrote everything by now. Sorry!)

As always, the order of anime listed below is neither chronological nor alphabetic but are categorized into sequels and new shows, and then ranked in order of my personal anticipation and how likely I believe I will watch that anime this season. Every anime is evaluated and placed into one of five tiers ordered: Will watch, Likely watch, Maybe watch, Doubtful but it gets a shot, and No dice. Within each tier, the anime are listed alphabetically. Dates are not included because who knows when and where these shows will be subbed and available to watch.

 

Summer 2015 will be lighter than the last few seasons in terms of the quantity of its sequels, but will rival them in terms of quality. Returning this Summer are: Aquarion Logos, Dragon Ball Super, Durarara!!x2 Ten, Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya 2wei Herz!, Gatchaman Crowds Insight, Hetalia: The World Twinkle, Junjou Romantica 3, Miss Monochrome: The Animation 2, Non Non Biyori Repeat, Senki Zesshou Symphogear GX, Teekyuu S5, The iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls 2nd Season, To LOVE-Ru Darkness 2nd, Wooser no Sono Higurashi: Mugen-hen, and Working!!!. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), I haven’t watched all of the originals to these anime, so I will skip over the ones I know nothing about. Given that each of these sequels or continuations already have material out, I recommend you check those out instead of having me try to guess on them and guess how these sequels will turn out. Nonetheless, I will provide my thoughts and opinions on the anime returning this season that I plan to watch. Here’s how I’m looking forward to Summer 2015:

 

Durarara!!x2 Ten

Opinion: Durarara!! is one of my favorite anime franchises of all-time, and Durarara!!x2 Shou reacquainted me with my love earlier this year. I am thrilled to see it continue with this fourth cour (and with a fifth one planed for Winter 2016), so there is no doubt in my mind that I will continue with Durarara!!x2 Ten. The questions I have, though, pertain to the questionable production that we saw in Shou from the new studio, Studio Shuka. The PV for Ten seems to have better art and animation, so that is encouraging, but it’ll take me a few episodes to convince me that we’ve moved on from stuff like this.

Plans for this show: Will watch

 

Gatchaman Crowds Insight

Opinion: I liked Gatchaman Crowds, but didn’t love it. I felt the original had a few major flaws, especially in the development of Hajime’s character, and wished that a second season would come and address these issues, especially since a few felt neglected due to time constrains. I figured that if Gatchaman Crowds had more time to develop its characters and resolve these issues that I would enjoy the series more and that a second season was all that was standing in the way from me and myself enjoying this anime. Well, here we are, just footsteps from the second season of Gatchaman Crowds, and I can’t wait to see what this season has planned. I’m excited to see that the anime is back again, and I am hoping this season will resolve the issues I have with this series. If not, at least I was still able to enjoy the first season, though I want to enjoy season 2 more than season 1.

Plans for this show: Will watch

 

Miss Monochrome: The Animation 2

Opinion: Miss Monochrome is a dumb, fun anime, the kind of brainless anime that I enjoy watching when I want a laugh or two. It isn’t my favorite of the short anime, but it does have some memorable moments and decent comedy, so I’ll be watching it again this summer.

Plans for this show: Will watch

 

Non Non Biyori Repeat

Opinion: Comedy is my favorite genre of anime and one of my favorite settings is rural Japan. These are two significant reasons why I am delighted to see Non Non Biyori return this season, especially since that means more scenic backgrounds of the village, the mountains, and the seasons in Wherever, Japan. I will admit that I am a bit concerned about the content of this second season, since many slifes and comedies often drop in terms of quality and humor with the second season. I’m not sure if it’s because the originals use the best material from the manga or original source, thereby leaving the future seasons with lesser material, or if I grow tired of the setting and characters after about 15 or 20 episodes. Still, I thoroughly enjoyed the original Non Non Biyori and am excited to continue it for Summer 2015.

Plans for this show: Will watch

 

Teekyuu S5

Opinion: Do I need to say anything more than that I love Teekyuu? I will admit that the comedy of season four was probably the lowest of the four seasons to date, but the anime still made me laugh and smile just about every week. I am hoping that S5 can outrank S4, but even if it’s at the same level, I know I’ll still enjoy this delightfully absurd and ridiculous anime.

Plans for this show: Will watch

 

Working!!!

Opinion: Working!! is one of my favorite comedy franchises, so, like everything else in this list, I am elated to see it return. However, of the six sequels that I’ll be watching this season, I am looking forward to Working!!! the most. Although it doesn’t rank as highly as Durarara!!, it’s been so long since I last enjoyed an episode of Working!!. And unlike most comedies, I actually felt that Working!! got stronger as it went on, evidenced by my enjoyment of S2 more than S1. I hope the pattern continues because I feel like the characters and comedy in Working!! can continue to grow and that this anime franchise can get better with more time and more episodes.

Plans for this show: Will watch

 

The following two sections of the preview contains a list of all the new, original anime that will debut during the Summer 2015 anime season, with the first section on the anime I am planning on screening and the latter section the anime I have already rejected. Summer 2015 doesn’t appear to be very remarkable right now, at least in terms of original anime, but there are quite a few anime to try this summer to see if they stick. I am pleased with the number of comedies or comical anime this season, so I figure I’ll enjoy the season regardless, but there doesn’t seem to be a strong contender for serious anime. If you want to borrow my terminology from 2011 (please don’t read my posts from back then), Summer 2015 looks to be good for Brain Off anime but not Brain On anime. Then again, once I get around to watching these anime, then I’ll see how I enjoy the season overall, but it looks to be a mindless season of anime for me… and that’s not necessarily a bad thing at this point. The anime I’ll be watching to start this season are:

 

Chaos Dragon: Sekiryuu Senyaku

Opinion: So Gen Urobuchi (Puella Magi Madoka Magica), Kinoko Nasu (Fate/stay Night), Ryougo Narita (Durarara!!) and a few others created characters for a tabletop RPG, Red Dragon, which was developed into a 7 volume LN series, Red Dragon, and is now being developed into an anime, Chaos Dragon. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t impressed with the list of names associated with project, but I will admit I am not too thrilled with the prospects of this anime. While there is hype surrounding this project, the big names aren’t working directly on it, and I am weary about it considering its story and how it’ll be developed in this anime. I do enjoy the fact that each of the character creators helped write the LN series, but how that work translates to the anime remains to be seen. The characterization and the fantasy setting should be positive points for this anime, and they should be enough for me to enjoy it, but I am still uncertain about the plot and how it’ll incorporate everything when there are only 12 episodes to work with. At least the art and animation look better in this PV, so it looks to be a pretty solid anime all around.

Plans for this show: Maybe watch

 

Gangsta.

Opinion: Well, this anime certainly feels original: a couple of “Handymen” take on oddjobs from the mafia and the police in this corrupted city to make a living. I can get behind this edgy, gritty semi-realistic setting, especially if it’s the setting the drives the story and the characters moving forward. The plot is a bit mysterious at this point, revolving around the two main characters getting caught up in a whirlwind of events between the mafia and police, so I am curious to see what they have planned. The anime will need strong characterization for me to enjoy it overall, and it seems to have an interesting cast based on the PV alone. I am intrigued by Gangsta more than most other anime this season based on its darker setting, but it will still need to have a strong cast and story for me to favor it over the rest.

Plans for this show: Maybe watch

 

God Eater

Opinion: God Eater would probably be in a tier below this one if it weren’t Ufotable animating this, so I might be overinflating the value of God Eater based on studio name and PV alone. I mean, I don’t see much of the appeal in the story, the characters or the setting at this point, and given that this is adapted from a game, I can’t be too sure of how well the translation between media will be. Nonetheless, I am thoroughly impressed with the art and animation in this anime, and given that it’ll be heavy in action for all the battles, I’m sure this will be a dazzling anime to watch. How dazzling will it be for my brain though? I guess I’ll find out…

Plans for this show: Maybe watch

 

Joukamachi no Dandelion

Opinion: The story of Dandelion is that nine siblings, each with their own special super powers, are being watched by everyone in the country for the purposes of electing a new leader. Dandelion has the kind of crazy synopsis that I like for anime like these, that are heavy in the comedy and slice-of-life relams. Of course, the actual content will dictate whether I like it or not, but at least the setting and characters are in good positions for some humorous content and some interesting drama. That, and I also like it when characters have their own unique superpowers too, even if it’s not a fighting or action anime. The art and animation looks fairly mediocre, but as long as I’m laughing and enjoying the anime, I’ll be fine with what the PV shows us for Dandelion.

Plans for this show: Maybe watch

 

Ranpo Kidan: Game of Laplace

Opinion: There aren’t enough mystery anime, so I welcome Ranpo Kidan: Game of Laplace with open arms this summer. And considering that the author, Edogawa Ranpo, was a leader in developing Japanese mystery fiction in pre-World War II Japan and in the post-war era, I am intrigued to see how this anime differs from other mystery anime. The author is also heavily inspired by Edgar Allen Poe (and how he derived his pen name, Edogawa Ranpo – just try saying both names together), which is sure lend some distinctiveness to this anime. But, as with any anime, it always depends on how well it is adapted from the source material and how well it matches or satisfies my interests and desires. Although I don’t know much about Ranpo Kidan at this time, I am interested in this more than most of the other anime this season based on how different it feels than everything else, especially with its atypical cast shown in the PV.

Plans for this show: Maybe watch

 

Sore ga Seiyuu!

Opinion: Sore ga Seiyuu! is going to feature anime industry-centric humor on the lives and jobs of three rookie voice actresses. And while the anime feels pretty shallow in terms of its story and characters and setting, it’s a comedy anime that’s main purpose is to make me laugh and smile. If it can do that, it’s a keeper. Of the various original comedy anime this season, I feel stronger with Sore ga Seiyuu! than the others based on its style, animation, and focus. Sure, focusing on the seiyuu industry seems rather narrow, but at least it has a theme for which to base its humor from. I think it’ll provide more original content than the standard school-centric or slice-of-life-centric comedies that we usually see. Of course, a comedy anime must be funny for me to keep, so it might take an episode or two before I know whether I’m keeping Sore ga Seiyuu! or not.

Plans for this show: Maybe watch

 

Akagami no Shirayuki-hime (Snow White with Red Hair)

Opinion: I tend to enjoy only a certain, specific style of shoujo romance anime, so I’m not sure if I’ll enjoy the romance in Akagami no Shirayuki-shima. The PV doesn’t leave much of a lasting impression for me, neither through its cast of characters or its art style. I do enjoy fantasy settings in anime, but it doesn’t look too detailed and just a backdrop for which to have a generic romance between one girl and n guys. And beyond the romance, I’m not sure what else there’ll be in the anime since it doesn’t seem to be too dramatic or comical or… anything really. Then again, I don’t know much about the anime beyond the PV, so it’s worth giving it a shot at this point, especially since I’m curious how the anime will handle Shirayuki being a pharmacist.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

 

Bikini Warriors

Opinion: Please don’t judge me. Instead, judge my horrific taste in shitty anime and my morbid curiosity to how bad good this anime will be. I’m not expecting much, but I’m curious how they plan to fill out an anime when the whole point of the series is boobs.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

 

Charlotte

Opinion: So only a select few school-age kids develop super powers in an otherwise unremarkable typical Japanese high school setting. The synopsis of Charlotte certainly is lacking in originality, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it won’t be worth watching. It just means I can’t get myself excited for it when it sounds like a dozen other anime I’ve watched before. Charlotte is going to need a strong plot or strong characterization for me to get beyond its bland setting, so I figure an episode or two will give me enough material to decide whether to keep it or not.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

 

Classroom Crisis

Opinion: I am intrigued by the setting of Classroom Crisis, where the characters are residing on Mars and working on developing technologies to reach the stars, but I feel this anime will be more school-life focused than sci-fi focused. It doesn’t mean the two genres can’t be properly merged or managed, but the PV seemed to be more school than engineering or being a test pilot. Still, those elements were on display in the PV, so there’s some hope with this. Additionally, this is an original anime, and that’s usually a positive when jumping into the unknown like this.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

 

Gakkou Gurashi

Opinion: The PV alone doesn’t do the anime justice, making Gakkou Gurashi look like nothing more than a sugary, slice-of-life anime about 4 cute girls at school. Well, that may be their plan considering that the anime is about these 4 girls living at school after surviving a zombie attack. The anime is billed as both a slice-of-life and horror anime. …yeah. Well, I’ll admit that I am intrigued by how it’ll manage to balance these two polar opposites, and after spying on a few pages of the manga, I must admit I am really interested to see how this anime performs. That being said, I have my reservations about this anime based on how well the two genres work with each other. I’ll probably end up keeping this based on the uniqueness of its genres, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll end up loving it like I do with the others that I keep.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

 

Gate: Jietai Kanochi Nite, Kaku Tatakaeri

Opinion: So yeah, magical gate appears in Ginza, fantasy monsters attack Japan, JSDF kicks their ass, saves fantasy world from monsters, thinly-veiled right-wing political Japanese messages throughout, etc. etc. Yeah, Gate might be fun depending on how well it unites the military and fantasy elements together, since it seems like it might be an interesting setting for an anime. That being said, I worry about the plot and I dread that the synopsis refers to the main character as an otaku. I think I might like half of Gate and I might hate half of Gate based on what I know from the series now, so it’ll take an episode or two to see which side wins out and whether I watch this anime or not.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

 

Himouto! Umaru-chan

Opinion: It’s a comedy… a strange-looking comedy, but a comedy nonetheless. If it can make me laugh, sure, why not, but I’m not expecting much from this since it seems rather simple and cartoony from the PV alone.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

 

Jitsu wa Watashi wa

Opinion: So a romantic comedy about a normal Japanese highschool guy who just so happens to have a crush on a girl… who turns out to be a vampire!! Wow, has that ever happened before in an anime!? Well, unfortunately yes, about a hundred times already. I don’t find myself excited for Jitsu wa Watashi wa, but it might be funny and it might be worth watching since I’ve enjoyed many vampire rom-com anime before. An episode should be enough to decide whether this is worth continuing or not.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

 

Okusama ga Seito Kaichou!

Opinion: An ecchi romantic comedy about the student body president moving in with the protagonist and claiming to be his wife. Yeah, it sounds awful, but I’m willing to give it an episode to see how the humor plays out and if I can actually enjoy this setting. However, ecchi comedies like this are usually pretty dreadful.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

 

Overlord

Opinion: There sure have been a lot of these kids-stuck-in-MMOs anime lately, but this one seems a bit different in that the main character of this anime turns into the “villain” and tries to take over the world. The story is a bit special in that regard, but I can’t say the same for the setting or characters at this point, which probably will be fairly standard for these MMO-setting anime. I’ll give it an episode or two to prove me wrong, but otherwise, it looks like one I’ll probably pass this summer.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

 

Rokka no Yuusha

Opinion: The synopsis of this anime is the main reason why I want to try Rokka no Yuusha, that there were six heroes destined to save the world but there are seven who proclaim to be a hero… meaning one might be an enemy. It has enough of a rareness in its story that I am interested to see how it plays out, and although there are a ton of fantasy anime out this season, this one seems to have one of the richer settings and better art styles. That being said, I still am a bit cautious with anime of this caliber since it’ll be a character-driven anime and it needs to have strong, interesting characters for me to enjoy it. It deserves a few episodes at this point, to see how everything unfolds.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

 

Suzakinishi

Opinion: Suzakinishi might have the loliest character designs that I can remember. Again, a comedy, so I’ll give it an episode to see if it can entertainment, but seriously… those character designs. I could understand if it were chibi all the time like Kill Me Baby, but no, Suzakinishi looks super awkward most of the time.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

 

Ushio and Tora

Opinion: The art and animation in the PV certainly catches my eye, and it certainly seems encouraging for the action scenes that this anime promises, but I wonder how the story and the characters will be in Ushio and Tora. For one, it seems pretty shounen in terms of its appeal, with a kid needing to use a demon to fight back the evil bug spirits that are attacking his city. It… might be good, but it might be a story and characters that I just don’t care for, and that often happens with shounen anime. We’ll see after an episode or two if this is my kind of shounen anime or not.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

 

Wakako-zake

Opinion: The anime is 3-minute episodes about a yukkuri lady getting drunk off sake at bars every night. Yeah, this seems pretty manageable, but it depends on its content and style just like every other anime. Still, three minute episodes about a girl getting drunk seems to be pretty fun. I don’t know how well I’ll enjoy it, but as long as it’s amusing, I can get behind this anime.

Plans for this show: Doubtful but it gets a shot

 

The first two sections confirm the lists of anime that I am planning on watching based on my knowledge and understanding of the franchises. All that remains in this season preview are the anime that I have already decided against. The reason why these anime are slotted here is because they either appear to already be flawed, boring, or simply outside my demographic. While these anime may in fact be watchable to some, they do not appear watchable for me. I doubt I’ll examine these anime any more than the PV linked in their sections. However, there’s always a chance for me to pick one or two up every season, so not all hope is lost for these shows if you see one of your favorites down here. However, for most of them, there’s already zero chance I’ll even think about them after writing my opinions for each.

 

Aoharu x Kikanjuu (Aoharu x Machine Gun)

Opinion: So a crossdressing girl gets tricked into playing survival games with a con artist and ero-manga artist. Even if it’s a comedy and action anime, the style doesn’t seem to fit with what I like. Even though I’m not planning to watch it, I am curious to hear how this turns out.

Plans for this show: No dice

 

Danchigai

Opinion: Some normal Japanese highschool guy lives with four imoutos and yup, I’m done.

Plans for this show: No dice

 

Kusen Madoushi Kouhousei no Kyoukan

Opinion: World being destroyed by monsters/aliens/demons? Protag enrolled at a magical highschool where he’s the strongest? A half-dozen girls who also fight and are all apart of his harem? This might be the most derivative LN adaptation I’ve seen yet. I honestly can’t find anything original about this anime that hasn’t been done by another LN adaptation before.

Plans for this show: No dice

 

Makura no Danshi

Opinion: It’s an anime about different dakimakura talking to you before going to sleep? Am I reading this correctly?

Plans for this show: No dice

 

Million Doll

Opinion: Something something idol-loving hikikomori something something magic powers something something dropped.

Plans for this show: No dice

 

Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou

Opinion: I don’t watch ecchi harem comedies when the girls are hot, so why would I watch it when they’re not?

Plans for this show: No dice

 

Prison School

Opinion: This looks awful, even for an anime.

Plans for this show: No dice

 

Shimoneta to Iu Gainen ga Sonzai Shinai Taikutsu na Sekai (Shimoseka) (A Boring World Where the Concept of Dirty Jokes Doesn’t Exist)

Opinion: I will enjoy not watching this anime.

Plans for this show: No dice

 

Venus Project

Opinion: Yes, I know that the PV is for the mobile game, but it’s an anime about idols battling each other and half the series will be live-action. I’ll pass.

Plans for this show: No dice

 

Wakaba Girl

Opinion: Cute, wacky girls doing cute things at a school. Maybe if people think it’s funny or like it, then maybe…

Plans for this show: No dice

 

With that said, there is nothing left to preview for the Summer 2015 anime season. The next step will be to watch and assess each of the new anime coming out, which should be happening shortly. I’ll be providing my reviews and opinions for most of these anime in my First Impressions posts once each these shows debut. Until that time, I hope everyone enjoys the start of a new anime season!