I skipped a whole year – from last year’s Spring season to this year’s Summer. I have no honest excuse… Other than for over 7 months around June or so, what kept me company was a MMORPG. But yeah, other than that, nothing really… But hey, here we are again… I’ve finished some Spring season anime (this year, I mean) though – that’s over 100 episodes from different titles. How I’m able to finish those, I don’t even know when I can’t even finish a whole season of a single anime. Ψ(￣∀￣)Ψケケケ
But anyways, here’s my list for this season – let’s hope I don’t overwatch so many like last time. ﾊｧ━(-д-；)━ｧ
Fair warning that some of these titles may be dropped after watching an episode (or 2); this list is just a list of titles I’m thinking of “checking out” – which does not necessarily mean I’m going to be sticking with ’til the end – unless they’re marked as important. ｼｮﾎﾞ━(´･ω･`)━ﾝ
- Bakumatsu Rock ― Unfinished
- Free! Eternal Summer ― COMPLETED
- Glasslip ― COMPLETED
- Tokyo Ghoul ― COMPLETED
- Rail Wars! ― DROPPED
- Sailor Moon Crystal ― COMPLETED
- Shounen Hollywood ― DROPPED
- Sword Art Online II ― on hold
- Barakamon ― COMPLETED » review
- Sabagebu! ― on hold
- Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun ― COMPLETED
- Ao Haru Ride ― COMPLETED » review
- Love Stage!! ― oh hold
- Zankyou no Terror ― COMPLETED
- Persona 4 Golden ― Haven’t started
- Kuroshitsuji: Book of Circus ― COMPLETED
–
☆✩Bakumatsu Rock
»Studio DEEN
Director: Kawasaki Itsurou (Legend of the Legendary Heroes, Sengoku Basara)
Cast: Taniyama Kishou, Suzuki Tatsuhisa, Morikubo Shoutarou, Morikawa Toshiyuki, Ono Kenshou
Genre: Music
Synopsis:
❝ In the Bakumatsu era, at the end of the shoguns’ rule over Japan in the middle of the 19th century: the Tokugawa shogunate uses the brainwashing Heaven’s Songs by the top idols in Shinsengumi to subjugate the country and its people. In this Japan, writing or singing any songs besides the Heaven’s Songs is a capital offence. Sakamoto Ryouma and the other rockers rise up and change the world with rock ‘n’ roll for freedom and justice. ❞ (source: ANN)
★✭Free! Eternal Summer
»Kyoto Animation
Director: Utsumi Hiroko (Free!, Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai.)
Cast: Shimazaki Nobunaga, Suzuki Tatsuhisa, Miyano Mamoru, Yonaga Tsubasa, Hirakawa Daisuke, Watanabe Akeno, Tsuda Kenjirou
Genre: Sports, Comedy
Synopsis:
❝This summer, probably will be an eternity.❞
★✭Glasslip
»P.A.Works
Director: Nishimura Junji (Nurarihyon no Mago, Samurai Deeper Kyou)
Cast: Fukagawa Seria, Ohsaka Ryouta, Hayami Saori, Taneda Risa, Yamashita Daiki, Touyama Nao, Kayano Ai
Genre: Slice of Life, Romance
Synopsis:
❝Tōko Fukami’s family runs a glass-working business in a small seaside town. She hangs out with her four best friends at a cafe called “Kazemichi.” During the summer break of their senior year in high school, they meet a transfer student named Kakeru Okikura, who claims that a voice from the future talks to him, and that it’s led him to Tōko. His arrival sets off a series of events that will make their final summer together one full of hope and heartache.❞ (source: ANN)
★✭Tokyo Ghoul
»Studio Pierrot
Director: Morita Shuuhei (Kakurenbo, Koi Sento)
Cast: Hanae Natsuki, Amamiya Sora, Hanazawa Kana, Toyonaga Toshiyuki, Asanuma Shintarou, Konishi Katsuyuki, Miyano Mamoru, Nakamura Yuuichi, Sakurai Takahiro
Genre: Action, Mystery, Drama, Horror, Psychological, Supernatural,
Synopsis:
❝Tokyo is haunted by mysterious ghouls who are devouring humans. People are gripped by the fear of these ghouls whose identities are masked in mystery. An ordinary college student named Kaneki encounters Rize, a girl who is an avid reader like he is, at the café he frequents. Little does Kaneki realize that his fate will change overnight.❞ (source: ANN)
☆✩Rail Wars!
»Passione
Director: Sueda Yoshifumi
Cast: Fukuyama Jun, Numakura Manami, Uchida Maaya, Hino Satoshi, Horie Yui, Konno Hiromi, Igarashi Hiromi
Genre: Action
Synopsis:
❝In a Japan where the nationalized railway system was never privatized: Naohito Takayama is an ordinary high school student who aspires to a comfortable life working at Japanese National Railways. He ends up working as a security force trainee, where he unwillingly has to deal with his strange colleagues as well as RJ, a group of extremists who are fighting to privatize the railway.❞ (source: aniDB)
★✭Sailor Moon Crystal
»Toei Animation
Director: Sakai Munehisa (Suite Precure, One Piece Strong World)
Cast: Mitsuishi Kotono, Kanemoto Hisako, Satou Rina, Koshimizu Ami, Itou Shizuka, Nojima Kenji, Hirohashi Ryou
Genre: Shoujo, Magical Girl, Romance
Synopsis:
❝Tsukino Usagi is a little clumsy and a crybaby, but she is also one spirited eighth grader. One day she meets Luna, a black cat with a crescent moon mark on her forehead, and transforms into the pretty sailor-suited guardian of love and justice, Sailor Moon. As a chosen guardian of justice, Usagi apparently has a mission to protect a princess, and to find her fellow Guardians and the Legendary Silver Crystal.
Meanwhile, Queen Beryl of the Dark Kingdom sends her subordinates to the town where Usagi lives. They cause strange events to occur there, all in an effort to acquire the tremendously powerful Silver Crystal.
Can Sailor Moon and the other Guardians successfully find the Legendary Silver Crystal, and protect the princess?❞ (source: aniDB)
☆✩Shounen Hollywood
»Zexcs
Director: Kuroyanagi Toshimasa (Sukitte Ii na yo.)
Cast: Ohsaka Ryouta, Yamashita Daiki, Kakihara Tetsuya, Aoi Shouta, Ono Kenshou, Kishio Daisuke, Hoshi Souichirou, Asanuma Shintarou, Toriumi Kousuke, Sakaguchi Daisuke, Suzuki Yuuto
Genre: Slice of Life
Synopsis:
❝At a theater called Hollywood Tokyo in Harajuku, the members of the idol group Shounen Hollywood develop their talents with diligent work and studying.❞ (source: ANN)
☆✩Sword Art Online II
»A-1 Pictures
Director: Itou Tomohiko (Sword Art Online, Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin)
Cast: Matsuoka Yoshitsugu, Sawashiro Miyuki, Tomatsu Haruka, Morikawa Toshiyuki
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Shounen, Romance
Synopsis:
❝1 year after the SAO incident, Kirito is approached by Seijiro Kikuoka from Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Department “VR Division” with a rather peculiar request.
That was an investigation on the “Death Gun” incident that occurred in the gun and steel filled VRMMO called Gun Gale Online (GGO). “Players who are shot by a mysterious avatar with a jet black gun lose their lives even in the real world…” Failing to turn down Kikuoka’s bizarre request, Kirito logs in to GGO even though he is not completely convinced that the virtual world could physically affect the real world.
Kirito wanders in an unfamiliar world in order to gain any clues about the “Death Gun.” Then, a female sniper named Sinon who owns a gigantic “Hecate II” rifle extends Kirito a helping hand. With Sinon’s help, Kirito decides to enter the “Bullet of Bullets,” a large tournament to choose the most powerful gunner within the realm of GGO, in hopes to become the target of the “Death Gun” and make direct contact with the mysterious avatar. ❞ (source: Crunchyroll)
★✭Barakamon
»Kinema Citrus
Director: Tachibana Masaki (Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, .hack//Quantum)
Cast: Ono Daisuke, Hara Suzuko, Okubo Rumi, Han Megumi, Kaji Yuuki, Suwabe Junichi, Uchiyama Kouki, Tachiki Fumiko
Genre: Comedy, Slice of Life
Synopsis:
❝Calligrapher Handa Seishuu moves to the remote Gotou Islands off the western coast of Kyushu, interacting with various people of the island.❞ (source: aniDB)
★✭Sabagebu!
»Studio Pierrot +
Director: Oota Masahiko (Kotoura-san, Minami-ke)
Cast: Ohashi Ayaka, Uchiyama Yumi, Lynn, Okubo Rumi, Touyama Nao
Genre: Action, Comedy, Shoujo
Synopsis:
❝Middle school girl Momoka is dragged into joining one of the strangest associations at her school, the Survival Game Club. Its members participate in various forms of paramilitary training under the watchful eye of charming and alarming president, Miou. How on Earth will the inexperienced Momoka survive her training, let alone Miou’s company?!❞ (source: MAL)
★✭Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun
»Doga Kobo
Director: Yamazaki Mitsue (Hakkenden)
Cast: Nakamura Yuuichi, Ozawa Ari, Okamoto Nobuhiko, Nakahara Mai, Sawashiro Miyuki, Kimura Ryouhei, Ono Yuuki, Ono Daisuke, Kawasumi Ayako, Kenta Miyake, Miyano Mamoru
Genre: Comedy, Shounen, Romance, School
Synopsis:
❝Sakura Chiyo has a crush on Nozaki-kun; she opts to confess, however he misunderstands it as a confession that she loves his shoujo manga work and therefore believes she’s a fan. But even after that she agrees when he asks her to help be his assistant?❞
»Production I.G
Director: Yoshimura Ai (Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru.)
Cast: Uchida Maaya, Kaji Yuuki, Kayano Ai, Komatsu Mikako, KENN, Hirakawa Daisuke
Genre: Shoujo, Romance
Synopsis:
❝Yoshioka Futaba used to be in love with a boy named Tanaka Kou in middle school. However, after a misunderstanding, their relationship as friends ends when he transfers schools over summer vacation. In high school, her world is turned around once more when she meets Kou again, this time under the name of Mabuchi Kou.❞ (source: ANN)
☆✩Love Stage!!
»J.C.Staff
Director: Kasai Ken’ichi (Aoi Hana, Honey and Clover, Nodame Cantabile)
Cast: Yonaga Tsubasa, Eguchi Takuya, DAIGO, Hirakawa Daisuke, Okiayu Ryoutarou, Oohara Sayaka, Kimura Ryouhei, Morikubo Shoutarou, Majima Junji
Genre: Shounen-ai, Comedy
Synopsis:
❝With a father who’s a singer, a mother who’s a movie star, and an older brother Shougo who’s the lead vocalist for the super-popular band “The Crusherz,” Sena Izumi, an otaku college student, is the only dull one born into this super famous and talented family. He loves “Magical Girl LalaLulu” and is working hard to become a mangaka, but one day he winds up appearing in a TV commercial he just can’t turn down. There, he’s reunited with Ichijou Ryouma, the super-popular young actor he costarred with on a project ten years prior.❞ (source: September Scanlations)
★✭Zankyou no Terror
»MAPPA
Director: Watanabe Shin’ichirou (Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Space Dandy, Kids on the Slope)
Cast: Ishikawa Kaito, Saito Soma, Tanezaki Atsumi, Han Megumi, Sakuya Shunsuke
Genre: Psychological, Thriller
Synopsis:
❝In an alternate version of the present, Tokyo has been decimated by a shocking terrorist attack, and the only hint to the identity of the culprit is a bizarre video uploaded to the internet. The police, baffled by this cryptic clue, are powerless to stop the paranoia spreading across the population.
While the world searches for a criminal mastermind to blame for this tragedy, two mysterious children—children who shouldn’t even exist—masterfully carry out their heinous plan. Cursed to walk through this world with the names Nine and Twelve, the two combine to form “Sphinx,” a clandestine entity determine to wake the people from their slumber—and pull the trigger on this world.❞ (source: FUNimation)
»A-1 Pictures
Director: Kishi Seiji (Angel Beats!, Devil Survivor 2 The Animation, Persona 4 The Animation), Taguchi Tomohisa (Persona 3 the Movie 2: Midsummer Knight’s Dream)
Cast: Namikawa Daisuke, Horie Yui, Koshimizu Ami, Morikubo Shoutarou, Seki Tomokazu, Hanazawa Kana, Yamaguchi Kappei
Genre: Mystery, Action, Adventure, Supernatural, Sci-fi
Synopsis:
❝Adaptation of Persona 4’s remake video game, Persona 4 The Golden. The story retells the events of the original while featuring a new character, Marie.❞ (source: MAL)
★✭Kuroshitsuji: Book of Circus
»A-1 Pictures
Director: Abe Noriyuki (Bleach, Great Teacher Onizuka, Tokyo Mew Mew)
Cast: Ono Daisuke, Sakamoto Maaya, Miyano Mamoru, Takagaki Ayahi, Kaida Yuuko, Okamoto Nobuhiko, Terashima Takuma, Tai Yuki, Shintani Mayumi, Koyanagi Ryoukan, Tochi Hiroki, Kaji Yuuki, Katou Emiri, Sugiyama Noriaki, KENN, Fukuyama Jun, Tachibana Shinnosuke, Yasumoto Hiroki, Tamura Yukari, Kouji Yusa, Suwabe Junichi, Yahagi Sayuri, Kimura Ryouhei, Maeno Tomoaki
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Shounen, Supernatural
Synopsis:
❝It adapts the Noah’s Ark Circus arc from the manga, which directly follows after the 15th episode of the first season.❞ (source: MAL)
–
Main Points
Most Anticipated Titles
- Zankyou no Terror
- Ao Haru Ride
- Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun
- Free! Eternal Summer
- Barakamon
- Kuroshitsuji: Book of Circus
- Glasslip
- Tokyo Ghoul
- Others…
Animation Studio
- Kyoto Animation
- P.A.Works
- Production I.G
- J.C.Staff
- A-1 Pictures
- MAPPA
Animation Quality
- Love Stage!!
- Ao Haru Ride
- Zankyou no Terror
- Tokyo Ghoul
- Glasslip
- Free! Eternal Summer
- Barakamon
- Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun
Most Interesting Plot/Concept
- Zankyou no Terror
- Tokyo Ghoul
- Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun
- Barakamon
- Rail Wars!
- Love Stage!!
- Bakumatsu Rock
Seiyuu Biases (in a main role)
- Fukuyama Jun♥
- Nakamura Yuuichi
- Ishikawa Kaito
- Shimazaki Nobunaga
Other Points
- Glasslip‘s Opening, and Ending songs sung by ChouCho, and nano.RIPE
Sengoku Basara: Judge End‘s Opening song sung by Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas- Watanabe Shin’ichirou directing Zankyou no Terror
- Ao Haru Ride‘s Opening song collaborated by CHiCO and HoneyWorks
よぞらの★。 