Seasonal Reviews: Summer 2015 Pt.3

As we start moving past the halfway point of the season, the last chance for drops are presented to our staff. Will anything survive this installment? Yes, you idiot, everyone gets limited drops. Think before you speak. This is what's wrong with millennials, you kids and your intelligence telephones and your instatelaphotogramgraphs and your basic technology that vastly enriches human life GO OUTSIDE AND READ A BOOK LIKE I NEVER DID, WOODSTOCK CHANGED THE WORLD BECAUSE WE GOT HIGH THERE LISTENING TO A MIXED SELECTION OF MUSICAL ARTISTS, WHY DON'T YOU WANT TO BUY HOUSES, EVERYONE WANTS HOUSES, IT IS HUMAN NATURE TO WANT AN INFINITE AMOUNT OF HOUSES-


Dropped Shows

• Aoharu X Machinegun (David, four episodes)
• Bikini Warriors (David, four episodes)
• GATE (Jonathan, three episodes)
• Million Doll (Stephanie, two episodes)
• Sky Wizards Academy (Danni, three episodes)

Actually, I Am
Danni Kristen

Finally, we have a full cast. These past two episodes took the time to introduce two especially interesting characters: one a werewolf, and one a demon. The werewolf would be the self-described pervert Shiho. She's not a werewolf in the way popular culture imagines them, though. Whenever she simply sees an image of the moon, Shiho turns into Shirou, a tough guy with incredibly sharp teeth and a longtime crush on Shiragami. He's been tasked to report to Shiragami's father on her failing to keep her vampiric status a secret, but Shiho doesn't want that to happen so makes sure to stay in her own form. In this form, she's a hypersexual pervert who's challenged herself to tease Asahi and make him as sexually frustrated as possible (a challenge she accomplishes extremely easily). She has ulterior motives for this though, flirting with him so that Shiragami will become jealous and realize her own feelings for Asahi. 

After introducing us to Shiho, we're introduced to Akane, a sadistic devil who happens to be an old ancestor of Asahi's teacher, though she acts more like a younger sister in their relationship. Akane happens to be the school principle and is already aware of the other non-humans in the school. She derives a lot of enjoyment from messing with Asahi and Shiragami, though Shiragami treats her like a child. They end up dueling to prove who is more mature through a sexiness contest. In the end, they both lose and end up destroying the school gym in a huge explosion. I genuinely wonder if they're going to retcon the explosion next week, because it was a HUGE explosion. Someone should've died for sure.

Reaction to Shiho could be very mixed. She brings a lot of fanservice to the show that was pretty nonexistent before. Personally, I quite enjoy her character. I like it when fanservice characters have agency over their own sexuality, which Shiho does. I'm also biased because she's voiced by Aya Uchida, who voiced Kotori, my favorite character from Love Live (Incidentally, it's hilarious to hear the VA of such a pure and gentle character now voicing a huge pervert). Akane, though, is easily the show's strongest character. She is at once childish, temperamental, evil, calculated, and full of herself in an incredibly endearing way. Her more evil actions are policed by her descendant Akari, so she mostly sticks to harmless pranks against the students. I really hope she plays a large part in the rest of the show. Actually, I Am has been good so far, and with a character as solid as Akane it could be great.

Solid Recommendation

Aquarion Logos
Joe Straatmann

Giving credit where credit is due, the villain has an excellent plan to destroy all words and perhaps the bulk of humanity with it in the most recent two-parter. Hidden as a plan to severe connections, his scheme is quite the opposite. Create connections by sharing unsolicited stupid Youtube videos and spreading false rumors across the Internet, turning flame wars into ACTUAL flames. It's so damn brilliant, I wish it was in a series I enjoyed more than this.

You ever have one of those times where characters get into a part of the series that is supposed to explain everything and explains nothing? We get one of those where Akira takes Maia to visit his family (Because...  reasons. I've said that a lot during this series, haven't I?) to see where he gets his sense of justice from, and... he really didn't get it from anybody or any particular event. He's always had it. The end. The only insight we get is he is in a family of calligraphers, connecting him to his skill at using words effortlessly in combat. It's a little more interesting watching them develop the main rival to the heroic Verbalism team, Kenzaki. He is the spoiled rich son of the villain who is one of the few human contacts Maia made before all the events that led her to the outside world. He loves her, hates that she's been taken away, and wants respect from his father, so to accomplish all of these things at once, he becomes a vector pilot to oppose Verbalism, piggybacking on the whole Internet flames thing. It's literally pointed out by the series he's done nothing in his life to deserve respect and attention, yet he still is at least understandable and has an actual relationship with Maia instead of the makers smashing the main couple together and shouting, "YOU'RE LOVERS!"

The series is gathering some semblance of momentum. As much as the setup really didn't need a whole episode, the attempt to destroy the word "flames" is a fun little plot-of-the-week. A rival was probably needed four episodes ago since the monster fights are rather static, but at least he's here. Despite some significant gains, however, the anime is still a hollow shell. As the sequel to a series that attempted to be a throwback, it's kind of lost whatever mission statement the original makers or inspirations had and went off to its land of general goofiness without purpose. It's technically a sound series as I can't complain in that department much except the fights lack any kind of tension because the they're either at the stage where the heroes are at a critical breaking point or at the victorious moment and never in-between. Even with solid production, this is something that either needs a steady and exacting hand of sanity or an electric wave of insanity to work, and anything in-between is just a pale shadow of what's come before it.

No Recommendation

Castle Town Dandelion
Stephanie Getchell

The campaign is in full swing as the siblings each vey for the crown! First, in an effort to understand why her selfish sisters are running, Misaki tries to find a way to comprehend it while coming to the decision to run herself. Then, as Kanade has a hard time campaigning due to her older sister's popularity, we learn more about eldest sibling Aoi and her Absolute Order ability. After that, Kanade takes care of a sick Akane and little Shiori on her own while her worrywart of a father tries to keep an eye on them while on a trip out of town; which, of course, ends in the most hilarious way possible. Finally, Hiori gets a hard lesson in being an idol as fellow idol and rival Sachiko teaches that talent isn't enough; you need hard work in order to really grow.

The amount of perspectives this series can have seems to give me a little bit of whiplash or something. Add in the part where the episodes are usually split into either two or three parts in a twenty two minute episode, and you can get some serious confusion. It's kind of like Hetalia in that regard since every episode has this different moments for different characters. However, I kind of think that Hetalia does this a little better than Castle Town. The stories in Castle Town, themselves, do give that look into the lives of these royal siblings and how they are working towards the end goal of the crown, however this is also about a family living normal every day lives and their personalities are what show this. The father is still over protective and has some antics that you would see in any normal slice of life series while the oldest sibling takes care of her brothers and sisters, wanting nothing in return. It's basically all the cliches and troupes you see from a slice of life or comedy series that involves family dynamics and just add the royalty factor in to take it up a notch. Does this work? A tiny bit. With much of the series taking a more every day approach with the occasional election piece in there, it doesn't drive the latter too hard but also letting the series lose some of what it was intending on in the first place.

I still have that second drop left and it's now or never in using it. I think I'm gonna save it for another show that I'm talking about. While it's riddled with cliches and doesn't do much outside of the box, even with it's own premise, I do find some fun in the series. It's among the weaker ones I'm covering this season, but there's plenty to look at and talk about as I get to see all these perspectives and troupes in full swing. And it's far from being the best thing from the entire season, to me, as none of the series I'm covering are the best from the season. Funny how things work. From here on, with Castle Town, it's all about whether or not it can manage to think outside of the box rather than stay cooped up in there.

Solid Recommendation

Chaos Dragon: Sekiryuu Sen'eki
Joe Straatmann

On another website, there is a graph that has been listing what shows this season have been getting the best and worst ratings by its readers. Chaos Dragon has been consistently last. I trust anime fandom at large with ratings and polls as much as I trust a raccoon to keep my trashcan tidy and the graph isn't even listing two of the shows I'm saddled with which are significantly worse. However, I can see why it's there as much as I can make an argument of why it doesn't deserve it. With the minds of so many creators behind it, disappointment is a hard specter to shake, and it seems with every section that brings fascinating ideas to the proceedings or pathos to the characters, there is not enough done to water and grow them so they are left in the sun until they wither away.

Sweallow's backstory begins the updated episodes and it's quite good. The elements are a little bit of X-Men and a little bit of Last Exile, but they do create some sympathy for a character whose most significant trait of being incredibly dumb has strained any interest. Then in perhaps a sequence that incapsulates the series as a whole, we kick it back to the present with an attack on a gigantic zombie stone monster that is as stiff and unimpressive as its premise is awesome. It's a battle so hampered by budget issues and lackluster execution that I forgot before the next week's installment that one of the main characters loses their arm. My memory isn't the most secure vault in Fort Knox, but having the dismemberment of a party member slip a viewer's mind is rather telling of its staying power, isn't it?

 The latest episode throws a few curveballs in the narrative. Main character Ibuki finds out his long-lost sister is alive, and he potentially doesn't have to wear the troubled crown of revolutionary child king to his people anymore. The show's issue is it always seems to tip its hand far too soon. There's a spoilerrific detail that makes it fairly obvious that something's off, but the audience shouldn't be privy to almost all of the puppet strings of the narrative within five minutes of trying to change the game.  I want to give it more than the small ingots of praise I have for bits and pieces of it, but Chaos Dragon simply won't let me.

Weak Recommendation

Charlotte
Stephanie Getchell

Things are slowly turning dark this week with Charlotte. After a last minute camping trip in order to prevent a teen with flying abilities from continuing, Yu returns home in time to take care of his younger sister, Ayumi, who's come down with a cold. Things become even more strange as the student council's helper finds a power located in Yu's complex and one that's called "collapse". Fearing that it could be his sister, Yu does a little more information gathering alongside Tomori and Yusa in order to figure out if it is Ayumi who has this ability. While the signs are there, because the ability "collapse" is so vague and unknown, Tomori has Yu keep Ayumi home form school even after she recovers from her cold. However, not wanting to miss anymore school, Ayumi sneaks out and goes. When Yu and the others find out, they quickly race to the middle school in time to see part of the school building collapse as Ayumi is threatened by another classmate over a boy (one that Ayumi says no to dating, by the way).

I'm very happy that things are starting to get really serious at this halfway point. Up until now, the series has been more humor filled thanks to characters and some episodic moments. However, there's always been a hint of something even more serious on the horizon, and it's clear that the sibling dynamic was the major key here. From early on, we've known it's possible for siblings to develop supernatural powers thanks to the story of Tomori and her older brother along with Yusa and Misa's introduction not long afterwards. This makes it very clear that the same was bound to happen to Ayumi since Yu has an ability of his own. Also, the opening theme does hint to this a little bit. Let's be honest here, it was bound to happen. What makes this part much more dramatic is Yu's relationship to his sister and his big brother mentality that he has, wanting to protect his sister. Also, from what we can tell, they are the only family they have. There is someone else in their lives, however Yu isn't sure who that is since he's been seeing him in dreams (something that's introduced in episode five). Speaking of those dreams, I have touch upon the wonderfully done moments of animation that have come in this week, especially episode five where the image I'm using this week is from. P.A. Works has always been pretty amazing when it comes to their animation, and what they've done here with Charlotte is help set the right tone on several occasions. It just adds that little extra punch that the series needs during the right occasion, and it does this rather well.

Going into the break before the final summer report, I firmly believe that Charlotte is the strongest series I'm currently covering. While Castle Town has been fun, it's been rather one note a lot of the time. Danchigai you'll find out about in a minute, and Ranpo Kitan may be my fun love letter to Japanese mystery, but it has it's story problems. Charlotte has been consistent throughout and kept me both a mix of laughing and awe struck for many reasons. With new small pieces added in every week, what will be the fate of this series by the end of the summer season? Will it keep up this pace and tone, giving us a beautiful story with a fun sense of humor? Or will the weight of it collapse on itself? At the rate it's going, I firmly believe that it will be among one of P.A. Works' better series like Nagi-Asu from a couple years ago. I'm always the optimist when it comes to series that have been so strong since the first day and have remained consistent. Now to hope it doesn't prove me wrong.

Strong Recommendation

Classroom Crisis
Jonathan Kaharl

Well, now we know what Nagisa's deal is, and it's about what you'd expect at this point, and then some. Nagisa is the son of not only one of the Kiryus, but he's also a bastard child born from an affair with the granddaughter of the other major family that created the Kirishima Corp in the first place, thus making him basically a stock goldmine that gives the Kiryus power over the company through majority control. What's more, Iris' revealed memory loss from the beach episode is already becoming significant as she's starting to remember that she has some sort of connection with the feuding families as well, present during what appears to be some sort of massacre of the other family. Mizuki was also not ready to learn just how bad Nagisa's life was (and yes, it does indeed include physical abuse via that older dick of a brother). Lastly, some more skullduggery with the company is being hinted, as a famous scientist working for them is nearly kidnapped and brought to Earth, only saved by unexpected intervention by Angelina and Iris.

Nagisa is finally finding a place within the class and is learning how to properly perform his role as director while sneaking his way around his brother's orders. His time spent with Mizuki in particular sticks out, as the girl's eternal patience and optimism is slowly dragging the sad sack out of the mud. Kaito is also maturing into something that also resembles an adult, and he's starting to see Nagisa as a real member of the team and not just a villain standing in his way, thanks to Nagisa's interference helping him see his own shortcomings. The two represent opposing sides of the business world, and they both need each other to function properly for the betterment of everyone. It may also be the only way either of them can continue on, as Kaito needs someone keeping his idiocy in check and apply pressure when he's getting lazy, while Nagisa needs a kick here and there to remind him that he's far from perfect and there's a human element to this business he needs to remember. It's a great dynamic.

While the capitalism and business politics commentary was pretty narrow these last two episodes as the beach one, we're getting a lot of much needed character development, especially with Angelina and Iris. Because of her memory issues, Iris latched onto Mizuki and we haven't really seen how she acts around other people that much. What moments there's been have had her distracted by piloting and driving. Her episode with Angelina really fleshed her out a little and revealed the hidden humanity in her, and it also helped cool out Angelina. The two have a cute sisterly bond, and in a high risk situation, the two reveal parts of themselves that make them far more interesting, like Iris' past traumas and Angelina's complete lack of hesitating in protecting Iris. The more simple scenes between them, like eating out while waiting for a flight, also wrench out some good comedy bits, like Angelina failing miserably to keep up with Iris' dry responses. It's also nice to see that Angelina does seem to take her teaching job seriously, despite all her posturing as the class' greatest enemy, and that she's much more than just talk when the chips are down. Seeing her getting in front of a PTSD-attacked Iris and preparing to use herself as a human shield in case of a crash to save the poor girl speaks volumes about her as a person.

Everything is set up for another shoe drop, so it's about time to see if the Kiryus have something else up their sleeve. A-TEC isn't out of the woods yet, and I'm interested in seeing what the thesis of the series will be. Even when its best quality, political commentary, isn't on display, it balances things out by doing everything else so well. The only thing that worries me is that the show is losing focus on its more thematically interesting content, and I can easily see the family drama going in a very tired direction. It all depends on how interesting the other Kiryus are, hopefully more so than the director.

Strong Recommendation

Danchigai
Stephanie Getchell

The every day lives of these siblings just keep on keeping on, and I may have possibly run out of steam. This week, we first have little Satsuki who loves anime and manga to pieces but also loves playing with her sister Uzuki. Though it's also fun to note that Satsuki seems to focus on one thing at a time and with full force. It's kinda cute in a way. Then Yayoi and Haruki have their midterms coming up, with Yayoi asking her brother for some help studying. It turns into a hellish study session as he drills her over multiplication for her math test, but we never see the end result the next day since things turn a little weird. But we can assume, Yayoi didn't do very well on that test.

I've run into the problem that I've been dreading with this series, finding something to talk about. Honestly, the series has remained rather consistent and simplistic, with likable characters and easy to understand plot lines. However, it's those same pros that cause a bit of a problem; along with the short episode length. With Rainy Cocoa, last season, because of the constant plot I was able to talk more about the series despite it being rather flawed. For Danchigai, the episodic approach is great, however nothing else really stands out to make it a fantastic series, let alone give me enough to talk about during these seasonal reports. This is more the kind of series that I can easily marathon rather than one I can manage to follow week to week. I didn't want to use my last drop on this in case my other three series were lacking, however I'd rather talk about a bad show rather than struggle to find the words to describe this very straightforward show. I'm not saying that Danchigai is a bad series, as it's a wonderful slice of life series that works as a short. It's just that I need to talk about something during every report, and I can't just keep saying the same thing over and over again. Personally, I'll return to this series later once it's finished and I can marathon it.

Solid Recommendation, dropped at episode six

GANGSTA.
Jonathan Kaharl

Well, I think I'm done with Gangsta. I don't think I've ever watched a show so well put together that has managed to lose me so fast before. Things are finally getting serious with a real plot as we learn more about Nic and Worrick's dark pasts and the original status of tags, or twilights, as combat slaves, not to mention seeing Ally's mind going bonkers from drug withdraw and a war about to start up after some low level goons hired a tag to go and kill a major mafia boss. This should all be really interesting! And I care about almost none of it.

The problem I think I'm having here is that Gangsta has no real sense of focus. It seems to have three main characters in the form of Nic, Worrick, and Ally, but it's been about half a single season and Ally seems entirely pointless to the larger story. Sure, her arc is probably the best part of the show (especially those horrific flashes of her old pimp), but it doesn't really have much to do with anything besides thematically tying her situation with Nic and Worrick's, in that they're all victims of a cruel world and find just enough comfort in each other to keep moving. That would be fine if it really mattered to most anything going on. Nic and Worrick don't really have arcs, they already had their big change before the series started, so there's nothing interesting going on with their characters when interacting with Ally. Because Ally is also so unnecessary to the main story with the gang war and twilights guild, her growth means little as well. Black Lagoon handled the fallen angels theme way better by not being subtle but still very real about it, while Gangsta tries to let long pauses speak volumes and just manages to bore and feel out of place with the action heavy main story.

It's the twilights that really make this series so forgettable, which is ironic, considering that their whole existence adds a superhuman element to the story. Going back to Black Lagoon for a moment, that series never bothered to explain strangely talented people in its world. It wasn't necessary. Everyone was a criminal or a killer, that's all you needed to know, and it put everyone on a similar level. But the twilights create this really gamey sort of mythology, making nearly every other player in the story obsolete in action scenes. They're also the one part of this show that constantly tries to be as loud as possible by giving them a very ham-fisted tragic existence. After seeing two of them hop around rooftops and cut apart gunmen like paper, I find it really hard to believe that there was ever a slavery circle based around these people. Giving them grades and a guild just makes their existence even more ridiculous. They're something from a tired shonen battle series that somehow made their way into a very dark story about fallen people in a world ruled by crime, and they do not fit in the story at all.

It took me awhile to pin down just why this show frustrated me so much because of how little happens in it in long stretches. There's a lot I admire, like showing instead of telling and respecting the audience's intelligence by leaving little clues instead of having characters make dumb speeches, but the elements that make this a series don't really work next to each other. They highlight one another's major faults, and the end result is something I feel I should like yet just can't. It's not like being slow or devoid of plot development is inherently bad, but you need to have something interesting in there to justify that. This series doesn't have anything of any real substance to justify all the lounging around. This is easily one of the biggest disappointments of the year, no question.

Weak Recommendation, dropped at episode six

God Eater
Joe Straatmann

Well, I was going have this nice paragraph about how God Eater is generic anime soup and if you only have it once every two weeks thanks to the production delays, it's not too bad. Unfortunately, the second episode in this update just HAD to come out on time and I had to scrap the entire metaphor. Let's cut the crap, shall we? The show still exists between the rift of good and bad, though the most recent venture shows some promise even as the schedule crunches are forcing the 90's action flourishes to become even more unnecessary eyesores (They've even stopped the slow-motion rainfall effect from looking three-dimensional, so they're 2-D images on a moving 3-D plane).

On the surface, the two episodes seem to be merely time filler. The action sequences are literally item collecting from select enemies to help build their ideal future home for mankind. I hate doing that busywork IN these games, much less watching an anime of people doing it. The main realization Lenka makes is that while Fenrir does keep the people within the protected walls well fed, they turn away people they have no use for, and their survival rates outside Fenrir are well below 1% (There's even a handy dandy counter map that shows how many humans are left and drops by five every second. Asia is doing WAAAAAAY better than America, by the way). Since Lenka wants to be a hero for all of the people, this angers him greatly, though to be pragmatic asshat Oliver Platt in 2012 for a moment, if you let everyone in, there would be a food shortage which would lead to in-fighting and humanity would destroy itself more efficiently than any mutated monstrosity could. But this all evolves in the second episode where the team must confront a god-tier enemy and Lenka has to put his philosophy to the test (It also happens to be the bastard that killed people important to Alisa to make everything narratively clean).

Lenka's New-Type abilities apparently gets linked to the rage in seeing people slaughtered, so you think you know where it's going, shoving Lenka's savior skills into an artificial way of making his point, but God Eater doesn't do that. It treats all aspects fairly and understands that just because someone has rage powers doesn't mean they've suddenly gained "chosen one" strength to take on a rare beast at least 20 levels his superior by himself. Good for them for not taking the easy way out. The episodes do have other bright spots as well. The scenery is marvelously detailed with the gritty apocalyptic locales given a needed infusion of color and complexity with accomplished horizon backgrounds. The music tends to be at the very least competent and throws in some quality insert songs to break the monotony. I never feel bad as I sit through this anime. It's merely if I wasn't reviewing it, the number of things I would rather be doing is rather large. The most recent effort simply moved it above a few of things on that list.

Weak Recommendation

Himouto! Umaru-chan
Danni Kristen

Last installment I got to talk about my favorite episodes of Himouto, so it only makes sense that this installment's episodes felt pretty underwhelming. After hinting that Alex and Sylphyn knew each other, it was revealed that they're in fact siblings like Taihei and Umaru. As it also turns out, Kirie is the little sister of Taihei's other coworker, Takeshi. Having established this, Himouto sticks to its established formula, mixing between skits of Umaru with her friends and with her brother. It only takes the time to try something different at the end of the latest episode when Taihei reminisces about his mother. In this sequence, his average walk home turns into a mystery as he investigates why he remembers pieces of the road he had been walking down. In the end, he finally remembers he passed that way with his mother on his way back from school as a child. It's revealed that Umaru is the spitting image of their mother, which could explain why Taihei has such extreme patience for his sister.

I'm afraid that Himouto is starting to stagnate. The jokes are still funny, but they're getting repetitive. If the latter half of the season consists mainly of watching Umaru torture her brother some more, then it's going to get really boring to watch. It got downright hard to watch at one point in the latest episode when Umaru's whining bordered on emotional manipulation. I'd really like to start seeing some development from any of the characters. Now that everyone's relationship to each other has been established, it would nice to see these relationships begin to evolve. It would also be nice to learn more about Umaru's family beyond Taihei, especially her mother. Himouto is going to have to bring something new to the table soon if it wants to keep coming across as funny rather than annoying.

Strong Recommendation

Monster Musume: Everyday Life With Monster Girls
Jonathan Kaharl

Wee, trash time! With Suu now in the cast, the show is better than it's ever been because Suu is perfect and nobody can ever tell me otherwise. First off, the gang tries hiding Suu from Smith when a government crew comes by to do some work on the house, which ends with Suu being dehydrated and trying to get hydration from the other girls. And yes, this does lead to slime on monster girl action. This episode also introduces Mero, the most boring character of the series who is only notable for having a cheating fetish because mermaids read The Little Mermaid and were all like "yeah, that's how things should be." The following episode had Darling trying to help Miia with shedding (with expected results), Miia revealing that her cooking could be used as a lethal weapon, and a sleazy director trying to sell footage of the girls for money. He gets what he deserves, and then some once he gets back to his lair and his partner in crime wraps him up. This is Rachnee, the second best character and the spidergirl of the harem, and the show is about to hit its peak with her next few episodes.

The series seems to be trying to animate two chapters an episode, which is fine enough and will get us into the D arc. Problem is that Monster Musume chapters can be very, very lacking in content at times, and this problem is exacerbated here. For example, Suu attacking the girls and Miia's shedding problems are very simple chapters that have one real joke to them, that being wacky sexual shenanigans, which is fine enough in manga form. But anime has to rely on speed of delivery for a lot of gags, while slowing things down for raunchy material. So, those two modes clash terribly and ruin the flow of the few jokes there at points. There are still highlights, but it doesn't have the same energetic feel that the manga does. When there is significant content to a chapter, though, the series works really well, like during the director segments.

What ultimately saves the series are the fun personalities of the cast. Suu, Papi, and Cerea are all really fun because of their silly quirks, informed by both their monster and human parts of their identity. Miia is great because of just how overblown and open her attraction to Darling is. Darling is a treat because of just how resigned to all of this he is. Smith is comedic gold at points because of how she doesn't fit the guise of a government agent at all. Mero ...exists! Every character brings something to the table that gets some comedy out of the other characters. Yes, even Mero. Sometimes. This is what makes Monster Musume good in spite of all its gross. The characters are fun, and the harem angle is turned on its head because of how ridiculously deadly all the girls in the harem are. That clever little angle allows the series to stand above its peers (not nearly on the same level of something like Prison School, but few things can be that good). That's hard to do, and the people behind this adaptation deserve credit for getting that.

Solid Recommendation

My Wife is the Student Council President
Joe Straatmann

Crunchy Roll has unleashed the uncensored version of this show, and, well, it actually cuts out the most clever portion of the show in restoring the cheap borderline hentai payoffs from the manga. In complete fairness, I re-watched all of the episodes because breast sucking, crotch rubbing, and other such actions tend to change the composure of a title quite a bit. For this one, it simply reinforces my opinion that this is a numbingly thin story with very little merit that relies solely on going to sexual extremes to gather an audience. Creating an entertaining playhouse corner to hide the naughty bits is is one of those artistic limitations that enhanced a work because it forced them to be creative to get around the lack of the series' biggest selling point.

I've been known to like some ecchi things. I can think of few reasons why I actually collected the entire Psychic Academy manga besides that it "did it" for me. But even with a horrifically generic storyline, there was still work put into it. Enough setup that I can buy what's going on, sexy character designs that took some effort to make, and situations where I can accept these people would be getting a little naughty. My Wife... simply doesn't do the work. It features two of the most plainly designed characters with little development and chemistry and tries to desperately jumpstart them into sexual moments like someone furiously throwing banana peels on the floor for one slip gag grumbling, "Laugh! Laugh, damn you!" the whole time. All the uncensored scenes do is remind you that you could be watching actual porn right now and it would have a greater possibility of a narratively fulfilling plot with believable character interaction.

No Recommendation

Overlord
Jonathan Kaharl

Well, this arc is a doozer, and it's also where the series is going into full light novel mode. Realizing that he can't use the money that his inhuman servants use in his evil crypt of doom, Momon has decide to do some adventurer work in his bitching knight armor with one of his battle maids, the constantly angry Narberal. He can't do high level missions cause of politics dictating he must earn the right through rank climbing, but he ends up lucky when a party asks him to join up and they get work from a pharmacist. Said pharmacist may know Momon is more than he looks, though, as he has a potion he gave to another adventurer to stop a fight via second hand selling, and Momon's potions aren't like the kinds the people of this world can make. During all this, a murder lovin' thief is planning to kidnap the pharmacist for his ability to use any magical item, helping a necromancer in his plans to create an undead paradise.

Oh, and Albedo made a body pillow of Momon, along with enough clothing for the child she plans to have up to age five. Yup.

Overlord works when it's exploring its more interesting ideas and its lead character's clashing identities. Or when skeleton giants are decapitating people. That's also cool. But this arc is trying to explore Momon's past as a MMO gamer and the connections he made with his friends in a very masturbatory way. The second episode of adventuring is just the new party saying how awesome and amazing Momon is, and the episode before that was just a lot of exposition. It seems the running thing of this series is very dull episodes at arc start, and then the skeleton armies of hell come out for a party and blood geysers in the rest. I have faith things are going to be entertaining again with the two new wonderful villains they've introduced. But man, couldn't the slow parts explore something interesting?

Momon being so emotional about the people he gamed with could have worked, but it's so overplayed here that it just paints him as pathetic. The adventurers also lack any real personality, and I don't see them being particularly interesting parts of the story as things continue. Shelving the minions is probably the worst sin, because they're half of the fun of the show. At least Albedo and Shalltear still get scenes here and there, they're just so wonderful. But even then, it's not really adding anything and just padding out the runtime. Man, I can't wait until it's skeleton murder rave time again.

Weak Recommendation

Prison School
Jonathan Kaharl

Well, things have gone from bad to worse for poor ol' Kiyoshi. He got off school grounds for his date ...only for Chiyo to discover the uniform he stole to escape ...and for both of them to realize it belonged to her. Whoops! Oh, and Chiyo is the president's sister, so she learns about this after she shares that selfie with the family. WHOOPS! However, the council can't expel Kiyoshi, and despite their best efforts, they fail to get him to agree to leave when Chiyo realizes there was most likely a good reason for Kiyoshi to have the uniform and ends up giving him the willpower to resist. But then Hana comes back, intent to make Kiyoshi suffer the same humiliation she did, which is just her excuse to explore her new fetish. While Kiyoshi deals with that, he also has to deal with Joe freaking out over his ants being attacked, as the council are becoming more active in their plans to do away with the boys forever.

These last two episodes really highlight why this show works so well. All of the characters are getting development and have their actions informed by how they view one another. Mari's hatred for the boys is partly fueled by her father's disgusting habits. Chiyo's willingness to forgive Kiyoshi comes from not just shared interests but seeing him save the life of a baby crow. Hana's actions are shifting because of how two accidental situations with Kiyoshi awakened a side to her she didn't know she had before. The boys all try shunning Kiyoshi for extending their sentence, but Joe starts to stand up for him after Kiyoshi stops him from doing something horrible that could have ruined his life. I could go on and on. Every character is a player in the story and their smallest actions affect the greater narrative, and they're all interesting and likable in some way, even Meiko. Her reactions to Mari really give her a side of her we never see when she's interacting with the boys.

And of course, it's all hilarious, even with some well timed jokes mixed in. For example, you know how Meiko wears ridiculously revealing clothing? Well, that's why she shouldn't eat greasy, hot foods. Mari making a dumb mistake and then doing it again without correcting herself leads to some great moments with Meiko panicking over if she should make a correction. Their attempts to pressure the boys includes NOT punishing Andre. And need I even mention any scene involving Hana? All these little touches are everywhere and lead to a lot of great laughs alongside the centerpiece "did they just fucking do that" moments (and there's a lot of them). Like I said before, Prison School has mastery of its disgusting craft, and nobody can take that away from it.

Strong Recommendation

Ranpo Kitan: Game of Laplace
Stephanie Getchell

This week we're finally learning much more about Akechi and his connection to the Twenty Faces cases and in a major way. After the first appearance of the new Twenty Faces from the fourth episode, more and more copycats have appeared in the following months. One such case takes Akechi to an island where an adult amusement park is being built, known as Panorama Island. Both the chairman and art producer are found dead after a large amount of mannequins of different sizes collapse; crushing and suffocating them. Akechi quickly solves the murder, revealing it to be a worker whom the mannequins are modeled after, and wanted the creepy things to be discovered. Once Akechi and the others return home, he finally tells Kobayashi and Hashiba his motive for solving all the Twenty Faces cases. Someone he unintentionally befriended works with Akechi in order to solve the problem of evildoers in society. However, Akechi eventually learns that their formula won't work and decides to end the project. His comrade has other plans, becoming a martyr for Twenty Faces, and causing others to rise and take on evildoers; and causing Akechi to solve any and all Twenty Faces cases from that point on.

Of course, I have to talk about Panorama Island and the context in this episode, because I'm interested in this kind of thing and I feel it helps with the overall experience. Panorama Island Epitaph is a novella that Edogawa had serialized between 1926 and 1927. The story revolves around, according to some rough Google translating, two men, a writer named Hitomi and a millionaire Komonda. Hitomi is a rather unsuccessful writer who has begun dreaming of his own utopia, and seeks out Komonda after hearing about his death from an epileptic fit. He then takes on Komonda's name and life in order to create the utopia he desired so much (he has an uncanny resemblance to the millionaire, FYI). There is also a manga adaptation of the same novella under the title The Strange Tale of Panorama Island and is published in english; which I do plan on picking up eventually. The connection we have between the novella and the anime, aside from the island being a weird utopia of sorts, are the two victims as they are named Hitomi (the art producer rather than writer) and Komonda. There is also the person who commits the crimes as she, in Edogawa's novella, is the wife of Komonda. As for Twenty Faces, if it's not clear now, then this bit of back story makes it very clear that the Twenty Faces of this series is very different than the one in Edogawa's work. The struggle between the two is still there, however the type of crimes are different as Edogawa's novels make Twenty Faces into a thief rather than a murderer.

The whole story of Panorama Island along with Akechi's backstory involving Twenty Faces takes up another two part episode approach. Since the series is taking a more episodic direction when it comes to the story, every single story up until this point has been more of a mystery of the week deal and it works to an extent. What I mean by this is that you don't see much in the way sleuthing and digging around for clues. Instead, when Akechi sees the crime scene, he can, almost instantly, figure out what happened and who the perpetrator is. This seems slightly unrealistic as even Sherlock Holmes did some digging around in order to solve his crimes; and Akechi is supposed to be modeled after Holmes. However, I do have to give credit to the mind palace scenes we have for Akechi; and in these episodes in particular. If you don't know what I mean when I say mind palace, then may I suggest watching BBC's Sherlock because it is awesome! Anyway, seeing Akechi's inner thoughts and how he processes everything in his mind is very interesting. Granted it does have some makings of, one again, Sherlock Holmes, but seeing the process in more detail is something that's rather intriguing. Also, as a student of theatre, the use of the more theatrical and dramatic looks and animation, while a little out of place at first, looks rather stunning! This is something that is reminiscent of Edogawa's work as well, as he tends to bring out the more erotic and even fantastical in his novels and the mind sequences Akechi and even Kobayashi have keep in line with such elements in the original author's work.

Then there's Akechi's character and the backstory we get this week regarding Twenty Faces. While I can't completely confirm whether or not it follows in line with the original stories, it does create a certain dynamic when Akechi interacts with Kobayashi and Hashiba as he does see some elements of himself in both boys and sees some parts of the relationship that he had with the original Twenty Faces. While it doesn't do a lot in order to develop his character, we have that clear motivation for Akechi's determination against Twenty Faces. We also have the genius detective slowly opening up to Kobayashi and Hashiba by telling them this story. Couple this with the pair appearing in Akechi's thoughts while they are no where near Panorama Island for much of that story, and we can see Akechi possibly becoming much more humanized and relatable; yet another commonality the character has with his predecessor Sherlock Holmes. Meanwhile, Kobayashi and Hashiba haven't had much more added to their characters, which is interesting because Kobayashi is the supposed lead. Honestly, I like having Akechi taking the lead this time as I felt that it should have been him from the beginning. It's just a little misleading, but it kind of depends on what's going to happen from here.

It's still very unclear whether this series will be a one cour or a two cour, as it is the only one out of all the summer shows I'm watching that doesn't have a confirmed total episode count. With the amount of material Lerche could possibly adapt, they could make this into a two cour series if they really wanted to. They've already adapted seven or eight stories into the eight episodes we've had so far, including characters from other novels like Black Lizard. While there are some ups and downs, the tone and overall style that Edogawa used is what's important and it is very present in this series even with the changes in it in order to make it a little more relatable to today's generation. I'm pretty sure the entire series is going to end up as a love letter to the author. The problem now is there are parts of the story that are slightly poor in writing and some of the character development is lacking or even misleading. I very much want to know how this series plans to progress, as it is clear that the Twenty Faces plot line will be the constant in this series from this point on. In an attempt to tie a bunch of old stories together, it will be interesting to see what this series does when it times come to end.

Solid Recommendation

Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers
David O'Neil

The thing about anime is that it's a collaborative process. So for a work to achieve true greatness, all the different parts of a series have to work together just right in order to create a cohesive whole. This can be problematic, or even disappointing, when certain aspects of a series excel at what they're trying to accomplish, while others fall short, dragging everything else down with it. This is the unfortunate truth of what's currently happening with Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers.

From a writing standpoint, the show hasn't wavered in the slightest. The past two episodes have focused primarily between giving some background information on characters in order to better clarify their motivations, along with continuing further into the intrigue of who the traitor among the Braves is. The varied cast of characters play off each other in some interesting ways, especially in their current chaotic, distrustful state. Even as the majority of the team believes they've solved the mystery, there's still tensions and foreshadowing to promising new plot developments down the line. Despite all this, along with the consistently high quality backgrounds and music, as I alluded to earlier one of the cogs in the machine that is Rokka is on the fritz: its animation. The show has always been a bit on the unpolished side in terms of its animation, but at this point it's gone from a brief nuisance to a constant issue. Aside from some nice looking close ups and some neat camera moves, the show is unpolished and unpleasant to look at all around. The show has clearly been having a troubled production, and at this point I'm starting to worry it'll never bounce back. It's not quite at Durarara x2 Shou levels of unacceptable quality, but the issues have become so commonplace that I can see it actually impeding on someone's enjoyment of the story.

The most recent episode also features a strange visual choice that made what should have been an important, even intimidating scene unintentionally hilarious. Up until this point all the "Fiend" monsters have been done with CG, and while this did annoy me, I could put up with it. They're background enemies who exist to be sliced up by the heroes, I can understand them using CG to better focus on the action's character animation. In episode 7 however, they introduce a Fiend as a major player in the story, one who talks, and has a noticeably bizarre design. And as a character, he looks absolutely ridiculous when done with CG. Comical even. I laughed when I saw him. I'm not sure how much better he'd look in 2D, but it can't be worse than big, goofy, jarring video game character presented in the show. Again, the story of Rokka continues to hold up, but sloppy visuals are dragging the show down, and I'm hoping it can address this to help the show work better as a whole.

Solid Recommendation

SCHOOL-LIVE!
Danni Kristen

Everything is very, very terrible. The following day after Miki was rescued from the mall by the girls, Yuki decided to take her on a tour of the school with Megu-nee. Confused and somewhat frightened, Miki ends up asking Yuki who this 'Megu-nee' she keeps talking to is. Here our suspicions that the Megu-nee Yuki has been talking to is just a part of her delusions. Yuki verges on another breakdown after being confronted with the reality of her situation once again, but she's ultimately saved by Yuuri and Kurumi. After sending Yuki off, the girls explain Yuki's condition to Miki and explain to her that Megu-nee was their teacher who sacrificed herself to save them. Miki agrees to play along with Yuki's fantasies, but voices her displeasure at the concept of deceiving her. Having finished the backstory arcs, the show returns to the present-day. After finding some of Megu-nee's stationary, the girls decide to all write letters and send them off on balloons for people to find. In the midst of what is largely a fluff episode, Yuki once again comes close to snapping as she's confronted by the fact that all five of them (including Megu-nee) could not possibly have fit into a four-person car. After she runs off to find Megu-nee and have her explain what happened, Miki once again voices her displeasure at keeping Yuki in her delusions. Yuki subconsciously returns to the place Megu-nee died and is met with a vision of Megu-nee, who encourages Yuki to stay inside the world she's created.

In my opinion, SCHOOL-LIVE is at it's tipping point. So far, the only moments of tragedy within the plot have been in the backstories. All of the episodes taking place in the present are largely feel-good fluff - or at least feel-less-terrible fluff. Heading into the third quarter of the season, some bad shit is bound to go down soon. The last few episodes have had re-occurring moments of Yuki being inches away from breaking after being slapped by reality, but she has yet to go over the edge. The show has also introduced the disagreement between the girls of how to handle Yuki's situation. While Miki realizes that Yuki's ignorance and happiness is what keeps the rest of them going,  Miki is starting to feel that they're ultimately exploiting Yuki and being cruel to her. I imagine this is going to develop into a major plot event soon. SCHOOL-LIVE has thus far remained impressively directed both in its pacing and in the way Yuki's delusions and the others' reality are constantly bleeding over into each other for the viewer to see. It's melancholy and tragic, but I can't help myself from wanting to see more.

Strong Recommendation

Seiyu's Life
David O'Neil

Seiyu's Life has always been best at two things: Comedy, and industry insight. It's humor is some of the strongest of the season, with genuinely clever gags paired with energetic animation, while the factoids about voice acting, while a bit ham fisted, are often interesting nonetheless. That's what makes the sixth episode interesting, as it was the farthest the show had ventured into something more emotionally charged, and I was happy to see the show pulling it off surprisingly well.

The show had hardly been all fun and games, as I've mentioned before, the series does a good job not glorifying the japanese voice acting industry, showing both the positives and negatives of the profession along with making clear how difficult it is for newbies trying to make a name for themselves. But the sixth episode delivers an emotional gut-punch far above anything the series had dealt with before. In concept it may seem fairly trivial, but the subject matter they explore comes off as surprisingly distressing for something that comes down to not getting a part in a show, something the show has already done before. The episode is very melancholy for a brief period, and it manages to balance this between its usual goofy tone quite well. It all culminates in a heartwarming conclusion, along with one that once again does a good job working in little cameos without being intrusive, or unnatural in its execution. It's one of the best episodes the series has had, and showed that the series was capable of more than just getting a laugh out of the audience, but also conveying the emotional side of the profession as well.

The next episode takes a step back and heads back to its usual routine, not much out of the ordinary happens but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's a fun episode, one with probably the most neat information on voice acting the show has had in a while. Tidbits on voicing foreign films, audio books, and video games are all welcome new aspects of voice acting for exploring, some of the parts on the oddities of video game voice acting (having to act out various versions of grunting noises, having to read lines without context) I found especially interesting as a fan of video games. With that said, it did feature some of the most static animation the show has had thus far. The show is usually full of energy and creative animation, but the most recent episode felt very lifeless and stagnant in that area. But still, the show continues to be a blast to watch, along with achieving new emotional heights as well.

Strong Recommendation

SHIMONETA: A Boring World Where the Concept of Dirty Jokes Doesn’t Exist
Joe Straatmann

If you're into this series, then the recent developments have to feel like presents rewarding your loyalty. I'm sure the people who completely dismiss this as poor, crass sex comedy for the sake of poor, crass sex comedy will find nothing more to peak their interest, but these people haven't been locked in a room forced to watch My Wife is the Student Council President on a loop to learn what actual bad sex comedy writing is. Rather than remaining stagnant, Shimoneta raises the comedy to meet the escalating circumstances. It's not going to be mistaken as a masterpiece, but it is a show that continues to know exactly what it's doing and refuses to rest on its laurels.

After beginning a sexual awakening at their high school, interest has turned to creating sexual aids to help them exercise their urges since most acts of self love are likely monitored by their PM devices. This is like being a fly on the wall while the details of the wheel were being hammered out. It's not all buzzing and consumable items with large holes (Seriously, one of the episodes ends with instructions on how to make your own edible sexual aid at home), though. The success of SOX has opened up channels to other porn terrorists, and let's just say some of them are far more... terrifying. The head of porn terrorist group Gathered Fabric is White Peak, a high-class pervert who wraps himself in panties like a mummy while sipping wine (At least, what I assume to be wine) and has the power to hijack transmissions and broadcast his own creepy warnings. White Peak claims to ally with SOX and their extreme ways are putting more heat on our heroes than sympathy.

I've said this series has decent writing and most people disagree, chalking up to liking it as a guilty pleasure at best even when they're greatly enjoy it. So what's my argument?  The key to many comedies or parodies clicking is that if it the elements were made dead serious, would it still work with a few adjustments? The answer to Shimoneta is likely yes. It's a dystopian future where people are stripped of their rights as human beings for the greater good showing an extreme end point to a current issue (In this case, Japan trying way too hard to tidy up its image before the Olympics). In this world, we have a main character whose father was disappeared by being a terrorist against the government interests. This character only wants to be an "ideal citizen" in the face of the public shame he endured as a child and it's accelerated by his first love being considered one of the most ideal of citizens. Instead, he's dragged into the same cause as his father by a terrorist who wants to set things back the way they were. The terrorist herself doesn't have any hatred towards the people and in fact has the same level of admiration for the most ideal citizen as the main character, but her unique outlook on life sees what warped creatures mankind has become and wants to stop it. The main character has his wants, but also has enough knowledge from his shaded past that he can see where this crazy world is going, so he's trapped between the forces. In the midst of fighting the authorities, the terrorists looking to free humanity also have to fight with people on their cause who want to go much farther and burn their own grotesque image into the world.

It needs a few specifics for spice, but tell me a book with that description wouldn't at least somewhat interest you. I've seen Oscar nominated scripts that have done less fundamental work. The fundamentals are simply detailed with phallic symbols, the character dynamics attached to bodily fluids, and its inventiveness linked to figuring out a way to make self-pleasuring devices from scratch. Yes, it's vulgar. It's also pretty good. Entertainment CAN be both!

Solid Recommendation

Snow White with the Red Hair
David O'Neil

In my experience with anime, you don't always need big conflicts, high stakes, or complex plot lines to hold the audience's attention. Sometimes all it takes is a good sense of atmosphere, some well crafted characters, and interesting interactions between those characters. Snow White with the Red Hair is that kind of simple show. So far little actually happens, and its never especially memorable, but it's charming enough to keep my attention.

There have been some plot developments, but fairly small ones. The first being the introduction of Zen's older brother, who challenged Zen's decision to spend so much time with Shirayuki, along with questioning if it was really best for him to go any further with their relationship. The other being the return of Raj, the prince from the first episode (you know, the one who tried to kidnap Shirayuki), and that prince's interactions with Zen, his brother, and Shirayuki. Believe it or not, I actually had fun seeing more of Raj. He's scum, but the kind you love to hate. As the show's gone on he's only gotten more cartoonish with his shadiness, making him weirdly likable in a despicable sort of way. Plus, he actually had a sweet moment towards the end of the most recent episode. His presence also forced Shirayuki to further consider her future, after all, arrangements could be made now to have her return to her home country without the previous fear of Raj making her his concubine. She had to wrestle with her feelings for Zen, the hostility shown from Zen's older brother, and her dedication to creating a new path for herself. It's made the past two episodes engaging character driven stories, probably the most I've enjoyed the show so far.

As good as the smaller character moments have been, I can't help but wonder if there are some bigger events coming down the line. While it has been handling its more relaxed atmosphere very well as of late, I also feel there could be potential for even greater things if it went further with its characters and conflicts. In addition, I do feel that the side characters continue to be criminally neglected in the story. While I understand Zen and Shirayuki are the focus, I still feel I'd like to see Lowen, Seiran, and Obi expanded on more as characters. I can't help but feel Snow White with the Red Hair could go farther with its characters and ideas, but it's still a sweet low key romance that does what its trying to accomplish as of now very well.

Solid Recommendation

Ushio and Tora
David O'Neil

Since it's start I haven't stopped enjoying Ushio and Tora, but still, around the last time I covered it I was starting to worry. While its likable characters and crazy action kept the show enjoyable, I felt that it needed to move beyond its simple "monster of the week" format and integrate something resembling plot progression if it was going to prevent becoming nothing more than a weekly fun distraction for me, rather than something I truly get excited to watch. And the very next episode, it had the exact sort of plot progression I'd wanted. More anime studios should shamelessly cater to my demands like that.

Episode seven was the first episode to shake up the plot in a major way. We learn more about Ushio's father, his involvement with all the magical business going on lately, a secret organization conspiring to use the Beast Spear for their own benefit, and most importantly, that Ushio's understanding of his mother's past isn't all he thought it was. The resulting chain of events makes for some of the most engaging major plot turns the series has had thus far, along with some hugely entertaining moments, a great action scene, solid characterization, and some interesting foreshadowing. All in all it's probably the biggest episode so far in terms of how much is going on in it, so it's really impressive how it manages to fit it all into a single episode and not make it feel rushed or overly stuffed. It's careful pacing shines more than ever, along with its mastery of balancing comedy of drama. The seventh episode of Ushio and Tora moved the series forward a lot, and was probably my favorite episode of the series so far. All the series's strengths are in full form, and it comes together wonderfully.

The next episode is a step down, but that's less an insult to the episode and more because of just how great the previous one was. Episode eight has Ushio progressing towards new plot points, but as a whole is still more of a typical filler-structure episode for the show. Other than some brief foreshadowing towards the end, it's just a new random monster for them to fight, paired with a few new side characters who have to overcome some emotional hurdles to help defeat the monster. It's a solid episode, though after the great previous one it can't help but pale in comparison somewhat. Nonetheless, it's reassuring to see Ushio and Tora taking some big steps forward for the plot as a whole, which makes me much more interested in where it's planning to go.

Strong Recommendation

Wakaba*Girl
Danni Kristen

Every few seasons I come across a good show with a finale episode that came an episode or two after what I felt should have been the finale. I can genuinely say that Wakaba*Girl is the first show I've seen that had its should-have-been-a-finale episode at the midpoint of its season. After learning of Wakaba's early curfew, her friends all pay her a surprise visit to try and convince her mother to let her go to the festival with them. They successfully convince Wakaba's sister to let her go, and their mother agrees as well. We then follow Wakaba as she enjoys her very first summer festival with her friends. Watching fireworks alone on a bench, they share a touching moment together. It all feels extremely finale-like, but right before the episode ends it shows them going to school for the new semester. In the next episode we watch as Shiba prepares herself for a school beauty pageant and the others help plan their class's play for the culture festival.

Aside from the episode that felt like a finale, Wakaba*Girl has stayed true to the form its held thus far. It still succeeds in being criminally adorable, despite not having much substance to it. If all moe, slice of life shows were birthday cakes, Wakaba*Girl would be one made entirely out of icing. Sure, icing is good, but its easy to get sick of without the actual cake there adding balance. Luckily, Wakaba*Girl doesn't wear thin as quickly due to its episodes only being eight minutes long. That gives it plenty of time to cram in as much teeth-rotting cuteness as it can for one scenario before the viewer can get bored. How much you enjoy Wakaba*Girl remains entirely dependent on how much tolerance you have for moe.

Weak Recommendation

Wakako-zake
Danni Kristen

With each installment it seems to get more and more challenging to find anything to write about Wakako-zake that I haven't already said before. With each episode's length maxing out at two minutes, there's not much room for this show to go anywhere. Every week she sits down at a new restaurant, orders some food, and enjoys it. That's all that ever happens. That's all that ever needs to happen. What makes Wakako-zake so endearing a show is the simple fact that it doesn't try to do anything other than chronicle a working woman's evening outings. It's calm and relaxing. Put aside a few minutes of your time this week to watch it. 

Strong Recommendation

Second Opinions

Actually, I Am

Jonathan: Oh my god the wolf "man." Oh my god. This is the best character ever. This show's existence is now justified, despite it coming about in the wake of Monster Musume. The jokes are picking up, and the interactions between our main characters are adorable, but it's going to be these new characters that are going to make this series a treat. Solid Recommendation

Aoharu X Machinegun

Jonathan: Starting to be a bit weary with this show. A lot of the drama is so played up that it becomes suffocating and a bit ridiculous in a bad way, especially the stupid turn of not letting girls on the team cause guilt complexes and blah blah blah. But there's still a lot working in this story, not to mention the really cool visual setpieces, like Hotaru feeling the intensity of the other players. So yeah, I still like this one. Could go either way. Solid Recommendation

Charlotte

Joe: Here we are at the most Key part of this Key adaptation: A sudden tragedy that shakes the main character to his core. The problem for this series is the main character Yuu has a tendency to veer towards the unlikable when he's left to his own designs, and it shows during his depressed period. He wants to be left all alone, and when he can't be left alone, he sadistically harms everyone who gets in his way. Thankfully, this downward spiral seems limited to one episode and if they keep the damage to just this little period of time, it should be okay. They probably won't, but I'm only grading what's there and not what I'm theoretically going to watch. Solid Recommendation

GANGSTA.

Stephanie: There seem to be two sides of the story have been going on from the beginning: the present day and Worick and Nic's past when they first met. While I find little Nic to be the biggest adorable dork of the series, that backstory gives a very strong sense of a character study for these two leads. However, the present day side of the story isn't as strong and it's something I'm surprised I hadn't picked up on sooner. It doesn't bother me that much, but since we are going into the second half of the series, and that backstory is (for all intents and purposes) complete, we're going to really need to see the development and story grow much more than it has been. Also, at the time this report is released, Gangsta has started it's Broadcast Dub thanks to FUNimation. After watching the first two episodes, there is tons of potential in this dub. True, casting Ian Sinclair as Worick was a bit too obvious, but this is a different character that he's voicing so I'm curious to see what happens. Same goes with Felecia Angelle's take on Alex. But I have to say the thing that makes me the most giddy is seeing Brandon Potter in a larger role again! It's been a while since he's had a lead or major role in a series, and taking on Nic has got to be the most challenging I've seen him do. While some may disagree on the choice and the direction, I think it's great! Christopher Bevins, the ADR Director, has got a great group to work with here! Now let's get that story up and we're all set! Solid Recommendation

Himouto! Umaru-chan

Jonathan: Kirie continues to be the best character, but I'm starting to be won over by Sylphy, who turns out to be way more interesting and likable than her first appearances would have suggested. I also like how she has a habit of bringing the best out of Umaru, who's otherwise kind of a vile creature. Hopefully these two continue to improve the show slowly and surely. Solid Recommendation

Monster Musume: Everyday Life With Monster Girls

Stephanie: Ok. This is the first week where it got rather close to hentai thanks to episode six, and I'm not too fond of that. Luckily the episode prior to it was still rather true to form and enjoyable. While that episode was great, ending this week on the rather creepy episode leaves a bad feeling to me and I'm hoping it gets better next time and for the rest of the show. I really should hate this show, but I don't. And this is coming from someone who seriously dislikes Prison School after one episode (I gave the Broadcast Dub a try) and EVERYONE here seems to like that show.... I don't know what's going on, but whatever it is I guess it's fine. So long as Prison School stays far away and I can still enjoy Monster Musume. That's all I want. Weak Recommendation

Overlord

Stephanie: The gears are slowly shifting in this series as we've gone from establishing the story and the characters and are now working towards the main goal. This has involved a complete change in setting and comes close to becoming another series entirely with the end goal keeping it from going that far. While some people may think this isn't a good choice and makes it seem more like the repetitive MMORPG series we've seen before, the actions of our lead make sense in the long term as information gathering is very important. But what worries me is, as always, this now half way point for the series where it really needs to kick it into high gear or else the series will be lost in the end. The last scene in the seventh episode, luckily, has a new direction set and ready to go! It's time to see what this series is really going to do! Solid Recommendation

SCHOOL-LIVE!

David: School Live's last few episodes have been very slow, and largely uneventful. While this does leave me hoping for something a bit less mundane (does that make me a bad person, considering what "less mundane" may entail with this show's premise?) it's also shown just how strong the show's direction is. Even when the zombies aren't around, even when much of School Live looks like a typical slice of life on the outside, it's delivering subtle, and fascinating looks into the psyches of the stranded girls in ways both heartwarming and disturbing. This is best shown through Yuki, who's delusions are keeping her from accepting reality, while simultaneously remain the one glimmer of hope in these girl's lives keeping them sane. Their futile hope continues to shine even when faced with the deepest sense of despair, and it makes their unlikely survival all the more frightening as it implies that winter grows ever closer. That and the show's impeccable attention to detail in everything to use of music, sound effects, lighting, and visual storytelling continues to make one of the best shows of the season. Strong Recommendation

Jonathan: The show going into backstory arcs was unexpected, but I don't mind too much. This series is really light on plot, but it doesn't really need it and gets tension from just the situations the characters find themselves in. It uses the laid back narrative of a slice of life and pulse pounding structure of a thriller to really grab you exactly when it wants to, and I just have to see where this adaptation is headed for the end. Strong Recommendation

Seiyu's Life

Stephanie: Last season, I mentioned that there are series that can be hidden jewels and mentioned RinNe as one. This season, I'd say Seiyu's Life is the hidden gem. While the comparisons to Shirobako, a similar series in premise (and one I haven't completed yet), are ever present, Seiyu's Life gives something fresh and different thanks to the focus on being a seiyu rather than focusing on the anime industry. The main trio of seiyus each have fun personalities as well as their qualities that balance each other out as they make their unit. It's a series that has been consistent since day one, and is one of the more unlikely series that I've grown to love. As someone who was considering skipping it this season, I'm glad I didn't. Gonzo has come back in full force with this one, and all I have to say is I missed you, you silly studio. Solid Recommendation

SHIMONETA: A Boring World Where the Concept of Dirty Jokes Doesn’t Exist

David: I enjoyed Shimoneta from the very beginning, but largely because in terms of this sort of show I have fairly low standards. Don't get me wrong, there were things I truly liked about the show, but I also just got a kick out of a bunch of dorks spouting sexual innuendo for the hell of it. I was even more glad though, the past few episodes, when the show went from "fairly raunchy" to "absolutely goddamn bonkers". Most people probably already know about the love nectar cookies, but the show has continued with such memorable scenes as when the now an insane, sex crazed maniac Anna gets a vibrator stuck between her boobs, and chases the protagonist around the school, desperately trying to bang him, on the verge of climaxing, as it all eventually culminates in a game of orgasm chicken, Anna on top of the main character, rubbing his naughty bits, as it all comes down to who bursts first. The show has stopped holding back, and it helps that it's comedic timing and writing is stronger than it's ever been. Before I was half joking when I recommended Shimoneta, but with the direction its headed, I actually think it's well worth watching just watching the madness play out. Strong Recommendation

Snow White with the Red Hair

Stephanie: The arrival of the first crown prince, as well as Zen's older brother, has certainly given a different and new piece to the series, albeit similar to one from one of the characters from an earlier episode. This time, however, it seems like there may be a bit more struggles ahead for the two leads as trying to get a man who is to be the next king off your case has got to be hard. Meanwhile, the romance between Shirayuki and Zen is still growing wonderfully in this fairy tale setting with Shirayuki finally working her way to having the same affection for Zen as he does for her. Again, this series is more than just a fairy tale romance, and it's managed to be fairly consistent since the very beginning. With a mix of romance and politics in a fairy tale setting, there much more appeal to Snow White then some make it out to be. Strong Recommendation

Ushio and Tora

Jonathan: The plot is finally kicking in, and is it just me or did Bleach take a lot of notes from this series? The oddly dorky but cool main character, trolling dad who's really looking out for his kid, secrets of birth, ect. It's kind of neat seeing how this series influenced the shonen battle genre we know today in its very simple ways, but it still has a lot of identity for itself in the main relationship between Ushio and Tora. And seriously, Tora is the best sidekick demon ever. Good on ya, ya 90s as fuck fun time. Strong Recommendation