Summer 2020 Anime Season
June 10, 2020 4:53 PM - Subscribe
Anichart. MyAnimeList. A little bit enka and a little bit visual-kei.
The number of shows (both new and continuing) announced to start in July is half of a normal season's -- less than 20 as I post this -- and I have to assume Coronavirus is to blame for most of that.
The disruptions in many series' schedules during the Spring season is probably going to have consequences as well. Some series will probably simply end early and maybe have more bonuses than usual on the Blueray releases, but I suspect other series' investors are going to push to have their shows fulfill a full season's commitment by hook or by crook.
The number of shows (both new and continuing) announced to start in July is half of a normal season's -- less than 20 as I post this -- and I have to assume Coronavirus is to blame for most of that.
The disruptions in many series' schedules during the Spring season is probably going to have consequences as well. Some series will probably simply end early and maybe have more bonuses than usual on the Blueray releases, but I suspect other series' investors are going to push to have their shows fulfill a full season's commitment by hook or by crook.
I hear ya. Bakarina got a fantastic adaptation and much of the otome game isekai holds up better than various shonen power fantasy isekai. I mean, I have a weakness for the latter anyway but the majority of it fails even by the standards of junk-culture guilty pleasure.
posted by ardgedee at 1:29 PM on June 11, 2020
posted by ardgedee at 1:29 PM on June 11, 2020
The new season starts next week and I've taken another look at the new show lists and... have some series been cancelled before they began? I'm pretty sure there are fewer shows in the list now than there were two weeks ago.
Unlike the spring season, which was very strong (or at least started strong before shows started falling to Covid), the summer season looks awful, featuring pretty much nothing but moeblobs, ecchi and fighting.
I might risk giving "Monster Musume no Oishasan" a try, nothing else looks even interesting enough to peek at. The manga is enjoyable trash (more or less the Monster Musume series from a couple years ago but set in a medieval fantasy world with fighting and high adventure), but I'm expecting an anime version to focus primarily on the bouncing-boobies aspect, and... well, it's not whether I have a problem with it, but that I find it annoying when a potentially good story has to get repeatedly derailed so that the women in the show can get debased by proxy. (Monster Musume was exploitative fare too, but that was entirely the point of the show and story so it's harder to get up in arms about.)
We'll probably be using our TV time catching up on a bunch of old series this summer.
posted by ardgedee at 2:41 PM on June 22, 2020
Unlike the spring season, which was very strong (or at least started strong before shows started falling to Covid), the summer season looks awful, featuring pretty much nothing but moeblobs, ecchi and fighting.
I might risk giving "Monster Musume no Oishasan" a try, nothing else looks even interesting enough to peek at. The manga is enjoyable trash (more or less the Monster Musume series from a couple years ago but set in a medieval fantasy world with fighting and high adventure), but I'm expecting an anime version to focus primarily on the bouncing-boobies aspect, and... well, it's not whether I have a problem with it, but that I find it annoying when a potentially good story has to get repeatedly derailed so that the women in the show can get debased by proxy. (Monster Musume was exploitative fare too, but that was entirely the point of the show and story so it's harder to get up in arms about.)
We'll probably be using our TV time catching up on a bunch of old series this summer.
posted by ardgedee at 2:41 PM on June 22, 2020
Yeah, after the ridiculously strong two-punch of Villainess and Re:Dive this Spring, the Summer is not looking promising right now. I remember the Uzaki-chan manga being less porny than it sounds, though, so we'll see how this adaptation handles it.
posted by one for the books at 4:59 PM on June 23, 2020
posted by one for the books at 4:59 PM on June 23, 2020
Spring season had a lot of fantastic shows, unfortunately many of them were cut short by the pandemic: "Wave, Listen to Me" (ran to completion), "Gal & Dino" (unfortunately only six-ish eps), "Appare Ranman" (four eps), second season of "Bookworm" (ran to completion, third season is likely), "Bakarina" (ran to completion, second season scheduled), second season of "Kaguya-san" (will run to completion)...
I usually only watch three or four shows per season but this season I've been watching I think eight.
posted by ardgedee at 11:47 AM on June 24, 2020
I usually only watch three or four shows per season but this season I've been watching I think eight.
posted by ardgedee at 11:47 AM on June 24, 2020
Is Oregairu S3 going ahead this season like it was supposed to? I have mixed feelings about it--I liked the first two but I suspect they're going to wrap it up by laying the melodrama on thick and then having the most obvious ending possible, and I can't muster any enthusiasm for it. I subscribed to Funimation a couple weeks ago 'cause I felt like Crunchyroll wasn't picking up any shows I wanted, and now instead of finding anything new I'm just watching, like, Haruhi-Chan and a bunch of other silly stuff that I've already seen.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 9:44 AM on June 27, 2020
posted by Sing Or Swim at 9:44 AM on June 27, 2020
Funimation has "Wave, Listen to Me" and "Kaguya-sama". They're totally different, but both are fun and inventive and at least once will make you scream.
posted by ardgedee at 10:20 AM on June 27, 2020
posted by ardgedee at 10:20 AM on June 27, 2020
Yes, Oregairu is running, and I am so there for it. There's apparently a contractual 24-hour delay for western simulcast, so CR and Funi aren't publishing E1 until tomorrow.
Also worth recommending, I think, is Deca-Dence. A dystopian monsters-take-over-the-world story, with a few bits going off the beaten path. I have a lot of respect for NUT after their work on Tanya the Evil, and after watching E1, I think that they are clearly pushing their limits on this one. The artistry is almost fantastic, but I caught them trading some frames and on-model accuracy for motion and spectacle. It still looks pretty cool, but I hope that they haven't bitten off more than they can chew.
I'm finding God of High School to be a comical romp after E1. The fight scenes are done well, but no one can possibly hold suspension of disbelief for anything here. It might make a good hatewatch, for people who are into that kind of thing. The most interesting thing here is that, even though the primary screenplay is in Japanese, the setting in Korea - and the people being Korean - are a first-class concept here. A lot of anime adaptions of Korean source material wash over the Korean-ness of their settings, which pisses me off. It's refreshing to see that not happening here so far.
posted by Citrus at 8:17 PM on July 9, 2020
Also worth recommending, I think, is Deca-Dence. A dystopian monsters-take-over-the-world story, with a few bits going off the beaten path. I have a lot of respect for NUT after their work on Tanya the Evil, and after watching E1, I think that they are clearly pushing their limits on this one. The artistry is almost fantastic, but I caught them trading some frames and on-model accuracy for motion and spectacle. It still looks pretty cool, but I hope that they haven't bitten off more than they can chew.
I'm finding God of High School to be a comical romp after E1. The fight scenes are done well, but no one can possibly hold suspension of disbelief for anything here. It might make a good hatewatch, for people who are into that kind of thing. The most interesting thing here is that, even though the primary screenplay is in Japanese, the setting in Korea - and the people being Korean - are a first-class concept here. A lot of anime adaptions of Korean source material wash over the Korean-ness of their settings, which pisses me off. It's refreshing to see that not happening here so far.
posted by Citrus at 8:17 PM on July 9, 2020
I enjoyed God of High School as a turn brain off type of watch. And it was fun seeing recognizable Seoul landmarks such as the 63 Building or Namdaemun.
Mixed feelings about Deca-Dence . It's reminding me of Dimension W due to the two main characters, Natsume and Kaburagi, but I'll have to see where they go with Natsume's characterization as she's bordering on but not quite being annoying at the moment.
posted by needled at 6:45 AM on July 11, 2020
Mixed feelings about Deca-Dence . It's reminding me of Dimension W due to the two main characters, Natsume and Kaburagi, but I'll have to see where they go with Natsume's characterization as she's bordering on but not quite being annoying at the moment.
posted by needled at 6:45 AM on July 11, 2020
OK, so, I just got around to Deca-Dence E2. And... What the cinnamon toast f**k did I just watch?! That's a hell of a curveball, man. I'm still processing.
posted by Citrus at 11:13 PM on July 16, 2020
posted by Citrus at 11:13 PM on July 16, 2020
Yeah, Deca-dence: what the what? THAT certainly got a hell of a lot more interesting between the first episode and the second episode.
My suspicion is that we're getting Oregairu: The Forced Melodrama Season. The art is slightly off, it seems to me, and every scene is full of sad smiles and meaningful glances and Weighty Remarks Of Great Significance. Except they're not, the show is bluffing, they're just trying to take the shortest route to the most obvious ending, and I'm kind of not feeling it. But whatever, Oregairu is great, love this show, let's get this over with.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 10:57 AM on July 18, 2020
My suspicion is that we're getting Oregairu: The Forced Melodrama Season. The art is slightly off, it seems to me, and every scene is full of sad smiles and meaningful glances and Weighty Remarks Of Great Significance. Except they're not, the show is bluffing, they're just trying to take the shortest route to the most obvious ending, and I'm kind of not feeling it. But whatever, Oregairu is great, love this show, let's get this over with.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 10:57 AM on July 18, 2020
It's pretty rare that I drop a show. But, after 3 eps, I've given Gibiate as much rope as I can stand to. It's awful in every dimension. If there were a Bulwer-Lytton prize for anime...
posted by Citrus at 12:25 AM on August 2, 2020
posted by Citrus at 12:25 AM on August 2, 2020
After Deca-dence dropped its mind-blower in episode 2, it's kind of settled back into the "Perky teen girl saves the world" story arc that it had established in the first ep. I'm not sure what I want out of the series, but I feel like it's failing to deliver on its premise anyway.
posted by ardgedee at 10:46 AM on August 2, 2020
posted by ardgedee at 10:46 AM on August 2, 2020
On the upside-ish, Appare Ranman has resumed after halting early in the spring season due to the pandemic; a fourth episode dropped last week. Although it feels like there have been changes in the production or direction because the artwork isn't as tight as it was in the first three episodes.
posted by ardgedee at 10:48 AM on August 2, 2020
posted by ardgedee at 10:48 AM on August 2, 2020
> I might risk giving "Monster Musume no Oishasan" a try
Forgot to follow up on this. I only managed a little over 15 seconds before noping out.
The first episode begins with about 15 seconds of rapid-fire backstory then a swift cut to the MC massaging a woman's breast. So much for that one.
posted by ardgedee at 7:15 PM on August 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
Forgot to follow up on this. I only managed a little over 15 seconds before noping out.
The first episode begins with about 15 seconds of rapid-fire backstory then a swift cut to the MC massaging a woman's breast. So much for that one.
posted by ardgedee at 7:15 PM on August 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
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... dear God what am I saying?
posted by charred husk at 10:33 AM on June 11, 2020