Summer 2018 Week 3

We’ve reached week 3 and technically that means I should have an actual watch list sorted but to be honest I think this season I’m going to be pretty fluid in picking up stuff and dropping it.

Carrying over from the Spring season I will be reviewing My Hero Academia as part of my collaboration with Kapodaco and also Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi for patrons. I’ll also continue with Steins;Gate 0 though I’m not sure if I’m going to be reviewing GeGeGe no Kitaro every week (I will keep it on the line up for now).

New shows that I will definitely follow include Attack on Titan Season 3, Cells at Work, Angolmois, 100 Sleeping Princes and the Kingdom of Dreams and Phantom of the Twilight.

Other shows that I will be following and may or may not drop include How Not To Summon a Demon Lord, The Master of Ragnarok, Lord of Vermilion, and Holmes of Kyoto. I already dropped Island though I’ll keep an eye on it to see if I want to pick it back up later in the season and as of next week I’m dropping Angels of Death.

And that’s me for the season but I’d love to know what stayed on your watch-list and your thoughts on the episodes last week so be sure to leave me a comment.

What I watched

100 Sleeping Princes and the Kingdom of Dreams (Episode 3)

I can’t help but wonder if this is all this anime is going to offer us given so far it is strictly average and strictly formulaic. It would be nice to think that maybe they’ll shake things up in later episodes, but I honestly wouldn’t count on it. If mediocre is your thing, this is going to shine, but otherwise has offered little more than a brief fairy tale.

Angels of Death (Episode 3)

Every time Rachel reminds Zack he has to kill her have a drink. Fall off your chair mid-episode and sleep. That is all. Seriously, for a concept with potential the execution here is lacking and the end result is an incredibly bland game walk through with no emotional resonance. I’d love this to improve, but right now dull is the best description.

Angolmois: Record of Mongol Invasion (Episode 3)

While bland is my buzz word for a lot of anime this season, I’m thinking ugly is going to be my go to term for Angolmois. It is ugly. Visually and in the way the characters act and the way war is presented. And that makes this show quite unique this season. Where other shows have war and conflict occurring with pretty warriors, Angolmois is not afraid to be ugly.

Attack on Titan Season 3 (Episode 1)

Eren and the crew are back and they are still pretty much in the dark about things other than the fact that everyone outside of the scouts is apparently evil. Seriously, there are no nice people in the world of Attack on Titan which makes you wonder why they are even trying to save them. That said, if you’ve done two seasons of this, here’s season 3.

Banana Fish (Episode 3 – Not Reviewed)

And the confronting subject matter continues as episode 3 deals some off-camera damage to the protagonist and then sets up Eiji for some trauma in episode 4. What makes this work is it isn’t sensationalised for the sake of making a splash or to cover up lacklustre writing. The content is critical to the narrative tone being constructed and each and every scene is working.

Cells at Work (Episode 3)

Some of the shine came off of this show this week as I found without the red blood cell and platelets being ridiculously cute, the antics of the cells aren’t half as fun. Despite that, the episode was still pretty solid and remained true to the formula established in episodes 1 and 2. This anime is seems to be pretty consistent  though mileage may vary for viewers.

GeGeGe no Kitaro (Episode 17)

Another pretty ordinary week for GeGeGe no Kitaro. I’m hoping this is just a slump and it will turn around soon because some of the earlier episodes were quite fun. But if it doesn’t, this one is going to face the chopping block because the last two episodes have been pretty dull (as in I had to replay parts of the episodes because I zoned out).

Holmes of Kyoto (Episode 3)

My review of this one this week used the following describers: bland, sedate, innocuous, and nondescript. I’m kind of thinking that by itself speaks volumes for how ordinary and forgettable this series is so far. With that said,  it is very calming after work so I’m not dropping it, but I certainly will not recommend it unless there is a major improvement.

How Not To Summon a Demon Lord (Episode 4)

Okay, I was counting on this episode to let me know if I’d continue with this one and the answer is definitely yes. Undeniably there is a heavy amount of fan-service in this series but there’s also some really nice plot building and world development going on that is definitely keeping me interested at this stage. Looking forward to episode 5.

Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi (Episode 17 – Reviewed for Patrons)

To be honest Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi feels like it should have been a 12 episode show. Right now it honestly feels like we’re just stretching the content well beyond what it can actually fill in a satisfying manner and the end result is a pretty bland viewing experience. It isn’t bad, but it isn’t interesting or remarkable either.

Lord of Vermilion: The Crimson King (Episode 2)

Just look at that quality monster. Oh yeah, this show is definitely going to be one of those sub-par and generic action fantasy things that rolls around every now and again and makes people wonder why anyone likes fantasy. Despite that, I’m not dropping this just yet because there is some intrigue hidden underneath poor writing and visuals and maybe it will payoff (or maybe I’ll get smarter and drop it).

Phantom in the Twilight (Episode 3)

Right, so I enjoyed this, but there’s really nothing much to recommend about it. If you don’t mind a fairly shallow story of supernatural creatures that seems to keep skirting around the edges of a much more complex and interesting story, there’s some fun to be had. But, there’s a lot of opportunities missed here so far.

Steins;Gate 0 (Episode 15)

The support cast continue to dominate this show as they go about their plans and their personal dramas, and honestly that isn’t such a bad thing as this episode actually offered some compelling character work with the relationship between Suzuha and her parents in the past. While still not brilliant, I certainly had fun with this episode.

The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einhenjer (Episode 3)

Well, this one is neither horribly unwatchable nor particularly noteworthy and as there are more than a handful of anime on this watch-list that I’m not convinced I’ll see through to the end, I’ll probably keep watching this one until it either falls apart or actually gets good. That’s usually a sign that I’ve settled in for the season on something pretty average.

My Hero Academia (Episode 15)

And we enter another test, this time against older students from other schools as the kids compete to pass and get their provisional hero license. I can’t help but be concerned that they won’t manage to make this as thrilling as the sports tournament from last season but there are definitely some good things going on. I guess we’ll wait and see.

Episode of the Week

 

Character of the Week

Dropped or On Hold

• Hanebado (Episode 1)
• Harukana Receive (Episode 1)
• Island (Episode 4)
• Planet With (Episode 1)
• The Thousand Muskateers (Episode 1)
• Yuna and the Haunted Hotsprings (Episode 1)

If you want to join in the conversation on Twitter be sure to follow along: Summer Anime 2018

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Thanks for reading.

Karandi James

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