Anime Reviews Summer Season 2013

It's been a while since I blogged my thoughts on anime this season. I had a hell lot of school stuff to do. Finals week is also the same week when final episodes come out. So it really is a Finals Week.

I'm going to review animes that I watched this season in alphabetical order.
First off...

Ah the crowned best anime of 2013 though I beg to disagree. This is only my opinion but Shingeki no Kyojin(SnK) is on par with To Aru Kagaku no Railgun S. I would both crown them the best anime of 2013. SnK had a very unique plot and no cliche at all. It will always take you for a surprise which is why people love it. Because of it's popularity, I heard that in Japan, they would even show its last episode on the big screen. While the anime hasn't even finished yet, there were tons of cosplay and merchandise sold in my country. Normally an anime wouldn't be popular while it is still airing but SnK was the exception. Groups of cosplayers would copy every character and do the military salute of bumping your right fist on your chest and your left hand on your back.

While a second season is inevitable, it would take some time even years to come. They ended season 1 relatively close to the current manga chapter and the art and animation would probably take a lot of time.

SnK is just plain awesome.

Plot : 10/10

Animation : 10/10 No seen drop of animation.

Enjoyment : 10/10 Every episode is thrilling

Lasting Appeal : 10/10 You will never see anatomy books the same ever again.

Overall : 40/40

To Aru Kagaku no Railgun S is the second season and the fourth one in the To Aru Majutsu no Index universe. Basically To Aru Kagaku no Railgun is a side story of To Aru Majutsu no Index. The second season is worth 24 episodes and has two arcs in it, the Sisters Arc and the Chemicaloid Arc(Not sure if this is the official name of the arc). I love this season because it shows 4 out of 7 Level 5 Espers such as

#1 Accelerator

#3 Railgun

#4 Meltdowner

#5 Mental Out

A third season of either Index or Railgun is inevitable for the light novel has a lot of arcs to offer and the story is just getting started.

Plot : 10/10 Expect nothing else from the To Aru Universe.

Animation : 10/10

Enjoyment : 10/10 Epic fight scenes

Lasting Appeal : 10/10

Overall : 40/40

BONUS:

Endymion no Kiseki is a movie that was shown last year and was just subbed this season. What if we can go to space just by riding an elevator? It is physically impossible right? Well not for Academy City. In this movie, there is a space elevator that leads to a space station. Imagine the earth with a large stick sticking out from it.

The word "Miracle" is in the title because miracles happen whenever Arisa(in image) sing, a miracle happens.Also, Endymion is a mortal in Greek mythology. A handsome man, Selene, the Titan goddess of the Moon, fell in love with him, and asked Endymion's father, Zeus, that she wished for him to stay with her forever. Zeus granted her wish, putting him into eternal sleep. Every night, Selene visited him where he slept.

Endymion's relationship with the Titan of the moon, might be the reason for the naming, as if Endymion (the space elevator) reached up to heavens to become closer to the moon. 

Arisa is seen as a threat by the Church for her power matches that of a Saint(People who can match Level 5 Espers) and she had the power to "destroy the world". Ladlylee the Immortal(the antagonist) wanted to make use of her to finally end her own life by destroying the world. The science and magic side join forces to stop her plans and destroy Endymion.

What got me thinking is that, what if you cut down a tree from its roots? it will fall right? The Space Elevator was a massive structure and when its foundation was destroyed, wouldn't it come down crashing into earth or spin endlessly in zero-gravity? It was never shown in the movie as it just suddenly disappeared.

What is the recipe for a successful long lasting anime? Action, Comedy, Fan Service and more Fan Service. Blood Lad is like any other mainstream shounen anime; OP protagonist, attractive heroine and OOP antagonist. This anime would give that first impression but what would really give him off is that the protagonist is an Otaku Vampire. Yes, not only is he a vampire, he is also an otaku. His room is full of classical anime books and figurines such as doraemon and dragon ball. He also has consoles and plays Final Fantasy.

The only maddening part of this anime is the ending and it ends right in the climax! Because it ends in during the climax, it will surely have a second season.

Plot 8/10 Linear Plot. The Otaku Vampire thing will get to ya.
Animation 10/10 No sudden drop of animation.
Enjoyment 10/10 Pure comedy and action.
Lasting Appeal 8/10 The sudden ending is just too maddening.

Overall : 36/40

Dangan Ronpa(Bullet Refutal) would have parred with SnK and Railgun if it was not so rushed. Around 5~6th episode, I could no longer wait for a week to know what happens next so I downloaded the game. It would have taken me a whole day to finish the whole game if I didn't have school work. It actually took me a week but that is besides the point. The whole anime would run 4 hours and 30 minutes but the game would need a whole day of playtime.

In comparison, there are a lot of short cut and cut outs in the anime. They would cut out arguments but would still make the last verdict logical. All in all, the last episode made a huge impact with the entrance of Enoshima Junko and her multiple personality.

Plot : 10/10 Good Mystery is good plot
Enoshima Junko's Plot : Cup E? LOL

As there is a second season and a new set of students, it would most likely be a little far from the present. There is no English patch yet for Super Dangan Ronpa yet so most of us who can't understand Japanese will not be able to spoil each other.

Animation : 9/10 Compared to the game
Enjoyment : 10/10
Lasting Appeal : 10/10 You gotta love Monokuma and Enoshima Junko

Overall : 39/10

First Anime of the Summer Animes 2013. First impression is that "Okay, it seems interesting" but there was little plot at all(especially Natsuno's plot). It goes from one story to another. I only kept watching it because it was funny to see a dog retorting instead of a human. I actually never got bored of watching it and wasn't about to drop it.

Plot 6/10 3-4 Arcs in 12 episodes and just for the sake of comedy.
Animation 10/10 No sudden drop of animation
Enjoyment 8/10 S&M, Animal Abuse, Exaggerated Weapons, food and games, LOL
Lasting Appeal 9/10

Overall : 33/40

This anime is bashed for just being created. Fate Series is supposed to be an action packed anime filled with drama and the sorts and not about magical girls and the power of friendship and such. This anime was only recognized during the fight of Archerko and Saber Alter.

Archerko/Chloe Von Einzbern

Saber Alter/Dark Saber

If you're open minded and see this anime in its own right and not a part of the Fate Series, you would enjoy it.

Plot 10/10 A differentiation of the original Fate Plot
Animation 9/10 Runes and Fights
Enjoyment 10/10 I like every episode of it
Lasting Appeal 10/10 Loli~

Overall : 39/40

BONUS:
I recently just explored the Fate Series and during this summer season, I have driven myself to watch and play every media it has. Starting with Fate Stay Night then

Fate Zero is the prequel of Fate Stay Night and is obviously more grand. Fate Zero was written by Gen Urobuchi AKA Urobutcher. Gen Urobuchi is famous for his dark plot twist in every work he does. His most famous work would be Saya no Uta, Fate Zero, Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Psycho-Pass(See how he kills off his characters?).

You would wonder why Gen Urobuchi is the author of Fate Zero but not Fate Stay Night? I don't know either that's why I'm asking. Hahahahaha.

Anyway, Fate Zero has got to be the most epic media Type-Moon has ever produced. From it, I learned at heart that

Gilgamesh is the oldest hero; The Epic of Gilgamesh is the first written during Mesopotamian times and is the first epic known to man  He is half god half human and has only seen Enkidu, a mud doll made by the gods, as his equal.

 Hassan-I Sabbah is the first known assassin. He founded a group of assassins called Hashshashin(and hence assassin). Originally assassins murder for political reasons but nowadays, assassination is termed as silent murder.

Joan of Arc was the "Maid of Orleans" and had led many victory in the Hundred Year War between the French and the English. She was then forsaken by God and was burned at the stake for heresy. She was then later pronounced innocent and canonized as a martyr and Saint.

Gilles de Rais is a comrade-in-arms of Joan of Arc. He was devastated by the execution of Joan and turned against God. He was infamous for being a child serial killer. He would always kidnap children by promising food and shelter. When the child is filled with hope, he would then take them into despair. He would sodomize them then ask God for forgiveness afterwards. His atrocities continued for years before being captured and executed. He claimed that the only reason they executed him is for his wealth. He is an example of Gen Urobuchi's characters for in the anime, child butchering is seen.

Diarmuid Ua Duibhne is of Irish Mythology. He was also called Diarmuid of the Love Spot because he had a spot on his lower right eye(or sometimes on his forehead). In my opinion, he is the personification of "Beauty is a Curse" for his beauty led to his demise.

Alexander the Great was King of Macedonia and is also called King of Conquerors in Fate Zero for he had almost conquered the whole world.

King Arthur is debated to have existed or not. His legends were far too mythological to be considered non-fiction. His legendary sword, Excalibur, is always used in various media as an ever powerful sword.

Lancelot du Lac AKA Lancelot of the Lake was one of the reason of the downfall of King Arthur's empire. Considered to be one of the few friends of King Arthur and as he was also a member of the Round Table, he had great duty and loyalty to King Arthur.

King Gilgamesh was considered to be the King of Heroes or King of Kings for he was the first king. King Alexander the Great was the King of Conquerors for he almost conquered the world and King Arthur was the King of Knights for he wielded the most powerful sword, Excalibur. See how epic Fate Zero is?

Next up is...

Fate Extra is a PSP game that also follows the general plot of a Fate Series. Only this time, you get to choose your servant.

Again, I have learned many things from this game such as

Robin Hood. The "Steal from the rich and give to the poor" phrase.

Li Shuwen, one of the few people who mastered the Demon Fist where a second strike is not needed. He maintains a delicate balance between the innate goodness and inherent evil found in all men.

Lu Bu Feng Xian, greatest warrior of China. Also known as the General of Recursion.

Arcueid Brunestud, though not a real historical character, came from the True Ancestor of Vampires. She is the main heroine in the anime Tsukihime.

Vlad III Tepes, AKA Vlad the Impaler and Dracula. I learned that he was a celebrated hero for his countrymen and a demon for his enemies. He opposed an army of 150,000 Turkish troops with only 10,000 of his men by psychological warfare. After defeating an enemy, he would impale them. The numbers he impaled was so many that the Turkish troops had to walk a forest full of the impaled.

Francis Drake, though originally a man, was the first to circumnavigate throughout the world. The first intended man to circle the globe was supposedly Ferdinand Magellan but he was killed during an expedition through the Philippines.

Sir Gawain, the White Knight of the Round Table. If King Arthur was the Night, he was the Day. His sword is Excalibur Gallatine, the sister sword of Excalibur.

Tamamo-no-Mae was the facet of the sun goddess Ameterasu. She was not only beautiful but intelligent as well. She was courted by the Emperor and eventually, her true nature of being a fox spirit was exposed. She fought for all her might until she died.

Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus was the fifth Emperor of Rome. He was famous for burning Rome.

Trivia : The CD Burn program, Nero is called Nero because Nero burned ROM.

Lastly.......

Carnival Phantasm is a cross over of Fate Stay Night and Tsukihime. It is a comedic view mostly of the always serious Fate Series.

Examples:

Illya is mad because Berserker(Hercules) can't play fair and square in any sports because of his godly strength.

Medea, wife of Jason of the Argonauts, is mostly known as the most wicked woman in Greek Mythology for killing her own children and plotting against Jason. Here, she founds new love in her Master and is trying be all lovey dovey with him. Shirou and Rin is shocked because Medea is usually seen with a robe and hood over her face, making her unrecognizable.

In the anime, Saber always prioritize eating before going into battle. Thus, due to her overwhelming strength, just like any other mainstream shounen anime protagonist, she eats a lot to maintain that strength. Shirou is panicking here because she has a date with almost every girl he is close to including Illya, Rin and Sakura.

As there is King for anything, there is a King of the Jungle such as Saber Lion. Here, Saber Lion is seen in its most natural habitat and is looking for food. For comedy, Lancer is thrown into the wild to be lion food. (As Lancer is seen always dying in every episode)

Gilgamesh, being the most prideful among the servants, took a liking to Saber and her wits. Here, Saber takes off her Ahoge(Hair that is sticking out) and becomes Saber Alter. Gilgamesh is not used to being nagged and being sermon. Eventually, his pride is gone and have fallen for Saber Alter.

Medusa is always depicted with snake hair and a petrifying gaze. I myself don't know why her noble phantasm isn't a petrifying gaze(maybe because that is too powerful) but being able to ride legendary mounts such as a Pegasus. Only Perseus, the one who killed Medusa, was able to ride a Pegasus.



END OF FATE BONUS

Genshiken Nidaime is about Fujoshi(Rotten Girls) in college. Rotten Girls are girls who fantasize men x men interaction AKA Yaoi. Nidaime betweens Second Generation. You would think this is the second season but it is actually the third season. The first and second season were full of Otaku Men and just two Fujoshi but as they graduated, the Fujoshi were left to maintain Genshiken. Genshiken is a short for Gendai Shikaku Bunka Kenkyukai or The Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture AKA an otaku club. The first and second season was funny as hell and this one is hella funny. It shows the daily life of an otaku in college. There are a lot of gay jokes, love problems and anime references which makes it funny.

Plot : N/A There is no plot for it shows the daily life of a college otaku.
Animation : 10/10 Plain and Simple
Enjoyment : 10/10 Comedy gold
Lasting Appeal : 10/10 As it shows life problems an otaku can have, it will last for sometime.

Overall : 30/30
Note : Even though I rated it as perfect, it is still not on par with SnK and Railgun and would be below Dangan Ronpa.

As the title implies, it is an anime that does experiments on love. Its setting is in a all girls school. The Student Council President(Girl in image) has zero experience when it comes to love. She practices with a Dakimura called Daki which has a doodle of her ideal boyfriend in secret. As her secret is exposed to Riko, she begs her to keep it a secret and she accepts. Riko then lies that she is popular with boys and is willing to help out Maki in her pursuit on love.

Their experiments range from cliche events to outrageous ones. There is never a dull moment in their experiments.

Plot : N/A No plot as experiment varies.

Animation : 10/10 No drop of quality

Enjoyment : 10/10

Lasting Appeal : 8/10 I have a feeling I might forget this anime for a second.

Overall : 28/30

Another anime that brings you into a new perspective of life.

Takatsu, Karino is the author and also the one who wrote Working!! which is an anime that focuses on the daily lives of restaurant workers.

On the other hand, Servant x Service are about Civil Servants. Civil Servants are people who are paid with the people's taxes to do government work and they are often looked down upon because of that.

Both just goes to show that WORK is not just about WORK and it also isn't just FORCE TIMES DISPLACEMENT. It expresses that their is more to life even while working.

Animation : 9/10 Simple. No Screw ups.
Plot : N/A No plot(except for Lucy) as it shows different lives of different people.

Enjoyment : 8/10 I didn't feel bored when watching it.
Lasting Appeal : 9/10 For explainable reasons when I see Lucy in the future I will immediately remember "Lucy is her name".

Overall : 26/30

From start to finish, it was funny and sad, reflective, a true slice of life.It made me teary eyed a handful of times, laugh at every episode and gain a new perspective in life.

Lessons learned:
Don't be afraid to try new things.
"Only a fool spends money on useless things and only the wise spends his money to better himself."

Plot: 10/10 The everyday life of a dairy science student.
Animation: 10/10 IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE SIMPLE AND KEEP IT LIKE THAT.
Enjoyment: 10/10 I love every episode.
Lasting Appeal: 10/10 It gave lessons in life, of course i'll remember it by.

Overall: 40+1/40 because Season 2 in December OwO

When God has forsaken humanity and took the gift of birth and death, what will humanity do? God is still forgiving and lets those who want to end it all be buried by a Grave Keeper.

At the start I though it was dull anime but as I watched episode 3, especially this particular scene(image), it got interesting. Don't judge an anime by its introduction.

Animation 8/10 because there are times the animation is screwed up
Plot 10/10 Unique; No Cliche
Enjoyment 9/10
Lasting Appeal 9/10

Overall : 36/40

The World God Only Knows : Goddess Arc is a total insult to the manga. It skipped 5~7 girls at most and jumped to this arc.... Well ignoring this fact, the Goddess arc was well played out; it followed the manga and no short cuts.

Plot : 10-1/10 I would have given it a perfect if it didn't jump through arcs.

Animation : 10/10

Enjoyment : 10/10 Who wouldn't want to receive love advice? Especially when you're single since birth?

Lasting Appeal : 9/10

Overall : 38/10

AND THAT CONCLUDES THIS REVIEW

Feel free to live comments and violent reactions~

Extra : Saya no Uta(Song of Saya)

The title is too vague to guess what the plot is. It is a visual novel released since 2000( I mean really, it took me 13 years before realizing its existence) and is written by Gen Urobuchi. Yes, since it is written by Urobutcher, you would expect plot twist and yes I did. I countered all bad ends(which are all actually good ends) before encountering the true end(which is a bad end).

Here are some screen shots from the game:

The scene after this dialogue took me(or maybe everyone) by surprise. No spoilers here though.

One could not look away from the horrid behind Saya.

In this scene, Saya makes an effort of making "normal" food for the protagonist but was dumbstruck that the protagonist liked grotesque food more because of its flavor.

and by grotesque, I mean slimy, jelly blob. (and is even more horrid once you know the truth behind what she is eating)

Saya may not look like it but she is very intelligent. Oh so very intelligent(and always in heat).

This man is the protagonist and lives in an alien world. His only saving grace is when he gets home to where Saya is.

Though the game never showed how it ended and left it to the user's imagination, this is a probable comedic ending.(This came from a doujin)

I saw this while googling images of Saya. It is probably every character made by Type-Moon or Nitroplus(I think. I don't know half of them)

To end it all...

 Here are the badasses of Summer 2013. BADASS HALL OF FAME.

Levi of Shingeki no Kyojin
Enoshima Junko of Dangan Ronpa
Archerko/Chloe von Einzbern of Fate Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya
Kizuna Astin of Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi(Sunday without God)

ANTAGONIST SUMMER 2013

Saber Alter of Fate Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya
Annie Leonhart of Shingeki no Kyojin
Enoshima Junko of Dangan Ronpa
Mugino Shizuri/Meltdowner of To Aru Kagaku no Railgun