Good day everyone! I hope you’re doing well! We’re headed into the third week of my Impressions series, and boy is it going to be a great time! Just to recap from last week, sixteen series stepped up to show me what’s up! Out of the sixteen, DRAMAtical Murder and Locodol were dropped while Barakamon, Shonen Hollywood, and Tokyo Ghoul each received final passing grades! Meanwhile, three new series jumped in with their episode ones and there are still seven others that reached episode two! Today those seven receive their grades after reaching their third episode while the remaining three (and Majimoji) head into episode two! I really do hope I can narrow the playing field down a bit. There’s just so many good shows this season, it’s so hard to pick!
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| Luckily, you got Futaba back on track, Kou! |
Episode 2
The more I keep watching this series, the more I keep getting reminded of Say I love you. However, it’s a little different since Kou isn’t a popular guy like Yamato and unlike Mei’s desire to remain without friends at the beginning, Futaba has, what Kou basically calls, fake friends for fear of being alone. From there, it seems that a similar path for Futaba has begun, as she begins to make real friends just like Mei did. And all because a guy popped in and turned their worlds upside down! However, like I said, Futaba and Kou are way different than Mei and Yamato, giving Blue Spring Ride something different. We also get to see a little bit more of Makita and how she is going through something similar now compared to Futaba’s middle school days. It’s a nice set up to get Futaba out of her fake friendships and start heading towards a real one with Makita. This series is still beautiful and charming and it hasn’t slowed down just yet. Blue Spring Ride, if all goes well next week, may end up as my summer romance series. But we’ll have to wait and see!
HaNaYaMaTaEpisode 2
Today we get to spend some time with Yaya, or the “Ya” in the series title. It seems she has a bit of jealously going on because Hana is becoming friends with Naru. It’s a nice way to give us a bit more of her character, along with Naru’s first performance. The series is still very charming and rather cute. But it’s also been rather smart. I really like the writing of this series, so far, as it’s been able to keep the story and the characters entertaining and well rounded. The relationships between characters are clear, and the pacing has been very good since starting this series. I have no complaints to speak of, once again, with this series. Because of this, HaNaYaMaTa will head into next week and a final grade! I hope we get to finally have some time with the Ma and Ta of the group!
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| And cue an Izumi freak out! |
Episode 2
So Izumi manages to get through the commercial shoot, no problem! Unless you count that unexpected kiss at the beginning of the episode. And now Ryoma knows Izumi’s actually a guy and is a mixed of embarrassed and pissed. Well that’s one way to let an episode play out. I can’t even count how many times I was laughing so loud while watching the episode! Mostly thanks to a few moments where a body pillow was involved (not like that, you pervert!). It’s still rather oddly enjoyable, and I’m very curious as to where the series will go from here. Though there is one thing I’m a little worried about. So... When I did a google search on Love Stage, just so I could spell names correctly, I randomly looked at the images. Yeah....... Let’s just say I’m curious as to how those moments will be handled........ Anyways, Love Stage gets to shine once more next week!
Majimoji RurumoEpisode 2
If you’re wondering why I didn’t cover Rurumo last week, it’s because it was a last minute license pick up by the time Week 1 came out. So, because I don’t have a premium account with Crunchyroll anymore I couldn’t just jump into episode 2 like that. So, here we are now! Rurumo is now stuck on Earth until her training is done, but that would involve taking Kota’s life (which she doesn’t know about). We get some more hijinks before we end the episode with Rurumo staying with Kota and his family. This one has been an interesting one and some of the humor is great. For some reason, however, I can’t seem to get any more interest in it. Maybe it’s because there are better series this season or maybe this one just isn’t something I wanna keep watching over the summer. Regardless, not everything works out like I hope it would. For Majimoji, it’s making its stop here. I don’t mind coming back to it later on, but I don’t think I’d be excited to watch this one every single week.
And now, this week’s moment of truth! Where will these seven series land?!?!
Akame ga Kill!Episode 3
The one thing I kept worrying about these past few weeks when talking about Akame ga Kill was that it showed its hand a little too early. Ever since the first episode, the series has been suffering because of that. I haven’t been able to see a strong consistency with this series since starting it, and this third episode has proven that point even further. Like I guessed last week, this time Tatsumi works with Mine on a mission. We learn about her past a little bit, take on a huge mission, and the person Tatsumi is training under acknowledges his abilities. It’s just a repeat cycle right now. Though it doesn’t seem like it will remain that way for much longer, I get the feeling we’ll still have some parts of the cycle as the series moves further on. I do like what’s been established, however I feel like the series is not at the level that it produced in the first episode which has made me lose interest. Because of this, Akame ga Kill gets a Tentative Fail (On-Hold) grade from me. It’s not something I’d look forward to every week, but I would have changed my mind if it kept up its consistency. Looks like that’s not the case here.
Final Grade: Tentative Fail (On-Hold)
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| Ladies and gentlemen, I give you a badass princess! |
Episode 3
Time for the kids to kick some serious ass! And boy, do they! The episode certainly shows the potential these kids have as they execute a plan to take down the man chasing after them. Not only that, but the princess has now revealed herself to everyone involved in the incident. And then there’s Slaine who basically just murdered his commanding officer at the very end of the episode. This series has been nothing but thrilling and exciting from the start and dropping it now would be a serious crime, in my eyes! However, it’s not one of my favorites of the season. I feel like something about the series is off, but I haven’t figured out what it is yet. But, it looks amazing and the story has been handled extremely well so far! Not only that, but our two major characters Inaho and Slaine seem to be growing at a decent rate, though some more than others. All of these reasons are what made me decide to give Aldnoah.Zero a Passing grade this season! It’s been a good while since I’ve seen a decent mecha show, and this one may be the one that’ll help me fulfill that craving for a good mech anime!
Final Grade: Pass
Episode 3
Hiking apparently brings people together, I think. It’s been rather hard for me to see what to like about Glasslip, honestly. It’s such a simple charming series and I have been reminded of both Nagi no Asu and even Red Data Girl. It’s just hard because Glasslip is very similar in tone with the two. Everything has been going at a decent pace, so far, and the characters have been nothing but enjoyable. I guess my problem is, I’m just not as excited about the series anymore. It’s a lot more calm than plenty of other series I’ve been watching these past few weeks, but with the amount of things I’m doing in my life, right now, I want to be able to keep up with all of the series I want to watch. This puts me and Glasslip in a rather odd position. Here’s what I’m going to do. I’m giving Glasslip a Tentative Fail grade and putting the series On-Hold for now. Mind you, this doesn’t mean I hated it and you shouldn’t watch it. I think you should! It’s just for my sanity, and because I’ve seen a couple series that are similar to this one, that I’m placing it here. I do plan to pick it up again once everything is settled. I just don’t see myself doing so right now.
Final Grade: Tentative Fail (On-Hold)
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| "If I had a girlfriend, I wouldn't tell her. She'd probably take her from me." |
Episode 3
I always seem to save this one for last during my week of anime watching. Partly because it’s the last to come out before my Impressions goes up, but also because I love ending the week with a huge smile on my face and a big dorky laugh! Nozaki-kun has been the best way to finish off my weeks while working on Impressions, that’s for sure! This time we meet the princely character, Kashima, and the drama club president Hori who also has been helping Nozaki with his work. I find it extremely amusing how the classic shoujo stereotypes have been gender swapped with Mikoshiba as the girl and Kashima as the boy. If that’s not the start of a parody right there, then I don’t know what is! The characters manage to interact with each other so easily, which makes the humor come through so much more! This is one of the few that has remained consistent these past few weeks, and there’s no way in hell I plan to drop it now! Therefore, Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun will be the second series, alongside Barakamon, to receive a BIG FREAKING PASS!! It’s been a bottle of joy and I just can’t wait to see where this series takes me next!
Final Grade: BIG FREAKING PASS
Samurai Jam-Bakumatsu RockEpisode 3
So, it’s been three episodes since I first started Bakumatsu Rock. And, boy, has it been an interesting ride to this point. This time, our rocker guys work at one of the Shinsengumi concerts and they get to experience what a full concert from them is like. Clearly, it energized them more and now they’re ready to rock out. The question now is, what am I going to do with this series? After the rather odd surprise that is the first episode, it kind of just goes back and forth between overcrowding the viewer with information to just hanging out and having some fun. This is the case with episodes two and three, at least. Not only that, but the odd fun has finally worn off and now I’m just face palming at how stupid Ryoma is. I really hate to say this, but this case of dumb fun has tired me out. I hate to do this, since it actually did have promise, but Bakumatsu Rock will be receiving a Failing grade today. It hasn’t gone too far and it seems like they don’t know what to do in order to progress the series further. Maybe I’ll return to it later down the line, but they’re gonna have to leave the stage for now.
Final Grade: Fail
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| Can't escape the past that easily, Nine. |
Episode 3
With Shibazaki now back in the First Division, what does that mean for our pair of bombers? Well, he did manage to solve the next riddle and prevent a bombing close to a shrine. And the Oedipus references are still a lot of fun for me to squee over. But we do get much more then this. First and foremost, we learn a little about Shibazaki’s past. That his family has dealt with the Hiroshima bombing during World War II, and how he was removed from First Division and into Archives in the first place. Second, Lisa has finally done something! Although we still don’t know what the series plans to do with her, she has left her home and crazy mom behind. Maybe she’ll meet up with Nine and Twelve (more like she will cause, ya know it’s obvious)? Third, we learn a little more about the upbringing Nine and Twelve had in a strange facility for orphaned children. Not only that, but we see a new character that will probably come up again later on. Fourth, a possible motive for the bombings from Nine? He seems like a smart guy, and it seems like he actually WANTS his riddles to be solved. And now since Shibazaki seems to be able to deliver that, I wonder how it’ll go from here. Speaking of where to go from here, as you can tell I love this series right now! It’s full of suspense and psychological fun, which is something I truly love! Therefore, Terror in Resonance will be joining Barakamon and Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun as the third series with a BIG FREAKING PASS!! Watanabe is on top of his game right now! Now just please tell me what Lisa is gonna do so my brain can stop hurting.
Final Grade: BIG FREAKING PASS
Tokyo ESPEpisode 3
ESP and I have been on an interesting ride since I started it a few weeks ago, and I came rather close to dropping it last week. This time, however, I still kind of have the same feelings as I did last week. There’s just something about this series that I honestly can’t get into. This time, we get to meet Murasaki and Peggi the flying penguin. Along with that, we have some major problems going on since Murasaki gets taken hostage due to yakuza politics. By the end of the episode, Rinka and Azuma are ready to save the day and it looks like Murasaki will be gaining some esper abilities of her own. Like Bakumatsu Rock, it’s been a roller coaster for me and ESP, and I don’t think this is one I’d normally be interested in continuing. But there are some parts that I do enjoy. So, here’s what I’m going to do. Tokyo ESP will receive a Tentative Fail grade from me here. However, that doesn’t mean I’m not going to keep watching it, because I will be covering ESP throughout the summer season over at Infinite Rainy Day. Who knows, it may get better from this point on, but for right now I don’t really like it all that much.
Final Grade: Tentative Fail
Woah! That’s a lot of shows right there! So, let’s see where everything stands!
BIG FREAKING PASS
Barakamon
Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun
Terror in Resonance
Pass
Aldnoah.Zero
Tokyo Ghoul
Tentative Pass
Shonen Hollywood -Holly Stage for 49-
Tentative Fail (On-Hold)
Akame ga Kill
Glasslip
Tokyo ESP
Fail
Samurai Jam-Bakumatsu Rock
Currently Watching (Ep.):
Blue Spring Ride (2)
HaNaYaMaTa (2)
Love Stage!! (2)
Dropped (Ep.):
Argevollen (1)
DRAMAtical Murder (2)
Jinsei (1)
Locodol (2)
Majimoji Rurumo (2)
Rail Wars! (1)
Sabagebu! -Survival Game Club- (1)
Series Not Covered/Season Leftovers (Ep.):
Ace of the Diamond (39)
Black Butler: Book of Circus (3)
Captain Earth (15)
Fairy Tail (2014) (15)
Free! Eternal Summer (4)
Haikyu! (15)
Re: Hamatora (1)
Sailor Moon Crystal (2)
Space Dandy s2 (3)
Sword Art Online II (2)
Next week is the final week of Summer Impressions where the final three will receive their grades! Though, because Lilac 10 will be coming out on Monday, I’m going to be pushing the last week of Impressions to this Saturday, July 26th! And, just for fun, I may even add in little bits of input on the other series I’ve had my eye on but didn’t plan on covering. Just because, why not?! If you need some more input on seasonal work, head on over to Infinite Rainy Day right now! The second seasonal report is now up so you’ll get to have lots more fun that way! Until next time, otaku on my friends!
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