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As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I decided to try out 19 different shows from the Summer 2019 Anime Season!! I’ve watched at least 1 episode of all of those shows now, so I figured I’d come back and give my first impressions of these shows. I’ve also been watching all of these with my roommate Dan, so I might be referencing him every now and then. Anyway, there we go!!

Araburu Kisetsu no Otome-domo yo. (Maidens of the Savage Season)
*On-Hold* I’d consider this one of the standouts of the season. It’s very interesting that this series was actually released in a shounen magazine. It follows a group of girls who are dealing with the topic of sex in a serious and down-to-earth way. It’s been both funny and relatably awkward at the same time. Even though comedy isn’t technically its main focus, this series has provided me with some of my biggest laugh-out-loud moments so far. So, why do I have this marked as *On-Hold*? Well, it’s kind of an “it’s not you, it’s me” situation. I watched the third episode and just was not able to enjoy it. I really should have enjoyed the episode; it had some really interesting developments. But I just couldn’t get into it. Sadly, a lot of this is due to letting other people’s comments get to me. Most of this comes from me unfortunately reading the comments on the page of original creator Mari Okada. She apparently gets a lot of hate for “NTR” stories in her works and there has been mention that Maidens falls into that trap.... Honestly, I’m not really sure what the hell NTR even is. It seems to be kind of related to “cucking” and/or cheating?? But sometimes when people call something NTR, I don’t really know what they mean by that. I mean, did AnoHana and The Anthem of the Heart have NTR elements?? Really, I don’t know if I even have issues with NTR or not, but just my reading of this shit about this series and its creator was extremely distracting while watching episode 3. I just need to leave this series alone for a while and just come back to it in a few months or a year or something and let Dan know that he can continue watching it without me. I really wish I didn’t let some external comments affect me like this, but it is what it is....

Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou
*Dumb Fun* So far I’ve watched the first two episodes and it has been just stupidly edgy enough to be entertaining! The main character develops an ability very similar to Rimuru, but he stays a normal human instead of being a slime. Watching him go kind of nuts as he eats monsters to gain their abilities was pretty funny. In the second episode, he gets his own personal loli vampire girl to confirm his status as a top-tier edge lord. I really have very little idea of what the actual point of this series is going to be other than some power/revenge fantasy bullshit, but it seems dumb enough to be fun to laugh at if nothing else. Hopefully it doesn’t get as boring as Magical Girl Site did....

Bem
*DROPPED* So yeah, I just barely got through the first episode and decided to drop it. I was just so, so bored. I almost fell asleep a few times. Part of that might be because I was pulling weeds earlier that morning, took some allergy medicine, and didn’t get a whole lot of sleep the night before, but still, just so boring. The world, the characters, the style; none of it grabbed me. Meh.

Cop Craft
*Looking Good* With two episodes into this series, I feel like it is a keeper. It has some nice production values and an interesting setting and plot set-up. The two main characters have already established a pretty good dynamic between each other, too. It has a bit of a Rush Hour feel to me with the different backgrounds of the main duo for a buddy-cop story, except instead of a guy from China, we have a petite elf-like “alien” girl. I don’t tend to get into a lot of super-serious cop drama stuff, so hopefully this is able to keep my attention. So far, it’s doing rather well, though.

Dr. Stone
*Looking Good* The first two episodes of this feel like they’re mostly just setting the stage, but it’s been interesting so far. Everyone in the world is turned to stone and 3700 years later two high school boys break out and begin a quest to re-build civilization and save everyone. Although I’m not quite super into it at the moment, it is definitely holding my interest and the original manga has a lot of fans, so hopefully it will be good! As a huge Rick and Morty fan, it is hard for me to not compare Senku to Rick with the love of science and kind of similar hair. The setting even reminds me a lot of The Ricks Must Be Crazy when they got stuck in the primitive “teenyverse”. But, Senku actually has a sense of justice and wants to save everyone in the world, so that’s COMPLETELY different from Rick. XD

Dumbbell Nan Kilo Moteru? (How Many Kilograms are the Dumbbells You Lift?)
*Nice* This is a fun, fluffy little series. An anime focused on fitness and diet tips is an amusing novelty and within the first three episodes there is some pretty solid comedy. The stuff with the teacher in episode three is especially funny. I don’t see this become a particularly huge favorite of mine, but it is a fun watch that I’ll likely watch to the end.

Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka II (DanMachi 2nd Season)
*Nice* Dan and I actually had to go back and finish the first season of DanMachi because we’d only watched the first 4 or so episodes before. That was a pretty interesting experience for me. With how much fun the characters were and the nice production qualities, I felt like the series would have a chance to break into my Top 100 (the 9-10 score range), but the story just didn’t quite hit the mark. After the first season, I’m still unsure what the “point” of the series is. Bell’s sole motivation seems to be to get stronger so he can catch up with the person he admires.... That’s pretty much it. And although there seems to be some antagonistic actions going on in the shadows, things in that regard are kept so DEEP in the shadows that it’s hard to really get a grasp for any kind of real conflict in the series. I’m not usually a big stickler for plot, but this is just so empty that it drags down what could have otherwise been a rather exceptional series. I mean, the first season still got a rather solid 8 from me, but I feel like it could have been more. ANYWAY, we went on to watch the first episode of DanMachi II and maybe there will be a little more clear motivation and conflict moving forward?? We’ll see! We’ll most likely watch to the end regardless.

Enen no Shouboutai (Fire Force)
*Great!* This is easily my favorite show of the season. The new anime from the original creator of Soul Eater, this is absolutely a worthy follow-up. The series follows a fire fighting unit which actually fights fire demons who were once people, and they do it with really cool fire abilities. Yes, they literally “fight fire with fire.” Anyway, the series looks great, the characters are lovable with a really good dynamic within the unit, and the nature of their job can pack an emotional punch as they regularly have to deal with family members of the people who turned into fire demons. After the first four episodes, in addition to establishing the core unit of characters, we get some interesting antagonists and some conflict between the units. The leader of the 5th Unit is kind of laughably over the top with her S&M queen schtick and there are a few other random fan service moments that feel kind of awkwardly thrown in, but again this is from the creator of Soul Eater so that kind of stuff is sort of expected. I’ll definitely be looking forward to this every week.

Isekai Cheat Magician
*Ehhh* Well, Dan dropped this one after the first episode. The piss-poor production quality and lazy generic story practically caused him physical pain. I was kind of looking forward to this, simply for the novelty of a boy and girl with an established relationship (even if it’s just “childhood friends”) were transported to another world together. But man, the production really is rather bad. Honestly, I can get past the generic nature of the story set-up and I can forgive a good amount in the art/animation department. But what is REALLY putting this series on thin ice for me is the sound design. Man, it is just so bad.... BUT! I decided to give it a bit more of a chance and I actually began to enjoy it more with the second and third episodes! I felt like the sound design was handled better and even though it was rather generic I was getting into the description of the magic system of this world while the duo was beginning their training in episode 2. Then, I continued to enjoy myself as they began their journey as adventurers in episode 3. Now, some of this enjoyment might be tied to the fact that I just recently got the new second edition rulebook for the Pathfinder RPG, but whatever. Even though I feel like the best this series can hope to get from me is a “Good (7)” score, it is still an easy somewhat enjoyable “comfort food” anime watch for me. I’ll most likely keep up with it and finish the series as it airs.

Joshikousei no Mudazukai (Wasteful Days of High School Girls)
*Ehhh* We’ve watched the first two episodes of this slice-of-life series so far and I was honestly on the edge of dropping it after episode 1. I was bored during most of it and wasn’t able to form any connection with the characters or get many laughs out of it. However, episode 2 did a lot to pull the series back for me, largely due to the manga artist girl’s bad drawing skills. The dream sequence in particular gave me some really solid laughs. The series is still on the edge, though, and episode 3 will probably decide if I’ll be continuing it or not. I was really looking forward to the “chuunibyou” girl, but her dialog with her teacher at the end of episode 2 was one of the weakest parts of the episode to me. I really like the animation style of the opening for this series, though! Dan has already dropped this one, so it could at least be another series for me to lazily watch on my own. We’ll see!

Kanata no Astra
*Looking Good* After the first two episodes of this series, I’m pretty sure we’ll continue this to the end. Space-faring adventures like this tend to be a bit rare in anime/manga. Well, I suppose they’re kind of rare in general. This series follows a small group of young people who find themselves stranded in space and need to get home by themselves. Most space sci-fi is focused on being an epic space opera or really heavy on science-fantasy stuff and/or gritty elements. Not that there is anything wrong with that stuff, but this series feels really refreshing so far. I look forward to seeing where it goes.

Katsute Kami Datta Kemono-tachi e (To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts)
*Nice* This series was on kind of shaky ground with the first episode. It just did not feel like a very good introduction with its heavy war focus which doesn’t really carry over into what the series is about in the end. While the series is about a group of people who were genetically altered into beasts so they could fight in a war, it’s mostly about the captain hunting down the members of his old unit once they lose their minds to the beast within. I feel like the series would have been better off if the first episode was split up and sprinkled into the series via flashbacks now and then instead of putting all of that in the first episode. I feel like this is what it would have been like if FMA started with the Ishvalan War stuff. It just wasn’t a very interesting opener to me. BUT, after getting through episode 3, I’ll most likely continue this to the end. It probably won’t be “Great”, but it does seem pretty interesting and I like the dynamic that is developing between the main pair.

Machikado Mazoku
*Dumb Fun* We’ve watched the first two episode of this so far and it is just stupidly fun and bonkers! It turns out that a girl is from a demon lineage and one day her ancestry manifests, sprouting horns and a tail. She is told that she needs to kill a magical girl so that her family can be released from their “curse”. Unfortunately, this girl is stupidly weak (and kind of stupid) and the first magical girl that she meets is INSANELY strong, effortlessly stopping a truck with one hand to save the life of the demon girl. The first episode was just stupid wacky fun and then things take a turn in the second episode with the two girls developing a weird kind-of-friendship. If the series can keep this energy up, it will just be a joy to watch.

Sounan Desu ka? (Are You Lost?)
*Dumb Fun* Four girls are stranded on a desert island and need to survive. Like with Dumbbells, this is another kind-of-educational series, but instead of fitness we get little tidbits about surviving in the wilderness. This is a half-length-episodes series and the production quality isn’t a solid as Dumbbells, but this is still interesting enough and the novelty of the premise will probably make the 15min a week worth my time. And the shining moments of comedy like the uber-survivalist snatching a bug out of the air and eating it in a completely dead-pan manner are just priceless.

Tejina-senpai
*DROPPED* Welp, speaking of half-length-episodes series, here’s one that did NOT get saved by its novel subject matter. A story focused on stage magic seemed like it could be interesting, but nope! This was the first series that I decided to drop this season. I gave it two episodes and it just didn’t click with me at all. The comedy only provided a few empty chuckles and even with half-length episodes the jokes were already feeling stupidly repetitive during episode 2. I wasn’t getting into the characters with the girl being really dumb and not in any kind of fun way; she was honestly getting pretty annoying. The main boy was about as bland as they come. I was kind of curious how some of the new characters might work out, but I didn’t care enough to find out. The series was just too much of a bore. So yeah, bye!

Toaru Kagaku no Accelerator
*Ehhh* So far, the pacing of Accelerator feels much better than Index III, although that’s not a very high benchmark to clear. Also, since this is the “Accelerator Show”, hopefully the series will stay laser-focused on stories involving him and not become the scattered mess that the core Index series has. *sigh* I’m still sad about the overall state of this franchise and how it has fallen with me after Index III. I don’t know if Accelerator can do much to redeem the franchise, but I’ll probably watch it all the way through. It has had some good moments so far, but it hasn’t done much to really grab me. If it doesn’t perform particularly well in the end, I could end up dropping the franchise as a whole after this. We’ll see!

Tsuujou Kougeki ga Zentai Kougeki de Ni-kai Kougeki no Okaasan wa Suki Desu ka? (Do You Like Your Mom? Her Normal Attack is Two Attacks at Full Power)
*Dumb Fun* I went into this expecting some dumb fun, but I honestly did not think I would find Isekai Mama to be quite as amusing as I am! This is pretty much going head-to-head with Machikado Mazoku to be my favorite stupid-fun comedy of the season. A boy and his mom are sucked into a video game world as part of some nonsensical government scheme or something.... But whatever! It’s just an excuse for stupid isekai hijinks! Mamako is just an adorable and fun character and she plays off of her son well, even if it gets into some really eye-roll-worthy fan service moments at times. The two supporting girls that they’ve recruited so far (as of episode 3) also seem to have some potential. The male lead (Mamako’s son) is a little “just there” most of the time, but he has had a few fun moments and hopefully he’ll get better as the series goes on. While Dan dropped this after the third episode, this is some simple light fun which should be easy for me to watch to the end.

Uchi no Ko no Tame naraba, Ore wa Moshikashitara Maou mo Taoseru kamo Shirenai. (If It's for My Daughter, I'd Even Defeat a Demon Lord)
*DROPPED* The third and last of the shows that I’ve dropped so far. This is a series about an adventurer in a fantasy world who adopts a young demon girl he finds by herself in the forest after her birth father(?) died. Over the first three episodes it was mostly just about them becoming a family and Latina being cute. But her cuteness wasn’t enough to save this series, especially after hearing what happens in the future of the series. However, even trying to pretend that I don’t know what happens, the first three episodes of this series just did not impress me. Aside from putting in a lot of effort to make Latina look as adorable as possible, the art and animation are actually worse than Isekai Cheat Magician. This is painfully apparent when we have our first big battle sequence in episode 3. And aside from that, the life of Latina at the tavern where she and Dale live is getting pretty repetitive and his constant doting over her was getting flat-out annoying in episode 3 (and a little creepy when keeping future story beats in mind). So yeah, just not worth continuing for me.

Vinland Saga
*Ehhh* And lastly, we have another one of the shows which actually have really good production values! So why does this get an “Ehhh” from me? Well, I’m not typically a huge fan of historical drama and don’t have a lot of interest in Viking culture. The first three episodes were pretty solid and engaging, but I wasn’t really able to connect with the characters or anything that was going on. The third episode left off with a set-up/cliffhanger for what should be an intense fight in episode four, but I’m not sure if it will be enough for me. Even though nearly everything about this series seems great, I might still end up dropping it after the next episode because it might just not be my thing. Also, on a minor note, another strike it has against it is that it is on Amazon and is currently the ONLY thing that we’re watching on that platform. So yeah, it’s a little bit of a bother to open up the PS4 Amazon app JUST for this series when there are at least three shows we’re watching on Crunchyroll and Funimation. I guess when it comes to stuff that Dan and I are watching together, Machikado Mazoku is in the same situation with it being the only thing we’re watching on HIDIVE. But anyway, I’ll see how episode four of Vinland Saga turns out, but it’s not looking all that good....