TLDR (spoiler free)
Summertime render was great at the start, but ends up trash at the last few episodes. I'd recommend that you watch better time travel shows. Rating: 4/10
TLDR END
(Spoilers right ahead)
Summertime render was a good anime. It was, that is. The first few episodes consisted of great animation, with an interesting premise of these "shadows" which copy someone's entire body and memory with a copy, known as a shadow. These shadows then kill the original. So, after a great premise, what led to the downfall of summertime render?
Well, simple. It got incredibly dues ex Machina to the end. Well, it's not just that. There's plot holes everywhere. Barely anything is explained towards the end.
So, what made summertime render dues ex Machina? Most things at the end. Especially the final fight. So first of all, I'm sure everyone has known Shide. He is the strong buff dude that protects Haine. But somehow, as Shinpei gets the gun filled with bullets that erase his Armor, he kills Shide. When Shide, with everyone knowing how fast he can get, he just stood there, getting shot by the bullets. My brain cells internally exploded after seeing such a massive dues ex Machina, leading to a happy ending.
I hate happy endings? No. I don't mind happy endings, as long as there isn't a dues ex Machina. I'm pretty sure that I wasn't the only one to recognise how stupid and illogical that was. Imagine being able to move fast. As fast as when someone who was watching, they would think you were teleporting each second. Then, you're fighting your opponent, and somehow, you just can't dodge it like you usually did. That was incredibly dues ex Machina.
Next, characters. The most illogical part of the show. So, lets start with the protagonist. Shinpei is that same old nice guy. He's basically the same protagonist as any in a normal time travel. Nice and caring, then determined and angry. I feel like authors of time travel these days can't think of a creative and unique personality for the protagonist. Next, Sou. The same old average friend that acts like a brother to the MC. Ushio, the same old energetic girl. Mio, the same old nice and caring sister. The protagonist and his allies are basically the same old personality, it's nothing new.
Now, for the villains. Decent introduction, but screwed up later on, riddled with plot holes.
First of all, Shide. His goal is cliché and confusing. He's that same old villain that goes "I WILL DESTROY THE WORLD!" However, something doesn't fit in. Shide says that he'll destroy the world, but he says that he wants to live a long life, watching the world until it eventually ends. That doesn't make sense at all. If he wants to destroy the world, then why would he want to live a long life, watching the world until it eventually ends? Plot hole number one
The art was great, until later episodes. Every time I see the episode before the action episode, the animation is rushed, and it looks really messy. The start's animation is good, but then, in the final few episodes, the animation drops. The airships in Haine's world look ugly and rushed. Other than that, awesome colour palette, great fights and good character designs. However, the one time OLM cut out Toktiko's apology, it left a plot hole. Why does Tokiko suddenly join Shinpei's team, even though she was on team Haine just an episode ago?
The sound is nothing special. It's just your average sound effects. The intros perfectly explain what the protagonist and his allies are dealing with, exploring the myth of the shadows, and the second intro explains what Shinpei and their team are fighting against. It was an average action intro though. The outros were pretty good too. Voice actors were good, their voices fit perfectly for each character.
Honestly, I enjoyed Summertime Render at the start. The potential was super high, but sadly, as time went, it just kept on getting worse and worse, until we reach the ending, which was horrible.
Summertime render had potential. It had potential to be my most favourite time travel anime. Sadly, it fails and becomes horrible towards the end. I don't hate summertime render, I just think it's wasted potential for what it could've been.
