First of all, keep in mind that Summertime Rendering is adapted from a completed shounen manga. It is archetypal shounen fare: whatever promise it gives in the beginning inevitably gives way to (nail)gun-toting action, preposterous big-brain energy, and fanservice. I would say that, compared to other shounen properties I’ve consumed, the plot is ambitious and the writing solid. But if you’re looking for writing on par with something like Odd Taxi, don’t even bother looking here.
Now, compared to other big-name shounen properties like Demon Slayer, My Hero Academia, etc., Summertime Rendering is (gasp!) COMPLETE at 25 episodes. It also doesn’t feel like it needs a sequel, which is pretty cool. On the other hand, the ending is what I dislike most about it, and that has to do with the writing.
I honestly believe that the writing has many moments of brilliance. There’s a dramatic principle called “Chekhov's gun,” which states that if you write a gun into a scene, the gun has to go off. Summertime Rendering has a lot of Chekhov’s guns that go off… but also a lot that don’t. This is most apparent in the final arc, when a lot of the obvious foreshadowing from earlier episodes is thrown out the window in favor of taking the kiiiiind-of-foreshadowed-but-not-really route instead, presumably for shock value. (MILD SPOILER EXAMPLE: This anime literally starts off with the idea that protecting Mio is important and… yeah, that doesn’t go anywhere.) Still, I don’t think the ending’s horrible, just disappointing in that it doesn’t deliver on everything promised in earlier episodes.
The characters are pretty bland, but they get the job done. Shinpei is refreshingly intelligent for a shounen protagonist. Everyone else is pretty much a stereotype, but that’s to be expected with a cast this large and a plot this technical. I was sorely disappointed by the one-dimensionality of Ushio and the use (or lack thereof) of Mio, but I appreciated the payoff Sou had in the final arc, and I thought Hizuru would have been great if the series gave itself the time to develop her. I wanted to like Ryuunosuke and Shide, but I thought the final arc hurt them both more than helped.
In terms of production, Summertime Rendering is fine. The illustrations are pretty, and the animation gets the job done, even if the characters go off-model at times. The voice acting is good; I enjoyed Hikasa Yoko’s performance in particular. I thought the anime was tragically underscored, but what OSTs did exist I thought were fine. And I personally didn’t care for the first OP/ED, but found the second OP/ED quite addictive. The visual pacing within episodes was awkward, sometimes dwelling on exposition dumps forever and sometimes blasting through important points without a care in the world, but everything in general was fine.
With all the mixed-to-bad reactions I’ve laid out, you might wonder why I can still rate Summertime Rendering relatively high. Honestly, I thought watching it was really enjoyable. Even though the writing became contrived, it was still fun to rewatch episodes and theorize what might happen next. The action was fun, and the plot, despite its flaws, was fun.
As I wrote in the beginning, Summertime Rendering is not the greatest example of writing. It tries to sell itself as intelligent, and rightfully so at times, but its plot is too ambitious and geared toward the shounen demographic to really deliver. Still, it’s a fun summer romp, and the fact that it’s a short but complete, action-packed addition to the shounen canon is certainly not unwelcome.
