This will be another off-topic post detailing the anime I’m watching. I will be mentioning some of the anime airing this season, as well as some of the anime airing the next season. These include things such as my thoughts on the anime, as well as my level of interest in them. Because it is still too early, I will not be giving any grades to any of the anime I’m watching.
Summer 2016
At the moment, I am currently watching two anime, and am considering picking up several more. Unlike with previous seasons, I haven’t picked up all of the anime which interested me immediately. However, I won’t go into too much detail on these anime. First, though, I’ll talk about all anime currently being aired.
From checking MyAnimeList, there are 49 anime beginning this season (including new seasons of previously released anime) not marked “Kids” or “R18+”, and 53 anime continuing from last season (none of which I am currently watching). There is also one ONA, Planetarian. For the purposes of this general discussion, I will only talk about the new anime. So far, it’s hard for me to say what I would consider an “S-rank candidate” among the shows currently airing (make no mistake, some of them would very easily qualify for A+). Shows I consider “S-rank candidates” are shows I highly recommend others watch, and if I do decide to watch them (it’s not guaranteed; I would only consider watching shows which fit my preferences), I consider it highly likely that I would give it an S rank. Note that anime without any sort of “overarcing plot” and short-form anime are automatically disqualified from the S rank.
On the other end of the scale, there is the seemingly obligatory “ecchi battle harem” which, to me, sounds like a cliché (not to mention I hate those sorts of things and avoid them like the plague). Inexplicably, this has a higher MAL score than at least one anime I am interested in.
Overall, like many of the seasons before this, I didn’t find much which interested me. I only had two anime which I was definitely going to watch, and several more which had my interest.
Anime I’m currently watching:
- Love Live! Sunshine!! (The second entry in the Love Live! franchise)
- New Game! (an adaptation of a Manga Time Kirara Carat manga)
Anime I may pick up (not including shorts):
- Amanchu! (about high school girls scuba diving; I may watch this at the end of the season)
- Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya 3rei!! (I’ll watch this after I find and watch the first few seasons)
- Regalia: The Three Sacred Stars (A mecha show with a female protagonist, which is rare; I may pick this up soon; also, I like Ayane Sakura)
- This Art Club Has a Problem! (I may pick this up soon; also, I like Nana Mizuki)
- Time Travel Girl (I’m considering whether to pick this up)
Autumn/Fall 2016
While it is still too early for me to make decisions on what I intend to watch, there are at least three anime which have caught my interest. However, one of them is a second season to an anime (Sound! Euphonium) I’ve yet to watch. One of them is another Manga Time Kirara adaptation, Magic of Stella (published in Manga Time Kirara MAX). And the third anime which has caught my interest is the next entry in the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha franchise, and this is what I will discuss, in light of the recent issues surrounding this franchise.
The next entry in the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha franchise is titled ViVid Strike!. Note that it has dropped the Lyrical Nanoha part of the title entirely; this is because Nanoha and Fate will not feature as main or major supporting characters in the anime. I believe this has to do with a number of issues behind the scenes, whose symptoms include the complete lack of Blu-Rays for the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ViVid adaptation. I think it all stems from the rather messy exit of Yukari Tamura (who voices Nanoha) from King Records (at one point there were theories that Tamura was going to retire from singing and voice acting entirely; fortunately, she didn’t). Because King Records is heavily associated with the Nanoha franchise, I have reason to believe that the departure of Tamura necessitated this drastic change in direction for the franchise (with Nana Mizuki, the voice of Fate, being a casualty). As for the anime itself, it has introduced three new characters (and one character from the manga who never appeared in the anime) and it will feature the return of the ViVid main cast.
New cast (main characters in bold):
- Inori Minase (水瀬 いのり) as Fuuka Reventon
- Yui Ogura (小倉 唯) as Rinne Berlinetta
- Sumire Uesaka (上坂 すみれ) as Yumina Enclave
- Ayane Sakura (佐倉 綾音) as Jill Stora
Returning cast:
- Kaori Mizuhashi (水橋 かおり) as Vivio Takamachi
- Mamiko Noto (能登 麻美子) as Einhard Stratos
- Eri Kitamura (喜多村 英梨) as Rio Wesley
- Misato Fukuen (福圓 美里) as Corona Timil
- Chiwa Saitō (斎藤 千和) as Nove Nakajima
Source: Crunchyroll
Note that all romanisations of the names of the new cast (with the exception of Yumina) are tentative.
Ogura will perform the opening theme, while Minase will perform the ending theme. The one thing I noticed is that of the new cast, Minase, Ogura and Uesaka all published songs for King Records.
And that is all I have to say for now.
P.S. Happy birthday to Yuka Iguchi, who is now 28 years old.