Summer Premierbowl Roundup

A busy 4th of July weekend meant I didn't have time to write any more standalone reaction posts, so here's the digest version of my impressions thus far. There's a few shows that have yet to air, but the bulk of premierbowl is over and it's shaping up to be a pretty good season all around. I'm definitely going to try to keep writing stand alone posts for Gangsta., but since I'm still new to this I'm not sure how many more shows I'll do that for.

Gate: Jietai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri: I knew this wasn’t going to be anything particularly great from the beginning, but I was excited for a military-oriented show and that’s exactly what I’m getting. It’s silly nerd pandering of the kind that usually turns me off, but for a reservist like me it’s wish-fulfillment that I can least identify with, if not endorse. There’s some nationalistic overtones (The Japanese military aggressively invading a fantasy portal, Stargate-style.) though it can’t be nearly as bad as Mahouka turned out to be and I guess I’m not really in any place to judge anyone’s military adventurist fantasies. The production values actually seem quite good given the subject material, so I think this is one I’ll be sticking with to the end, if only for the laughs.

Classroom Crisis: It’s a formula that’s been done to death: a group of brainy school kids, most of them cute girls, working together to do things that all those boring adults just can’t seem to figure out. But Crisis has two saving graces. Firstly, the science fiction setting at least sets it apart from the crowd a bit. The second came in the form of the “transfer student,” who turned out to be the son of the corporation’s CEO (at least, I assume he’s the son) dispatched to downsize the gang and cut down on its waste of company resources. There could be some fun dynamics from the situation if played right, so I’m at least going to continue with this to see if the scenario lives up to its potential.

Sousei no Aquarion Evol: I was probably a bit naïve to think there would be anything of value here. Dropped after five minutes.

Aoharu x Kikanjuu: Here’s one that turned out to be completely different than what I was expecting. When I read “survival games” in the show summary, I assumed I was in for a show about brutal death matches, Hunger Games or Battle Royale style. Instead, it seems that “survival games” is the Japanese euphemism (or at least the translation for) airsoft matches. A bit disappointing, but the misplaced expectations were entirely my fault so I can’t hold them against the show itself. The first episode was nothing great, but a show about an airsoft team could still be fairly entertaining.

Charlotte: I didn’t have high expectations for this show, but the premier was a lot more entertaining than I expected. Body-swapping seems to be in vogue right now, though unlike Yamada this show’s protagonist is an utter scumbag with his powers. There’s nothing wrong with that—most of my enjoyment of the episode came from watching his shenanigans—but now that he’s been put in his place I’m worried that the premise won’t be able to hold my interest. Aside from perhaps the teleporter the supporting cast doesn’t seem very strong and the protagonist’s sister is beyond annoying. I’ll still keep up with it for a few more episodes, if only to see where it goes from here.

Working!!!: I didn’t watch the first season, so maybe it’s my own fault for missing some establishing character arcs, but this wasn’t nearly as funny as I was hoping it would be. It seems to be a decent show, but it just couldn’t hold my interest for an entire episode.

Ushio to Tora: I’ve missed out on a lot of the less-flashy classics over the past few years and so I’m grateful to be able to catch a potential hit like Ushio out of the gate. I’m not particularly fond of the overall designs, but I liked Ushio as a protagonist right from the get-go, the humor was consistently funny, and I found the whole episode to be a fun reminder of why I started watching anime in the first place. From what I’ve read the manga has a great pedigree, so I’m really looking forward to keeping up with this show as it airs.

Gatchaman Crowds Insight: This was another show where I didn’t watch the first season, though this time I at least had the benefit of watching the recap Episode 0 so I had some inkling of what was going on. I was on the fence after the recap, and didn’t make it through the first episode so I’m dropping it, albeit with no hard feelings. (I’ve certainly gotten through worse shows.)

Shimoneta: Considering the classical, academic education I’ve had over the years I sometimes have to wonder why I’m having such a good time watching a show about terrorist strippers. Shimoneta wasn’t even on my radar before premierbowl started, but it’s turned out to be the funniest show this summer. Raunchy shenanigans aside, there’s something striking about a world where personal censorship has run so amuck that every citizen has to wear a speech regulation collar at all times. The over the top satire just makes the whole thing that much more funny.

Rokka no Yuusha: You don’t have to look far to find adventure fantasy shows in anime, and while there aren’t a whole lot of great ones in the mix most of them can be pretty entertaining. Yuusha is pretty middle of the road in terms of writing (I don’t like the protagonist much and the princess gets on my nerves) but there’s still a lot of the cast yet to be introduced and the animation is good. The Aztec-influenced setting is also a refreshing break from the usual pseudo-European RPG designs that are usually used for shows like these.

Chaos Dragon: This was a pretty disappointing premier, filled with all the usual tired fantasy tropes. Given that I don’t particularly like any of the designs I’d probably drop it here if Urobochi Gen wasn’t involved with the writing. Though it seems to be vogue to dislike him and I certainly don’t think the sun shines out of his fifth point of contact, I have a track record of enjoying the stuff he’s involved with and the sacrifice at the end of the episode had his fingerprints all over it. I’ll stick with it for now in the hopes that it has more to offer than the lackluster premier suggests.

Akagami no Shirayukihime: I don’t have a whole lot to say about this premier, mainly because I can’t really find the words to describe how good it was. The plot and characters are nothing groundbreaking, but it was pulled off with an amazing sincerity that left me wanting more. This show’s greatness really stems from its humility: it doesn’t seem like it’s trying to pull off something amazing and so its success is that much more resounding. Seeing as this premier wrapped itself up pretty well I don’t have much idea as to where it’s going from here, but I’m in for the ride all the same.