Anime Sunday: Most Anticipated Summer 2018 Anime

This week for Anime Sunday I’m looking ahead. It’s my Most Anticipated Summer 2018 Anime!

Isekai Maou to Shoukan Dorei Majutsu: This is an Isekai series, I’ve heard it’s a fairly funny series with a ridiculously OP main character. Whether it’s any good remains to be seen, but it’s a pretty okay Light Novel series.

Hyakuren no Haou to Seiyaku no Valkyria: This is another Isekai series, but this time the main character isn’t some OP bad ass and actually has to work his ass off and isn’t given any help from pretty much anyone upon arriving in a new world. I’m unsure on this series as I haven’t read it’s original Light Novels, but given the synopsis and the fact that the main character isn’t some walking nuke I’m interested.

Happy Sugar Life: This is a Horror series. If you want to know how screwed up humans can be, you might want to watch this. Me I’m just watching it because it’s more psychological horror rather than a traditional horror series. I might regret it, but I’ll be giving it a shot.

Honorable Mentions:

Fate/Extra Last Encore: The second season of Last Encore, this will continue the weird adaptation of a game I really need to finish playing.

One Room Season Two: I enjoyed these short form Anime last year, and I’ve been a fan of the main artist for this series. So I’ll be giving this a quick watch.

That’s it for this week’s Anime Sunday.

Anime Sunday: Ryuo Episode 01 Impressions

This week for Anime Sunday I’m back with my first look at a Winter 2018 series. It’s my Ryuo Episode 01 Impressions!

Plot Synopsis: Kuzuryū Yaichi is a prodigy shogi player who won the title of Ryūō at the age of 16. Following his victory he has been in a slump, until he is approached by Hinatsuru Ai, a 9-year-old girl who begs him to make her his disciple…

Plot: This isn’t a romantic comedy, from what I can see at least. This is purely based off the first episode, although there are moments where characters exhibit certain stereotypes commonly found in a romantic comedy, or horror.

Characters: Yaichi is our male lead, and he’s pretty interesting as is Ai. Yaichi’s a much more outgoing and forthright individual than Rei in 3-gatsu, but these two series couldn’t be more different from each other. 3-gatsu is all about overcoming mental and emotional trauma, while Ryuo seems to be more comedic. The only thing in common is that the male leads are both pro Shogi players. The rest of the cast is also interesting, but we really only get to meet Yaichi and Ai in this episode.

Art: The art is great, and while it’s not ufotable quality that doesn’t mean it’s anywhere near as terrible as Studio Deen.

Music: The musical score is good and fits the series well.

Overall: Definitely worth a watch, if only because this might turn into one of the more interesting series this season.

For those who like: Shogi, Slice of Life, Comedies, Great Lead Characters, Good Artwork.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Sensate Saturday: Happy Sugar Life by Kagisora Tomiyaki

This week for Sensate Saturday I’ve got another Quick Review! It’s Happy Sugar Life by Kagisora Tomiyaki!

Plot Synopsis: High-schooler Matsuzaka Sato has a reputation for being easy, but one day her lifestyle of being intimate with one boy after another comes to an end. It happens when she meets the young girl Shio…

Plot: This is a fairly interesting series, and I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it quite so much just based off the title. That being said I’ve only read the first chapter so I might end up not liking the series, but so far I’ve found it to be very different from other Shoujo Ai series. I won’t say anymore because it’ll spoil it for you, but I’ll be continuing to read this series.

Characters: Sato is a really intriguing lead character, I’d really like to see what makes her tick, but since it’s just the first chapter I’ll have to wait for later chapters. Shio on the other hand is a truly innocent girl who is carefree and quite adorable. She reminds me of my own baby sister, if not quite as rambunctious as my sister.

Art: I honestly thought this might be published by Shueisha given the quality of the art, but it’s another Square Enix publication.

Overall: This isn’t like other series you’ll have read, so give this first chapter a shot. I know I’ll be continuing to read the series.

For those who like: Drama, Romance, Slice of Life, School Life, Interesting Plot, Intriguing Lead Character, Excellent Artwork.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

P.S. I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas Eve.

Sensate Saturday: Dere

This week for Sensate Saturday I’m doing a quick primer on some stereo types people will find in Japanese romance, and to a lesser extent everywhere else! It’s all about Dere!

What is Dere?: It’s a Japanese onomatopoeia for lovestruck, dere dere.  There are four main types of “Dere”, Tsundere, Dandere, Kuudere, and Yandere.

Tsundere: Someone who runs hot and cold, or aloof but secretly in love. Some great examples of Tsundere characters are, Tohsaka Rin from Fate Stay/Night, Kirisaki Chitoge from Nisekoi and from Western Lit, Princess Ce’Nedra from the Belgariad and Mallorean series.  There’s also a variant where the person is generally sweet, but piss them off and they can become violently cold towards you. A good example of this is Stella Vermillion from Rakudai.

Dandere: Someone who is really shy and sweet, pretty much the exact opposite of Tsundere’s in outward appearance for the most part. Some great examples of Dandere characters are Hyuga Hinata from Naruto, Onodera Kosaki from Nisekoi, are some of the more recent outstanding notables, but there are plenty more.

Kuudere: Kuu, from the English word “Cool”, is someone who is cold and rather emotionless on the outside towards pretty much everyone, but that special someone can melt their heart in a quick second. Examples include Seishirou Tsugumi from Nisekoi, Meng Qing from Peerless Martial God, and Ayanami Rei from Evangelion.

Yandere: Probably the most disturbing personality type of the four, Yandere’s are typically crazy about someone. Literally. They don’t take rejection well at all and become incredibly violent. They might even go down the road “If I can’t have him/her, no one can”. Some notable and famous examples are Yuno Gasai from Mirai Nikki, Vander Decken IX from One Piece (What you expected this to be just a female only trope? Get real.), Harold and Nadine from Stephen King’s The Stand are some Western Literature examples as well.

That’s it for this week’s Sensate Saturday!

Sensate Saturday: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni

This week I’m covering a happy series that makes you just feel all warm and fuzzy for Sensate Saturday. It’s Higurashi no Naku Koro ni!

Plot Synopsis: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni takes place during June 1983 in a fictional rural village called Hinamizawa (雛見沢) (based on the village of Shirakawa, Gifu, a World Heritage Site), which has a population of approximately 2,000. The main character, Keiichi Maebara, moves to Hinamizawa and befriends his new classmates Rena Ryugu, Mion Sonozaki, Rika Furude, and Satoko Houjou. Keiichi joins their after-school club activities, which consist mostly of card and board games (and punishment games for the loser – usually him).

Plot: The plot’s pretty happy go lucky and is more slice of life than anything else. That being said I won’t spoil anything, so just go into this with a very open mind when you first watch it.

Characters: Keiichi is pretty neat for a main character, but it’s the rest of the cast that makes the series. That being said Satoko is probably my favorite.

Art: Unfortunately this is animated by Studio Deen, which is a joke of an Anime series.

Music: The music is great though!

Overall: Go into this with an open mind and you might enjoy this happy go lucky series.

For those who like: Interesting Plots, Mysteries, Great Cast of Characters, Excellent Music.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.