Top 10 Summer 2018 Anime Selections

I know, I know. It's been so long. Where have I been? What have I been doing? Have I given up on anime? To be perfectly honest, I haven't been watching anime. Trying to get back to it, trying to get back to it, I fail. I do miss it sometimes. I had some free time today and I thought about checking out the new shows on line-up for Summer 2018. The ones below are the top 10 titles I'm interested in.

1. SHINGEKI NO KYOUJIN ( a.k.a. ATTACK ON TITAN) Season 3

    Studio: Wit Studio | Airing Date: July 23, 2018

SYNOPSIS: After recovering Eren and Historia, the recruits are put under the care of Levi. Stuck out in the middle of nowhere, Hange subjects Eren to a series of experiments in an attempt to find out more about his ability. But when their link to the secrets behind the wall is murdered, the squad must move out and find a new refuge. Except, a figure from Levi's past has his own plans to stop them. (Source: Funimation)

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2. SATSURIKU NO TENSHI
    Studio: J.C. Staff | Airing Date: July 6, 2018

SYNOPSIS: Rachel finds herself in the basement of an abandoned building with no memories or any clue as to her location. She's not alone though because there's a man covered in bandages, wielding a sickle.

3. TENROU: SIRIUS THE JAEGER
    Studio: P.A. Works | Airing Date: July 12, 2018

SYNOPSIS: Imperial Capital, 1930. A group of vampire hunters called "Jaegers" arrive in Tokyo Station. Among them is a werewolf, Yuliy, whose entire village was slaughtered by vampires. Together Yuliy and the Jaegers hunt down vampires and engage in battle against the "Holy Arc of Sirius."

4. CHIO-CHAN NO TSUUGAKURO
    Studio: Diomedia | Airing Date: July 6, 2018

SYNOPSIS: The adventures and misadventures of a nerdy bookworm no her way to school.

5. BANANA FISH

    Studio: MAPPA | Airing Date: July 6, 2018

SYNOPSIS: Nature made Ash Lynx beautiful; nurture made him a cold ruthless killer. A runaway brought up as the adopted heir and sex toy of "Papa" Dino Gonzales, Ash, now at the rebellious age of seventeen, forsakes the kingdom held out by the devil who raised him. But the hideous secret that drove Ash's older brother mad in Vietnam has suddenly fallen into Papa's insatiably ambitious hands -- and its exactly the wrong time for Eiji Okamura, a pure-hearted young photographer from Japan, to make Ash Lynx's acquaintance.... (Source: Viz)

6. ANGOLMOIS: GENKOU KASSENKI
    Studio: NAZ | Airing Date: July 11, 2018

SYNOPSIS: The scary Genghis Khan comes from the other side of the sea. A retelling of medieval Japan and the birth of Samurai...

7. TSUKUMOGAMI KASHIMASU
    Studio: Telecom Animation Film | Airing Date: July 23, 2018

SYNOPSIS: In Fukagawa ward in Edo, residents rent everyday items like pots, futons and clothing from shops. Obeni and Seiji run one such rental shop called Izumoya. However, mixed in with their inventory are tsukumogami, objects that have turned into spirits after a hundred years of existence...

8. AGUU: TENSAI NINGYOU
    Studio: Studio Deen | Airing Date: July 10, 2018

SYNOPSIS: Two friends are unwittingly pitted against each other as one becomes a "seamstress" and the other a "savior" -- two groups who have been at war with each other for centuries. Ai is an ordinary girl and a dancer. Her friend Machi is also a dancer but a Machi is a genius. One day, Ai finds out Machi's secret: Machi has an aguu and she has become a "seamstress." To save her, Ai becomes a "savior...."

9. ASOBI ASOBASE
    Studio: Lerche | Airing Date: July 8, 2018

SYNOPSIS: Hanako, athletically proficient, yet thick-headed student with a weird fashion sense, plays a game with the American transfer student, Olivia. However, their vigor irritated their classmate, Kasuki who dislikes playing games since she has always been teased by her sister for being bad at them. With a turn of events, it turned that Hanako is terrible in English. Thus, she asked Olivia to help but Olivia, who was born and raised in Japan, can't actually speak English at all. 

10. FLCL PROGRESSIVE
    Studio: Production I.G. | Airing Date: June 2, 2018

SYNOPSIS: In the new season of FLCL, many years have passed since Naota and Haruhara Haruko shared their adventure together. Meanwhile, the war between the two entities known as Medical Mechanica and Fraternity rages across the galaxy. Enter Hidomi, a young teenaged girl who believes there is nothing amazing to expect from her average life, until one day when a new teacher named Haruko arrives at her school. Soon enough, Medical Mechanica is attacking her town and Hidomi discovers a secret within her that could save everyone, a secret that only Haruko can unlock.

 But why did Haruko return to Earth? What happened to her Rickenbacker 4001 she left with Naota? And where did the human-type robot "Canti" go?  (Source: ANN)

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Anime Winter 2015 Line-Up

Based on this list, he Winter 2015 anime line-up looks to have a few interesting titles. Maybe 2015 is the year I get back into anime.

DEATH PARADE

SYNOPSIS:
After death, humans go to either heaven or hell. But for some, at the instant of their death, they arrive at the Queen Decim, a bar attended by the mysterious white-haired Decim. He challenges them to the Death Game, wherein they wager their lives and reveal their true natures. Decim himself is the ultimate arbitrator of who wins and who loses, who lives and who dies. (source: ANN)

This is by Madhouse, one of my favorite studios ever. The poster looked interesting. The title has a certain panache to it. And the premise is sufficiently dark but curious. Color me intrigued.

DURARARA!! X2 SHOU

There's no synopsis available but then again this show defies any. But this is the first part of the second season of Durarara!! More of the usual shenanigans of the group composed of eccentric characters. Should be fun.

ROLLING GIRLS

SYNOPSIS:
Ten years after the Great Tokyo War, each prefecture in Japan has split up into independent nations. Each nation is ruled by a prophet called "Mosa" and an army called "Mob" as they start to compete to take over other countries. Four "Mob" girls from the Saitama clan, Nozomi, Yukina, Ai, and Chiaya, are ordered by their "Mosa" to travel around Japan riding their motorcycles to mediate multiple battles between nations and clans as they emerge. (source: ANN)

From the studio (Wit Studio) that gave us Shingeki no Kyoujin, comes this bizarre story about four cute girls on motorcycles.... It's so fucking weird. So of course, I'm going to watch it.

SHINGEKI NO KYOUJIN: KUINAKI SENTAKU OVA1

This is the backstory of my waifu, Captain Levi.... Nuff said.

PSYCHO-PASS MOVIE

Apparently, they're releasing a second season. I can't remember if I finished watching the first season. This anime looks so good but the story kinda meh. Maybe a movie is a better format for its premise. We'll see.

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Shingeki no Kyoujin OVA 1: Ilse's Notebook

This is my first time blogging about Shingeki no Kyoujin ("Attack on Titan") although I have seen the first season of the anime when it aired last year. The series has had phenomenal success and I personally enjoyed watching the story of Eren Jaeger and his friends unfold as they train to become soldiers who fight the devouring titans.

Ilse's Notebook is set in an earlier time before the main characters of the series joined the military. It follows the adventures of the Elite Survey Corps as they embark on a mission outside the walls. Captain Hanji Zoe (voiced by Paku Romi) of the Research Squad wants to take advantage of being outside the walls to capture a titan for research purposes. Commander Erwin Smith, however, is against the idea as he does not want to lose any more men, which would surely happen if they try to take a titan alive. Nevertheless, hard-headed Hanji does what she wants, forcing Erwin to send a resentful Captain Levi's Special Ops squadron as her back-up. While hunting a titan down, Hanji discovers the body of a comrade and the notebook that will change the way she views titans.

 

This was a nice special that adds a new layer to the character of Hanji. She was portrayed in the anime as this crazy scientist who is bonkers about titans. She doesn't seem to regard them as dangerous at all and give them names and cries when the titans she captured are slain. Why does she act this way? And has she always been like this? The OVA gives us the answer.

Aside from Hanji, other members of the elite corps also make an appearance. These characters have since become beloved by fans. Those who mourned the decimation of the Special Ops Squadron will be happy with this offering since this happened way before that fatal mission portrayed in the first series. Eld, Olou, Petra and Gunther are all present along with Levi, their taciturn captain.

A character we've never seen before is Ilse Langnar, who is the titular Ilse. She's a member of the survey corps who died while on duty. Before she died, she made detailed notes about her encounter with an aberrant which spoke and seemed to recognize her as Ymir. Her account of this hair-raising encounter provides the second half of this 40-minute OVA.



The art is again topnotch, which is only to be expected from Production I.G. The animation is crisp and almost flawless. The art design is beautiful. The titan is deformed enough to add to its creepiness factor.

The voice work is excellent. Paku Romi does a good job with the nutty Hanji, portraying both her silly and serious sides with perfect balance. Kamiya Hiroshi has very few lines as Captain Levi but oozes cool much like his character does. Ilse Langnar's seiyuu, Kokuryu Sachi, was great at showing the fear and panic that her character felt at being alone in the presence of a titan.

All in all, this was such a great idea to make into an OVA. I loved it because it featured my favorite squad in the entire Survey Corps. I was very sad when they, with the exception of Levi, met their demise in the series. So to see the characters again in action is a balm for the wound.

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