Meta Team’s Top 3 Summer’13 Anime

[ Uchouten Kazoku ] When you rack your brains to find the meaning of life, different people come to different conclusions. There are days that are mundane, while some are low to very exciting. However, sometimes the mundane days spent walking slowly to your favourite destination to even just lazying around your hobby or family become a highlighted memory later. While watching this anime, I had the same feeling of watching something general but it was not your soon-to-be-forgotten general, rather something special that would remain. At some points I almost felt like Yasaburou and wanted to get out of trouble as soon as possible. Not to mention, the very interesting Shimogamo family kept me entertained with their antics; same with the idiot brothers who always bungled royally and still outdid themselves one trick after another. In the end even after many events, Benten still maintained her mysterious aura, Tengu sensei his pride, while Yasaburou couldn’t see Kaisei. A lot of things changed but still remained the same, that is the charm of this story that kept me glued till the end.

[ Shingeki no Kyojin ] The most looked-forward to series of this year, which kept pace with its bloating fandom. Sure, there were a lot of static images and somewhat derpiness at times but Wit Studio and Production I.G somehow kept pace with the fan expectations. I have to say, as a manga reader, most of the action scenes came out more than brilliant, animated. The story has nothing new but characters dying right, left and center is something new compared to the shoujo/moe fluffiness that anime has become more than branded with. For a supernatural/horror fan, this story has been a treat in both animanga form. I also liked the fact that the staff took their time in hiding some easily spotted hints intelligently rather than just foolishly adapting everything off the manga as it is. Season two would be a while but hey, seeing Eren beat the shit out of Annie was the highlight for me. xD

[ Gin no Saji ] This was so far from my version of life that every episode fascinated me to no end. Of course, there’s still a long way to go to have a farm-based school in Japan but the idea is unique if not new. Also, a friendly MC is always welcome who is humble and full of faults rather than being perfect. The journey with Hachiken was great as he learned to make friends and eat the animals that he so lovingly raised. The question about the circle of life and how you should repay your debts however small and big really touched me. This was very slice of lifeish, almost reminded me how calm Space Brothers is and this too gives off the same air of happy-at-its-own-pace rather than break-necking plot. A good story with lovable character made me follow this till the end and look forward to the second season this Winter.

[ Shingeki no Kyojin ] More thrilling than any Hollywood blockbuster from recent memory with the benefit of having Yuki Kaji screaming in almost every episode, Shingeki no Kyojin was the eyecatcher of Summer. No, it was literally eye-catching. The visuals were stunning and every single fight scene made my jaw pop open as I gurgled an unintelligible “ajskljdledhkzniudhgiosdnio” to my laptop screen. Boasting both thrills and beauty, each episode managed to top the last in terms of excitement (and sometimes budget). It’s been a while since I’ve seen an action series that was so damn good. Another thing that makes this show so great is how humanity basically sucks at everything, so despair is knocking on their door every episode. They’re helpless, they screw up all the time, and tons of them die in every battle. It’s hopeless. This isn’t a series about triumph and “yay yay rah rah goooo heroes!”. It’s about small victories that are immediately ruined by giant red babies kicking down buildings and scarfing down side characters. You don’t have time to catch your breath for Shingeki no Kyojin, and all the twists and turns kept my eyes glued to the screen the entire time. Hands down, this is my number 1.

[ Uchouten Kazoku ] Uchouten Kazoku did a lot of the things I wish Gatchaman Crowds had done. The story-telling and world-building was just so tight. Every event either told us interesting lore about the world or gave us important insight to the various family members. The plot was never really anything too ambitious (it’s technically about an election) so there was all this time to really endear us to this family of furry raccoon-dogs. I was won over instantly. I not only love tanooki (there is a tanooki plushie I bought in Japan behind my computer right now) but the whole family was just so lovable. The best part though is how they all interact. I’m going to miss seeing the antics of these guys. Benten will be especially missed because wow…they really translated that charming mystique about her really well, to the point where even I’m kind of enchanted by her ways.

[ Gatchaman Crowds ] Gatchaman Crowds tackles many issues. Social media, heroes, connecting with others and alien invasion. Although perhaps Kenji Nakamura bit off a bit more than he could chew, he did his best to convey some really neat messages about how society works when given social media…and magical powers. The concept was inherently interesting, so I’m not too put off by the messy execution. Furthermore, this show was just plain fun. It had bounce to it. Hajime gave the show so much life and colour, and the funky OST made even the most mundane things seem riveting. At one point all the milk in the school isn’t safe to drink and the students run around to tell other students. This isn’t all that amazing, but the GATCHAMAAAAAAN song adds some real pizzazz.

[ Railgun S ] Misaka and friends returned this season to give my saturday nights some much needed excitement! I mean sure we had to sit through a boring recap filled with Accelerator, the MISAKA sisters and Touma; however, it still managed to be very entertaining especially with the touch ups in animation. Besides those iconic characters from the Index verse, we also met lots of brand new faces starting off with Misaki, Shinobu, Febri, Janie, ITEM, STUDY and a surprise from Mitsuko who proved to be a great side character, but I have to always hand it to Saten for proving she can hold her own against an enemy without any special powers! I can’t wait till we get a third season of Railgun…
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[ Majestic Prince ] It’s no secret that I love giant robot anime on Metanorn and after Valvrave and Gargantia wrapped up, we were left with twelve more episodes of Majestic Prince. I will admit to being a hater at the beginning because of a certain character designer that worked on both seasons of Gundam SEED, but after those first few episodes I found myself addicted to the character interaction and the drama building up around the main characters especially near the end of the series. Action wise the CGI was quite impressive. Compared to Valvrave and Gargantia I would easily rank it number one and there are rumors of a second season in the works. I really hope that comes true because Majestic Prince deserves more love.
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[ Love Lab ] This series was so freaking hilarious for me even though I found myself laughing more with Watamote on a weekly basis but the comedy found in Love Lab was in the slapstick moments with Riko hitting Maki? Damn whenever those two girls are in the same scene I just can’t help but laugh. Also it helps that I am a huge fan of the character designer who worked on both seasons of Yuru Yuri and speaking of Yuri for a moment Love Lab is NOT a yuri series because all of the girls want boyfriends even though they attend an all girl school. Besides having lots of great comedic moments, the drama buildup of Maki discovering that Riko lied to her about having romance experience was handled nicely and in the end FRIENDSHIP wins! I hope we get another season of Love Lab.

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[ Uchouten Kazoku ] This is a worthy candidate for Anime of the Year. It was a very well-written family story (quite truly an Eccentric Family) that rode a steady stream of quality storytelling throughout; there really wasn’t a dull moment in the 13-episode series. P.A. Works did what most expect from them with art and animation, though I enjoyed that they took a step away from the style that was seen in shows like Tari Tari or Red Data Girl with Uchouten.
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[ Highschool DxD New ] It doesn’t surprise me any that I’d put DxD New on my Top 3 considering how much I enjoyed season 1; it does surprise how much I feel DxD New is a legitimate top 3 anime. The story took a step up with Kiba and the holy swords and threw in some major players while retaining the high ecchi quotient DxD fans like myself know and love. Highway, Fosh & I discussed more on this series on Ep. 35 of MetaVerse.
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[ Railgun S ] While I wasn’t very high on the first Railgun series, I had hopes for Railgun S and it impressed me all the way through, enough so that I can say this is my favorite of the 4 Raildex seasons. While we had already seen Touma vs. Accelerator before, seeing Misaka deal with the issue herself for the first half of the series made for really great anime and gave chances to J.C. Staff to show off its prowess in action animation. ITEM was a nice mercenary-like addition with Level 5 Meltdowner, and even the anime-original arc with Febri grew on me with each passing episode and had a very entertaining finale. The “S” may be for sisters, but I’ll use it for “solid” to describe this season of Railgun.
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[ Servant x Service ] The reason why I like Servant x Service is because it’s fun. The characters are enjoyable, and the interactions they have never fail to make me laugh. This anime always brightened my days with its humoric aspect, and I always ended up in a good mood after I watched it. Though it’s nothing complicated, it managed to bring me joy throughout the summer. It’s simple, but I simply loved it.
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[ Free! ] BL and that’s it. Okay, there’s actually more to Free than its yaoi vibe. It has that magical friendship the boys formed at the end of the episode. With so many anime focusing on action and romance, having an anime that focuses on sport fused with friendship is definitely not common, and Free! took the spotlight with that. There is also the bishies and their hot damn sexy abs to freshen the eyes, not to mention all the lovey-doey gestures the boys did… Aw hell, I take back what I said. This anime is all about BL and that’s it.
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[ Shingeki no Kyojin ] Now that I think about it, there are so many things I hate about this anime. But mainly the two main characters who happened to have black hair. The male character is too emotional to the point where it pisses me off, and the female character is just an egoistic girl who will always mess things up. Seriously, they suck. Thankfully, the other characters are fine. Though the story is not mushy, the amount of pessimism in this anime never fails to depress me. Every time I finished watching an episode, I feel like a failed human being for not being able to protect this world from human-look-alike giants and climb walls with extremely illogically thin wires. The only reason I like this anime is because it’s full of blood and death, and I happen to like the mixture of those two in anime. But not the depression.
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[ Rozen Maiden ] This choice is an equal balance of bias (I admit to having 6 year old Rozen Maiden posters in my room) and the fact that DEEN completely shocked me with this. I was expecting absolute crap regarding the animation, but instead, DEEN nailed the atmosphere. Yes, there was derp, but I was super impressed with how nice the end result turned out overall. The story itself was really nicely put together as well. At first the idea of having unwound Jun’s daily life drag out for episodes on end (while cramming all of the action scenes together) seemed like the exact opposite of what I wanted to see, but Rozen Maiden made it work perfectly. It’s always amazing when something I think will ruin a show for me becomes a winning quality. …The ending was really off for a number of reasons and I’m worried about what would happen if they made another season of this in the future continuing on from this point, but for the most part, this was really nice to watch.

[ Free! ] My reasons for putting this at number 2? …It was a dorama-filled swimming anime by KyoAni (with BL intonations). What else do you want from me? Okay fine, I guess I’ll elaborate. I don’t think anyone was expecting much (or at least I wasn’t) depth or real storyline after that first , uh, fabulous teaser that KyoAni put out originally for this series. Really, that’s all they needed to make the series successful for the fujoshi fandom. However, Free! went beyond that and amazingly had a pretty solid plot and characters. This wasn’t only good because of the animation, but the story was actually interesting to watch too, and there was a lot more universal appeal than I first thought this would have had. I mean, just look at all of the male viewers this managed to keep. Admittedly, I wasn’t so fond of the ending (other than Rei being the greatest character of the show), but by that point, I just wanted Rin to get his act together. Which he did. So this anime was pretty good.

[ Gatchaman Crowds ] Say what you want about the ending (…or the fact that the plot didn’t seem to be very organized, or the fact that very few characters were actually developed), I rather enjoyed this series. Hajime’s enthusiasm was contagious, the animation style was always interesting to see, and it brought up some interesting points and themes. …Some of which seemed really loaded (“Social media is great, guys. Look at it saving the world and stuff”), but they were interesting nonetheless. Seeing Rui struggle throughout the anime (and then eventually come to a conclusion) was really satisfying to watch as well. Oh, and the OST was really catchy. Though I should have expected as much from Iwasaki Taku (aka the guy who also composed the “Her name is Koko, she is loco. I say oh no.” song … and the rest of the Jormungand OST).

[ Free! ] Am I going to say that an anime about swimming boys was my favorite out of an entire summer season? Hell yeah I am. While I meant to watch Free! for laughs because of cheesy the premise sounded, I ended up enjoying the entire series. I mean, yes we had our typical fanservice shots, and some over-dramaticized parts, but there was not one moment where I thought “I might not like this show after all.” The ending to Free! is what actually sealed the deal for me because of how well put together it was. It was this wonderful emotional roller coaster ride that ended with their friendship with Rin repaired and Rei truly fitting in as a teammate and friend. They were all such loveable and enjoyable characters, and I don’t think I’ve had this much fun with an anime in a while.

[ Love Lab ] Love Lab turned out to be a surprise favorite of mine. Initially I was going to drop the series, but the more hilarious situations the girls ended up in, the more I couldn’t wait to watch another episode. It had a fun, laid-back atmosphere to help contrast the more serious shows I was watching during the season. Even the problems they encountered, like Sayo getting caught with her boyfriend and of course Riko’s lie about having a lot of dating experience, had the right amount of seriousness and comedy to not throw off the overall tone of the show. I also loved that it didn’t entirely focus on the girls, but gave some screen time to their siblings and other people around them as well, who turned out to be just as entertaining as the girls themselves. Overall it was a great comedy series that I actually wouldn’t mind re-watching.

[ Danganronpa ] I had been interested in Dangan Ronpa for a while (thanks to a girl I met at a concert), but I lacked the motivation to actually get the game, get the English patch, etc, etc., so when the anime was announced I was pretty excited. It turned out to be quite the dark, enjoyable ride (at least from the perspective of person who’s never played the game). Crime shows typically get boring quickly, but Dangan Ronpa managed to make each murder intriguing and complicated enough so that it wasn’t easy to pick out the culprit. The added mystery of figuring out how they came to this school also kept the show from falling flat, even when it was agonizing waiting for more clues and for them to piece everything together. Of course, Dangan Ronpa’s uniquely styled characters, setting, and trial sequence made the show not only more visually-appealing, but more enticing to continue watching. Hopefully they’ll animate Super Dangan Ronpa 2, so I continue to lazily follow this awesome series.

[ Uchouten Kazoku ] It’s rare to see a show get its storytelling just so right. The second anime adaptation of a Tomihiko Morimi novel after 2010’s Masaaki Yuasa masterpiece Tatami Galaxy, this show showed off its pedigree with a fun, imaginative ride that had us falling in love with the eponymous eccentric family of tanuki. The first act set up all the characters and their lives, culminating in an unforgettable fireworks battle between a flying ship and a flying tea room above Kyoto, and the final act perfectly knocked everything down in a desperate battle for survival and family. All along, PA Works’s well established animation skills were on display with Koji Kumeta’s quirky character designs, and the best OP/ED combination of the season (especially if you’re a Mighty Mighty Bosstones fan!).

[ Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya ] One of the surprises of the season, I initially dropped it after 1 episode, only to pick it up several weeks later when I saw shots of Archer!Illya. What looked at first like a lighthearted magical girl show quickly became a high octane action fest with some of the most impressive melee combat seen in anime. Director Shin Oonuma is known mainly as that guy who is almost but not quite like Shinbo, and who knew he had such action skills up his sleeve? As a Type-Moon fan, I’m comfortable saying that this is by far the best TV anime adaptation of a Type-Moon work so far. I can’t wait to see what else Oonuma will pull out for the second season.

[ Stella Jogakuin Koutou-ka C³-Bu ] This was an even bigger surprise than Prisma Illya. A show about an airsoft club at an obscenely rich girl’s high school, it eschewed most of the typical high school club show tropes for a heartfelt character study on the young and immature newbie main character Yura. We got to see her slowly discovering her inner confidence through airsoft – with a bit of magical realism thrown in – before losing her way in her drive to succeed and finally finding it again. It ultimately didn’t do everything that it had the potential to do, but C3-bu was still a fun ride that pulled on the heartstrings. Gainax hasn’t been quite the same since Imaishi’s departure, but this was surely their best work in years.
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 [ Rozen Maiden ] I don’t know what possessed me to watch Rozen Maiden when it aired. A show about some kid and some dolls. Of course, I knew nothing about the series or the franchise when this series started, and the first episode was so hectic but there was something about it. I know that first episode pushed a lot of people away, but for me it was what drew me into the whole thing. Shinku was a perfect character for the show – haughty, self-absorbed, perfect posture, and yet, there was that caring depth that I thought I could see even in that first episode. The changed feel from the second episode on was great also, and I always felt like Deen was right on top of the show. The pace was deliberate, the feel was spot on. You got that Unwound Jun was waiting for something that wasn’t coming, and even though he didn’t realize it right away when it was Shinku, at the end he understood. And for her part, Shinku knew what Jun needed, and helped guide him that way with the smallest of touches.

[ Uchouten Kazoku ] In the early part of the season, I called Uchouten Kazoku a “Masterclass on Storytelling” and it continued to be that until the end. Always showing us the story, even in flashbacks, it brought us into its own conversation. It wasn’t lecturing us. It wasn’t just showing us. It was *including* us. We were around the tables when things were remembered. We learned more details as stories were retold with different people present. We became friends with Yasaburou, learned Yaichirou’s strengths and weaknesses, met Yajirou and Kaisei and felt their pain as each finally opened up about Souichirou’s fateful night. We reveled in the manifestations of the Shimogamo idiot blood, with aerial fireworks battles, threatening Maneki-neko, the back and forth of the Fake Eizan Electric Railway. And the work done by PA Works was astounding. A departure from their hyper-realistic style (which I love), they brought out a beauty in Kyoto that was at once real and enhanced, almost like an HDR photo. Colors popped, the action was interesting, the characters were fun to look at (the ears, tho, ehhh I guess it’s a style thing). The style definitely fit the story, and added to make the whole much better.

  [ Highschool DxD New ] It’s rare that an ecchi show is good enough to hold its own with well-written comedies like we had this season, but to me, DxD is the one that pulls it off. A good shounen-esque plot, but without the glacial pacing of most shounen stories, combined with the best ecchi in anime, makes for an easily watchable show with a lot of visual interest. Add in the acting of Kaji Yuki in this role that I think is the best for him and the great character designs and you have a show that pleases from start to finish. One thing I think is special about DxD is the personal growth of Issei throughout the whole series. He wants to grow, he wants to advance, and he actually does, as he turns from dope who does the wrong thing to guy who does the right thing. On the way, one girl after another falls in love with him, but in a rarity for a harem show, there actually feels like a reason for it. This series just holds up well, and I really recommend it to anyone, even those who go “Oh, it’s got boobs, it can’t be good.” This is the exception.

[ Love Lab ] Hands down, without a doubt, no questions about it, best show of the season. My only regret was not being the one to blog it. But sometimes that’s fine. It means you get to enjoy the show at your leisure. What’s so great about Love Lab, you ask? The answer can only be: everything. I haven’t watched a show that made me honestly laugh so hard in a long time. When I say honestly laugh, I mean laughing at the comedy in the show and not at the show itself. The last time I had a good, hearty laugh was probably when I watched Nichibros. Comedy aside, there’s the more serious, budding relationship between the diverse student council members. To those who call it yuri, go watch an actual yuri show. While a little cliche at moments, Love Lab pulls this developing camaraderie off with surprising prowess for a seemingly simple gag-comedy. And on the note of gag-comedy, that’s not to say the show was completely devoid of wordplay either. Really, an easy pick for a quality feel-good show.

[ Rozen Maiden ] This was the show that broke my Rozen Maiden virginity. Maybe that language is a tad bit unsettling. But hey, that fits right in with this show. Not having any prior knowledge of anything Rozen Maiden, I must say that this alternate take did a fine job of introducing me to the universe. The first episode certainly was intimidating, but after that, the pacing slowed wayyyyyy down to a very comfortable gait. Perhaps too slow, some might say. But those people have probably taken too many energy drinks or are part of the new hyperactive generation. Anyway, mysterious and unsettling are two good words to describe the show. It takes its time drawing you into the intrigue of the dolls and the “deathmatch” that they are pitched into. And all the way through, there’s a fittingly gloomy backdrop and atmosphere, accomplished very much with the use of bgm. If you’re looking for a more somber and sober show, this is it.

[ Prisma Illya ] My first experience of Prisma Illya was when I stumbled across the manga online. I read it a bit, and wasn’t impressed in the least. So when I heard it was being turned into an anime, I rolled my eyes with much vigor. And then I watched the actual product. And this time I was impressed. I don’t know what happened there; maybe something was lost in translation when I attempted my initial reading stint. But that doesn’t matter any more, because the show has me solidly sold. Amongst magical girl parodies, this one takes the cake by having sassy wands that dupe little girls into becoming powerpuff lolis. Who needs to deconstruct the genre (I swear people drop that word like a bomb without even know what it really means) when you can simply make it better with fevered bouts of in-your-face smackdowns and a dash of crass humor?

 [ Shingeki no Kyojin ] Since everyone and their mother (and supposedly even some grandmothers) was watching this series, I gave in to peer pressure and for once, it turned out to be the right decision.  The most common thought I had while watching Shingeki no Kyojin was “Less talking, more doing.”  Shingeki was very fortunate to have such a compelling storyline because most of the dialogue and characters were very dull and uninspiring to me.  Many of the characters may be fan-favorites, but I didn’t find all that much depth or originality to their personalities, save for a few (like Potato Girl).  I just wanted to fast-forward through nearly every long dialogue in the show because they were all just rehashes of a thousand other speeches seen in anime and were completely devoid of new insights or new takes on the subject.  I wanted “more doing” because the main appeals to Shingeki for me were the cliffhangers, the general direction of the storyline, and the setting itself.   Even if there weren’t anything else good about the series, I would still tune in each week to discover more about a world filled to the brim with mysteries which made it hard to predict at times where the story would turn next.  Come to think of it, maybe more shows should abide by the “Less talking, more doing” rule…

[ Free! ] I watched this because I was sorta forced to… but I found it surprisingly better than expected.  Having swam competitively in the past, this series did hold some appeal to me with its swimming aspect.  Additionally, the journey of building a team from scratch to take on the best gave Free! an underdog storyline that works decently well in nearly any show to keep viewers interested.  Plus, the animation is sublime, as is expected from KyoAni, and the music wasn’t half bad either, which made the constant fangirling I had to hear throughout every episode much easier to endure.
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[ Shingeki no Kyojin ] I know lots of people are saying that this is the mainstream anime (or Sword Art Online 2013 lol) of the year which was made to attract casual and hardcore anime fans alike, I still think it managed to do accomplish the most important thing – keep me interested and excited for the next episode every single week. Yes, there are obvious plot holes and gaps which were left unexplained, but for me, it never failed to evoke some form of emotion in me (god, nearing the end of this show I was so emotionally affected after every episode I had to force myself to stop until my exams ended, otherwise I couldn’t have studied at all), whether it be UTTER DESPAIR or omg Levi y u so cool!1111, SnK really managed to make its way into my head and really make me come to appreciate its setting even if it’s all blood and gore and desperation as well as compel me to care for the characters even despite the fact that 80% of them are probably going to die off in the future. And that in itself, is a feat worth acknowledging.
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[ Free! ] made me remember the relationships of my past. Every scene whispered memories that I had long tucked away. It shared my secrets with me like an old friend that I hadn’t seen for a while. The success of this series lies in its strong characters that drive the plot forward. Very close attention was paid to subtle aspects of the three leads to make them very relatable. Leaving this series felt like I was saying goodbye to some very old friends.
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[ Rozen Maiden ] I’m rather new to the Rozen Maiden world, and even though I didn’t know a thing when I first started watching this show, I feel like I can really appreciate it and see why everybody loves it so much now. Perhaps the pacing was really off sometimes (ok, most of the time – after the first episode I was falling asleep after every episode) and maybe Jun is a really annoying slob of a main character, but you can’t deny that the idea of the 7 Rozen Maiden sisters and their world of magical sparkles and KILLING EACH OTHER TO BECOME THE ONE really draws you in. That, coupled with beautiful animation and adorable dolls made for quite an enjoyable experience. (I still really don’t like Jun though.)
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