When P.A. works gets ambitious and does cool crap like this show, it’d be a disservice to the material to just have one reviewer. We’re breaking down the not-at-all-token arsty show of the new season, Uchoten Kazoku, buddy cop style!
Today’s Monday, and it’s been about a week since the first summer anime have aired. A few are on second episodes now, but I’m not going to end up covering them because WataMote clinched a lock on my open Monday slot.
We’re a little past the halfway mark in Summer 2013, and with one more week of new material still to air, things are looking fairly positive. Sunday carries a (literally) shorter slate, but not one lacking punch.
Saturday’ slate of new anime concludes with two slice-of-lifey shows, albeit with one much more anticipated than the other.
Saturday saw the rollout of 4 more anime, and a depressing lack of Space Brothers. I’m opening up with the magical girls before getting to the certain sequel I’m really excited for.
After sampling a bunch of try-hard comedies, it’s time to get to the real meat of Thursday’s crop. Or at least the stuff that was top-3 on himawari douga when I kicked up the streams.
Woop, it’s Thursday, the day of massive-impact airing!* We’ll have to wait a week for Silver Spoon, but there’s a six-shooter’s worth of ammo to chew on in the meantime.
Recently, I’ve been taking on a major item that’s been on my checklist of must-read manga, Adachi Mitsuru’s Touch.* Though it’s not as popular in the States, it’s widely regarded as a classic in Japan. As usual, the conventional wisdom was dead-on and this classic has been a joy to read, bursting with old-timey summer atmosphere, gradually-blooming romance, and dust-covered baseball. I also noticed that several newer works I’ve read before this draw heavy inspiration from it.** Picking just one chapter from the thirty I’ve blazed through so far was difficult. I ultimately settled on this one because, among other things, it rolls out a musical montage to no music.
Much has been made of the fact that the buzz-heavy Free represented Kyoto Animation/KyoAni in a departure from their typical character styles. Personally, I couldn’t give two bits about what other people had been hyping this show for. I was honestly just into it for the dynamic photography showcased in the trailer. And what do you know? It didn’t disappoint.
In any given anime season, Tuesday is usually a day to have low expectations for. This one was no exception, and I had fairly little hope for both of the shows I watched. Typically, I got surprised by both; one was an unexpected treat, the other was a more basic failure than I had anticipated.
Animetics 