-blacksheep's Summer 2012 Watch List



Now that most Spring Anime are about to end, I guess it's about time for me to share my thoughts and my picks for this coming Summer Anime season :D

On a quick overview of how spring has been going around for me, before summer begins I'll most likely be able to finish around 12 series namely: Acchi Kocchi, AKB0048, Haiyore! Nyaruko-san, Jormungand, Kimi to Boku. 2, Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? OF THE DEAD, Natsuiro Kiseki, Sankarea, Tasogare Otome x Amnesia, ZETMAN, Tsuritama and Sakamichi no Apollon. Similar to what I did last season, I'll be posting my top 3 anime for Spring 2012 soon. Most likely these series will be the ones I'll be choosing from and I'm pretty surprised that they're all Spring Anime, there weren't any 2-cour Winter Anime. Oh well. Aside from these 12 series, I might be able to add Upotte!!, Nazo no Kanojo X and Medaka Box if time allows me to watch these 3.

Now for this summer season, I have decided on my partial list to watch. Depending on the first episodes and how people would see the other series I didn't add to my list, I might consider them. Similar to what happened this season, I suddenly watched and liked Kuroko no Basuke and AKB0048 due to reasons I just said. So now, here's my Summer 2012 watch list:

~Will surely watch...

Natsuyuki Rendezvous [MyAnimeList | Official Website]
Genre: Drama, Romance, Supernatural, Josei

Synopsis:
A young man with poor eyesight named Hazuki works part-time in a flower shop and falls hard for the shop-owner Rokka. But what happens when he discovers that residing in her apartment is the spirit of the man she can never forget?

Why I'll Watch:
noitaminA anime - definitely my number 1 reason for watching this. Now the genre definitely caught my attention and the synopsis suggests that this'll be a truly heartbreaking story. I also like the two male leads: Nakamura Yuuichi (Gray Fullbuster, Oreki Houtarou) and Fukuyama Jun (Lelouch Lamperouge, Okumura Yukio). And I'm definitely looking forward to that OP by Matsushita Yuuya :3




Arcana Famiglia [MyAnimeList | Official Website]
Genre: Romance

Synopsis:
The story takes place on the small island of Regalo in the Mediterranean Sea. The island has been protected by a vigilante committee called "Arcana Famiglia". The members of the family have psychic powers gained by a secret ritual.
Felicita is a 16-year-old girl who was raised by her strict mother. She visits Regalo to see her father who is the head of Arcana Famiglia. He tells her to become the leader of "Serie of Sword", the arbitrator section of the family. 
As one of the members of Arcana Famiglia, Felicita interacts with other handsome but eccentric members.

Why I'll Watch:
It's not in the genre but this synopsis definitely screams reverse harem! Now that's one good reason for me to watch this(: Anyway, with J.C. Staff taking this series, it just makes me wonder how they'll be working on this since I don't remember seeing a J.C. Staff reverse harem anime before. Either way, I've definitely loved the cast once I saw it: Noto Mamiko (Kuronuma Sawako), Fukuyama Jun (Lelouch Lamperouge, Okumura Yukio), Yonaga Tsubasa (Niiya Teiichi), Yoshino Hiroyuki (Nishijou Takumi, Allelujah Haptism), Sugita Tomokazu (Sakata Gintoki, Yamada Akira Agarkar), Nakamura Yuuichi (Gray Fullbuster, Oreki Houtarou), Kosugi Jurota and Yusa Kouji (Haitani Seiji). Finally, the director Kon Chiaki tells me that this will be a really romantic anime although I haven't really seen her notable romance anime :3


Kokoro Connect [MyAnimeList | Official Website]
Genre: Comedy, Slice of Life

Synopsis:
The "love and teen pentagonal comedy" follows the strange phenomena at the Yamahoshi Academy's Culture Club, starting with the five male and female club members switching bodies with each other.

Why I'll Watch:
It's an anime that have switching bodies as it's main story! XD Switching bodies is one of the funniest thing to happen in an anime. Although I disliked Silver Link's style in Baka to Test and in C Cube, they have definitely regained themselves with Tasogare Otome x Amnesia. Setting the production company aside, I'm glad to see Terashima Takuma (Ittoki Otoya) and Sawashiro Miyuki (Celty Sturluson, Honda Masazumi) in the cast :3 AND that director, Oonuma Shin (Baka to Test, Tasogare Otome x Amnesia), I don’t know if I should be happy or be wary about it but I guess I won't really care much about it because I'm so set about watching this series.

Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Magic, Shounen

Synopsis:
The second season of Dog Days.
Republic of Biscotti faces a predicament by the invasion of Galette Leo Knights. In order to save the country, Princess Milchore summons a "hero" from the outer world. Shinku, a junior high school boy living in the Earth, is chosen as the hero.

Why I'll Watch:
You all know that's it's for the sake of hearing more of Miyano Mamoru (Mashima Taichi, Kida Masaomi). LOL. Other than that obvious reason, I definitely want to see more of DOG DAYS and from what I've read somewhere, this sequel will not only involve more of Izumi Cinque but we'll also see more of Cinque's best friend. SO I expect some interesting fight for Cinque moment here :3 Now who said that this was a kid's show when you all saw those 'knights' poof-ing into dogs and cats in the first season? I know I did but I was stand corrected.

Genre: School

Synopsis:
The story centers around five Japanese high school students who are too young to be called adults, but who no longer think of themselves as children. 
Wakana Sakai once took music lessons, but she withdrew from music after losing her mother. Konatsu Miyamoto is a positive-thinking girl who loves singing and spends time after school at the vocal music club. Sawa Okita is a spirited archery club member who dreams of becoming a horse rider. Daichi Tanaka is a chronically late badminton team member who lives with his college student sister. "Wiin" just transferred into Wakana's class after 12 years abroad in Australia. 
Music brings Wakana, Konatsu, Sawa and the others together into an ensemble during their last summer in high school. 

Why I'll Watch: 
When I saw how beautiful this series looks like through the PV, I instantly hit Plan to Watch in MAL because I just know that I'll like this series. Furthermore, I'm practically a huge P.A. Works fan when it comes to stunning art and animation as shown in Angel Beats!, Another and Hanasaku Iroha. I know that no one will object to that. Also some of the MCs' V.A. also lack experience but still, I know that I won't be disappointed(: AND did I mentioned that the V.A. of Takatsuki Yoshino from Hourou Musuko, Seto Asami, will be voicing a main character? HAHA. (I'm just saying since I have Takatsuki as my picture :3)

~Will Check Out...

Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita [MyAnimeList | Official Website]
Genre: Fantasy, Seinen

Synopsis:
It's been several centuries since human beings declined due to the steep drop in birthrates. The most prosperous species on the Earth are "Fairies", 10 cm tall creatures with high intelligence. I became a UN arbitrator between the humans and the fairies and returned to my hometown to help my grandfather. I thought my job would not be a tough one and visited one of the fairies' habitats to say hello to them but...

Why I'll Watch: 
Okay. I don't really have some strong reasons of watching this anime but after seeing this, I just had the feeling that I need to watch this. Looking further at this anime's credentials, the director is going to be Kishi Seiji who also worked on my fave anime, Angel Beats!. I'm not entirely sure if it's a good up or what but I guess we'll see once this begins. Looking further at the staff, I see Sakai Kyuuta on character design (Sankarea, Steins;Gate ) and Otani Kow on the music (Another). Should I say good combination? I guess we'll see about that.

Genre: Comedy, Slice of Life

Synopsis:
A group of girls discusses random things and usually reaches an unusual or humorous conclusion that's far from the initial discussion topic.

Why I'll Watch: 
I just simply enjoy watching comedy-centered anime. Assuming based on the synopsis, I'm thinking that this will be a four-koma style comedy but either way, I'm pretty positive that I'll enjoy watching this anime. I did a quick check on the cast and it looks the like the MCs is a set of little experienced voice actors except for Gotou Saori (Kiryuu Moeka). Being the next J.C. Staff I saw on my list, I'll be looking forward to this nice series(:



Dakara Boku wa, H ga Dekinai [MyAnimeList | Official Website]
Genre: Romance, Comedy

Synopsis:
Kaga Ryosuke is an ecchi high school boy. One day, he meets a girl standing alone in the rain. She is Lisarah Restor, an elite Death, who visited the human world in order to find "Singular Man". 
Ryosuke makes a contract with Lisarah and she sucks energy required for her activity in the human world from Ryosuke. The source of the energy is his ecchi spirit. 
To recover the sexual desire, Ryosuke has no choice but to help Lisarah's search.

Why I'll Watch: 
That synopsis was just funny that I'm getting the feeling that that MC, Kaga Ryosuke, is a freaking pervert. XD Anyway, other than the synopsis, I also did a quick check on the cast and it's looking pretty… decent. Okay, probably this time it didn't made me all excited because I only know Shimono Hiro (Katsuragi Keima, Tsubaki Sasuke) but still that synopsis will keep me going :3

Hagure Yuusha no Estetica [MyAnimeList | Official Website]
Genre: Action, Fantasy

Synopsis:
In normal RPGs, a hero defeats the Satan king and the story ends. But what does the hero do after that? Ohtorizawa Akatsuki defeats the Satan king in the fantasy world of Alleyzard and returns to the real world. He is sheltered by the international organization BABEL, which protects and controls people transferred from the outer worlds. BABEL is astonished to know Akatsuki has really defeated Satan and brings Satan's daughter Miu from Alleyzard. In the academy of BABEL, Akatsuki confronts other "returners", who have psychic powers.

Why I'll Watch: 
That production company turns me off. LOL. Also, the synopsis isn't the most interesting although the art definitely looks decent. I haven't checked out the PV but I've decided to add this to my list either way. Do I even have to spell it out? LOL. The cast has definitely caught me off guard again AND WHY ARE MY FAVE Bakuman CASTS IN HERE!? Okamoto Nobuhiko (Nizuma Eiji, Otonashi Io), Abe Atsushi (Mashiro Moritaka, Sakakibara Kouichi) and Hino Satoshi (Takagi Akito, Kamui). Other great casts includes: Hanazawa Kana (Tachibana Kanade, Hasegawa Kobato) and Sakurai Takahiro (Kururugi Suzaku, Matsuyuki Atsumu) .

Sword Art Online [MyAnimeList | Official Website]
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Game, Romance

Synopsis:
The only way to escape is to 'clear' the game. Death in game means actual 'death' ----
The ten thousand who have logged onto the as of yet mysterious game 'Sword Art Online' using their Nerve Gear have been forced into this perilous death game and are trapped inside.
Protagonist Kirito, one of the many gamers, has greeted this 'truth'.
He plays as a solo player in the giant castle that is the stage for this game ---- 'Aincrad'.
To meet the conditions of clearing the game and leaving this twisted virtual world, he must get through all 100 floors. Will Kirito have what it takes to clear the game, or will he die trying?

Why I'll Watch: 
It seems that a number of people are so thrilled to watch this anime. The synopsis looks pretty interesting so there's no harm in trying although I don't really want to expect anything from this series. Also, I'm glad to see a familiar production company here, A-1 Pictures (Tsuritama, Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai). I've read that the creator of this series is the same as Accel World which will be going to its second half this coming Summer but I still haven't got the time and interest to watch.

Oda Nobuna no Yabou [MyAnimeList | Official Website]
Genre: Comedy, Historical, Romance

Synopsis:
The historical romantic comedy follows 17-year-old high schooler Sagara Yoshiharu who one day time-travels to the Sengoku period, where all the major Samurai lords are cute girls. Yoshiharu meets Oda Nobuna, the girl counterpart of Oda Nobunaga, and begins to serve her as a substitute of Kinoshita Tokichiro, who has been dead in the world.

Why I'll Watch: 
Seeing the main character get handled by Eguchi Takuya (Kujou Kazuya, Watanuki Banri) makes me want to see how he'll do this time around. Although I have to admit that he's pretty good as Koganei Shinji from Kuroko no Basuke. He should do more roles like that. LOL. Anyway, I definitely like historical stuffs. I actually plan to watch other historical series (but I'm just taking it slowly). I smell harem but and I'm glad to see another male character here - Hanzou Hattori (Sakurai Takahiro) :D

Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse [MyAnimeList | Official Website]
Genre: Action, Mecha, Sci-fi, Military

Synopsis:
Since 1973, an invasion of aliens known as BETA upon Earth is driving human civilization into nearly collapse. Facing an enormous mass of enemy force, mankind has developed large humanoid arms called as Tactical Surface Fighters and deployed them to its defense lines through out the world. However, all those efforts could slow down defeats but could not stop BETA, and mankind is forced to abandon major area of the Eurasian Continent. For 30 years, mankind is bogged down in an endless war against BETA without any hopes of victory.
In 2001, the Imperial Japan faces difficulties in the development of a next-generation main Tactical Surface Fighters (TSF) as it defends the front lines of the Far East. The UN has proposed a joint development program between the Imperial Japan and the United States as a part of its international mutual development project of TSF, the Prominence Project.
Yui Takamura, a surface pilot of the Imperial Royal Guards of Japan, is given responsibility for the project and sets off to Alaska. Meanwhile, Yuya Bridges, also a surface pilot of the US Army, was heading to the same destination.
Yet they never knew that their encounter would change their destiny drastically.
This story with exciting human dramas and robot actions takes place in the development of a new Tactical Surface Fighters, the most important and effective weapons against BETA, at a crisis of human extinction.

Why I'll Watch: 
The synopsis screams typical mecha plot but who cares about that? The main character is voiced by Ono Daisuke (Midorima Shintarou, Heiwajima Shizuo)! Okay, that's not really my point. Although it was a pretty good plus for the series :3 Although I haven't really watched a lot, I actually like the mecha x military genre. AND don't you think it's a pretty good thing that Satelight's (AKB0048, Macross Frontier) the one working on this? I just added Macross Frontier there although I haven't really seen it but I checked Satelight out and they have worked on a number of mecha anime(: Also, I'm really excited to see the art since the art director, Ichikura Kei, was the one who worked on Angel Beats!'s and Kore wa Zombie Desu Ka?'s background art :3

Kono Naka ni Hitori, Imouto ga Iru! [MyAnimeList | Official Website]
Genre: Comedy, Romance, School, Harem, Seinen

Synopsis:
Abiding by his father's will, Shougo was transferred into an academy where many young girls attend. It appears as though his younger sister (separated from him at birth) also attends this academy, and that she is trying to get closer to him without letting know him who she actually is. Problem is, Shougo seems to be popular with the other girls as well! Can Shougo "properly" reunite with his little sister and while making a girlfriend at the same time?! 

Why I'll Watch: 
No particular reason. Really. I just want to watch. The synopsis isn't really anything special and the cast isn't really my fave. Although I'm pretty glad to see Sakurai Takahiro there.

Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon II [MyAnimeList | Official Website]
Genre: Action, Fantasy

Synopsis:
Second season of Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon .
In the far future, humans abandon a devastated Earth and traveled to outer space. However, due to unknown phenomenon that prevents them from traveling into space, humanity returns to Earth only to find it inhospitable except for Japan. 
To accomodate the entire human population, pocket dimensions are created around Japan to house in the populace. In order to find a way to return to outer space, the humans began reenacting human history according to the Holy book Testament. But in the year 1413 of the Testament Era, the nations of the pocket dimensions invade and conquer Japan, dividing the territory into feudal fiefdoms and forcing the original inhabitants of Japan to leave. 
It is now the year 1648 of the Testament Era, the refugees of Japan now live in the city ship Musashi, where it constantly travels around Japan while being watched by the Testament Union, the authority that runs the re-enactment of history. However, rumors of an apocalypse and war begins to spread when the Testament stops revealing what happens next after 1648. 
Taking advantage of this situation, Toori Aoi, head of Musashi Ariadust Academy's Supreme Federation and President of the student council, leads his fellow classmates to use this opportunity to regain their homeland. 

Why I'll Watch: 
It's a prequel. LOL. It's no surprised that I struggled a bit in finishing this series. It was pretty difficult to understand at the beginning because of all the things they are saying and making you quickly understand. Although the action this series have is pretty outstanding. All the battle at the second half of the series has definitely caught my attention and I love how well they were done. That's definitely something Sunrise can always be proud of. Now I'm pretty sure that this 2nd season will be pretty interesting as given by that cliffhanger at the end of the 1st season. Ever since I've finished it, I've been looking forward to watching this. Hopefully it doesn't disappoint(:

Binbougami ga! [MyAnimeList | Official Website]
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Magic, Supernatural

Synopsis:
Sakura Ichiko is a 16-year-old girl who leads a charmed life and is blessed with beauty, brains, and health. She has an abundance of "Happiness Energy", which can make people happy, but at the cost of absorbing all the Happiness Energy from her surroundings. She has caused the energy balance of the world to become unbalanced and because of this, she becomes the target of a Poverty God named Momiji. Momiji goal is to remove Ichiko's power of absorbing other people's Happiness Energy and to return all the energy she has taken to its rightful place. 

Why I'll Watch: 
Another Sunrise anime with a WTF? synopsis. I decided to watch this because… the synopsis looks stupid. LOL. Seriously. The "Happiness Energy" idea makes me laugh at this series but at the same time it makes me want to watch this. The cast isn't the most interesting other than seeing familiar ones such as Hanazawa Kana and Shimono Hiro. The one in-charge of the music, Hamauzu Masashi, is pretty new. I don't really know what to expect BUT the director, Fujita Yoichi (Gintama'), tells me that the comedy genre of this series will definitely be worth it(:

Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate [MyAnimeList | Official Website]
Genre: Drama, Romance

Synopsis:
Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate follows the protagonist Yuuki Oojima, who attends Private Takafuji Academy, a large school with over 6,000 students. Yuuki is a member of the food research club, along with seven others, including his childhood friend Chisato Sumiyoshi. The members leisurely spend their time in the club not doing much activities. When the election of the next student council president comes up, the front runner Satsuki Shinonome proposes that clubs that have no merit should be sorted out and abolished. The food research club seeks advice from the current student council president Yakumo Mori, who suggests Yuuki run in the election as an opposing candidate. Yuuki learns about the issues facing the school and decides to run in the election.

Why I'll Watch: 
There isn't anything special for this series. It seems more like a typical school - slice of life anime although this isn't really one of those slice of life that gets me going. With a production company like AIC and under their "AIC Build" (Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai, Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai) division, I pretty much know what to expect. Seeing Nakamura Yuuichi (Oreki Houtarou, Tsutsugami Gai) playing the main character gives me more motivation on watching this series.

Chouyaku Hyakunin Isshu: Uta Koi [MyAnimeList | Official Website]
Genre: Historical, Josei

Synopsis:
Uta Koi tells the "super-liberal interpretation" of the Hyakuninisshu anthology compiled during Japan's Heian period of 100 romantic poems from 100 different poets such as The Tale of Genji's Murasaki Shikibu.

Why I'll Watch: 
When I read the synopsis of this series, it instantly reminded me of Chihayafuru. No one can blame me for that, I'm pretty sure most Chihayafuru fans had the same thought. I'm not expecting anything from this series. I just watched this out of the love for the historical genre and the quick idea of Chihayafuru in me. The cast doesn't really catches my attention BUT probably the greatest plus in this series for me is the director, Kasai Kenichi, who works on the Bakuman franchise.

Genre: Comedy, Magic, Romance, Harem

Synopsis:
A harem love comedy plus magic battles. Kusanagi Godo is a 16-year-old high school boy, who once killed the god "Verethragna" and acquired the title of "Campione (god killer)" when he was 15. Erica Brandelli is a 16-year-old Italian girl, who is a "Great Knight" of the magic society "Bronze Black Cross" and had fought together with Godo to defeat Verethragna. Godo doesn't like fighting but his title of "Campione" makes him get involved in battles against other Campiones and uncontrollable gods.

Why I'll Watch: 
No particular reason. Really. I just want to watch this. The synopsis isn't really something interesting and it really looks more like some typical magic-genre anime. BUT on the side note, the one handling the music of this anime is Katou Tatsuya who also worked on Mirai Nikki and Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon. Guess there is something to look forward in here. Somehow.

Ebiten: Kouritsu Ebisugawa Koukou Tenmonbu [MyAnimeList | Official Website]
Genre: School, Shounen

Synopsis:
Noya Itsuki just started his school year at the Ebisugawa High School and since he has always had a fascination with space, he decides to join the astronomy club. However, he mistakenly walks into the all girls Otaku Club. He notices that the members are really weird, but Itsuki has yet to realize that he isn’t in the astronomy club. His life is about to get complicated by being surrounded by so many girls.

Why I'll Watch: 
The art probably caught my attention. LOL. Anyway, looking over at the cast, half of them are fairly new and I a haven't entirely heard of. As for the others, they are definitely to lookout for: Satou Satomi (Chitanda Eru, Tainaka Ritsu), Asumi Kana (Nyaruko, Taneshima Popura) and Ise Mariya (Killua Zoldyck).

Overall Impression
I'm pretty happy with how poor this season is since I'll be pretty busy until Fall Anime Season. Despite my busy schedule, I still decided to pick a number of shows and do my best to watch all of them. In fact, I'm glad that this season only have a few anime compared to last season. The most disappointing idea that came to my mind instantly is this season's lack of interesting slice of life anime. I was desperately looking for them. Other than Tari Tari and Kokoro Connect, I'm also looking at Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate and Ebiten. When I was looking through the synopsis of each series this season (while I was writing this watch list preview), I find that most anime aren't really interesting at all and the cast doesn't entirely catch my attention unlike this spring anime season. Despite my poor outlook on this season, I'm just hoping that I'll still have a fun time watching these series. If not, I'll go watch past anime to kill the 3-month length wait for my most awaited fall anime season.

Blogging Plans
As disappointed as I have been with these series, I find it pretty difficult to choose which series to blog because there aren't enough interesting anime to watch. Other than that problem, I have the knack of looking for slice of life anime (because I love writing about them) or easy to explain anime because I hate over thinking and explaining a lot. With how I see this season, I'll definitely blog both Tari Tari and Kokoro Connect. Aside from those two, I'm also eyeing on: Oda Nobuna no Yabou, Natsuyuki Rendezvous, Dakara Boku wa H ga Dekinai, Sword Art Online and Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate. Most of the anime I'm eyeing to blog is pretty much new to my style and I still have no idea how I'll talk about them but I definitely want to try - most especially Dakara Boku wa H ga Dekinai because it's the farthest from my comfort zone when I saw the PV. Anyway, as usual, everything will still depend on the first episode. I'll try to post more first impressions this season and also choose which anime to blog by then.
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