Anime Mirai 2015

This is a double review, attempting to highlight the short animations that come out off Young Animator Training Project. In 2015, the project was called Anime Mirai and it spawned four animations. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to get all four. Hence it’s only a double review. I’ll try to make it as spoiler free as I can.

Aki no Kanade (アキの奏で, lit. Aki’s Rhythm) – J.C.Staff

It has been 10 years since Aki moved to Tokyo to pursue her childhood dream of becoming a taiko drummer. However, trying to balance work and taiko practice is harsh, and each day is incredibly stressful. One day, Aki receives a phone call. A taiko drum festival is going to be revived after 15 years. Will she be able to come back and give technical guidance?

This is a story of finding lost passion. Before returning to her hometown to train the drummers for the festival, Aki feels like a failure for not being able to live off her drumming jobs. That she still has to keep a second job to pay her bills. But looking at the other drummers in her squad, she’s not the only one.

If you’re feeling lost on your journey and lack the drive and motivation to continue, think back to the things that made you start. That initial excitement and the reasons you have since almost forgotten might spark something. Aki remembers her training and the festivals in her hometown, the way she loved taiko drumming before it became a means of making money.

あまんちゅ！約束の夏と新しい思い出のコト | Amanchu! OVA

This OVA is a direct sequel to the first season of Amanchu! It came out over a year ago, but I only watched it this April, when I was readying myself to watch the second season, Amanchu! Advance, which aired in the spring.

As always, beware of spoilers!

Akane (left) and Chizuru (right) arriving at Izu-kogen Highlands.

The premise is very simple. Futaba/Teko’s two closest friends from the city come to visit her. Chizuru is jealous of Hikari/Pikari and lets that spoil most of her visit. (Even though Pikari’s grandma warns her in a way. Listen to your elders.) In an apology that leaves nobody wondering what happened, she accepts that Futaba/Teko can have other friends and be happy with them.

Backlog: Week 20

I’ve been thinking and have come to the conclusion that these posts aren’t all that useful. Especially when I don’t have the time to watch and finish more than one or two series a week. And they have been shorts or OVAs lately. With one series, I might as well write a full review, which will be much more interesting and in-depth. And 20 is a nice round number to end at. So this week’s backlog post will be a final one. Instead I’ll try to write full reviews and more importantly, my favorite research post. It might be a bit more work, but also a bit more fun for both you and me. Feel free to comment on my decision here or over on Twitter.

Anyway, this week I meant to finish the first season of Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? And I finished it… today.

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?

Also known as DanMachi. First of all, I’d like to say that this is not what it seems from the title. It looks like an adaptation of a generic harem light novel. Now I haven’t read the light novel, but the anime is not a generic harem.

DanMachi is a zero-to-hero story. Bell Cranel, a wannabe hero, spends his days fighting at the easiest dungeons to bring money home to his Goddess. After killing a monster he gets a stone, which he can exchange for money. He’s the only follower of Goddess Hestia, the only member of her Familia. Gradually he gains strength and a number of friends. Now here’s where it gets tricky – female friends, mostly. From there many anime would take the harem road, but Bell-kun is so innocent and clueless, that while there are some face-to-chest encounters, he never stoops to ecchi things. So points for that.

Backlog: Week 13

There was no Backlog last week, because I only watched 8 episodes and did not finish a single anime… This week I did better and watched 23 full episodes. No shorts! (Although Aho Girl and Tsurezure Children are only 12.5 minutes.) I finished 4 anime.

Working!!!

This is the third season of Working, a series about a family restaurant in Hokkaido and its employees. This season is the last with this cast, so many story lines are being tied up. It’s very satisfying because of that.

Everything else is the same as in previous installments. Animation, sound,… all in pretty good quality.

What I mind is that the finale is in a 50-minute special, instead of the series having 15 episodes. I’m pretty sure there’s a good reason for that, like finances or something similar, but like this the series is definitely not a concise project. Just like the other seasons, which ended with so many loose ends.

Backlog: Week 7

It’s Sunday! This week I finished two movies, one short and one series. As always I watched 21 episodes, including 13 shorts. I’m finishing a lot, but my “watching” and “to watch” numbers are barely budging.

Backlog: Week 2

Welcome to the third post about my “backlog adventure”. I tried writing a bit more about the series and not just my incoherent reactions this time, so I hope you like the format better. This week I watched 21 episodes, including 11 shorts. (Random piece of trivia: In January I finished 15 anime series. That’s the most I ever finished in a month.)