Dave Baranyi
2018-07-08 19:41:00 UTC
The Spring 2018 anime season finally staggered to a close on July 7 – a week after the Summer 2018 anime season started. This was not a good anime season from my perspective. There was one decent new series and a couple of decent remakes/sequels, but there were also some series that I regretted sticking with until the bitter end. And that doesn't include all of the many series that I didn't bother trying because they had so little promise or interest for me.
First off, here are the three series that I watched that started in the Winter 2018 season and finished in the Spring 2018 season:
“Card Captor Sakura: Clear Card-hen”. Final Rating: C. This reboot of CCS tried too hard to rely on nostalgia and so failed to bring anything new to the table. Sure, it looked nice and all of the old things were re-done well, but there was so much repetition from the original series that it became more and more of a disappointment as the series progressed. Then the series abruptly ended as Sakura was unknowingly defeated by an opponent who she didn't know that she had, and then the opponent decided that Sakura didn't really have anything that he wanted or needed so he did a time reset. Sure, I know that the manga isn't finished, but that was still a terrible way to end an anime, even if NHK intends to continue the anime in the future. If there is a continuation I'm not likely to watch it.
“Darling in the FranXX”. Final Rating: C-. This attempt by Trigger to recapture the success of “Gurren Lagann” started out irritating but with some promise, but that promise was slowly but surely frittered away by terrible writing. So many things were done poorly in the series as the writers continuously avoided action while repeating mediocre melodrama over and over again. In the 90s this would have been a six-part OAV and we would all have fond memories of it, but this bloated and dragged out version stands as an example of how things should not be done.
“Saiki Kusuo no Psi-nan 2”. Final Rating B. This continuation of the gag comedy about a teen with god-like psi powers was occasionally hilarious and the rest of the time it was reasonably funny. It made a nice light mid-week viewing break.
Series that began and ended in Spring 2018:
“Hozuki no Reitetsu 2nd Season: Sono Ni”. Final Rating: B+. This comedy about “office life” in the Japanese Hell continued to be entertainingly strange and consistently funny. Enjoyable characters, great visual gags, and smart writing made the series always fun to watch.
“Saredo Tsumibito was Ryuu to Odoru”. Final Rating: C-. This light novel adaptation of a world where magic and dragons are present along with modern technology should have been entertaining due to its premise and the fact that the characters were adults instead of kids, but the series suffered badly from clumsy writing and directing. Viewers who had already read the light novels might have enjoyed the series but those of us who haven't were left frustrated and unsatisfied.
“Golden Kamuy”. Final Rating: B+. This adaptation of a historical adventure manga set in Hokkaido in the beginning of the 20th Century felt a lot like the original “Full Metal Alchemist”, but with adult characters and no magical powers. Unfortunately, the manga is far from being finished and the 12 anime episodes were far too few to do more than whet the appetite of the viewers. A sequel is planned for later in the year and I'll be certain to keep an eye out for that.
“Hisone to Maso-tan”. Final Rating: A-. This modern fantasy was a very pleasant surprise for me and I found it to be quite enjoyable. The goofy premise of women pilots in the Japanese Air Force piloting shape-changing dragons from the inside was wonderfully integrated into an otherwise real-world based story. It was a lot of fun and close to being a classic.
“Jikken-hin Kazoku: Creatures Family Days”. Final Rating: C-. This was an odd bird – a Chinese anime that was set in China, dubbed into Japanese for a Japanese audience, and had characters with oddly bastardized English names. The story was simple – five mutant kids escape to the outside world when their mad-scientist parents are arrested for illegal and immoral research, and then the kids have to figure out how to survive on their own. One kid turns into a dog, another into a spider, another into a plant, another can read minds and the fifth and youngest is a naive genius. So the story spent its episodes showing how the five siblings try to learn how to live as a family. It was okay, but a bit repetitive and the ending was a bizarre mess.
Continuing New Series:
“GeGeGe no Kitaro (2018). Current Rating: B. Kitaro and his yokai friends are back again in an updated and good looking reboot. It's aimed at kids but it isn't too childish, and in general the creative team is having fun with the series so far. I'll continue to watch it.
“Lupin III – Part 5”. Current Rating: A. This edition of the Lupin franchise, which is set mainly in France this time, is pure fun. It's updated, but the main cast are aware that things are different from what they used to be and that they are all aging. I find the series to be everything that an action/adventure series ought to be – fun, flashy, and edgy when needed. I finish every episode with a smile on my face and I can't really ask for more. I'll definitely continue to watch this.
“Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi”. Final Rating: C. I couldn't stand any more – I dropped this painfully dull shoujo fantasy at the half-way point. I just wasn't enjoying it. The series will continue to the end of the Summer 2018 season but I won't be there to throw rocks at it. I've run out of rocks to throw.
Dishonourable Mentions:
I tried the first episode of “FLCL Progressive – Restart”. I honestly tried to watch it. It was horribly and stupidly painful to sit through. I gave it a “D” only because I skimmed though the second half. If I had forced myself to watch the entire thing I probably would have given it an “F”.
I also watched the first episode of “FLCL Alternative” and made it all the way through. I gave it a “C” and after some thought I decided that I really don't want to watch the rest of it whenever it comes out.
Dave Baranyi
BTW - yes, I still am watching and enjoying "Meitantei Conan" and "One Piece".
First off, here are the three series that I watched that started in the Winter 2018 season and finished in the Spring 2018 season:
“Card Captor Sakura: Clear Card-hen”. Final Rating: C. This reboot of CCS tried too hard to rely on nostalgia and so failed to bring anything new to the table. Sure, it looked nice and all of the old things were re-done well, but there was so much repetition from the original series that it became more and more of a disappointment as the series progressed. Then the series abruptly ended as Sakura was unknowingly defeated by an opponent who she didn't know that she had, and then the opponent decided that Sakura didn't really have anything that he wanted or needed so he did a time reset. Sure, I know that the manga isn't finished, but that was still a terrible way to end an anime, even if NHK intends to continue the anime in the future. If there is a continuation I'm not likely to watch it.
“Darling in the FranXX”. Final Rating: C-. This attempt by Trigger to recapture the success of “Gurren Lagann” started out irritating but with some promise, but that promise was slowly but surely frittered away by terrible writing. So many things were done poorly in the series as the writers continuously avoided action while repeating mediocre melodrama over and over again. In the 90s this would have been a six-part OAV and we would all have fond memories of it, but this bloated and dragged out version stands as an example of how things should not be done.
“Saiki Kusuo no Psi-nan 2”. Final Rating B. This continuation of the gag comedy about a teen with god-like psi powers was occasionally hilarious and the rest of the time it was reasonably funny. It made a nice light mid-week viewing break.
Series that began and ended in Spring 2018:
“Hozuki no Reitetsu 2nd Season: Sono Ni”. Final Rating: B+. This comedy about “office life” in the Japanese Hell continued to be entertainingly strange and consistently funny. Enjoyable characters, great visual gags, and smart writing made the series always fun to watch.
“Saredo Tsumibito was Ryuu to Odoru”. Final Rating: C-. This light novel adaptation of a world where magic and dragons are present along with modern technology should have been entertaining due to its premise and the fact that the characters were adults instead of kids, but the series suffered badly from clumsy writing and directing. Viewers who had already read the light novels might have enjoyed the series but those of us who haven't were left frustrated and unsatisfied.
“Golden Kamuy”. Final Rating: B+. This adaptation of a historical adventure manga set in Hokkaido in the beginning of the 20th Century felt a lot like the original “Full Metal Alchemist”, but with adult characters and no magical powers. Unfortunately, the manga is far from being finished and the 12 anime episodes were far too few to do more than whet the appetite of the viewers. A sequel is planned for later in the year and I'll be certain to keep an eye out for that.
“Hisone to Maso-tan”. Final Rating: A-. This modern fantasy was a very pleasant surprise for me and I found it to be quite enjoyable. The goofy premise of women pilots in the Japanese Air Force piloting shape-changing dragons from the inside was wonderfully integrated into an otherwise real-world based story. It was a lot of fun and close to being a classic.
“Jikken-hin Kazoku: Creatures Family Days”. Final Rating: C-. This was an odd bird – a Chinese anime that was set in China, dubbed into Japanese for a Japanese audience, and had characters with oddly bastardized English names. The story was simple – five mutant kids escape to the outside world when their mad-scientist parents are arrested for illegal and immoral research, and then the kids have to figure out how to survive on their own. One kid turns into a dog, another into a spider, another into a plant, another can read minds and the fifth and youngest is a naive genius. So the story spent its episodes showing how the five siblings try to learn how to live as a family. It was okay, but a bit repetitive and the ending was a bizarre mess.
Continuing New Series:
“GeGeGe no Kitaro (2018). Current Rating: B. Kitaro and his yokai friends are back again in an updated and good looking reboot. It's aimed at kids but it isn't too childish, and in general the creative team is having fun with the series so far. I'll continue to watch it.
“Lupin III – Part 5”. Current Rating: A. This edition of the Lupin franchise, which is set mainly in France this time, is pure fun. It's updated, but the main cast are aware that things are different from what they used to be and that they are all aging. I find the series to be everything that an action/adventure series ought to be – fun, flashy, and edgy when needed. I finish every episode with a smile on my face and I can't really ask for more. I'll definitely continue to watch this.
“Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi”. Final Rating: C. I couldn't stand any more – I dropped this painfully dull shoujo fantasy at the half-way point. I just wasn't enjoying it. The series will continue to the end of the Summer 2018 season but I won't be there to throw rocks at it. I've run out of rocks to throw.
Dishonourable Mentions:
I tried the first episode of “FLCL Progressive – Restart”. I honestly tried to watch it. It was horribly and stupidly painful to sit through. I gave it a “D” only because I skimmed though the second half. If I had forced myself to watch the entire thing I probably would have given it an “F”.
I also watched the first episode of “FLCL Alternative” and made it all the way through. I gave it a “C” and after some thought I decided that I really don't want to watch the rest of it whenever it comes out.
Dave Baranyi
BTW - yes, I still am watching and enjoying "Meitantei Conan" and "One Piece".