Disclaimer: These rankings are purely a reflection of our own opinions and tastes, which are admittedly rather different from your average anime fan. Just because we don’t like a particular show doesn’t mean you won’t enjoy it. Your mileage may vary, etc etc. However, if you do have a different opinion about a show, by all means post a comment so that people reading have more than one opinion to go by.

Summer often gets a bad rap as the “filler” season in between the generally much more packed spring and fall anime seasons. This season, however, summer boasts an excellent crop of new shows for fans of all different genres. Although I’m ranking these shows numerically according to my favorites, almost all of them are enjoyable in at least some respects.

Almost all.

17. Element Hunters

Send it to hell, Marge, send it to hell.

No seriously. Usually I try to give a series at least 3 or 4 episodes before making a judgment call, but this show had me pulling my hair only minutes into the first episode. I still watched a few episodes so that I can say I’m not making a premature judgment, but man that was torturous.

The plot is something along the lines of:

Earth is in crisis because our precious elements are disappearing! As it turns out, they are being stolen by an evil alternate dimension known as “Nega Earth”! Yes, that’s right. They are coming to earth and stealing our elements. Like, one at a time. An element.

And! And the only way to stop them is to transport teenagers in spandex outfits to Nega Earth to fight and bring back our elements! On account of grown ups can’t go to Nega Earth. No seriously. It’s because of science! Yeah…

So they go to Nega Earth, and there’s lot of emo bullshit and teen angst, and then they fight a monster using strategies that sound like some kind bad science project. And the element is captured in their “Pokedex”. Gotta catch ‘em all.

And everybody lives happily emo after.

16. Fight Ippatsu Juuden-chan

Another typical fanservice fest, and one with an incredibly sketch plot to boot.

Well, maybe I shouldn’t call it “typical”. I understand this series really pushed the envelope in terms of what you can get away with and still be on broadcast television, what with masochism and urination in every episode. Or so I hear anyway. I couldn’t deal with the insipid plot long enough to even find out if that claim is true.

15. Aoi Hana

Yuri. That’s the only term that this show can really be described with, and also its only “redeeming” quality.

If you’re into that you might enjoy it, but beyond that gimmick the plot doesn’t really offer anything interesting or substantive. The characters are incredibly one-dimensional, and not in a good “one-dimensional funny trope character” way. And did I mention that the one dimension is yuri?

Sigh…

14. Kanamemo

This series is so ridiculous and creepy on so many levels, I can’t even begin to describe it. The constant loli yuri fetishism was emphasized to a degree that I found downright disturbing, and the plot alternated between cringe-inducing awful and yawn-inducing boring.

The only bright ray of sunshine were the vocal performances of Kugimiya Rie (Shana, Sanzenin Nagi, Louise), who is practically a requirement these days in any series with a loli tsundere, and Mizuhara Kaoru (Misao from Lucky Star), who really needs to get more roles, because her voice is incredibly awesome.

13. Umineko no Naku Koro ni

Sigh. I really wanted to like this show. I tried very hard.

The show has most annoying cast of characters I’ve seen since Code Geass R2, which is saying a lot. The dialogue comes across as extremely forced, the characters are all wholly uninteresting, and most of the plot and pacing feels as though the scriptwriters just grabbed random text from the game and stitched it together slapdash.

12. Umi Monogatari

I actually like this show quite a bit, surprisingly. It’s fairly typical magical girl fare with a side of fanservice, but it’s delivered with solid animation, an excellent soundtrack, and a rather tongue-in-cheek approach that makes it a bit more memorable than most similar shows.

11. Sora no Manimani

A predictably slow tale of highschool life and budding romance, Sora no Manimani won’t knock anybody’s socks off. It does, however, manage to provide a good amount of random humor, some cool astronomy lessons, and the occasional heartwarming moment.

10. NEEDLESS

This show is trying to be Gurren Lagann so hard it hurts. Not only does their logo look nearly identical, the main characters bear a very suspicious resemblance to Kamina and Simon, albeit in appearance only.

The sad part, as much as I hate NEEDLESS for having a name in all caps and being essentially one huge rip-off, it’s actually a halfway decent series. The production values are above average and the show features a colorful cast of super-powered blowhard badasses beating the crap out of each other. There was supposedly some kind of larger plot involved, but I wasn’t particularly interested in it, and judging from the way the show progresses I kind of get the feeling that the production team wasn’t either.

9. Zan Sayounara Zetsubou Sensei

Season one of Sayounara Zetsubou Sensei was legendary. Season two was lesser, but still hilarious. Season three seems to be lowering the bar even further. While still vintage Shinbou comedy, this season is really missing a lot of the magic that made this show great in the past.

SHAFT seem to have their best animation squad committed to Bakemonogatari right now, so the visual caliber of the series has taken a noticeable dive. Beyond that, however, the humor just doesn’t seem quite as fresh as it as was in previous seasons. For better or for worse, the format is exactly the same as it always has been, but the jokes are less original and the scenarios less creative.

That’s not to say it’s bad; by no means. I still watch SZS and laugh at it. Compared to some of the other awesome shows in this season’s line-up, however, I have a hard time justifying giving it a higher spot.

8. GA – Geijutsuka Art Design Class

GA is this season’s obligatory “slice-of-life, day to day adventures of a group of high school girls” anime. I’m pretty sure that Japan is legally required to make sure that at least one show like this is airing at all times.

As a typically slow-paced slice of life show, it features the usual cast of unusual moe characters doing silly things in silly ways. Given the subject matter of the series, the natural inclination is to compare it to Hidamari Sketch, and in that respect I’d say it measures up extremely well. Not only are the production values much better than Hidamari, GA has more consistent humor. It also puts much more of an emphasis on (gasp) the actual art and related artistic endeavors of the cast, so it’s both entertaining and educational.

I’ve enjoyed Geijutsuka Art Design Class so much, in fact, that I went out to the local Kinokuniya and bought up the tankouban collections of the original 4-koma series the anime is based on.

7. Taishou Yakyuu Musume

This is the real sleeper hit of this season.

Set in 1925, during the transitional Taishou period in Japanese history, this show follows the misadventures of a group of school girls as they try to form their own baseball team and compete on even terms with the boys. The story starts off extremely slowly, but quickly develops into an endearing tale of failure, success, perseverance, and personal growth that really epitomizes the Japanese spirit of teamwork.

I’m a huge fan of jidaigeki, or Japanese period dramas, and Taishou Yakyuu Musume has quickly become one of my favorites in this sort of genre because of its slice-of-life approach to storytelling, as well as its interesting progressive perspective on the changing role of women in society during this pivotal period in Japanese history.

For more info, check out 2DT’s great write-up about the series.

6. Princess Lover

I was actually expecting Princess Lover to be terrible, mainly because of the name, as well as the number of overgenerously proportioned females featured in the promo art. I’ve ended up been pleasantly surprised by this series, fortunately.

Make no mistake, this show is completely ridiculous, but that just serves to make it incredibly hilarious. The story of a young man who is taken in by his incredibly rich grandfather when his parents pass away, Princess Lover covers everything from school hijinks at Yuppie Academy to random international intrigue. It doesn’t shy away from the fanservice, but it also manages to do it in a sort of tongue-in-cheek manner that doesn’t turn me off from the series.

I also have to give them mad props for including an awesome Kaiji parody, as well as the many other lulzy moments of the hot springs episode. The director is just having way too much fun making this series.

Also the grandfather is voiced by Wakamoto Norio (Emperor Britannia, Vicious, Narrator from Hayate no Gotoku), so how can you not enjoy this show, really?

5. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya S2

I don’t know which is more surprising to me – that I’m actually ranking a Haruhi season as low as number 5, or that I’m still loyal enough to have it this high on the list considering everything that has happened this season.

Just for reference, by the way, the reason I’m including it in the rankings this season is because last season was almost entirely recap material, and thus I skipped it in my Spring Rankings post.

In any case, I still enjoy the Haruhi franchise, and while the hype has died down considerably and the newer episodes aren’t anything special, the series still manages to deliver consistent, predictable fun. As long as Haruhi dominates all life, Mikuru cowers, and Kyon facepalms and provides his characteristic dry narration, I’ll continue to be well entertained by this show for a long time to come.

For more Haruhiism, nobody does Haruhi posts better than Jason Miao.

4. Bakemonogatari

If you’re a regular reader you know that we’ve already said quite a bit about Bakemonogatari, some of it negative and some positive. Just like Sayounara Zetsubou Sensei, this series is classic SHAFT x SHINBO, with all of the quirks and visual oddity that that combination fosters. As a result, it probably will not appeal to everyone.

That said, if you can get past the odd visuals, even weirder music, and even more bizarre characters, this show is a real gem. The visual style, however, while creative, just serves to set the stage. Dialogue is really the soul of this show.

The incredibly clever banter between Araragi and the various supporting characters is witty and sarcastic, at times innuendo laden, and always off the wall. It really makes it fun to watch, and paired with all the kooky audiovisual trappings serves as a textbook case of surreal, wacky humor.

Add in the unique wit and charm of Bakemonogatari’s leading lady, Senjougahara Hitagi, and it’s no wonder that this “Senjougahara Fascination” craze has started to dominate the otaku mindshare.

To supplement your Bakemonogatari crazy, I recommend checking out Kurogane’s posts on the subject, as well as our summary.

3. CANAAN

After a ton of initial hype surrounding this Type-Moon produced series, it seems like many people felt somewhat let down by CANAAN. I think most of the disappointment stems largely from the fact that the anime tries to cultivate a very “serious business” vibe in the beginning, but then quickly shows its true colors as a somewhat goofy, if beautifully animated, action series.

That said, I think CANAAN is brilliant at what it does. If you’re looking for a show with a moody, gritty realism to it, CANAAN is probably not your show. If you just want to see awesome gunfights and have no interest in character exposition, CANAAN is probably not your show. If all you’re interested in is yuri-goggle fodder… well ok, CANAAN might still be your show.

Ultimately, however, CANAAN’s appeal doesn’t rest on it’s action scenes or any potential yuri-bait that may or may not exist. It’s about the characters and the way they somehow come together to create a hilarious, quirky, and entertaining story that is greater than the sum of its parts.

For more on this series, Kabitzin has the best episode summaries. We’ve got several CANAAN related posts here at Epic Win, as well.

2. Tokyo Magnitude 8.0

I simply have no words to adequately describe this series. It’s gone beyond all my expectations, pulled relentlessly at my heartstrings, and spun a fascinating tale about courage, cowardice, hope, and despair.

Most disaster films really try to play up the spectacle of a disaster for entertainment value. Many of them try to play up some kind of romance subplot. And unsurprisingly, they’re mostly pretty terrible.

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 strays away from the traditional disaster flick style of presentation for something much more down to earth (so to speak). Focused on the story of two children caught in the quake far from home, and the woman who helps guide them back, this series is about a surprisingly simple and personal story that portrays the very human reactions that we all exhibit when the world we know breaks apart. It’s a story about hope through the most despairing of circumstances, and persevering through difficulty with the promise of a brighter future.

I really just can’t properly convey how awesome this show is. So instead let me refer you to someone much more qualified to do that, who has written extensively about this series and its many ups and downs.

1. Spice & Wolf II

Spice & Wolf is a rare kind of story. It’s one in which there are no grand large scale plots, no clear beginnings or endings. It can’t even properly be called a romance story. And yet, it is exactly that lack of many normal or stereotypical elements that makes Spice & Wolf a very unique and enjoyable tale.

I’ve been a fan of the novels and the manga that inspired this anime for a long time. The first season of the anime, although lacking in a few areas, was brilliant and captured most of what I liked about the series. This second is now following in its footsteps, except now under the direction of a new studio and with a larger budget it’s become better in every aspect.

Horo and Lawrence’s hilarious yet heartwarming hot-and-cold relationship is endlessly entertaining, and the rich dialogue the show features reveals an incredible depth and uniqueness in its multi-faceted protagonists that is rarely matched.

For more on Spice & Wolf, check out DarkMirage’s review, or Martin’s excellent write-up.

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Poor Lawrence Craft may be a genius at business, but he sure is dense when it comes to other matters.

I haven’t kept up with the Spice and Wolf manga or light novels much since the first season of the anime aired. Fortunately, the first anime season was brilliant and captured most of what I liked about the series, and the second is now following in its footsteps. I had hoped to blog this second season from the beginning, but due to lack of time I’m only just now starting to post about it.

This second season, now animated by Brain’s Base (although still with a lot of the original staff)  and with a more generous budget, has noticeably better quality. The character animation especially is more frequently on model than in the last season, and the animation seems a bit more fluid.

For reference, Brain’s Base also has to its credit several other visually excellent projects, including Kamichu, Baccano, and Kurenai. It should come as no surprise that their work here is just as excellent.

Horo’s description of her relatively plain life acting as the guardian deity of the harvest in Pasroe starkly constrasted with her tales of journeying with Lawrence. It kind of makes one wonder why Horo even stayed for so long among the wheat fields of Pasroe. Perhaps it was just out of a sense of obligation that she stayed, or maybe she just needed the impetus of an event like her encounter with Lawrence to help make up her mind.

Whatever the reason, she certainly seems to be enjoying herself with Lawrence, and their travels together are simultaneously humorous and heartwarming.

Apparently they had nude beaches back in medieval… wherever this is.

Horo’s inner conflict makes me laugh almost as much as her outer conflicts with Lawrence. Half of the time when she argues with him it’s because she’s reacting more to her inner emotions than to him specifically, I imagine.

Kind of hard to for her really conceal her true emotions, though, when she has ears and a tail that completely telegraph what she’s thinking. Horo would be a terrible poker player. Hmm… then again, she does pretty well at putting on a good act when it’s required, too. Come to think of it, really it just seems like she’s more expressive when she’s talking to Lawrence.

And as touching as Lawrence’s concern about Horo’s health is, I have to think that she wouldn’t have survived in the forest on her own for hundreds of years if she didn’t know a thing or two about how to take care of herself.

After Lawrence leaves to procure some food, Horo goes back to sleep and has a nightmare. She stands alone in the snow. On one side are her wolf brethren, and on the other side is Lawrence. She calls out his name and runs to him, but as she reaches him he becomes nothing but dead bones littering the ground. She turns back around to face the wolves, but a red barrier snakes across the landscape, separating them.

This key scene really strikes right at the heart of Horo’s inner conflict. Caught between her desire to return home and her blossoming feelings for Lawrence, she struggles to balance her wolf nature with her human side.

I think the scene also hints at another fear she holds. Horo has already lived hundreds of years. She’s stated many times that the lifespan of a human is a mere flicker of time to her. Perhaps she fears that falling for Lawrence will only lead to tragedy in the end, as he will eventually pass away, leaving her even more lonely and isolated than she was in the beginning. Consorting with humans excessively might even lead to her being ostracized from others of her kind.

Horo is a lot stronger than she’s often made out to be, but the many tumultuous thoughts and emotions she keeps locked up really weigh on her. This is especially telling over the course of the next few episodes this season, as we really see both sides of her character exhibited strongly.

And of course, leave it Lawrence to spoil the mood by bringing home (another) girl. And her little dog, too.

You know, I had a farmer friend who once claimed that sheep’s milk was far superior to cow’s milk, and that after you became accustomed to it drinking cow’s milk was no better than water. Myself I could never quite get used to the flavor, but I can certainly appreciate Horo’s desire to have some.

And as for the “secret women’s conversation” she had with Nora about the most important quality for a shepherd… it really must have been a woman thing, because I sure as hell don’t have a clue what they were talking about. Apparently Kurogane wasn’t entirely sure either, so at least I know it’s not just me. o_0;

Horo is not amused by any of your bullshit.

Basically this episode was the dynamic of Spice and Wolf’s central theme at it’s best – Horo and Lawrence’s hilarious yet heartwarming hot-and-cold relationship, and how their interactions together show us deeper facets of their inner character. And provide lots of humor and witty one-liners. That too.

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Note: This post refers to episode 2 of the first season of Spice & Wolf, not to Spice & Wolf Season II. If you’re looking for season 2, try here.

OK, time to nitpick. Having read the first of the Ookami to Koushinryou novels, as well as read a bit of the manga, it is now my contractual obligation to tell you how the anime sucks and is nothing like the original, which is of course a paragon of excellence, prosaic and beautiful in ways this adaptation can never be!

Just kidding, of course. The Spice and Wolf anime has thus far been excellent, and I continue to look forward to each new episode. That said, I feel it has several distinct shortcomings.

My primary complaint is in the development of the characters. One of the greatest strengths of the novels is the realism of the characters. Both Horo and Lawrence are very well rounded individuals with complex, multi-faceted personalities that go far beyond the usual tropes and character molds that you tend to see in these kinds of stories. And while the anime has remained very true their personalities, for the most part, it seems to have left out several key aspects of what made the characters so interesting and believable.

In the novel, the initial factor that drives Lawrence and Horo together is simply loneliness. Lawrence, traveling alone and usually far from friends and family, initially agreed to let Horo travel with him because he needed some company. As for Horo, while she has lived for hundreds of year is incredibly wise, she’s just as susceptible to loneliness as anyone else. Part of what makes the two of them such a great team is the way they’re able encourage one another and complement each others’ weaknesses.

The need for interaction and relationships with other people is one of the most fundamental aspects of human nature, and one that the novels explore in very interesting ways. Leaving this out might seen like a fairly minor detail, but it actually changes the story quite a bit, not to mention removing one of the more interesting aspects of the interaction between Lawrence and Horo. The way they come to rely on and support each other is one thing that helps make the original story so compelling.

Another thing that I was disappointed to see was not included is the cool little graphs the manga adaptation uses to illustrate the business deals and economic stuff. Those really helped to quickly explain what was going on, and did it in an entertaining way. Of course, we’re still only two episodes into the anime, so perhaps they’ll make use of that later on. The manga also makes good occasional use of the chibi look for Horo, which I always find humorous, and so far they haven’t really taken advantage of that in the anime either.

Lupus over at THAT Animeblog points out several other differences, including the way Lawrence’s reaction to seeing Horo’s true form was changed in the anime, and while I agree, I think most of the other changes are only superficial and don’t really affect our understanding of the characters too much.

All right, enough with the rant. Having said all that, I think this anime is a great adaption so far. Certainly it’s much better than what’s happened with Shakugan no Shana and Zero no Tsukaima light novel adaptations, both of which have been far less than stellar.

And for a relatively second-class studio, I must say, Imagin has done surprisingly well making this series look good. The scenery in particular is beautiful, and makes the world so much more vivid and immersive.

In this episode we do start to see glimpses of Lawrence and Horo’s personalities, as well as the interplay between them. I really love the fact that you can’t put the characters in this series in a box with simple labels like “tsundere” or “generic badass tough guy”. There haven’t been too many shows recently in which the characters really have that kind of depth, where they feel like real people. Most characters are entirely predictable and straightfoward, where Horo and Lawrence continually surprise you with new facets of their personality.

In particular, one of the highlights of this episode was when Horo looked back at Lawrence and blushed, apologizing for not living up to her image as “Horo the Wise”.

“Hi, I’m not suspicious at all! Haha!”

Gosh, this guy’s face just makes me want to hit him. Whenever he’s on screen I want to punch that crooked grin right off of it.

“Dammit why doesn’t this place have any coin-op dryers?”

Once again Horo takes the record for most time nekkid onscreen in an anime episode.

“Well well, what have we here?”

“I like it a lot bigger, like a wolf.”

“…”

“Quiet, woman! Get back in the kitchen!”

Neko Mimi Mode!

A few other random thoughts…

- One other interesting difference between the anime and the manga is that in the manga adaptation Horo is a lot bustier, and Lawrence looks a lot more ripped.

- In the first episode, it sounded as though Fukuyama Jun was having a bit of trouble figuring out how to handle his role as Lawrence. It seemed like he kept drifting back towards his Lelouch voice from time to time. Fortunately, he seemed to have nailed the voice much more solidly in episode two, managing to make Lawrence sound young while also portraying him as savvy and experienced.

- Also, Horo is <3. Just thought I should mention that. I loved the scene where, after Lawrence was unsettled by all her talk of wolves, she sat and looked at him silently for a while, and then her ears drooped. Such a great moment in conveying her personality without needing any dialogue, as well as very cute. ^^

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Despite being a recent fan of the light novels this show is based on, I had a lot of reservations about the series going into it. After watching the first episode, however, I’ve been solidly convinced – this show is going to be epic. So sit back, cut yourself a slice of sunshine pie*, and I’ll tell you why.

* For those who haven’t seen the episode, I’ll explain that line in a bit.

First a quick story synopsis. The only thing I hate more than writing episode summaries is reading them, so I’ll keep this brief.

The story takes place in a fictional setting that feels like a cross between the late medieval period and feudal Japan. Our main character, Craft Lawrence, is a mild mannered but shrewd traveling salesman. He comes through the city of Pasroe during the very end of the wheat harvest and through discussion with the locals learns about their guardian wolf god, as well as how the city’s recent prosperity is causing people to depend less on the wolf god and more on new modern agricultural methods.

That evening who should he find sleeping in the back of his wagon but Horo, the aforementioned wolf god, who like all good female centuries-old magical beings, has the form of a hawt young girl. She ends up taking a liking to him and, feeling that she’s not needed in the village any more, asks to travel with him back to her birthplace in the north. Thus they begin their Random Traveling Adventures and Tales of Agriculture Tales of Economics.

End boring explanations.

This show really got my attention right off the bat with the amazing OP sequence, Tabi no Tochuu, with both a great song and awesome accompanying animation. As we discussed recently, this is another great example of an OP done right, exemplifying the character of the series and creating the perfect vibe to psyche you up for the show. Both the music and art are stellar; this is definitely the kind of OP I can see myself sitting through 26 times without getting tired of it.

And speaking the art, the character designs are also excellent, and both Horo and Lawrence have interesting multi-faceted personalities. Koshimizu Ami (Kallen from Code Geass, also Tenma Tsukamoto) is an excellent seiyuu with a great range of voices, and she certainly doesn’t disappoint in her role as Horo. She does a great job of exploring the different sides of Horo’s personality, at times playful and childish, at times cunning, and at other times cold and intimidating.

Horo also has a very oldschool way of speaking, formal sounding traditional Japanese, and Koshimizu does a great job of making her dialect sound cool but still understandable. Fukuyama Jun (Lelouch) as Lawrence also does an excellent job, making the back and forth banter between the two wonderfully enjoyable (and believe me, there is a lot of talking).

Mildly NSFW stuff behind the spoiler tags.

Click for the rest… show

That’s not to say that the show is solely fanservice, however. I’ve read a good portion of the first novel, and it seems like the series has a nice blend of comedy, drama, supernatural elements, and Tales of Economics. I haven’t read enough to know if this will be a major theme of the show, but it definitely has a lot of emphasis on business and trading. In addition, from what I can see both Horo and Lawrence are great dynamic characters with well-rounded personalities and interesting histories that hopefully will be explored over the course of this season. Horo especially is a very complex and realistic character, hardly what you would expect from what seems on the surface like a mere fanservice character.

Finally, I have to say, the ED song, Ringo Hiyori by ROCKY CHALK, is awesome. Normally bad Engrish singing just irritates me, but this time I found it pretty hilarious. The best line of the whole thing is definitely the part where she sings, “I cut myself a slice of sunshine pie.”

That funny imagery combined with the accent was just too entertaining.

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