Summer 2017 – Virtually Every First Episode Retrospective

Times are tough, my friends. Having just powered through every season premiere that’s available on basically any streaming service, I am left with mere grains of sand, anime fragments that tumble through my hands as I seek to shape them into watchable shows. Seasons have been dry before, but we are in the desert now. My first recommendation for the summer season is “I hope you’re still enjoying My Hero Academia, Re:Creators, or Sakura Quest.” My second recommendation is “I’m sure there’s some backlog you’ve been meaning to get to.”

But still, I didn’t watch through all these friggin’ premieres for nothing. There are least a couple bright spots in the gloom, and even if there weren’t, I’m sure most of you are just here to watch me descend into gibbering and howls as the shows get worse. As usual, I’ll be starting with my top picks and grouping the season’s offerings into general descending tiers. For longer thoughts on all of these shows, click through the title and check out my full ANN reviews (look for Nick Creamer). Buckle up, cause it’s gonna get bumpy. LET’S RUN THIS SEASON DOWN!

Continue reading

Summer 2017 – First Impressions, Part One

Preview week is in full swing now, which means it’s time to to briefly take stock of all the nonsense I’ve watched. So far, Restaurant to Another World is pretty much the only thing I might follow up on, and that one’s honestly more likely to be dropped. With Kakegurui having been swept up by Netflix and Symphogear nowhere to be seen, the season’s still looking pretty barren. That’s okay, though – I’ve still got three continuing shows, after all, and there are plenty of contenders left to come. We’ll ride this storm out like we’ve done before!

You can check out my scores and links to individual writeups below, or just head to the overall preview guide right here.

Continue reading