If you haven’t already, take a look at the first part of this segment where I look at the likes of ‘Orange’ and ‘Cheer Danshi!!’!
With the UK experiencing sweltering heat lately, with temperatures reaching the thirties, what else to do but stay in the shade and watch anime?
This time I will cover the following shows:
- Love Live! Sunshine!!
- 91days
- ReLife
- DAYS
Love Live! Sunshine!!
Okay, so I’ll admit it – I was wrong about this show. Sure, don’t get me wrong, I was looking forward to this show the most this season, but I had thought that it would just be another run of the original Love Live! series with simply the characters jumbled about and tiny differences that wouldn’t really make much difference to the story at all. I was wrong. Although some similarities between the characters can be seen, such as the ones between Chika and Honoka’s personalities, I think the new characters are more ‘fleshed out’ and that the production companies have clearly learnt from their mistakes from the last series. It is certainly a lot more cuter than the original, however from what I’ve heard so far, I do think that the soundtrack needs to improve slightly. Favourite character? It’s hard to say three episodes in and with the whole cast not being properly introduced as of yet, but I am liking Ruby quite a bit, I must say. This is clearly a fun show that will put a smile on your face no matter what. Perfect if you enjoyed the original Love Live! even a little bit! Rating so far: 9/10
91days
Swiftly moving genres, now, and it’s 91days that has me more looking forward to the next episode than any other series. If you like drama, this is for you as from the very beginning, this show is steeped in drama. I can’t really comment on the show too much, due to my lack of wanting to spoil anything, but this has definitely surprised me so far. What threw me, though, was the credits appearing half way through the first episode (having not watched any more episodes yet, I cannot comment on whether this happens anymore or not) which gave me the impression that this series could, possibly, be better as a movie instead. That is simply my first impression, though, and I may be completely wrong, but for now – that’s my thinking. Rating so far: 8/10
ReLIFE
Oh, this show is good. In certain aspects, it reminds me of ERASED at times, but not in a sense of copying. There’s no time travel involved, just a pill that makes you appear younger than you are, enabling you to go back to school – also described as “a rehabilitation program for NEETs”. If this was available in reality, I would hope this would impact the world’s economies massively, but for now, it’s stuck in the form of an anime (which might not be a bad thing). Full of comedy and quite good animation so far, I can see this being a show that is going to be good, but perhaps an underrated one. We’ll see. Rating so far: 7/10
DAYS
And last but not least, the football-themed series, DAYS. Oh, boy. I had so many expectations for this show, but here I am, quite disappointed. I’m quite a sucker for sports anime, Haikyuu! sprouting this liking upon me, Free!: Eternal Summer making speedos only just bearable to look at, and Cheer Danshi!! (also from this season) restoring my faith in the anime industry to include a varied cast line-up, but so far this has not lived up to expectations. DAYS’ animation has that childish look about it, at times appearing to be animated similarly to late 90’s children television. Sure, the first episode encourages people to work on their determination, but it’s through some quite tough situations. If I was in that position, would I have that determination? Maybe, but I’d perhaps go about it another way. Personally, this just doesn’t seem realistic at all. Will I continue watching this? Sure, but perhaps not all 24 episodes. Rating so far: 5/10
So, that’s it – the first impressions of the summer anime I’m watching in 2016. It doesn’t seem to be a bad season, everything considered. I’ve given out an initial average rating of 7.5 – definitely not bad. Can this season keep up with expectations? Let’s see…
What are you watching this season? Are you enjoying it? Let me know!
