Summer has now past and (for the most part) everything is said and done. The Summer 2014 anime gave a slightly better feeling than the Spring, however I still felt the season was lacking. I will admit, I do blame my recent mood/taste in anime. I haven’t been in a “mecha”, “action”, or “drama” mood for a good bit of time. Perhaps this is due to the list of lackluster titles claiming these genres or maybe I’ve just started to get dulled down over time.
Before I start my overview of all things Summer, I would like to point out a couple things I hear from people. I feel like many people are becoming “Anime Hipsters”. Many of the AH community tend to not watch or like something “mainstream”, stick to subs, and will slam most anime for its “lack of being original”. Do feel that they have some credit? (Yes) Do I think that is an accurate way to judge anime? (No) Anime, like most forms of entertainment, will start to fall into the quantity trap. You can argue there is possibly too much. I doubt I could come up with a “totally original” work and totally “new designs”. I do believe there is a lot of room for new and fun stories, but depending the genre you will still be limited in what can and cannot be added. That said…
So Summer wasn’t horrid. There were a few titles that stood out and many that just seemed to die into the background. If I sift through the (anichart.net) list, I can spot check what I felt was appealing or not. Now as a fair warning (as most of you know) I am not a sports anime fan. I generally will avoid Bishounen, Mecha, Sports, Action, or Serious nature anime unless they prove to be “that amazing” or some random “it” factor kicks in and I watch it. The other thing to note what I feel is the “Must Watch of the Summer” may not quality as my “Favorite of the Summer”. Lastly hit our review pages for the “thoughts” instead of a list, because I feel it would get a bit redundant to summaries.
List of “The Best of Summer 2014”
Akame ga Kill! (Action / Fantasy)
Aldnoah.Zero (Mecha)
Barakamon (Slice of Life / Comedy)
Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun (Comedy / Romance)
Rokuhouma no Shinryakusha!? (Comedy / Romance / Supernatural)
Sabagebu! (Comedy)
Tokyo Ghoul (Psychological / Supernatural)
Mahouka (Magic / School)
Persona 4 The Golden Animation
Now to be honest (and I said this on Facebook) I did not watch a couple that some people may feel you “have to watch”. So here are some fun notes:
1) That also translates to me as “you have to like the genre”. Anime like Free or Kuroshitsuji require you to enjoy those genres and clearly will lack a universal appeal. I do feel you can make the argument for a couple of the shows above, but I feel they have a better coverage of genre or style.
2) Anime like Rail Wars! And Blade Dance also fell into this “special” zone (moe).
3) Tokyo Ghoul and Aldanoah.Zero may have not made the list if their respective second seasons were not announced.
4) I actually didn’t watch Captain Earth, however I do hear it’s a goodie.
5) I never did get into Space Dandy to feel it deserved to be on my list, it felt more like a “trend” watch.
6) Sword Art Online may find itself on the list by the end of Fall, but as of now I wouldn’t tell someone who isn’t a fan to jump into the second season.
Now just because it didn’t make my list of “Must Watch” didn’t mean I didn’t enjoy them. I really did get into Locodol and Fate/kaleid, but I can see a more local appeal. Ao Haru Ride and Love Stage were both adorkable, but at times so cheesy I couldn’t stand it. I also enjoyed Re: Hamatora and Tokyo ESP, but neither stood atop the ones I listed above to earn a “Must Watch”… more like a “I would highly recommend these if you like mutants”.
Overall the Summer 2014 Anime gave me some juicy content that had been an overall “meh” of a year. It now comes down to Fall 2014 to see how the year overall works out. So far a Top 10 of 2014 is bit tough, but I have a feeling Fall has a good chance to sneak in 3 or more spots as Log Horizon, Fate/Unlimited, and Psycho Pass 2 will round out (and hopefully leave a good taste) to the year.