As for many young people out there, it is the time to put away the books and to do whatever you want because it is now summer vacation. In Japan, their summer vacation goes from July to early September and is in the middle of their school year instead of being the gap between different levels. What is normally seen in anime that are considered summer activities is the day at the beach, the summer job, and the summer homework that is put off to the last minute.
Another tradition for many all over the world who enjoy anime is the marathon! With all this free time, it’s easy to get bored right away, so a great way to eat the time away is to marathon an entire show (sometimes in one sitting) and to catch up on what they may have missed. There are plenty of good shows out there these past few seasons that would make anyone happy, and not to mention that conventions are at their busiest at this time of year, meaning that they can now buy the shows that they are fond of.
Now onto the reviews!
A lot of action has been going on with Attack on Titan, especially with The Small Blade - The Battle for Trost Part Three. In this episode, the remaining soldiers who are fighting off the titans seem to be at the end of their ropes. When Mikasa hears about Eren’s fate, instead of crumbling, she climbs right back up into action, ready to kill any titan in her path.
This episode in particular seems to have a good balance of emotion and action. While there were parts that kept careful focus on the mental state of characters, it didn’t slow down the episode in any way. With the twist that comes in with the final third of the show, it doesn’t feel forced, since we seem to be exploring Mikasa’s journey. Even the mentor has their own issues they need to work out, and they must be rewarded for their faith as well.
Attack on Titan - The Small Blade - The Battle for Trost Part Three gets eight stars out of ten.
My Teenage Romantic Comedy SNAFU is still ebbing on the lighter side of emotional depth in Anyway, Getting No Rest, Even Though it's Summer Break, Just Isn't Right. The Service Club is now on summer break, but is spending it volunteering at a children’s camp along with some of their fellow classmates. Each of the students seems to be concerned over one of the grade school students who refuses to participate in any group activities.
The episode seems to put a light sprinkle on both emotional depth and character development. While Hachiman seems to know what the quiet girl’s issue is, he decides to be hush about it himself. It goes back to a universal truth about how people can be, which can hit home for a lot of people. It’s an episode that has a set up that we’ve seen a number of times, but decides to take a very different approach to it.
My Teenage Romantic Comedy SNAFU - Anyway, Getting No Rest, Even Though it's Summer Break, Just Isn't Right gets seven stars out of ten.
If there ever was an emotional high point in Flowers of Evil it would be in 7 of 13. Kasuga now faces Saeki at her house, who he is very nervous about seeing her in this kind of setting. As the two of them seem to make up, Kasuga’s guilt about stealing her gym uniform raises up again; this leads him to a decision that would appear to change his entire life forever.
While she has the wrong way of going about it, Nakamura continues to play the strong mentor character to Kasuga, and her influence on him really stands out in this episode. The two of them need each other if they wish to evolve into regular people, even though the two of them shouldn’t be friends with each other at all. This leads to an episode ending that seems out of nowhere, and is so crazy that it feels right.
Flowers of Evil - 7 of 13 gets seven stars out of ten.
Photo Kano seems to be taking an entirely different turn as well in Star’s Smile. Using the visual novel idea where a person does many saves so they can score different girls; this episode seems to be showing a side story in the past involving Sanehara. Kazuya notices how she seems to only take pictures of scenery and makes it his goal to have her take pictures of people.
It’s a bit uneasy watching the show do a random side story out of nowhere. If someone wasn’t paying too close attention to the very beginning of the episode, they would be very confused. There is no acknowledgement to the rest of the series. The episode itself is very touching, be it that it may force on the emotion too much. It also allows the audience to get a better look at the personality of Kazuya.
Photo Kano - Star’s Smile gets six stars out of ten.
