…but here’s hoping that none of these sports shows that I’ve picked are bad. I’ll be avoiding the P.A Works summer show, so I won’t have to worry about any curse that they seem to always have over the summer (Tenrou: Sirius the Jaeger is their offering for this season, and it doesn’t interest me in the slightest)…although they are currently riding on the success of Maquia: When The Promised Flower Blooms in the West (the movie was released in the UK and Ireland on June. 27, and will arrive in US & Canadian cinemas on July. 20). Check out my review of the movie here.
I will notably be avoiding the likes of Banana Fish, FLCL, seasons 3 of Attack on Titan and Free!, and that trashy looking show about the yandere high-school girl and her extremely young friend/lover/obsession. So instead I have chosen the following:
Hanebado!
Begins: Sunday. July. 01.
(available on Crunchyroll)
This is one of those ‘diamond in the rough’ sports shows…you know, like Yowamushi Pedal, and how the nerd Sakamichi Onoda got into joining the jocks in the road cycling team. Here, the shy and timid Ayano Hanesaki has a natural talent for badminton but has no interest in playing or joining the school’s team. But the overenthusiastic coach Kentaro Tachibana won’t give up, and is determined to get her to join, and to become champions.
Not sure what drew me to this, but I really did not fancy joining in on any of the major anime franchise bandwagons – that’s just never been me. Not sure why some sports anime shows have caught my eye this year either. I can’t exactly put the blame on any of the big sports events happening this summer (the soccer World Cup being the big one). It’s nothing new though, I mean I can be known to like the occasional sports show. Let’s just wait and see…but Hanebado! won’t be the only sports show I’m checking out this season.
Harukana Receive
Begins: Friday. July. 06.
(available on Crunchyroll)
Time for something really summery, I guess. And yet another sports show. What on earth has gotten into me?
Set in Okinawa, this show revolves around beach volleyball. Haruka is a keen player, and decides to pair up with Kanata to aim for the local junior tournament. Kanata had initially took a step back from beach volleyball after she was concerned she was too short for the game. I’m afraid that’s all I know about this one; I know the manga was translated and has been out for a while, but as sports anime and manga are not really the first thing I turn to, I know next to nothing else.
For the record, I have not seen Haikyuu!! so Harukana Receive will be my first venture into volleyball anime.
I know that Anichart.net have labelled this show as an ecchi anime as well as a sports one. I have never really had too many objections when it comes to that genre of show; it just depends on whether it’s done in taste or not. So don’t get me wrong: if Harukana Receive turns out to be a misogynist mess full of nothing but shots of busty girls in bikinis, then I’m just going to switch off and find something better.
Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight
Begins: Thursday. July. 12
(available on HIDIVE)
This season’s column won’t be full of sports shows. As for this one, I don’t know if I’m attracted to these kind of talent anime shows or not. I love The Idolm@ster franchise, and my favourite Love Lives change on a regular basis (right now it’s Hanamaru). And I still have the Aikatsu franchise to get into…
…in the meantime, this comes out in July as part of a mixed media project (just as Love Live! and The Idolm@ster are). Instead of idols, these girls are interested in joining the renowned song and dance troupe Starlight, which is certainly refreshing to see, and could generate some interest from the Love Live! and Idolm@ster fans. The show’s plot revolves around two girls, Karen and Hikari, who made a childhood promise to be a part of the Starlight troupe. Despite being on different paths in life, the two are destined to meet again, and they, along with other Stage Girls, go through a bizarre audition to be accepted.
This was a bit of a last-minute pick, as opposed to the others I’ve picked for summer, which I’d planned for a while. This hasn’t really had any hype or fanfare around it, so this show could either be really cool or…not…
Hi-Score Girl
Begins: Friday. July. 13.
(streaming service TBA)
It’s 1991. The asset price bubble is hitting Japan, but while the adults are panicking about money and their livelihoods, young kids like Haruo are more concerned about getting the highest scores on the local arcade machines and living up to his reputation as ‘Beastly Fingers Haruo’. When Akira Oono, one of the prettiest girls at his school, thrashes him at Street Fighter II, an unlikely friendship begins to develop. As he begins to get more amiable and friendly to the people around him, she begins to come out of the ‘spoiled little rich girl’ shell she has lived in her whole life.
I think this is going to be the underestimated success show of this season, just as Hinamatsuri was for Spring. Its setting was what first grabbed my attention. The 1990s, where Japan is still ‘Westernizing’ with Sailor Moon, Gundam, Initial D and Evangelion on every otaku’s lips, and groundbreaking new games consoles coming out left, right and center. I was a teenager in this era, and am very curious to see how the millennials watching Hi-Score Girl will freak out watching an era where the internet wasn’t even out yet and cell phones were only for the rich. And no Twitter. No. Twitter. I will be putting on my old guy hat watching this.
This anime comes out in time for this year’s EVO as well, in Las Vegas. The FGC scene is something that has fascinated me; a close friend of mine is really into it, and although I know I’m not the best at them, and only really play Injustice 2 and Smash when I can, it’s still another esport for me to watch and follow.
(BTW, if ever referred in this column, I will be calling the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo by their real and proper names: The Mega Drive and Super Famicom)
No poll to decide what my classic/out-of-season show for this season was, because I already had something special in mind to watch.
Serial Experiments Lain
(available on Funimation & home video)
I have still not seen this show. I still find that remarkable in itself.
This show has been sitting in my shelves for well over a decade, but it remains with the rest of my import DVDs and Blu-rays…gathering dust until I get a new machine to play them on. I don’t even feel the need to get replacement copies either (a waste of money since I already have the show). I have even had to borrow my brother-in-law’s machine in order to watch this.
In case you don’t know Serial Experiments Lain, it revolves around the 14-year-old Lain Iwakura, who receives a message from a missing classmate who tells her she has discarded her body and now lives in The Wired. Curious to know what’s going on, Lain develops an interest in computers and The Wired.
Serial Experiments Lain is 20 years old this season. Given my history of often looking too deeply into shows, I’m a little concerned that I might write a little too much about the show’s episodes each week, so apologies in advance if I do. I might well decide to write up a feature-length at some point this season…and then likely get a lot of hate comments, like I did with my Darlifra post.
What will you be watching this Summer? What did you think of the new FLCL shows? Is My Hero Academia, Steins;Gate 0 and Persona 5 still keeping you hooked? Should Toonami have aired Pop Team Epic? Feel free to air your opinions in the comments below…