Summer 2009 Anime Lineup

Well, the hot, hazy and lazy days of summer are here. Let me go back and bold that 'lazy' part. Yet I finally found some time to put together thoughts and info on the anime coming out during this summer season. I'm armed with shows watched under my belt to showcase for you there looking at the browser. So fight back against that lazy summer and read on...

These are the shows I'm watching so far.

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0

As the name suggests, this show seeks to describe or portray what a magnitude 8.0 Richter scale quake with the epicenter in Tokyo would be like. So far it's done a good job of keeping things exciting and suspenseful. Don't know when the next building will fall, or next aftershock will occur. Even more eerie is the fact that just a few days ago, a 6.8 magnitude quake occurred near Japan's southern islands--anime imitating (foreshadowing) real life? Whoa.

Bakemonogatari ~ Monster Story

I don't know where to begin to explain this show. So far, I could say that it seems to be mythologically based. Japan has a deep mythology of spirits, gods and the like. That in and of itself wouldn't be enough for me... maybe it's the odd pacing or the writing. It has a stream-of-consciousness feel to it. The events seem to flow, but it's also very dreamlike. The sudden girlfriend relationship was a surprise, but so was the main character beating up a grade schooler. You just have to see it to understand.

Fight Ippatsu! Juuden-Chan!!

I know... just another ecchi show, right? But, behind the scenes, the writer turns out to be the same person who wrote Mahoromatic and KissXSis. Despite the obvious fanservice, there seems to be a romantic plot brewing and the episodes so far are funny enough to keep me watching.

Aoi Hana ~ Sweet Blue Flowers

I expect a soft pastel world, and I'm shown one. I expect a shoujo-ai story sweetly told and gently prodded along by two main characters and there they are. That's what I expect when two girls who were early childhood friends once separated but now reunited are going to separate but both all-girls schools. So if it sounds so plain, why continue to watch it? The Aoi Hana yuri manga has been publishing in a magazine since 2004, with three volumes compiled and published. Call me crazy, and I realize it could just stay 'sweet', but it could also take delicious hints from its yuri original.

Here's the rest of the notable shows.

Sora no Manimani

I started watching this recently, and I might continue or I might drop it. It's a decent show with school life, a small harem budding, and an astronomy club. I'm not enthralled by it, but it doesn't disgust me either. Saku is the quiet-type male lead character, but he's not a pushover. Mihoshi is his childhood friend who is caring, yet at times, obnoxious. Since his parents moved back into her hometown, he's now going to high school with her as his sempai. Since he's not a pansy, I continue watching but if she gets too obnoxious I might stop. We'll see...

Canaan

I saw the first few episodes of it and then dropped it. I know Type-Moon fans will probably be watching this as this is an adaptation of something written by them. You've got girls with guns, strange factions fighting for control, and a wild city with secrets. If that's you, go for it.

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