Spring Anime Season 2017 – Review July 4, 2017
Posted by coolmikeol in Seasonal Anime Reviews.Tags: Anime, Coolmikeol, Spring Anime Season 2017
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This season had a pretty good mix of animes. If you want to see a full list of what animes I’ve watched, you can always check out My Anime List. Here is a list of animes that I watched from this season:
Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka Gaiden: Sword Oratoria
Rokudenashi Majutsu Koushi to Akashic Records
Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata ♭
Shuumatsu Nani Shitemasu ka? Isogashii desu ka? Sukutte Moratte Ii desu ka?
Remember, these reviews assume that you have watched the series, which means SPOILERS will be few but imminent. You have been warned.
Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka Gaiden: Sword Oratoria
In this side story spin-off of Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Sword Oratoria focuses on Ais Wallenstein and her Familia under the Goddess Loki. The story runs parallel in timeline to Bell Cranel’s one, so we see scenes from the original series when they intertwine.
At first I thought that this was going to be more of a slice-of-life series than the original series was going to be, however now that this season is over, I feel that both series hold their own well. In the original series, Ais was seen as more of a boring character; powerful but lacking much emotion. By having a series about her, it helped to flesh out her character more, by showing her backstory up to the present. I’m hoping that both this spin-off series and the main will mix more in a similar fashion to how the To Aru Majutsu series has with its separate story focuses on Misaka and Accelerator.
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Eromanga-sensei
A spiritual successor to Oreimo as it and this series was both created by the same person, Eromanga-sensei is about light novel writer and “protagonist” Izumi Masamune and his little step sister Sagiri who is known by her online alias Eromanga-sensei for her erotic illustrations. A shut-in since her mother died about a year ago, Sagiri is slowly acclimated to coming out of her room by her older brother Masamune, who learns is the author of the book she illustrates for. They create and share a dream of making a successful LN/anime series together.
I was attracted to this series mainly for its closeness with the Oreimo series, as well as for what the name of the series has to offer. Even though Sagiri is only 13, her ability to draw ero-art was top notch. It was later shown that her skill and habits comes from her late mother who seemed to work as a illustrator as well. Her older step brother Masamune, a self proclaimed genius of light novels, started writing when he was very young. With encouragement from fans of his work, his goal was to become a professional for his fans and career.
This anime series was slow but not in a bad way. While not much as changed, we can see that both Sagiri and Masamune are making headway towards their dream. They both have made new friends and are enjoying the road ahead of them. Even if times were bad in the past, things change and the only direction left will be the future. Sure Sagiri may not have left the house, but at least she has left her room right? I also enjoyed the other characters as well, Yamada Elf and her outward personality, and Senju Muramasa with her absolute adoration for Masamune’s LN work and admiration for him.
It was an enjoyable series overall. Some fan service parts were cringe worthy for characters clearly too young, but if you try to put yourself in their position, I guess it makes sense for why it’s normal for them.
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Hinako Note
The cutesy anime of the season, Hinako Note is about a country girl who is bad at speaking with others. In order to improve this part of her, she decides to move to Tokyo and joins the drama club in high school. She moves in to a boarding house/used bookstore/cafe that houses a colorful cast of people that becomes her friends. Together they help Hinako overcome her fear of interacting with others by starting a theater troupe.
I guess I started watching this one because well it looks cute. It’s pretty much an anime about friendship and getting over the little hurdles in life. One thing I do need to mention is how the fan service was served in this anime. For one, there wasn’t any during most of the first half of the season, and it definitely wasn’t expected in this kind of show. When it did show itself it was quite blatant, and felt a little forced and unnatural for how innocent it generally projected itself overall. I’m not saying it was outright bad to have it, but rather it should of been done in a soft cutesy way rather than straight up bunny suit / skimpy outfits. Besides that, it was an OK casual anime to watch.
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I binge watched Little Witch Academia (TV) as I didn’t have time to watch it when it started at the beginning of the year. I remember when this series was created from the 2012 Young Animator Training Project, a government program to train young animators on-the-job. Studio Trigger was part of this program and created LWA from it, gaining praise from viewers of the first short movie of this series. A Kickstarter was run to produce a sequel short movie which surpassed its funding goal, and was premiered at Anime Expo back in 2015. I got to see that when I went and it was awesome, showcasing itself in a classic Trigger fashion.
The TV anime version of LWA was announced in a clever way, through one of Trigger’s other series, Space Patrol Luluco. Space Patrol Luluco is chock full of references to Trigger’s other works such as Infernal Cop, Kill La Kill, and LWA. At the very end of the last episode of Space Patrol Luluco, you see Luluco essentially pass the baton to Akko of LWA, a nice touch to give it good luck in its future.
The Little Witch Academia TV anime was a blast to watch. Spanning 25 episodes, it tells the story of a girl named Atsuko Kagari aka Akko who dreams to become a witch like Shiny Chariot, a magic performer who taught her that “A believing heart is your magic”. She enrolls in the same school that Chariot went to, Luna Nova, to study magic to eventually reach her role model. There she befriends all sorts of people, and learns what magic can do, for others and for herself.
The anime was done in two segments; The first half of the season shows Akko struggling but slowly learning the basics of magic. A bunch of random events happen to our overly energetic main character who does whatever she thinks is right. Even if she doesn’t think things through, it seems to work out in the end. The second half starts with the introduction of an antagonist of sorts, and Akko learning about the true purpose of the Shiny Rod. The Shiny Rod is revealed to be the key to break the seal of Grand Triskellion, an magic with tremendous power that can change the world. The Nine Olde Witches sealed it within Arcturus Forest due to dangers that it posed if fell to the wrong hands. And thus, the Shiny Rod (Claiomh Solais) exist as the only key to unlock it, if its wielder is able to revive the Seven Words of Arcturus. I won’t spoil much more than this, but this definitely adds solid context to Akko’s actions and the world around her.
I really enjoyed all that Little Witch Academia had to offer. Action/comedy moments that bewitch your heart. Near the end of the series, upon reviving the final Word, I had goosebumps all throughout that scene, as if the magic within my heart was reacting to it. Trigger knows how to build up to a great ending, and I’m glad that I got myself to finally sit down and watch this fantastic series. The only nitpick worth mentioning was the sometimes cheap animation look. It’s not really a complaint, but rather noticing an art style that has charm. (Probably done for a more comedic look, and budget saving tactics.) I will look forward to Trigger’s next anime for sure. You can count on it!
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Re:Creators
My favorite anime of the season, and a while actually. Re:CREATORS is an anime where genres fight against each other knowing that their worlds are a creation by people in the real world. Created by studio TROYCA, and music by Sawano Hiroyuki, the duo who also created Aldnoah.Zero what it was, this series was something I was excited for hearing that these two were working together again. The first synopsis I read for this anime was a bit confusing:
Humans have created many stories. Joy, sadness, anger, deep emotion. Stories shake our emotions, and fascinate us. However, these are only the thoughts of bystanders. But what if the characters in the story have “intentions”? To them, are we god-like existences for bringing their story into the world? Our world is changed. Mete out punishment upon the realm of the gods. In Re:CREATORS, everyone becomes a Creator.
(Source: ANN)
This gave me a vague idea what it was about, but luckily it looks that MAL.net got it much better:
Humans have designed countless worlds—each one born from the unique imagination of its creator. Souta Mizushino is a high school student who aspires to be such a creator by writing and illustrating his own light novel. One day, while watching anime for inspiration, he is briefly transported into a fierce fight scene. When he returns to the real world, he realizes something is amiss: the anime’s headstrong heroine, Celestia Yupitilia, has somehow returned with him.
Before long, other fictional characters appear in the world, carrying the hopes and scars of their home. A princely knight, a magical girl, a ruthless brawler, and many others now crowd the streets of Japan. However, the most mysterious one is a woman in full military regalia, dubbed “Gunpuku no Himegimi,” who knows far more than she should about the creators’ world. Despite this, no one knows her true name or the world she is from.
Meanwhile, Souta and Celestia work together with Meteora Österreich, a calm and composed librarian NPC, to uncover the meaning behind these unnatural events. With powerful forces at play, the once clear line between reality and imagination continues to blur, leading to a fateful meeting between creators and those they created.
This synopsis nails down what it’s about more directly. What’s also awesome about this season is that it runs for 22 episodes, a better way to flush out the story. So far it’s about half way done, and it has been an up and down ride. The first few episodes were wordy in describing the series’s universe, but that’s because this is a relatively new project as the manga looks to only have started a couple of months ago. Whether or not the anime version is following the current manga, is on an original storyline, or is parallel to the manga but ahead of it, I’m not sure.
I’m definitely enjoying most of this anime, but it’s not without things that bug me. First off the main character: Enter Souta, a weak sounding guy who is emotionally scarred after indirectly causing a friend’s death. To me he got on my nerves because he looks like he was going to cry every so often. At this point in the anime it looks like he’s finally soaking up his tears to do his part in being helpful. I hope to see him grow out of his depression to not bring the rest of the cast down.
The second irritation is Magane, a character who talks too much, enjoys causing chaos and killing, and has an ability that I still have a hard time trying to understand. Here’s her ability description courtesy of MAL.net: “She possesses an ability called “Infinite Deception of Words” that allows her to bend reality through lies and deception; by telling a lie and manipulating somebody into rejecting that claim it creates a “lie of a lie” which by proxy makes the initial claim become real.” Can someone tell me how this works? I’m running this example in my head: Say something is blue, but she says it’s yellow. I reject that it’s yellow, so…. huh? I can’t even run a simulation in my head for this. The anime examples don’t help either. Let’s just say she plays mind games and whatever she wants to become a reality happens.
The scene where Selesia gets a power up in Ep. 10 is one of those moments where everything comes together. The atmosphere of the battle, Sawano music doing its thing, and the transitions, pacing, and emotions. It’s those rare amazing anime moments that stay in my mind, leaving me to constantly think of the show and what to expect in its future.
I really wish that this anime had more exposure. It’s not available on Crunchyroll or Funimation, only Anime Strike (Amazon) as far as I know. There also isn’t much advertising for it that I’ve seen. Maybe it’s because it’s a new IP, that it’s not an established series, that advertisers don’t want to take a risk with it. Maybe if it does well enough, and the story demands it, another season can be made with a potential for more viewers.
We’re only halfway done with the series, so I’ll have my full review of Re:CREATORS in a couple months. I’m enjoying it, you should try watching too. If you enjoy anime in general, and like to see swordwomen, magical girls, tough guys wielding personas, floating gunmen, giant mechas, and a crazy psychotic high school girl duke it out for the entertainment of a dark version of Hatsune Miku who uses an endless array of floating swords, then please take a look for yourself.
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Rokudenashi Majutsu Koushi to Akashic Records
I wasn’t originally planning to watch this series because it looked like another one of those magical academy type of shows, but after seeing some clips on social media, I decided to give it a try. The difference between this anime and others like it is that that main character isn’t some student, but rather a new teacher named Glenn Radars. He’s quite simply put, a bastard who seems to be a selfish, laid-back, full-of-himself kind of guy. (The English name of this series is Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor.) While that is what he projects on the outside, there is more to him than meets the eye. He was formally part of an elite magic military group, where he was known for his killer instinct. During this time, he lost someone that he cared for that he was trying to protect. After abruptly leaving the military, he became a teacher under orders from Celica Arfonia, his adopted guardian who taught him magic at a young age after losing his family. As a teacher, he learned again what it means to be responsible, and to care for his students, especially because one of them looks like the one he lost in the past.
The show itself was entertaining, especially with Glenn in the driver’s seat. He may not have been a particular powerhouse of magic, but he made up with his intellect, physical strength, and charisma. One of the minor things that detracted my liking of the anime was the pacing. If you look at the anime based on its main conflicts, then you might notice a trend. Every few episodes is like a mini story in itself surrounding Glenn and one of the other main characters. It was almost like every 3 episodes that it was focused on a character; Glenn, Glenn and Rumia, Glenn and Re=L, Glenn and Sistine. While in hindsight this pacing structure is solid, it also made it a little predictable for how the anime was going to proceed story wise once noticed. This may not be a bad thing all things considered, but its just something that I thought I should mention as part of my review.
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Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata ♭
In this second season of Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend .flat, we finally see much more advancement of character development, as well as cute moments from most of our female main characters surrounding Aki Tomoya.
I am glad that things moved forward in a consistent way. There was much more drama surrounding their relationships, and the more or less realistic ending of moving toward new opportunities. Katou Megumi really shined when she showed her emotions. What made her “unique” was her boringness, because whenever she would express her happiness or sadness it had more weight than someone who was emotional all the time. Utaha and Eriri also became bolder in their approach to Tomoya, and also towards their careers. As for Tomoya himself, while he learned valuable lessons from his peers about game and friend development, he doesn’t change all that much, especially the dense protagonist part of him. Overall I enjoyed this second season of an anime, definitely better than the first. If anything more I want see from this series, is the game that Tomoya and Megumi make together, the game that Tomoya wanted to make from the start. That would more or less bring it full circle in my opinion.
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Sakura Quest
This anime will be a 25 episode season, and at this point it is half over so I’ll just jot down some of my current impressions of it. Here’s the quick synopsis from MAL.net:
“In the wake of a nationwide movement during the Bubble economy period, a small town in the countryside has revived its “mini-nation” tourism program; hiring five girls as travel ambassadors. The series will follow a year’s time of the five girls as they work in the tourism agency of a small failing town in an effort to reinvigorate it.”
This is a very laid-back and slow series that is interesting enough to watch if you are into slice-of-life. It can get boring sometimes, as I think I’ve fallen asleep a couple of times while watching, but that’s more because I watch anime late at night. I’ll give a full review at the end of the season, but for now it’s just another casual anime to watch.
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Shingeki no Kyojin Season 2
Most of everyone’s favorite anime comes back in this Season 2, and boy was it slow. My first and main complaint when watching the first few episodes: The constant backtracking. While watching the beginning of the first few episodes, I just wanted the story to move forward. Can’t do that when a few minutes in we get a “12 hours earlier” scene that seems to last for the rest of the episode. I know that it’s trying to build context towards the ending of this season, but I just wish that it could of done that through linear storytelling rather through throwing us back and forth in the timeline. I’ve been hearing about the lack of animators in the anime industry, so that’s probably why they couldn’t run another 25 episode season so soon. That’s probably also why not much time in story was passed, as they focused on using big story elements to shrink the amount of episodes needed to engage viewers. For the record, I have not read the manga, so I’m not to say whether or not they are following the source material. If the anime version runs parallel to it’s manga counterpart, then probably my complaints are invalid. But either way these are my sole opinions as one who only watches the anime.
Besides my main issues, the season was solid in doing what it needed to do. The revealing of plot altering events were done well, though to me the impact of it was more like a “Huhhh…” than a “Huh?!” I don’t know, I wasn’t thrown aback by it at all. Maybe because the who-is-a-titan thing is starting to become all more common than it was back in season 1.
Season 3 has already been announced for 2018, so we won’t get a wait time as long as we did for the second. I plan to watch it as I’d like a conclusion to this series’s mystery of the titans, but I’m not even sure a third season can end it, unless they bring it back to a 24-25 episode season. We’ll have to wait and see once again.
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Shuumatsu Nani Shitemasu ka? Isogashii desu ka? Sukutte Moratte Ii desu ka?
This was another don’t judge a book by it’s cover anime. In WorldEnd: What do you do at the end of the world? Are you busy? Will you save us?, it takes place far in the future where humans have become instinct at the hands of “Beasts” roaming the planet. New races arose and now live on floating islands that are out of reach of all but the most mobile of Beasts. (The following is the rest of the synopsis via MAL.net):
“Only a small group of young girls, the Leprechauns, can wield the ancient weapons needed to fend off invasions from these creatures. Into the girls’ unstable and fleeting lives, where a call to certain death could come at any moment, enters an unlikely character: a young man who lost everything in his final battle five hundred years ago, the last living human awakened from a long, icy slumber.
Unable to fight any longer, Willem becomes the father that the girls never had, caring for and nurturing them even as he struggles to come to terms with his new life, in which he feels the pain of helplessly waiting for his loved ones to return home from battle that his ‘Daughter’ once felt for him so long ago. Together, Willem and the girls gradually come to understand what family means and what is truly worth protecting.”
At first, it looked like it was a slice-of-life type of anime based on the later part of the synopsis and main image that was used on its MAL.net page. Turns out its more of an drama/action/romance genre, and it does so quite well. What I liked about the main character Willem was his attitude. He wasn’t an annoying shy guy, like we’ve seen in other world animes. He’s a smart, strong character with a tragic backstory. He may have been a hero before, but that time has gone and passed. Even then his motivation to protect what he cares about has not dimmed, rather he found new reasons to live through it. Every so often he may show vulnerability from his emotions, as a man out of time who lost everything, but that makes him relatable.
As for the girls, they’re a cute bunch but learning what they really are and what they’re for makes it bittersweet. I wonder how similar a Leprechaun and a human like Willem are, as there doesn’t seem to be much of a difference. They both even have some extra power, the flying/self-destruct ability for the Leprechauns and Willem’s super sprint/strength (though for Willem that could be because he was a hero in the past).
It concluded as you would expect when things continually fall apart. I was a little confused for what happened at the end, my question: Who survived? While the final scene hints at a rebirth of sorts, the whole ending makes me feel that at the very least happiness was held on until the very end. It gives us viewers hope that they found what they were looking for. I definitely hope that’s what happened.
Topic "Otaku" 
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