2013 Summer Anime Season - Ami's Top Picks

2013 Summer Anime Season

 Ami's Picks

2013 Anime has been a mixed bag for me so far. The Winter season felt like a bowl of mediocrity, though the Spring anime season really did pick up in terms of quality anime. Fans were presented with Shingeki no Kyojin, Karneval, Yahari, Suisei no Gargantia and many other enjoyable shows. It was a welcome mix of genres, and most of the shows were generally solid.
So I wonder how the Summer season will fair - and if we're lucky, let's hope it will be yet another great season for anime! So here is my Top Picks - and more - for this Summer, in no particular order~

My Top Picks

Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai 

(The World God Only Knows Season 3)

Airing Date - July 9th 2013

Comedy/Shounen 

Keima is a dating-sim game obsessed boy who now has to conquer the hearts of real girls to fulfill his contract with the demon girl, Elci.

So let's start off with a series I know I'll love - The World God Only Knows! Oh yeah, a Season 3 is no surprise, but hey! I'll take it!

The World God Only Knows - otherwise known as TWGOK- is a dating-sim parody/comedy that is ridiculous, odd and hilarious all mixed into one. It's a simple little show, with its characters and its arcs often being stereotypes of visual novel characters and/or stories. And when it has its filler episodes they are often the highlight of the whole series.

Some of the quirkiest and weirdest episodes just involve Keima trying to get through a glitched game, or Keima playing so many games at once he goes into his 'God of Conquest' mode. 

It's a funny, light past-time and I'm glad its getting a third season - if not just for the fact that I sincerely (hope) we're getting the Goddess Arc in this one.

Danganronpa: Kibou no Gakuen to Zetsubou no Koukousei 

Winning an Argument with a Bullet

 Airing Date: July 4th

Thriller/Mystery/Psychological

When the students of the illustrious private school Hope Academy are kidnapped and locked in a dark room by a sadistic captor, it's do-or-die - literally! The only way to leave is to 'graduate' by killing another student. Once a murder is committed a meeting is held for the class to try and figure out the culprit. The good news? If they guess right the murderer is messily executed and they're all set free. The bad news? Choose wrong and not only does the killer escape, but the rest will be forced to take the punishment in their place... 

That might sound like your run-of-the-mill slasher flick, and that was my initial impression; thankfully I was assured it was actually a rather mind-blowing series, with twists and turns, and after seeing the trailers and PVs I found myself getting intrigued, until I was most definitely hyped up.
I am very, very excited for this anime. I don't know what it is about it - whether it is the description; that creepy black and white bear on the cover; the PVs or just the fact that I'm craving horror anime at the moment. I mean it could fail. It could be crap. Or it could just be mediocre like last season's The Severing Crime Edge. The screenwriter is known for doing quite a few controversial shows after all (coughcough you'll know who he is once you see his name.)
My main concern would actually be that the 'killer' would become way too obvious. The key to a good mystery/thriller show is being unpredictable, and as such, I do hope this show does appeal to my love for adrenaline thrillers and mysteries. After all it does seem interesting enough (especially if it dives into the psychology of the matter!)
Either way this is a definite watch for me; after all that title is an automatic win-over. 

 Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi

The Sunday without God

Airing Date: July 6th
Mystery/Fantasy
God abandoned the world on Sunday. As a result, nobody in the world can die or reproduce. A little girl, Ai, is the gravekeeper for a village. She has prepared 47 graves for the eventual deaths of every member of the village. Later, a boy who identifies himself as "Hampnie Hambart, the 'Man-eating Toy'," which is coincidentally the name that Ai's mother left behind as the name of her father, arrives in the village and slaughters everybody. Just what is going on?


One of the more mysterious shows of this Summer, Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi looks to be a very interesting show. Not much is known about it, besides a few PVs and the synopsis. With that said why does it make it's way onto my Top Hopefuls? Well besides how intriguing it appears - whether it flops or not - the animation looks to be some beautiful eyecandy, the synopsis seems to ring with some originality, and it's just the look of the show in general that has me hooked. I hope it delivers a nice mystery/fantasy combination, and for that, I am excited.

Inu to Hasami wa Tsukaiyo

Dog and Scissors

Airing Date: July 1st

Comedy/Supernatural

 A nonsense comical mystery. Harumi Kazuhito is a high school boy who loves books and is a fan of novelist Natsuno Kirihime. One day, he finds Kirihime writing at a cafe, about to be shot by a robber. He protects her from the attack but is killed instead. Through the supernatural power of a book-worm, he is reincarnated as a dachshund dog. Kazuhito (as a dog) writhes in a painful bookless life, when a sadistic woman carrying a pair of scissors offers him help. She is Kirihime herself.

Why is this on my Top-Picks list? What in the world is it? Well I'm mainly looking forward to this one because of how wacky it looks. A boy reincarnated into a dog? Chased around by a possible cross between a tsundere and a yandere? With scissors? WHAT? The PV is even crazier. I honestly don't know what to comprehend of this show (though to be fair Summer does seem to hold some very whacky shows, with this honestly being the possible contendor for the king of all craziness.) My main concern is that they won't try very hard, and just throw a bunch of stupidity at our faces.

So why I am hyped for it?

Well everybody needs a good laugh, and if it's a hilarious show, then even better! I don't mind how insane the premise is. So long as it delivers the laughs, the nonsense and the scissors tsunyanderedere that the PV promises then hey, I'm sold. <3

Blood Lad

Airing Date: July 7th

Comedy/Supernatural

Staz is the vampire boss of a section of the demon world, but he has little interest in human blood. He's more infatuated with Japanese culture. When he learns that Yanagi Fuyumi, a Japanese teenage girl, accidentally wanders into the demon city, he jumps to the occasion. However, while Staz deals with an intruder on his turf, the oblivious Fuyumi is killed by a monster and becomes a wandering ghost. The disappointed Staz vows to her that he will find a way to bring Fuyumi back to life.

Having never read the original source material for Blood Lad I can't promise myself I'll like it. With that said many people did recommended the manga to me, and it does look quite entertaining, with a unique look to its animation. While I'm not hyped I am excited and curious for its first episode to air, and it definitely looks to be an interesting show at the very least.

Monogatari Series (Second Season)

Airing Date: July 6th

Comedy/Supernatual

 This entry includes the second season of the Monogatari series.

This is an anime I won't watch until I finish Bakemonogatari (an excellent show) and the rest of its series. I'm very glad to know that it's being released however, with its experimental animation to match, and I'll get to watching it very soon when I catch up to the rest of the series. It deserves to be a top pick however, because it's awesome.

The Midnight Animals

Airing Date: August 2013

 The story is set in Savannah's 2nd district, where diva-like animals gather in the dead of night to wax poetic about topics that transcend gender.

You might be wondering - what is this show? To be fair I don't even know much about it myself. But maybe it's the weirdness of the synopsis that catches me. Is it a children's show? A comedy? Or is it going for something aimed to the laid-back adult demographic like Polar Bear Cafe? Well. Either way I don't know. And that's why I'm so intrigued. I'll watch it - if anyone actually remembers to sub it.

Oh, apparently here it says that the series is a seinen (aimed at men aged 18 to 50) - so it must be trying to do something like Polar Bear Cafe. Hm. That's honestly captured my attention.

Silver Spoon

Airing: July 11th 

Comedy/Coming-of-age

Yugo Hachiken dreams of life separated from his family, so he takes the initiative by enrolling in an agriculture school. He thinks, with his talent in studying, no problems will arise no matter what kind of school he attends. He is proven wrong very quickly. Raised as a city boy, he is forced to uncover the inconvenient truth about agricultural life. Enjoy the story of Hachiken, as he tries to keep up with his new friends, farmers' heirs, who are already accustomed to the harsh world of farming. With no clear goals or understanding of farming life, how will Hachiken survive this new, cruel reality? The story of a sweat, tear, and mud-stained youth begins!

When it comes to an anime about a coming-of-age slice of life then you know I won't deny it! Slice-of-lives tend to be either hectic and/or peaceful comedies, with no plot besides the people's lives the anime is focusing on. It may seem rather boring at first. However in the right hands a slice of life can not only be a story about coming-of-age, but also a comedic feast that makes for a good nighttime watch. I sincerely hope that Silver Spoon becomes just that.

Gatchaman Crowds

Airing Date: July 12th

Sci-fi/Adventure

Set in Japan in the early summer of 2015. 180,000 people live in Tachikawa City, the "second metropolis" of the Tokyo area. Among them are "Gatchaman"—warriors who fight in special reinforced suits powered by "NOTE," the manifestation of special spiritual powers in living beings. A council has scouted a group of individuals with latent powers to protect Earth from alien criminals. In recent years, the council has assigned Gatchaman warriors to deal with the mysterious entity known as "MESS."

What in the world...? Hey. It...it could be good but...this is going to be "that" weird show Japan throws at us this season, huh? I mean two years from now apparently aliens will invade and we'll have warriors who fight them in special suits, so why not just set it in the present day? But I'm nitpicking. Again, it looks interesting and I wouldn't put it on this list if I didn't think so. But I do have my reservations. 

Uchouten Kazoku

 Airing Date: July 7th

Comedy/Fantasy

In Kyoto, there are three kinds of residents: humans, raccoon dogs, and tengu. Shimogamo Yasaburou is the third son of the Shimogamo raccoon dog family. His father, Souichirou, had been the head of Kyoto raccoon dog community until he was eaten by the human members of "Friday Club". While taking care of old tengu, fighting with other raccoon dogs, and playing with a psychic human girl, Yasaburou approaches the truth of his father's death.

I am excited for this one, mainly because it deals with what we all loved from Pom Poko - tanuki! If you don't know what a tanuki is then watch Pom Poko. Or basically, their shape-shifting racoon dogs of Japanese legend. It sounds...silly, but I do love the idea, and being a fan of the many Japanese legends myself this is a must-watch. And hey! It does look like a solid show - hopefully it lives up to that~

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So these are the main shows I'm watching, folks! It's a strange mix. Comedy is currently dominating this season, but we do have a good dose of variety thrown in there too. What else am I following? Well the anime I'm less excited for - but I'll do a post on those ones later - and some series that I do need to catch up on. Either way let this be a great season - and let us celebrate that the best anime season - the Fall season - is approaching very fast indeed!