Summer 2013 Picks and Prediction

Suigintou from the 2013 Rozen Maiden reboot

It is time once again to look ahead to the upcoming anime season, to pick some shows to discuss, and to predict a show that will beat them all. As usual, I warn you, the reader, that this is my personal selection of shows that look interesting, and I have by no means included everything that is supposed to be airing (some 35 shows)! If you want to see a more comprehensive account of the upcoming season, check out a preview by some other folks such as Psgels, the Star-crossed Anime Blogger.

The shows included in the post are:

• Tamayura ~ more aggressive ~
•  Gin no Saji (“Silver Spoon”)
• Rozen Maiden
• Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi (“On Sunday, God Abandoned the World”)

Now that you know what to expect, let’s anime!

Picks

Tamayura ~ more aggressive ~

Get ready to photo!

Given that the first season (~ Hitotose ~ there was an OVA before that) saw the previously timid Fu participating with her friends in a Photo / Perfume / Baking / Storytelling event, I don’t know how more aggressive the world can really handle. At any rate, I expect more awesome stuff from this season. The director, Junichi Sato, is the best at making these so-called “healing” anime. Maaya Sakamoto is back to sing another OP. If you don’t know, the last season was full of really interesting demonstrations of local customs from the Inland Sea, and lots of crafts.

Gin no Saji (“Silver Spoon”)

These chickens will not always be this happy. Watch the preview for the shocking truth!

Silver Spoon ( #ginsaji ) is about someone who enrolls in an agricultural school out to the country to get away from his parents, and the crazy things he has to endure as a result. Could be funny, and it is Noitamina. (Oh, and the dude who wrote Full-metal Alchemist wrote the manga). Unfortunately the preview videos are embedded in the official site in a way that does not encourage sharing, so you’ll have to head over there to see them yourself.

Prediction

Rozen Maiden (2013)

Shinku character sketch. It looks like they haven’t made any radical changes … just simplified the design.

I’m not totally sure why Rozen Maiden needed a reboot, since the first series (2004) was great. I’m sure it has a lot of fans. Nevertheless, there is a remake about to begin, and I am looking forward to seeing what becomes of it.

For those who are not familiar with the franchise, it has supernatural elements, because a large part of the cast are “living dolls”, but really what makes it great is the juxtaposition between the smaller stories based on broken people (including the male lead, Jun, who is a hikikomori) and the larger story of the dolls, who fight to prove themselves as worthy of being reunited with God their maker. It has battle elements and comedy and the first show had some good music as well as a great sense of style.

Of course Ali Project are back for the OP (this time called “Eat My Roses”), and the ED will be from Annabel, who has been putting out a lot of music lately, including Spring 2013’s Red Data Girl, and the PS3 game Atelier Ayesha.

Encouragement Award

Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi

If nothing else, this show promises intense colors and funny names.

“On Sunday, God Abandoned the World” is a perfect example of something that sounds like a good idea — or at least sounds so crazy that it needs to be checked out:

On Sunday, God abandoned the world. Since then nobody can die or be born. A little girl, Ai, is the grave keeper for her village. Ai must help the would-be dead to find peace. One day a boy who calls himself Hampunie Hambart, the Man-eating Toy, appears in the village. He kills everybody and sets the village on fire. By talking to Hampunie, Ai finds out a shocking truth.

The preview shows off colors that are very intense, and I do like a bold approach to visuals. I also admire the courage involved in naming a main character “Hampunie Hambart”. I’ll certainly be checking out an episode or two.

Wrap up

If nothing else it looks like there will be a few shows worth checking out this Summer, so don’t spend all of your time at the beach!