The Best Anime of Spring 2015
The Spring season is nearly over, so I think it's more than fair to declare what stood out amongst the new shows. I wont be talking about returning shows, save the ones I love and continue to watch.
Returning Favorites
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders (Egypt arc)
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure wont be stopping any time soon, and that's great for me. JoJo's is funny, ridiculous, unique, and, yes, bizarre! I'm so glad that we will finally get to the fight between the JoJo's crew and the nefarious Dio. I've never known how this conflict ended, even though I played the Dreamcast game, so you can say I've been in suspense for about a decade.
I Can't Understand What My Husband is Saying
This is a little comedy gem that's less than 5 minutes, and, in my eyes, its the greatest success of its type. Yeah, I love it that much. You have this otaku guy and the woman who loves him, and you learn exactly why she would come to marry a guy who says stuff that's alien to her. Plus you have all the side characters, the friends and family with all their quirks and stories. It's a great show to watch in between all the longer shows you watch.
The Runners-Up
Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches
I've watched many episodes of this show, and we're just learning about these so-called seven witches. Yamada, of course, is the main character, but why did they take so long to move on from body swapping? I had patience, and it paid off, because I feel that the story has fun with all the ways you can use
Mikagura School Suite
If you have a good pilot, you can reel me in. I think that's what happened with Mikagura School Suite. It's about a lovestruck girl who's into girls. She's so into one girl that she ends up going to the school where the object of her affection attends. I was with the show until I learned that this is a battle anime. OK, not like this is my first time or anything, but I'm not as infatuated with the supernatural fights as I am with the high-energy, super silly Eruna Ichinomiya.
Sound! Euphonium
This is that show. This is the show that is so unbearably cute that I get pulled into its orbit- and then I don't watch it anymore. Seriously, I've only watched 2 episodes of Sound! Euphonium, and it's because of its genre. It's slice-of-life, so that means that it's low stakes, and it's also not heavy on the drama. Euphonium is about girls in high school, playing instruments. It's a wholesome show, and it's a fun show, but there's only so much I can devote my time to.
Plastic Memories
Plastic Memories had maybe the strongest pilot episode of all the anime. It has the sci-fi hook, and it was emotional as hell. So where it falls flat for me is with the tsundere and hack comedy beats, between the case-of-the-week plot. I don't care that the one girl has feelings for the boy, or maybe an android is going to have a relationship with that same boy. I'm here for the Sci-fi. Your characters aren't that interesting.
Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign
This was in my best list, for a long time, but I lost a little love for this vampire apocalypse show. I think that I've noticed greater hesitation in myself every time there's a moment to decide what to watch. The low-light so far was the episode called "First Extermination," where half of the episode's animation seemed to be budgeted, and what should've been exciting fights between vampires and humans looked like an amateur animation project. One episode is not what keeps the show from being a best-of, but I believe that Seraph of the End will fade from my memory soon enough. I really hope I can be proven wrong once I see the series through to the end of the season.
The Best of Spring 2015
Food Wars!
I am amazed that Food Wars! Shoukugeki no Soma jumped from not even being considered by me to becoming one of my favorite anime. Although it's an anime about food, the show is surprisingly full of skin. It doesn't get explicit, but it is at times racy. No, that's not why I like it! Food Wars! is very funny, and for once it's a fighting show where no blows are exchanged. Instead, the characters are all aspiring master chefs who do battle through their cooking.
My Love STORY!!
If you say that you love comedy, then why aren't you watching My Love Story!!? My Love Story is basically "What if The Incredible Hulk was in high school, and he fell in love?" So this big behemoth of a kid, Takeo, is never seen as someone to date. His best friend Suna, is the handsome one. Funnily enough, Suna doesn't want all the female attention. Takeo's life changes when it turns out that a girl he's interested in actually likes him back.
All the characters have their own comedic beats to contribute to the show. Even Yamato, Takeo, and Suna's friends can be hilarious. The comedy deals with teenage awkwardness, Takeo's size and strength, Yamato's cooking for Takeo, and Suna's reactions to all the situations Takeo drags him into. My Love STORY!! is not only the best comedy anime of the season, but it's one of the best anime of all time, definitely.
The Heroic Legend of Arslan
This is a great anime. I knew nothing about Arslan but the name. In the past, Arslan was an anime that I felt was respected, but I never got an opportunity to see it. I am so thankful that Arslan was made for today's audience, because this feels like a show that has themes relevant to today's audience. Not many anime tackle religion and slavery, and even less tackle both. The animation, voice work, and characters are also great. If there are any faults to be seen, it's when Arslan tries to use CGI for its background characters. CGI is definitely not a strength of Arslan, but it is strong in every other respect.
Ninja Slayer
Are you ready for the greatest ninja anime ever created? I don't think you are! Domo, this is Ninja Slayer! Studio Trigger does whatever the hell it wants, and I don't think it has backfired on them. No, the typical anime fan does not like this mish-moshed, intentionally low quality animation, but they are fools! This is a funny, strange, interesting and ridiculous show about a man who gets posessed by a "ninja soul" when he and his family are killed. He then becomes the Ninja Slayer, who vows to kill all ninja- but he himself is a ninja. He kills a lot of ninjas, and they explode. Studio Trigger is goddamn crazy!
Blood Blockade Battlefront (Kekkai Sensen)
This is what I look for in anime. Trigun creator Yasuhiro Nightow wins again, and I think they have adapted his new manga well. Blood Blockade Battlefront is full of energy, bright colors, tons of action, comedy, and heart. Its plot is not as focused as Trigun or Gungrave, but the exploits of the unlucky Leonardo Watch and the blood-based protectors of Hellsalem's Lot, Libra, are too amazing to miss.
OK, everyone! That's it for the Spring. This summer's line-up is going to be quite interesting, as there are less than a handful of shows that I really want to watch. What are you into? Feel free to reach out to us to talk about the Spring and upcoming Summer season.
