This summer season was not as good as the spring season. However, there were still some notable shows that prevented this season from being too bad such as Banana Fish, High Score Girl, and season 3 of Attack on Titan. Lets get into it.

Honorable mentions: Happy Sugar Life, Asobi Asobase, Hataraku Saibu 

Worst Anime of Summer 2018

Anime: Muhyo to Rouji Mahouritsu Soudan Jimusho

Genre: Action, Comedy, Mystery, Shounen, Supernatural

Studio: Studio Deen

Introduction

 Muhyo to Rouji Mahouritsu Soudan Jimusho is a story about a young executor named Toru Muhyo that graduated from the Magical Law School and his assistant, Jiro Kusano. They track and find ghosts, then send the spirits to heaven or hell depending on the account of their lives in his magical law book.

Muhyo and Rouji was a manga series by Yoshiyuki Nishi and it was adapted into a anime television series by Studio Deen.

Thoughts

Muhyo and Rouji had an interesting premise but it ended up being terrible. Muhyo is a harsh and rude character whose main job is to get rid of ghosts. Rouji is the comedic sidekick who is more of the moral compass.  The writing was uninteresting, the episodic nature makes the pacing horrible.

Conclusion

This anime doesn’t really have much to offer.

 Most Disappointing Anime of Summer 2018

Anime: Kyoto Teramachi Sanjou No Holmes

Genre: Mystery

Studio: Seven

Introduction

Kyoto Teramachi Sanjou No Holmes was a mystery novel series written by Mai Mochizuki and illustrated by Yamōchishizu. It was adapted by studio Seven.

The story follows a high school girl named Mashiro Aoi who goes into a shop in Kyoto’s Teramachi Sanjou shopping district. She meets Yagashira Kiyotaka, the son of the shop’s owner, and ends up working part-time at the shop. Kiyotaka is called the “Holmes at Teramachi Sanjou,” and he and Aoi solve odd cases brought to them by various clients.

Thoughts

I went into Kyoto Teramachi Sanjou No Holmes expecting a good mystery anime. I was expecting the protagonist to share qualities like Sherlock Holmes. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case. The mysteries weren’t compelling or too impressive. Alot of the times the viewer did not have enough information to solve the mysteries themselves. When the mysteries were solved, it lacked any major significance.

Conclusion

Kyoto Teramachi Sanjou No Holmes was a disappointment in many ways. One of the only redeeming factors was that you learned about antiques and several Japanese history related topics.

 Most Underrated Anime of Summer 2018

Anime: Hi Score Girl

Genre: Comedy, Romance, School, Seinen

Studio: J.C. Staff

Introduction

High Score Girl was a manga series written and illustrated by Rensuke Oshikiri. It was adapted into a television anime series by J.C Staff.

The story revolves around the life of gamer Haruo Yaguchi, whose only has video games to live for. One day at the local arcade, he plays Oono Akira, a fellow classmate but who’s popular, smart, pretty and a rich girl that absolutely destroys him at Street Fighter II. Haruo can’t seem to shake Akira off as she follows him from arcade to arcade everyday after school and beats him every time.

High Score Girl is notable for its unique art style, and thoroughly accurate depictions of the multitude of gaming software, hardware, and even culture that are featured.

Thoughts

I was not expecting to like Hi Score Girl like I did. Not only did I enjoy the character dynamic between Haruo and Akira as they grew over the course of the series, but I enjoyed the accuracy of the gaming aspect. Watching some of the classic games (Street Fighter is my favorite) being played brought a sense of nostalgia and heartwarming feelings of my childhood.

One of reasons why Hi Score Girl hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves is because of the CGI. The CGI involved turns off many viewers. While the CGI can look rough at some points, the show toned it down in the second half.

Another highlight of the show is how well the relationship between Haruo and Akira developed. It was nice seeing the impact Akira had on Haruo and how organic the relationship felt.

Conclusion

Hi Score Girl felt both realistic and inspiring. As a series about video games, it takes a great approach at decorating its story with a 1990s realistic setting. One of the great things about Hi Score Girl is that they use actual footage of video games that are been played by real skilled people and reference many of the tactics hardcore gamers would know. It is definitely the most underrated anime of the summer.

Best Anime of Summer 2018

Anime: Banana Fish

Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Shoujo

Studio: MAPPA

Introduction

Banana Fish was a manga series written and illustrated by Akimi Yoshida. It was adapted into a television series by Studio MAPPA.

The story is about Ash Lynx, a cold, ruthless gang leader in New York . He was a runaway brought up as the adopted heir of “Papa” Dino Golzine. Ash, who is 17 years old, rejects Dino’s kingdom and way of living. He meets a pure-hearted young photographer named Eiji Okumura and they are tied in a plot that involves “banana fish”.

Banana Fish is 2 cours and has 24 episodes. The anime adapted the entire manga. One of the important changes that was made was the changing of the setting. The story was set in the 1980s during the post Vietnam War era in the manga. In the anime, the story is set during modern times with the post Vietnam War setting being replaced with the Iraq War.

Thoughts

Banana Fish was the best non sequel anime of summer 2018. It was a crime drama that was well done and fast paced. I was engaged for most of the series and the plot twists left me wanting more. Check out my Is Banana Fish Good? post for more.

Conclusion

Banana Fish was the best anime of the summer.

Best Anime (Continuing) of Summer 2018

Anime: Attack on Titan Season 3

Genre: Action, Drama, Fantasy, Military, Mystery, Shounen, Super Power

Studio: Wit Studio

Introduction

Attack on Titan is one of the most popular anime this decade and really needs no introduction. The core staff returns for season 3. It was adapted by Wit Studio and season 3 covers the uprising arc.

Hajime Isayama worked with scriptwriter Hiroshi Seko to make this arc more fast paced. https://goboiano.com/attack-on-titan-creator-shares-why-season-3-is-so-fast/

Thoughts

This season scaled back on fighting the titans and focused more the secrets of the titans. It also deals with a coup d’état against the government, and conflict between human factions. I enjoyed all of these elements. As much as I enjoy Attack on Titan for it’s action and its grand production, this arc taking a step back to world build and progress the plot was appreciated. Despite that, the few action scenes were great. Arifumi Imai, Attack on Titan‘s main action animator, continues to impress.

Levi, my favorite character, gets more screen time this season and more of his backstory is revealed. The most disappointing element of this season was the opening song.

Conclusion

This was a great season. Things are starting to really heat up and I’m really looking forward to the second part of this season.