What I’m Watching – Summer 2019 Impressions

Summer is Stacked!

I’m watching way more than normal for the Summer 2019 season so I thought I’d put up a list of everything I’m watching and give a little bit of a first impression for each show. Held off on doing this for a week because I added a few more shows that hadn’t started airing. The list is 10 shows long with one held over from the last season, so let’s dive right in!

Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest

Isekai kind of gets a bad reputation because so much of it gets churned out, and I don’t really agree with that. However, Arifureta is going to be a hallmark example when people want to proclaim just how bad and over saturated the Isekai genre has become. I can’t really blame them, because this show is awful.

I know this is in isolation, but seriously, stuff looks real bad in this show…

I’m watching this more to make fun of it over whatever it is supposed to be. Everything from the direction to the acting is just atrocious. Story is a jumbled mess that is trying really hard to be interesting, but just fails to deliver at every turn. That said, it wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be. This is watchable, but if it weren’t so funny for me, I would have easily given this one a pass. I expect to rate this straight as 2/10 but for the funny factor, it might just claw its way up to the top. I mean, I LOVED King’s Game….

Cop Craft

Not going to lie, I actually wasn’t going to watch this one at all. Seemed like it would be too ecchi for me. However, I changed my mind when I realized that the character designs were done by Range Murata in the source. He did the Last Exile designs, which are really unique. That got me a little more interested in the source material, and subsequently the anime.

The first episode was just alright though. It seemed like things just started happening and then suddenly the episode was over. Still, the opening has me kind of excited because at the very least we are going to see lots of outfits for the girl. I can’t overstate this, it is amazing when an anime tries to give its cast a wide range of things to wear. Seriously though, I do think this one has potential, but I’m not expecting anything too far beyond the middle of the road.

Demon Slayer

Here’s our one leftover from the previous season. At the start this one was looking to be pretty decent but lately the show has been a chore to sit through. Dorito Boy and Boar Dude are such terrible characters that are extraordinarily obnoxious that I begrudge watching Demon Slayer weekly.

Me watching this right now…

I still have confidence that the show will recover from this, but I can’t ignore this huge black mark against the show. Time is going to tell for this anime, but I can’t see enjoying this as much as I should have, and that’s a darn shame.

Dr. Stone

Alright, so I expect some flak here, but I think Dr. Stone is just decent.

Crunchyroll really went all-out on the advertising for this one, and I did a good job dodging any information about this show. I was a little hype based on some word of mouth, but I try to keep my expectations pretty low. After a few episodes this just seems alright.

It’s not that I find anything particularly wrong with it, but it has failed to really capture me. The coolest thing right now is that the characters are rarely drawn consistently, which I believe is on purpose based on the manga art. I think that is pretty awesome because while the consistency would be an issue normally, it enhances the product. It’s more like minor changes in the art style, if I were being more accurate, but regardless, that’s the draw for me at the moment.

His hair coloration. See? pic.twitter.com/Gm0upC9JwO

— Jon Spencer Reviews (@JS_Reviews) July 6, 2019

There was a great debate about the onion hair

It’s too early to really have more of an opinion on this one though. It seems like Dr. Stone wants to take things as slowly as it can, which could pay off in a big way, but right now it is starting to lose my attention. For now, I’ll just enjoy Dr. Stone’s dumb looking Onion hair and see how things keep progressing.

Fire Force

Oh cool, Soul Eater is back on TV. Wait, this is actually some show called “Fire Force” I guess… Alright, so as you might have guessed, this is really obviously based on material from the same person behind Soul Eater. To that end, I also have some concerns for this anime.

We are getting a decent amount of episodes but the source material isn’t too far along so the ending route should pique people’s interest. Like Soul Eater, I’m afraid that this will either try to do an original ending (which was real bad in that example), or leave off in an unsatisfying non-ending. Either way, that prospect has me wary.

I’d love to be totally wrong though. Still, based on the few episodes I’ve seen, I am not super invested in it. I can’t help but draw parallels to My Hero Academia and Blue Exorcist, as a lot of imagery and themes remind me of these two series. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but here’s my point, right now Fire Force only reminds me of other stuff, it doesn’t feel unique.

That’s weird because the show, on a conceptual level, is very unique. This might just need a little more time to fully get rooted but right now I’m slightly disappointed when it comes to this one. Show has some interesting visuals and directing though, so I’m feeling like the worst we’ll get is something just above average.

Granbelm

Aside from the incredibly bad looking robot designs, I’m enjoying Granbelm. I don’t really know what exactly is going on, I can infer based on meta knowledge, but the show is taking its sweet time about everything. That isn’t to say stuff isn’t happening though.

Thought this sequence was really good

There’s some special appeal here but I can’t place my finger on it exactly. I like the main girl’s design and there are some cracks in the colorful facade, which I do like. Right now this is one to keep an eye on. Depending on where it decides to ultimately go, we’ll get something amazing or just kind of mediocre.

Astra Lost in Space

This wants to have its cake and eat it too. One part survival drama and another part comedy, it is just hard to tell what Astra is trying to be. There’s a charm here though and I am enjoying it. Funicia is my favorite character because of that weird hand-puppet thing.

Beyond that, the sci-fi stuff is fun and interesting. Gives me Star Trek vibes while being 100x more ridiculous. If that sounds interesting to you, then this one may be worth the watch. Otherwise, it is kind of a mess right now and I don’t know if I could really recommend it. Like I said though, I am enjoying it, and that’s really all that counts.

The Ones Within

Based on the first episode, I don’t really get how or why anything is happening. Streamers are forced into a contest of sorts, which has life-or-death stakes, but also not? It is actually kind of unclear even though this question is literally answered in the episode itself.

This girl is my favorite so far, I like her design a lot

I really can’t explain it but the premise is one that could be a great example of modern horror. Streamers are culturally relevant, and the idea of being trapped in some elaborate game, while not new, could marry well with this. I’m not sure I’m making a ton of sense here, but The Ones Within has potential to show some ideas off at the very worst.

Honestly, this needs more episodes for me to even formulate an opinion on it. First episode had some really nice animation in parts, but beyond that surface observation and some confusion, there’s nothing more to add.

Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks?

Was a little bit scared that this would be too fanservice heavy, but to my surprise “Mom, The Anime” is way better than expected. Reminds me a lot of Konosuba in terms of this weird off-color humor that pokes and prods at a bunch of things while being simultaneously cleaner and better for it. I expect a lot of people to disagree with me on this point though.

The characters are pretty bad, the animation is nothing to write home about, and even the writing really is nothing special, but I just get this show. I don’t have a better way to put it, but I’m actually super excited to watch this one each week, and I did not expect to be saying that at all.

My biggest fear is the obvious danger that the jokes get repetitive and the characters never develop, but right now I don’t see that being an issue. A potential problem, but one I’m not sure will ever really happen. Yeah, MILF Isekai seems good.

If It’s for My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord

Listen, do I even have to tell you what I think of this one? I already wrote a whole article on father-daughter shows and why I like them, so it shouldn’t be surprising when I say that this is my favorite show of the season. “What about where the story goes? In the source-” Alright, I’m gonna stop you right there, I don’t care. The anime may never reach that point, just like with Usagi Drop, and wherein that show I do have an issue with that route, I could see this playing alright here (still wouldn’t love it though).

Regardless, I’m going to enjoy this weirdly specific niche of mine that shows like If It’s for My Daughter… fills because they just don’t come out all too often. Might be a mistake, but I’m willing to take on that risk.

Want to address that Dale’s doting is fine, I know parents like that, so people using this as “evidence” that he wants to have sex with Latina is just weird. I thought I should mention that because I’ve heard it tossed around some. Even if he does end up in a relationship with Latina, I really don’t feel like this is a grooming anime right now. I don’t know, I just wish people would stop trying to make everything creepy or weird when it isn’t.

If I had to complain about anything so far, it would actually be that sometimes the art doesn’t do a scene justice. Latina is cute but sometimes a scene doesn’t sell me on that. Latina is also a bit too perfect, which is often a problem in shows like this, but she hasn’t really had the opportunity to do much beyond look cute and get lost. Personally, this isn’t a major issue, but I can see that being a BIG turn-off for many.

That’s it Folks!

Here is the end of our journey into what I’m watching for Summer 2019. I could pick up 1 or 2 more, but I think that doing so would just be too much. 10 shows is already a lot, with a healthy mix of things here, so I don’t see the need to add more or to balance anything out further. Plus I have all the non-seasonal stuff too…

I do want to be sure to mention that one show is missing from this lineup that would otherwise be here, and that is Takagi-san season 2. I really enjoyed that show a lot but this one is locked up in Netflix jail so I’ll just have to wait until next season. I’ve seen a little glimpse of it from Twitter peeps, and it looks GREAT, so I have something to look forward to.

Hope you enjoyed reading and I would love to hear what YOU are watching this season.

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Let me know what anime you are watching for Summer 2019, new or old. I’d love to hear your thoughts! If you want to support my writing, you can do so via the Ko-fi button below. Thanks for reading and have yourself a great day!