Summer anime, tv & movie watching~

An annual summer compilation of all the things I've watched/am watching/will watch~~! No spoilers ahead {except for the movies} but this is pretty much a text-laden post... all images are taken from Google and do not belong to me. ^^"

I remember back in first year of high school I spent my entire summer watching 140~ episodes of Naruto, lol. I'm really not an outdoor person so what better way to spend the summer than to stay inside enjoying the cool AC while watching anime? Hahah...okay so I do enjoy going out too, but so far I haven't grown out of watching anime and I don't think I ever will! Anyway, aside from Shingeki no Kyojin, which I blogged about before, I am currently following:

Free! - Iwatobi Swim Club
I think there must be an anime about every popular sport out there from tennis, baseball, basketball, football/soccer to American football. But I don't think there's ever been an anime about swimming...or a high school swim club, until now, that is! :D Apparently I don't think this anime would have happened without Tumblr, and after seeing all the fanart and PVs, I was super excited for this show to finally air. It only has 3 episodes yet so far it has met my expectations! It has bishies, tons of fanservice and a seemingly decent plot line. The water/swimming animation is very smooth and the characters are all so loveable. I am honestly so glad an anime like this exists, because for once it seems to target a female audience instead of a typical male one, and it's not a BL anime. ^^" Fun fact, I used to hate anime because I thought all ainme had nothing but perky high school girls with high pitched voices and cliche story lines...but that was way before series like Shingeki no Kyojin and Free! came along!! Watching this on a hot summer day might really make you want to go out and jump in a pool! Though I can't swim so I will just watch this anime instead! :')

Dangan Ronpa

I kept seeing spam of this on my tumblr feed too, so I decided to watch it. So far after the first episode, it seems interesting. I don't know anything about it, but apparently it is based off a game released exclusively for PSP in Japan. It has the same director as Persona 4: The Animation, which I really enjoyed overall, despite not having played that game at all, either. The art is similar to the P4 anime but slightly less easy on the eyes. The story is interesting so I think I'll keep watching!

Anime series completed

The Flower We Saw That Day / Anohana
This anime is about a group of friends after an accident caused a girl in the group, Menma, to die. Ten years later, they are no longer friends and they're all still struggling with their feelings and suddenly out of nowhere, Menma's ghost appears and she could only be seen by Jinta, one of the boys in the group. What happens later...you have to watch to find out. ie. PLEASE WATCH THIS ANIME! I don't even know how to describe it because...it's sad, beautiful, tragic, heart-wrenching...okay I think I'm being a little over-dramatic but I loved this series to pieces. It gives off Tora Dora! vibes mixed with a little 5cm per second. Last summer it was stated that a film will be release this summer, and will be about recalling the events from Menma's POV but...I haven't heard about updates about this yet. But, I also found out through tumblr that there's a place in Japan you can visit where a real life-size scale of the secret hideout place was created, as well as a life-size figure of Menma. it looks amazing how they made everything down to the last detail! Overall...seeing as this anime takes place in the summer, it's perfect to watch during this time of year and I highly, highly recommend it!!

The Devil is a Part-timer! / Hataraku Maou-sama!
This series is about how the evil overlord, Maou Sadao, had an altercation and somehow found himself in Japan and must now make a living as an ordinary human being...by working at a popular fast food chain restaurant. (They called it MgRonald's lol) Sadao has his henchman who followed him to Earth and they live together in a small apartment, making ends meet. It's hilarious to watch, especially since the setting is in modern day Japan, all the brands are given similar-sounding names (ie. Kentucky Fried Chicken = Sentucky F C, Docomo = Docodemo) and Sadao takes his job very seriously. The characters are all very loveable as well, in particular the NEET, Lucifer. It doesn't really end, so hopefully there will be more of this since it's only 12 episodes or so long.



Tamako Market
I kept seeing gifs of this on tumblr! Tamako Market is a short, cute series about a girl named Tamako, whose father/grandfather owns a mochi shop. The anime focuses on her daily life with her friends and her relationship with the neighbours in their little shopping district. The art is very cute, K-ON!! style and Tamako's love interest, who is the son of a rival mochi shop, has a very cute name, in my opinion..."Ooji Mochizou" (he's also very cute might I add =w=) But this series would not be as fun to watch if it weren't for the fat, talking bird named Dera. He has this bossy Japanese voice and he's so fat and round (from overeating mochi) and I really want a plushie of him!! >___< The bit about him coming from another country was a bit weird though...I watched this while sewing so it wasn't too bad to sit through despite it not being something I would normally watch. ^^


Movies

The Garden of Words / Kotonoha no Niwa {spoilers}
I saw gifs of this on tumblr too (no surprise lol) and the animation was amazing, it looked so real! Well...some scenes are based exactly from photos,  but still. O_O It really made me miss Japan, lol because the subway sounds, the people and the Suica cards looked so darn real! The colours, the backgrounds...and the music in the PV had me instantly hooked! However, I was shocked to find that it was only 46min long. I was expecting it to be a long movie with a strong storyline...but not so. It's a love story, but really not the kind I was expecting,  as the girl was a lot older than the guy, and I wasn't expecting them to be in a student/teacher type of relationship...x__x....the ending was pretty open-ended though and I didn't find it very sad or emotional at all because it was a little predictable, since I read that the director wanted viewers to interpret the ending in their own way. I would still recommend this movie though because it's not long, and the beautiful animation makes it worth the watch!

Monsters University {spoilers}
I don't normally go out for movies and when I do, it's usually to watch Pixar's animated films or something really popular like Harry Potter or the Hunger Games..this time I went to see Monsters University, from the makers of Monsters Inc. it is the story of Mike and Sully's university days before they worked at Monsters Inc. Really entertaining to watch, (btw little Mike is SOOOOO CUTE gahh) but the next time you want to watch a kid movie...I recommend going late at night to avoid crowded theatres with kids and crying babies...^^;;;; The end was somehwat a surprise to me as I thought Mike and Sully would be accepted back into Monsters U and graduate and then work for the company...but instead they got expelled and went to work in the mail room and then worked their way up to full-time scarer...Are the producers hinting that you don't necessarily need to graduate from a prestigious school in order to get where you want to go, perhaps? Haha...anyway I really enjoyed this movie, and I really enjoyed watching Pixar's animated short "The Blue Umbrella" right before the actual movie, too. I loved "La Luna", another short I remember that aired before Brave, as well...I wish I could watch them all again. ; - ;

TV Shows

Hannibal.
I heard people talking about this...then I saw a collection of images on tumblr (I've been on tumblr a lot haven't I...orz) and it was a bunch of dead bodies, except they were all displayed like works of art. I was intrigued. It was disturbing, I'll be honest...yet in a way it was fascinating. And little did I know that this series was actually filmed at my former university's campus!! I recognized it right from the beginning! (Haha apparently our school is pretty eerie and sombre looking in some areas, I have to agree..as Resident Evil 5 was filmed there too...^^") I didn't watch the movie Hannibal Lecter or anything else related to "hannibal"...though I think this series is unrelated and is based on a book series (which I didn't read). I think this series really stands out on its own, as I really fell in love with Hannibal Lecter, the character. Mads Mikkelsen did an amazing job portraying him--his face, mannerisms were all so perfectly exercised. He has all the qualities of a perfect man, minus the part where he eats people lol. Hugh Dancy's work as Will Graham was brilliant as well. I realize this series is not for everyone, and I admit that I was quite scared too during some suspense-filled scenes. I don't recommend watching this alone in your room in the dark at night (ahem) but I love the psychology and neuroscience elements of course and can't wait for the next season!!! >__<

Upcoming...
Kuroko no Basuke Season 2 airs in October this year! I hope I will be able to regularly keep up with this (or maybe I'll just watch it all during Christmas or something lol). Many fans are excited for this as we finally get to see highly anticipated matches get animated! I am most looking forward to the Touou x Seirin match where Kagami and Aomine get in the "zone"! (The PV was quite amusing, consisting of fangirls screaming in sync with the appearance of the characters o.O)

Samurai Flamenco
This series is to air in the noitaminA timeslot this fall and is directed by the same person  who did Durarara/Baccano, with the same character designer as Uta no Prince-sama!'s. The art on the official website has already got me sold! *__*

Psycho-Pass Season 2 was also announced (side note: major envy to all those who got to attend AX.... ; _ ;)  and production has begun, but there's no definite air date yet. Even still, I'm soo excited since I loved season one and I have so many questions! Will Kogami be the next Makishima?? Will the Sybil System still go unchallenged as the true meaning of justice despite its obvious flaws?!? I WANT TO KNOW!! ヽ(≧Д≦)ノ

Annd that's all for this post! Let me know what series you are watching right now and which ones you'd recommend?? :D