The summer shows have aired, and now is the time to decide which animes to follow throughout this whole drought season. After sampling many of the summer offerings, what came about was a balanced-looking diet (aka filled with ‘variety’, a mix of good animes worth keeping and other ones for pure entertainment lulz), which is still subject to changes without prior notice

Due to my busy work schedule till mid-September as well as the breaks I’ll be taking (or that I already took) – trip to the hamster’s den, and trip to Singapore this coming September, my anime-viewing time will be drastically cut-short. I am already foreseeing the upcoming stressful days at work so I’ve sworn to stay away from shows which will give me nothing else but headaches, nauseous attacks, and facepalm moments *cough* Ultraviolet Ikkitousen Koihime Sekirei *cough*

Another thing I had to to consider in planning this summer anime diet is the upcoming Fall season, which is BATSHIT INSANELY loaded with great-looking animus, starting with Skip Beat!, Hakushaku to Yousei (simply beautiful <3), Ga-Rei (kickass couple tandem FTW!), Tytania (potential EPIC), Kurogane no Linebarrel, Nodame Cantabile 2nd season, Kuroshitsuji, To Aru Majutsu no Index, ToraDora, among others +__+ Given this, I decided to watch only 1-cour series so it won’t get in the way of my Fall anime watching.

Among the summer animes I sampled, there were shows which scored a potential hit on my first watch, but I had to bid them goodbye for a number of silly excuses (lack of time, among other things). I don’t think I’m up to seeing catfights this summer, so adieu Telepathy Girl Ran (being a 2-cour series makes me want to stay from this more). Slayers looked fun, but then again I have this silly mindset of not wanting to enjoy the new season unless I’ve watched at least a season of the previous series, so I scratched it off my watch list as well. Blade of the Immortal was… dark and bloody, and I’d rather stay away from these really serious shows which will just make me depressed. Chocolate Underground started off as amusing, but after three episodes, I started to question why I was watching it in the first place.

And to prevent this post from getting any longer than it already is, without further ado, I present to you, the bunny’s summer diet!

Appetizers

These shows piqued my interest on the first watch, enough for me to crave for the next episode, much to my surprise. It’s just an appetizer because I’m still not sure how long my excitement for these shows will last. It’ll depend on how enjoyable the series remains, or how jaded I become the more I watch

World Destruction

I’m in this show for furry Bonta-kun and Miyano Mamoru, but mostly for the cute mascot I was expecting him to have a cute voice which supposedly suits his plushie looks, so I undergone a brief state of shock when I heard his deep husky voice. But I eventually got over it, found it suiting for his kickass cool character. I mean, he kicks and he stabs and sure knows how to have a good time! His “~kuma!” is just adorable, and reminds me so much of Chichiri’s “no da~!” Man, I want a plushie. NOW! This will be a worthy substitute for the Bonta-kun plushie I’ve been searching for, years now.

Nogizaka Haruka

This show is sooo absolutely adorable!!! I honestly don’t care about the fanservice crap, so long as we see more Haruka x Yuuto rabu rabu X3 This certainly turned out better than I expected when I read the manga. Right now it’s an appetizer for me, but if it continues to be this enjoyable (I was giggling with joy while watching the last part of the episode), it might become one of my entrees. Haruka is a strong Mary Sue ojousama kind of character, reminds me of Ange Yuuto is such a gentleman bishie *swoon* I can’t remember when was the last time I became this excited over a love comedy show aimed for men.

Another thing that draws me into this is that it hits really close to home. As an avid otaku, I see myself in Haruka, without all the ojousama moe-ness of course. Watching episode 2 reminded me of my trip to Japan last year, where the zealous fangurl in me got unleashed during my visit to Mandarake, sweet shops and plushie shops +__+ The only difference in my case is that I ended up buying many of the stuff I set my eyes on, whereas Haruka had more self-control (except for the gashapon thingy, kind of like a weakness of mine as well). I probably would’ve fainted in awe if I had the chance to go to Akihabara, so it’s a good thing that my business trip was only in Fukuoka instead of Tokyo Seeing how I already babbled this much just goes to show how much I’m loving this

Entree

The main dish(s), the ultimate fangurl shows which fills me with weekly dose of shoujo and bishies goodness~ As if it isn’t obvious enough, I’m totally biased for the shows I’m gonna mention here, hence I can totally understand if no other people beside me are watching ‘em (with regards to Neo Angelique, that is XD)

Neo Angelique

Surprise surprise? I may fail in blogging this show, but not in religiously following the episodes that air each week. There’s a good reason why I said this is one of the best among the Angelique series. First of all, there aren’t as many gays characters here as the previous Angelique. She only has 5 knights here, and some anime-original characters, all of whom are a worthy addition to the Neo Angelique cast, each with his own great purpose.

In the first series, Ange did nothing else but purification white magic spells which she casts after her Guardians render the Thanatos monsters weak with their offensive attacks. But now, things are different. After Ange woke up from her deep slumber (she remained unconscious for half a year) due to shock of finding out Nyx’s evilness, she gained the will to fight with all her might, awaiting the day they’ll meet again… as enemies, much like how it was between Nozomi and Masaomi of HaruToki 3. I’m crossing my fingers that Ange won’t end up with Nyx, he’s my least fave character =/

In episode 3, Ange follows the footsteps of a GAR sexy female pirate captain from whom she learns a bit about swordfighting. Ange’s still an amateur in terms of handling the sword, but I think she’s off to a good start

Shugo Chara

I’m not sure if it’s ok for me to be placing this together with the actual Fall animes, but anyways. My love for the Shugo Chara anime has been resurrected from the grave, and now I managed to catch up with the latest episode. I skipped the fillers due to time constraints, but wouldn’t mind more of the fillers in the upcoming season 2 if that’s the way for them to pad episodes to accommodate the whole Ikuto arc and Amuto stuff.

This anime holds a special place in my heart for being one of the most heartwarming mahou shoujo show I watched to date. It hits closer to home than, say, Card Captor Sakura, for the simple reason that I find myself in much about every confuzzled Guardian and weak-willed kids. Just like TTGL, this anime serves as a constant reminder for people to not lose faith in their NARITAI JIBUN, to always believe in themselves, until such time when their NARITAI JIBUN (wannabe self) finally coincide with their HONTOU no JIBUN (true self) — where inner struggles and conflicts will almost be negligible, as you finally shine or something

Refreshments

The perfect way to soothing your way in the hot summer~ These shows are my Summer iyashikei animes, they warm my heart, pierce the depths of my soul, giving a soothing cool after-effect (ironic as that sounds).

Natsume Yuujinchou

This anime might follow a predictable ‘meeting a spirit a week’ pattern, but the uniquely different tale of each of these spirits make every episode of Natsume Yuujinchou a refreshing watch. Each and every episode dedicated to getting to know the ayakashis as well as Natsume’s journey to discover his self (much like Takemoto-kun of H&C), makes this show all the more WIN for me. We learn about the ayakashis each week, how akin they are to humans, sharing the same sadness, the same human emotions. We also get to know Natsume’s inner thoughts and feelings, his introspections and self-discovery, made all the more vivid and heartwarming (and piercing?) thanks to Takemoto’s seiyuu. Hiroshi Kamiya certainly fits the bill.

As I watch episode 3, I couldn’t help but cry during Natsume’s moment of epiphany. His words: “Whether you’re a human or an ayakashi, we’re the same in that we meet with our hearts, that being alone is lonely, and that the first step is scary”, was just awwsome

Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto ~Natsu no Sora~

I already fell in love with this series the moment I set my eyes on the breathtaking and luscious sceneries, more so when I met Sora. Sora is such a wonderful girl, and her optimism, kindness and strength in the past 3 episodes just proves how great of a character she is. Gouta Midorikawa, voiced by Doujou’s seiyuu made me love Natsu no Sora more, as my interest got piqued with the complexity of his character, and the possible romance development between him and Sora

I’m keeping my expectations low, so I’m just looking forward to the impact Sora will make in Gouta’s life, how she will become the catalyst to his character development

These two slice of life shows are like my entrees as well, I couldn’t quite live without them. Waiting one week before watching each episode is becoming unbearable T__T

Dessert

These are just yummy~ the kind of shows I’d readily make room for despite a heavy schedule. The cake pr0n stuff here make me go hungry too. (and obviously, there’s only 1 show which fits the ‘cake pr0n’ description)

Antique Bakery

I love just about everything about this show, from the cakes, the premise, the LOL gay stuff, the characters, and the music (Chemistry ROCKS! the classical BGM are wonderful too)!! It’s a good mix of everything, and would prove to be a worthy watch, for those who can laugh at the gay stuff, especially the LOL rain scene

Antique Bakery never fails to make me laugh, yet at the same time touch my heart when the episode gets all serious I know the rain scene looks gay, I also admitted that in my “this is not BL!” defense post. But still, you shouldn’t drop the show because of that. Just laugh at it, and go on watching. Episode 4 marks the start of the SRS BSNS stuff in the series, revealing the reason why Tachibana even bothered putting up the cake shop in the first place.

Side Dishes

These are my not-so-prioritized animes atm, aka those I haven’t watched past the second episode of to make the final verdict of whether I’ll follow them or not. I’m rather surprised by the animes I placed in this category, considering that they are two of my most anticipated summer animes. What a bummer. I only have my jaded-ness to blame.

Yakushiji Ryouko

I love mysteries, I love kickass heroines, I like Yakushiji Ryouko and her gentleman kickass assistant. Or so I thought. I wasn’t expecting anything when I watched it. I actually found the first episode interesting. But somehow, the other Summer animes remain my higher priority and I can’t get my lazy butt to continue on watching.

Birdy the Mighty Decode

I was supposed to be really hyped up for this series. I even finished the OAV to get myself prepared for this new series. I liked the changes in the character design, how they made Tsutomu look cuter, but… I don’t know what happened. I got lazy, my mind got polluted by silly shows like World Destruction and Nogizaka Haruka and I lost the passion to watch this great animu. I can only blame the summer heat for this. Perhaps I’ll soften up once I get past watching episode 2? All I know right now is that my mind is willing to watch and enjoy this, but my body isn’t, so I can’t quite translate my thoughts into actions.

So, how’s everyone else’s ‘menu’ coming along?

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Related posts:

1. 2008/2009 Winter Anime Menu
2. First Taste of Spring Anime 2009 [Update 04/27/09]
3. First Taste of Spring Anime 2009 [Update]