Jul 18 2014 9:00am

Summer 2014 Anime Preview: In the Name of the Moon!

Sailor Moon Crystal


Sailor Moon Crystal

Sailor Moon Crystal



For fans of: Sailor Moon, duh.

Watch it on Crunchyroll, Hulu (airs biweekly)


Terror in Resonance / Zankyou no Terror

Terror in Resonance




Watch it on Hulu and Funimation














Watch it on: Crunchyroll and Hulu


Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun / Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun




Watch it on: Crunchyroll


Tokyo Ghoul




Watch it on Hulu




1. Cybersnark
Argevollen on Crunchyroll

On an alternate Earth (or an Earth-like planet inhabited by humans) Arandas is being invaded by Ingelmia. Part of the problem is that Arandas' big lumbering mecha are no match for the faster and lighter Ingelmian mecha (another problem is that Arandas' army is run by ass-covering cowards).

Then a headstrong and insubordinate young pilot rescues a civilian truck carrying the Argevollen; a new machine that moves blisteringly fast (and seems to this sci-fi fan's eye to be completely out-of-place technology --Star Trek-style touch panels versus WWII-looking switches and levers).

It seems a bit by-the-numbers so far, but I like the character designs and I trust there's a political/technological conspiracy afoot.
2. Athreeren
I don't often watch anime, but I'm glad I read last season's preview, as it allowed me to discover Mushishi. So this summer, I'm going to watch the first half of season 2,in order to catch up when the series starts again in August.
Shelly wb
3. shellywb
You picked my top new shows, except for Aldnoah.Zero. That one just seemed to hit every cliche I hate, so I really don't like it.

So I'd substitute Love Stage for that one. It's so cute and sweet, and the older couple is meta-cute. (The rock star older brother is played by the mangaka's actual rock star older brother Daigo. His character is in love with the glasses-wearing Rei, whose VA is also the glasses-wearing Rei on Free!....who Daigo cosplayed in a butterfly outfit on the cover of his latest single.) Anyway that made me laugh, and the show makes me laugh and gives me the warm and fuzzies. But Eiki Eiki's character designs do take a little getting used to if you're not familiar with them.

I decided I'm going to buy the Sailor Moon DVDs. I love the English VAs they've chosen and so far don't like the Japanese ones I've heard, so I'm skipping the simulcasts and will just watch it in English. Heresy, I know. And put me down for disliking the CGI transformation which looks really cheap.

Of all of these I think Terror in Resonance is my favorite. It reminds me of Death Note's first half, in that it's a cat and mouse game with the cops in which the suspense is just superbly done. And the girl caught in the middle just takes it one level higher.
4. wandering-dreamer
Noazki-kun also reminds me a lot of GA Art Design Class which was another 4-koma manga that got adapted into an anime. It's about five girls (mostly) in an art focused high school and the weird highjinks they get into their assignments, I fell in love with it and it's also on crunchyroll, although I must say that watching Blue Spring Ride and Nozaki-kun in the same season is proving hard....
Kelly Quinn
5. KellyQ
@3. shellywb - I am also watching Love Stage and I'm loving how fun and fluffy it is! They're doing quite a good job with the adaptation there. I will say that I think I enjoy DAIGO's presence as trivia more than I like his actual performance - so far he sounds a little unpraticed compared to the rest of the cast.

I am also not a fan of the SM transformation sequence. I'm certain they had their reasons for doing it that way, but I would have vastly preferred a 2D version. I'm looking forward to seeing more of the seiyuu in action, because I quite like a lot of the cast, but I've got my doubts about Mitsuishi returning as Usagi. I wasn't wowed by her in the first episode; it felt like she was really straining for that fourteen-year-old voice. I know it would have been controversial to recast Usagi, but I kind of wish they would have just bit the bullet since they recast everyone else.

@4. wandering-dreamer - I already feel like watching AHR and Nozaki-kun together is going to be a disaster. Every time Kou says something super smooth and shoujo-ish all I can think of is this:

6. Colin R
I guess I don't get the problem with the Sailor Moon CG; it seems to blend with the animation pretty nicely.

And that new opening song is sweet.
Shelly wb
7. shellywb
@5 KellyQ- You're right about Daigo! As loveable a guy as he might be in real life, his voice acting leaves a little something to be desired. I know I'm cutting him a lot of slack for who he is. Hopefully he gets better (or hopefully if they have a spin-off based on the novel that features his character's romance, they'll find someone else to play him)!

It was Usagi's voice I disliked most in the new show. I feel bad about that, but it just doesn't sound right to me. It doesn't help that I just watched the original show in Japanese a few months ago so the original performance is stuck in my mind.

@6 It just didn't blend in for me, and I found it kind of cheesy. I'm glad it works for you though. I did really like the OP.
Ben Johnston
8. AlcairNovall
I would add only that Fairy Tail get's to continue finally! After the Daimatou Enbou and the mysterious events surrounding (spoiler) and (redacted)'s arrival are wrapped up in truly epic if slightly unsatisfying fashion the third pillar of the dark guilds, Tartaros, begins to makes its move against the whole of the wizarding world. And only Fairy Tail stands in their way.
9. ZoëE
Ao Haru Ride is also really good so far. It's about two people who fell in love in middle school and were seperated, who are reunited in High School. Except they've both forced themselves to become different people so it's not the same anymore. But when they reuite, they start to examine the people they've become.

And the animation is pretty.
10. ZapRowsdower
I'll echo Tokyo Ghoul. It hasn't disappointed yet, save for the excessive censoring.

A few more to consider:

Akame ga Kill:
Young swordsman joins band of misfit assassins cleaning up their capital by making hits on corrupt people in power. Like Fairy Tail with a dose of grimdark morsel ambiguity.

Super powered detective duo solve cases in Tokyo. I was a little *meh* on reading the premise of this one, but surprised by the actual show. Its Darker Than Black with less brooding, and more humor, and a great ensemble of side players that are allowed to be part of the story.
11. AlecAustin
I'll second ZoëE's recommendation for Ao Haru Ride/Blue Spring Ride @9. The subtlety and precision in the way emotions have been depicted in the two episodes so far has been stellar.

I've also been enjoying Rail Wars, despite it being slightly goofy - the protagonist's enthusiasm for trains really comes through, and the ongoing gag with our protagonists being the junior security team and not the highly armed mobile police is pretty amusing.
Ben Johnston
12. AlcairNovall
After watching a bit of Aldnoah.Zero, I'm reminded hopelessly of Guilty Crown. The two shows are obviously very different in prupose and what not, but the atmosphere and the way that the characters act are reminding me of GC sooooo much.
Kelly Quinn
13. KellyQ
@12. AlcairNovall - I can definitely see where you're coming from on the Guilty Crown resemblance. Let's just hope Aldnoah.Zero doesn't end up rsembling GC in other ways...such as totally jumping the shark in the second half.

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