Terrible Reviews: 2014 Summer Anime Run

So the summer anime run has finally ended... And the anime side of Tumblr finds itself sharing blankets and mugs of hot chocolate and hugs as we pick up what's left of our souls hearts and cry or stare blankly into space.

All in all considered quite normal, considering what we've been through. Each series was considered short (the shortest in this list had 11 episodes while the longest had 25 episodes) but all were equally crippling - excuse me while I pick up my box of tissues and shuffle to a corner to cry again.

1. Haikyuu!

As far as my very limited experience for sports anime goes, Haikyuu! follows the standard formula for most sports anime ("This year we'll finally go to Nationals, I can feel it!") and still manages to keep things fresh. I have no idea why Hinata and Kageyama reminded me of Naruto and Sasuke though maybe it was because of Hinata's nonstop energy and Kageyama's too-cool attitude hehe.

The anime seems to follow the manga closely enough from what I can see from Tumblr (I don't read the manga because I'm a lazy bastard) and I'm looking forward to seeing what else our Karasuno boys get into - 25 episodes are NOT ENOUGH.


2. Kuroshitsuji: Book of Circus

This one... I heard that it would be difficult to follow if you didn't read the manga, and it seems that it holds true because as much as I enjoyed watching it it was also kind of confusing and I ended up just settling back and watching it for the fun of it.

Still, anything beats Kuroshitsuji II.

3. Free! Eternal Summer

THIS ONE. Goddamit they should have just called it Eternal Tears and Feels instead, it would have been more accurate. What I liked about it was how it was a lot more serious as compared to season one, when everyone was just all YAY SWIMMING YAY HARU YAY WATER. Now we have the seniors having to face the thoughts of what their plans for the future will be, and it's interesting because then they have to deal with the stress and pressure of what others might want for them versus what they may or may not want for themselves.

I think many of us within the fandom liked this season so much because many of us had also been in the same situation, what with college and university applications because of graduation and all that. I personally felt like I could understand the stress that Makoto and Haru were going through because hello, I'd been stressing out over university only a few months ago.

Seriously though, this season was a rollercoaster of feels - it started out lighthearted and then developed into more and more tension, with many of us worried for how things would turn out. In my opinion, this season helped to make Free! so much more than just an anime that was about swimming and half-naked boys with killer abs.

4. Tokyo Ghoul

This one was another rollercoaster of emotions because honestly now where do I start. Perhaps I could say that hands down, Kaneki Ken has the worst luck in the world, and personally speaking I couldn't stand him because he was someone who couldn't defend himself and had to constantly rely on others to help him.

Hallelujah and praise the lord though because he's finally grown some balls learnt to fight back - I think I was cheering by the end of the episode. Again another series that you could read the manga for, but I liked watching the anime instead despite some inaccuracies that were pointed out by the manga-reading fans on Tumblr.

5. Zankyou no Terror

Sigh.

This was the anime series that had the majority of us lying comatose and wondering what semblance of life we could possibly return to. What normalcy was there left to be regained after watching this monster of a series? With only 11 episodes, it did so much and left us in so much pain.

The anime tells us early on "Don't get attached", but that's a rule that many of us ignored and are now paying the price for. It's not possible not to get attached to at least one of the characters, and with every episode you wonder about if they'll actually survive the 20 minutes.

Lots of destruction in the series, but the small moments are what lead you to love the characters (and ultimately join the rest of the anime side in sharing hot chocolate and blankets). It's the small moments that show you how human an animated character can be.

I was also immensely proud of how the fandom developed - we became sleuths in our own right, guessing what was going to happen in each coming episode and what might happen to each character. The series indulged us too with the weekly Sphinx Challenges.

There doesn't seem to be a neutral opinion of ZnT - some loved it and some hated it, and there doesn't seem to be an in-between for the two extremes. For me, I loved it - I've never felt so involved in a series before, and I can definitely say that the ending broke me.

Now that the summer run has ended, it's time to snuggle into that blanket, drink the hot chocolate and brace myself for the fall run.