Summer 2008 - If I Have Time
Jun 11 2008 • Anime
It’s finally stopped alternating between sunny and freezing so I guess that means summer is here. But I’m not holding my breath…rainy season is also going to start soon, meaning that there will be several days of being cooped up inside because the weather has chosen not to like mankind. On the other hand, this may mean I get to watch some of the summer anime series…despite having a full plate. When I started this blog in February, I had imagined that only 50% of it would be anime-related and that meant watching no more than 2 series at a time. To quote a friend of mine, “Real life has higher resolution” and I plan to enjoy a lot more of it because the weather will soon be awesome.1
In the order of release date, these are the series I will taking a look at:
Antique Bakery (July 3)
Tachibana, grandson of a rich businessman and newbie in the world of managing; Ono Yuusuke, famous pastry chef and even more infamous “devilish homosexual”; Kanda Eiji, a retired young boxer with a thing for pastries; Kobayakawa Chikage, servant friend of Tachibana and current romantic interest of Ono, who is clumsy yet serious and stoic to a fault (most of the time). Together, these four men maintain a small yet elegant cafe known as “Antique”, where they and all their customers can come together to cherish one of the few but truly important things in life: cake.2
I doubt very much that this is one of those “the cake is a lie” moments because the description is very direct: guys who like each other and guys who like cake. Although the manga is a boy-love, the TV adaptation was not slated as such and I suspect that the anime will also go the same route. Which is good for me because that means less pictures of waifish men violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and more pictures of cake!
Blade of the Immortal (July 13)
Blade of the Immortal follows the deeds of Manji, a skilled samurai who has a decisive advantage: no wound can kill him, except for a rare poison. In the past, his criminal actions led to the death of 100 other samurai (including his sister’s husband). He becomes immortal at the hand of a 800-year-old nun named Yaobikuni, and is compelled by the death of his sister to accept the quest that will end his agelessness. He has vowed to make amends by killing 1000 evil men….3
This is the 1 series that I’m truly looking forward to. My guess is that it will probably have very few comedic moments, if any at all, so it will be heavy in plot and character development. I also like the art style of the manga, which seems to break out of the mold.
Ryoko’s Case File (July)
The story revolves around Ryouko Yakushiji, a 27-year-old multilingual investigator that graduated from Tokyo University’s elite Department of Law, and the bizarre cases she faces while working for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police. Yakushiji not only has to deal with supernatural beings in her line of work, but also her rival Yukiko Muromachi, another equally talented and beautiful police investigator.4
Back in the day, I was a huge X-files so a supernatural detective show seems pretty good to me. It’s only 13 episodes so I think that I will have time to squeeze it in, particularly if my prediction about Antique Bakery are wrong. I also may put Avatar: The Last Airbender on hold for this one.
Chocolate Underground (early summer)
Adapted from the children’s novel Bootleg by the British author Alex Shearer, story centers on two 13-year-old boys who live in a country that has banned chocolate and mandated fruits and vegetables for daily consumption. The boys discover a stash of cocoa and sugar and decide to run a bootleg chocolate factory, in complete defiance of the government run by the oppressive Good for You Party. Their misadventures eventually sparks a revolution in the country. 5
This story has had an interesting progression starting with a novel by Alex Shearer, to a TV show, to a Japanese manga, and now an anime. If the first episode is terrific, I will order the book to see what the Japanese producers kept the same or changed. Might also get some Jamie Oliver cookbooks, too, as he is on a crusade to keep British kids from getting fat. I believe this will balance out the seriousness of Blade of the Immortal.
- Winter in this area requires that you have some kind of hobby because it’s too cold or miserable to do much of anything outside, unless you like skiing. Many people knit and sew here…I started a blog. [↩]
- http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/manga.php?id=4440 [↩]
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Of_The_Immortal [↩]
- http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=5631 [↩]
- http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=20032 [↩]
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CAAAKKKEEEE, CHOOOCCOOOLATEEE, JAMIE OLIVEERRRRRR
Wow I’m more excited about this post than I am about the summer season XD, but at least it’s obvious what I WILL be watching, everything else I’ll leave as wildcards ;P
I might be catching “Ryoko’s Case File”; those supernatural happenings seems interesting. Strangely, I’m not a fan of samurai and sweet stuff and will give others a miss.
@Susie Q: It’s already out, if Wikipedia is to be believed.
@issa-sa: *LOL* Yeah, summer season isn’t blowing me away. But I suppose I should watch at least 1 show because eating by yourself is pretty boring without a TV show or movie. :(
@double: I wish I was….
@Hynavian: One of the first Japanese TV shows I liked was a sappy Japanese samurai western (this was back in 1993) so I have a soft spot for samurai shows. I could easily see dropping Antique Bakery though.
The cake is a lie!
I’m looking forward to Blade of the Immortal too, although I am a little worried because Bee Train is handling it. From what I remember of the manga, there is the occasional kinda sardonic humor.
I’m looking forward to Blade of the Immortal as well! And I didn’t realize this was a summer Preview thing! XD
@Kabitzin: I’m afraid I’m not familiar with studios…never had a head for those kinds of details. :(
@blissmo: Kind of a summer preview but this may be the most I talk about some of the series. Just not enough time. This weekend kicks off the 1st in a long bunch where I will be running around. Thank goodness for the backlog.
Looking forward to Chocolate Underground the most here. If it’s anything like what Production I.G did with Toshokan Sensou, I’m going to find myself snickering at its semi-serious plot.
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Yeah I’m looking forward to Antique bakery, I like shows about cooking for some reason (I don’t actually cook in real life though!). you mentioned live action TV show? is that out already or in the works?