Your Best and Worst of the Summer 2019 Season

A

ActionFaust

Cardcaptor
Thought I may as well step in and start the thread.

Excellent (and a candidate for AOTY)
Symphogear XV
(More in the Anime of the Season section)

Great
Star☆Twinkle PreCure (3rd-ish Cour)
Finally caught up on this one. Still the same great wholesome fun as you'd expect from PreCure with a focus on space and imagination.
Dr. Stone (1st Cour)
Really liking Senku as a different MC than we're used to from the usual Shonen Jump series. The art and music is a real highlight and the core theme of progress is really interesting especially with the educational themes.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (2nd Cour)
Despite the 1st cour having some issues, I found it had more focus in the 2nd and the introduction of Zenitsu and Inosuke really improved the series for me. Music and animation was great as usual. Hoping to see the movie make it's way over
Granbelm
Despite some issues this sure was a good surprise. Pretty much the hidden gem of the season with it's great characters and concept. Episode 12 truly wrecked me.
Fruits Basket 1st Season (2nd Cour)
Continuing with more great character development and heartwarming moments. Looking forward to Season 2.
The Demon Girl Next Door
Finally some good Kirara content. Easily one of Kirara's best with great comedy and story.

Good
Girls Frontline Chibi Theatre
Good for fans of the mobile game. Will also watch the Japanese dub
Are You Lost?
Fun shenanigans on a desert island
O Maidens in Your Savage Season
A bit yikes at times but still a good comedy

Leftover
How Many Kilograms Are the Dumbbells You Lift?
Heard good stuff about this one

Dropped
Fire Force
Amazing production, mid for everything else
Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks?
Episode 1 was alright then it got too weird
If It's For My Daughter I'd Even Defeat a Demon Lord
Got bored

Anime of the Season - Symphogear XV
Now initially I was just going to list out each award but since almost every award went to Symphogear XV I'm just gonna skip all that. This season was a great culmination of the franchise with callbacks across the past four seasons and a great ending that despite teasing right to the end still makes it so obvious that Hibiki and Miku finally confess to each other. Hibiki remains one of my favourite protagonists as a great example of an idiot with a heart of gold and her development this season was great to watch. Animation is better than ever with great henshins and fight scenes as well as the J-Pop soundtrack being exactly what makes Symphogear stand out from most series. Happy to say that Symphogear XV takes place among shows like Laid-Back Camp and A Place Further than the Universe as one of my absolute favourite anime. Thanks Symphogear.

Best of the Backlog
  • Kizumonogatari Trilogy
  • Redline
  • Space Dandy
  • Haibane Renmei
  • Amagi Brilliant Park
  • Hugtto! PreCure
  • Macross Frontier
  • Love, Chunibyo and Other Delusions!
 
A pretty disappointing season for me so far, nothing bad but nothing great either. Still a little bit behind on some shows though.

Good
KnY (26/26) 2nd cour was good aside from Zenitsu and Inosuke who I found super annoying. 🤐
Takagi san 2 (7/12) Just more of the same goodness as the first season.
Dr Stone (8/13) I dont really think its ever gonna live up to its premise but its fun to watch.
Dumbbells (6/12) Likeable cast, funny and educational for someone as lazy as me!
Maidens in Your Savage Season (5/12) Funny and nice to see these subjects in something other than an ecchi harem.

Decent
If its for My Daughter.. (9/12)
Hensuki (11/12)
Cop Craft (7/12)
Abandoned Sacred Beasts (9/12)
Do You Love Your Mom... (9/12)

I kinda regret not watching Granbelm, TDGND and WDoHSG now... Hopefully i'll eventually watch Symphogear XV but Ive only seen the 1st season so far. Im sure Vinland Saga and Astra are both great but since ive already read the manga, im in no rush just yet.
 
Best (joint)
Given and Symphogear XV (and AXZ for me I guess)
As I legally had to slowly watch AXZ I was cautiously optimistic for when I would reach XV especially as AXZ felt like set up. And it was better than I imagined I do view AXZ and XV as one story but it was worth the slow catch up I’ve done for two years to reach.
Given a BL that’s got seems mass appeal and is a
Good romance with or without the gender dynamic I give it joint as it’s best non sequel.

best two cour show is also joint
Carole and Tuesday and Fruits Basket.
Outside the political angle which it seems to be course correcting C&T is amazing and I’m so sad that Netflix has killed it. Fruits basket I can understand why it is the main shojo people recommend.

Disappointment of the season
Fire force
Animation wise it’s pretty good but plot wise it’s so so generic and the forced boob jokes got unfunny as soon as they began and they are still there. I didn’t like one of the girls screaming for a man when 2 eps prior she was beating up people.
 
Oh yeah I completely forgot Given to be honest, probably because it ended so early. Easily my Anime of the season.
 
Almost there, just BEM to finish and I have catch up with YU-NO (and then deciding all my awards)
But it been a very good season with a lot of 8s for me.

EDIT: Forgot two 9s from a couple of 2 cour shows. One finished and one halfway through.
 
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Great/Excellent
Granbelm: Unexpectedly great and a very good entry into the mecha and fantasy genres.

Fruits Basket: An adaptation that really did the source material justice and probably my AOTS alongside...

Wasteful Days of High School Girls: A sublime comedy series that managed to keep itself fresh and funny.

Very Good
Ace of Diamond Act II: Not much to say except this has been pretty consistent with the rest of the series.

Fire Force: One of my mates has been raving about the manga and I’ve enjoyed the series so far.

Vinland Saga: A unique setting that I hope will continue to give way to a bigger story and more character development.

Good
A Certain Scientific Accelerator: Dark and action-packed, a better entry into the Index universe than III.

Are you Lost?: Castaway with anime girls and survival tips galore.

Astra: Lost in Space: A sci-fi with plenty of twists and turns and a small but fleshed-out cast.

Black Clover: This is getting better as it progresses.

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations: Some episodes have been better than others but I like watching each week regardless-it’s sort of become routine now.

Cop Craft: Production issues aside this was a nice throwback to buddy cop series’ with an alien touch.

Demon Slayer: A bit slow in places and the comedy was very much miss over hit. The last few episodes were nice though.

Dr. STONE: Science! The early episodes didn’t impress me that much but once the other human characters got involved I enjoyed each week more.

Given: A music-based drama that did a decent job with its romances.

How Heavy are the Dumbbells you Lift?: I’m surprised at how much I enjoyed this, it was quirky and somewhat educational too.

Is it Wrong to Pick up Girls in a Dungeon? II: A bit rushed early on but the core arc felt like a step up.

Maidens of the Savage Season: I was concerned about how this would turn out when I read the manga and got to a certain point but thankfully this was good without too much melodrama.

The Demon Lord Next Door: One that may have gone under the radar but was a blast each week to watch.

Decent
Demon Lord, Retry!: Not a great series but easy viewing each week, similar to...

If it’s for my Daughter, I’d even Defeat the Demon Lord: Another fantasy that was decent but not great, though in this case it did have a well-done serious episode.

Magical Sempai: Fun but lightweight and a bit repetitive with the style of humour and gags.

To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts: A story with some potential executed competently but could have used that extra something to make it more memorable and intriguing.

Average/meh
Fairy Tail: Final Season: An ending sadly that didn’t do much for me.
 
Excellent:
Symphogear XV (AOTY Candidate. I know, you're all shocked).
O Maidens in Your Savage Season

Very Good:
Demon Slayer

Good
Do You Love You Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks? - Incest creepiness aside, it's actually a pretty fun comedy.

Okay
The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II - Rail Zeppelin Grace note - It was entertaining enough, but the writer clearly has no idea how to write a mystery. Besides, the Fate waffle is everywhere.

Bad:
Fire Force. It's stunning to look at, but is unnecessarily creepy with its ridiculously forced fan-service, and I think it's burning through the story beats too fast.

Stalled:
If it's for my Daughter, I'd even Defeat a Demon Lord: Fell behind with, will catch up.

Dropped:
Isekai Cheat Magician - Just way too generic.
Magical Senpai - Honestly, the first episode was time I'll never get back.
To The Abandoned Sacred Beasts (best title though). Like, can the characters try y'know, talking to each other?

Want to Watch:
Astra Lost in Space, given, How Heavy are the Dumbbells You Life?

Curse You Netflix:
Teasing Master Takagi-san Season 2

Anime of the Season: Symphogear XV. An absolute perfect finale that conceptually and thematically captures everything I love about Symphogear, with its most striking animation to date.
Disappointment of the Season: To The Abandoned Sacred Beasts
 
Alright, here we go. Definitely best season of the year so far. A couple of categories were really hard to choose and the order of the 1 cour shows was difficult as I liked each of the 6 8s in different ways.

Before the awards here is what I watched:

2 cour series finishing (in order)
Fruits Basket (2019) 9
Demon Slayer 8
YU-NO 7

2 cour continuing (in order)
Vinland Saga 9*
Dr. Stone 8*
Fire Force 7*
I'll talk more about Vinland Saga in the awards. Dr. Stone started of on the wrong foot even though the story was interesting other aspects dragged it down, but those were jettisoned and it improved. Fire Force also has interesting ideas, but implementation has been poor and pace seems off.

Short
Hakata Mentai! Pirikarako-chan 5

1 Cour Series Ranking:
  1. Wasteful Days of High School Girls 8
  2. Astra Lost in Space 8
  3. How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? 8
  4. GRANBELM 8
  5. O Maidens in Your Savage Season 8
  6. given 8
  7. Cop Craft 7
  8. The Demon Girl Next Door 7
  9. Are You Lost? 7
  10. BEM 7
  11. Lord El-Melloi II 6
  12. Kochoki 6
  13. Hensuki 6
  14. Magical Sempai 6
  15. If It's for My Daughter... 6
  16. To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts 5

Seasonal Awards
Music
OST - Dr. Stone
My favourite just for the use of the bagpipes (or which ever instrument in the same family they used). Demon Slayer continued to be great as well, but already took this award last season.

OP Song - Wa! Moon! Dass! Cry! by Nozomu Tanaka (Chinatsu Akasaki), Akane Kikuchi (Haruka Tomatsu), Shiori Saginomiya (Aki Toyosaki)
Easily the toughest scrap for best OP Song since I started with these awards. Nearly every show had a good to great track whether it be rock tunes like Vinland Saga, Fire Force and Dr. Stone, jazzy tunes like Cop Craft and BEM, J-popy stuff like O Maidens and catchy earworms Magical Sempai, Are You Lost?, Dumbbells and the winner Wasteful Days of High School Girls.

ED Song - Torches by Aimer
Also pretty tough with again most having good tunes. Stand outs are from Fruits Basket, Wasteful Days, GRANBELM, O Maidens, Cop Craft, BEM and Lord El-Melloi II. But the run away is Torches from Aimer which has been on rotation since it came out on Spotify!

Production
OP Sequence - Vinland Saga
Another pretty tough category to decide on especially between the winner and Wasteful Days, but though WDs OP is an excellent intro to the characters and the antics to come VS just gets you pumped with some excellent animation of the action. Other stand outs include Are You Lost? with the dance routine, Cop Craft goes excellently with the track and Magical Sempai is well animated.

ED Sequence - Fruits Basket (2019)
Just love the way the zodiac animals are represented and the artwork in general. Vinland Saga is great too and Cop Craft has some good parts.

Writing - Vinland Saga
If you adapt an already awesome source material well you're on to a winner. Even the anime original parts blended in well.
Shout out to an anime original plot that was pretty good in GRANBELM.

Episode - given episode 9 - A Winter Story
The performance from the group with Mafuyu's lyrics was moving, even if I didn't understand them.
Shout out to Demon Slayer ep 19, of course, pure Sakuga porn and a moving story. Also ep 22 of Fruits Basket, although I think it had more to do with the fact it was focused on my favourite character.

Animation - Demon Slayer
I said earlier I wasn't going to give the same award to the same show again, but you really can't look past ufotable's work. Shout out to Vinland Saga and Fire Force.

Character Design - Dr. Stone
You really wouldn't mistake these designs for any others, even in silhouette, which is a sign of good design. The ladies seem to have a bit of a retro look to them.

Characters
Best New Girl - Nozomu Tanaka (aka Baka) Wasteful Days of High School Girls
Another hotly contested category. In the running where Bakas fellow MCs Robo and Wota, Kohaku from Dr. Stone, the Dumbbell girls especially Hibiki, Rika Sonezaki from O Maidens and Tilarna from Cop Craft. But you've got to love a Chaotic Good character like Baka.

Best New Boy - Kei Matoba from Cop Craft
A tough no nonsense detective with a soft side. Others in the running were Kanata from Astra and Askeladd from Vinland Saga (although he's new to anime he isn't new to me, so I thought I'd go with another character)

VA - Naoya Uchida (Askeladd from Vinland Saga)
To skirt the problem above I'll use this award for Askeladd, especially as he's been portrayed pretty much the same way I read him in the manga (although obviously would sound a bit more authentic if/when dubbed hopefully with a Scandinavian accent).
Uchida-san has been doing anime for a while, but apart from a few notable roles (Cobra (Space Cobra), Light's dad (Death Note) and Oda Nobunaga (Drifters)) has mostly played bit parts. Randomly I've actually seen all those characters, but all dubbed though!
Also shout out to Ai Fairouz as Hibiki from Dumbbells in her first gig. As you can tell from her name she has an interesting family history as she's half Egyptian!

ANIME
Vinland Saga
It maybe only be halfway through (didn't stop me last season, but that was relatively poor in comparison), but the adaptation has been great so far and I can't see it dipping. Probably a little bit of bias as it's historical fiction, which is right up my alley, and I've read the manga.
 
I've only watched one show from this season, so by default it's my best and worst. That one being no other than Symphogear XV. I absolutely loved it and it managed to bring the story to a satisfying close. After watching AXZ I was a bit disappointed that the story wasn't split between the final two seasons, and the setup for the final season was meager at best. But XV managed to be its own thing while still tying into stuff from previous seasons. The animation was clearly the best out of all the seasons. Story-wise there were some iffy things and XV, along with AXZ, seemed to retrofit a lot of the events from the first three seasons (seemingly just as fan-service). Normally I quite dislike that, but it was done with so many elements and so consistently that at one point it felt that it had to be premeditated from the beginning (though on a rewatch you'll probably notice discrepancies). There's plenty of things I think could've been better (problems in the story, pacing, usage of songs compared to prior seasons, themes, etc...), but in the end those points are easily forgiven thanks to the awesome moments and that ending. I think the not too stellar subtitle job Crunchyroll did was actually the most detracting.
 
Excellent
Vinland Saga
O Maidens in Your Savage Season
Fruits Basket

Great
How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift?
Astra Lost in Space
Lord El-Melloi II
Fire Force
Demon Slayer

Okay
Is it Wrong to Pick up Girls in a Dungeon? II
Are you Lost?
A Certain Scientific Accelerator
Yami Shibai 7

Meh
To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts
Black Clover
YU-NO
Do You Love Your Mom...

Dropped
Dr. Stone
 
For this season I have watched the following:​

#1: Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest Season 1
#2: Astra Lost in Space
#3: Cannon Busters
#4: Cop Craft
#5: Demon Lord, Retry?
#6: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (2nd Half)
#7: Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks?
#8: Dr. STONE (1st Half)
#9: Fruits Basket 1st Season (2nd Half)
#10: Given
#11: Hensuki: Are you willing to fall in love with a pervert, as long as she's a cutie?
#12: How heavy are the dumbbells you lift?
#13: If It’s for My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord
#14: Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? II
#15: Isekai Cheat Magician
#16: Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac
#17: To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts
#18: Vinland Saga (1st Half)
#19: YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of This World (2nd Half)

Best Anime of the Season:

Astra Lost in Space
There were some pretty good anime shows throughout the Summer but the one show I watched that I felt was an almost perfect series is the anime adaptation for Astra Lost in Space, a sci-fi comedy series that is not only complete but is really good all the way through with a lot of tension and questions that received answers bit by bit. The only drawback was the presentation in terms of the aspect ratio is not perfect but it works in various shots throughout the series. Outside of that though, the series gets a 9/10.
​
Honourable mentions for AOTS is the second half of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, the first half of Dr. STONE, Given, How heavy are the dumbbells you lift?, and the first half of Vinland Saga.

Favourite Opening Song:

"Mukanjyo" by Survive Said the Prophet from Vinland Saga
There were quite a few solid songs that I often replay on Spotify, but the one that I really enjoyed the most was Survive Said the Prophet's Mukanjyo because of the build-up to the chorus and how it plays out in the end. It works really well to the Vinland Saga visuals in the opening as well.
​
Honourable mentions for my favourite opening songs include "FLARE" by Void_Chords feat.LIO from Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest, "Good Morning World!" by BURNOUT SYNDROMES from Dr. STONE, "Kizuato (キヅアト)" by Centimilimental from Given (this was VERY close to being the best choice), "Onegai Muscle (お願いマッスル)" by Hibiki Sakura (Ai Fairuz) & Naruzou Machio (Kaito Ishikawa) from How heavy are the dumbbells you lift?, "PANTA RHEI" by MYTH & ROID from Isekai Cheat Magician, "PEGASUS SEIYA" by The Struts from Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiacs and "MOTHER" by Konomi Suzuki from YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of This World.

Favourite Closing Song:

"Torches" by Aimer from Vinland Saga
So I initially wrote this section as 'there wasn't anything memorable about the ending songs this season' but upon reflection, there were, in fact, some good choices throughout each title but there was only one that stood to me in terms of replayability and that was Aimer's Torches. Torches is more of a sad song when I think about it but the chorus is really nice and it works well for Vinland Saga's story.

Honourable mentions though they aren't that close to the top spot but may as well be worth mentioning include "Connected" by Tilarna Exedilika (Mayu Yoshioka) from Cop Craft, "One Step Closer" by INTERSECTION from Fruits Basket 1st Season, "Marutsuke (まるつけ)" by Given's Mafuyu Satou (Shougo Yano) from Given, "Macho a Name? (マッチョアネーム？)" by Naruzou Machio (Kaito Ishikawa) from How heavy are the dumbbells you lift? and "Kami no Suushiki (神の数式)" by Asaka from YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of This World.

Best Animation:

Given
Now you're probably wondering why I didn't mention Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba for this slot considering that one episode which went viral on the set. Well, I already mentioned it for Spring so it gets disqualified here ha ha ha. I did consider Vinland Saga for this choice but I felt the CG was not polished enough so upon further reflection on the shows I watched throughout the season I decided to go with Given. Given's animation is simple but consistent and the work done during the opening/closing sequences and the actual music performances were really solid and well-done. Not the best thing mind you but enough to be in good quality. I do like the character designs as well and the comedic moments are drawn well.​

Honourable mentions include Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest for being so god ******* awful it makes me cry, Astra Lost in Space, Dr. STONE, How heavy are the dumbbells you lift?, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? II and Vinland Saga.

Best Music:

Given
When I look back at the summer season, there is one piece of music that I often replay constantly. That piece of music is a song that was shown during an episode of Given, for spoiler reasons I won't mention it but it is so impactful that I wanted to keep listening to it and the band's music constantly. Given, like Kono Oto Tomare in the last season, has the advantage of having music being one of the core aspects of the anime in terms of performances. Given's music is really good and is a nice change of pace from the usual epic soundtracks we get from time to time. I mean I still liked Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba's music but I felt choosing that over Given would be unfair and predictable.

Best Waifu:​

(Disclaimer: These are my preferences and you can take your criticisms elsewhere)

Everyone listed below is a winner.

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Shinobu Kochou, from Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. Mitsuri Kanroji would have taken the best girl slot for the show if she had more screen-time so for now she's an honourable mention.

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Medhi, from Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks?. I bet you thought I would mention Mamako now didn't you? That would very awkward if you think about it (she's still an honourable mention tho).

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Sayuki Tokihara, from Hensuki: Are you willing to fall in love with a pervert, as long as she's a cutie?

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Hibiki Sakura, from How heavy are the dumbbells you lift?. Honourable mentions from the series are Akemi Souryuuin, Ayaka Uehara, Gina Boyd, and Satomi Tachibana.

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Haruhime Sanjouno, from Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? II. Honourable mentions from the series are Ais Wallenstein and Ryu Lion.
 
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