Summer 2014 marks the second anniversary of the Glorio Blog (hooray for us), and we’ve got some heavy hitters kicking off our ninth season of anime coverage. I almost can’t believe my eyes, but the long delayed Sailor Moon Crystal is finally happening and looks to revive an all time classic for a new generation. That’s one of the few things that could headline over the return of Sword Art Online, which is certainly an all time… something, and most of the Glorio crew is excited to check out the latest anime original somewhat related to Gen Urobuchi, Aldnoah.Zero. Throw in an increasing number of series full of pretty anime boys and it should be an exciting Summer! So check out some trailers, see who’s watching what, and let us know what looks good to you lovely people out there. See you around for Part 2!
[Heads up! You can now catch Part 2 of the guide right here.]
Bakumatsu Rock
| Game Adaptation by Studio DEEN Air Date: 7/2/2014 GLORIO Coverage: Jel |
Celebrate the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate with a cast of colorful pretty boys that fight oppression with the power of ROCK! Despite the dubious reputation of otome game adaptations and the incredibly dull “rock” music in the trailer, Bakumatsu Rock‘s premise is so silly it might actually be fun. I’m not getting my hopes up too high, but this could be an amusing way to kick off the season. |
Free! -Eternal Summer-
| Light Novel Adaptation by Kyoto Animation Air Date: 7/2/2014 GLORIO Coverage: Aquagaze |
It’s funny to look back to a year ago, when the first season of Free! grabbed everyone’s attention and kicked off a wave of cringeworthy whining and unnecessary debate with its gaggle of pretty anime boys. Now we see increasingly bigger chunks of every season devoted to ogling the masculine form. Free!, however, was at the top of the heap with it’s gorgeous animation and competently told story, and all signs indicate it should stay there. |
Glasslip
| Anime Original by P.A. Works Air Date: 7/3/2014 GLORIO Coverage: Jel |
A girl with big dreams living in a sleepy sea side town washed in pastels and music by nano.ripe… so Glasslip is pretty much every original P.A. Works (Hanasaku Iroha, Tari Tari) show ever? In their latest outing our heroine wants to be glass artisan, which frankly does not alleviate my fears that this will be sweet but dreadfully boring. The trailer features a distinct lack of, well, anything, aside from talking heads, so Glasslip had better have a great story to back up its atmosphere. |
Tokyo Ghoul
| Manga Adaptation by Studio Pierrot Air Date: 7/3/2014 GLORIO Coverage: Euricaeris |
In a world in which flesh eating ghouls are a thing, our hero somehow becomes the first half-human/half-ghoul hybrid, and I’m assuming all sorts of violent and DAAARRRRRRK things happen as a result. I don’t know if the story is going to be all that important though, as the trailer is packed with some pretty solid looking action. I think I am OK with that, especially since the cast skews a little older and I like the aesthetics of it all. |
The Silver Will of Argevollen
Shirogane no Ishi Argevollen
| Anime Original by Xebec Air Date: 7/3/2014 GLORIO Coverage: Gee |
Nothing in this trailer indicates Argevollen will be any different from the myriads of mecha shows that have come before it, but I’m sure at least one of us – yes, you Gee – will appreciate the boxy mech designs that use real bullets… well, until they are inevitably wrecked by the cool sleek white robot at the end. Not much more is known about the story at this point, so maybe they’ve got some crazy Valvrave-esque twist(s) hiding in there? I doubt it, but it’s worth a look. |
Locodol
Futsuu no Joshikousei ga Locodol Yattemita
| 4-Panel Manga Adaptation by feel. Air Date: 7/3/2014 GLORIO Coverage: Jel |
Locodol is a comedy about ordinary high school girls attempting to be local idols (hence “Locodol”, HA!), which is almost exactly what the full title translates to, in case you’re too lazy to look it up. The trailer looks more like a girls’ club comedy than an idol show and doesn’t do much to impress or distinguish itself, but I suppose I’m always game for some good comedy if they can pull it off. |
Sailor Moon Crystal
| Manga Adaptation by Toei Animation Air Date: 7/5/2014 GLORIO Coverage: Zigg |
Considering the original series helped define the word “anime” for most of the planet outside Japan, there’s not much I need to say to introduce Sailor Moon. The long delayed reboot is finally here, and I have to say I’m a little cautious. The new art style is a little off-putting, but maybe that’s just because the original is so iconic. It will also be interesting to see how closely they adapt the story and how it holds up 20 years later. Will it turn out as well as other recent revivals like JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and Yamato 2199? Hard to say, but we’ll find out soon enough. |
Sword Art Online II
| Light Novel Adaptation by A-1 Pictures Air Date: 7/5/2014 GLORIO Coverage: Jel |
The tremendously popular series that almost tore the Glorio Blog apart is back as |
Barakamon
| Manga Adaptation by Kinema Citrus Air Date: 7/5/2014 GLORIO Coverage: Marlin |
Getting some great, laid back comedy vibes from this trailer. The plot involves an actual adult man who moves out to the islands and a bunch of kids start hanging out at his house. The mix of culture shock and precocious children sounds like the perfect setup for some good Slice of Life to relax with, so it might be worth checking out. |
Aldnoah.Zero
| Anime Original by A-1 Pictures Air Date: 7/5/2014 GLORIO Coverage: Gee |
Original Creator: Gen Urobuchi (Fate/Zero). Animation Studio: A-1 Pictures (Sword Art Online). Music: Hiroyuki Sawano (Kill la Kill). Those names should at least guarantee an interesting story along with great visuals and music. Other than that though, not much is known about this original project. The trailer seems to indicate a grand scale, moody mecha piece with the potential for some political intrigue. This series is a total wild card but it has the pedigree to be great, hopefully it can live up to the potential. |
Survival Game Club!
Sabagebu!
| Manga Adaptation by Studio Pierrot Air Date: 7/6/2014 GLORIO Coverage: Gee |
If anyone out there was thinking we need more anime about cute girls shooting airsoft guns at each other A. you should go watch this and B. I guess a new show with that very concept is happening? I’d like to be fair and judge it by it’s own merit, but the comparison to C3-bu is tough to ignore. The trailer looks pretty silly, especially once the platypus jumps in the action. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, so maybe it will be fun in its own way. |
Akame Kills!
Akame ga Kill!
| Manga Adaptation by White Fox Air Date: 7/6/2014 GLORIO Coverage: Lifesong |
A boy is recruited by a team of assassins to fight an evil empire. From what I’ve heard the manga is pretty dark and violent, but the colorful designs in the teaser trailer make me wonder just how dark and violent we’re talking. At the very least it could be one of several shows this season to deliver some sweet action scenes, we’ll have to see if pans out to be any more than that. |
Monthly Girl’s Nozaki-kun
Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun
| Manga Adaptation by Dogakobo Air Date: 7/6/2014 GLORIO Coverage: Jel |
Evolving from the gag antics Yuru Yuri a few years ago to their recent attempt at drama with Engaged to the Unidentified, Dogakobo has been slowly demanding that we take them seriously. In their latest choice of adaptation, our heroine falls in love with the title character who just happens to be a shoujo manga artist. She tries to confess but accidentally becomes his assistant in the process, no doubt leading to all kinds of hilarious romantic misunderstandings. I’m always wary of “art about artists” stories as they tend to get self indulgent, but assuming they stay focused on the relationship of the main characters this could be good. |
DRAMAtical Murder
| Game Adaptation by NAZ Air Date: 7/6/2014 GLORIO Coverage: Jel |
This certainly is a good season for pretty anime dudes. In this case, our main man Aoba is living a peaceful life working in a junk shop on some remote island when he is sucked into a virtual world full of… killer bunnies? I have no clue what’s going on but I do love the art style and unique looking character designs in the trailer. Of all the Pretty Dude Anime I’m watching this season, this might have the best chance to win me over. |
The Glorio Blog 
I am SO PUMPED UP for all the bishoune- er, I mean, great anime that will be airing this summer. (Seriously though, I don’t think I’ve seen quite this many pretty boys in one season before – and given how many female harems and loli-fetish anime there usually are instead, I’m pretty excited.) I genuinely enjoyed Free! for the absolutely stunning animation and execution of story last time around, Bakamatsu Rock looks just silly enough to be hilarious, and DRAMAtical Murder… well, you never know, right? Plus, Sailor Moon Crystal (finally!), the second season of Sword Art Online (even if I’m one of the few bloggers I know who actually likes it), and some brand new Gen Urobuchi goodness. Looks like my next 3 months are set.
I’m all for equal opportunity beautiful people, so even though I’ve yet to get into any of these pretty boy shows I’m glad to see things balancing out.
As far as SAO I think it’s more of a very vocal minority that hates it than anything. I wasn’t a huge fan of the show myself but I’ll be trying to take a balanced approach when I write about the second season, I’ll be interested to hear what you think.
Personally, I don’t think the first season of SAO was particularly good. For all that I quite liked both the artwork and the soundtrack, the writing was pretty damn terrible. However, that didn’t stop me from enjoying it anyway – and not in an ironic or sarcastic way, either; I genuinely had a lot of fun watching the whole thing and am very much looking forward to season two.
Great, gonna be definitely watching more shows this season.
Tokyo Ghoul
SAO II (second half of the first season wasn’t nearly as bad as people say, it’s just a really weak follow up. GGO easily my favorite storyline though, also cause Sinon)
Akame ga Kill
Aldnoah Zero cause Urobutcher
along with other shows not mntioned here like
Rail WARS, Prisma☆Illya 2wei! Space Dandy 2, P4 Golden and Hanamonogatari
We’ll actually be getting to those in part 2 of the guide, which will be up soon
ah ok, and I totally didn’t miss that part 1 in the title <.<;;;
“The real question will be whether the new story will lean towards the innocent nerd escapism of the original…”
Innocent nerd escapism? Ahahahaha, you’re pulling my leg here, Jel.
I have a few in my “Plan to Watch” list but don’t know if I should watch. Terror in Resonance, Invaders of the Rokujyoma!?, KanColle, and Jinsei.
I’ve been waiting for Barakamon for so long! I’m so very excited for this! Xp
Bakumatsu Rock is a otome…?
From what I understand its a music game with novel elements, pretty sure it’s the same audience at least
Barakamon comes highly recommended, so I’m looking forward to it. I’m looking forward to Sailor Moon… with trepidation. I adore the Tokyo Ghoul manga, so I’m hoping its adaptation will do it justice (There’s actually a story underneath all the gore-filled action and human eating!).
I’m reminded that last Summer, I said, “I guess I’ll need to watch Free before season 2 comes along next summer”. Guess what didn’t happen? I haven’t had a good “pretty boy” anime in a looooong time, guess it’s time I… dive in?
*feels bad about that pun*