Welcome to the Summer 2012 Anime Preview from Anivision. With so many Spring shows coming to an end, we all as anime fans need to refill our palette with new series, seemingly regardless of overall quality. Summer has 26 new shows debuting with lots of plots and backstories and surely (I mean hopefully) plenty of beach episodes. So read on, hope you enjoy our early thoughts and let us know which anime series you are looking forward to the most!

– The Anivision Crew

Kingdom
06.11.2012
Action, Aventure, Historical

studio pierrot & sougou vision

#Synopsis
In the Warring States Period of ancient China (475-221 BCE), Shin and Hyou are war-orphans in the kingdom of Qin. They dream of one day proving themselves on the battlefield. One day, however, Hyou is taken to the palace by a minister. Winding up on the losing side of a power-struggle, Hyou manages to return to the village, barely alive. Shin then meets a boy who closely resembles Hyou, Ei Sei. For now he is the king of Qin; later he will become the emperor Shi Huangdi.


steev
#Thoughts
The first 3 episodes are out already and I went ahead and saw the first two, which was a 50 minute broadcast. The first thing I noticed was the CG that was used in the character animations. It was just so awful that I found it hard to watch. It was like watching a video game. That is when I did a bit of research and found out this anime is actually based off of a PSP game. The awful CG use was to make it retain that video game feeling. It is kind of sad that it did that too because the first episode was actually good. I liked the characters and it was intense enough to make me think that it could get even better as time went on. I just can’t get pass those graphics though. Even the action looked wonky because of it. It is too bad that they decided to animate it that way. I know I won’t be watching anymore of it.

#PersonOfInterest
The main characters are voiced by Jun Fukuyama and Masakazu Morita, two veteran voice actors. That was one reason why I enjoyed the episode so much.

Sword Art Online
06.24.2012
Action, Aventure, Fantasy

a-1 pictures

#Synopsis
Trapped and fighting for their very lives in a Virtual Reality MMORPG, Aincrad Online, the story explores the mishaps and adventures of the greatest one handed swordsman of the VR world, Kirito. Together with his friends, the solo swordsman strives to finish the game, which in turn will release all the minds trapped into Aincrad.


steev
#Thoughts
I became aware of this series due to Nodoka talking about it on the blog, but after I looked into it, I actually got a little bit excited about the upcoming anime. Reading the synopsis I do get a .Hack// vibe from it, but I think the series lookst a bit more interesting than that. Mainly because there is a deeper mystery than just a suicidal girl not capable of loging out. Also it is being produced by A-1 Pictures, which has proven to me as of late that they know how to make an anime. You can expect the quality to be off the charts.

Another thing about this anime is that it might end up making me not want to watch Hagure. Honestly, it is hard for me to get into Fantasy series and having two based on light novels might make me drop Hagure. Plus this just seems like the better series.

#PersonOfInterest
Kawahara Reki is the person this time around to be of note. Why? If you are a fan of Accel World, there is something about this series you might not know. This series is by the same author and it is based in the same world. Personally, I just couldn’t get behind Accel World. The plot and the reality just didn’t do it for me, this anime however looks far more interesting.

Rinne no Lagrange 2
07.01.2012
Action, Sci-Fi, Mecha

xebec

#Synopsis
From Season 1: Madoka is the lone member of her school’s Jersey Club. She is one day recruited by a mysterious girl named Lan to pilot the robot “Vox” and protect her city from space invaders. They are joined by a third girl, Muginami, who has a different goal than Ran. Meanwhile, they still don’t know their enemies’ true goal, or what “Rinne” might be.


jrow
#Thoughts
Throughout season 1, I discovered that RnL is quite a polarizing anime to a certain extent. You can kind of hear both sides of this on Episode 120 of our podcast where steev and Amuro couldn’t see eye-to-eye overall. I side more with Amuro’s perspective as I was drinking the Vox’s Kool-Aid. Madoka, breath of fresh air; I really enjoyed her character as she was my Winter favorite, in a season of really great female leads no less. The show laid the foundation down in small bits to slowly world-build heading towards this season, had a decent cast of characters (though Madoka is the lifeblood of that series) and Xebec/I.G. did a remarkable job with animating the mecha action. For those that aren’t quite sold as the series being a really good one, this is money time for the series to take action and address the dramatic side of the story while trying to balance the humor in the early onset of Season 2.

#PersonOfInterest
Saeko Suzuki and TOMISIRO. I think one thing we haven’t really discussed much about Lagrange is that the OST is really good. Vol. 1 is already out now for listening consumption including a great track simply called ○.

La storia della Arcana Famiglia
07.01.2012
Romance, Action, Drama

j.c. staff

#Synopsis
The story takes place on the small island of Regalo in the Mediterranean Sea. The island has been protected by a vigilante committee called “Arcana Famiglia”. The members of the family have psychic powers gained by a secret ritual. Felicita is a 16-year-old girl who was raised by her strict mother. She visits Regalo to see her father who is the head of Arcana Famiglia. He tells her to become the leader of “Serie of Sword”, the arbitrator section of the family. As one of the members of Arcana Famiglia, Felicita interacts with other handsome but eccentric members.


steev
#Thoughts
This anime is based off a dating sim… Yea, so I can’t say that I am too excited about this anime. When I saw the images from the series I got excited thinking that it would be more action orented and maybe have a Baccano feeling to it, but I don’t think it will be that way at all. It still looks vaguely interesting, but it will only be good if the characters are good as well.

JC Staff is making the anime, which means it has a 50/50 shot of being crap. I don’t hate JC Staff, it is just that some of their series just don’t turn out well.

#PersonOfInterest
The best part about this anime is that it will star Jun Fukuyama, who is in my top 10 favorite voice actors. He always brings 100% to his rolls so I am excited to see how he handles this one. A side note is that Tomukazu Sugita also has a role in this anime and he is my favorite voice actor, so that is pretty dope as well.

Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita
07.01.2012
Fantasy, Comedy, Drama

aic a.s.t.a

#Synopsis
The story is set several centuries into the slow decline of mankind. Earth has now become the realm of “fairies” — 10-centimeter-tall creatures with remarkable intelligence and an appetite for sweets. The human protagonist of the story serves an important duty as the international arbitrator between the fairies and humans, and she returns to her former hometown of Kusunoki. She chose this job because she thought it was an easy job she can do, even when she is as old as her grandfather. However, she learns that her job is anything but simple when she meets the fairies.


steev
#Thoughts
When I read the first part of the description, I got a little excited about this anime, then I read on and all my enthusiasm was drained. I think I was expecting more of a hardcore fantasy story, but it looks like nothing more than a slow paced show about a girl doing a job. Nothing more than the bread show from last season. An epic setting filled with normality.

What ends up getting me in the anime is the slow pace of the story. After all, it is just about a girl babby sitting a bunch of mischievous fairies. These kinds of shows never keep my attention for long and even if I somewhat like the first episode, the probability that I will finish the anime is pretty low.

Fun Fact: This is also an anime based on a series of fantasy light novels.

#PersonOfInterest
Interesting enough, this series is directed by Seiji Kishi, who has directed a lot of good anime. In fact, almost all of his series I’ve seen and enjoyed..

Tari Tari
07.01.2012
Drama, Slice of Life, Romance

p.a. works

#Synopsis
The story centers around five Japanese high school students who are too young to be called adults, but who no longer think of themselves as children. Sakai Wakana once took music lessons, but she withdrew from music after losing her mother. Miyamoto Konatsu is a positive-thinking girl who loves singing and spends time after school at the vocal music club. Okita Sawa is a spirited archery club member who dreams of becoming a horse rider. Tanaka Taichi is a chronically late badminton team member who lives with his college student sister. Wien just transfered into Wakana’s class after 12 years abroad in Australia. Music brings Wakana, Konatsu, Sawa and the others together into an ensemble during their last summer in high school.


steev
#Thoughts
To be honest, I am not excited about this anime, but I am interested in it. I don’t think it will be the best anime of the summer or anything, but it looks like a solid slice of life anime that will be enjoyable to watch. I just hope that it doesn’t drag on and get boring around the middle of the series. A lot of these kinds of slice of life anime tend to do that.

It is being produced by PA Works, which has produced some great anime as of late. Most notably Hanasaku Iroha, which was a fun anime. The trailer really didn’t show off anything, but I get the feeling that if you like Hanasaku then you will like this one as well.

#PersonOfInterest
I think one reason why I have a lack of excitement is the fact there really isn’t anyone working on this anime that has done anything interesting. Even the director hasn’t done anything note worthy.

Yuri Yuri 2
07.022012
Comedy, Slice of Life, Parody

doga kobo

#Synopsis
From season 1: Right after starting middle school, Akari Akaza joins the Amusement Club which is composed solely by her two childhood friends, Kyouko Toshinou and Yui Funami. Chinatsu Yoshikawa, Akaza’s classmate, becomes a member after finding out about the dissolution of the Tea Club. The Amusement Club, situated at the tea room facility since the Tea Club disbanded, has no clear purpose, being free for the girls to do whatever they want.


amuro
#Thoughts
As lame as I thought the show was, it was still one that I ended up watching to the end. There were some good running gags in the show, and it’ll be fun to see Kyouko and the rest find new ways to ignore/forget…er, shoot. What was her name again? Eh, it’s really not important.

#PersonOfInterest
Yuka Ootsubo – It’s hard to pick out a person of interest when most of the voice actors in the show are newcomers to the scene. However, Yuka stands out because Kyouko is one of her only two roles, the other being a supporting character in Nyaruko-san. She’s young at only 19, and while she’s new, I did like her as Kyouko so hopefully we’ll be seeing more of this up and comer.