Summer 2020 Anime Staff Viewer’s Guide

2020 continues its depressive onslaught but, as we all stay inside, there is a silver lining; new anime has arrived! While some series have been delayed, shows that were previously delayed, such as Millionaire Detective and Re: Zero Season 2, are now airing. There are also a few new gems premiering as well like Deca-Dence and Great Pretender. Here is Goombastomp’s curated list for this summer’s anime.

The Millionaire Detective: Balance Unlimited

Studio: CloverWorks
Director: Tomohiko Itō
Main Voice Actor(s): Yūsuke Ōnuki (Daisuke), Mamoru Miyano (Haru), Kōzō Shioya (Yukihiro)

Millionaire Detective starts by establishing a rather generic set up of law enforcement hierarchy, particularly with a focus on detectives and public safety. Protagonist Haru Katou initially follows the formula of a renegade detective who’s been pulled down the ranks. This starts things off slow, but fortunately, the show builds up enough context so it can quickly get to the main attraction: the millionaire detective himself.

Once our millionaire detective, Daisuke Kanbe, comes on the scene, the show rapidly picks up pace. We’re thrown into an epic car chase that converges on a bomb threat. Then two bumbling amateur robbers give Kanabe the chance to show off his over-the-top, but very effective methods. Essentially, he uses high-tech to flaunt his “balance unlimited” cash reserves.

Most importantly, the events set us up for the start of the rivalry between Kanbe and Katou, contrasted by their very different methods for upholding the law. The main challenge for this show going forward will be further developing the relationship between the two detectives, and particularly developing Katou, who for now is merely a foil to Kanbe and a rather flat character on his own. The show has much promise, however. The millionaire detective is impossibly charismatic and steals every scene he’s in, and the anime is tied together by tropes from classic spy movies, a killer soundtrack, and enough high-tech antics to contrast and make this world unique.

If the show can keep doing what’s it’s doing, while rounding out co-protagonist Katou, it will be well worth the ride. (By Katharine Booth)

Rating: Recommended

Watch on Funimation

The God of High School

There’s something to be said for simplicity in storytelling, but there’s not a whole lot to say about The God of High School. Watching it almost feels like you’re watching a parody of shounen series.

Based of the South Korean manwha of the same name, God of High School follows teenager Jin Mori, the plucky protagonist who just loves fighting strong people. He may not be the most clever person, but what he lacks in smarts he makes up for with surprising strength and an unbreakable willpower. Like every other shounen protagonist in the last thirty years.

God of High School eschews any kind of meaningful context for its story. The premise is that Jin was invited to take part in a martial arts tournament in which the victor would be crowned God of High School and have any wish granted. It’s such a painfully basic setup that’s made worse by how everything else is done by the numbers. With fight scenes full of characters shouting their names as they fly wildly through the air, cocky combatants who underestimate Jin, and copious amounts of fanservice, God of High School feels like shounen genre fanfiction.

Though the fight choreography is genuinely well done, it’s not enough to save this dud of a show. (By Kyle Rogacion)

Rating: Not Recommended

Watch on Crunchyroll

Diary of Our Days at the Breakwater

Studio: Doga Kobo
Director: Takaharu Ookuma
Main Voice Actor(s): Kanon Takao (Hina), Yuu Sasahara (Yuuki), Satomi Akesaka (Makoto), Natsumi Kawaida (Natsumi)

Doga Kobo specializes in creating warm, lighthearted shows full of cute girls, and that ability hasn’t waned an inch with Diary of Our Days at the Breakwater. Much like last summer’s How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift?, Breakwater hones in on an activity—this time, fishing—and almost acts as an instructional guide for the viewer.

Everything begins when Hina Tsurugi starts her first year of high school after her family moves to a seaside town she grew up visiting. After encountering the shifty upperclassman Yuuki on the pier one day, she finds herself thrust into visiting the Breakwater Club and reuniting with an old childhood friend. Thus begins her (and the viewer’s) journey into learning how to fish.

Breakwater is comfort food incarnate. The introduction of Hina to fishing is gradual and realistic; as someone who’s never fished before either, I squirmed right alongside her as she attempted to handle her first few catches. The explanations the other girls give are genuinely useful and surprisingly in-depth. Breakwater arguably does a better job of balancing education and lighthearted SoL beats than Dumbbells did. Whether you’re interested in fishing or just looking for a new CCDCT anime this season, this is an easy recommendation. (By Brent Middleton)

Rating: Recommended

Watch on Funimation

APPARE-RANMAN!

Studio: P.A. Works
Director: Masakazu Hashimoto
Main Voice Actor(s): Natuski Hanae (Appare), Seiichirou Yamashita (Hosame), Sora Amamiya
(Xiao Lian)

Two Japanese men end up in alternative industrial era Los Angeles after running away from their local feudal lord. Therefore, the logical next step is to enter a race that spans the entirety of continental America to win prize money to survive. Naturally.

APPARE-RANMAN! is the second series to come from P.A. Works that isn’t set in a current day location and they are certainly showing improvements over their first attempt, Fairy Gone. True to its moniker at the time, LA is a melting pot of cultures with characters coming from China, England, and even Native Americans in addition to our two Japanese protagonists, Appare and Hosame. They boast some of the most eye-catching designs seen in anime to-date, even if Appare really needs to wipe the ketchup off the corners of his mouth.

Appare is an inquisitive inventor always pursuing his personal curiosity much to the dismay of his companion Hosame. At times their disjointed dynamic is fun and humorous and at others Appare’s reckless abandon borders on annoying but fortunately the supporting cast is strong enough to carry through these moments with their own powerful personalities.

The advertised racing is a little harder to judge as there’s been very little of it at the time of writing. An early opening scene and another short distance duel imply Appare will be using wit more than technical prowess to overcome, but it’s probably safe to not expect another Redline from what we’ve seen so far. (By Matthew Ponthier)

Rating: Wait and see

Watch on Funimation

Deca-Dence

Studio: NUT
Director: Yuzuru Tachikawa
Main Voice Actor(s): Tomori Kusunoki (Natsume), Katsuyuki Konishi (Kaburgi)

Deca-Dence’s story focuses on developing two worlds at once, more specifically a world within a world. Jam-packed with content, the narrative expands its universe to an epic scale within a mere four episodes.

The first two episodes focus most on the inner-world, which is Deca-dence, a moving fortress housing humanity as they struggle to survive in a post-apocalyptic world both vibrant and gritty. This world-building comes through the eyes of protagonist Natsume, a young human girl who dreams of fighting alongside the human soldiers, Gears, against the monstrous Galdoll creatures.

The storyline is fascinating on its own, and could easily be the basis of a full anime. However, the story then takes a huge plot twist. While avoiding spoilers as much as possible, this shows viewers a second, outer world beyond the aforementioned fortress, seen through the eyes of Kaburagi, Natsume’s stern mentor-figure.

By the end of episode four, the stakes are set incredibly high, and the events to follow will certainly bring both of the two worlds in a direct clash. From here on out, the challenge for this show will be to keep building on these two worlds, maintaining balance, and avoiding overwhelming the viewer with information.

However, the anime has managed this well so far. This show is highly recommended for now—it’s a bit of a mind bender, and overwhelming, but is definitely worth a watch. (By Katharine Booth)

Rating: Highly Recommended

Watch on Hulu and Funimation

Fire Force Season 2

Studio: David Production
Director: Tatsuma Minamikawa
Main Voice Actor(s): Gakuto Kajiwara (Shinra), Kazuya Nakai (Obi), Yûsuke Kobayashi (Arthur), Saeko Kamijo (Maki), Mao Ichimichi (Iris)

Compelling, but crass, Fire Force continues to be a bundle of contradictions, providing a fascinating world brought down by genre tropes and degrading fan service.

Season 2 again follows Fire Force Company 8 as they chase after the dogmatic Evangelists who seek to bathe the world in fire. Just like the previous season, the show boasts not only peerless action, but genuine intrigue. The universe’s cosmology continues to be seen through the duality of fire: its creative warmth vs its burning destruction. It’s a brilliant alteration of the cliched light vs dark formula that often compliments the story and context. There’s a constant underlying question: is the good we fight for a construct or something real? When members of the fire force kill infernals — individuals driven inexplicably mad by the great flame — they are accompanied by nuns who pray for those who pass on. It brings divine purpose and compassion to the act rather than being mere violence.

In one particularly potent sequence, the company struggles to put infernals to rest not because they lack the means to kill but because there isn’t anyone present to bless the act. The ease with which they can kill brings the entire ritual into question and compliments the themes of the show. Unfortunately, the scene quickly shifts tone as a nun trips out of her clothes, so everyone can see her buxom body. It’s gross. The characters are demeaned and the audience is distracted from what really matters.

I want to give this show the highest recommendation but cannot. The world is inspired, the action breath-taking and the characters charming, but so much of the time it gets lost in shounen stereotypes that only serve to bolster a vapid power fantasy or ogle women. (By Nicholas Straub)

Rating: Recommended

Watch on Funimation and Crunchyroll

The Great Pretender

Studio: Wit Studio
Director: Hiro Kaburagi
Main Voice Actor(s) Chiaki Kobayashi (Makoto), Natsumi Fujiwara (Abigail), Mie Sonozali (Cynthia), Junichi Suwabe (Laurent)

The Great Pretender is one the most anticipated anime of the year as it comes from the revered Wit Studio: the studio behind Attack on Titan and Vinland Saga, only two of their many masterpieces. Unsurprisingly, The Great Pretender does not disappoint.

The story follows a group of con-artists as they dupe hapless plutocrats into giving up millions upon millions of dollars. At the center of the action is Makoto Edamura. Skilled but conflicted, Edamura fits many a stereotype as he struggles with the illicit implications of the con. Not only does he question the morality of deceit, he worries about the personal implications of a fraudulent identity. He comes away from the job feeling selfless, unsure of who he is as an individual. It’s a setup that’s been done countless times but that’s for a reason; it’s a hyperbole of our universal journey. The Great Pretender knows this and mines the well-tread territory beautifully with a fully-realized cast that plays brilliantly off one another.

Abigail, the most green in the group aside from Edamura, is drawn to duplicity as a self-destructive means to drown her sorrow while Cynthia finds validation in flawless execution with the con being both a comfort and addiction. They enable and repel one-another allowing for multidimensional interactions. This complexity carries over to the rest of the characters making the show delightful on multiple levels. The swindling pulls you in and the characters make you stay.

With confidence as brimming as its protagonists, The Great Pretender beguiles its way to the top and will undoubtedly go down as one of this year’s best and most enjoyable series. (By Nicholas Straub)

Rating: Highly Recommended

Watch on Netflix Japan. Premiering on global Netflix on August 20th.

Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World (Season Two)

Studio: White Fox
Director: Masaharu Watanabe
Main Voice Actor(s): Yūsuke Kobayashi (Subaru), Rie Takahashi (Emilia)

As a highly anticipated followup to one of the most successful shows in the past few years, Re:Zero’s second season hits the ground running.

Taking place directly after their gruesome battle with the White Whale, Subaru and company have an unfortunate run-in with Petelgeuse’s comrades, fellow Sin Archbishops of the Witch Cult. The encounter leaves them severely battered and bruised, made worse by how upon their return to Roswaal’s manor, both him and the villagers appear to be missing.

While season one of Re:Zero was plagued by poor pacing, its second season gets the ball rolling at a pleasantly quick pace. It establishes stakes, asks interesting questions, and further expands on world-building. But, perhaps most importantly, it gives Subaru the opportunity to explore new dimensions to his character. The initiative he takes is a welcome change from his constant crying and Emilia simping of the last season. Not to say that those aren’t still present (they are), but at least they’re not the primary aspect of his character.

If you’re already a fan of Re:Zero, then season two just makes the show even better. However, if you’re on the fence about it, at least check out the first three episodes to see if you think it’s worth sticking around for. (By Kyle Rogacion)

Watch on Crunchyroll

Rating: Recommended

Peter Grill and the Philosopher’s Time

Studio: Wolfsbane
Director: Tatsumi
Main Voice Actors: Hiro Shimono (Peter), Yui Ninomiya (Luvelia)

Alright, I’ll admit it. I decided to try this obscure title upon seeing the Viewer Discretion Advised sign on Crunchyroll. When done right, kinky anime can be delightful as exemplified by the unfairly derided Interspecies Reviewers. Peter Grill, however, lacks any of that show’s creativity, offering juvenile antics that make sex boring.

The series depicts the many sexual misadventures of the eponymous warrior, Peter Grill. At the start of the show Peter wins a tournament, becomes declared the nation’s greatest warrior, has his marriage proposal blessed by the head of his guild, and becomes the most desired man across the kingdom. Peter’s betrothed is, of course, sexually oblivious and believes storks bring babies to happy couples. Peter, excited to teach her otherwise, has trouble repressing his urges and ends up giving into the seduction and black-mail of many horny monster women. The series’ only self-awareness comes in the form of it’s bluntness. No sex is shown but the dialogue tries its darnedest to make up for it with uninspired conversations that replace wit with explicitness.

Peter Grill is derived drivel that can safely be ignored by everyone, even those positively inclined toward ecchi anime. (By Nicholas Straub)

Rating: Not Recommended

Watch on Crunchyroll

My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Climax

Studio: Feel
Director: Kei Oikawa
Main Voice Actor(s): Takuya Eguchi (Hachiman), Saori Hayami (Yukino), Nao Tōyama (Yui)

After an extended delay following its second season, My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU returns for its third and final season. The main trio of Hachiman Hikigaya, Yukino Yukinoshita, and Yui Yuigahama are back doing what they do best and helping fellow classmates with their requests for help. This time, however, the Service Club’s requests are coming from within the club itself. Having spent the past two seasons helping others, Hachiman, Yukino, and Yui need to figure out how to help out (and rely on) each other.

The final season of SNAFU finally dives into what the main characters want and how they can take steps towards getting it. All throughout the series, Hachiman and Yukino had resigned themselves to shouldering their burdens all on their own. However, with Yui’s help and their work through the Service Club, the two have begun to open up more and let people in.

SNAFU is an incredibly important show, as it abides by many slice-of-life harem romcom tropes while contextualizing them with excellent writing that manages to be thoughtfully mature and hilariously crude. At its core, the show is about the role that communication plays in our lives, both with ourselves and each other. This, of course, doesn’t come without pain. Yet SNAFU’s excellent writing and pacing ensures that the difficult road forward continues to be tempered by humor, empathy, and humanity. (By Kyle Rogacion)

Rating: Highly Recommended

Watch on Crunchyroll

Monster Girl Doctor

Studio: Arvo Animation
Director: Yoshiaki Iwasaki
Main Voice Actor(s): Saori Oonishi (Saphentite), Shunichi Toki (Glenn)

I went into Monster Girl Doctor, a title that needs no explanation, expecting the second coming of the highly notorious Interspecies Reviewers; a show with the thinnest veil of a plot to drape over monster girls in compromising positions. Let there be no mistake, there is some of that here — mainly in the first episode — but I was pleasantly surprised by 1) how little of that fan service there actually is and 2) how the plot and setting seem like much more than just a flippant afterthought.

There is legitimate world-building that happens in this show to lend credence to how monsters and humans live together as well as how monsters function the way they do. When the second episode actually had a compelling reason for how a mermaid could drown in normal seawater, I knew there was more to the series than it was letting on.

The patients Dr. Glenn treats aren’t just one-off characters either, so far returning in subsequent episodes and pushing an overarching plot that’s starting to take shape. Monster Girl Doctor is far from the episodic fan service fest I was expecting and it’s been a long time since I was last so pleasantly surprised by a series. The biggest complaint I have, in fact, is how it sticks to the usual monster girl types we’ve seen plenty of already like lamia, mermaids, centaurs, and the like. (By Matthew Ponthier)

Rating: Recommended

Watch on Crunchyroll

The Misfit of Demon King Academy

Studio: Silver Link.
Director: Shin Oonuma
Main Voice Actor(s): Tatsuhisa Suzuki (Anos), Tomori Kusunoki (Misha), Yuuko Natsuyoshi
(Sasha)

Ever dream of being able to kill someone with the reverberations of your heartbeat alone? Then boy do I have the show for you! The Misfit of Demon King Academy is a straight-collar power fantasy in all the best ways. It’s a show that is constantly trying to one-up itself and relishes in the absurdity it does so with.

The strongest demon king in history, Anos Voldigode, has been reincarnated 2000 years after his death. To prove his legitimacy he begins attending the Demon King Academy where everything thinks he’s a delusional nutcase. Not a problem, he’ll just have to prove to them over and over again that he’s the real deal.

The manner in which Anos will just nonchalantly spin a castle on his fingertip like an oversized basketball, or revive someone from the dead, or KILL SOMEONE WITH HIS HEARTBEAT all convey just how stupid overpowered he really is. Just when you think it can’t get any more ridiculous, Anos manages to take it even further into the deep end and that’s positively delightful to watch. Add Anos’s new overprotective parents to the batshit insane shenanigans, and you have a truly “laugh-out loud” worthy show that will constantly throw you for loops. (By Matthew Ponthier)

Rating: Highly recommended

Watch on Crunchyroll

Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out!

Studio: ENGI
Director: Kazuya Miura
Main Voice Actor(s): Naomi Oozora (Uzaki), Kenji Akabane (Sakurai)

It’s often been said that comedy is the toughest genre to write for. Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out proves this consistently despite having a premise ripe for high jinks. Sakurai is a classic loner college student; he doesn’t socialize around campus, dedicates his spare time to playing video games, and generally leads a listless—though happy—life. Uzaki, who’s a year younger than Sakurai and competed with him on their high school swim team, notices how antisocial he’s become in college and makes it her job to inject some excitement into his life.

Uzaki’s fun-loving, boisterious nature is entertaining and fits the vibe the show is going for at first, but it doesn’t take long before her incessant mocking of Sakurai and painfully drawn out fits of laughter start to grate. All the work that’s gone into making her endearing (being small, cute, enthusiastic, etc.) pales in comparison to how straight-up annoying she is.

That said, the rest of Uzaki-chan’s cast does fare a bit better—the meddling family running the coffee shop where Sakurai works provides some genuine chuckles—and there’s enough standard SOL fare here to satiate genre fans looking for some comfort food. Though it’s severely lacking as a comedy, if you’re starved for a cute lead with a side of awkward ecchi you could certainly do worse. (By Brent Middleton)

Rating: Indifferent

Watch on Funimation

Lapis Re:LiGHTS

Studio: Yokohama Animation Lab
Director: Hiroyuki Hata
Main Voice Actor(s): Yukari Anzai (Tiara), Risa Kubota (Rosetta), Saeki Iori (Ashley), Live
Mukai (Lavie), Mizuki Yamamoto (Lynette)

Never have I ping-ponged back and forth between being in and out of a show’s first episode more than Lapis Re:LiGHTS. Its opening long cut of passengers packed into a carriage chatting about everyday troubles was an oddly gripping attention grabber. The town our protagonist, Tiara, finds herself in at the end of her ride is vibrant and mesmerizing and does wonders to set the stage for this light fantasy setting.

But then she reaches the Witch Academy she’ll be attending and it feels no different that any other all-girls school you’d see in any other anime, right down to their overly frilly uniforms. Oh but wait, they cast magic by whistling, that’s actually really cool and novel! Oh but they gather magic from people through musical concerts… essentially they’re witch idols. It was at this point I was more or less out. Idol shows aren’t inherently bad — Zombieland Saga is an excellent example and I am guilty of liking Love Live Sunshine — but Lapis Re:LiGHTS is as cookie-cutter an idol show can get outside of its setting that has gone terribly underutilized in the episodes I have watched. For all intents and purposes, this is basically normal high school loosely set in a fantasy world. An easy pass except for the most passionate of idol genre fans. (By Matthew Ponthier)

Rating: Not recommended

Watch on Funimation

Gibiate

Studio: Studio Elle. L-a-unch Box
Director: Masahiko Komino
Main Voice Actor(s): Tetsuya Kakihara (Sensui Kanzaki), Hiroki Tōchi (Kenroku Sanada), Michio Hazama (Yukinojyo Onikura)

In its first episodes, Gibiate sets the stage of a futuristic societal apocalypse, constantly under threat after a virus known as Gibia creates humans-turned-monsters known as Gibias. Along with this already dense, promising plot, it also throws in two time-traveling samurai into the mix, who are pushed front-and-center into the main action of the show.

While these are interesting settings and premises on their own, the combination of past and future elements unfortunately fails to deliver with its bland, even unbelievable character interactions. Protagonist Kathleen is set up to have a brave and determined purpose to research and defeat the Gibias, as well as have deep internal turmoil because of her mother’s precarious mental and emotional state. However, Kathleen falls flat, exhibiting little to no emotion, even in the most tense encounters with the monsters.

Similarly, our two samurai characters, especially the would-be co-protagonist Tetsuya Kakihara, also come off as emotionally bland, exhibiting minimal surprise at their sudden travel centuries ahead from their own reality. While this might make a little more sense in terms of setting up a cool and collected samurai type, this gets to the main issue of the show thus far: emotional believability. Just as the samurai show little surprise at their drastically changed circumstances, Kathleen and nearly everyone else who meet the samurai and learn of their fate show next to no surprise at all, or any other emotional reaction.

Hopefully with a little more time, Gibiate could better mesh its diverse cast and situations into a more cohesive and compelling unit—for now, however, its lack of character believability keep it from being a worthwhile watch. (By Katharine Booth)

Rating: Indifferent

Watch on Crunchyroll

Rent-a-Girlfriend

Studio: TMS Entertainment
Director: Kazuomi Koga
Main Voice Actor(s): Sora Amamiya (Chizuru), Shun Horie (Kazuya)

Rent-a-Girlfriend isn’t a bad anime, but I’d be lying if I said I enjoyed it. The initial premise is captivating: an emotionally wrecked college student (Kazuya) decides to try a girlfriend rental service after getting dumped by who he thought was the love of his life. He finds a beautiful girl (Chizuru), has a wonderful date, and ends up mistaking her professionalism for interest—until she sets him straight. All of this serves as a solid foundation for what could be a great romance anime down the line.

However, though the framing is solid and relatively unique, it’s rigorously marred by a couple of the most unlikable characters this year. Kazuya’s portrayal as an intensely self-deprecating pushover who gets turned on by the mere thought of his ex makes The Future Diary’s Yuki look admirable by comparison. Similarly, the dark undertones related to Kazuya’s relationship are so heart-wrenching and foul that it was actually painful to watch the first the first few episodes.

What’s redeemed Rent-a-Girlfriend thus far is its fourth episode, which showed the beginning of genuine character development and a cliffhanger that, while predictable, might lead the show in a much more compelling direction. It just remains to be seen if this narrative shift pays off. (By Brent Middleton)

Rating: Wait and See

Watch on Crunchyroll

Spongebob Anime (Episode 1)

Within the space of just a single episode, the Spongebob Anime has become one of the most promising shows for the season thus far. While the main pull for this show will be for fans of both anime and the beloved children’s cartoon, the show goes beyond simply being an anime spoof on the cartoon. It takes its basic source material (setting, main characters, even Easter eggs throughout the dialogue) and uses it as a jumping-off point to create something truly unique.

Yes, the plot structure revolves around time-tested anime clichés. There’s a prophecy surrounding the main character, a monologuing villain, a heated rivalry between two main characters and an action sequence harkening back to early-2000s shounen anime.

However, one of the most interesting parts of the show is what it does with its characters. Specifically, they’re interesting because of how radically different they are from their original cartoon counterparts. Spongebob is a no-nonsense, combative protagonist, Squidward harbors a jealous, yet almost friendly rivalry toward Spongebob, and Patrick—yes, Patrick—takes on the role of the wise sage-like character. This contrast is jarring at first, especially for viewers most familiar with the original Spongegbob cartoon. Arguably, though, this may be what makes the Spongebob Anime most interesting.

Beyond all this, the show is absolutely hilarious. Its constant barrage of anime tropes is so over-the-top that it pokes fun at itself, even amidst tense dialogue and action-packed fight scenes. The show meshes together referential humor from the Spongebob cartoon and shounen anime, balancing both to create a fantastic, melodramatic and comedic debut.

If you’re an anime fan, you’re sure to laugh out loud throughout the 14 minute run-time of episode one of the Spongebob Anime. Here’s hoping we see an episode 2 in the near future. (By Katharine Booth)

Rating: Highly Recommended

Watch on Youtube