JAINITUOS ANIME REVIEWS – SUMMER TIME RENDERING – MY FIRST IMPRESSIONS (ONE OF THE BEST ANIME OF SUMMER)

Summer Time Rendering

Studio: OLM

Genre: Supernatural, Mystery, Suspense

Hello my friends.

Welcome to another entry of my blog.

For now, stay with these words.

In 2021, it was Invincible.

What do I mean with this sentence? You will find out soon. For now, I want to say that I have time off, so I can watch some anime that I found fascinating, and that it is become trending these days, just like Spy X Family and Shikimori-san Is not just a Cutie. And what better than something that can exceed your expectations?

Especially after some unexpected story elements. What is true is that this anime in particular is going to stay with me for the rest of the year, if not the rest of my life. Having said that, I am happy to present to you…

Summer Time Rendering.

But first, I must ask you guys the same questions:

Are you feeling ok? Feeling healthy?

If the answer is yes, then I am very happy.

Now, let’s value the previous summer with Summer Time Rendering.

PREMISE

Based on the manga written and illustrated by Yasuki Tanaka, and published by Shueisha, Summer Time Rendering (サマータイムレンダ or Samā Taimu Renda), tells the story of Shinpei Ajiro, who was raised by chef Alain Kofune, as well as the daughters of the latter, Ushio and Mio. Shinpei was living in Tokyo for two years previous of the story, but when he received the news of Ushio drowning near the beach, he returns to his hometown to attend the funeral, but after a very heavy nightmare, and an unfortunate meeting with a woman with glass and big bust, he discovers that Ushio didn’t actually drown, she was strangled to death according to the autopsy, which found some marks on her neck. From that moment, Shinpei must discover the truth of Ushio’s death and the horrifying mysteries surrounding the island.

Summer Time Rendering was published from October 23, 2017 to February 1, 2021 (much to my surprise), in a total of 13 volumes. And for those who do not know, OLM is the same studio that animated…

Komi-san Can’t communicate

And… Thank you heavens… Summer Time Rendering has 25 episodes, which means we have a lot to introduce as much story, characters and their development as possible.

There is a very curious fact about the mangaka, Yasuki Tanaka, and that is one of his previous assistants was Kohei Horikoshi, a name that needs no presentation.

Right?

Summer Time Rendering was released on April 15th, 2022, and it is been released on Disney+. Yep? What did you expect? You thought I would say Crunchyroll. Right? Moreover, some of the voice talent includes Natsuki Hanae (Tanjiro Kamado, Vanitas), and Yoko Hikasa (Rias Gremory, Emi Yusa)

Finally, one of the best elements of Summer Time Rendering so far is its opening – Hoshi ga Oyogu» (星が泳ぐ, «The Stars Swim») performed by Macaroni Enpitsu. It combines a very subtle, but powerful mixture between summer and mystery that perfectly embodies the tone of the story.

Here are the TV and the real version for you to enjoy.

STORY

Summer time and… guns?

That’s right!!!!

I have to admit that I was saving Summer Time Rendering for later, because I was watching Spy x Family, Skeleton Knight, Shikimori-san, Dawn of the Witch and Miru Tights, but when, for some random reason, I meet a clip from YouTube that really shocked me up.

I was overwhelmed, just like when I saw Omni-Man killing the Guardians.

When I saw the first key visual and some promotional material from Summer Time Rendering, I thought it was a comedy, or at least a slice-of-life centred on the summer, similar to Anohana. But… No. And over time, I saw the concepts of the disturbing moments and of the antagonists of this anime, and the more I saw, the more curious I became about Summer Time Rendering. Honestly. I could barely think in anything else (But that didn’t affected my job performance, luckily.) So I decided to go little by little, first watching the opening, and start going to Star+ to watch whatever material was available for me. And trust me. I really liked the story.

It was a nice departure from anime like Yuru Camp and Anohana, giving a pretty nice mixture of drama, horror, mystery, supernatural and… time travel. It was like Boku Dake Ga Inai Machi, one of the my favourite anime of all time

Or Erased.

From the moment one, Summer Time Rendering established the type of tone that the series wants, it has that atmosphere of the summer that really bliss you a lot, but also that sense of grief and loss when a close relative passes away, recreating that feeling we all empathise with, that realistic feeling, and then…

Remember what I said about Invincible in 2021? Well, that Amazon Prime Video series shocked because I was not expecting something as gory and crude, not even matching The Boys, making me realise that Invincible is not to be ignored. Ah yes! What Invincible did with in 2021 Summer Time Rendering did it to me in 2022. And of course, there is still at least 177 days left, but it is going to be hard for any other anime to shock me like that this year.

Unless it is Chainsaw Man.

And that is something that indeed I must praise form Summer Time Rendering. It knows how to handle the violence that its plot requires. The anime is not shy in the violence, and I love that because it develops the realism; it is actually pretty good that Summer Time Rendering is not afraid of being crude when it is to be crude, because after watching a lot of Disney, Sony and MCU crap that softens and censors violence more than necessary, the change done by Summer Time Rendering is more than welcome.

But it never overstays it. The blood and violence is an element at the service of the suspense and the horror, giving enough time to both to be introduced and developed with the story, and showing how much the characters are affected b y them in the best, most organic way possible.

Another great element of Summer Time Rendering is the animation. The colours match the brightness of the day and the calm and darkness of the night, and when necessary, enhances the horror.

Finally, the pacing and the rhythm are simply correct, because it brings the story right to us, with the perfect amount of time to assimilate it, and the perfect writing to be solid. Yes. Summer Time Rendering is well-written, and after you get the first three episodes, you really want to know more of it.

But… be prepared for episode 12, because if for you the first episodes were too much, episode 12 will test your stomach power

CHARACTERS

The characters are also very well-established. At first glance, you might think that some of them are cliched, for instance, the typical kind-hearted teenager (Shinpei), the cutesy imouto (Mio), the sneaky best friend (So), the mysterious woman with a lot of experience (Hizuru), and the tsundere female lead (Ushio), but then you see their true personalities, being unfolded with the path of the story, and proving they are as likely by their own merit, especially Shinpei, Mio and Ushio.

I want to make honourable mention to Mio, because she helped me to value the characters a bit more. One of the criticisms that I read from Summer Time Rendering was the big amount of fanservice, and yes… it has fanservice, mostly from Mio, but to my surprise, not just the fanservice is minimal; turns out that Mio is a more likeable character than I thought, being the best emotional support to Shinpei, aling with So and Ushio.

Finally, we got Hizuru.

It was also because of her that my interest of Summer Time Rendering hooked me up. First I saw her as a really attractive strong woman, but then I found it that she is more badass than I thought. I don’t want to spoil you anything, but trust me, watch the episodes and you will love Hizuru, as well as the rest of the characters of this fantastic anime.

CONCLUSION

Without a doubt, Summer Time Rendering is one hell of an experience. I hope that it maintains its quality and storytelling, because if it does, it will indeed become of the best anime of 2022. Meanwhile, I must brace myself for some intense emotion and a lot of bloody moments for the second part of this great series.

And many some cameos from Komi-san.

And trust me… you will enjoy it.

Thanks for stepping by my friends, and thanks for those who read my entry. Soon I will come back with some sweet stuff.

Bye.

…..

Wait!! What happened to me? Was I drawn in the wall?

JAINITUOS ANIME REVIEWS – SPY X FAMILY – HOW DID I FELT ABOUT THIS ADAPTATION

Spy X Family

Genre: Comedy, Spy, Adventure, Action

Studio: Wit Studio/Cloverworks

Hello my friends. Welcome to another entry fo my blog.

Now. A month ago, I posted my entry blog about My First Impressions about the manga, or what I could read about the manga of Spy x Family. Here is the link for you to find out.

JAINITUOS MANGA REVIEWS – SPY X FAMILY – FIRST IMPRESSIONS (HOPEFULLY THE BEGINNING OF MORE)

And now, I am about to do something that I have not done before. And that is, first write about a manga, and then review the anime. Having said that, I must tell you that I just saw the first two episode of… Well… Spy X Family. And I was so happy, so excited about this time that I couldn’t just let it go.

So, let’s talk about the first two episodes of Spy X Family, and some of the impressions they felt me, and then the story and the characters.

But before I start, I must ask you the typical question:

Are you guys ok? Feeling healthy?

If the answer is yes, then I am happy to.

Now, let’s start talking about the anime of Spy X Family.

PREMISE

I already talk about the premise of Spy X Family on my previous entry, so I will simply summarise now.

«Twilight» is among one of the best spies of the nation of Westalis. Now, he is assigned a very important mission, to spy on Desmond Donovan, the leader of the National Unity Party, under the suspicion that he and his party want to start a new war with Ostania. In order to achieve this, Twilight must adopt a child and enroll her on the prestigious Eden Academy, because that is the only place in which Donovan makes appearances. So he adopts Anya, who is secretly an esper and can read minds, and alter he «marries» with a receptionist, Yor Briar, giving himself the cover of Loid Folger, psychiatrist. Unbeknownst for him, Yor is an assassin, in fact, the only one who discovered their secret professions is Anya herself, so now Loid/Twilight must accomplish his mission while learning how to manage this crazy new life.

EPISODE ONE

Episode 1 starts showing us the tensions between Westalis and Ostania through the death of a very important diplomat, and how Twilight successfully spies on Edgar, a fishy minister of Ostania, from which he obtained some compromising material. After his mission, we have a glimpse on how Twilight works and how he was affected by his job and his past, from which he decided to create a world where no child needs to cry. Later, he officially receives the mission of spying on Donovan, for which he adopts Anya and work together to have her enrol in Eden Academy. Then, Anya is rescued after being kidnapped by Edgar, after the former sends a transmission to him.

The episode ends with Anya passing the admission exam, but being informed that the second part of the process is a formal interview with both parents.

STORY

I got to say that Episode one exceed my expectations. It is better than I thought, and for someone who read the manga, that is a lot to say. Loid is a pretty well defined character, and despite showing too little about his past, it is solid enough to understand and sympathise with him. Wit Studio and Cloverworks really wanted to be loyal to the story as much as possible. And the bond between Loid and Anya is so natural that it quickly becomes heartwarming. Especially after realised that she passed the admission exam.

All I can say is… AWWWW!!!

Twilight/Loid is a true badass as a spy, and it is clear that he is starting to love Anya despite his mission, and for us, the memories of Anya being used as a guinea pig for her powers is sad. And overall, the animation makes the atmosphere exciting and natural.

Like Anya says:

«Dad is a liar, but such an awesome liar.»

EPISODE 2

Episode Two kicks off with a very hilarious scene. Loid’s informant, Franky, trying to pass as his wife, with disastrous results.

Neither Anya nor me want a mom like that either. LOL.

Meanwhile, we cut to Yor Briar, a 27-year-old receptionist at the Berlint City Hall who is secretly an assassin, known as «The Thorn Princess». For years, she has assassinated important names in order to provide her and her younger brother, Yuri, with money and a decent life. However, Yor is ostracised by her peers, who suspect she is a spy, despite this, Yor is invited to a party on a friend’s house.

Then, by an extremely convenient encounter, Yor and Loid meet and agree to help each other. Loid by passing as Yor’s boyfriend at the party and Yor posing as Anya’s mother on the interview. Coincidentally, Loid is in a mission to stop a band of smugglers with Franky.

Loid and Franky stop the smugglers, Loid arrives late to the party and makes a hilarious mistake – he says he is Yor’s husband, not her boyfriend as we was supposed to. Finally, the smugglers find Loid, try to kill him, and that leads to a very unusual alliance with Yor fighting the gang and survive, with Yor and Loid making their «union» official.

In sickness and in sorrow…

I must say that the proposal is both hilarious and heartwarming. It is absolutely one of the best moments of Episode Two, ending with a high note. Saori Hayami is extremely perfect as Yor Briar, giving a bit of innocence and strength to her role.

While episode one was the time of Anya, episode two was the time of Yor.

Fantastic time, that’s all I can say.

CONCLUSION

When I started reading the manga of Spy X Family, I was very excited, because it was exactly what the people said it was, original, hilarious, exciting, and full of pretty wonderful characters, but now that I have watched the anime, I can say that this is one of the best anime of autumn 2022 (Or spring depending on where are you living now.)

I will be waiting for episode three, because there is no way I will miss this.

And thanks my friends for stepping by, I hope you return for more entries.

See you soon.

JAINITUOS ANIME REVIEWS – SHIKIMORI IS NOT JUST A CUTIE – MY FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Shikimori is Not Just a Cutie

(Kawaii dake ja Nai Shikimori-san)

Genre: Romantic Comedy, Slice-of-Life

Studio: Doga Kobo

Hello my friends.

It is has been a long month since I wrote my last entry of my blog. And trust me… I feel really bad.

It is a long story, but work has been keeping me out from writing from my blog. And later, in early of April, I got a shock, because I thought I got COVID-19, so I went to make a test, and luckily the results were negative, but I felt a bit of sore throat and running nose, so it was probably hay fever.

Seriously. in March I worked almost 50 hours per week. And after finishing, I was too tired and lazy to write. I probably could do more effort, but I didn’t, and now I got a plan for making more writing.

Especially after seeing these two beautiful faces.

Anyway. I feel fine now, still busy, but ready to write a new entry of my blog.

Now… Le’s go to meet some cute girl that is more than a cute girl.

PREMISE

Based on the manga written by Keigo Maki and published by Kodansha, Shikimori is not just a Cutie, or Kawaii dake ja Nai Shikimori-san (可愛いだけじゃない式守さん) tells the story of Yuu Izumi and Micchon Shikimori, a very close and adorable high-school couple that live their lives with the most idyllic aura and the biggest happiness. Everything seems to be fantastic for both of them, except for one single problem – Yuu Izumi has an extremely bad luck. There is no day in which he does not suffer injuries, even a walk on the streets represents a big risk for him, that is where Shikimori reveals her cool, almost heroic side, where she gets an almost supernatural sense that detects danger for Izumi and protects him.

No one else knows this side of Shikimori, except for Izumi.

I feel that this will become a meme in a few days.

As of April 19th, Kawaii dake ja Nai Shikimori-san has published 12 volumes, through the Magazine Pocket magazine; moreover, the anime was released in April 10, despite some fears that the COVID-19 could delay its release two weeks ago. I thought that because of what I read the news.

Here is a link (CAUTION – IT IS IN SPANISH)

El anime Kawaii dake ja Nai Shikimori-san en problemas por el COVID-19

Finally, the studio in charge of the anime is Doga Kobo, which was also the same one that make one of my favourite anime of 2020.

Sing «Yesterday» for me.

Finally, Kawaii dake ja Nai Shikimori-san will have 12 episodes, according to Myanimelist.net. I hope this is not the case, because this anime is not just a 2022 cutie.

Don’t look at me like that Shikimori. I love your story guys.

STORY

Now… where to start?

Okay. First and foremost, I really like the fact that Izumi and Shikimori have started as a couple, because most romantic comedies start with two characters that begin as complete strangers, and slowly progress on their relationship until they officially fall in love and become boyfriend and girlfriend.

HORIMIYA

Tsuki Ga Kirei

And this type of story does not really have anything wrong, but it has a lot of clichés and tropes that can make the story pretty repetitive. Unless the mangaka is really creative and puts the heart on the situations that the protagonists face, the story has the danger of become dull and repetitive. Or just unpleasant.

I will… talk about this in some other time.

But with Izumi and Shikimori happens the opposite; like I said, they start as a couple now, and for those who read my entries, they know that I love these stories more because it opens the possibilities for many hilarious situations. Furthermore, you tell that both Izumi and Shikimori deeply love each other, they enjoy their own company, and Shikimori has a really good heart when it about her boyfriend. Of course, she can be a bit possessive and jealous, but she is not toxic or have a ridiculous flaw that feels random and out of context, for example…

Hori-san’s masochism… Wait!! What?

Also, the cool side of Shikimori doesn’t feel like she is a Mary Sue. In fact, episode 2 proves us that, sometimes, Izumi himself inspires Shikimori to be as cool as she can get, during the volleyball match against Kamiya. So we can rest assured that Izumi is a good motivation for her, and a very natural one, not forced at all.

Another element that I like is the character of Yuu Izumi, or Izumi-kun.

Okay. Personally I do not like when the male protagonist is labeled as a bad luck magnet. It is like an indirect way to say that the boy is not that interesting and it is just there to make the female protagonist look as awesome as hell because… Sure. Why not? And that ruins the story for me. But in the story, he tries to get better and be that cool, just like Shikimori-san, and because of his personality, effort and awkwardness (in the good way, of course), he becomes a very relatable character, especially when he is with his female counterpart.

Tadano-kun and Komi-san… Anyone?

My only «complain» is that I still need to see how Izumi-kun and Shikimori-san became a couple, that can be very interesting. Perhaps the manga already worked out that part, I haven’t read it, but if it did, I hope I can be there for reading with joy.

Finally, due to being a romantic comedy, like HoriMiya, My Dress-Up Darling, Komi-san can’t communicate, Adachi and Shimamura, there is a lot of positive aura and feel-good emotion. Probably not the most groundbreaking genre, but definitely one that will keep you entertaining, and ready for a good time…

…Or embittered if you are jealous, just like Combat Agent Six.

Seriously, how come this has not become a meme?

Overall, the story of Kawaii dake ja Nai Shikimori-san is entertaining because of its characters and how they behave, rather than just being a new romantic comedy manga. And if you like the series previously mentioned, you will definitely enjoy this.

CHARACTERS

Regarding the characters, the ones that stand out the most are Izumi-kun and Shikimori-san. Nevertheless I really want to know more about their best friends, who have given me a pretty decent first impression.

Especially Nekozaki…

And Bakugo… I mean… Inuzuka.

Honestly… Nobuhiko Okamoto should be call «The Spiked-hair guy seiyuu.»

And Hachimitsu, who is as «alien» as Yashiro Chikama.

But my advice is that do not get your hopes up, at least yet, because sometimes, in romantic comedies, supporting characters are nothing but filler, just like with Rent-A-Girlfriend… (oh! Crap!!!)

Nevertheless, don’t miss the rivalry between Inuzuka and Nekozaki, they are just hilarious.

CONCLUSION

It is no wonder why so many people love Kawaii dake ja Nai Shikimori-san. It has likeable characters, nice atmosphere, and entertaining stories. I am really looking forward for the rest of this beautiful anime, especially since I also enjoyed My Dress-Up Darling. I will continue watching it and have a more solid opinion of it.

And I promise I will do my best to write more entries in the future. Again. I deeply apologise my friends. That’s the bad news, but the good news is I have another projects in preparation, and I will be publishing them little by little. One day at the time.

Happy Easter, and again… see you soon.

I KNOW… I will be cool myself. so Marin Kitagawa will become my waifu. And how I will do it? Fighting the Xenomorph.

OUCH!! MY HEAD!!

See Kitagawa? I was cool and survived, despite the big hole. Did I impress you?

Eh… Kitagawa? Hello?