No more lengthy introduction since I’ve already done that last time. This is the second part so if you would like, you can also give my first one a try here.

With that out of the way, let’s start!

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4. Harukana Receive

Genres: Sports, Slice of Life

Studio: C2C

I will be starting with a show that is the most summer-ish because the other candidate is still out of commission for drinking too much alcohol. Harukana Receive is a sports anime that focused on beach volleyball, it also focused a lot on weird shots and angles and as a result expanded my folder titled “ThebestanimescreenshotsIcan’tletotherpeoplesee”. Jokes aside, I was actually contemplating about including this series on my final list before, since I found it really slow at first but thankfully, the final episode made for a decent finish and I am totally satisfied with how it concluded, though a season 2 would be ideal to see how the Nationals is going to unfold.

There are a lot of sports anime already, in fact this season alone we got two "new" shows under the genre, but this is the first time that they are covering beach volleyball and before even the season begun, I was already eyeing this one for obvious reasons.

Yeah, reasons...Ahem

Going back on the topic, though this show falls on the sports genre that has been known mostly for fierce rivalries, dynamic competitions and adrenaline pumping action, this show in comparison is a bit on the relaxed side. It is not that the players are not serious or passionate about what they are doing, but maybe it is the ambiance and the fact that the characters are always having fun makes the tension sometimes completely fall out of the picture, this has a mix of that feel good feeling you will usually get watching cute girls doing cute things shows . The last match was somewhat heated up but if you are going to watch it side by side with the other sports anime airing this season, Hanebado! you will see what I mean when I said that this show is relaxed because on the other show people are seriously crushing each other into subatomic particles.

If we are just going to see this show with the image of the common shows in the genre in mind, this won’t be living up to the hype and excitement but it has something else that made up for that lax ambiance that the other show I mentioned lacks, beautiful girls in swimsuit… I mean beautiful friendship and sportsmanship that will make the viewers sympathize and feel for the characters rather than just plainly cheer for a side because they are cooler or something along those lines especially during the final match, where I don't mind having any of the two competing teams take the glory.

** SPOILER ALERT **

I mentioned earlier that the final episode was what made me put this show on my list, it was a nice ending that delivered good deal of emotions during the match and more importantly, after the match has been decided. The final match was between Kanata Higa and Haruka Oozora pair going up against the former second best pair in Japan consisting of Claire Thomas and Emily Thomas. The match went as one would have expected, but what comes after that is what’s going to be the real challenge for creators and I think that they handled that pretty well.

The match was between the people that were trained versus the people that trained them, it was like a disciple versus master match up and of course losing to the disciple will hurt you twice as much and some may even regret raising them up, but I commend Claire and Emily’s characters for being good sports and facing their frustrations head on. As for the winning side, they are somewhat feeling guilty for they feel like that they have snatched from the people to whom they owe the opportunity to play on the final stage those people’s own chance to be the one standing on that stage, to make an analogy, it is like biting the hands of the people that feeds you I guess. This is what I liked about this show, it was a bit complicated since both sides are really close friends but at the end of the day they settled their emotions in a manner that makes me happy and contented, especially when Haruka accepted Claire and Emily’s scrunchies (or whatever they were called) that symbolizes the will of the twins being passed down to Haruka and Kanata.

For a feel good sports anime with good animation and wholesome fan service I would recommend to give this one a try! Seriously I am not here for the swimsuit * sweating intensifies because of summer “heat” *

Plot Earth Society and Flat Earth Society peace treaty circa 1869 (colorized)

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5. Grand Blue

Genres: Comedy, Seinen, Slice of Life

Studio: Zero-G

They finally dived for real after 987654321 episodes, so much for being advertised as an anime about diving but if they mean diving in a sea of alcohol then maybe they are not so far off the mark. I am not hating on the show but if you are going to come and watch this show with the theme of diving as its focal point in mind then be prepared to be disappointed, but if you are in for a show that will brighten up your day and will keep you laughing for the majority of its airing time, then you came to the right place my friend.

The first few episodes felt a little bit of a let down for me since I have been hearing a lot of good claims about this show but then the first episode happened, I have seen the gags they used and the way they presented those gags doesn’t bring anything much new to the table not to say that the animation is not helping its case, “tough luck to be aired side to side with a lot of great comedy shows this season that does almost everything better compared to this one ” is the thought that permeates to my mind as I watch the show’s first episode to its conclusion but I am glad I gave it the benefit of the doubt and pushed through the next episodes and I think that is one of the best decisions I have made this season aside from dropping Lord of *********n lol.

I mentioned earlier that we have abundance of comedy shows this season and for me this sits at the 2nd spot only losing to my personal favorite this season Asobi Asobase. This show’s comedy runs on 80% alcohol jokes and the remaining is a mish mash of bros before hoes, sex jokes and naked… dudes (don’t worry they censored the vital parts and I don’t think anyone would actually ask for an uncensored version of this show, it would be a different matter though if its not the dudes we’re censoring here lol).

It is not like they never covered the part they advertised which is diving so you can at least expect to see some underwater scenes and what comes with beaches right? Bikinis my friend and even if I am not that fond of the animation I can at least say that they did a good job with the ladies, the people behind this are definitely men of culture.
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

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6. Hanebado! (The Badminton play of Ayano Hanesaki!)

Genres: Sports, Seinen

Studio: LIDENFILMS

Hanebado! was the first anime this season I included on my watch list, with its stunning animation and almost realistic portrayal of movements of players that is a sight to behold since more often than not, anime tend to exaggerate things even when it comes to normal sports, I was sold long before the show even started ever since I have seen its promotional video. But good animation doesn’t always equate to good anime, and good anime doesn’t always have top notch animation either so I still had to see for myself what the show will offer aside from its eyegasmic animation.

The show revolves around Ayano Hanesaki, a badminton prodigy and Nagisa Aragaki, a girl that has put all of her into playing badminton. The show’s first few episodes left a good impression on me since they’ve dealt with one of the topics that I really am fond of, “Talent vs. Hard work”. It is nice to see a representative on both sides and they didn’t only show the positive aspects, they also showed how geniuses are sometimes forced to things they are not even fond of doing just because they have the ability or capacity to, on the other hand, they also showed that there are times, that no matter how hard you try and give it everything you’ve got there are instances that hard work alone couldn’t pull you through. Thus, I was sucked in deeper by this show because of its serious tone that is grounded on reality and of course add the animation on top of that, I thought to myself that this could be big, that is, until it reached a turning point.

** SPOILER ALERT **

With the introduction of Connie Christensen things turned for the worse around half way through the story, Ayano turned from “I love playing badminton with my friends” to “Why are you even playing badminton noobs?” real quick. That sudden change in Ayano’s behavior divided the fan base, some loved the fact that she’s awakened and started crushing people that deserves it, and I am, for the record felt real good when she mopped the floor with Kaoruko Serigaya but on the other hand, I share the sentiment that they may have over did it by making Ayano a total douche not only to the people that antagonized her, but she also acted that way to almost everyone she played against.

Good thing is that there are other occurrence that made up for that bumpy ride half way through, there is Riko and her early defeat in the tournament that showed the frustration of having your dream cut too short and a good portrayal of how in sports and other competitions, there is always a winner and a loser. There’s also the match between Nagisa and Nozomi Ishizawa that showed how ripped Nagisa is… Well there’s that but what I am getting at is that the match between them showed how playing the way you want to be and winning through your own strength is more satisfying than just playing along with other people’s way of doing things, if this show had a shounen tag I think this would have been the perfect ending match to end the show with.

Fast forward a bit and were at the final match between Ayano and Nagisa, a rematch between two girls that lost their reason for playing badminton after the first time they encountered each other, they both searched for it and came up with answers of their own, for Ayano it is so that she could pay her mother back for abandoning her (which her mother deserves) and for Nagisa it is to defeat the person before her, Ayano. It was a heated match and despite the cliche of having Ayano realizing things during the match, she didn’t revert to the goody two shoes girl that she was when the show started, they kept her sharp eyes on but her reason for playing changed and aligned with Nagisa’s and that is to defeat the person before her, thus a battle not for cheesy things like friendship and love for the game underwent, instead we’re given a battle for supremacy and a battle where they are giving their everything to emerge victorious and prove their worth by defeating the person they acknowldge that is standing on the other side of the court. I believe this image speaks a thousand words regarding the outcome of that match.

Hanebado! had its ups and downs but it is a series that gave a distinct and a more serious take on the sports genre that doesn’t revolve with just winning or losing, it extended to a more fundamental question which is “why do people even play in the first place?” and with that alone, it already got me in the bag for its different way of doing things and I am totally looking forward for more title to demonstrate the same level of depth that this one tried to accomplish. Maybe lessening the edge a bit and focusing more on the competitive and glorious side of playing sports would make things so much better (just my inconsequential opinion).

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That’s it for this week and I think I would be able to wrap everything up for this season's final list two weeks from now, see you again next time!

Ciao~