Summer 2016 Anime Series Guide

Regalia: The Three Sacred Stars

Twelve years ago  there was a huge incident which brought destruction to Reamguard country. That tragedy was an unsolved mystery to humankind. Twelve years passed since then, sisters Rena Asteria and Yuinshiel Asteria live a peaceful harmony in a kingdom named Enastoria. One day the little sister, Yuinshiel ask her elder sister, Rena to go on a date. But in the middle of their date some mysterious women come to Rena and about to tell her about the incident in Reamguard twelve years ago. Convinced by what they say, Rena then go after them but suddenly she was attacked by the user of Regalian Gear. Yuinshiel who wait for Rena’s presence worries about her and look for her. Sooner she find out that Rena is in the middle of battle with a giant robot and she exposed to the secret between the Reamguard incident and her sister.

The combination of giant robot with fantasy and magical world such as the RPG game really mixed well in this anime. Usually in other robot anime there would be some robot launching scene with system checking and so, but in this anime there were scenes when the giant robot was being summoned by using magical chant. In other side, this anime also had girl character to pilot a giant robot. Hot-blooded and intense battle couldn’t be separated from this anime due to its’ robot theme and the premiere of this series had some dramatic and intense giant robot battle scene. The impactful BGM also played a huge role to built up some tense and dramatic feel in this anime. (Rafly N/KAORI Newsline)

ReLIFE

Arata Kaizaki (27) is an unemployed who quit the job he landed after graduation in only three months. His life did not go well after that. His situation became more complicated when his parents threatened to stop sending money. As he hits rock bottom, a mysterious man named Ryo Yoake appears. Yoake described himself as an employee in ReLIFE laboratory and invites Kaizaki to join a social experiment program. In this program, he will rehabilitate himself by consuming a mysterious drug to make him looks 10 years younger, and then living his life as a high school student for a year. He has to interact with his fellow high school students, improve his life, and help his friends solve their problem with his adult perspective.

Adapted from a webtoon by Yayoiso, The first episode of ReLIFE begins with a short introduction of Arata Kaizaki’s problem, his encounters with Ryō Yoake, and his first day in school. Generally, the story feels quite relaxed in this episode. There are many comedic scenes. Most of them usually comes from the culture shock moment that Kaizaki experienced, just like when his homeroom teacher found a cigarette in his bag. The music, which generally consists of spirited and jazzy melody, also suits the playful tones really well. It is also interesting to discuss Kaizaki problem here since in one of the “penjuru internet” article in our Indonesian site, this problem is actually a side effect of Japanese work culture, where an employee who resigned from his first job rarely able to find a new one. (Dany Muhammad/ Indonesia Anime Times)

Rewrite

Kazamatsuri, a city famous for its vast forest, is a place where Koutarou Tennouji spent his childhood. Now, this young man with a weird spirit and crazy ideas in his heads is recently living his high school life together with his childhood friend, Kotori Kanbe. Lately he has some problems dealing with a “ghost” that leads him to meet Senri Akane, “The Witch” of the Occult Club. As he worked with his own problem, he also tried to revive this Occult Club by recruiting some new members, Lucia Konohana, Chihaya Ohtori, and Shizuru Akane. He then gets involved in some adventures that not only open the secrets of every members, but also makes him encounter a fate that maybe only himself can rewrite.

The background music, the voice, and even the opening song reminds me of the game version of Rewrite. Even though I haven’t finished the game, I still can feel the nostalgic feeling on it. Playing the game actually requires some imagination, but the anime provides a clearer image.  It feels like “Oh, so this is how occult club’s room looks like?” No doubt, due to duration restriction, this first episode is a shortened version of the game, that originally has a longer story. But that doesn’t make me bored because of some differences that I found compared to what I see in the game. Of course it has been said that the anime follows a “6th route” that was not in the game. So it’s still exciting to wait what will happen next! (M Razif Dwi Kurniawan/ The Indonesian Anime Times)

Saiki Kusuo no Psi nan

Supernatural power, what will happen if a man having such a powerful supernatural power? Kusuo Saiki is a boy who have supernatural powers since he was born. He is a psychic who can do many supernatural powers such as mind-reading, claivoyance, and also teleportation. Now he is a high-schooler at age 16 and he’s still being a psychic. Although having some amazing powers but his life is not so extraodinary, instead he have many problems because of his powers.

Still got no comedy anime for this season? Well you might take a look at Saiki Kusuo no Psi-nan. This anime had some funny jokes about Saiki and his supernatural power. Aside from the punchline of its’ joke, this anime also presented a very comical visual which really built the comedic atmosphere. (Rafly Nugroho/KAORI Newsline)

Scared Rider Xechs

World is in the brink of destruction by mysterious life form called Nightfly O’ Notes. To prevent that threat there is a special squad called Rider. All these Riders have an ability to fight Nightfly O’ Notes by transform with using the power from the Substances. But among those Rider, there is Yosuke, a Rider who can’t do transform although he has a Substance with him.

Adapted from otome game, Scared Rider Xechs had many handsome and adorable boy character design which might be interesting for female audiences. Aside from that, the battle and fighting theme which looked just like a super sentai series in this anime might also be interesting for male audiences. But the first episode of this series still hadn’t give any clear hints to the story of this anime. (Rafly N/KAORI Newsline)

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