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Ok, first thing’s first, there’s a new season coming up, and that means summer anime. Usually a good thing. Only nearly everything this upcoming season is guaranteed to suck. It’s either mystery/supernatural genres, or stonking great tits and a plot if you’re lucky. So I’ll be more focused on clearing my backlog of stuff.

That said, there are some gems this season. One of which deserves a particular mention. Of course I’m talking about Hidamari Sketch x 365. Silly title aside, I absolutely loved the first season. It’s a shining example of how good a slice of life series can be when it’s done properly, and the artwork was just oozing with style at every corner. This one is definitely a must watch for me, I can’t wait. And of course, who can resist more Yuko Goto? Starts on the 3rd of July.

One of the others that is a might want is yet another quirky Production I.G. series, this time titled Chocolate Underground. Just reading the synopsis leads me to believe they’ve taken Library Wars and replaced the books with chocolate. Which, you know, is just fine by me. I haven’t seen much of Library Wars yet - I’m sorry, Ocha!’s subs are just like taking a chainsaw to the English language - but what I’ve seen, I approve of. It also happens to be an Original Net Anime (ONA) from what I’ve heard, so it sounds like Production I.G. are following Gonzo’s lead with this one. I also approve of that. This one actually begins tomorrow, according to Moonphase!

Birdy the Mighty: Decode also airs this season. I mistakenly thought that it (along with Hidamari Sketch) was airing in the Spring season, so I guess next month will tell whether or not it sucks. Begins on the 4th of July, just after Hidamari Sketch.

Now the last one that caught my eye is kind of an odd one. It’s called Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu. The synopsys from ANN describes it best:

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu centers around Yūto Ayase and Haruka Nogizaka. Yūto is seemingly ordinary, but Haruka is attractive, intelligent, and rich, which prompts other students to idolize her and even give her French nicknames like “Nuit Étoile” (The Silver Star of the Night) and “Lumière du Clavier” (The Shining Princess on the Piano). One day, Yūto wanders into the school library in order to return a book and accidentally stumbles upon Haruka’s deepest, darkest secret: she is a diehard fan of anime and manga, in other words, a regular otaku. Promising Haruka to keep this a secret, Yūto becomes her advisor and confidente of some sort and hangs out with her more, though earning some viciously envious glares from his fellow schoolmates.

Now this was already enough to catch my attention. A few other things are worth noting though. It’s produced by Studio Barcelona and directed by Munenori Nawa, both of whom are relatively unknown. However, the seiyuu list is very solid. Mamiko Noto on the lead role? That’s a big do want right there. There’s a short PV on Crunchyroll, which looks good. Definitely looking forward to this one. Moonphase says it’s a month away (10th July).

The other thing I noticed though, while browsing Shiroi Hane’s blog for more KG2 news (October is too far away!), I noticed something else. Yes, that’s a Lucky Star OVA. Initial thoughts were, oh Christ, Kyoto are driving this into the ground. After all, the series was starting to wear a bit thin towards the end. I like Haruhi as much as the next otaku, but there’s only so many Haruhi jokes and references you can slip in one show before they’re just too predictable. 12 or 13 episodes would have suited Lucky Star much better.

But on the other hand, I am a sucker for anything involving Aya Hirano, so I’ll watch it anyway. Apparently comes out in August. Despite this, I’d much rather see the second season of Haruhi. After all, it was announced nearly 12 months ago - chop chop Kyoto!