Anime Column] Midterm Review of 2017 Summer Anime by Anime Writers

A mid-term review of new TV anime starting in the summer of 2017. The lineup includes "Isekai Shokudo," based on a popular novel by "Hero Bunko," "Gamble Gurui," which depicts a gambling school game, "Tsurezure Children," filled with the sweet and sour adolescence of high school students, "Welcome to the Ballroom," which is about ballroom dancing, and "Kite Ansa," a short mystery solving anime. The lineup includes the following short animated films.

Otherworldly Diner

A fantasy anime set in a modern Japanese diner "Yosoku no Nekoya," which is connected to another world only once every seven days. Each episode features a different dish, and the unique "food reports" by the otherworldly residents who visit the restaurant can be enjoyed. However, the customers' palates are unreliable. The civilization of the other world is apparently at the medieval level, which makes one wonder if they have just never tasted the improved foodstuffs. I suspect that they have just never tasted bred food before. Their suspicions are deepened by the fact that they rave not only about Nekoya's menu, but also about store-bought powdered cheese and seasonings.
Furthermore, the customers are obstinate, refusing to order anything but their favorites, and they confidently spout off their culinary knowledge, picking fights with other customers. Not only are they the worst in terms of taste, but also in terms of humanity. Just when you think that these people should be kicked out of the restaurant, you realize that they are just like you watching a TV cartoon. They have no sense of aesthetics, watch nothing but their favorites, and spend their days pontificating about anime and picking fights with other otaku, even looking forward to the once-every-seven-days airing. This is one of those works that will make you wonder if you are such a troublesome customer, and you will fall to pieces.

Gaket Kegurui

Based on a school gambling manga serialized in GANGAN JOKER. Set at a private school, Hyakkaou Gakuen, where gambling is directly related to school caste, the story depicts a high-risk game in which money in the hundreds of millions is exchanged. The gambling games in the film are original arrangements of games that everyone knows, such as rock-paper-scissors-scissors, neurasthenia, and poker, making it easy to grasp the rules and concentrate on the outcome of the game.
Even more noteworthy than gambling are the characters' expressions, which change like a hundred faces. The facial battles between the beautiful girls, who have nothing to do with poker faces, will determine the outcome of the game. In particular, when the main character, Yumeko Jabami, sees through her opponent's cheating and corners him, her facial expressions, coupled with Saori Hayami's theatricality, are unusually seductive. The OP animation, filled with the three major human desires, is also a must-see.

TSUZUREKU CHILDREN

Based on a four-panel school manga serialized in Weekly Shonen Magazine. It is an omnibus-style love comedy that allows viewers to fully enjoy the coming-of-age ensemble drama woven by characters with rich personalities. At present, more than 20 high school students have appeared in the series, and everyone is sure to find a favorite character, such as Yuki Minagawa, who plays tricks on her classmates with her devilish behavior, Shinichi Katori, a love master with an annoying personality, and Tomomichi Motoyama, an otaku who is hostile toward women but supports his friends in their love lives.
The splendid cast is also a highlight. Kana Hanazawa plays Minagawa, Daisuke Namikawa plays Katori, and Soichiro Hoshi plays Motoyama. Studio Gogumi, known for its cute characters, is in charge of animation production. Director Kaneko Hiraku, who has produced many sexy works, is also known for his straight love story.

Welcome to the Ballroom

Animation adaptation of a dance manga serialized in "Monthly Shonen Magazine. The story follows the life of Tatara Fujita, a junior high school student who is struggling with his future career path, and his fascination with ballroom dancing as he strives to become a professional dancer. Tatara, who has a keen eye for observation, develops her talent by witnessing the moves of excellent dancers such as her teacher Kaname Sengoku and her rival Kiyoharu Hyodo.
While it is common to see OPs and EDs depicting dancing, it is rare to see an anime about dancing itself. This is even more so when the characters have realistic heads. In this film, the artist has created impressive dance scenes by sometimes leaving rough lines and strongly depicting the muscles around the neck. The confident expressions on the dancers' faces as they dance make it hard to take your eyes off of them.

Kite Ansa

A short anime about Kaito Azono, a hot-blooded man who loves the city of Tachikawa in Tokyo, and his best friend Ansa Arishin, who protects the city's peace from the Q-Busters, an evil organization This series follows in the footsteps of "Nazotokine," which aired in 2016, with various mystery-solving quizzes in each episode. While "Nazotokine" used to have separate episodes for questions and answers, "Kaito Ansa" is packed into a single episode and speeds up the development by omitting detailed explanations. The catchphrase, "Only 5 hours to go until Tachikawa disappears," is aptly captured in the fast-paced pace of the story.
If it is said that the reduction of explanations has diminished the element of solving mysteries, the opposite is true. The members of the enemy's emissaries, the 16 vassals, are all characters that we have seen somewhere before, creating a new fun aspect of guessing the source of the parody. Furthermore, the mascot character is played by professional wrestler Tenryu Gen'ichiro, and Cho's high-tension narration in the OP animation adds to the growing number of mysteries surrounding the work.

(Text by Katsunori Takahashi)

(C) Junpei Inuzuka, Shufunotomo/"Isekai Shokudo" Production Committee
(C) Homura Kawamoto, Toru Naomura/SQUARE ENIX, "Kaket Kegurui" Production Committee
(C) Toshiya Wakabayashi, Kodansha/Kakuren Children Production Committee
(c) Tomo Takeuchi, Kodansha/Ogasawara Dance Studio
(c) Naoya Fukushi/Tengu Kobo/Kaito Ansa Production Committee