Anime Writers' Review of Summer 2019 Anime Wrap-Up! 'Sounan desu ka?" Astra Beyond," and 5 more! [Anime Column

Summer 2019 Anime Wrap-Up Review! The "Weekly Young Magazine" serialized survival manga "Sounan desu ka?" , the science fiction survival manga "Beyond Astra" serialized in "Shonen Jump+", the school love comedy "If you're cute, will you like me even if I'm perverted?" from "MF Bunko J", the fantasy "Maou-sama, Retry! and the fantasy "Maou-sama, Retry!" from "Shosetsu-kaerou" (Novelist's Naro). and NHK's TV series "Natsuzora.

Sounan desu ka?

An outdoor manga about a high school girl with a wealth of survival knowledge who survives on a deserted island is adapted into a TV anime. There is no shortage of otaku who go camping or go to the gym because of the anime, but the survival techniques in this work are too high a hurdle to try casually.
The importance of water is especially carefully depicted in this film. It is said that a human being will die if he or she loses 10 percent of the water in his or her body, so securing drinking water is essential for survival. The composition of the first episode, which focuses on the survival technique of drinking water, and the final episode, which focuses on the enema, is simply brilliant. If you practice these techniques, you will be able to stand out from other otaku. The voice actors on the official site show a survival experience, but don't worry, it is more for beginners than the main story, in which they eat crocodiles and frogs.

Astra Beyond

Nine boys and girls are adrift in space during a planetary camp, and this is a science fiction survival film in which the children alone are trying to survive. The film is set in the near future and features many unique planets with strange plants and cozy resort-like environments. Despite the hard life-threatening situation, the main character Kanata, who is full of leadership, has a positive personality, and the situation is not more serious than it needs to be.
The screen size is CinemaScope, which is longer and wider than usual. Not only can viewers enjoy a panoramic view of the landscape of the planet they visit, but the sense of entrapment created by the black bars at the top and bottom seem to symbolize the harsh fate that has been placed upon the children. The comfort of the epilogue, in which all the incidents are resolved and the normal world is restored, is unforgettable.

If you are cute, will you like me even if I am a pervert?

A sudden love letter addressed to the main character, Keiki Kiryu. However, the letter does not have the sender's name, and for some reason, it is accompanied by a pair of pure white pants! This is a romantic comedy with a mystery to find out who sent the letter.
All the heroines are considered "perverts" and have different types of tastes, such as sadism and a fetish for smells. As if to match this, the direction of the film is also somewhat outlandish in its expression. Bacon and eggs and toast with spirited brush strokes, paper doll theater with cute deformed characters, next previews with vectorscopes that visualize sounds, loose characters in a bowling alley with a useless presence, etc. ...... The fetishistic images make you think that "metamorphosis" is not so bad.

The Demon King, Retry!

Based on a fantasy novel in which the main character, a game administrator, is reincarnated in another world as the last boss, the Demon King. As symbolized by the earnest OP animation that showcases almost every character, the characters in this work are full of mysterious charm. Elements that would be an obstacle to savoring the characters are eliminated as much as possible, and the names are easy to remember anyway. The names of Killer Queen, White, Yukikaze, Mikan, Ebifurai, and others are unforgettable once heard, and their names are even displayed when they first appear in each episode.
Of these, the most fascinating is probably Akira Ohno, the protagonist, who boasts overwhelming power but is a small-town citizen. In all 12 episodes, his accomplishments include building a hot spring resort, offering cigarettes to a mob boss who is afraid to smoke with him, and talking up the appeal of the legendary Shenmue game in the next episode's preview. The competition among popular voice actors, including Kenjiro Tsuda, who plays the lead role, also brings out the unique fun of the film.

Natsuzora

NHK's 100th drama series is set in the postwar animation industry. The story follows Natsu Okuhara, a young girl orphaned by the war who grew up in Hokkaido and worked as an animator. The film is filled with animation parts, and it is interesting to try to guess the models of the animation and characters in the film.
In the "Natsuzora Animation" mini-corner after the main program, viewers submitted their own animations. There were hand-drawn animations as well as stop-motion animations, which were also very impressive. Many of them were adorable in the beginning, but it was fun and frightening to see the quality of the animations improve as if they were Natsu's growth. Looking at the works sent in from prefectures all over Japan, I was moved by the fact that there are so many people who want to move the pictures.


(Text by Katsunori Takahashi)