Review of Waiting in the Summer
I did a bit of research before watching this anime and after finding out that this anime was directed by the same guy who directed "AnoHana: The Flower We Say That Day", I got excited. Too excited, perhaps because I thought this was going to be another drama. Turns out, it was another one of those Rom-Com anime. [Story]: (7/10) During summer, a group of friends decided to make a movie. However, while making the movie, they end up learning more about their feelings towards each other. What begins as a simple way to avoid the summer doldrums quickly turns into something much more complex, intimateand revealing
The story is basically a young high school teenager called Kaito who witnessed an alien girl crash landing on his planet (called Earth). There, he meets the hot alien "human-like" girl called Ichika. At this point, you already know that they're going to end up together. All you need to know is how they ended up together. Kaito and Ichika ending up together could have been done in a few episodes but they decided to add in the bullshit love triangle that is so common in today's Rom-Com anime. Honestly, I wouldn't mind as long as it's done right but it's not. It just ended up as being too laughably melodramatic.
Anyways, after the meeting, Kaito and his group of friends; along with Remon and Ichika, they decided to make a film that is going to be directed by Remon herself. You don't need to know about the movie because it's not that important. What you need to know is the feelings the group of friends realized towards each other while filming. This is actually one of the best part of the show (except the love triangle). It further developed the characters and we get to know more about why said character gained feelings towards that character.
I just want to get this out of the way.. There is a very short arc in the show and it only lasted for 2 episodes. It is the most stupidest arc I have ever seen. Not only is it a filler, it's also goddamn unnecessary. I wouldn't call it completely unnecessary though because we get to learn more about Mio and her true self in this arc. What this arc contained is the cliche "male protagonist meeting his childhood friend" who is a female by the way. *wink wink* more love triangle and her friend that no one really cares about
The show is a Rom-Com meaning the story is about romance but as you can see; the show also has a "Sci-Fi" tag but don't think the story is heavily focused on sci-fi too because it's not. It's just a minor plot device. The sci-fi will, however, play a role with what's going to happen to both Kaito and Ichika but I won't spoil it. Just don't expect too much futuristic 2100 technology.
I was somewhat disappointed at the fact that the "alien" species, especially Ichika were not given too much focus. I really wanted to learn and know more about this so called "Federation", more about Ichika's alien species, their technology, etc. For a 12 episode series, I guess it would be too hard to incorporate all the points I just mentioned.
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[Art/Animation]: (9/10)
If you've seen a J.C Staff anime before then you should be familiar with the animation of the show at first glance. It looked fairly similar to their past works like Index, Railgun and Toradora but a bit better because of increased lighting. The character designs looks pretty good but there is one character who looks very similar to J.C Staff's anime characters. I'm talking about Remon. She's a goddamn hybrid of Taiga from Toradora and Kuroko from Railgun.
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[Sound]: (9/10)
Ano Natsu De Matteru offers an almost perfect soundtrack. From great OP and ED theme songs to awesome background themes, the show nailed it. The soundtrack fits with the corresponding scene that was currently playing.
The OP theme song "sign" by Ray and the ED theme song is "Vidro Moyou" by Nagi Yanagi. The OP theme song sounded great in my opinion but it did have some similarities with Railgun OVA OP. The ED theme sounds damn awesome. It's very rare to see an anime to have an ED theme song that's actually better than the OP theme song so great job Ano Natsu.
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[Characters]: (7/10)
In my opinion, the characters were pretty decent. They weren't that bad but they weren't the best either. I mean, they're teenagers. Their actions can sometimes come off as idiotic or whenever they're involved in a dramatic stuff, they get way too melodramatic. I guess it's time to introduce the characters.
Kaito is the main protagonist of the show who has a likable personality and fell in love with the alien girl rather quickly. Ichika is an alien girl who crash landed at Earth. She has a 99.9% human-like appearance and she is a very polite girl. She's also one of those girls that takes care of the male protagonist. In other words, she's part of the "girl takes care of male protagonist" cliche.
Then we have Tetsurou, this guy is one of those dependable best friends that you'll want in your group. Then we have Kana, a strong and independent female character. To be honest, I saw a bit of potential in her. Then she ended up as a "third-wheel" female character. Why you make strong female characters useless anime?! Then we have Mio, a calm, shy and overly polite girl. I'm telling you right now, this is the only character who got the most development out of the group, thus making her a likable character in the end and she also has some secrets that I don't really want to spoil. And finally, we have Remon, a mysterious senpai, a very funny girl and an annoying girl at the same time with her goddamn "fu fu fu" laugh. Revealing more about Remon will ruin the "mysterious" part about her. What I do like about her is the fact that she forces the characters to drink the "lemon juice" that she serves. And that lemon juice is actually alcohol. Ahh, I can watch the joke play for about 500 times and it will never get old.
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[Enjoyment]: (8/10)
Despite the melodrama scenes that maked me want to punch the screen and the last 2 or 3 episodes that really felt weird and cheesy, I still enjoyed the show nonetheless. Especially the romance between Kaito and Ichika and the funny-ass comedy.
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[OVERALL]: (8.2/10)
"Ano Natsu De Matteru" is a pretty good Romantic-Comedy anime but I wouldn't call it the greatest. It really felt generic and the concept of "boy meets a mysterious girl" which in this case is an alien girl has been done many times before. The show also didn't try to surprise the viewers when it comes to who the male lead is going to be with. Despite all that though, the show delivered a good and heartwarming romantic story.
Pros:
+Good Romantic Story
+Great Visuals and Animation
+Great Soundtrack
+Balanced Pacing
+Characters did their job fairly well
Cons:
-Some unexplained plot points
-Some repetitive jokes.
-Melodrama scenes
-Ending felt weird and cheesy