Review of Waiting in the Summer

I picked up Ano Natsu on a whim after I realized multiple fansub groups that I follow decided to sub it. And I have to say it was a pleasant surprise. Ano Natsu is about an alien visitor during a particular summer who happens to motivate an otherwise stagnant group of friends into doing something. People may draw references to Ano Hana (other than just for the ano) based on the fact that the introduction of another character (ghost in Hana's case) serves as the catalyst to change. However, Natsu cannot compare to Hana on many levels; it's not nearly as deep as Hana andthe interactions in general are not as impactful. Other people may draw references to Onegai Teacher as there is an alien who would rather not have her identity exposed living with a younger dude. I haven't watched Onegai Teacher yet so I'll leave the commentary on that part for others.

But if you're watching this it ought to be able to stand on it's own, rather than in the shadow of previous greats. Whether this series does this or not will depend on what you're looking for. It does not have a deep, unraveling mystery/past as in Ano Hana; it does not have the most appealing character designs; and it can be very slow at times. However, the series does have a ton of character interactions and one of the highest confession rates per episode that I've ever recorded. If you're looking for a relation-based series with some whacky alien/Men in Black elements then this is your series. Just don't expect outlandish amounts of ecchi as another story about making a movie *cough Ichigo*.

Animation:
Let me be frank, the character designs in this series (in addition to the "movie-making theme") were enough for me to sideline this series until multiple groups started picking it up. The protagonist looks like a music composer, like the type of dude you think no one could fall for, and yet he has the attention of multiple girls. I'm not too fond of the design choice for Ichika as well, though that got a bit better with time. Kanna just looks like a little brat... You also have a little alien mascot named Rinon who adds some occasional humor points while somehow reminding me of those moving solar-powered flowers.

The series takes place primarily in a rural town, with a short multi-episode adventure to Okinawa, so expect a lot of calming greenery. Overall colors are a bit on the saturated side but not to the point of annoyance. What is really confusing is that the show becomes wildly action-heavy in the last two episodes, which makes it really clash with the calming nature of the early episodes. The action itself is mild at best, nothing to be awed over. As for skin, having just finished Maken Ki this seems pretty light. The majority of the ecchi occurs in Kaito's perverted little imagination.

Sound:
The OP is okay, I think it would be better without the electronic organ but the overall tune isn't all that appealing. The ED is a bit more even paced and fits well; they even occasionally do the ED fade-in at the end of the episode. The BGM is completely forgettable and often works against your goal of not falling asleep.

VA-wise I'd say the performance was fairly average. Rinon probably has the most enjoyable roll out of all the characters, and Yukari Tamura probably had the hardest time voicing the mysterious, deep laugh of Remon.

Story:
Like in Ano Hana, a character comes to our favorite rural, middle-of-nowhere town in Japan to find something in her memory. This time, rather than a promise, the character is looking for a particular landscape etched in her memory. However, whereas the memory is central to all the characters involved in Ano Hana, the memory is fairly incidental to the other characters here.

So an alien crash lands, and has to save a boy who happened to be caught in the landing. Instant girlfriend? Not quite. It all gets complicated when you realize that there are lots of strings attached between virtually ALL the primary and secondary cast, it will take the entire season for most of these relationships to unravel, and these served as my primary reason for chaining.

The story is a bit non-linear compared to others in the genre but still has predictable elements, you can bet that finding the landscape in Ichika's memory will trigger a "conclusion" flag. While there is a lot of character exposition and interaction in the show, the actual main plot doesn't start on the rising action until quite late in the series, at which point it starts to feel just a tad rushed. There's also a bit of a Sailor Moon-ish end of first season mode where everyone starts sacrificing themselves in some way so that Ichika can reach her goal, which felt really artificial.

The conclusion is interesting. It's one of those that you can guess roughly but can't quite pinpoint how they'd get there. I was surprised that they decided to take a somewhat bittersweet approach + cameo but think that it worked out quite well. The only loose end that the series doesn't quite address well enough is the resolution of all the various relationships built throughout the series.

Character:
The interactions here are what make this series stand apart from some of the other recent shows. Ever had a crush on someone but was never able to get it out? Apparently quite a few of the characters here have that problem, and only with the onset of jealously do these issues get pushed out to the open. The character reactions to situations is very good, as is the portrayal of difficulty in saying what they hide deepest. There were many moments where I just went "nooooo wayyyy, that did not just happen", obviously confirmed by a quick rewind.

I'm not quite sure if this series counts as a harem as it is more of a love pentagon as in the case of Hatsukoi Limited rather than a traditional harem (where all girls jump on one dude). This lends itself to a lot more depth than just a bunch of girls fighting over a guy who obviously isn't worth their attention.

One thing that I give this series a lot of credit for is sticking to the primary and important secondary characters without introducing unnecessary additional baggage. They do a good job focusing on the very intricate relationships between the primary and supporting characters. By giving the main characters more screen time you also have more time to relate to (or cringe at) them, the level that you feel bonded to the characters will greatly determine how you perceive the final conclusion.

Value:
While no means a masterpiece, Ano Natsu had some really good points that I think put it above quite a few other shows this season, following the horrific disappointment that was SNS Final. It has a really good character foundation but fails to tightly integrate it with a central story as was the case in Ano Hana. While the character styling isn't terribly attractive, the actual character interactions made it up and them some for me. A pretty good watch considering that I wasn't expecting much.