Summer 2013 Episode Rankings

FREE! didn't air last week, but as I did with Kitakubu a couple of posts ago, I'll just pretend there wasn't a gap and throw ep 5 in with the others. I was a week behind on it anyway, and it's one of the few series I haven't commented on since the start of the season - something I'll put right in this post!



No complaints about lack of action in this week's Shingeki no Kyojin!1 -




2 - (4)



3 - (7)



4 - ( 1)



5 - ( 3)



6 -( 2)



7 - ( 2)



8 - ( 4)



9 - ( 2)



10 - ( 1)



11 - (2)



12 - ( 1)



13 - ( 1)



14 -(2)



15 -



16 - (1)



17 - ( 3)



18 -After a few training episodes, Hunter x Hunter looks as though it's about to get serious again as well!



MOVING UP:



Last week I praised GIN NO SAJI, but said that while it was enjoyable, I couldn't see it competing with the shows at the top of my list. This week, I've been forced to take that backwhich is a good thing, a pleasant surprise! Hachiken and the other dorm residents' great escape late at night was HILARIOUS! I thought that the level of security in the dorm was a bit excessive at first, but if anything the teachers will have to make even more improvements to it now.



Also moving up is HUNTER X HUNTER! The weeks of training episodes, followed by the final showdown with Shoot and Knuckle were all good, but I'm glad the focus is switching back to the chimera ants, as I just think they're amazing. The emergence of the King, and the divide this has caused within the colony are all fantastic developments, and I can't wait to find out what will happen next! But first, I'd like to know exactly how Gon and Killua lost their battlesI'm guessing we'll get a flashback at some point.



Symphogear has never been short on actionit's the lack of other content that worries me!



MOVING DOWN:



So, FREE! A shame that I had to catch it on a week when its slipping down the rankings, but I'd like to have commented on everything I'm watching at least once before the middle of the season. Anyway, Free! is usually in or around my Top 5, and that's largely due to the comedy, fun characters, and top tier animation. Over the past few weeks they've started the Iwatobi Swim Club from nothing, recruited their fourth swimmer (or non-swimmer, as it turned out), and have now set off to a not-so-deserted island for a gruelling training camp, involving several kilometres of ocean swimming! The next episode looks as though it'll be a good one, with Rei (the aforementioned weak swimmer) caught in a stormy ocean current! And though Makoto is quick to jump in and try to save him, it's heavily hinted at that he himself may have some sort of trauma involving the sea



I've not mentioned SENKI ZESSHOU SYMPHOGEAR G in a while eitherBefore the summer season began, and for the first couple of weeks, my hype for Symphogear was ridiculously high. I love the well animated fight scenes, cool attack names and, of course, the music that plays such an important part in the show. But once series with stronger plots and characters really started to get going, it was inevitable that it would eventually drop to the middle of the table. Which is fine - the first season was only ever a guilty pleasure, and the sequel isn't all that different, so (and I say this as a huge fan) in a good anime week it really shouldn't be ranking near the top.



Action or no action, as long as Free! keeps looking this good, I'll be happy.



GENERAL COMMENTS:



I've been neglecting SPACE BROTHERS too this season, but that's largely because it's featured in my weekly rankings posts right from the start, never leaving my Top 10 in any season (*I think*), and my opinions of the series haven't changed a huge amount. I've gotten to know the characters better and like them a whole lot more over time, though, and by this point I don't think that watching Mutta and Hibito achieve great things could ever become boring. The current developments with Sharon and her illness have been a bit depressing, but her strength coupled with the support of the two brothers has ensured that even these episodes left me smiling in the end.



Though it's not scoring that highly on a weekly scale, I've grown to love Space Bros. so much over the past year that it'll always be one of my all time favourites.
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