It's time to delve into yet another new series for the summer season of anime, and under the microscope this time around is Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto - Natsu no Sora, which looks set to win the 'longest anime title of the year' award at the moment if nothing else. In case you're wondering, the title roughly translates into "Important Things to a Mage - Sora of the Summer". Indeed, Sora Shizuku is the focus of the series, as a young girl from a small farming area who has been invited to study magic in Tokyo.Aside from that incredibly brief synopsis, there's probably not a great deal to discuss with this opening episode, as there really isn't much covered that seems like to affect the plot as a whole. We get to see Sora deal in a little magic in an attempt to help her friend Michiru with her love life, see that she has a very close relationship with her mother, get some hints that her father has passed away, and generally witness that Sora is the kind of cute and lovable girl that we'd all like to be able to take home to show our parents.If there's one thing that can definitely be said about this series from it's opening episode, it's with regard to the show's backdrops and scenery. They are simply drop-dead stunning, and well worth watching this episode for on their own. On closer inspection they appear to be photographers that have either been cel shaded or otherwise Rotoscoped in some fashion, or possibly even given the CG treatment in some places, but I haven't seen something so beautiful from any anime series in a long time regardless of whether you might wish to count it as 'cheating'.Sadly, the downside of all these beautiful landscapes is that they actually detract from the characters themselves - Even more dialogue heavy scenes seem to prefer to focus visually on the background prettiness rather than the characters themselves, and it actually starts to get a little distracting at times. On top of that, the character animations do on occasion get short shrift, which makes them look out of place against those near-perfect backdrops.Despite that, I have found myself losing a little piece of my heart to this series already - It's sweet, it's sedate, and it has an instantly likeable lead character. I can only imagine that at least some of this might change once Sora reaches Tokyo as the plot goes into full swing, but for now I have to say I'm mightily impressed. Then again, I always have been a sucker for a beautiful landscape.
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It is not often an anime really rocks the boat in terms of visual quality or animation style, but a recent title to attract attention as just such an anime is the recently commenced anime 魔法遣いに大切なこと ���夏のソラ��� / Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto – Natsu no Sora, or Someday’s Dreamers – Summer Skies (for [...]
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As I’m still unsure what anime to blog in detail, I decided to briefly round up what I’ve checked out so far. Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto ~Natsu no Sora~ (8/10) Slayers Revolution (7.5/10) Strike Witches (7.5/10) Sekirei (6/10) Chocolate Factory (6/10) Telepathy Shoujo Ran (5.5/10) At first glance, you can see I’m not crazy about anything so far. In the [...]
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The answer to the titular question is, of course, that they tapped Kobayashi Osamu (dear Japan: stop naming kids who go on to become important or at least recognizable figures in the anime industry “Osamu” as it’s getting confusing now). Of course, not having seen either Paradise Kiss or BECK, I did not know what [...]
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I’m not sure what to say about Someday’s Dreamers: Summer Skies (aka Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto: Natsu no Sora). I just loved it. So far it has to be my favorite series so far this summer. Of course, I have not seen to much summer stuff and the fact that I’ve only seen [...]
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Opening Sequence: OP: “Fly Away” by THYME I fund it very surprising that THYME sung the OP theme as their songs tend to be quite catchy e.g. “forever we can make it” from To Love-Ru. It certainly has a different feel to the first series in many ways but seeing how this is a newer series, having [...]
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Sora Suzuki, a 16 year old girl who lives in Biei in Hokkaido, discovers via her mum that she’s going to mage school in Tokyo to study with a man named Seiichirou Hara. Before she leaves, though, she helps her best friend Michiru confess her love to a guy by using her magic to [...]
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Looks like a bunch of Summer anime are being released and subbed. Hey, is it time to consider which ones I’d watch? That is, if I actually watched anime anymore. From Moetron’s seasonal list, what pops out at me is the sequel to Mahou Tsukai Taisetsu na Koto. I watched the original series way back when, [...]
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For someone who spends the majority of his time discussing anime and animation, I seem to have a difficulty recognizing what is animated and what is real. When I first boot up Metal Gear Solid 4, I wondered why the eggs that a character called Sunny fries look so real. I really thought that the eggs are actually CGI but as it turns out, they are actually a film of real eggs that have been superimposed on top of the CGI. During the intro, I saw a bunch of characters that look like real humans but I wasn't sure if they are real or they are CGI that looks too close to reality until I saw David Hayter (Snake's English voice actor) as one of the character included. The same thing now happens with the new anime, Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto - Natsu no Sora (What's important for a magic user - Summer sky), otherwise known as Someday's Dreamer - Summer Sky. When I first saw the background of this anime, I thought that they are real-life shots. Thanks to the discussion between several posters, however, I now wonder if the backgrounds are actually 3D animation that look so close to reality.
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I’m recently having a habit of watching the first episodes of anime in RAW so I only understand like, 30% of what they’re saying (I’m harnessing my Nippon-fluency…) But I soon as I get my hands on the subbed ones, I rewatch them again (and possibly blog some that may interest me)… This post is [...]
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