A Season of Friendship

I don’t know if I can pin down other season of anime as having a theme. And it probably isn’t intentional, but nevertheless this season has a lot of shows that seems to fit together in a special way. This season celebrates friendship in so many different ways that it heightened my awareness to it in each show. From new friendship (Tsuritama) to teammates (Kuroko’s Basketball), from unexpected connections (Kids on the Slope) to brothers (Space Brothers).

The Internet keeps telling me that friendship is magic and so it seems that this season of anime is here to reenforce that notion. It is not as if anime is unfamiliar with the power of friendship. Most of  modern Japanese society is almost obsessed with the harmony of the group and working together so shows emphasizing solidarity among peers is not unheard of. But I think Narutaki was inspired by this season because even the common place can seem extraordinary if done correctly. This seasons shows have been very good and the bonds of comradery have been shown superbly as well. This article will look at relationships beyond the standard shonen “I beat you up so now we are blood brothers” but at people who form real bonds.

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S.W.A.T. Reviews: Spring 2012 Pt. 5

The premise of these reviews is simple: watch the first episode of a series and then immediately sit down to record a review mini-podcast. The reviews are five- to ten-minutes long and entirely off the cuff. As always we only review new shows (so no sequels or continuations) and try to avoid anything that just looks outright awful. Here are 7 more from the new season:

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Listen – Episode 1 of Natsuiro Kiseki from Sunrise with the opening “Non stop road” by Sphere.

Listen – Episode 1 of Kids on the Slope from MAPPA and Tezuka Productions with the opening “Sakamichi no Melody” by YUKI and is streaming on Crunchyroll.

Listen – Episode 1 of Eureka Seven: AO from Bones with the ending “Stand by me” by Stereopony.

Listen – Episode 1 of Tsuritama from A-1 Pictures with the opening “Tsurezure Monochrome” by FUJIFABRIC and is streaming on Crunchyroll.

Listen – Episode 1 of Jormungand from  White Fox with the opening “Borderland” by Mami Kawada and is streaming on Funimation.

Listen – Episode 1 of Dusk Maiden of Amnesia from SILVER LINK with the opening “CHOIR JAIL” by Konomi Suzuki and is streaming on Crunchyroll.

Listen – Episode 1 of Ginga e Kickoff!! from TYO Animations with the opening “Across my world” by knotlamp.