Anime Corner-Summer 2023 Update

Welcome Dear Readers to Summer 2023 (unless you’re like me and Summer kicks off in May with the start of the Summer Movie Blockbuster Season, in which case, hey there).  We’ve officially crossed the threshold into June and now, to quote Anakin Skywalker, “This is where the fun begins.”  A lot of old favorites are returning to the Anime Corner for new stories, some of which have been lost to time (with good reason?).  Add in brand new Top 5 Wednesdays, the Season Finale of Gunpla Builder Thursday and the return of First Impression Fridays and it’s looking like it’s gonna be another action packed Summer of reviews and fun.  Grab a seat and lemme take you through what’s on the horizon from now through the beginning of August.

 
June
June’s gonna be about revisiting some old friends and catching up on some new adventures, and in some cases some rarely seen stories.  It all kicks off with the latest theatrical entry in the Mobile Suit Gundam saga, Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan’s Island, which is an updated retelling of a chapter of the original series Yoshiyuki Tomino thought was so terrible that the original version has rarely seen the light of day.  After that, we check out a long missing gem from the Robotech Saga, one that I was lucky to find in decent condition on Youtube.  It’s the often whispered but seldom spoken aloud, Robotech: The Movie (yes this was a thing and yes there’s a reason why it’s been lost to time itself.).  Star Wars: Visions 2 will round out this trio of one and done features before we get to our next series.  While it doesn’t feature much Anime this time around, there’s still plenty of Anime influence in this new set of animated tales from a galaxy far, far away…plus it’s freaking awesome (and spoiler alert a contender for a spot in my Top 5 Best Titles I’ve Reviewed in 2023 end of year list).  Then, at long freaking last, we’re finally getting to the latest chapter of the Ghost in the Shell franchise.  Yep, after a year of waiting, the time has come to tackle the controversial, entirely CG 3^rd Season of the Stand Alone Complex series from celebrated writer/director Kenji Kamiyama and Appleseed director Shinji Aramaki, Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045.  

July
Even though doing 2 reviews a week has kind of negated how big of a deal this used to be, I still like to use July for my Extended Summer Series Review event.  For those new, this is when I look at a series that’s beyond the standard 13-26 episode run time and clocks in at around 37-50 episodes.  On one occasion previously, I took a look at two related shows back to back in the same month: Fate/Zero and Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works.  With that in mind, I’m doing something similar for this year AND I’m getting a chance to keep a particular tradition alive one more year.  See when I started this Summer Event in 2015, I first looked at Mobile Suit Gundam 00.  As things went along, every other year saw me look at another Gundam centric series: 2017 was Mobile Suit Gundam Wing; 2019 was Turn A Gundam and 2021 was Mobile Suit Victory Gundam.  By now I’ve looked at just about every main line Gundam Series and then there was last years Gundam Month Mark VI-The Undiscovered Country, which saw me look at the (up til that point) last two major Gundam TV shows: Gundam: Recongusita in G and Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans, back to back.
 
So why this super long explanation?  Because this summer, instead of looking at Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood like I’d wanted (it’s going back on the waiting table), I’ve got two related Gundam on the docket and they have something to do with another feature I’ve been running for a couple of months now.  Dear Readers, I’m happy to announce that this July I’ll be looking at Gundam Build Divers and it’s sequel series, Gundam Build Divers Re: Rise.  As per traditional Extended Summer Series Review rules, reviews will be going up Monday, Wednesday and Friday starting July 3^rd and will run through (if I’ve calculated it right) July 26^th aka the Day Before Otakon 2023.  I’m looking forward to these two and a bit more lighthearted Gundam fare, especially with how dark The Witch From Mercury has been (it’s still freaking solid though).  I wonder how this hybrid of Gunpla and Sword Art Online will play out.  Speaking of Gunpla, because this will eat up a lot of my time, the First Season Finale of Gunpla Builder Thursday will land at the end of June.  Not a bad way to segway into an extra long month of animated Gunpla action.

 
August
Which brings us to August which is still kind of up in the air atm.  September, October (mostly) and December are all locked in with reviews including Sailor Moon SuperS and Sailor Moon Sailor Stars.  August has weirdly been a hard month to plan for as I cant seem to commit to a particular series.  I will say that it is a strong possibility that we’ll be looking at two Isekai series back to back (to back, I guess there’s three in a way…does Build Divers count as Isekai?).  I’ve been revisiting an old favorite Abridged Series and it’s made me want to finally tackle the Anime it’s parodying.  Ladies and Gents, I think the time has come to look at what many proclaim to be the King of Iseaki.  I am, of course, talking about…Sword Art Online.  Does this mean I’m gonna look at all of SAO or just the first season?  Sword Art Online 2 is definitely on the docket for Early 2024 but beyond that, no Idea.  So don’t expect a Year of Sword Art Online to come out of this like I’ve done with Slayers and Sailor Moon.  Also, First Impression Friday will be back as well and the countdown will continue to the landmark 200^th FIF which is set to debut sometime in either November or December.

And that about covers what’s coming in the Summer of 2023.  Naturally, expect a host of new Top 5 Wednesdays that will be sure to dial up the heat a little bit in their own way too.  There’s a lot going on and I’m excited to unleash it at last.  Everything kicks off This Friday with Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan’s Island right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.  See ya then.