Summer Viewing: Last Weekend's Sports Anime

I might need to change my approach to these Summer Viewing posts. I'm only following three anime with any level of consistency:

Kuroko's Basketball 3 (Saturday)
Baby Steps 2 (Sunday)
Daiya no Ace 2 (Monday)

By the time Friday comes around, the excitement from those three shows has worn off. I need a refresher on each episode. And I can't switch my posting day, because I already have my column at Beneath the Tangles every Monday.

I could try catching up on Ore Monogatari or watch Free! Eternal Summer. But the first airs mid-week, an inconvenient time to watch anything I want to think about. And the second is a chore. I hope to approach it with a more open mind this time, so I can complain less and appreciate more. But that takes brainwork, and my brain is busy.

For now, I'll just sort through my screenshots and try to remember what I was so excited about this past weekend...

There will be spoilers. Consider yourself warned.

Kuroko's Basketball 3

At the end of ep 19 (59), Murasakibara said there was no way Seirin could win. I disagreed with him, of course. Sure, Kuroko was benched. But I still believe in him, Kagami, and the rest of the team. Now, in episode 20, Kuroko ends up back on the court.

Meanwhile, the supposed Kuroko 2.0 (Mayuzumi?) loses his affectiveness and is downgraded to just another body on the court. Akashi still manages to use him, but at this point, it's extremely obvious that Akashi views him as a mere tool.

Baby Steps 2

I have no screenshots from this one. I really, really like this show, but the visuals don't impress me. Still, even without screenshots' aid, I remember that Ei-chan played extremely well against his opponent. It's fun to watch him improve. He's methodical to a point that's unusual for a sports anime protagonist; usually guys like him are secondary characters, or at least share the spotlight with a more exuberant main character.

Daiya no Ace 2 (Ace of the Diamond)

Team Seido prevailed. Sawamura contributed. But best of all? The Coach showed his strength, and the guy who plans to replace him is getting nervous. If Coach leads this team to the championships and decides not to leave them at season's end, the replacement might not happen. A lot of people, both fictional and non-fictional, are hoping for that. The wannabe replacement, who's criticized Coach's team-oriented approach to high school baseball, begins to understand why we're still so loyal.

--

This post is a little later than I prefer, but oh well. I was enjoying my time with my family. In less than twelve hours, the next Kurobas will be up! I probably won't get a chance to watch it until tomorrow night, at the earliest. I have a full day planned. Summer vacation isn't as relaxing as it was in high school, so I can't watch much more anime than I do during the school year. I do, however, plan to follow another show when the summer season starts: Working!!! (that is, season three of Working!!). I can't wait. There weren't any fun comedies of my type this season, and I feel a bit deprived.

Servant x Service is Over! Now What?

I just finished Servant x Service. It was fun! I began to worry that it was ending on a very cliche note, but then the characters intervened. I smiled and giggled the rest of the way.

It didn't take long for the question to rise: is there hope for a sequel?

I went to Anime-Planet to find out if the manga was still ongoing. But when I looked for the normal "relations" box, it wasn't there. The manga was not entered on the site. I wasn't too surprised; this is Anime-Planet we're talking about. The site's priority is, well, anime.

So I Googled it. Adventures through Wikipedia, Anime News Network, and other sites told me that yes, it's ongoing, and so far, there are three volumes out.

Great! So there might be hope! The next question: how many volumes does the anime cover? I Googled it... and found nothing. I searched for a while, but there was no information on this, at least not within easy reach.

So, what now?

I could re-watch episode 9. I have a screenshot from that episode sitting on my computer, reminding me that a certain scene got the wheels turning in my mind. Also, it made me squeal a little. It's a Hasabe-and-Lucy-being-cute scene.

I could re-watch Working'!! (not to be confused with Working!!). In case you somehow missed this fact, Working!! and Servant x Service were both adapted from manga by Takatsu Karino. Their shared authorship is pretty obvious.

I could beg my readers to comment with any updates on the status of Servant x Service.

I think I'll go with the third option, since I have a few responsibilities to fulfill before my next anime indulgence. So, folks... what do you know about the status of the manga? If you're reading this months or years in the future, here's another question: any word about more Servant x Service or Working!! anime?

Rewind: Working!!

When I think of comedy anime, I think of Working!!. I first watched it three years ago, and I laughed so much it hurt.

Working!! has been on my mind a bit lately as I follow the currently airing Servant x Service. They're from the same mangaka, so it's no surprise that the humor and style is similar. The OP and ED are fantastic in both, too. 

Now, I'm going to spend my remaining brain energy on homework, so here's my old Anime-Planet review for Working!!. Keep in mind that it was my very first review, so I may have been overly generous with the score. Yet I'm not sure I could rate it much lower. I think Working!! and its sequel deserve more popularity than they have. So does Servant x Service, for that matter. 

What's your favorite comedy anime?