And the first episode pushed all the right buttons, one of the most compelling and creepy supernatural thriller premiere since Another. But I do know Watanabe isn’t going to screw the pooch like Mizushima Tsutomu did with Another, and I know the source material is a finished manga, not a visual novel, and that we’re getting two cours. It’s 25 episodes and I’ve seen one of them. Is Summertime Render that series? Hell, I don’t know. I don’t want to imagine that series any longer – I want to watch it. Imagine Higurashi if it had been written as a linear narrative, and refrained from shamelessly milking the premise for every Yen it could squeeze out of it. Imagine Another, if the ending hadn’t spectacularly jumped the shark in an orgy of gore and stupidity. Supernatural thrillers are such a natural fit for anime, but my hunger for a truly great one is forever unsated. It has a rock-solid staff and the manga is quite well-regarded so I’d have been following anyway, but Watanabe (and the fact that he chose to take the project) is the biggest draw for me. My level of excitement was high mostly because it’s directed by Watanabe Ayumu, who’s in the very top echelon of anime helmsmen both TV and theatrical. It’s their loss, literally – and our inconvenience (though only a modest one, truth be told). My feeling is that giants like N and D simply don’t acknowledge the possibility that it’s worth tweaking their model for something as trifling to them as anime – to do so would be beneath them. Anime abides, and of course subs were available within hours. This is not like other media – it’s a quirky, insular little world where old habits rarely die.

Insiders could have told them what was going to happen – anime fans don’t wait.

That’s a dumb move of course, just as it has been when Netflix has done it. There was some concern that with this being a Disney+ Japan series it might not be available subbed, since in their infinite wisdom they decided not to simultaneously release it officially outside of Japan. But Summertime Render’s premiere can punch with any of them.

All of Spring’s best series are totally different from each other, which makes for a nice sense of variety and lessens the impulse to compare them against each other. Fortunately all of the shows that really had to deliver this season have done just that (so far at least) and this one is no exception. Summertime Render is pretty much the last major premiere of the season, and it’s one of the biggest possums. But as Harry Caray used to say, “the big possums walk late”. OP: 「星が泳ぐ」 ( Hoshi ga Oyogu) by (Macaroni Empitsu)

Kenja no mago episode 1 funim