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Year: 2022
Genre: Mystery, Supernatural, Suspense
Episodes: 25
Rating: 4.25 out of 5
Growing up, summer was always my favorite time of year. My brother and I would go stay with our grandparents in Kansas City. Our grandparents would pick us up one week after we got out of school, and we returned one week before school started. They had a three-acre pasture with a large pond in the middle. It was a happy time with many memories. I will forever cherish those memories with them as I get older. What would it be like to return home for the summer and notice strange instances? I’m talking about shadow people who want to destroy your home or the world. Summer Time Rendering is an anime that deals with time travel, gods, and more death than one can watch. Yet, it is an AWESOME anime.
Overview
Shinpei Ajiro grew up with the Kofune family and became close with the daughters, Ushio and Mio, after the death of his parents. Shinpei left for Tokyo two years ago to continue his education. He left the family and small island behind. After two years, Shinpei returned home after hearing about the Ushio. Ushio tragically drowned while attempting to rescue a little girl. During the funeral, Shinpei’s best friend tells him that there were strange bruises found around Ushio’s neck, believing that she didn’t die by drowning.
Shinpei, thinking that a murder has taken place, decides to investigate but soon realizes that strange events are happening all over the island. Mio tells Shinpei of an old folktale of entities called “Shadows” of people being replaced by identical shadow people. Thinking this is an old tale, Shinpei ignores it until the festival day. As he walks around, he comes in contact with a Shadow and Ushio. Shinpei soon realizes that the island he grew up on harbors a dark secret and that he has gained an uncanny ability that might change the fate of himself and all the other characters.
Review:
I want to say that this anime blew me away. It blew me away with the story, animation, and overall tone. I thought it would be some romantic anime where the main character has a summer fling or comes back to his hometown and remembers some lost love. The main character coming back was correct, but this was far from a romantic anime. It was bloody, violent, intense, and had a great story that kept you wanting more and more.
The story starts off with Shinpei returning home to attend Ushio’s funeral following news of her drowning. You think, hey, it is a typical anime of death, acceptance, and grief. Nope, you find out that the island they live on is inhabited by shadows that duplicate the people they kill and take over for them. The moment I knew this wasn’t going to be the typical anime was when Shinpei was at the shrine, and he hears a gunshot and found the woman he ran to on the ferry bleeding. She attempts to speak, and then BOOM, her freakin head is blown clean off. You see a shadow shooting Shinpei to death. Suddenly, the anime takes a turn, and Shinpei awakens back on the ferry doing the same thing he did earlier.
The anime is built around a God who wants to reclaim her eye to rule and needs sacrifices to complete her ritual. The God creates shadows to do her bidding, and one shadow is straight-up OP and has extraordinary abilities. On the other side is Shinpei, who realizes he has been time traveling because he has the God’s eye. Shinpei recruits friends to help him figure out how to ultimately defeat the God and save his friend from drowning. It is thrilling because one minute you think everything will work out, and then BAM, Shinpei ends up dead, or the plan goes to absolute shit, and the crew has to start all over again. It felt like no matter what Shinpei and his friends thought of, either a shadow had taken the person’s place, or the shadows were three steps ahead. Seeing how Shinpei finally overcomes the obstacles is something to watch.
What I love about the anime is that it keeps the intensity of the situation extremely high. When we somewhat learn of Shinpei’s powers, you think he can win, and then one scene lets you know he is fucked. It was the first time the summer festival happened, and he walked up the steps to see the island’s population dead and one of his friends stabbing another. I think a bullet goes through his head to start the process over again. Another scene that was high intensity was when Shinpei explained how his time traveling was getting shorter with each death. It had a setting of the ground slowly crumbling behind him. Shinpei explains that with each death, time gets shorter for him and that he is running out of runway because his starting point is further in the day. They devise a plan, and then BAM, dude gets sniped, and that was the end of it. The plan to figure out how to overcome the situation goes into overdrive.
For a Hulu series, I have to admit that the animation was crisp and fun to watch. When the shadows were drawn, you could tell they were shadows when they transformed, but besides that, they looked like ordinary people. This anime was well-drawn and really fun to look at. It was very appealing to the eye. Good job, Hulu; I see some significant improvements and a great future in your anime department.
Many characters drive this anime, and I am going to try to mention them all. First is the protagonist, Shinpei Ajiro. Shinpei is your typical, kind-hearted teenager who used to live on the island before moving to Tokyo. He returns to attend his friend’s funeral. When he learns that he has the ability to loop after each death, he finds significant courage to rally everyone and make sure the end of the world doesn’t happen.
Ushio Kofune is the main female protagonist and Mio’s older sister. Her death started the whole anime, and we see that she is hot-tempered but caring. Along with Ushio is Mio, who is her little sister. She has a crush on Shinpei and has a minor hatred towards her sister. She can be tricky in the anime if you are not paying attention because she has a shadow version, and only one thing can tell them apart.
Hizuru Minakata was the one that surprised me the most. She has a run-in with Shinpei on the ferry, and you think she will be some bumbling person because she is a horror-mystery writer. When you see her in this anime, you will change your perception of her because she is a complete BADASS woman. One of Shinpei’s best friends is Sō Hishigata. He is in love with Mio and is a soft-hearted person. He cares about all his friends, and when shit goes down, he is the first to offer his services.
Summer Time Rendering is a really good anime that deals with time loops, shadows, and trying to stop a God. It is an anime I wasn’t expecting to be great or intense, but it exceeded my expectations. The story is terrific, the action and thrills are on point, and the characters are fun to root for. I definitely recommend watching this anime, but maybe not during the summer.
