Fall 2018 Anime Accolades

Technical Awards

Best Original Soundtrack/Score

Run With The Wind

Music by Yuki Hayashi

Sound Direction by Hiromi Kikuta

Best Insert Song

"Rise" (Bloom Into You)

Performed by Riko Azuna

Best Opening Song

"Kimi No Sei" (Rascal Does Not Dream Of Bunny Girl Senpai)

Performed by The Peggies

Best Ending Song

"Hectopascal" (Bloom Into You)

Performed by Yuuki Takada (Yuu Koito) and Minako Kotobuki (Touko Nanami)

Best Opening Animation

Zombie Land Saga

Directed by Munehisa Sakai

Direction of photography by Takashi Yanagida

Art direction by Kazuo Ogura

Best Ending Animation

Run With The Wind

Directed by Kazuya Nomura

Best Adapted Story

Rascal Does Not Dream Of Bunny Girl Senpai

Created by Hajime Kamoshida

Adapted by Masahiro Yokotani

Directed by Souichi Masui

Best Original Story

IRODUKU: The World In Colors

Written by Yuuko Kakihara

Directed by Toshiya Shinohara

Best Artwork/Animation

Run With The Wind

Produced by Production IG

Animation direction by Hideki Takahashi, Satoshi Nagura, and Takahiro Chiba

Main animation by Hideki Takahashi and Takashi Mukouda

Acting Awards

Best Supporting Actor

Mamoru Miyano

For Koutarou Tatsumi in Zombie Land Saga

Best Supporting Actress

Nao Touyama

For Tomoe Koga in Rascal Does Not Dream Of Bunny Girl Senpai

Best Leading Actor

Yuuma Uchida

For Ash Callenreese in Banana Fish

Best Leading Actress

Kaede Hondo

For Sakura Minamoto in Zombie Land Saga

Character Awards

Best Supporting Character (Female)

Saki Nikaidou (Zombie Land Saga)

Played by Asami Tano

Best Supporting Character (Male)

Koutarou Tatsumi (Zombie Land Saga)

Played by Mamoru Miyano

Best Main Character (Female)

Yuu Koito (Bloom Into You)

Played by Yuuki Takada

Best Main Character (Male)

Sakuta Azusagawa (Rascal Does Not Dream Of Bunny Girl Senpai) 

Played by Kaito Ishikawa

Best Character Ensemble

Run With The Wind

Character Designs by Takahiro Chiba

Originally Created by Shion Miura

Directed by Kazuya Nomura

The Final Awards

Best Director

Makoto Katou

For Bloom Into You

Best Anime

Bloom Into You

Directed by Makoto Katou

Produced by TROYCA

Bloom Into You Episode #13 (Season Finale) Anime Review

To The Last Stop/Lighthouse

What They Say:

Yuu has always loved shoujo manga and awaits the day she gets a love confession that sends her heart aflutter with bubbles and blushes, and yet when a junior high classmate confesses his feelings to her...she feels nothing. Disappointed and confused, Yuu enters high school still unsure how to respond. That's when Yuu sees the beautiful student council president Nanami turn down a suitor with such maturity that she's inspired to ask her for help. But when the next person to confess to Yuu is Nanami herself. Has her shoujo romance finally begun?

The Review:

Content: (Please note that the content portion of the review will contain spoilers)

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. Forgive me if this review feels a little more excited than the rest, but every time I look at the featured image my heart begins to grow back into its normal "untarnished by the weight of the world" shape. Regardless of my incessant excitement, it has come time to weigh in on the finale of this adorable yuri series and, boy what a finale it was. Now, for those of you who have watched it already, you might be thinking something along the lines of, "What are you talking about, DJ? That wasn't a finale at all! No loose ends were tied up!" And to that, I would say, "Screw off and let me watch these two girls snuggle up together on a train in peace!"

While it's certainly true that Bloom Into You's season finale is by no means a definitive ending, it still has enough meat on its bones to be the satisfactory closure we need for now. And I say "for now" because I am pretty damn sure we haven't seen the last of this show. I don't really like going off on tangents about the probability for second seasons and all that, but in this particular scenario, I'm feeling overwhelmingly confident. To me, that's kind of crazy. I can't even think of the last time I finished a show without a true ending and thought, "Okay, I'm good for now." But something about the way the last few minutes of this finale played out really resonated with me in a way I didn't expect. I learned that it's fine to end a season without a cliffhanger and simply hope the characters and the world itself are enough to leave viewers wanting more. This has never been a show that specializes in suspense or dramatic effect, it's simply a realistic and interesting love story that we want to see flourish. Love takes time to grow- and compacting its complete development into a three or four episode ending-arc would have killed this series faster than Hand Shakers killed the interest of everyone who tried to watch it.

My initial impression was that we would see the student council's play this week. And for everyone that hasn't caught up with the source material, I'm pretty sure that was the case as well. The truth is, however, the play is barely even mentioned. Sure, Yuu and Kano talk about it for a bit in one of the opening scenes, but everything after that is something I might have gone as far as calling 'filler' if it were to take place in the middle of the series. But the fact of the matter is, something like an innocent trip to the aquarium is really the only way the season could have ended without feeling rushed. So many shows get caught up in cramming tons of material into the last ten minutes that everything before them essentially gets thrown out the window. Bloom Into You takes that idea and shelves it, giving us one more chance to spend time with why we're watching the series in the first place. It's such a simple undertaking, yet it's so typically overlooked by other directors and other studios. And, I'm sorry to get back to it again, but it really gives us hope for the future.

The story of Yuu and Touko is far from over. If anything, the aquarium trip is a new beginning in and of itself. The gap between these two girls has all but vanished, and with the emotional climax that will be the student council play looming on the horizon, there isn't much time for said gap to widen. We're even blessed with a sort of preview near the end of the episode when the 'couple' begins to improv upcoming changes to the script. Touko may or may not like it, but she's starting to draw the parallels between herself and the character(s) she has been playing. And with a little help from the girl of her dreams, she'll soon find out what it truly means to pave her own path instead of following the footsteps someone else left behind. When that will be, I'm not sure. No one is yet. Not even Nio Nakatani herself has announced when the formal end to the manga will be. But we know that it's coming. And unless TROYCA abandons the series or is taken off of it, I'm pretty sure the anime will follow suit.

In Summary:

In an unexpectedly calm and wholehearted manner, Bloom Into You finally reaches its end. Well, at least for now. The lack of a definitive finale leaves much hope for season two while giving viewers of the first season a soft pillow to rest their head on in the meantime. Yuu and Touko carry the show as the single most adorable couple I have seen in years and are easily enough to bring me back despite the lack of an intricately woven plot line. This is as simple as yuri comes, and may just be the best example of it I have encountered since Kindred Spirits On The Roof. It is a must-watch for fans of the genre or fans of romance in general. Makoto Katou's near-flawless direction of this manga adaptation has quickly earned him a spot in my book of respect despite his rather-empty portfolio thus far. Everything about Bloom Into You is above average. You would be crazy not to watch it.

Episode Grade: A

Series Grade: A

Streamed By: HIDIVE