Since the death of his parents, Ajiro Shinpei has lived with the Kofune family and their two daughters, Mio and Ushio. Yet at one stage in his life he left his home island to pursue his education in Tokyo. Shinpei returns after Ushio tragically drowns while trying to rescue Shiori, the daughter of the owners of a nearby store. During the funeral, his best friend informs him of bruises found around Ushio’s neck, casting doubt on the cause of her death.
Suspecting that a murder has taken place, Shinpei reexamines recent events. The disappearing people and other inexplicable occurrences remind Mio of an old folk tale about entities called Shadows, which begins to make more and more sense. Facing the dark side of Hitogashima, Shinpei stands against his grim fate to fulfill Ushio’s last wish – to protect Mio.
Table of Content
Summertime Render – Audiovisual design
Watching the first minutes of the launch episode, I already knew that visuals was going to be really appealing. I wasn’t wrong one bit. Literally every episode from start to finish held an equally high level of detail, while not skimping on animation frames or creative visual direction. As much as I’d like to, I can’t complain about anything. Something this good looking is not seen often. Especially when you consider the fact that a lot of dynamic scenes in each episode appeared. Technical aspects alone are not everything. Character design also stands out. There was basically no character whose appearance I didn’t like. Including both – main characters, backgrounds characters and antagonists. Excellent work.
In terms of audio, we also have first-class sound design. Interestingly, the two main heroines were lent their voices by new faces. Their track record in anime roles was basically negligible – Nagase Anna (Ushio) and Shirasu Saho (Mio). Both one and the other seiyuu did exceedingly well. There were also more popular names like Kuno Misaki, Hikasa Youko and Hanae Natsuki. The soundtrack made strong references to traditional Japanese sounds and maintained an atmosphere of suspense throughout. As for the songs used in the opening and endings – the first ones did not impress me. The ones used in the second half I will definitely return to quite often. I’m especially thinking of Natsuyume Noisy (夏夢ノイジー) performed by Asaka and used in the opening credits.
Summertime Render – Plot and Characters
As soon as I saw that this series takes place in a small coastal town located on an island, I was immediately interested. When I looked at the people responsible for this manga adaptation of the same name, the first name that caught my eye was Watanabe Ayumu in the role of director. It immediately reminded me of Nazo no Kanojo X, which I also rated very highly. I noticed that he has quite a penchant for the style of presenting stories and directing from around the 1990s and the first half of the 2000s. That is, my favorite period.
I won’t lie that this aspect alone certainly had quite an impact on my perception of both the title just mentioned and Summertime Render. Anyway, this can be seen even in the composition of the scenes, what the viewer’s attention is focused on in specific moments, as well as partly in the very design of the characters and their presentation.
The plot location and general outline
I love series whose events take place a in small mountain or coastal towns, where attention to traditions is particularly evident. This makes it possible to create extremely interesting stories. Referring to folklore by combining reality with the spiritual world, sometimes entering fantasy territory. In this part, the whole thing somewhat resembles Higurashi in terms of atmosphere. As it turned out later, in Summertime Render there was also a theme of time loop, romance, drama, with a small amount of comedy, fanservice and a brilliantly realized main mystery plot. Any way you look at it, a compilation of everything I look for in anime the most.
Summertime Render holds suspense from the very beginning until the last minutes of the final episode. More elements of the mystery are unleashed from episode to episode. They often generate more questions and even force us to ponder how the plot will unfold. Just when we think we know everything, a cliffhanger appears, significantly changing the perspective.
Protagonists
The main character – Ajiro Shinpei is a type of brilliant thinker. He quickly realizes that something is wrong in the whole situation he finds himself in. Then he discovers that every time he dies, he goes back in time to a certain point. It gives him the opportunity to react to events that are a consequence of his earlier actions. He is well aware that his time is nevertheless numbered. So he does his best to use every moment to unravel the mystery of the island.
Together with his childhood friend Mio, with whom he lived after the death of his parents, he quickly comes to the conclusion that the death of her sister Ushio has a close connection to what happened to him and the old local legend of the Shadows. Beings that insidiously copy the island’s inhabitants, then kill them to live as duplicates without raising any suspicion. Throughout the line of events there are a host of side characters who also have a distinct stake in the overall story.
A rather interesting fact is that the story does not revolve around the main character. Rather, it revolves around Ushio, who shares a strong bond with him. It is the interactions between them that have a key role in the entire plot. Among other reasons the whole thing is so memorable. The antagonists, on the other hand, are very cunning and intelligent. They also have their motives for their actions, which simply make sense. Therefore, watching the clashes between them and the main team of heroes is so intriguing. The fight scenes, however, do not prevail. They are well thought out and don’t tire even someone who usually doesn’t want anything to do with action series or movies. Take me, for example. The well-executed animation, full of details and fine details, also helps.
Evaluation and Summary
Summertime Render is another example of how a well-written story with interesting characters and setting draws you in from the first minutes. Personally, I’ve never yet had a situation where I’ve dramatically changed my opinion in regard to my first impressions of the characters or directing style halfway through the series. The audiovisual setting, as well as the directing, characters and style of storytelling have all impressed me quite a bit. It is rare that I review series that I have already described as part of my every-season news review. In this case, I simply couldn’t help but write a few words. It’s a shame to miss such a good title.
Finalny werdykt
Final evaluation
Which translation do I recommend to watch Summertime Render
- Sandalphon – a very well-executed translation based on SlyFox subtitles with carefully done typesetting, suffixes and the original order of names.
Screenshots
