With all the horrors happening in the world and the transformation of the US into a fascist state, 2025 has been a difficult year. As a straight-passing, white American, I’m in a privileged position and am not in any immediate danger. I’m just hurting over the lives and freedoms that are being lost. Anime and blogging help keep me afloat, and there were several genuinely excellent series this season. Fall 2025 has officially begun, which means I’m a few days late, but here are my episode reviews for the final week of Summer 2025 anime.

Note: For this post, instead of episode ratings, I provided my initial scores for the season as a whole. These preliminary series ratings are subject to change once I re-watch the season and/or write a full review.

1. City the Animation Episode 13
2. Dr. Stone: Science Future Episode 24
3. Kaiju No. 8 Episode 23 (S2 Ep 11)
4. New Panty and Stocking Episodes 12 and 13
5. Ruri Rocks Episode 13
6. The Summer Hikaru Died Episode 12

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City the Animation Episode 13

Preliminary Series Rating: 8/10

This was a great last episode. First, we saw the funny yet emotional farewell between Matsuri and Ecchan. For some reason, Adatara, Wako, and Izumi decided to create distractions at the airport so Ecchan and Matsuri had time for their goodbye before the flight took off. After that, we had the part where Tsuru Makabe got a letter containing a single star. He thought it meant his restaurant was awarded a star by a real food critic, but in the end, it was just a gesture of appreciation from the local police officer.

Humorous hijinks ensued for the rest of the episode. The best part about about it was that it became a musical. The characters were singing stupid, funny songs. I thoroughly enjoyed that. At the end of the episode, Dr. Adatara brought a time machine and everybody at Makabe’s climbed on. They all wanted to go back to some point in the summer. For better or worse, the time machine exploded, and everyone went flying. It was a slightly strange ending, but no stranger than anything else in this comedy anime. My initial rating for City the Animation is 8/10.

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Dr. Stone: Science Future Episode 24

Preliminary Season Rating: 8/10

For a season finale, this episode was slightly underwhelming, but the previous few episodes were so intense and/or emotional that I appreciated this relatively peaceful resolution. After Suika unfroze Senku, he quickly made enough survival fluid to unfreeze the other fifteen allies. It was great to get the characters back. Everyone was alive and well – even Hyoga, who was already dead when the petrification hit him. Senku also decided to unfreeze Xeno, since his help would be needed to build the rocketship.

Sweet, innocent Chrome overheard Senku and Tsukasa talking about how immortality was possible now, and it filled him with joy and hope. Xeno was the one who explained to Chrome how incredibly dangerous and potentially evil this technology could be. The four of them decided to keep it secret between them, though a few others – like Gen – have undoubtedly realized the same thing. Anyway, with Stanley and the other enemies still petrified, Xeno agreed to cooperate, and the plan for the next stage began.

There’s one thing I’m not clear about yet. Are they building the rocketship right there, with only 16 people and severely limited resources? Or will they first voyage around the world to unfreeze the people on Treasure Island and Ishigami Village? Whatever the plan is, this was a beautiful and exciting season of Dr. Stone. I’m more hyped than ever for the final arc, which is set to release sometime in 2026.

On a final note, I loved the moment when Xeno stared longingly into the stone eyes of petrified Stanley – a tender moment for a normally cold character. Stanley x Xeno is probably my favorite Dr. Stone ship after this season.

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Kaiju No. 8 Episode 23 (S2 Ep 11)

Preliminary Season Rating: 8/10

At first, it seemed like the Defense Force in Tokyo was gaining the upper hand in the battle. Captain Mina Ashiro used a giant gun and obliterated six huge kaiju. Hoshina cleared the airport that was under attack, and Narumi was also having success against the first round of monsters. But that first wave was just testing the waters. Kaiju 9 made his first real move and sent out five of his new creations, each one having fortitude 9 or higher. The Defense Force gave these new threats their own numbers (11 through 15).

Narumi, Hoshina, Mina, Kikoru, and Shinonome were each faced with a numbered kaiju enemy. Normally, it takes multiple captains to bring down a numbered kaiju, so this is very bad news. Even worse, each kaiju was specially adapted to fight the Defense Force officers. For example, Hoshina’s opponent is agile, skilled in close combat and uses dual blades – just like Hoshina. Meanwhile, Kikoru’s opponent seems to know everything about her. Kikoru and the others, each isolated to a different region of the city, fought fiercely. But they were losing.

Shinonome was also getting the shit beat out of her by a numbered kaiju. After seeing her courage and determination in this episode, I love Shinonome more than ever. I was afraid she would die, but Kafka rushed in to rescue her. Although this saved the platoon leader’s life, it was also a direct violation of orders. And of course, Kafka transformed in order to face the enemy. Now Kaiju 9 will certainly know his location. The episode leaves off at this point, with Kafka charging into action as Kaiju No. 8.

This was a good episode with great visuals, exciting fights, and intense voice-acting. It succeeded in doing what it needed to do as the episode that opens up the next arc – fighting the five new Numbered Kaiju. Despite the high quality of this installment, I can’t help being disappointed and worried. This season was extremely short and felt poorly planned. Worse, no sequel season has been officially announced yet. This suggests the production of Kaiju No. 8 is encountering major problems. I’m concerned we might not see more of this anime for a while. 😦 I dearly hope I’m wrong.

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New Panty and Stocking
Episodes 12 and 13

Preliminary Season Rating: 7/10

Since I’ve consistently been about a week behind on this anime, there are two episodes left to discuss instead of one. I’m not going to recap or offer thoughts on every mini episode. But I will mention a few favorite aspects from these installments. Firstly, in episode 12, we got to meet “God” and he’s an ugly bald man with an annoying voice. (But I ended up kind of liking him and his wife.) Anyway, I thought going to Heaven and seeing the battle for Godhood was a great way to lead into the final episode of the season. Also, I loved seeing Gunsmith Bitch, Polyester, and Polyurethane again.

In episode 13, we witnessed the great battle for Heaven, Earth, and Hell. I had a good time watching the chaos and action. There were even some wholesome moments here and there in the midst of the madness. In the end, Panty and Stocking and company saved Earth and Hell from being obliterated. The ending was interesting, with Panty and Brief being dragged into Hell, followed by a timeskip. Now, the Church in Daten City is run by an older version of Stocking, who is raising two teenagers. (Panty and Brief’s children, somehow? Doesn’t make sense.) The story will continue in a third season.

As I explained at the beginning of the season, I have some issues with Panty and Stocking. It’s definitely got some problematic elements. I’m not talking about the sex (per se) or swearing. My two main issues right now are that the sexualized characters are too immature (passing for 16 year-olds) and the central black character (Garterbelt) doesn’t seem like good representation. Even aside from those issues, a lot of the comedy is hit-or-miss and the rough visuals are hard to get used to. The structure is also wack.

Despite these problems, I still enjoy Panty and Stocking for its general creativity as well as its qualities as a feministic anime. Panty and Stocking are both kick-ass, empowered female characters. It’s refreshing to see an anime with such free-spirited heroines. With that in mind, I think 7/10 is a fair rating.

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Ruri Rocks Episode 13

Preliminary Series Rating: 8/10

For the final installment of this fun and wholesome anime, Nagi and Imari took Ruri and Shoko on a trip to a fancy hotsprings inn. A one point, Nagi revealed that she dreamed of being a university professor. Imari was also thinking about employment in the science field, and Shoko was excited about becoming a researcher in the future. Ruri still wasn’t sure what she wanted to do long-term, so she started feeling left out. However, there was plenty of fun and relaxation to distract her mind.

After exploring the inn, the group learned about the minerals in the hotsprings and how they can solidify into milky-white rock deposits over time. Next, they relaxed in the hotsprings. After that was a delicious dinner followed by stargazing on the rooftop. That’s when Nagi brought up something interesting: the idea of looking for microscopic traces of meteorites. Imari brought a microscope, so the group got to work at once collecting magnetic dust from the rooftop and spreading it into petri dishes.

A few hours passed and Ruri finally found a grain from a meteorite. She was ecstatic! As she pondered the shooting stars that evening, Ruri realized that nothing lasts forever. But that doesn’t mean everything is in vain. Life’s joys should be enjoyed all the more because they won’t last. Also, when one door closes, another one opens. Or as Ruri put it, when one fun thing ends, it leads to another fun thing in the future. The next morning, at sunrise, Ruri told Nagi that she decided to keep studying rocks. She now loved their beauty as well as the science behind their formation. The end~

My personal enjoyment for this series on the first watch was a strong 9/10. However, I think 8/10 makes more sense as an overall score. It would be nice to have a second season someday, but I am also quite satisfied with this ending. Ruri Rocks (Introduction to Mineralogy) is a visually beautiful, educational, and entertaining series with stunning music and emotional moments that will pull on your heartstrings. I feel like I won back a small part of my childhood by watching this anime.

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The Summer Hikaru Died Episode 12

Preliminary Series Rating: 9/10

There was no horror or action, but this episode was still intense as fuck due to the emotional suspense in the first half and the explosive drama toward the end. Long story short, after significant contemplation, Nonuki told Yoshiki he was going back up the mountain. Yoshiki violently objected and was eventually able to reveal his true feelings: that he liked Nonuki, separate from Hikaru, and didn’t want him to disappear. Nonuki reiterated his love for Yoshiki and decided to stay with him. The scene was beautiful and dramatic. As the boys relaxed on the beach, Tanaka approached. That’s the end.

Though it would have been maddening as the end of the story, this was a decent wrap-up episode for the first season. Season 2 has been confirmed, but a release date has not been announced. I don’t expect it to start until sometime in 2027, but maybe I’ll be wrong and the production will take a year or less. Getting back to the episode at hand, I absolutely loved the part where Asako talks to Nonuki in the empty classroom, now knowing he’s not Hikaru. Asako’s VA, Yumiri Hanamori, did an amazing job. The visuals, music, and atmosphere were perfect, too. Awesome scene.

When it comes to The Summer Hikaru Died, there will probably always be more I want to write about and analyze. There’s also a lot of unknowns to speculate about concerning lore and plot. (For instance, what was Tanaka on about when he said Nonuki was a fake god? What did he discover? Also, am I way off or is Yoshiki becoming a monster too? And what was up with the snake on the beach?) But for now, I’ve used all my writing energy. If you’ve been reading my episode reviews, thank you sincerely. Take care of yourselves, everyone!

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~Thanks for Reading~

Written by 7Mononoke at Anime Rants

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