Autumn 2020 Anime Preview

Now that Summer is over, we’re starting to trudge into the weeds of a few anime series that were bumped later due to Covid-19. Add to that the anime that was meant to premiere during Autumn all along, and we have a pretty healthy crop of new anime series to sift through. There are lots of websites that do very comprehensive rundowns of soon-to-be-released anime; I value their contributions, but I don’t have the time or resources to go all-out in that way. But I do get excited about new anime and enjoy picking and choosing a few of my most anticipated titles to feature here.

As usual, these are just my personal opinions and are limited by the amount of information I have to work with. These are also (mostly) based on what looks cool to me; as always, it’s good to remind ourselves that anime series that look great in preview form might turn out to be mediocre, while those that might not appear to be that interesting might turn out to be more than meets the eye.

Below are the resources I used to help put this together:

• ANN’s Fall 2020 trailer watch-along (this was a stream on their YouTube page which appears not to be recorded – I suspect they might not have the rights since there were PVs from several different companies and sources)
• AniChart for Fall 2020
• MAL chart for Fall 2020
• The ANN Encyclopedia pages for series and their sources, if applicable

Sequels

There are plenty of sequels airing this season. While I’m not going to spend a long time talking about them, below are a few that I’m looking forward to.

Please note, in some of the sequel discussion, there may be references to spoiler material from previous seasons.

Haikyuu!! To the Top 2

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Air Date: October 2nd, 2020

I haven’t kept up with Haikyuu!! the way that I should have been (I’ve still only really watched the first season, as well as a little of the second), but I’m still always excited to see that there’s more out there to watch for when I eventually get around to it.

Haikyuu!! is just a perfect example of a sports anime that follows the typical genre story beats but does so with a lot of storytelling skill and animation craft. The animation is pretty much unmatched in many ways, painting the characters in loose brushstrokes at crucial moments, thus providing them with additional movement and dynamism.

Golden Kamuy Season 3

Streaming: Funimation and Crunchyroll

Air Date: October 5th, 2020

Golden Kamuy is really in a class of its own as far as adventure stories go. Part travelogue, part cooking anime, part cultural exchange, and part perverse, violent epic, this series hits all of my buttons in the best way (big bonus in that most of the cast is big hairy dudes with a seeming propensity for getting naked… it’s “plot,” I tell you). The previous season ended at a point that demanded a continuation (our heroes were separated from one-another and there were several betrayals in progress), so while not exactly surprising, I’m thrilled that there’s going to be more.

Based on my rough translation of the newest PV, it sounds like there’ll be a focus on Asirpa’s search for information on who her father was and how he became the man called “Noppera-bo.” And there appears to be the requisite male nudity, as well as references to boners that comprise the show’s singular humor and charm. Seriously, I am super pumped for more of this series.

Attack on Titan: The Final Season

Streaming: Funimation and Crunchyroll

Air Date: December 7th, 2020

This is probably one of the more high profile delayed series, since after last season’s finale it’s been torture to wait for the conclusion of this story. Attack on Titan can be a complicated tale to enjoy; its militaristic overtones take a while to shake out into a critique of authoritarianism, and there’s some pretty egregious uses of real-life symbolism that muddy the story somewhat (if you’re interested in some more information on the latter, I would recommend reading this piece over at Anime Feminist). But from the get-go I’ve just been fascinated with this series and its ability to remain engaging and to morph with its subject matter, story, and characters.

I’ll be interested to see what the new studio brings to the table. MAPPA is well-regarded, obviously, and newest PV promises a darker, sleeker, more “grown-up” look for the show. Considering where things were headed, I suppose that’s a fitting transformation. Fair warning, despite being shuffled in with other Fall series, this one starts unusually late – in early December.

New Series

Here are some new (or new-to-me) anime series starting this season that I think might be worth following. Once again, these are only my opinions and based on what little information I already have; YMMV.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (2020)

Streaming: Funimation

Air Date: October 1st, 2020

I’m no big fan of the first Higurashi series. I watched it back when it was fairly popular and was put off by both the grotesque content and the unorthodox look of the anime series itself. Let’s just say the character designs and animation were a bit controversial in how they looked. I never watched the second season of the show. In the ensuing years, however, I got a better handle on what other folks found appealing about the story, and have had sort of a slow-burning interest in revisiting it at some point.

Enter this incarnation, which re-makes the original anime in a form that mimics the look and feel of more modern productions, with character designs that echo Akio Watanabe’s previous work on the long-running Monogatari anime adaptations. I was really impressed by the most recent PV and have a renewed interest in seeing how this adaptation plays out. I’m no fan of cruelty for cruelty’s sake in anime; it’s the type of content that just kind of turns my stomach. But perhaps approaching this new version with an open mind will help me to see the other parts of the story that have connected with so many other fans over the years.

Majo no Tabitabi: The Journey of Elaina

Streaming: TBA

Air Date: October 2nd, 2020

When Little Witch Academia ended, it left a conical hat-shaped hole in my heart. I just really enjoy stories about witchcraft and magic, especially when the characters are cute and fun (for those wondering, I also fell in love with Flying Witch and would recommend that series to anyone looking for something laid-back and un-offensively funny to relax with). In any case, stories that focus around young magic users always tend to catch my eye whether I’m familiar with the source material or not, and I was completely charmed when I saw the recent PV for this witchy fantasy series.

I think what intrigues me is that I can already see a very rich, magical world as portrayed in the background artwork and character designs. The dark-haired, adult witch’s hat brim, speckled with stars, gives her an air of wisdom and mystery, while main character Elaina’s somewhat oversized clothes speak to her inexperience. I’m excited to see her learn the ways of magic in a world that promises to be charming.

Ikebukuro West Gate Park

Streaming: Funimation

Air Date: October 6th, 2020

My understanding is that this series of novels (and perhaps also their previous live-action adaptations) were largely influential on the more recent (and perhaps well-known) Durarara! novels and anime series. Judging just from the PV I can definitely see how that might be the case. Ikebukuro is an iconic locale no matter what characters populate the landscape, and the landmarks and setting definitely make themselves known even before the characters begin to come into view.

This tale of rival gangs in Ikebukuro is certainly not the sort of story I’d typically find appealing on its own, but its historical connection with another series I really like definitely makes it more interesting to me. If there’s anything that generally fascinates me, it’s anime history and the ways in which stories influence one-another, so in that sense I definitely don’t want to miss this. The production itself looks good, too, with some nice animation and appealing character designs (also, the theme song(?) playing behind the PV is a banger).

Moriarty the Patriot

Streaming: TBA

Air Date: October 11th, 2020

I’ve always been sort of lukewarm on the Sherlock Holmes mythos. I’ve never read any of the actual stories, so what I know about it is mostly via various media adaptations – and boy have there been a ton! Not only have the original stories themselves spawned many re-tellings and incarnations, the stories are so famous that they’re often parodied in media that otherwise has nothing to do with Sherlock or the mystery genre. It’s always a good choice, then, to try to approach the material from an alternate point-of-view, and it seems like this series aims to do that.

Taking place among adopted members of the Moriarty family, Holmes’s traditional nemesis, this series aims to take on the classism present in England at the time of the story. I feel like this is a fairly timely focus and I bet there will be all sorts of wonderful parallels to be identified with our troubled modern world. While I maintain that all art is political, it’s nice for me when media is so forthcoming about it.

Iwa-Kakeru: Sport Climbing Girls

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Air Date: October 3rd, 2020

I’m always on the look-out for new, unusual sports anime (although my follow-through with them is pretty poor at best). This series features a sport that I haven’t seen portrayed before in anime – sport climbing. Perhaps one of the more intense sports out there (as well as the one most terrifying to me – heights are scary!), it’s interesting to me that high school students are the ones pushing their bodies to the limit in order to participate.

I have no illusions that this is anything more than a fanservice anime with some sports content sprinkled throughout, but while I’m not especially attracted to female bodies generally, I have to say that I’m impressed that the character designs seem to be all-in with the wiry musculature required of such an intense sport. Anyone who’s watched American Ninja Warrior can attest to the fact that most of the obstacles require strength and agility of the sort that makes rock climbers decent ninja candidates; it looks as though this series is at least aware of that, though some of the camera angles apparent in the PV imply that the focus is more on the sort of material one might more typically expect.

By the Grace of the Gods

Streaming: Funimation

Air Date: October 4th, 2020

It’s cliche at this point to comment on the ubiquity of isekai-style anime premises; but what I will say is that the genre’s prevalence has spawned some creative storytelling in pursuit of keeping things fresh. This series, which stars a man reincarnated into the body of a young boy, seems to play more to the modern fantasy of being able to live life in a leisurely way outside of the daily grind rather than to exert all sorts of power over other people, which is definitely my preferred angle.

The protagonist of this series is a slime-tamer who seems to have the ability to wrangle the slimes into performing helpful tasks for folks, which is just the sort of good-natured storytelling that I’m here for. There appears to be a focus on the kindness of the characters and the sort of lighthearted events that make for a really gentle-feeling story. I’m always a fan of “good boy” protagonists and think that this series looks really relaxing and fun. Funimation also seems to be on the production committee for this one, and it’s nice to see something from them that’s not what I’d call their “typical” fare (that being either fanservice-y stuff or hard-boiled action).

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle

Streaming: TBA

Air Date: October 5th, 2020

If there’s one thing that eludes me in life, it’s getting a good night’s sleep on anything like a regular basis. That’s where I feel a sort of kinship with the titular princess, who despite being kidnapped and held prisoner, just wants to find a comfy place to sleep while she’s waiting to be rescued. It appears that she may have the opportunity to utilize her inherent resourcefulness to find a good nap spot and create some nice fluffy pillows from some of the other castle denizens.

This series looks to be, for lack of a better term, total fluff. That’s definitely not a bad thing! I more than anyone know the importance of being able to watch something dumb and fun during times of intensity and stress. That said, my follow-through on series like this isn’t that great and I doubt I’ll watch the whole thing unless I have a lot of spare time (which isn’t looking good right now with all the catch-up I need to do). But it’s nice to have a really kawaii, fluffy option to take my mind off of things.

Taisou Samurai

Streaming: TBA

Air Date: October 10th, 2020

I’m honestly kind of surprised that no streaming service has announced an acquisition for this series as of the time I’m writing this, since it seems like the sort of mainstream and nicely-animated series that would play pretty well with a broad audience. In any case, this is another sports-focused series, this time focusing around men’s gymnastics. It dials things waaay back… to 2002 (ha) and follows a man who’s about to give up on his sport until some twist of fate intervenes.

The content of this series seems pretty standard and decently-crafted; I expect that some tears may be shed in the face of adversity along the way, as you do. What really caught my eye was the quality of the visuals, including the blend of 2D and 3D for the gymnastics routines. While it’s still pretty easy to pick out the CG, I feel like it was a good choice to go that route for the simple fact that the staff can motion-capture some actual routines. The movement looks pretty life-like from what you can see in the PV, so I’m looking forward to watching it more in context with the full routines.

2020 年 10 月10 日（土）放送開始のTVアニメ「体操ザムライ」の本PVが公開されました！
ぜひご覧ください！https://t.co/1GgMrbNdBV

公式サイトはこちらhttps://t.co/8vVVw827Ye#体操ザムライ pic.twitter.com/oI6LuRDUBl

— TVアニメ「体操ザムライ」公式 (@taiso_samurai) September 22, 2020

So those are some things that I have on my most-anticipated list. How about you? Let me know what’s sparked your interest in the comments!