Some of you may not realize how good it feels to be writing “2021” in a post header; some of you probably know all too well the sense of optimism and hope that comes along with it. Needless to say, despite the fact that we’re not out of the pandemic woods yet, I’m trying to be more “glass half full” about what the new year has in store for us all, especially when it comes to new anime. To be honest, I’m still playing catch-up with anime from 2020 – I have a cool super power where I can knock out a 1-cour anime series in a couple of evenings after work, but that power is exhausting and I need some recharge time in between, so I’m sure I’ll be working on completing this quest for a while. But I just can’t help but look ahead toward the new shininess on the horizon, so below are some anime series I’m looking forward to.
Note: There will be discussion of spoilers for some of the returning series, so please read at your own risk!
Just to get a few notes out of the way, while I don’t plan to do single-episode-focused first impressions like I’ve done in the past (check out this post for some of the reasons why), I expect to be watching at least one episode of all the new series coming out, and may pop in to say some brief things about each of them (a pros/cons wrap-up would not be out of the question). As for how I curate my own opinions, I definitely have some help in that regard. There are good resources around for folks who are interested in being “in-the-know” when it comes to what’s coming out and when. Below are some places I did my research:
- Anime News Network’s Trailer Watch-Along (YouTube Link)
- Random Curiosity’s Seasonal Preview
- AniChart for Winter 2021
- My Anime List chart for Winter 2021
- The Anime News Network upcoming anime list (this gets updated as series air their first episodes, so will likely be out-of-date if you are reading this later on).
- Winter (2021’s STACKED Anime Lineup) is Coming on Mother’s Basement
- General chatter among friends in my local anime club Discord 🙂
Sequels
While there are absolutely some new anime series I’m interested in (more on that later), Winter 2021 is kind of ridiculous for the number of sequels that are premiering. I know at least some of these were delayed from their original planned broadcast slots, The Promised Neverland being a major one that I know a lot of people are looking forward to. But there are several others that have got me excited.
The Promised Neverland Season 2
Since I’ve mentioned it already, I’ll go ahead and talk some more about why The Promised Neverland continuation has got me salivating. Since I watched the first season near to when it aired, I’ve had the chance to revisit it a couple of times as a whole with other anime fans. Like some of the best stories I can think of, its setting is still somewhat of a mystery and the bits and pieces that we do know are tantalizingly incomplete. I get the impression that our knowledge of the world is about to be blown wide open, since the characters have escaped from their original confinement and into a world about which they don’t know much. I’m looking forward to lots of exciting developments.
I’m also anticipating some more excellent animation, as well as the return of the first season’s atmospheric sound design. I think people tend to underestimate the importance of decent sound-effects and general sound mixing (probably because when it’s really well-done you tend not to notice it). That said, the first season of The Promised Neverland was made even better than the baseline due to the added element of sound and silence playing nicely with one-another. With a much different setting this time around, I’ll be interested to see how this particular element plays out.
Cells at Work! Season 2/Cells at Work! Code Black
I’m also excited (and a little perplexed, to be honest) that we’re getting a sequel to the very entertaining Cells at Work! in the form of two separate series – a continuation of the main series, as well as the spinoff Code Black. I’m probably a bit more intrigued by the spinoff, if only because I have a weird morbid fascination in all the ways things in the body can go wrong (although with each passing year that fascination is starting to transform into low-grade worrying about my own mediocre health… whoops). I’m always very impressed when so-called “edu-tainment” is actually entertaining on its own merits, and the first season of Cells at Work! definitely accomplished that (and made me shed a tear over ill-fated cancerous cells, too).
One thing I would note for folks who are new to the franchise is that it doesn’t pull any punches and is pretty gleefully violent at times. We also don’t need to argue the technicalities of single-cells bleeding from being attacked… it’s creative license, okay?
Check out Dr. Mike’s very humorous couple of YouTube videos on the ways in which the various scenarios of the anime series actually reflect real-life science in a creative way. I love it when so-called “normies” get to enjoy great anime!
Beastars
As a Netflix acquisition, those of us in the US won’t be getting this one until July, but I’m excited for it right now anyway (and unfortunately I know I’m going to be hearing about it online from others who are watching it early, so I might as well mention it now).
The first season of Beastars was an unexpected surprise in that it explored some pretty serious topics through the experiences and relationships of so-called “furry” characters. I’m honestly all for more furry media, but I was surprised at how easily anime fandom at large managed to embrace this story considering the crummy way the furry fandom has been treated by the anime fandom in the past (hopefully that’s changing). This series is perhaps one of the few that I’ve seen treat subjects like sexuality and internal topics like identity in a serious and thoughtful way, so I’m excited to see more. I’ve heard the manga gets a little iffy after a certain point, but I’m a firm believer in anime’s ability to right many of those ills in the process of adaptation, so I’m not particularly worried.
And it’s difficult to hide how excited I am to see more of Studio Orange’s amazing CG animation. Anime and 3DCG don’t have the best relationship (see the trailer for this season’s EX-ARM for something on the direct opposite end of the quality spectrum), but as we learned from the excellent Shirobako, animators who are able to incorporate traditional animation sensibilities into 3DCG modeling and animation can produce a product that has much of the personality and finesse of traditional animation in the 3D space. The Canipa Effect has a couple of great videos on what makes Beastars so successful, so I’ll leave it at that for the time being. But I love how the series looks and I’m looking forward to watching it in movement once again.
Laid-Back Camp Season 2
I’m not a big fan of going outside (though I’ve become more appreciative of outside activities this past year since they’ve been about the only activities that can be done safely), but the first season of Laid-Back Camp did something I didn’t think was possible – it made me really want to go camping, in the cold no less. It was a true miracle.
It’s difficult to explain the appeal of this series if you’re not really into the slow-paced life it exemplifies. Like most iyashi-kei (“healing”) anime, its appeal is just that watching it feels good, cozy like being wrapped in a warm blanket drinking a cup of tea, watching the snow fall outside your window. Kind of like Hygge, only Japanese-styled. The characters are kind to one-another despite their differences. There’s lots of delicious food to eat. And it represents the mundane-yet-magical uplifting power of being in nature. I live in a more urban area where the houses are pretty close to one-another and I feel the rumble of the bus traveling up and down my street multiple times a day. I love living where I do, but occasionally I desire a little bit of a quiet escape, and this series offers that.
Check out my review of season 1 if you’re interested in learning more!
Other Sequels
The series listed above are the ones I’m planning to watch. Normally I wouldn’t mention anything else, but after looking over my lists I wanted to have a visual representation of all the sequels airing this season. Wow, it’s definitely a lot! This list includes some split-cour series too, which might not technically need to be on this list. But I’m not going to feel bad about it 🙂
- Dr. Stone: Stone Wars (I will probably watch this eventually, but I stopped about a third of the way through the first season, so I have some catching-up to do)
- That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 2
- Re:Zero Season 2 Part 2
- The Quintessential Quintuplets Season 2
- Log Horizon Season 3
- The Seven Deadly Sins Season 4
- World Trigger Season 2
- Non Non Biyori Nonstop (Season 3)
- Uma Musume: Pretty Derby Season 2
- Sorcerous Stabber Orphen Season 2
- Yatogame-chan Kansatsu Nikki Season 3
- Show by Rock!! Stars!! (features stars from all previous seasons)
- WIXOSS Diva A Live
- Yami Shibai Season 8
- True Cooking Master Boy Season 2
And there are even a couple of Strike Witches and Bungou Stray Dogs side-stories that maybe aren’t technically sequels (more like short-form or comedic gag series) but still might qualify under some folks’ interpretation of “sequel.” Wow!
New Anime
I’m not entirely sure how I’ll find the time to watch much else with all the great sequels we’re getting, but there are a few new anime series appearing this season that I have my eye on. I’ll once again share my disclaimer that I have no idea whether any of these series will actually be good or not, because I don’t typically read manga prior to anime adaptations, and some series are anime-original to boot. But it’s always fun to speculate and to be proven right (or wrong!).
So I’m a Spider, So What?
You can insert whatever lamentations you want here about the ubiquitousness of isekai anime, but while I too am a bit overwhelmed by the sheer number of “typical” isekai stories available in this modern era of anime, I really get a kick out of stories that twist the formula a bit. Whereas many protagonists come out the other end of their reincarnations with OP abilities and a bone to pick with certain people, I prefer the stories that are more comedic, charming, and less focused on revenge. I like it when characters aren’t left with much, and have to use their intelligence and occasionally skills from their previous lives to get ahead in their new ones. That about sums up why I’ve been interested in watching So I’m a Spider, So What?
As a Crunchyroll original, this series has been subject to a lot of advertising for months at this point, so perhaps it’s also familiarity that’s influencing my opinion here. But can we just stop and acknowledge how cute the actual spider girl is? I’m no huge fan of spiders (I’ll leave them alone when I see them, but they seem to have a certain propensity to appear right in front of my face when I least expect it…), but our nameless protagonist spider is just completely darling, and seems like a really scrappy, resourceful heroine. I’m definitely here for the arachnid cuteness.
Sk8 the Infinity
One thing I love about anime is that its storytellers seem ready and willing to take on just about any sport and build a narrative around it (although I’m still waiting for someone to bite the bullet and create a curling anime…). Just in the past few years we’ve seen badminton, weight-training, free-running, and all sorts of other mainstream and niche sports have their time in the spotlight. Now I suppose it’s time for extreme skateboarding to make its debut, in the manner of which only anime is capable.
From all appearances, this takes the sport of skateboarding and blends it together with a little bit of Initial D and a sprinkling of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, to come up with something completely over-the-top. I, for one, am ready to experience whatever sort of ridiculousness this series is willing to throw my way. The bonus is its director, Hiroko Utsumi, who’s no stranger to giving attractive male anime characters interesting things to do (she’s an alumna of the Free! series, as well as the director of Banana Fish). While women in the director’s chair are as likely (or not) to be able to do a great job, I appreciate whenever a talented woman is given the chance to make the big decisions. I’m really excited for this one.
Otherside Picnic
I’m a fan of speculative fiction (I was about to add “otherwise I wouldn’t be an anime fan,” but honestly there’s enough anime slice-of-life stories available that one could probably be an anime fan without even dipping their toes into fantasy or sci-fi, but I digress), so any time I catch wind of an interesting sci-fi premise my ears kind of perk up a little bit. Otherside Picnic is based on a novel and follows characters who navigate a parallel universe. While I only have a bare-bones understanding of the story at this point, I’m already struck by some of the interesting imagery shown in the trailer, as well as one of the protagonist’s interest in urban exploration.
It looks like there’s plenty of action to go around in this series, but what I’m more interested in are the interactions between the main characters. I like the idea of most Yuri anime, but I’m not always super keen on the execution – mostly the slow-burn romantic tension (or, depending on the series, completely unconsummated romantic tension). So to combine same-gender romance with an interesting plot-based story seems like a good decision and something I might find more entertaining than either genre on its own. Here’s to hoping!
Wonder Egg Priority
I don’t know much about the story details of Wonder Egg Priority; it’s an anime-original series and the specifics about it are relatively sparse. But those who know me know that I almost always have an interest in anime-original productions because they have a slightly higher chance of being optimized for their medium and sometimes even serve as a great exhibition of storytelling and animation creativity since they’re free from the burdens that come with adhering to source material.
The story in Wonder Egg Priority seems to deal with the ways in which reality and dreams are intertwined, at least within the life of its protagonist, who happens to find a magic egg in a gachapon (capsule toy) machine. There are so many directions the story could go from there; we could be in for some exciting adventure, or for some internalized character drama (maybe both!). I’m optimistic that we’re in for something creative. The visual design seems to subscribe to the “Kyoto Animation school of delicate linework and beautiful background art” as well; while it might be a while before KyoAni is back to its regular output, it’s great that this Cloverworks production seems to be channeling some of its design sense in its absence.
Heaven’s Design Team
A friend of mine told me recently that there are certain anime that she thinks of as “Jessi will probably like these.” Aside from being a very flattering thing to say, it’s really true; while I’m pretty open-minded to most anime, there are just some anime series that feel like they have my name written all over them. I’ve actually had some volumes of this manga sitting around on my hard drive for a while (Humble Bundle occasionally offers really great manga packs and I usually take advantage of those, as was the case here), but was stoked to hear about an anime adaptation. Why? Because almost more than anything else, I love quirky premises.
Imagine if God was your unreasonable boss, and you were tasked with creating all the different animals to add variety to Earth’s skies, seas, and countryside? I love animals, I can appreciate workplace drama, and I enjoy general weirdness, so this seems to be right up my alley. At the very least, I’d be down for a humorous explanation for the existence of the platypus.
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Well, that pretty much wraps up my picks for this season. I’m looking forward both to being proven correct and to being completely wrong about any or all of my choices. Here’s to a new year and a promising new season of anime!