Winter 2021 New Anime – Premieres for Thursday, January 7th, 2021

So far I’m really enjoying the more chill pacing of writing reviews this season. It’s not that there are fewer premieres, it’s more that I’m holding myself to more realistic standards and not getting so stressed about being one person attempting to complete the work of several. Knowing that I’m trying to write a reasonable amount rather than word-vomiting the huge essays I had been writing about each new show has kept me from dreading the process. I can’t guarantee that there will never be word vomit, but I’m trying to keep it as a “sometimes” issue.

These premieres mark the end of the first week of the new year. It’s already been a wild ride, that’s for sure. There have been quite a few jokes about people deciding not to renew after their free 7-day trial… I for one am deeply hoping that the year will be looking up a little bit from here. At least I will try to enjoy some great anime!

Use the links below to navigate to the review you’re interested in:

2.43: Seiin High School Boys Volleyball Team
Heaven’s Design Team
Cells at Work! Code Black

2.43: Seiin High School Boys Volleyball Team

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Light Novel

Story Summary: Chika and Yuni were close friends in kindergarten, until Chika moved away to Tokyo. Now in middle school, Chika has returned to Fukui, albeit a more somber person. Having been a volleyball player at his previous middle school, he’s frustrated when he discovers that the school volleyball team is mostly a front for students who didn’t have another club to join. When Chika then also learns that Yuni doesn’t take the sport seriously, he starts to want to make changes to the team practice structure. Eventually their practices become more regular and some of the team members are drawn back into the fold. But the secret of why Chika returned to Fukui may deeply affect his friendship with Yuni.

Impressions: When preparing for this season I remember thinking, “how can I be expected to enjoy another volleyball anime after watching Haikyuu?” The truth is, there are many stories to tell that revolve around sports; just look at how many different baseball anime exist. One wouldn’t claim that One Outs is just a copy of Taisho Baseball Girls, right? 2.43: Seiin High School Boys Volleyball Team is certainly not a clone of one of the most memorable and well-received sports anime in recent memory. Thus far it’s much more a character drama framed by the sport of volleyball. I’ve heard it compared elsewhere to Stars Align or Ping Pong: The Animation, and so far I’d agree with that.

One thing that struck me about this episode is how large a role the setting plays in the situation. The story takes place outside of the big city, in a town which isn’t entirely rural, but doesn’t radiate the constant, hectic stress that comes from living in large urban settings. It also seems like there are fewer opportunities to go around for young people – the karaoke booth where we see Yuni and his cousin Yori is noticeably dated and worn and the building opens directly onto a quiet, snowy road. Yuni’s acquaintances, Yori and some college kids on Spring Break, seem to have an attitude that it’s not worthwhile to try anything seriously (especially something frivolous like volleyball). There’s even an tense undercurrent of bullying that seems built to strip Yuni of any motivation he might have and keep him emotionally in service of these guys. It’s an interesting dynamic; when you have no perspective on the outside world and nowhere to escape, sometimes you start to believe the lies about yourself that self-serving bullies are offering.

Pros: I think the dynamic between the two leads is interesting. They’re both struggling, albeit with different issues (one from being bullied, the other from having been a bully and perhaps not entirely disavowing himself of those tendencies). I think they’re both looking for something purposeful and healing, and whether that turns out to be their investment in the lapsed volleyball team is, I suppose, the question that the narrative will answer. I like that the story so far seems more focused on the internal struggles of the characters rather than something more grandiose.

The animation is also better-than-average. One scene that stuck out to me was when Chika bandaged up his fingers prior to practicing his serves in the school gym. I’m fairly certain that the scene is rotoscoped or closely-referenced to life (a perfectly valid way of animating things, in my opinion), but it’s more the subtlety and specificity of the action that appealed to me and seemed to reflect the director’s philosophy.

Cons: Yuni has a female cousin at his school who thus far radiates a lot of “token girl character” energy (teasing him in ways that could read as mildly sexual and generally behaving intrusively). I hope that she’s either given a more complete role or doesn’t show up very much in the future, because right now she’s just another low-grade bully in Yuni’s life.

Content Warnings: Bullying is the big one here; there are flashbacks to Chika verbally assaulting a teammate at his old school (this scenario also has a reference to attempted suicide on the part of the bullied classmate). Both of Yuni’s cousins, as well as the college students, bully and emotionally-manipulate him in ways that feel very real.

Would I Watch More? – Yes, this was a lot more interesting than I had anticipated. I think it’s easy to get trapped by the fallacy that stories are actively copying one-another, when in fact there are always new stories to tell even if they have similar elements.

Heaven’s Design Team

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Story Summary: God created the heavens and the Earth, the trees, the skies, and the seas. But then ran out of motivation to develop creatures to populate the world, so he outsourced that important work to a special research and development team comprised of angels with different specialties. While some of their ideas for animals might seem far-fetched, through the hard work of developers and engineers, sometimes these prospective creatures prove to have more merit than they may first appear.

Impressions: Our world is populated by millions of different species of animals, some of which seem as though they could never have evolved naturally (even if they actually did – isn’t reality amazing?). But while there might be actual explanations in the world for animals like giraffes and anteaters, the simple fact is they look goofy as heck and it’s fun to speculate about what the thought process could have been. Even if, like me, you don’t really believe in the popular notion of “God,” there’s some emotional comfort in believing that there’s something in control of the whims of the universe even if logically you know it’s not true. I think that’s a big reason I enjoy even the simple concept of this manga and anime series – things are weird and wild in our world because the people in charge of making the decisions are just ding-dongs like us, coming up with hare-brained ideas and getting into workplace conflicts over their merit.

The various angels at work in God’s R&D office each have a quirky affinity or trait that influences their design philosophy. One just wants to create animals that taste good. Another is concerned more with the beauty and elegance of the final designs. One guy’s claim to fame is the invention of the horse, a design which works its way into his every idea. I think we can recognize ourselves in these characters, if not directly, at least as confirmation that we tend to be creatures of habit. This is most definitely a gag series, but the best gags are based in reality, after all.

Pros: I found this episode pretty funny, and a lot of the humor is based around the personalities of the characters. Many of the scenarios are meant to introduce the various angels and the roles within their workgroup, so we get a good sense of what their proclivities are and how they might clash with one-another. With Shimoda, the newest group member, as a focal character, we get some good introductions and a sympathetic perspective on the other characters.

There are real animal facts sprinkled throughout the episode, which are a fun addition. I had no idea that certain tree frogs could speed up their gestation and hatch as tadpoles if under threat.

Cons: This is a Western-style, Christian-centric interpretation of god and the heavens (I don’t think the series is actually religious or shilling a particular religion, but it’s definitely recognizable as one version of creationism) so it may be off-putting to some folks for that reason.

Content Warnings: Due to the subject matter there are depictions of predator and prey relationships (including a snake consuming an unhatched egg, and a newly-hatched bird in peril), as well as references to characters eating meat.

Would I Watch More? – Yes, it was already on my list! I feel like this series has me written all over it and I expect to really enjoy it.

Cells at Work! Code Black

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 13

Source: Manga. Spinoff of Cells at Work!

Story Summary: Our bodies are made up of many different types of cells that all work together in order to ensure the survival of the whole system. That is, as long as the body’s mechanisms are working properly. But in the face of disease, stress, and intoxicants even the most fine-tuned machines can eventually fall into disrepair. We join a newly-graduated red blood cell as he’s forced to shed his idealism about the work he expected to be doing, and accept the reality of delivering oxygen within a body that seems ready to collapse at any moment.

Impressions: The original Cells at Work! series introduced us to a humorous personification of the human body’s various intertwined cellular groups. In a perfect world, our circulatory, muscular, endocrine and other systems all work in complimentary ways to keep our body functioning at the level it is meant to. Unfortunately our world is far from perfect and our bodies tend to reflect that – we get sick, we eat foods that aren’t good for us, we smoke and drink, skimp on physical activity… I’d say the majority of us are not keeping ourselves in tip-top shape (I look in the mirror knowingly). So while the original Cells at Work! is a fun, peppy, and educational look at our biology, Cells at Work! Code Black is a complimentary story that, from its opening moments, serves as a warning against treating our bodies as disposable.

Where the original series would typically cut in several times during an episode to allow for the narrator to explain some of the facts, this series feels much more like an action/drama, to the point that it eschews a lot of the humor and wacky hijinks of the original in favor of building tension and cultivating more grotesque imagery. It also seems to be serving as a commentary on toxic workplace culture; as the new red blood cells start their first day, their classroom trainer throws around a lot of buzzwords regarding work-life balance. In reality, the situation is so dire that even the thought of getting a break from delivering oxygen is a far-off dream. This isn’t to say that the tone is completely doom-and-gloom, but the stakes are obviously higher and the bulk of the episode features our poor main character becoming more and more disillusioned about his place in the world.

Pros: This episode has a more natural way of introducing the factual content of the plot through character dialog as opposed to the original series constantly breaking into the action for a teachingl moment. Neither approach is bad, but since this one seems to put more importance on maintaining a dramatic narrative, the subtler approach works well.

It’s cool to see familiar roles like the white blood cells and macrophages reinterpreted for this environment (though the hardened, world-weary platelets do make me kind of sad. My babies!).

Cons: For some reason, the white blood cells are almost exclusively depicted as women with their shirts open, which is distracting in that there’s at least one moment that feels more like a fanservice anime because of it.

I don’t know if this is an error or what, but the Funimation subtitles don’t translate any of the on-screen text. There’s not a lot of it, but it was obvious to me that something was missing.

Content Warnings: There’s a lot of violence in this show, as one might expect (lots of viruses getting chopped in half and other cells getting stabbed, torn up, etc.). Blood sprays are frequent. There’s some body horror when red blood cells are affected by carbon monoxide.

Would I Watch More? – Yes, I love this edutainment series. I’ve been looking forward to this spinoff for a long time.