Winter 2021 New Anime – Premieres for Sunday, January 10th, 2021

By the time this is posted, it’ll be Friday. This week has been a long one, mostly because I’ve been kind of sick, working from home with no change in scenery, and hoping that I don’t end up feeling worse before I get better. On the plus side, I’ve been sleeping a lot better than I have in a long time. I have a cat, whom I love very much, but she has a bad habit of waking up around 4:30am and deciding that’s when my husband and I should also wake up. She’s also one of the loudest cats I’ve ever had the pleasure to know so there’s no ignoring her when she starts her morning routine. Luckily she’s dialed it back a little bit lately and instead of pawing at my face with her foot to get me up, has been a lot more willing to curl up and go back to sleep on the bed with me.

The better sleep quality has the added benefit of allowing my thoughts to remain more coherent (at least I think they are; the jury’s still out on whether other folks agree). While I still have a bad tendency to get distracted while I’m writing (I’m blaming the internet for being so interesting all the time!), at least I’ve been able to write.

Just as a note: after this batch the premieres start trickling off a little bit so premiere dates might be combined into fewer posts.

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

Kemono Jihen
Idoly Pride
Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation

Kemono Jihen

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: TBA

Source: Manga

Story Summary: Supernatural Detective Inugami is summoned to a small rural town to investigate the periodic slaughter of various livestock. The neighborhood kids are all excited to meet someone from the big city, but Inugami is mostly interested in a loner kid nicknamed “Dorotabo” who’s been shunned by the others. Dorotabo is told he smells bad and has been relegated to field work because of it. As Inugami gets to know him he discerns more about this sensitive kid’s background; he was not abandoned as he’s been told, but is actually the product of the relationship between a human (his adoptive mother’s older sister) and a ghoul. In a tense moment his true nature is revealed. Dorotabo (whose actual name is Kabane) asks to be killed, but though he was hired to do just that, Inugami has other plans.

Impressions: Each anime season is full of surprises, and in a twist that will surprise no one, Kemono Jihen is yet another anime series that I didn’t have on my radar, but which came blazing out of the gate with a great first episode. It’s well known by now that I enjoy supernatural anime, especially stories that deal directly with Japanese folklore – yokai, mononoke, those sorts of monsters and ghosts with specific ties to Japanese myth. There are lots of stories about the folly of humans and supernatural beings trying to have relationships, and Kabane is obviously a result of that. Yet I’m heartened by Inugami’s warm, welcoming nature and the way he seems to have the potential to provide a sense of family for Kabane, who’s never had that in his life.

This episode ran me through a lot of different emotions. I think it’s probably good luck that I happened to watch it so soon after reviewing Dr. Ramune, because I feel like there are similarities in the subject matter between the two that this one handles much more deftly. The bullying and abuse that Kabane suffers is more insidious and less over-the-top; it just feels more genuine in relations to how things tend to play out in real life. There’s also some pretty shocking and sobering violence (including a literal murder attempt that Kabane’s cousin admits to) that makes everything seem more consequential. It’s definitely not going to be for everyone due to the content, but it’s a visceral experience that gives a good sense of Kabane’s situation.

Pros: I like Inugami’s manner with Kabane, in that he gets to know him and develops a relationship with him in order to discern the actual truth of the situation he was hired to “deal with.” I think there’s a sense that the other characters (especially Yataro, Kabane’s cousin) are very used to defining their situation in a certain way that suits their own definition of reality, so it’s cool to see someone cut through the BS in a gentle way like that.

This is also a really nice-looking premiere. The character art is appealing and the portrayal of the rural setting is lush. The violence is grotesque in just the right way.

Cons: The violence may be off-putting for some folks (I was somewhat shocked by some of it, even though that doesn’t typically weigh into my overall perception of a series unless it’s needlessly cruel or perverse).

Content Warnings: Child abuse (psychological). Bullying (including physical violence, sometimes extreme). Gore (dismembered/disemboweled animals, a flashback to a child’s corpse in a gutter).

Would I Watch More? – Yes, I’m interested to see how the next few episodes are, especially since this show wasn’t on my radar at all before this.

Idoly Pride

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Multimedia Project

Story Summary: Mana Nagase had big aspirations for herself. In high school she became an idol contracted with Hoshimi Productions and brought her friend Makino along as her manager. Her rise to fame was meteoric, and her sudden accidental death was a huge blow to both the industry and Makino himself. Three years later, still working for Hoshino Productions, Makino gets ready to audition a new group of prospective idols, including Mana’s younger sister. By his side is Mana, albeit as an apparition only he can perceive.

Impressions: I’m always a little amused when something I think I have pegged goes and pulls a fast one on me. This seems like a pretty standard idol series, especially if you focus on the cold-opening that introduces a bunch of girls all at once, or the last couple of minutes which talk about a large-scale audition (likely for that same bunch of girls). The middle section provides a backstory for the company and Makino, its resident idol manager. It’s a decent little pocket story about love and loss that hits the typical tragic romance beats. And then our beloved lost idol reappears as an honest-to-goodness, non-symbolic (that we know of) ghost. In an anime landscape peppered with idol anime, that’s definitely one way to stick out from the pack. It’s a brief, small variance in the formula, but it’s enough to provide a small moment of joy.

Besides that, though, I get the feeling that this episode is really trying to be something it’s not ultimately meant to be. It’s presented artfully in ultra-widescreen and plays up the romanticism of the situation – the tentative words and accidental hand-holding that begins the characters’ relationship, Mana’s rise to fame through the competitive idol system, told through montage, the will-they-or-won’t they pull of Mana’s and Makino’s relationship – but as soon as I think about each girl at the beginning of the episode chirping “hai!” in response to her name during role call or the poppy ED with synchronized dancing and coordinated costumes, I’m reminded that there are just too many characters looking too alike one-another for there to be much of a draw for me as an anime viewer. It was a good, solid try, though.

Pros: This is a pretty good-looking episode. The letterboxing is a little bit gimmicky, but it does a lot to make Makino’s memory of Mana feel personal and artful. The character designs are all very nice, even if many of the characters look very similar to one-another.

I do think that Mana’s ghost, if she sticks around, is a fun character. She seems to have a good sense of humor about her situation.

Cons: There’s a lot about this episode that feels standard for an idol series, including the large roster of characters who I know I’d have trouble keeping straight.

It’s a little disappointing to me whenever a man’s story (and his man-pain) are defined by a woman’s untimely death.

Would I Watch More? – No, I’m not interested enough to keep up with it. It doesn’t seem bad, just not compelling to me personally.

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 11

Source: Light Novel

Story Summary: A 34-year-old shut-in finds himself at the wrong end of a truck’s bumper, and as he dies he’s reincarnated into the body of a newborn baby with his mental faculties intact. He’s now become Rudeus, the son of two former adventurers and slowly becomes acclimated to his new world. As he grows and learns to read, he discovers that magic is a reality in his current world. Even better, he might have an aptitude for it. After blowing the side off of their cottage, his parents hire a magic tutor to hone Rudy’s skills more constructively. Roxy, the only person who answers the job posting, is initially skeptical, but when she learns that Rudy is able to cast spells without using an incantation, she starts to think that teaching him might be a worthwhile pursuit.

Impressions: As much as I try to avoid commentary prior to watching new anime, if you travel the same circles that I do you tend to hear about which series are the most controversial whether you’re looking to or not. Anime, like other media, but often worse, has a problem with unquestioned sexism, racism, and other unsavory things showing up within otherwise good stories. For some viewers it’s “just fiction,” but for others (like me) these types of things are more troubling. Mushoku Tensei, like other stories that have since used it as a template, follows an adult character who exists in the body of a child; this lends itself to moments of humor, as well as more uncomfortable scenarios that play off of the disconnect between what one expects of a child and what the child-bodied adult is thinking. This disconnect is enhanced in this case by the fact that the adult in Rudy’s shell has spent 20-something years as a shut-in, not caring very much about social propriety or even more specifically about the distinct personhood of the women whose bodies he decides to comment on as if they are objects in some game he’s playing.

This is simply to say that there are some very uncomfortable moments in this episode. Rudy’s internal commentator sexualizes (or attempts to sexualize) breastfeeding; something that in real life has gotten women harassed in public for breastfeeding their babies. As a literal infant, he creeps on his family’s maid and steals underwear from the laundry. He speculates about Roxy’s body and implies it’s more attractive if she’s too young to have pubic hair. As lush and beautiful as this episode is, it’s difficult to enjoy the level of craft when it’s in service of someone who’s got such a vile outlook on life. And yet, there’s a part of me that wonders if this isn’t a Madoka Magica situation. After that series aired, there were tons of copycats that seemed to latch on to the appeal of the “dark magical girl” aesthetic, but didn’t understand the thematic and emotional pull of the show they were attempting to ape. “Let’s put cute magical girls in dire situations, because people like that sort of thing.” Recent years have seen such a rash of isekai anime with absolute shitheads as protagonists; people who arrive in another world where their sole character arc is to be OP and get revenge. The protagonist of this series is currently a stale turd, to be sure, but perhaps unlike many stories it spawned, this one may be a story of redemption and reflection.

Hey, I can dream, right?

Pros: This is a nice-looking premiere with some moments of very cool animation. I think the part that sticks out to me the most happens when Rudeus is casting water spells. There’s a cool 360 degree camera pan as he powers up that’s very cool to watch.

I think Rudeus’ parents are interesting characters, and I’d love to learn more about their adventuring days. I think it’s odd to see anime parents that are both present and who actually seem to still like one-another (and boy do they enjoy one-another’s company). I’m guessing as the series goes on they won’t really be involved, but I felt they were a good anchor point for this episode and kind of wish that they were the focus instead.

Cons: I’ve spent a long time talking about it already, but the protagonist’s inner monologue is a problem. I think there are ways to indicate someone’s experienced the kind of social isolation that he clearly has without being specifically awful to groups of people; it’s a bigger challenge than just throwing out nasty commentary about women, but the end result is better.

Content Warnings: Brief fanservice (panty shot). An (apparent) infant leering at women and stealing underwear. Sexualization of breastfeeding. References to one character as a “loli” with associated commentary about her body.

Would I Watch More? – So… I think I will at least for a few episodes to see if the internal monologue gets less terrible. I’m surprisingly not as passionately upset about the episode as some other folks I respect, even though logically I feel like it’s very deserving of a lot of the ire; I think maybe I’m just too tired to get worked up about it right now. In any case, I’m curious enough about it that I’d like to see what the follow-through is like.