Winter 2021 – Anime Watch-List

I don’t talk about this in detail very often, but in the grand scheme of things I do watch quite a bit of anime as compared to at least some of my peers. Much of it lately has been in “catching-up” mode, marathoning a lot of single cour series in one go over a couple of evenings to fill in the gaps from this past year. This is the first season in a while where I’ve had the presence of mind and the time to stay on top of broadcast anime, the consequence of which is that I’m following a lot of anime this Winter. But that doesn’t mean that I’m giving everything equal weight – there are some anime that I’ve started to look forward to and for which I carve out some time, while there are others that I’m having fun watching but might delay or even drop if my circumstances change. I thought it would be an entertaining (perhaps mildly horrifying) exercise to outline what’s-what, in case anyone else is following along.

Disclaimer: these are just my own opinions, and based on only a few episodes in some cases. This list is subject to change in light of potential future story developments in any of these series.

The Keepers

These are the anime I look forward to watching each week, and for which I always intend to make time to the best of my ability:

The Promised Neverland season 2 – When the first season came to a close, I was immediately ready for more of this series. The first couple of weeks have been a satisfying reintroduction to this suspenseful story.

Now that the anime adaptation is departing from the manga (or so I’ve heard people say about episode 3 which aired the day I’m writing this), I may not be able to resist reading the manga after this season comes to a close. But for right now the anime’s story stands on its own for me and I look forward to it every week.

Attack On Titan: The Final Season – Some have said that AoT has overburdened itself with bleakness these past couple of seasons, and especially after its most recent episode; I can respect that interpretation, as well as criticisms about the manga’s and anime’s use of loaded visual symbolism and metaphor. But through it all the story has just been incredibly compelling to me, and I’m almost always waiting at my computer right when the new episode drops.

Laid-Back Camp season 2 – I just love this series for its soothing atmosphere and its kindhearted characters. One thing that my therapist tells me is that it can be helpful when you’re feeling poorly to “go be in nature,” even if that’s just going for a walk. It’s pretty darned cold where I am at the moment, so that’s not always what I feel like doing. But with its focus on detailed backgrounds, especially natural ones like trees, mountain roads, and grassy campgrounds, this series manages to fill a small part of that void for me.

Wonder Egg Priority – I’ve been consistently impressed by this series over its first two weeks, not just for the quality of its animation and sound design, but for the sensitivity of its characterizations and ability to portray social anxiety and regret in devastatingly realistic ways – ones which neither vilify nor excuse its protagonist’s actions. It’s a fantasy grounded in emotional reality, and I’ve really begun to form a real connection with the narrative.

Otherside Picnic – This series might not be quite as pretty as some of the others, nor as emotionally-intense (though it can be a little intense when it comes to the action!), but it combines so many other things I enjoy – competent, personable heroines, mysterious settings, urban legends, creepy creatures – that I find myself really drawn to the series and excited to watch more of it. It was early out of the gate and hasn’t disappointed yet.

The Standouts

These are anime that I watch with slightly less urgency, but still enjoy a lot and plan to complete (barring any horribly offensive surprises):

Cells at Work!! – This series has always been a fun watch and something a little lighter I can squeeze in between the heavier or more emotionally complex anime I’m watching. And, fun fact: I have a friend who teaches anatomy at a local college, and they’ve used clips from this series to help supplement those lessons, so you know the science is accurate (even if there’s some visual embellishment and artistic interpretation of the actual processes).

Cells at Work! Code Black – Speaking of “heavier or more emotionally complex,” it’s amusing to me that this season’s darker counterpart to Cells at Work!! is one of the heaviest things I’m watching currently. I expected some violence and perhaps some sad stories, but wasn’t really prepared for things like sperm children being sent off to surely die without fulfilling their life’s only purpose. Anyway, this spin off is interesting in a different way from its predecessor and they make a decent pairing, but I definitely wouldn’t want to be watching this series in isolation.

2.43 Seiin High School Boys Volleyball – Who’s a sucker for sports anime that’s more about dealing with the emotional tumult of navigating life than the technical aspects of any given sport? It’s-a-me. I’ve enjoyed the bittersweet feeling of this anime’s first couple of episodes and am really interested in seeing how the characters navigate high school, especially after their painful defeat in episode 2.

Horimiya – Aside from one inexplicably nasty moment in the first episode where a creepy teacher makes off-color “jokes” about a female student, this romantic comedy has been a real winner in my book. Funny and heartwarming in turn, it’s been one of the few romance anime series lately where I’ve felt a very strong, personal need for the two leads to get together as a couple. I think this speaks to the quality of the writing, as well as the artfulness of the characterization. I’m looking forward to watching where these kids end up.

Heaven’s Design Team – This is another series I’m watching that falls under the header of “lighthearted, funny series which helps offset some of the doom-and-gloom other series are dishing out.” Each member of the diverse cast has lovable quirks that make their quest for design perfection into an amusing journey. I have a lot of affection for each of them already. And bonus – I’ve also learned a few fun animal facts in the process.

So I’m a Spider, So What? – This is the kind of silly isekai storytelling that I can get behind – a scrappy heroine makes the best of her frankly ridiculous situation, becoming the overpowered arachnid that she was always meant to be (or something like that). My favorite parts of the episode are the ones the focus on Kumoko, because watching someone improve through their own ingenuity is satisfying to me. But I do wonder what will happen when she eventually meets up with her reincarnated classmates… Anyway, some folks aren’t feeling the RPG grinding mechanics and I get that, but in this case that doesn’t bother me. The basic premise is so over-the-top that it’s fun to see what sort of challenges and gains Kumoko might end up experiencing next.

Kemono Jihen – I love being surprised, and this series has really surprised me so far. There are aspects that I’d describe as being “so shounen they hurt,” (Shiki especially feels like a typical shounen rival character to me), but the supernatural focus of the story, as well as Kabane as a character, have got me feeling very engaged and excited to see more.

Back Arrow – I’m a big fan of anime-original stories, especially from creators who have a track record of success. When those creators are associated with properties like Code Geass and Promare, one definitely expects their shared creation to be bombastic and over-the-top, which the first couple of episodes have proven out. I’ve been looking forward to this wild ride every week so far.

SK8 The Infinity – Speaking of creators with proven track records, after Free! and Banana Fish, Hiroko Utsumi seems to be doing pretty well for herself. This has by no means been the smartest sports anime this season, but it definitely is the most off-the-wall. With its great animation and fun characters, I’ve really been enjoying it so far.

The Suspects

These are series I find interesting (“academically” or otherwise), but which for various reasons I suspect I may end up dropping at some point (especially since some of them are obviously… well, troubled productions that I’ve been eyeballing just for fun):

Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki – This series was a bit iffy for me at the outset, mostly because it seemed to be trying to oversimplify the nuances of social interaction in order to suggest that one could “win” at the game. The second episode proved a good understanding of how complicated things can be, but therein lies my apprehension; are these types of social situations really that complicated or, much in the same way that some men insist that women are more “complicated” beings that they can never hope to properly comprehend, is our hero just that disengaged from socializing due to some prejudice? (Fun fact: women are human beings the same way that men are; amazing, I know). It’s a tightrope, for sure. I’m curious but not especially optimistic about this one, but very willing to be proven wrong.

Gekidol – This is the idol series I am watching this season, and so far it’s turned out to be a bit more than meets the eye. Its setting is an intriguing mystery to me, and its willingness to at least examine some subject matter (including sex work, which actually does come up in episode 3 after there being some off-color gags about it previously) has kept things interesting. The main protagonist is still a marshmallow so in that sense it hasn’t been a must-follow series. But I keep finding myself wandering back with each week’s new episode, so I guess we’ll see how it goes.

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation – Ah, the series with discourse that’s surprisingly been more fraught than even Redo of Healer. I’ve certainly found some material to enjoy in this series’ first couple of episodes, but in the interim I’ve been witness to some of the worst lolicon apologia I’ve seen in a long time from certain sectors of the anime fandom; discourse that’s really been hurting and isolating folks I know and respect. I think for me personally, the unwillingness of some loud minorities of the fandom to examine the actions of the protagonist under a critical lens, or their willingness to dubiously explain away the things he does as secondary to the story’s high points is what drags me down. I’ve been in many situations where echoes of my own experiences with sexual assault creep into anime storytelling, and people gleefully “devil’s advocate” their way into some truly heinous arguments that only really serve to remind those of us with trauma that the fandom we love is not a place where we can feel safe without caveats. Truly disappointing.

I suspect I’ll have something lengthier to say about this coming up soon.

Scar on the Praeter – In other news, this series is kind of terrible in the way I can enjoy without feeling too guilty – the writing’s bad, the animation is detailed but in all the wrong ways, and the characters have a pretty terrible case of same-face syndrome. It’s about par for the course for Studio GoHands, which just does its own thing and seems to pretty much get away with it. This is my junk food this season, for sure.

Skate-Leading Stars – So, I keep hoping that the protagonist of this series will develop some humility, but four episodes in and it hasn’t happened yet in any substantial amount. That’s really the main reason that this series isn’t ranked higher up on my list. It had the advantage of an early broadcast (in the US at least) which meant that I got committed to it early on, but I’m beginning to feel like it’s not going to develop into the kind of story that I wish it could be (which is more my problem than its own, honestly).

Suppose a Kid From the Last Dungeon Boonies… – As cute and sweet as the protagonist is, I’ve found myself becoming distracted while watching this series. Even considering some of the action-oriented, character-related twists going on at the end of the last episode, I still wasn’t that engaged. The humor has been mostly a miss for me, too. I might give it a couple more episodes to turn things around.

Wave!! – Let’s Go Surfing – This show is kind of fun and probably not as close to getting dropped as some others on the list; it just hasn’t really expressed the sort of deeper character focus that I’ve enjoyed from 2.43 Volleyball and others in the recent past. I think I’ve also been put off by the lack of information about its release; I use AniList as my main anime tracking tool now, and as of the last time I checked it wasn’t listing the TV re-edit of the film series on which this is drawn (MAL, however, lists it at 12 episodes). Overall, though, the first two episodes have been pleasant.

EX-ARM – My husband looked mildly ashamed when he caught me watching episode 2, and admittedly I’m feeling like it was kind of a waste of time; it just reinforced the fact that its handlers don’t know much about what makes anime good. But I’m having trouble committing to dropping the show simply because it’s so wrong that I feel like I should bear witness. People will likely not be talking about it for very long after it’s over and done with, so now’s the time, you know?

Vlad Love – I wasn’t that impressed by the first episode, and there won’t be any more until at least mid-February, so I’m slotting it here for now. I have to admit, any time some old anime curmudgeon laments the current state of anime storytelling I get a little irritated, even if that person is a well-respected anime director. Especially if what they then offer is not really that different or groundbreaking in any way. I’d implore Oshii to watch some Wonder Egg Priority before coming back and complaining about modern anime. Anyway, I’m definitely planning to give this show a little more of a chance, but it’ll be a while until that’s a possibility.

Already Dropped

These are shows I’ve already dropped for reasons of either being underwhelmed by their premieres, or specifically put off by their content:

Dr. Ramune: Mysterious Disease Specialist – The titular character really grates on me, and that’s primarily what this boils down to. He’s a doctor dealing with folks whose ailments confound modern medicine, so they come to him already in a panic, yet his bedside manner is just deplorable. Well, the guy with the chikuwa penis kind of deserved it… The end portion of the second episode is also really disgusting and introduces a character who looks like a little girl but is actually an adult in spirit. For various reasons I have a lack of tolerance for that kind of thing, especially if it’s used as a source of “comedy.”

Hortensia Saga – There was honestly nothing terrible about the first episode of this series, and I liked the primary conceit of the deposed princess living her life in disguise as a squire (to presumably return triumphantly sometime during the story’s climax). I was just left with an empty feeling after watching it and never felt compelled to go back. It did make we want to go back and revisit Yona of the Dawn, though, which I never managed to finish. Win?

I*Chu – A bluntly straightforward idol series with too many characters and music that didn’t really appeal to me. When an anime feels too much like a game that I haven’t played, I know that it’s probably the best choice to bail.

Idoly Pride – Some might wonder why I dropped this idol series rather than Gekidol; this one clearly had the better intro episode and a somewhat more bonkers twist. To be honest, I’m not a big fan of “girl dies to help guy with his character development” stories, so despite the fact that our dead girl still exists as a ghost, the twist left me feeling a little burned all the same. Also, see I*Chu above for “too many characters and music that didn’t really appeal to me.”

LBX Girls – Trying to turn a franchise about a kids toy line into a mecha musume romp with otaku appeal seems like a very cynical, calculating move to me, and the first episode of this series was so bluntly strange that I wasn’t interested in watching more of it. I almost wish it had been goofier; then it might have been more notable.

Redo of Healer – “You knew what I was when you met me,” said the scorpion to the frog.

I wasn’t planning to watch any more of this anyway because I knew of the content that was set to appear starting with episode 2. Skimming some blog posts written about the second episode only reaffirmed how sound my decision-making was. Considering the amount of arguments I’ve seen explaining and defending the main character’s actions… well, let’s just say this is a bit of anime discourse that I wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole. Internal plot explanations as defense against external objections just don’t fly with me, thanks.

The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter – It’s rare for me to find an ecchi anime that I feel has some merit beyond just being horny, and this ain’t it. When your most interesting character is the hot woman who’s literally imprisoned in a dungeon and can only interact through telepathy, that’s an issue for me. When your protagonist thinks it’s cool beans to make magical alterations to his childhood friend’s body without asking her, that’s an issue for me. It’s by no means the nastiest show this season, but I’m still not keen on navigating a bunch of hurdles to watch something that isn’t trying to appeal to me in the first place.

So what series are you keeping up with this season? Let me know what your “standouts” or “keepers” are!