New year, new decade – but this schedule is looking very familiar.

Winter 2020 strikes me as an oddball of a season in some respects. Superficially it’s very generic – overloaded as it is with LN adaptations (isekai especially), idol series and cute girl navel-gazing (the holy trinity of bad anime in the 2010s). But there are a couple of aspects to the schedule that strike me as unusual. In the first place, there are relatively few sequels by recent standards. It makes sense that sequels have proliferated in recent years – production committees have increasingly disdained risk in favor of the safe and familiar, and nothing fits that bill better than a sequel. Reflexively we might say that the paucity of sequels is a good thing, but when one looks at the percentage of good shows that have been sequels in recent years, it gives you pause.

Another thing that stands out to me is the uncertainty factor. I was actually surprised I ended up previewing as many series as I did for this season, given how poor I expected this season to be based on series announcements. But there are no (well- maybe one) real elites at the top, and the bulk of this post is comprised of shows I would consider boom or bust. Less sequels aligning with more uncertainty certainly makes sense, but even the new series this season seem to collectively defy confident prediction more than in most seasons.

As to the question of volume, for one season at least the steady decline in the number of series produced for TV seems to have slowed a bit. This winter has 40 shows as opposed to 43 in Winter 2019, but after the steady 25-30% drop in year-over-year production we’ve been seeing, that’s a much smaller decline. I’ll be interested to see whether the rest of 2020 continues to roughly mirror 2019’s production – if so, that’s an indication that whatever the root causes are (overtaxed production infrastructure being a prime candidate) may be abating.

As always I peer at the schedule and try to see genre trends, and some – the endless stream of broadly isekai LN and game adaptations and an industry growing increasingly desperate looking for ludicrous ways to spin CGDCT – are obviously thriving. I think we’re seeing a general hardening of audience targeting – hentai is more overt than ever, isekai more isekai. As well, there seem to be fewer and fewer realistic shows – series with no sci-fi, fantasy or magical realism elements. Everything has to have a hook these days it seems – and while some of those shows are fantastic (pretty much all of my top picks for Winter fall under one of those umbrellas) this trend makes me appreciate series like Kono Oto Tomare and Hi Score Girl that much more.

With that, let’s move on to the preview.  As usual, the poll is in the sidebar – please go vote!

 

 

Highest Expectations:

Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun – Lerche: (PV) Hanako-kun was one of the manga I hit on in my 2019 anime announcement prediction (I got Beastars too, and I thought I had Ao Ashi but that turned out to be a stage play).  One of the indicators of a manga’s impact which you almost never hear about unless you’re in Japan is how bookstore staff feel about it.  I noticed early on that this one always seemed to be prominently merchandised even without publisher marketing displays, even before it became a modest hit.  Booksellers love Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun, and that’s one of my favorite leading indicators for future adaptation (as well as a source for manga to pick up myself).

Not to oversell it, but I kind of knew there was something special about Aida Iro’s manga before I even started reading it.  The art is special, the wit and intelligence is special, the presentation is special.  The “Toilet Bound Hanako” myth is of course a common “seven school mysteries” entry, but the twist here is that Hanako is a boy.  He grants wishes, which is what draws an occult-loving girl to contact him, but… that doesn’t really tell the whole story.  Everything about Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun is more than you expect it to be.  It has a good staff at Lerche, and has dodged the ABKY (Anybody But Kaji Yuuki) bullet by casting Ogata Megumi (!) as Hanako-kun.  I’d love to have more than one cour, but I’m thrilled this brilliant manga is coming to the screen.

 

 

Mid-table:

Dorohedoro – Mappa: (PV) After no less then five shows in the “Highest Expectations” category in fall we have only the one here, which certainly reflects my overall lower expectations for winter.  But it’s a decent Mid-table shelf, at least in terms of series that seem to have a lot of upside.  Chief among that group for me is Dorohedoro, though there are enough question marks that I can’t quite bump it up to the top level.  While the Dorohedroro manga is certainly much-loved, it’s 23 volumes (ending in 2018) and we’ve received no announcement on episode count – and the flood of truncated adaptations of completed manga in recent years has produced mixed results.  The anime is also Netflix, with the challenges that implies, and the preview was pretty CGI-heavy.

For all that, it’s still a critically-acclaimed seinen horror-fantasy and for that alone Dorohedoro is one of this season’s frontrunners.  A gritty and dark story of a desolate slum whose residents are exploited by magic-users and the deformed (by magic) man who hunts them and searches for a means to restore his humanity, Dorohedoro is not a mass-produced model.  The staff looks more functional than brilliant and there are certainly yellow flags which you ignore at your own peril, but if this series gets the time to really tell the manga’s story effectively (which seems like a longshot, if we’re honest) Dorehedoro has a chance to be one of 2020’s best.

Pet – Geno Studio.: (PV) Originally scheduled for fall, Pet finally hits the screen in January.  Anime’s current trend of adapting long-finished source material is showing no signs of abating, and while it does frustrate me sometimes when I see so many great current manga crying out for adaptations, the obvious upside is that we get anime like Pet. I haven’t read Miyake Ranjou’s 2003 manga but it’s very well-regarded, and has already inspired a stage play. At 5 volumes, it should be a good fit for a single cour anime.

Pet is the story of a group of psychics who can effectively possess people and manipulate their memories. Use of this ability has a corrosive effect on the sanity of both victim and perp, and the users are exploited by nefarious types seeking to profit from their ability. With Oomori Takahiro directing and longtime collaborator Murai Sadayuki writing, there’s no reason to think this adaptation won’t bring out the best in the material.

Somali to Mori no Kamisama – Satelight: (PV) I don’t know a whole lot about this series, except that the manga is regarded as pretty good and the previews have been quite impressive. The story of a golem and a little girl’s friendship in a world where humans are persecuted to near-extinction by creatures of faerie, Somali to Mori no Kamisama looks as if it almost be high fantasy. Yasuda Kenji is a very experienced and pretty solid director and there’s a good staff list here generally. As long as Somali doesn’t disappear too for down the sinkhole of cute girl navel-gazing it looks like it has a chance to be pretty good and pretty distinctive.

Haikyuu!!: To the Top – Production I.G.: (PV) Everyone’s favorite exclamation points are back for a fourth season.  Honestly there aren’t many surprises at this point – Haikyuu has been remarkably consistent through its first three seasons and if it’s your bag, you’re probably not in need of any convincing.  I enjoy this series a lot, even if it doesn’t quite reach the level of truly elite sports shounen for me.  The one exception to that are the visuals, which I would argue are probably the most lavish for any sports anime in TV history.

Runway de Waratte – Ezόla (PV) Runway de Waratte is another one in that Somali category for me – a generally well-regarded manga I know almost nothing about.  This time the story follows a high school girl who dreams of being a model and her male classmate who dreams of designing clothes but drops out of school to support his family.  The studio is relatively unknown Ezόla and the staff has no marquee names, but the premise here sounds kind of interesting and not too familiar.  Maybe a hint of a sleeper vibe with this one.

 

 

Modestly Interested:

Magia Record: Mahou Shoujo Madoka☆Magica Gaiden – Shaft: (PV) This is the tier with most of the traffic, but that’s just the sort of season this is.  A return to the Church of Madoka is certainly interesting, but I see little reason to expect much from this sequel.  I liked the first season (it made my Top 10 in 2011) but the story had pretty much run its course – and I think Urobuchi Gen feels the same way.  Gen properties post-Gen have a pretty ugly track record, and Shaft has become even more of an ouroboros of Shaft-isms over the past 8 years.  No question Madoka Magica is a cultural phenomenon as much as an anime, but in 2020 that and $1.80 will get you a tall drip at Starbucks.

Eizouken ni wa Te wo Dasu na! – Science SARU: (PV) There’s no question that Yuasa Masaaki – and equally, the team (including Eunyoung Choi) of disciples working under him – is a formidable creative force in anime.  But they’re not automatics for me – I take Yuasa on a case-by-case basis because while his talent always clicks with me, his sensibility doesn’t.  I confess I’m a bit puzzled as to why a director with so much clout and theatrical success should choose what strikes me as a very mediocre manga as his next TV project – I don’t think Eizouken is terrible or anything, but it reads as very pedestrian plucky girls make anime feed corn.  But who knows, maybe it gets a lot better after the first four chapters.

Kyokou Suiri – Brain’s Base: (PV) It’s always nice to get a reminder that Brain’s Base still exists, even as a shadow of its former stature.  This manga adaptation is a fantasy about a teenage girl who was kidnapped at 11 and made a “God of Wisdom” by faerie creatures, who took her eye and arm and still nag her to mediate and troubleshoot for them.  There are some other interesting elements here – a relationship between the heroine and an older college student with his own troubled past among them.  The glory days of Brain’s Bast are long past, but the cast and staff are pretty good and Kyokou Suiri is a genuinely interesting manga that defies cliche a good bit of the time.  Maybe a sleeper.

ID:Invaded – TROYCA: (PV) Original sci-fi anime from name director Aoki Ei and mangaka Maijou Outarou.  Not too much is known about the plot except it involves a detective (by law, played by Tsuda Kenjirou) in a virtual world trying to solve the murder of a young girl.  Could be anywhere from great to awful and will most likely be somewhere in-between, but Aoki directing an original is enough to at least get a trial run.

Darwin’s Game – Nexus : (PV) Honestly the survival game genre is far from a favorite of mine.  But hey, the general consensus seems to be that the manga isn’t terrible so I’ll give Darwin’s Game an episode or two to do something interesting.

number24 – PRA: (PV) Is it me, or does it seem like there are a lot of little-known studios handling production this season?  number24 seems to be displaying odd timing as a rugby manga premiering right after the World Cup ends, but maybe the production committee is banking on that event causing a lasting spike in the sports’ popularity in Japan.  Pluses: original sports anime aren’t all that common, nor are sports series set at the university level.  The first name I check with original series is not the director but the writer, and Nakase Rika is at least experienced.  No expectations either way, but anime can always use another good sports series.

Housekishou Richard-shi no Nazo Kantei – Shuka: (PV) The Case Files of Jeweler Richard is based on a light novel, which certainly lowers expectations, but at least it’s jousei.  Sounds more or less like the sort of modern detective story that’s so trendy in anime lately – a British jeweler and a genius college student solve mysteries together.  I’ve heard no indication that the source material is especially well-regarded but Iwasaki Tarou is a good director, so we’ll give it a shot.

Boku no Tonari ni Ankoku Hakaishin ga Imasu. – EMT Squared: (PV) Another chuunibyou comedy, this time an adaptation of a manga I’d not heard of.  The straight man this time is a guy, who tries not to let the extremely chuubyou classmate he gets tangled up with wreck his normal school life.  A long shot at best, if I’m honest.

Oshi ga Budoukan Ittekuretara Shinu – 8bit: (PV) I’m probably nuts to even be in the game here – a series about a girl who loves an idol so much she says she’d die to see her play at the Budokan?  But I’m here for 8bit – they’re an interesting studio and have done some little gems (Shounen Maid, Miira no Kaikata, Hoshiai no Sora).  Shounen Maid (and NHK no Youkoso!) director Yamamoto Yuusuke is in charge here.

 

Will Definitely Blog: Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun, Haikyuu!!: To the Top 

Sleepers: Runway de Waratte, Kyokou Suiri

 

 

OVA:

Slim to say the least.

Haikyuu!! – Riku vs. Kuu – 01/22/20: (PV) Two episode OVA adapting part of volumes 22 and 23.  This is actually the Jump Festa special so the premiere will be in late December.

ACCA: 13-ku Kansatsu-ka – Regards – 02/14/20: (PV) Set one year after the events of the TV series/manga.  Seems to be original material.

Haikyuu!! – 03/04/20: (PV) 10 short eps of stop-motion animation bundled with the manga.

Chuubyou Gekihatsu Boy Special- 03/25/20: Unaired episode bundled with Vol. 4 of the Blu-rays.

 

 

 

Theatrical:

Much less crowded (and interesting) than fall.

Made in Abyss Movie 3: Fukaki Tamashii no Reimei – 01/17/20: (PV) After two recap movies, Made in Abyss finally gets down to new business with “Fukashi Tamashii no Reimei”.  The Bondrewd arc – teased by the last few eps of the TV series – is very much in focus here.  I’ve been struck by how much hype this movie is getting in Japan, but then I never expected Made in Abyss to be popular in the first place so don’t go by me.  I don’t pay to see recap movies just on principle, but the opportunity to see Kinema Citrus tackle this material on the big screen is impossible for me to pass up.

Ongaku – 01/20: Ongaku is kind of a flyer for me but it looks interesting.  Three punks with no musical experience start a band – that’s all I know, really, except it’s based on a manga.