If Fall 2020 was all about the positive side of anime returning to normalcy, Winter 2021 confirms the flipside to that.

Just to be clear, the pandemic is still raging in Japan, just as it is in most countries.  The country is seeing record daily new case counts and hospitalizations are up.  But the government, never aggressive in addressing the problem, is even more AWOL than it was in the spring.  There’s no State of Emergency or voluntary lockdowns this time – just a lot of vague messaging and a plaintive hope this will all go away in time for the already-delayed Summer Olympics next year, while the laughably misguided (and named) Go To Travel campaign lingers on.

In line with the general mirage of normalcy, anime seems to be back on a basically normal production schedule.  There are 49 new series on the docket by my count, which is actually up a tick from the last couple of winters – the result of some delayed 2020 premieres carrying over to 2021.  If there are significant pandemic-related delays they’re the exception rather than the rule at this point, though the industry has certainly had to make some allowances to help control the spread (especially in voice recording and compositing).

But boy, is this ever a generic anime schedule, even by 2020’s standards.  Winter 2021 looks like what anime was becoming before the pandemic hit, and that’s certainly a troubling thing to confront.  A ton of sequels to mediocre series, a ton of LN adaptations, a smattering of interesting nuggets hidden here and there (and one genuine tentpole).  I usually manage to preview about a third of the shows on a schedule (though I’ve had to be less picky in recent years to do it) but I couldn’t even muster that with this group.

My main hope going into the season is Horimiya.  That an adaptation was so unexpected only makes the prospect more tantalizing, and amps up the tension.  Beyond that there’s another manga adaptation that compels me, Kemono Jihen, and only one sequel I genuinely care about – Beastars.  But beyond that, woof.  What really strikes me about this schedule is how barren the “mid-tier” category is.  That’s usually the biggest group in these previews but this time I really had to stretch to get anything in there at all.  It’s those three at the top and a bunch of lottery tickets, pretty much.

As for patterns, above and beyond “more of the same” they’re hard to pick out.  Fewer manga adaptations than any season I recall, and more originals to go along with the LNs.  And those originals are contributing to the accelerating growth of idol anime, one of the creative scourges of the medium (this season has the most idol shows in a single season that I can remember).  Originals have probably seen the greatest artistic decline of any segment of the anime medium, as they’ve largely become promotional tools for powerful production committee members desperate to sell something or someone.  That’s a loss that’s felt throughout the industry in ways more profound than most fans realize.

 

Now, some exciting news: for the first time, the LiA season preview comes with a video companion (also embedded at the end of this post). After a decade of these that’s a pretty big deal to me.  As these written previews have, I’m sure the video previews will evolve over time.  I envision the post and the YouTube video as complementing each other.  More breadth here, more depth there.  I consciously devoted more of the video to taking a deeper dive for the series I’m most interested in.  I hope you enjoy the video preview and find it useful and entertaining – as ever, I’m relying on your feedback to help me refine them over time.  Please let me know your feedback in the comments, either here or over at YT.  And as always, thanks for your support.

 

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

 

 

Highest Expectations:

Horimiya  – CloverWorks: (PV) To say that the news of a Horimiya anime adaptation came out of the blue is an understatement.  I’d long since given up on a proper anime (there was a middling OVA adaptation starting in 2012) as a lost cause.  And it’s not as if most of the new series announcements in the past few years have filled me with optimism.  So I was pretty gobsmacked when this was announced a couple of months ago.

Horimiya, for those unfamiliar, is a romance manga by HERO (I’m going out on a limb and saying that’s a pen name).  And a lot of readers – myself included – consider it one of the best romcoms of the decade.  It tells the story of an unlikely couple, Hori Kyouko and Miyamura Izumi.  She’s an honor student who looks after her younger brother, he’s a quiet and reserved loner at school.  But there’s more to both of them than it seems, as they quickly learn when fate brings them closer together in a remarkably charming way.  If you enjoy romcoms that are more about the relationship than the dance, this one’s for you.  And the characters are superbly crafted to boot.

As for the anime, the usual big questions abound. Episode count?  Who knows – and that could be a problem as the manga is 15 volumes and ongoing (the appearance of a certain character in the promo material suggests two cours, but that’s pure conjecture).  CloverWorks (an offshoot of A-1 Pictures) is a fairly neutral indicator, but the presence of Shin Sekai Yori director Ishihama Masashi is a fascinating component.  The staff is very competent and in truth, the manga good enough that competence is all that’s needed to make a great anime – Ishihara’s brilliance could be an X-factor.  All in all Horimiya is my top pick for Winter 2021, but it has some mighty big expectations to live up to.

Beastars 2nd Season – Orange: Winter 2021 comes complete with the usual raft of sequels to mediocre shows, of course.  But among that lot is the follow-up to Itagaki Paru’s Beastars, one of the most interesting series of 2019.  Paru’s writing seems to drift between commentary on race, class, and gender politics – to the point where you’re not sure how to interpret what you’re seeing on-screen.  But the sense that the author is trying to figure that out for herself through her writing is part of the appeal.

Beastars also features some of the most interesting and visually pleasing CGI ever to grace TV anime.  Orange Studio is at the forefront of this technology, and if every CGI series looked as good as theirs do (it doesn’t), you wouldn’t see the hostility towards 3-D animation among fans that you do.  The combination of insightful writing and stylish and thoughtful visuals makes Beastars a compelling watch.  It can be a difficult watch, too – that insight mostly runs towards the darkness in us (especially adolescents) and the series has a way of exposing a lot of raw nerve endings.  It’s a fascinating and unique show and I’m glad to see it get a sequel – the big question now is, with the manga finished, will the anime try to cram what should be three cours worth of material into 12 or 13 episodes?

Kemono Jihen  – Ajia-Do: (PV) Kemono Jihen is coming in pretty far under the radar for most Western anime fans.  Aimoto Shou’s manga hasn’t been licensed in English (though as is often the case, the French got a license first), and even in Japan doesn’t have the popularity of a big WSJ title.  The studio (Ajia-Do) isn’t especially well-known, and the staff lacks any huge names. I’m also not madly in love with some of the “usual suspects” casting choices (Hanae Natsuki, Shimono Hiro, Hanazawa Kana).

Still, for all that, Kemono Jihen is one of my most anticipated shows of the season.  Simply put, I really like the manga.  Aimoto has a gift for creating likeable and distinctive characters, and the series strikes a perfect balance between action and comedy.  It’s quirky in a good way, the protagonist Kabane is kind of adorkable, and the supporting cast is colorful and memorable.  The “kemono” of the title literally means “monsters”, and that’s what this series is about – monsters of all types.  Youkai, tanuki, kitsune, oni – all are here, fitting into modern Japanese society in their own way.  If I were to try and capture the appeal of this series, maybe I’d say this: Kemono Jihen is a shounen that almost immediately makes you say “yeah, that would never be in Jump”.  And once you grok that, you get why this series works as well as it does.

 

Mid-table:

Yakusoku no Neverland 2nd Season – CloverWorks: (PV) I’m firmly of the opinion that the best part of Yakusoku no Neverland is the first arc.  That is to say, the part already covered by the anime.  That fits with the general idea of Neverland as a a great premise with so-so execution – the further the series gets from its expositional phase, the more that weakness undercuts the storytelling.  Still, it’s a weak season after the top tier and this is still an interesting series with a few rather compelling characters.  And the story doesn’t seriously jump the shark until a bit later than this second season is likely to span, assuming it’s a single cour.

Back Arrow – Studio VOLN: (PV) It may be unlikely, but I’m hoping that working with someone besides Imaishi Hiroyuki (and Trigger) will help writer Nakashima Kazuki rediscover some of the form that helped him create two of my favorite series of the 2000s (Gurren-Lagann and Oh! Edo Rocket) in 2007.  This time around his partner is another big name, Taniguchi Gorou.  We don’t know a ton about Back Arrow apart from the fact that it’s a mecha series and the protagonist is a man who’s lost his memory, so this is pretty much a blind stab based on the staff involved.

SK∞ – Bones: (PV) It’s a stretch to call SK∞ a mid-tier expectations show for me, but that’s probably true of everything in the category this season.  This show is here because it’s Bones, and that’s pretty much it.  I don’t have tremendous confidence in writer Ookouchi Ichiro’s ability to deliver high-quality original material, and director Utsumi Hiroko is best known for two series that did nothing for me, Banana Fish and Free.  But Utsumi is a rare female director in anime and an even rarer KyoAni expat, and oddly enough there have been very few anime with skateboarding as the main theme.  Who knows, it might surprise and be pretty good – it certainly figures to be among the better-looking anime of the season.

 

 

Modestly Interested:

Kai Byoui Ramune – Platinum Vision: (PV) Kai Byoui Ramune is a weird prospect, but one of very few series this winter which strike me as having the potential to surprise on the upside. As best I can tell it’s about a foul-mouthed doctor (named after a soft drink) who has the ability to cure some kind of mysterious angst disease. I’m flying totally blind here – this show is based on a series by a first-time mangaka and has no English translations. So yeah, it’s not going to shock me if it’s a throwaway, but sometimes you get a vibe off a series that you can’t really explain. Sometimes it’s even right.

Tenchi Souzou Design-bu – Asahi Production: (PV) Heaven’s Design Team is the story of a group of designers in Paradise whose job it is to design animals for the Earth. I see modest potential for amusement in this scenario, though as far as I can tell the manga isn’t especially regarded as a masterpiece. There’s little that stands out in the staff list, though director Masui Souichi was an episode director on Seirei no Moribito.

2.43: Seiin Koukou Danshi Volley-bu – David Production (PV): It’s a truism in anime that any franchise popular enough will eventually by imitated.  I don’t honestly know if 2.43: Seiin Koukou Danshi Volley-bu is imitating Haikyuu!! (it started about three years after the latter broke), but if anything it’s surprising that we haven’t seen more volleyball anime or even manga spring up.  This one is based on a novel series about a kid who got in trouble in middle school in Tokyo before moving back to his hometown of Fukui and reuniting with an old teammate.  2:43 has a fairly strong staff and David Productions has the potential to do interesting things visually, so I’m modestly interested (as header says) in this series  Footnote: this is airing on NoitaminA, oddly enough.

Maiko-san Chi no Makanai-san – TBA: (PV) The manga Maiko-san Chi no Makanai-san is based on won the “Best Shounen” award at the Shogakukan Manga Awards this year (they do tend to favor works they publish, to be fair).  So in theory this modern story about the maiko in training at a geisha house in Kyoto ought to be a pretty good prospect.  But there’s been so little detail forthcoming about the anime (not even a studio) that there’s legitimate reason to wonder if it will even air as scheduled.  If it does I’ll certainly be checking it out.

Mushoku Tensei: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu – Studio Bind: (PV) Seems like every season there’s one isekai LN adaptation that enough people are proclaiming “this one is different!” about that I give it a shot.  And this time around it’s Mushoku Tensei.  And they almost never are different – not enough to get me invested, anyway.  But while the premise sounds as generic as they come, this is certainly the isekai with the flashiest aggregator scores this season.  As for Studio Bind, if they existed before this series was produced their name never crossed my path.  Expectations are buried under a lot of scar tissue, but one of these is bound to surprise me sooner or later.

Skate-Leading☆Stars – J.C. Staff: (PV) With a skateboarding show already on the docket, Winter also gets a figure skating one.  It’t not a subject that I’m especially interested in but I’m giving this series a shot because it has a fairly prominent director in Taniguchi Gorou and a good writer (always important with originals) in Aketagwa Jin.

Hataraku Saibou Black – LIDENFILMS: (PV) I found Hataraku Saibou to be moderately pleasant but grew bored with it rather quickly, so I won’t be following its direct sequel.  But airing during the same season is this adaptation of the spinoff manga focused on the body’s reaction to adult self-abuse – tobacco, alcohol and stress.  The manga does have a different writer and artist than the parent series so maybe this show will prove more to my liking.

 

Will Definitely Blog: Horimiya, Beastars 2nd Season, Kemono Jihen, Yakusoku no Neverland 2nd Season  

Sleepers: Kemono Jihen (though not to me) since so few people seem to know about it, Kai Byoui Ramune, Maiko-san Chi no Makanai-sa (if it airs)

 

OVA:

Wow, an actual OVA section, even if it’s one entry and kind of cheating.

Planetarian: Snow Globe – 01/21: (PV) Originally scheduled for Summer 2020, this crowdsourced OVA was pushed back to (theoretically) January.

 

Theatrical:

Uchuu Senkan Yamato 2205: Aratanaru Tabidachi – 01/15/21: (PV) A sequel to Uchuu Senkan Yamato is always an interesting prospect, even if we don’t know much about it.

Natsume Yuujinchou: Ishi Okoshi to Ayashiki Raihousha – 01/16/21: (PV) More Natsume Yuujinchou is always welcome, though the long wait for more Kogitsune apparently continues.  Ishi Okoshi to Ayashiki Raihousha is apparently comprised of two original stories back-to-back.  With some series that might be a worry but the anime-original material with Natsume has usually been among the series’ best.  No reason to expect anything but sasuga here.

Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time – 01/23/21: (PV) This time they mean it.  Yes, it seems as if the “final” Evangelion film – at least until Anno Hideaki decides he needs yet another ending – is finally arriving next January after an almost 8-year (!) wait.  While Eva is deeply-embedded in my anime DNA and remains a powerful force that crosses over from hardcore otaku to the general public as few series ever have, the last movie was IMHO a world-class dumpster fire (though 2.0 was excellent).  And I don’t think any of the new endings, perhaps excepting Sadamoto Yoshiyuki’s manga, ever matched the much-maligned TV end.  I’ll be there to see this as soon as it’s safe to do so, but my emotions going in will definitely be a mixed bag.