anthony...@bell.net
2020-12-22 18:12:41 UTC
Here it is the end of2020 and I’m still around and still watching anime. This year made 25 years that I’ve been watching anime regularly, albeit a lot less frequently nowadays than in years past. I’m also writing about anime a lot less frequently mainly because sharing my thoughts on the anime that I watch just isn’t as interesting to me as it was in the past. I’m also watching a lot fewer anime because I find fewer series to interest me and I have much less patience for anime that bores or irritates me.
So here are the 42 new or continuing anime series and movies that I watched this year, ranked according to my personal ratings.
A+: “Dorohedoro” – completed. A wonderfully batshit and brilliant fantasy done at a continuously breathtaking pace with tremendous characters. I loved it so much that I read the manga and loved that too.
A: “Dorohedoro OAV” – completed. Funny little bits that fill in the characters.
A: “Meitantei Conan” – still going at 991 episodes. Still regularly entertaining.
A: “One Piece” – still going at 955 episodes. Still consistently enjoyable.
A: “Chihayafuru 3” – completed. A great return for a great series with wonderful characters.
A: “Ishuzoku Reviewers” – completed. Lots and lots of bawdy fun.
A: “Your Name/Kimi no Namae wa” – completed. A marvellously animated and wonderfully warm fantasy.
A: “Weathering With You/Tenko no Ko” – completed. Another marvellously animated and wonderfully warm fantasy set somewhat in the same universe as “Your Name”.
A: “Golden Kamui Season 3” completed. – Incredibly well-done historical adventure series continued perfectly.
A: “xxxHolic Rou” – completed. A fascinating blast-from-the-past fantasy OAV that I somehow never watched when it was first released.
B+: “Houkago Teibou Nisshi” – completed. Cute-girls-go-fishing, with the emphasis on the nitty-gritty details of the fishing, so how could I not like it.
B+: “Fire Force/Enen no Shouboutai Season 2” – completed. Uneven but still entertaining fantasy, just like the manga. Still trying too hard to not be “Soul Eater”.
B+: “Tonikaku Kawaii” – completed. Cute anime based upon a cute manga. Mainly slice-of-life (with implied fantasy).
B: “GeGeGe no Kitaro (2018)” – completed. Well done remake of the classic. Modernized just enough.
B: “Id: Invaded” – completed. Ambitious and somewhat experimental science-fantasy/cop story. Not 100% satisfying but well enough done to compensate.
B: “Fugou Keiji: Balance: Unlimited” – completed. Entertaining and often inadvertently funny brain candy cop fantasy.
B: “Zashiki Warashi no Tatami-chan” – completed. Sarcastic and cynical ultra-short fantasy with minimalist animation. Uneven but hilarious at times.
B: “xxxHolic Shunmaki” – completed. Another blast-from-the-past fantasy OAV that I had missed during its original release.
B: “Maoujou de Oyasumi” – completed. Uneven but fun fantasy parody about a kidnapped sleepy princess.
B-: “Mairimashita! Iruma-kun” – completed. Fairly paint-by-number shounen fantasy. Decent time-waster but no reason to watch the follow-up series.
B-: “Kyokou Suiri” – completed. Slow-paced fantasy/mystery series with a charming heroine and a unlikable hero.
C+: “Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun” – completed. Mean-spirited shounen fantasy/mystery with not-very-likeable characters.
C+: “BNA” – completed. Trigger going to the well once more and coming up with a derivative and overly clichéd science fantasy.
C+: “Japan Sinks” – dropped at 2 episodes. Disaster film with idiot characters that happened to be reasonably well animated. Not my cup of tea.
C: “Sorcerous Stabber Orphen 2020” - dropped at 4 episodes. Uninspired remake of an uninspired 90s fantasy anime.
C: “Tsubasa the Movie” – completed. I had this “Tsubasa” short movi e sitting around on DVD for a decade and finally decided to watch it. Worth ignoring.
Everything following was dropped after the first episode:
C: “Somali to Mori no Kamisama”, “Pet”, “Appare-Ranman!”, “Kakushigoto (TV)”, “Kami no Tou”, “Listeners”, “Nami o Kiite Kure”, “Gleipnir”, “Kitsutuski Tanteidokoro”, “Deca-Dence”, “Ninja Collection”, “Gibiate”
D: “Rikei ga Koi ni Ochite no de Shoumei Shitemaita”, “Mou Gakuin no Futekigousha”
D-: “Plunderer”
F: “Dokyou Hentai HxEros”
Dave Baranyi
So here are the 42 new or continuing anime series and movies that I watched this year, ranked according to my personal ratings.
A+: “Dorohedoro” – completed. A wonderfully batshit and brilliant fantasy done at a continuously breathtaking pace with tremendous characters. I loved it so much that I read the manga and loved that too.
A: “Dorohedoro OAV” – completed. Funny little bits that fill in the characters.
A: “Meitantei Conan” – still going at 991 episodes. Still regularly entertaining.
A: “One Piece” – still going at 955 episodes. Still consistently enjoyable.
A: “Chihayafuru 3” – completed. A great return for a great series with wonderful characters.
A: “Ishuzoku Reviewers” – completed. Lots and lots of bawdy fun.
A: “Your Name/Kimi no Namae wa” – completed. A marvellously animated and wonderfully warm fantasy.
A: “Weathering With You/Tenko no Ko” – completed. Another marvellously animated and wonderfully warm fantasy set somewhat in the same universe as “Your Name”.
A: “Golden Kamui Season 3” completed. – Incredibly well-done historical adventure series continued perfectly.
A: “xxxHolic Rou” – completed. A fascinating blast-from-the-past fantasy OAV that I somehow never watched when it was first released.
B+: “Houkago Teibou Nisshi” – completed. Cute-girls-go-fishing, with the emphasis on the nitty-gritty details of the fishing, so how could I not like it.
B+: “Fire Force/Enen no Shouboutai Season 2” – completed. Uneven but still entertaining fantasy, just like the manga. Still trying too hard to not be “Soul Eater”.
B+: “Tonikaku Kawaii” – completed. Cute anime based upon a cute manga. Mainly slice-of-life (with implied fantasy).
B: “GeGeGe no Kitaro (2018)” – completed. Well done remake of the classic. Modernized just enough.
B: “Id: Invaded” – completed. Ambitious and somewhat experimental science-fantasy/cop story. Not 100% satisfying but well enough done to compensate.
B: “Fugou Keiji: Balance: Unlimited” – completed. Entertaining and often inadvertently funny brain candy cop fantasy.
B: “Zashiki Warashi no Tatami-chan” – completed. Sarcastic and cynical ultra-short fantasy with minimalist animation. Uneven but hilarious at times.
B: “xxxHolic Shunmaki” – completed. Another blast-from-the-past fantasy OAV that I had missed during its original release.
B: “Maoujou de Oyasumi” – completed. Uneven but fun fantasy parody about a kidnapped sleepy princess.
B-: “Mairimashita! Iruma-kun” – completed. Fairly paint-by-number shounen fantasy. Decent time-waster but no reason to watch the follow-up series.
B-: “Kyokou Suiri” – completed. Slow-paced fantasy/mystery series with a charming heroine and a unlikable hero.
C+: “Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun” – completed. Mean-spirited shounen fantasy/mystery with not-very-likeable characters.
C+: “BNA” – completed. Trigger going to the well once more and coming up with a derivative and overly clichéd science fantasy.
C+: “Japan Sinks” – dropped at 2 episodes. Disaster film with idiot characters that happened to be reasonably well animated. Not my cup of tea.
C: “Sorcerous Stabber Orphen 2020” - dropped at 4 episodes. Uninspired remake of an uninspired 90s fantasy anime.
C: “Tsubasa the Movie” – completed. I had this “Tsubasa” short movi e sitting around on DVD for a decade and finally decided to watch it. Worth ignoring.
Everything following was dropped after the first episode:
C: “Somali to Mori no Kamisama”, “Pet”, “Appare-Ranman!”, “Kakushigoto (TV)”, “Kami no Tou”, “Listeners”, “Nami o Kiite Kure”, “Gleipnir”, “Kitsutuski Tanteidokoro”, “Deca-Dence”, “Ninja Collection”, “Gibiate”
D: “Rikei ga Koi ni Ochite no de Shoumei Shitemaita”, “Mou Gakuin no Futekigousha”
D-: “Plunderer”
F: “Dokyou Hentai HxEros”
Dave Baranyi