Yes, folks, 2021 is already hovering before us, like a gigantic overhang which is about to collapse on us in an avalanche of anime. The upcoming season features several delayed projects on top of the anime world nearly resuming its pre-2020 output.
In honor of the new year, I’m trying something new: instead of posters, I’ll give you direct embeds of the latest trailers, going for English-subtitled ones where possible. Titles will still link to official sites with a bunch more preview material.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNHufv1iJ7c
The premise: A mysterious man turns up in a land surrounded by an impenetrable wall, claiming that he came from beyond the wall. Also there is mecha combat.
Derivative factor: Original
The buzz: Many people are holding out hope for this one less on its visible merits and more because it shares a director, Taniguchi Gorō, with an enduringly popular series, Code Geass.
Premiere: January 8
The premise: Anthropomorphic cells struggle to keep a very unhealthy human body operating.
Derivative factor: Adaptation of spinoff
The buzz: If the original Cells at Work!, was too cute and upbeat for you, then maybe the grimdark version is your thing. (If not, see the returning adaptations section later in this post.)
Premiere: January 9
Dr. Ramune: Mysterious Disease Specialist
The premise: A doctor specializes in the afflictions produced by a peculiar psychosomatic disease which leads people to find parts of their bocy replaced by food.
Derivative factor: Manga adaptation
The buzz: Zany and lowbrow, whether you like this will depends on your taste (no pun intended) in humor.
Premiere: January 9
The premise: A technophobic high school student is killed in an accident, but his brain is preserved to become part of a superweapon.
Derivative factor: Manga adaptation
The buzz: The latest entry with the dreaded “Crunchyroll Originals” label is headlined by a team with zero experience in animation who have swaggered in announcing that they are going to show everyone how it all should be done. The awful promotional videos that have followed have already earned EX-ARM a feature-length takedown on Anime News Network. The general expectation at this point is that this is going to so completely terrible that everyone will have to check it out just so they can say they were there to see it.
Premiere: January 10
Gekidol and Alice in Deadly School
The premise: In Gekidol, the disappearance of several major cities is not enough to stop the system that makes young women compete for stardom, in holographic plays in this case. Alice in Deadly School is an adaptation of a play the Gekidol idols compete to appear in.
Derivative factor: Original
The buzz: For all the interesting possibilities inherent in the premise, Gekidol looks like a totally generic idol show and Alice in Deadly School looks like a cynical attempt at some extra cashing in.
Premiere: January 4 (Alice) and 5 (Gekidol)
The premise: Biological designers work for the toughest client of all: God.
Derivative factor: Manga adaptation
The buzz: Looks like a decent office comedy if nothing else.
Premiere: January 7
The premise: A young lord learns the truth about his vaguely medieval world while facing a rebellion and an influx of monsters.
Derivative factor: Video game adaptation
The buzz: Yawn. Yet another interchangeable fantasy mobile game adaptation; while nothing about it looks especially bad, don’t expect much from it.
Premiere: January 6
Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation
The premise: An unemployed shut-in gets kicked out of his house, dies, and is immediately reincarnated in a fantasy world as a child with huge potential.
Derivative factor: Light novel adaptation
The buzz: And here is one of many basically interchangeable portal fantasy series. This is actually an older work that many of those interchangeable series are imitating, but that doesn’t give it anything to stand out from the crowd of its successors.
Premiere: January 10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8qUrSlwYtc
The premise: Two young women fall in love as they make expeditions into an alternate reality.
Derivative factor: Light novel adaptation
The buzz: Anime fandom isn’t sure what to make of this one, but allows that it might be okay.
Premiere: January 4
The premise: An healing specialist in an RPG-like fantasy world is tormented by his teammates until gets so good that he is able to turn back time four years and restart his career.
Derivative factor: Light novel adaptation
The buzz: As a grimdark revenge power fantasy, it stands a good chance of being the next Rising of the Shield Hero (remembered as “that incel anime”) or Goblin Slayer (which was not much better).
Premiere: January 13
The premise: An autonomous zone in Tokyo is policed by organizations with magical powers.
Derivative factor: Part of multimedia franchise
The buzz: While visually appealing, the people behind this are best known for an epically terrible show, so it’ll have a lot of resistance to overcome.
Premiere: January 8
The premise: An entire class is reincarnated as humans in an RPG-like world, except for one unlucky student who becomes a low-level spider in a dungeon.
Derivative factor: Light novel adaptation
The buzz: Some potential, but mostly it appears to be borrowing bits and pieces of other shows in a setting we’re far too familiar with at this point.
Premiere: January 8
Suppose a Kid From the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town
The premise: A would-be adventurer in an RPG world discovers that he far stronger than those around him in his new home.
Derivative factor: Light novel adapatation
The buzz: Throwing yet another overpowered protagonist into yet another D&D-inspired fantasy world with yet another group of mostly female companions is nobody’s idea of a fresh start after 2020.
Premiere: January 4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ch8XYCgx3-o
The premise: A teenage girl gets an ultrarare collectible egg, but then a voice tells her to break it, and when she does, another girl emerges.
Derivative factor: Original
The buzz: This is going to be an odd one, but with very little advance information it’s hard to say if it’ll be a good or a bad sort of odd.
Premiere: January 12
And we have several continuing adaptations:
- Cells at Work!! – A continuation of the happy version of Cells at Work!, which shows bodily processes going about their normal business with anthropomorphized cells. I wasn’t that impressed with the premiere, but a lot of people have found this show to be a soothing watch. (January 9)
- Dr. Stone – After all of humanity was caught in a sort of suspended animation, the few who have woken up again have started bootstrapping themselves back toward technological society. Now comes the big fight over whether keep advancing, or embrace the new Stone Age. Season 1 made it into my lineup and I have little doubt that season 2 will do the same. (January 14)
- Log Horizon – One of the better trapped-in-an-RPG-world shows, it wasn’t good enough for me to keep watching it, but it’s got enough viewers to keep chugging quietly along. (January 13)
- The Promised Neverland – The massively hyped story of orphans who discover that they are farmed livestock explores the adventures that follow their escape. This was in the lineup too, but like many people I was ultimately disappointed. (January 7)
- Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- – One of the best portal fantasy shows of all time is back as the protagonist, who can jump back in time every time he dies, tries to find his way out of a specially constructed catch-22. I’ve followed this whole show so far, making this a likely return candidate. (January 6)
- That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime – A portal fantasy with an overpowered protagonist, but much better than average. Amazing visual work wasn’t quite matched with compelling writing. (January 12)
That is a lot to choose from, but if I had to pick one new show that I was most looking forward to seeing, it would be Otherside Picnic. Wonder Egg Priority is looking pretty interesting as well, and if Gekidol and Alice in Deadly School don’t get up to some kind of reality-bending crossover shenanigans, I will be exceedingly disappointed.
What are you looking forward to?
