Winter 2020 Prelims
Heya! My top shows this season are Eizouken, Dorohedoro, and Pet. I am also greatly enjoying Kabukichou Sherlock, Haikyuu!!, BOFURI, and Isekai Quartet S2. Somali and ID: Invaded are also good so far. Maybe give some of those a try. I may or may not justify my recommendations in the paragraphs below.
So yeah here’s some blurbs about all the shows worth talking about from Winter 2020, as of ~4 weeks in. There are three sections: stuff I’m watching, stuff I tried, and stuff I haven’t tried. In every section, the shows are arranged by average MAL score; refer to the above paragraph for a digest of what’s actually good.
Stuff I’m Watching
Haikyuu!!: To the Top: So far this season of Haikyuu!! Is really slow, but that’s only fair after the Shiratorizawa match. Apparently the artstyle changed a bit, but I didn’t even notice because it’s been so long since the last season. Anyway, it’s still good, no surprises here. Progress 4/13, Score 8/10.
Boku no Hero Academia 4th Season: More of the best average shounen out there. That One Punch Man cut though. Progress 15/25, Score 7/10.
Eizouken ni wa Te wo Dasu na!: It’s good, watch it if you like animation. Progress 4/12, Score 9/10.
Somali to Mori no Kamisama: A nice show about parent and child. The backgrounds and creature design are amazing. Everything else is ok. I think the story is pretty basic so far, even if it is very touching. But there’s a possibility for it to get more interesting. It’s a slow show, but that’s obviously intentional. Progress 4/12, Score 7/10.
Ishuzoku Reviewers: A surprisingly diverse and progressive show for what it is. Which is borderline hentai.
Isekai Quartet 2: Building off of the first season, Isekai Quartet is still a lot of fun. It’s best if you’ve seen some of the source shows; I’ve seen 3 out of 5, and the first episode of the other two. Progress 3/12, Score 7/10.
Dorohedoro: God bless MAPPA, I love this show. It’s wacky and unique and dark and twisted, and the villains are just so weird, but really, it’s most everything about it that’s weird. The best part is probably that the world is so detailed. Production quality is top notch, if you don’t get upset about pretty ok CG. Highly recommend if you can handle blood, gore, and violence. Unfortunately, it’s stuck in Netflix jail, so keep an eye out for this one in like half a year. Progress 4/12, Score 8/10.
ID:Invaded: Interesting, but potentially pretentious faff. I don’t have a lot of confidence in NAZ, especially after their also-anime-original dumpster fire Hamatora, nor do I like the director, but the scriptwriter did Dragon Dentist so at least there’s one good factor. The cinematography and animation are both very good so far, and the OP is a banger, so I’m optimistic about ID: Invaded. Progress 4/13, Score 7/10.
Itai no wa Iya nano de Bougyoryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu.: BOFURI is a blast, I’m enjoying it so much. Great characters, cute artwork, nice animation, and best of all, it’s really funny. Especially if you’ve ever gotten really into an MMO. I was thinking about dropping it after episode 1, and boy am I glad I didn’t, episode 2 and after have been excellent. Progress 4/12, Score 7/10.
Magia Record: Mahou Shoujo Madoka☆Magica Gaiden (TV): The jury’s gonna be out on this one until it’s over. So far it’s largely middling, but there’s still room for it to get good. The transformation sequences in episode 3 are amazing though. Progress 4/13, Score 6/10.
Kabukichou Sherlock: Continues to be funny and weird. The first big plotline resolved in an interesting way, and leaves repercussions that are having an impact on the next one. I like it. Progress 14/24, Score 8/10.
Pet: Is pretty fucked up, but is probably one of the better shows this season. It has a lot going on, with its own unique and interesting kind of esper. The production quality is overall good, with a great OP and ED, and no significant low points I can identify. No telling if it’ll hold up by the end, but it’s promising. Progress 4/13, Score 7/10.
Infinite Dendrogram: Has a lot of interesting ideas, but average execution and poor plotting. And it’s probably got its head stuck up its own ass, in all honesty, but I’ll see how far I can make it, and maybe it’ll get better. Progress 4/13, Score 6/10.
Majutsushi Orphen Hagure Tabi: Slightly cheesy, slightly campy, and a bit too light in tone for everything else it has going on, Orphen is not the greatest thing you’ll ever watch. It’s a remake of a 1998 adaptation of a 1994 light novel series, after all. But it could be worth watching, because it’s got that old-school anime feel to it, and there are some really amazing animation sequences sometimes. I’m enjoying it enough to keep going despite its flaws. Progress 4/13, Score 6/10.
Stuff I Tried
Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun: The pacing in episode 1 didn’t jive with me, and combined with the limited animation, really didn’t make me want to watch more. The art is gorgeous, with great colors everywhere, but I just can’t. Progress 1/12, Score 6/10.
Koisuru Asteroid: Diabetes yuri-bait that teaches you trivia about astronomy and geology. Progress 2/12, Score 6/10.
Show By Rock!! Mashumairesh!!: For some reason I heard that the original Show By Rock! was good, and this doesn’t require watching the original, and it’s by Kinema Citrus, so I thought why not give it a try. And it’s sort of a children’s show. And their hair is literally impossible. Progress 2/12, Score 5/10.
Natsunagu!: Short and fansub-only, feels like it’ll string me along by empty cliffhangers at the end of each episode. Also the fansubbing is too slow. Progress 2/12, Score 5/10.
Stuff I Haven’t Tried
Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T: Index is bad.
BanG Dream! 3rd Season: Idols continue to be popular.
IDOLiSH7: Second Beat!: Why are there so many idol shows.
Kyokou Suiri: Could be good, but the trailer didn’t draw me in and the synopsis didn’t impress me.
Runway de Waratte: I’ve heard this is good, but it didn’t draw me in and the screenshots I’ve seen didn’t look very impressive.
Rikei ga Koi ni Ochita no de Shoumei shitemita.: Don’t know why I thought it’d be crap, maybe it was the trailer, but I didn’t give it a chance.
Darwin's Game: lol no
Oshi ga Budoukan Ittekuretara Shinu: This could be funny, and it’s listed as seinen so it could be interesting, but I don’t feel like investing energy in the premise without knowing if it’ll be good.
Murenase! Seton Gakuen: I really want to want to watch this, because I loved Hanako in Asobi Asobase, but I’m not that interested from what I’ve seen.
Heya Camp△: This is really high for a 3 minute short, but then again people really liked Yuru Camp.
Nekopara: Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
>I’m going to stop here because everything else is below a 7.
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