State of the Season – Winter 2021

Wooper: If you’ve been keeping your finger on the pulse of the anime fandom this winter, you’ve seen no shortage of proclamations that this is the best seasonal lineup in years. Some of us here expressed similar sentiments back in January, but that was a simpler time – one characterized by loosely-informed optimism, rather than weeks of compounded evaluation. Now that we’ve got a six week picture of the season, where do our writers stand? Totally validated, utterly betrayed, or somewhere in between? Read on to see how the Star Crossed crew is feeling midway through 2021’s first quarter.

What show are you enjoying that you’re not reviewing?

Mario: Sk8 has been a lot of fun. Yes, it’s your typical sports anime with larger-than-life personalities, but it’s gotten many things right so far. Reiki and Langa have that sweet brotherly bond, the races are always exciting to watch, and is it just me, or would ADAM fit in seamlessly with the Utena universe? On the sequel front, Yuru Camp delivers with every single episode and it’s just a blast to watch week to week.

Armitage: In order to give other shows a fair chance, I’ll try my best and not answer “Attack on Titan babyyyy” for all the positive responses in this seasonal check-in. So, yes. Best of the rest for me would probably be Wonder Egg Priority simply because of how ambitious and anomalous it feels while watching. Yes, it borrows from like 10 different places but it still manages to feel wholly original and even in a season absolutely brimming with quality like this one, there’s simply nothing else quite like it.

Amun: Since I’m not technically reviewing any shows this season (tehe), all of them! Special shoutout to Spider Isekai though – it’s been way more enjoyable than I expected. Sure, it’s low budget, but the spider MC really carries – something about the movements and use of the 8 legged expressive palette keeps me coming back every week. Obviously Wonder Egg has been superlative as well.

Lenlo: Quite a few! This is actually one of my most active seasons in a long time. From sequels like Beastars S2 to new originals like Sk8 and Wonder Egg, this season is packed for me.

Wooper: Attack on Titan’s fourth season has been pretty good thus far. It’s got many of the same problems as the Wit seasons, plus the baggage of being a strict visual downgrade, but the story’s leap across the sea has added a welcome layer of complication. So what if the new characters are painted just as broadly as the old ones? Titan is running almost entirely on plot at this point, which is precisely what makes it so addicting.

Unpopular Opinion

Lenlo: Oh boy which war do I want to start? Attack on Titan? Back Arrow? I think I’ll go with Re:Zero this time because it’s particularly egregious. Its pacing is absolutely terrible with episode 3 especially containing 15 minutes of nothing. They need to stop giving them the full 30 minute time slot, stop cutting out the OP/ED and just learn to pace their show. You can only repeat the same thing so many times in the same scene before it gets annoying. (Update: I see why they cut the OP, it sucks.)

Wooper: Kemono Jihen’s ‘supernatural detective’ shtick is going to be the show’s undoing before too long. None of the non-Kabane characters are sufficiently interesting to carry their weight during the weekly cases; they need to get involved in a larger story, designed to provoke them in meaningful ways, if I’m going to care about them at all.

Amun: Cells at Work Black is the superior of the two shows from that franchise. Seeing what’s happening an unhealthy body where life isn’t hunky dory (plus the thinly veiled analogies to working for a “black”, abusive company) is a brilliant contrast from the pleasant first season of the original. Despite the complaints on the first episode, I actually think the more service oriented character designs fit the mood perfectly.

Armitage: You know what? I’ll come out and say it. I don’t think Jujutsu Kaisen is as good as people make it out to be. It’s well-animated, sure. But the plot is riddled with the same shounen tropes we’ve gotten tired off and it’s hard to watch it for anything more than the sakuga. If I was forced to choose a hype currently-airing WSJ property, I’d pick Dr. Stone over it any day.

Mario: I don’t really have anything that goes against the stream (God, has my taste become dull?), but if you press me, I’d say it’s the SoL/CGDCT shows (Yuru Camp, Non Non Biyori, Wonder Egg) that are making the season for me, not the heavyweights.

Midseason Masterpiece, or at least “More than Mediocre?”

Amun: If you’re watching Wonder Egg Priority, it’s the clear darling of the season (if you’re not, go do it). For a less sell-out answer, Kemono Jihen has been great for what it is – midlevel supernatural-working show. Sure there isn’t that much originality, but the characters are endearing and the problem presentation/solution has gone pretty well – I’m hoping we get a bigger story in the second half.

Mario: I’m happy to report that I consider both shows that I’m blogging to be in this category. We will hear more of our writers’ thoughts on Wonder Egg below so I want to highlight Beastars instead. This season has been less about romance and much more about a dual narrative as Legosi and Louis embark on completely opposite routes and every new character slots nicely into their journeys. Beastars is a special kind of slow-burn show that slowly grabs your heart and never lets go.

Armitage: Attack on Titan babyyyy. Damn it. No. No! You did it again, Armitage. Learn to stand by your words for once. Sheh. But I mean, that is pretty much the default answer for this question. Still, for the sake of variety, I’ll go for something else. Since, Amun has already picked WEP and the good-boy Beast show, and Lenlo is gonna root for another favorite of mine, I’m kinda left without many options. That’s why even though it’s no Masterpiece, I’d like to make a case for Log Horizon. It’s an actual Good Isekai™ (without any tacked-on shtick) that is doomed to again go criminally underseen and as the writing has been more S1 than S2, that would be a real shame.

Lenlo: Sk8 the Infinity is easily my Anime of the Season so far. Every week I think “Sk8 can’t possibly get better” and every week Sk8 proves me wrong with something ridiculous and fun. From Dio ADAM’s flamboyant insanity to the charming lives of Langa, Reiki, Shadow and the rest. I love this show.

Wooper: No other show this season can boast the combined thematic intrigue, animation chops, and memorable design work of Wonder Egg Priority.

What show did you drop?

Wooper: I’m still following all 10 shows I picked up at the start of the season, but Back Arrow and Kemono Jihen are both walking on thin ice.

Lenlo: Hortensia Saga and Back Arrow. Only reason I haven’t dropped 2.43 is because I am blogging it and Neverland because I have to see this through to the end.

Mario: It’s not so much “dropping” as it is “disappointing” since I’m still following these two shows, but if they don’t improve I will cut their heads right off. 2.43 doesn’t know the first thing about creating conflict – all of its drama is stupid as heck. The Promised Neverland skipped a good portion of the manga and instead of doing something original, it just… skips several arcs and by doing so fails to engage me at all.

Amun: I feel bad saying this, but Horimiya. Just felt like they used up too much of the plot in the first episode and floundered ever since. The characters are honestly not that interesting, and the feel-good-high-school-life has been done better elsewhere.

Armitage: Ah, where do we even start?? Like literally, there’s nowhere to start. I have found myself extremely short on time for doing anything that doesn’t involve being buried deep into a book and taking notes. So, I have been very picky about the shows I’m watching and plan to see each one out till the end.

Best Girl/Guy/Anything Else

Armitage: My favorite house-cleaning waifu has returned and deserves a shout-out.

Amun: There are better choices, I know. But do any of them have 8 legs?! Didn’t think so!

Mario: History shows that I have a thing for characters who use scissors (or half-scissors) as their weapon of choice.

Wooper: All the Yuru Camp girls are great, but Nadeshiko has been the MVP this year. She should win some kind of Best Sister trophy for her role in episode 4.

Lenlo: This was a really hard choice. Do I go with returning favorite Nobara from JJK? A new sequel with Homura from Dr. STONE? Or try for someone from one of the originals such as Momoe from Wonder Egg Priority? In the end though I could only possibly give one answer: ADAM. God I love this man.

Guilty Pleasure of the Season

Lenlo: Outside of RWBY that Wooper is going to yell at me for even mentioning on a seasonal anime list? Probably Horimiya. I’m not usually into romances but this one is rather wholesome and working for me. That or Black Clover which, after 151 episodes for that production post, I couldn’t bring myself to drop. Especially not with only a few months of episodes left before it goes away.

Amun: I irrationally love World Trigger. The premise is juvenile and the characters are flatter than pancakes, but I love it. To be honest, the first season was so long ago, I sort of remember why everyone is fighting and having a tournament – no need to sweat the details. There’s a common trope in anime where a recipient feels the love in a mediocre dish – this is the anime version of “cooking with love”.

Mario: Urasekai Picnic gets my vote for this one. It’s a weird mystery show that builds itself entirely on creepy atmosphere with yuri undertones and nothing else. Yet despite its thin premise and even thinner world-building I am still curious to see what sort of creatures the two girls will encounter next. Other than that, Tenchi Souzou Design-bu is just plain good so there’s no “guilt” factor there.

Wooper: I’ve always been the “school sucks” type, so Tenchi Souzou Design-bu makes me feel like I’m doing something wrong by enjoying its zoology lessons so much. It’s the kind of brisk watch that might not be remembered by the year’s end, but at least it makes me a bit smarter for half an hour each week!

Armitage: I have become a high-brow anime watcher who checks out user scores and only watches the cream of the crop. I ain’t feeling no guilt about watching any of these. cough cough Still watching Neverland for shits and giggles.

What was something you watched that wasn’t airing?

Wooper: I recently finished Aim for the Ace’s second season, a melodramatic tennis opera saved only by Osamu Dezaki’s equally outsized direction. Just the Final Stage OVA remains before I’m caught up on this classic sports anime. I’ve also been watching Wotakoi, 2018’s otaku-themed romcom, an episode at a time. The humor isn’t really my speed, but romance anime featuring adults is rarer than uncooked steak, so I’ll take what I can get.

Armitage: I did manage to watch some Minami-ke here and there, but apart from that, sticking to the seasonal guns, yes.

Lenlo: Cross Game was a good time. I think it was a bit long, the middle had some pacing issues. But the ending was fantastic and really caught me by surprise. Akaishi and Azuma are the best characters hands down.

Mario: I started 2 classic shows – Shounen Onmyouji and Eikoku Koi Monogatari Emma – for the weekly post and they are both enjoyable so far.

Amun: Nothing. There are too many things that are airing that I haven’t watched.

Song of the Season

Amun: I judge an OP on how well it fits the mood of the show. By that standard, Beastars 2’s OP (Kaibutusu – YAOSOBI) earns top marks. The darker start, plus the electronica finish with original visuals to match, says “Beastars” in musical form. Special mention to the Reincarnated as a Spider ending. It’s… special.

Armitage: No love for the Sk8 OP, Amun? I have just barely been managing to keep this song outta my head.

Mario: Since Amun has deservedly named Beastars as his pick, I’ll go with Yuru Camp’s ED. It has the same melancholic tone as the original, sung by the same singer Eri Sasaki. It’s the perfect tune to listen to when you’re by yourself, immersed in the vastness of nature. It speaks directly to what Rin said at one point: to be/camp alone is to appreciate loneliness.

Lenlo: It’s a tough call between this and Sk8 for me but I love the vocal work and piano of Horimiya’s OP. If I was including visuals in this I would give it to Sk8 but as just a song this is a bop every time.

Wooper: My pick is “Sudachi no Uta,” the evergreen graduation song that Wonder Egg Priority’s main cast recorded for the show’s OP. Despite the tune’s long history, this seiyuu group managed to give it new life with fragile vocal lines and arresting four-part harmonies. The result is both nostalgic and grandiose – a nifty blend of tones that compliments the show’s multifaceted nature.

 

Let’s Talk About Wonder Egg Priority.

Mario: Wonder Egg Priority went from a show no one knew about to the critical darling of this Winter Season. It’s also up there for me as one of the most daring and impressive original anime in years. There are good reasons for that: it tackles serious issues of bullying, suicide, grief and guilt with sensibility, it’s chock-full of visual symbolism, and most of all Wonder Egg introduces lead characters worth caring for. As the show reaches the halfway point it’s clear that Wonder Egg will focus less on the “Egg victims” (there are still plenty of them, though) and more on our main characters who are coping with their own personal issues. They all have compelling backstories and it’s a blast to see them just hanging out with each other and playing around like girls their age.

Armitage: “Why a Wonder Egg?” I keep asking myself. Ai Oota has to shield the contents of the egg with her life for she’s been told that she cannot die in her mind. But she begins her journey by breaking the very thing she’s meant to protect. This is a show rife with puzzle boxes of such contradictions. Yet, to pinpoint the core theme that this story carries, one that’s presented to us with layers of subtext behind walls of words; through scenes brimming with foreshadowing and filled with a rising darkness creeping at the seams; we need to look towards its title. Ai has been difficult for a while. The doctors deem her depressed. She doesn’t talk to people, doesn’t go to school, doesn’t even leave her bed for most of the day. “How can she not wonder that by doing so she’s missing out on so many things?” her mom pleads in front of her Counselor, at her wit’s end. How can she not wonder? When you realize that the only person you ever held dear chose to abandon you as living a life with you in it was still too much of a burden for them, don’t you know?
Wonder dies.

Wooper: I don’t think I’ve got the grasp on this show’s title that Armitage has, but I’m enjoying its mystique nonetheless. It’s moderate with its mysteries (as opposed to some of the more obtuse series that may have inspired it), a choice that I like because it lets us approach the characters as living beings rather than narrative ciphers. We know why our main character Ai continues to fight the Wonder Killers, and we want to see her succeed because her goal aligns with ours as viewers: find out why Koito killed herself. We know how and why Neiru’s motivation differs from the other “soldiers,” as Ura-Acca calls them, because Neiru talks openly about the scar her sister carved into her back. We understand the reasons for Rika’s outburst during episode 5 because she makes her case in plain English. WEP does feed us information about its cast through subtler channels like hazy flashbacks and well-drawn body language, but the characters’ histories are contextualized largely through dialogue, which makes the show easy to approach. And once you’ve approached it, you can begin to appreciate its meticulous construction: striking designs for its human victims, monsters who transform and attack in grotesque ways, appealing backgrounds like the arcade and the garden that compliment the girls’ actions, but contradict their underlying emotions. Wonder Egg Priority is a show with plenty to offer, both on the surface and below it, which is why I’m particularly happy for its success this season.

Amun: It’s a rare day that the diverse tastes of Star Crossed align, but Wonder Egg Priority checks every box. My colleagues touch on the content but what sets this show apart for me is how incredibly fresh it is. In the latest episode, Rika spells out what I assumed would be the big reveal. Is that now still the case?! What show would come out and just ruin their main twist?! Is it misdirection?! I’m now more puzzled than ever – and I love it. Equally impressive to me is the arduous task Wonder Egg has taken on – tackling major, taboo societal issues in a cutesy medium. Maybe “cutesy medium” is selling the spectacle short. Incredible animation, wonderfully diverse (yet consistent) settings, and fight scene choreography that makes any Fire Force viewers cry – Wonder Egg Priority is the complete package. And – most importantly – every episode gives something original and fresh that I haven’t seen before. There is nothing more I can ask for – full marks. I have every confidence WEP can bring this beautiful, crazy story home.

Lenlo: Pretty colors go brrrrr! Everyone else is coming in here with their fancy shmancy artsy crap and here I am, watching a sunflower beat brightly colored monsters to death with an enlarged multi-track ballpoint pen. It’s not that I don’t enjoy the themes of abuse and how Wonder Egg handles them, I’m just not nearly as enamored as the other writers here are. It reminds me a tad too much of Ikuhara and I can’t shake the feeling it’s all going to fall apart and that Wonder Egg will somehow screw it up. Combine that with occasionally too on the nose dialogue and you have why it falls just short of Sk8 the Infinity as my Anime of the Season.

If Wonder Egg can make it to the end without falling into the same traps Ikuhara does though then it has a good chance of being my first place, with everyone else giving pretty good reasons as to why.