The Winter 2021 season is just about over! There was a lot of excellent anime to watch this time around. Woohoo! Here’s what I watched, and how it fared according to my discriminating tastes:
Cells at Work!
– The cells continue to do what they do best: entertain and remind me to take care of my health! I finished the entire season out.
Cells at Work! CODE BLACK
– The cells in a diseased body muse over existential questions like, “Why even bother taking care of this idiot who can’t care for his own health?” Episode 1 was interesting. I haven’t watched the rest, not for lack of interest, but because there have been so many other good things to watch!
Dr. Stone: Stone Wars
– I LOVE LOVE LOVE this series! It rides the line perfectly between following the manga and innovating just a bit. Senku and the Kingdom of Science took on and took down Tsukasa’s Empire; and Tsukasa was iced, so to speak. ;-p New characters like Ukyo added more depth, and the shot of Ryusui (still enstatued) at the very end of the season promises bigger and better things to come in season 3!
Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai
– A boy and his adoptive rutabaga grandfather navigate deception and magic to save the world (naturally). I watched the first few episodes, and I’m clearly not the target demographic for this one! I might return to it if my kids are ever looking for another show.
Heaven’s Design Team
– God outsources creation to a design team. Hilarious and educational! I finished it, of course.
Laid-Back Camp
– The girls are back and camping! I loved this show, but it’s so peaceful it puts me to sleep after watching an episode!
Non Non Biyori Nonstop
– This slice of life series of cute girls doing cute things is fun on its own terms, but even better if you imagine that it’s actually set in the same area as Higurashi… Finished it, naturally.
Oh, Suddenly Egyptian God
– A hilarious short-form that pokes fun at the gods of Ancient Egypt!
Re:Zero
– I was one of the few people who didn’t really get into Season 1, but Season 2 has made me a convert! Lots of really impressive character growth from the main characters. Lots of really impressive eyebrows from Echidna!
So I’m a Spider; So what?
– A girl from our world reincarnates as a spider. Kumoko, as fans call her, has a great personality that carried the show. When we shifted focus to the human characters, it wasn’t usually as interesting to me. But I’ll be back for more when another season comes out.
That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime
– Like Re:Zero, I feel like the quality of this season picked up dramatically. The story was amazing, too! And the last couple of episodes, as Rimuru finally turns the tables, were SOOOO satisfying!
The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter
– Look, I tried. Hidden Dungeon was just so, so bad I had to drop it a couple of episodes in.
Quintessential Quintuplets
– I am LOVING it, even though my best girl Ichika turned to the dark side this season. Have not quite finished, because Mrs. Primes wants to watch it with me and we have to work around her work schedule.
World Trigger
– How is this show not talked about more? In this latest season, the anime quality has gone up a few notches, and plot/counter-plot of the various combatants highly entertaining. It’s especially neat to see how Chika and Glasses-kun conspire to overcome their weaknesses.
Kemono Jihen
– A detective encounters a boy who is essentially treated like a slave, and who carries a mysterious “life stone”. This was one of my favorite shows this season, though—with its brain-sucking mosquito women and mass slaughter of children and women, not to mention female-on-male rape—it’s not for everyone.
Horimiya
– A high school love story entwined with several other love stories. The art and music were amazing! The characters and humor were generally quite good as well. Still have one more episode to watch!
The Promised Neverland (season 2)
– Haters gonna hate. This season’s TPN has seen more online flaming than a Google server site on fire. But on its own terms, the show was fine; it’s only by comparison with the manga that the anime fell far short. Hopefully we’ll see a TPN: Brotherhood someday.
Scar on the Praeter
– Episode 1 of this post-apocalyptic/dystopic story had gorgeous graphics and a quasi-interesting setup. I may return to watch the rest of it later.
Back Arrow
– I’m behind on this, but the story of the “man without conviction” who wants to break the wall surrounding the world is surprisingly nuanced. There are some clear good or bad characters, but they are sprinkled among the various political groups: No side comes off as perfect. And Shu Bi’s flagrant machinations are fun to watch play out!
Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki
– I watched the first episode. Didn’t quite grab my interest, but maybe I’ll watch it someday. Or maybe not.
Log Horizon: Destruction of the Round Table
– Not quite over, but I’m glad to have another dose of Shiroe and his friends working to stabilize the land of Yamato, including resorting to election fraud when necessary, while seeking to return home. I do miss the old opening, “Database”, though.
That was my Winter 2021! Agree? Disagree? See something I missed? Drop it in the comments below!