With the winter season at an end and everyone locked away in their homes, now is the perfect chance to binge some of last season’s best anime. But with the 50+ new series that came out last season, you might need a bit of help choosing what to watch. So here are five shows you shouldn’t miss out on.
Oh, before we get into it, a little disclaimer. If your pick didn’t make this list, that doesn’t mean it’s bad in any way. It only means that I chose the arbitrary limit of five anime to highlight and that those below are the ones that happened to make my personal cut.
Image source: TVアニメ「痛いのは嫌なので防御力に極振りしたいと思います。」公式 on Twitter
BOFURI: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, so I’ll Max Out My Defense
Genre: VRMMORPG Fantasy, Slice-of-life, Comedy
Studio: Silver Link.
Number of episodes: 12
Premiere date: January 8, 2020
Non-spoiler plot summary: Maple is a VRMMORPG newbie. Encouraged by her best friend Sally to start ahead of her, she logs in and begins her first solo adventure. Because she doesn’t like pain, she puts all her stat points into defense. She then proceeds to “play” with a monster as it attacks her over and over again to no avail–unlocking a hidden skill in the process. Soon she unlocks secret skill after secret skill, boosting her defense ever higher and making her an unstoppable, unkillable beast–though Maple, somehow, never quite realizes this fact.
Why you should watch it: Bofuri is silly fun in the best way. Maple, due to her unique way of playing the game stumbles her way into becoming ever more powerful just by being herself. Her out-of-the-box thinking is both humorous and clever and it’s easy to see why the supporting cast is so exasperated seeing her do one “impossible” thing after the other.
It’s also a rather low stakes series. It’s not a death game nor is the fate of the world somehow hanging in the balance. Instead, it’s just about an ever-growing number of friends playing a game together and exploring all it has to offer. However, that said, you do care about Maple and her friends. As they get more and more involved in PVP events, you end up rooting for them as the tension builds higher and higher–even if the consequences of losing are non-existent.
Watch It If You Like: Infinite Dendrogram, Log Horizon, Sword Art Online
Where You Can Watch It: Funimation, AnimeLab (AU/NZ), Muse Asia (Singapore), Wakanim (EU)
Image source: 「ダーウィンズゲーム」公式 on Twitter
Darwin’s Game
Genre: Death Game, Action, Psychological
Studio: Nexus
Number of episodes: 11
Premiere date: January 4, 2020
Non-spoiler plot summary: One day, Kaname gets an invite from his missing friend to play an app called “Darwin’s Game.” When he boots it up, he finds that he has unwittingly joined a death game where each player gains a different superpower–himself included. Unfortunately, unlike everyone else, he has no idea what his is. And even worse, a sports mascot with a knife that can turn invisible is already set on hunting him down and getting the easy kill.
Why you should watch it: Darwin’s Game is first and foremost an action anime as the various characters fight each other–often to the death. That said, it’s often more about the psychology of battle than the actual fighting itself. Kaname’s greatest weapon isn’t a gun or special power, it’s thinking and then acting quicker than his opponents. Everyone seems to underestimate Kaname and that is their biggest mistake.
On a more thematic level, the series is a look at the battle inside Kaname about whether or not it’s acceptable to take a life or not. Sparing people is no doubt Kaname’s greatest strength–as those he does often become his allies. However, sometimes this act also gets people killed. What is the correct path is something that Kaname must debate within himself, especially as the series nears its climax.
Watch It If You Like: Future Diary, Btooom!, Magical Girl Raising Project, Gleipnir
Where You Can Watch It: Funimation, Crunchyroll, HIDIVE, AnimeLab (AU/NZ), Wakanim (EU)
Image source: ＴＶアニメ「異種族レビュアーズ」公式 on Twitter
Interspecies Reviewers
Genre: Sexual Comedy, Fantasy
Studio: Passione
Number of episodes: 12
Premiere date: January 11, 2020
Non-spoiler plot summary: Two seasoned adventurers, Stunk the human and Zel the elf have a running argument: which are the better sexual partner, elves or humans? Each prefers the other’s species so they poll their friends, a halfling and a beastman for their opinion. Then for fun, they post the results on the local adventurer’s board. It becomes a hit and is redistributed far and wide. Soon the pair are joined by a fallen angel as they begin to visit brothel upon brothel, having sex with as many different races as possible and reviewing them all.
Why you should watch it: Let me be straight here. Interspecies Reviewers is absolutely softcore porn. However, it is also some of the most amazingly well-thought-out world building put to animation.
Each episode looks deep into the biology and culture of the fantasy races to determine their thoughts on sex–especially the interspecies variety. More than that, however, it looks at not only how humans would feel about sex with a given fantasy race but how other fantasy races would feel as well. It also shows how sex works in a world without STDs or accidental pregnancy (thanks to magic) and the sex-positive culture that results from that. All in all, this is one thought experiment well worth your time to dive into.
Watch It If You Like: Monster Musume: Everyday Life with Monster Girls, SHIMONETA: A Boring World Where the Concept of Dirty Jokes Doesn’t Exist
Where You Can Watch It: AnimeLab (AU/NZ), Wakanim (EU)
Image source: isekai_quartet on Twitter
Isekai Quartet 2
Genre: Other World Fantasy Crossover, Comedy
Studio: Studio PuYUKAI
Number of episodes: 12
Premiere date: January 15, 2020
Non-spoiler plot summary: The main characters of Konosuba, Overlord, Re:Zero, and The Saga of Tanya the Evil are still trapped in a strange world that is modeled after a Japanese school. After having their hopes of returning home dashed at the school Sports Day, they have to prepare for both tests and the looming culture festival.
Why you should watch it: If you like any or all of the four tie-in series this is definitely worth a watch. While it is certainly silly and humor-based, it takes the lore behind it 100% seriously. This means that the cast is always in character with their various backstories affecting how they interpret the comical events around them.
Season 2 focuses more on the supporting characters from each series. It looks deeper into their shenanigans and how they interact with the supporting characters of the other anime. Where else are you going to get a story about a goddess and a team of soldiers attempting to steal booze from a teacher’s office or two yandere characters teaming up for a special Valentine’s Day event?
Last but not least, this season also adds in the main trio from The Rising of the Shield Hero–as well as some other fun isekai anime cameos–to add a little extra spice to the story.
Watch It If You Like: Konosuba, Overlord, Re:Zero, The Saga of Tanya the Evil
Where You Can Watch It: Crunchyroll, Funimation, AnimeLab (AU/NZ), Aniplus (Asia), Muse Asia (Singapore)
Image source: 【公式】アニメ＆マンガ「理系が恋に落ちたので証明してみた。」 on Twitter
Science Fell in Love, So I Tried to Prove It
Genre: Romantic Comedy, Slice-of-Life
Studio: Zero-G
Number of episodes: 12
Premiere date: January 11, 2020
Non-spoiler plot summary: Himuro is beautiful, stylish, and a genius engrossed in her scientific studies. Her only real rival in her graduate program is Yukimura, a man who lives and breathes science–never thinking about anything else. One day Himuro comes to the conclusion that, despite their constant verbal jousting, she has fallen in love with Yukimura–and has the statistical data to back it up. Yukimura responds that before she can really come to that conclusion, they must be able to quantify what love is numerically. Thus, the two begin to experiment to find the scientific formula for love–with themselves as the central case study.
Why you should watch it: This is a romantic comedy without all of the “normal” anime rom-com tropes. It’s not set in a high school. There is no harem. There are no oblivious protagonists. There are no lucky perverts. There are just two people trying to figure out scientifically if they really are in love–and getting way too obsessed with their research in the process.
It also has an excellent supporting cast. Kanade, whose experience with love is limited to her unrequited crush on her past teacher, plays the straight man (and somehow “love expert”) of the group. Inukai, while looking stylish and sporty, is actually a dating-sim otaku who’s relationship knowledge comes only from the 2D realm. Then there is Ibarada who enjoys sitting back and laughing about the situation, occasionally popping in to point out the main pair’s bad science or just to torment Inukai with embarrassing moments of their shared past. All together they make for a fun show that manages to keep it fresh with every episode despite the formulaic plot.
Watch It If You Like: Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku, Golden Time
Where You Can Watch It: Crunchyroll
Top image source: 「ダーウィンズゲーム」公式 on Twitter
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