I was kind of surprised that my wannabe first impression anime review post from a couple weeks back was decently upvoted. I expected it to be completely buried and ignored, but thank you for not doing what I thought you guys would do (for the most part). Those who gave my post a shot last time and found it helpful truly have my gratitude and thus, I arigathank you guys and girls (sorrymasen, too much influence from Hololive LMAO) from the bottom of my heart. To be completely honest, I wrote all this shit beforehand, so even if I have second thoughts about posting it (which I kind of do), it’ll be a complete waste of my time if I choose not to, therefore I’ll just post it anyway. I won’t make anymore of these anime review posts, but let me just make a final verdict on what anime is good for Winter 2021. Most of you people probably don’t care and I also don’t care if you don’t care because my sole intention of making these anime recommendation posts is only to help you discover what anime are good to watch, so it’s whatever if you overlook this.
Link to the post I’m talking about: https://bandori.party/activity/45072/I-can-already-expect-this-post-to-be-buried-and-overlooked-but-I-don-t-care-and-I-m-still-going/
Since it’s a common rule among the avid anime watchers to do the “three episode rule”, which is basically watch three episodes of an anime as a safe ground before deciding if you’re going to continue watching it or want to drop it either because it’s not for you or for other reasons. Therefore, I want to give my final verdict alongside some research (basically just MAL statistics) to see what is truly worth watching for this anime season (Winter 2021). In simpler terms, if MAL recommends an anime and I also recommends it, then it means it’s a “must watch”. Just like last time, there are no spoilers in my reviews/first impressions, so rest assured. Alright, let’s not waste any time and just get right to it.
[color=red]Sequels:[/color]
What makes this season of anime so stacked as I mentioned in the post I made before is mostly thanks to the returning shows. The sequels are all huge names and are almost all worth watching if you’re already watching these shows. For the sequels, I only included ratings of 8.00 and above (A score of 8.00+ basically means it’s a great show; a score of 9.00+ basically means it’s close to being a “masterpiece”) for what MAL recommends.
What MAL Recommends (Highest Rated Anime)
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Shingeki no Kyojin: The Final Season: 9.19
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Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu 2nd Season Part 2: 8.72
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Yuru Camp△ Season 2: 8.61
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Non Non Biyori Nonstop: 8.36
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Dr. Stone: Stone Wars: 8.34
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Yakusoku no Neverland 2nd Season: 8.30
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World Trigger 2nd Season: 8.10
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Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken 2nd Season: 8.09
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Beastars 2nd Season: 8.01
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5-toubun no Hanayome ∬: 8.00
What Ya Boi Recommends (Only Contains Shows I am Currently Watching; Sorry Shingeki no Kyojin I’ll Binge You Once You’re Done Airing)
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Shingeki no Kyojin: The Final Season: I heard good things from my friends who are watching it, so I'll make an exception and include it anyways. Only time will tell if it’s truly near masterpiece worthy or it’s just a good show, but being extremely overrated.
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Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu 2nd Season Part 2: You don’t need a wannabe anime reviewer like me to tell you to watch Re:Zero if you haven’t watched it already. My most respected anime YouTubers, Gigguk and TheAnimeMan, will also tell you to watch it if you ask them whether Re:Zero is worth watching or not. I’m sure of it. It’s genuinely a fantastic show. There’s a reason Bandori had a collaboration with Re:Zero back in November. It’s an amazing psychological thriller anime with unpredictable twists and turns that will leave you wanting more. You’re honestly missing out if you don’t watch this.
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Dr. Stone: Stone Wars: Ya boi just binged this in a few days to do a review on it and I hated myself for not watching this sooner. I’m effing ready for more stupidity every single week LMAO. This show is realistically unrealistic, and brilliantly stupid! I have no idea what the hell I just said, but that’s precisely the feeling you will feel when watching Dr. effing Stone. This show is so stupid and educational in a way (they claimed the science being used in the show are real) that you’ll just have to turn off your brain and go with whatever ridiculousness that is happening in front of your eyes. Senkuu has quickly become one of my favorite protagonists in recent shounen anime/manga. He's a badass not in the traditional sense of being incredibly powerful physically, but by being a genius and having a personality that I really enjoy and can relate to. If you’re someone who loves silly, yet entertaining anime that is set in a refreshing and pretty unique setting, then I would recommend this show to you. I guarantee you’ll love this show ten billion percent :D (this is one of Senkuu’s most commonly used catchphrases)!
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Yakusoku no Neverland 2nd Season: Hmm… How do I explain why this show is good without using any spoilers? Okay, I think I got it. This is another really good psychological thriller about children with genius intellect attempting to find freedom. I promise that you’ll be on the edge of your seat watching each episode with how intense and dire the situations the protagonists get themselves into and how they manage to escape it.
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Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken 2nd Season: It’s one of the many isekai anime that came out in the past decade. However, it’s one of the better ones if you ask me. Sure, it’s no Re:Zero or KonoSuba, but it’s still pretty damn good. The main protagonist of Tensura, Rimuru Tempest, is a really well-written character and he has quickly become one of my favorite anime characters of all time. Tensura is a really fun series with a good balance of action, comedy, and emotional moments.
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5-toubun no Hanayome ∬: This show is basically Nisekoi, but has a clear direction of plot and has pretty solid writing. If you like what I call “waifu war”, then this show is for you. For a harem anime, there isn’t too much excessive fan service in this show and the characters are pretty likeable for the most part. It’s a fun watch, but definitely not a mandatory watch if you don’t like harem.
[color=blue]New Series:[/color]
Now for what most of you care about: The new series for this season. On the other hand, most of the new series this season is quite lackluster to be completely frank. The sequels carried the hell out of this season and there isn’t much outstanding new series to watch besides two or maybe three in my opinion and MAL seems to mostly agree with me as well. So basically, how I like to interpret ratings of MAL is: Any scores that are 7.00 and above means it’s “objectively good” and is worth checking out. Any scores that are from the 6.00 to 6.99 range means it’s mediocre or somewhat watchable, but not very good. Any scores that are 5.99 and lower are absolutely a waste of time and aren't worth watching.
What MAL Recommends (Highest Rated Anime)
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Horimiya: 8.57
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Mushoku Tensei: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu: 8.35
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Wonder Egg Priority: 8.25
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Kemono Jihen: 7.70
What Ya Boi Recommends (Only Contains Shows I am Currently Watching)
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Horimiya: If you read my first impression post, then you guessed it correctly, the only noteworthy new series of this season are: Horimiya and Mushoku Tensei. Horimiya is a really fun show to watch in my opinion. Almost all the characters are likeable and I just can’t stop grinning at all the adorable interactions they have when watching this show. I really really like Hori. She’s one of the few “tsundere” female characters I don’t dislike. I would explain why, but it’ll just ruin the fun for you, so I won’t say anything. Horimiya is definitely one of the better romantic comedies that came out in the past decade of anime. By the way, why is this show labelled as “shounen” instead of “shoujo”? I get more shoujo vibes from Horimiya than shounen. Anyway, this is a marvelous show and both the guys and girls will like it. The ladies will love this show especially, I guarantee it ten billion percent (shameless insert of Senkuu’s catchphrase LMAO)!
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Mushoku Tensei: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu: What do we have here? It’s yet another effing isekai anime. Hurray! Oh, but wait, is this an isekai show that is actually not trash? Yes. Yes, it is. This show is very good. It takes a slightly different approach from other isekai shows, such as Tensura and Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka?, where the main character who died and is then reincarnated into a fantasy world as a new identity starting from the “very beginning”. In the case of this show, it’s literally from the very beginning, as the main character was reincarnated as an infant and it’s pretty much a show about his journey from a kid to adulthood as a second chance in life that he always wanted.
Once again, if you made it this far and you found my wannabe anime reviews helpful, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. It means a lot to me that I can help people out since I made it my New Year's resolution to become a “better person”, which I believe can be accomplished by helping people out, regardless of who they are. Oh, and just a reminder: Please DO NOT watch the steaming pile of trash that is Ex-Arm! That anime is absolute dog crap and is an abomination to everyone who enjoys anime! Please spread the word to your friends LOL.
