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Saying Goodbye To Winter Anime 2020
By WakeUpSnooze • 3 years ago


The worst part of every season is watching some of your new favorite anime end. I’m all too privy to the sad, silent pain of finishing off that twelfth episode and thinking “please for the love of god bring me another season soon”. Then again, you also have those anime where your first thought is “thank god that bullshit is over”. I figured that since just about every winter anime is reaching its conclusion or is about to at least, we could take some time to reflect and share our thoughts on this past collection of anime. Please note that this article will contain spoilers for various anime that aired this past season.


ID: Invaded

 


This anime was at the top of my seasonal rankings for a long time. Every week I would say “damn, ID did it again, it’s still the best show of the season”. The detective puzzles were fun to follow along with, the characters were likable enough to root for, the soundtrack was absolutely banging, the train episode had a boy feeling sorry for a murderer, it was some fantastic stuff. But then, the second half arrived, and while it didn’t become absolute trash or anything, it lost a lot of momentum. The down to earth moments with the characters and unique puzzles became overshadowed by the main plotline, and let me tell you that shit felt a little rushed and predictable. At the end I simply didn’t understand what the moral of the show was. The characters seem to defeat the villain who was unmemorable as hell and then just continue on doing the same shit without any internal conflict being resolved or lesson learned. Overall it was another anime that I would have liked to see tidy up the ending, but it was a fun ride nonetheless.





Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!




Neither me nor Kinky planned to watch this anime, but we ended up doing so because it was popular and people wouldn’t shut up about it. Thank goodness they didn’t, because thanks to ID: Invaded’s blundering of the ending, I’m going to say this was definitely anime of the season. The characters were quirky (calm down, not in the tumblr way) yet lovable. Kanamori especially proved that you can write standoffish, money grubbing, cynical,  business-minded people in a manner that still makes you care and root for them when they have other redeemable qualities. Between the unique artstyle, fun and explorative soundtrack, and laid back plot that still manages to add a little suspense here or there, this was simply a relaxing journey of seeing how much work and detail goes into animation whose passion for creating you yourself will likely appreciate if you’re an anime fan. Give me another damn season.






Oshi ga Budoukan Ittekuretara Shinu



I watched this shit because I expected it to be pretty boring and bland, but I wanted to see just how bad this shit would get. The problem is, this show wasn’t even bad enough to laugh at. It was the most boring, no plot, no conflict, no lessons, no nothing anime I’ve witnessed in a long time. The fact that they managed to stretch this out to twelve episodes is a testament to humanity’s perseverance. I can wholeheartedly say this was a waste of time the likes of which should never be undertaken by anyone. 










Pet



I didn’t realize you could fuck up such an interesting premise so badly, but pet has opened my eyes to new levels of convoluted plot. This has to be one of the most unlikable casts in a hot minute. At least the idol show was simply boring. This anime was jam packed with confusing terminology and it never really took the time to explain it all thoroughly enough. “Doors, images, locks, locus, loci, peak, valley”. I’m sure if I paid more attention I may have been able to piece together exactly what each of those terms meant through context, but the characters were so whiny, crazy, or one-dimensional that I couldn’t get invested enough to care. Fuck this show, this was my surprise disappointment of the season.








Darwin's Game


Speaking of surprises, bitch Darwin’s Game surprised me by actually being good. Whenever I see a “survive the DEATH GAME” anime, I brace myself for the most uninspired writing possible. In my opinion it had an incredibly rocky start with some fanservice and lack of seriousness, but once the anime assembled the main squad together and they started working with each other to survive the death game, I was hooked. Every week I loved this anime more and more thanks to the endearing character interactions between the squad members, as well as some hard losses the group suffers to reinforce the fact that this is a horrible game where people are dying. By the end of the season, the main character feels like an entirely different, more badass person (not in a rushed way, but more due to everything we’ve seen him go through). This anime proved that there’s still some interesting things to do with the death game concept and I’m crossing my fingers for more seasons.



Blade of the Immortal


Blade of The Immortal has ended it’s 24 episode run. Man, this show was one of those where I was rooting for it so hard. One week I’d be insanely invested after a crazy episode, then the next so much shit would be skipped over or rushed through that I would barely even understand a character’s motivations or what happened in the episode. The soundtrack and atmosphere of the title was so amazingly thick, I really felt like I was in the old samurai time period. This feels like an anime where if I read the source material, I’d enjoy it a lot more because I’d have a better comprehension of the world and the details that tie the entire plotline together. As it stands, I just feel like this is another samurai show that I’ll forget about by next year due to trying to squeeze too much into too little of a timeframe. 





There were a few more anime I watched, but this article is growing a bit meaty already. What did you think about the winter anime? Which was your favorite? Say goodbye to winter 2020 in the comments below!


Oh, and that Interspecies Reviewers show was pretty good ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°).