The Winter 2020 anime season had a few pleasant surprises and maybe one or two big disappointments. Overall, it was a pretty solid season, but it wasn’t the most amazing season ever. None of the shows are going to rank among those unforgettable anime classics, but if you are looking for some good new anime recommendations outside of the continuing anime of the season like My Hero Academia or a Certain Scientific Railgun, here are our picks.
Best Winter 2020 Anime
Id: Invaded
In this world, crimes are able to be solved by piecing together a criminal’s unconscious mind in ID-wells. However, in order to enter these ID-wells, you must be a killer yourself. Enter brilliant detective Akihito Narihisago. After his daughter was murdered, he sought vengeance on the killer and is currently serving his sentence. However, under the name Sakaido, he enters the ID-wells in order to help his fellow detective piece together crimes.
Why It Is Worth Watching? – Although it started off a little slow, Id has really built up into a very interesting show set in a personal privacy invading future similar to Psycho-Pass but with more visually colorful characters.
Dorohedoro
Hole is a disorderly district where death and mutilation are common. The residents of Hole are the dregs of society and the test subjects of the magic users that live separate from it. Residents are constantly tested on or just murdered by these mages. In Hole is Kaiman, a man with a head cursed to be that of a lizard, but with an immunity to magic. He spends his time set on hunting down these magic users in one small bit of justice for the people that live in Hole.
Why It Is Worth Watching? – Dorohedoro is much in the same vein as Ajin. It has a great story, but it has that occasionally icky looking CGI animation. If you are looking for something that likes to switch between dark and humorous, this is it.
Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken
With sketchbook always on hand, Midori Asakusa has a passion for drawing both the world around her and the world in her boundless imagination. In stark contrast, her best friend Sayaka Kanamori and her calculated approach to life keeps her grounded. After a chance encounter with model Tsubame Misuzaki who has a passion for drawing characters, Kanamori, sensing a money-making opportunity, suggests they start an animation club.
Why It Is Worth Watching? – This series is creative energy in anime form. It is really shows the passion of those involved in creating it and the passion they have for creating things. That is not to say it is one of those “art anime series,” though. It is artful, but it is wholly hilarious to watch. It also has an OP I could watch forever.
Somali and the Forest Spirit
With humanity all but extinct after severe prosecution, the world is ruled over by spirits and all manner of strange creatures. One day, a golem that serves as guardian of the forest meets a young human girl. She has no memory of her parents, but the golem decides to at least seek out other humans to return her.
Why It Is Worth Watching? – Somali and the Forest Spirit is exactly what it looks like. It is a really nice series about a father / daughter relationship in an interesting fantasy world. It has nice moments and it has difficult moments. Really, it is a good alternative to actually having children.
Interspecies Reviewers
There are many import questions in life – Which girl truly is best girl? What consists of the best fapping material? Are certain fetishes sexist? To answer these questions and more, intrepid adventurers visit brothel after brothel to find the answers and provide their unbiased reviews.
Why It Is Worth Watching? – It was the controversial anime series of the season. Interspecies Reviewers was taken off Funimation (and several other anime services) mid-season due to it getting too spicy for the pepper. Too lewd, if you will. It was as if no one told them. Regardless, a good (preferably uncensored) ecchi series can be a fun distraction.
In/Spectre
At a young age, Kotoko Iwanaga was abducted by yokai and asked to become their Goddess of Wisdom to act as a mediator between spiritual and human issues. She agreed and lost her right eye and left leg in the agreement. Meanwhile, Kotoko meets Kuro Sakuragawa, a man who just broke up with his girlfriend after a kappa fled before him. Kotoko makes her move to not only lock him down as a boyfriend, but to help her settle various disputes with spirits.
Why It Is Worth Watching? – In its bare bones plot – “People dealing with spirits and spirit-type mysteries” – In/Spectre had the potential to be like every other anime series in that genre, but in the way it carried out these mysteries, and with a humorous main character at least, this series really rose above the masses.
Do you have more anime series from the Winter 2020 season that you would recommend? Let fans know in the comments section below.
