Hey guys, the winter 2020 anime lineup is finally over and I am back to share my thoughts about the whole experience of following it. In general, it has both ups and downs with each show having their own perks. There are shows that really shown great developments like a certain show that started so low at my 1st weekly chart then eventually landed inside of the top 5 when the season ended. That’s just how competitive the entire winter 2020 anime lineupthroughout the season, though, I think most of the shows were pretty average. But what really matters is that in the end, they are able to satisfy the viewers and brought the story and its purpose to light.
Alright, I’ll proceed directly now to my final impression review of the winter 2020anime lineup. I must say it is a pretty emotional ride with more drama and action. Meanwhile, I barely see any solid romance and comedy this season. Nonetheless, in this review, I have combined the ranking for the leftover and the new anime of the season so the final list isn’t usually the same as my previous post for final season reviews from last year.
Let’s start our list with our anime of the season for Winter 2020 lineupwhich really gives us a dramatic ride and action this time.
Fate/Grand Order: Absolute Demonic Front –Babylonia–
Fate/Grand Order: Zettai Majuu Sensen Babylonia | CloverWorks
On top of the winter 2020 anime lineup is the leftover entry from 2019 and that is the Fate/Grand Order: Absolute Demonic Front – Babylonia – which gave us a shivering story with pretty solid animation, and heart-wrenching drama. Every episode is packed with good humor, well-written dialogue, amazing characters that can’t stop from being awesome, and great fight scenes. And who wouldn’t cry with its touching ending theme song which further intensifies the loss that we felt with the demise of several characters in the story?
Smile Down the Runway
Runway de Waratte | Ezόla
What a great ride we have here with this inspiring anime about modelling, fashion and designs. It really gave us a graceful experience and telling us to chase that dreams no matter how hard it is as long as you have the courage and determination to strive for it. The story of Chiyuki to be a model and Ikuto to be a fashion designer even if they have to face many hurdles along their way truly ignite the sparks for me to be inspired.
ID:Invaded
ID:Invaded | NAZ
The biggest leaped that we had this season and one of the MVP in our winter 2020 anime review is here. Though it started good and kind of unique, it took me a while to finally appreciate it since I am not a huge fan of the genre but it was able to change my mind and I had been blown by every turn of events in its story since then. The thrill in following the investigation of our brilliant detectives was fun and sometimes nerve-wracking as it tackles on certain psychological factors.
My Hero Academia Season 4
Boku no Hero Academia 4th Season | Bones
One of the best shounen anime of this generation still has the firepower on its arsenal, although the ride throughout the season is a tough one. My Hero Academia only landed at 17th spot for our best anime of 2019 despite being the defending champion from 2018. When the 2nd cour of the 4thseason started, that’s when things started to heat up and lead us an exciting and heart-warming finale that we had where the baton had been passed to Endeavor as the new symbol of peace.
Haikyuu!! To The Top
Haikyuu!!: To the Top | Production I.G.
The 4thseason of Haikyuu!! finished at our 5th place and with so much build-up and a bit of a cliff hanger. Yes, it ended right when Karasuno is about to fight Inarizaki High Volleyball team. I believe that the most significant part of Haikyuu!! Season 4is Hinata’s experience as a ball boy during the special rookie select training camp for first-years in Miyagi Prefecture. There he really grows as a player with the knowledge that can only be seen outside of the court. While Kageyama had been invited to All-Japan Youth Training Camp and it showed him a huge world that he ought to conquer.
Somali & the Forest Spirit
Somali to Mori no Kamisama | Satelight
A great dramatic ride is what we had experienced with this heart-warming story of a surreal yet sincere father and daughter relationship from two different species. It has been an amazing adventure throughout the season where Somali and the Golem had to meet different people with different stories to tell. They had been our tour guide in a world so beautiful yet so dangerous. The atmosphere that Somali and the Forest Spirit had given us is beyond beautiful and stunning.
Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!!
Eizouken ni wa Te wo Dasuna! | Science SARU
It’s the anime about making an anime. Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!! is truly a fun and wild artistic ride. It is quite educational and at the same time making every moment a fun learning experience about the basic in the animation industry. It is more like a short introduction on how an anime is done and all the effort that the production team invested and put through in order to deliver an anime project to its viewers. The art style is so unique that I felt it brought us into a new world just like Somali & the Forest Spirit but with a different tone.
Chihayafuru 3
Chihayafuru 3 | Madhouse
It has been a dramatic and heartbroken journey seeing how our best boy (my personal best boy) was rejected right away by our main heroine after his love confession. Nonetheless, all the competitive karuta that we had seen and witnessed throughout the season had been fantastic and unpredictable. It made me wish that I could play karuta too. The mood in every scene is pure and insanely beautiful with every frame filled with emotion and color dynamics.
Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun
Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun | Lerche
Gorgeous art, and funny yet interesting supernatural story – Toilet-bound Hanako-kun had given us an exciting ride with all the apparition stories lurking in a typical Japanese school. The highlight and biggest asset of this series is definitely the art style and unique yet beautiful character designs. Story-wise I felt like it’s a bit complicated with our main heroine Nene a little bit caught in every web of the school’s apparition. I must say she’s quite the damsel in distress here and the good thing is that Hanako always go to her rescue but I felt no sparks at all between them.
Ahiru no Sora
Ahiru no Sora | Diomedia
Our best sports anime from last year is here at the 10th spot while losing the sports anime of the season to another big name in our chart which is Haikyuu!! We’d definitely been treated to a good basketball match this season from Ahiru no Sora while also giving us an inspiring story which is typical for a shounen anime. In the end, what really matters is the entertainment factor, and I believed that the anime barely succeeded. Ahiru no Sora will continue airing as part of spring 2020 anime lineup.
Darwin’s Game
Darwin’s Game | Nexus
This anime has so much potential to go in the list even higher but where did it fail? I think it’s no failure but the anime had been pretty rushed on which we will not able to fully grasp everything that took place in it no matter how exciting it might be. Well, story-wise I think it is a pretty generic battle royale for survival. But this clan thing made it good as fans could look forward to great actions in every event in Darwin’s Game. Plus, the characters are just insanely likable; I like Shuka, Kaname, the Analyst, and the Florist. Although the turns of the event are pretty shady, bloody, and tragic in most cases, it’s amazing to see an unexpected twist from its story. Furthermore, Shuka is a beast – I really loved her and I really enjoyed how they tortured Wang in the finale episode.
BOFURI: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, so I’ll Max Out My Defense.
Itai no wa Iya nano de Bougyoryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu. | Silver Link
It’s our furball of sunshine landing at our 12thplace. Critically speaking, BOFURI isn’t anything special or spectacular but what really makes it good is the fact that it was able to captured the heart of the viewers due to how fluffy and fun it is to watch the characters’ journey inside the online game. Imagine a shield loli defeating every monsters and player in the online gaming world with her tremendous plot armor luck, and naive yet innocent behavior. The entire experience of following Maple and her group had been a relaxing one beaming with so much fun and they defeat any challenges they encounter in the online gaming world which sometimes felt like watching a cheat.
A Certain Scientific Railgun T
Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T | J.C. Staff
Landing at the 13th spot is the story of our favorite esper from Academy City and it is Misaka Mikoto or what is simply called Railgun. We have here the 3rd season of A Certain Scientific Railgun which is a spin-off series from the popular anime A Certain Magical Index. It has been a good ride so far until Covid-19 strikes big time in Asia which affects the Japanese anime industry and A Certain Scientific Railgun T’s production had been delayed. Despite the anime being originally slated for 2-cour season, it suffered from delayed production which caused it to be left behind by the other series from winter 2020 lineup. The story is quite average with the big reveal hiding in the clouds of confusion. I have started to fell in love with Kongou Mitsuko and her friends as they help Misaka. I almost had hypertension due to my anger towards that fatty antagonist there. It seems that there’s a lot of plot twists still in-store for us in the remaining episodes of the anime and I am pretty excited for it.
In/Spectre
Kyokou Suiri | Brain’s Base
Kotoko and Kurou was really a good match made in hell or in the yokai world. Yes, they made a pretty good pair despite how obnoxious their relationship might be. The story is quite exciting in the beginning until we encountered Steel Lady Nanase. I think the story of mixing fictions and truth to defeat supernatural opponent is quite confusing but at the same time we have to acknowledge the fact that Kotoko’s plan on defeating Steel Lady Nanase was crafty yet absurd by any means. However, being illogical might be the best way to deal with unexplainable concept such as supernatural beings or ghost. What’s amazing though is that the anime wrapped in a pretty good way that I believed everyone had been satisfied including myself.
The Case Files of Jeweler Richard
Housekisho Richard-shi no Nazo Kantei | Shuka
Far from being a great story but it always deliver the feeling that we all need when watching it. It’s a great slice of life anime with a touch of solving problem involving jewels and precious stones and what story they tell. The whole experience of watching The Case Files of Jeweler Richard is emotionally heart-warming with so many life lessons embedded in its story in every episode. The personal struggles that the characters had been secretly fighting were worth to mention too. Definitely, one of my personal winter 2020 anime favorites.
Dorohedoro
Dorohedoro | MAPPA
Strange but seriously entertaining, Dorohedoro is one of the best anime of winter 2020 lineup if we will talk about purely interesting characters. Yes, I love almost every character in the series, most especially Shin and Noi as well as En’s family but I was a little bit turned off with how dull the story is at some point. I think the main focus of getting Caiman’s memory and finding out the details about his past had been mixed up with his encounter with En’s family. The actions and humor were good and peculiar but I think we need to focus more on how the story will develop at the very least. Nonetheless, I am still craving to see more from this anime.
Welcome to Demon School Iruma-kun!!
Mairimashita! Iruma-kun | BN Pictures
The funny adventure of Iruma in the demon world had finally concluded with so much drama and good vibes. Throughout its whole run, this story of finding friendship and family to belong to is really inspiring and heart-warming. We had witnessed how Iruma’s friends are genuine despite acting obnoxious on many occasions. The headmaster Sullivan is also a crafty hell of a devil and I truly like how doting he is to our human boy. It is great to see Iruma enjoying his stay in the demon world and experience that fun that he didn’t experience during his life in the human world. The story is average but there’s never a dull moment, so this is a good ride from the start to end.
Blade of the Immortal
I love everything in this anime series – blood, fight scenes, beautiful background images, stunning character designs, hot characters, enthralling music, and intriguing yet cliché story of revenge except the terrible pacing in the last few episodes where everything felt so rushed and senseless. While the fight scenes, music, and visuals are still top-notched, Blade of the Immortaldefinitely losses its mystic in the 2nd half of its run and slowly losing the momentum it once had from its earlier episodes. Still, I am glad that my favorite character Magatsu did survive.
Pet
pet | Geno Studio
The winter 2020 anime season had started with Pet topping the chart for several weeks until it deteriorates heavily in the succeeding weeks. Its opening theme song Chou no Tobu Suisou by TK from Ling Tosite Shigure had carried the series to a certain extent with how fantastic it is. The story is actually unique and interesting but the direction where the story is heading which is filled with betrayal is plainly disgusting at some point. Well, the anime definitely played with the viewers’ mind and heart here where it seems and felt like everything had been messed up until we reached the final episode. Nonetheless, that was a hell fun of a dramatic ride but too manipulative.
If My Favorite Idol Made It to the Budoukan, I Would Die
Oshi ga Budoukan Ittekuretara Shinu | 8bit
I can’t imagine how did I started falling in love with this idol anime, one thing I know is that its opening them had been repeatedly playing in my mind while found myself laughing so hard on the daily humor of this series’ main protagonist. Eripiyou and her friends definitely give us another glimpse at the life of otaku who is head over heels on their favorite idols. I felt like that it is not healthy at all and the story keeps on dragging for so long and it hurt us, the viewers by seeing just how immature it may seem. But I think they represent a mentality of the otaku people that we can’t easily comprehend with. What I truly love about this anime though is the humor that will make you laugh no matter how stress or infuriated you might be.
Honorable Mentions
- A Destructive God Sits Next To Me
- Infinite Dendrogram
- Re:Zero (Director’s Cut) – this one supposed to be included in the list above but since it’s not a new anime and is just a refresher for the 2016 anime series Re:Zero I didn’t include it in the final list. Nonetheless, we should look forward to watch-out for Re:Zero anime season 2 which is scheduled for release on July 2020.
In the Winter 2020 Anime Awards that we had posted in our Facebook page and social media accounts, I also have here the results for several categories as follows:
- Anime of the Season (Winter 2020): Fate/Grand Order: Absolute Demonic Front – Babylonia
- Best Director: Toshifumi Akai (Fate/Grand Order: Babylonia)
- Best Male Character of the Season: Sakaido (ID:Invaded)
- Best Female Character of the Season: Chiyuki Fujito (Smile Down the Runway)
- Best Fight Scene: Endeavor vs Black Nomu (My Hero Academia Season 4)
- Best Opening Theme Song: Chou no Tobu Suisou by TK from Ling Tosite Shigure (pet)
- Best Ending Theme Song: Prover by milet (Fate/Grand Order: Babylonia)
- Best Supporting Male Character: Tamotsu Fukuda (ID:Invaded)
- Best Supporting Female Character: Quetzalcoatl (Fate/Grand Order: Babylonia)
- Best Pair/Ship of the Season: Chiyuki and Fujito (Smile Down the Runway)
- Best in Visuals and Graphics: Somali & the Forest Spirit
- Best in Animation: Fate/Grand Order: Babylonia
- Best in Screenplay: Smile Down the Runway
- Best in Character Designs: Toilet-bound Hanako-kun
- Best Voice Actor: Ayumu Murase as Hinata Shoyo
- Best Music/Score: Fate/Grand Order: Babylonia
- Best New Anime of the Season: Smile Down the Runway
- Best Sequel Anime of the Season: Haikyuu!! To The Top
- Best Leftover Anime: Fate/Grand Order: Babylonia
- Best Slice of Life Anime: If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die
- Best Drama Anime: Somali & the Forest Spirit
- Best Fantasy Anime: Fate/Grand Order: Babylonia
- Best Adventure Anime: Somali & the Forest Spirit
- Best Sports Anime: Haikyuu!! To The Top
- Best Comedy Anime: BOFURI
- Best Action Anime: Fate/Grand Order: Babylonia
- Best Supernatural Anime: Toilet-bound Hanako-kun
- Best Romance Anime: Science Fell In Love So I Tried to Prove It
- Best Sci-Fi Anime: ID:Invaded
- Best Mystery Anime: ID:Invaded
And this is where I shall end my final impression review for the winter2020 anime lineup. It has been an amazing experience for me and I hope that you guys had also enjoyed the shows you’d been following from this season. Is there any specific anime that you made your whole experience worthwhile and amazing? I’ll be more than happy to learn too what’s your anime of the season for the winter 2020 lineup. Please let us know by leaving your comment below.
If you wish to read some more reviews for winter 2020 anime lineup, I suggest you visit the following blogpost from the anime community:
- Winter 2020 anime season: a final say | BATESZI ANIME BLOG
- The Best (and Worst) Anime of Winter 2020 | ANIME NEWS NETWORK
Furthermore, I would like to remind everyone that the spring 2020 anime season officially started. Have you finally prepared your watchlist? If not yet, you may check our listing for next season for your reference here: Spring 2020 Anime Season Lineup.
Last Updated on January 1, 2021 by Yu Alexius
[…] aside from Ride Your Wave, they also animated Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken which is one of the my favorite anime from winter 2020 anime season. Both anime have vivid and beautiful animation and that unique visual aesthetics. […]