John’s Picks for 2021’s Best TV Anime

Strictly because I’m fascinated by the medium of anime, every year I try my hardest to watch a sampling of every new anime title. By my count, excluding non-Japanese productions and ongoing series that continued episode numbering, there were 228 new TV broadcast and streaming series and specials in 2021. Of those, I was able to watch at least one complete episode of 222 of them. (The titles I wasn’t able to sample were Aka-chan Honbuchou, Chickip Dancers, Kimi to Fit Boxing, the Kanashiki Debu Neko-chan TV special, Kintamani Dog, and Utau Soccer Panda Mifanda second season). In my opinion, as a viewer that’s been diligently watching Japanese language anime for 40 years, a half-dozen of 2021’s new series elevated above the rest.

Odd Taxi ostensibly rises on the novelty concept of an anthropomorphic society. However, prior anime including BNA and Beaststars have also used the same scenario. BNA and Beastars even creatively exploited their settings to introduce unique layers of storytelling depth. The masterful aspect of Odd Taxi is that the story not only makes creative and purposeful use of its scenario, the show is furthermore a thoughtfully complex, deliberately plotted mystery narrative that keeps viewers on their toes and rewards intuitive, observant viewers. In the current era when so many anime stories feel arbitrary or cliché, Odd Taxi is a carefully crafted tale filled with foreshadowing, symbolism, and careful plotting. Like a clockwork machine, every aspect of Odd Taxi has a purpose and interacts with every other aspect to create an intricate larger working machine. Nothing about the production feels out of place, wasted, or pointless. Every aspect of the production fits like a puzzle piece to reveal a complex, rewarding, artful viewing experience.

In the same way that certain motion pictures are described as “Oscar bait,” anime productions involving handicapped characters and anime productions set in historical European settings are nearly always chum for Western critical praise. Ousama Ranking taps into the handicapped character trope but thankfully doesn’t use it as a crutch. Comparable in one sense to Odd Taxi, Ousama Ranking, based on the web manga by Sousuke Touka, is likewise a very deliberately and methodically constructed story. Episodes continually reveal surprising revelations and plot twists, yet none of them ever feel random, arbitrary, or artificial. Like layers of an onion, the plot depth was always there. The show forces viewers to repeatedly reconsider their impressions as it presents alternate sides to characters and reveals previously unknown information. The show that at first seems simple and even childish continually reveals layers of nuance and complexity that make viewers reconsider their assumptions and predictions. The show’s charmingly simple art design also allows for especially fluid and dynamic animation quality that enhances the story and viewer’s immersion in the action. As of the end of 2021 the show hasn’t yet finished. But the eleven episodes that have aired so far are already strong enough to secure the show a place among 2021’s best.

Anime based on classic historical literature seem like an over-obvious pick for praise. But Studio 4° °C and director Naoko Yamada’s adaptation of Heike Monogatari independently earns respect. The story and its character design may be a bit opaque for Western viewers at first. The complicated names, titles, and relationships of the medieval Japanese noble class are rather byzantine, especially for foreigners. But sticking with the show reveals a wealth of rich characterizations and a tragic tale of pride and greed turning the wheels of fortune. Viewers come to care about the characters and agonize over their fates as inextricable pieces in a human chess match. The show’s directing and art design, evocative of traditional Japanese cinema, immerses the viewer in a delicate, deliberative, wholly beautiful atmosphere of regret, responsibility, inevitability, spirituality, and the constant struggle of human instincts and desires opposed to higher ideals of respect, dignity, and compassion. This version of Heike Monogatari may not be an exhaustive, complete adaptation of the collectively composed epic, but the anime is a Japanese version of a Shakespearean drama for modern audiences.

Nominating the second season of a show, particularly one that overtly seems like a hybrid of fan service and blatant commercialism, seems incredulous. But Uma Musume: Pretty Derby season 2 deserves and earns its place among the finest anime stories of the year. Although a direct continuation of the 2018 first season, the second season is largely presented as an independent story, mostly because it concentrates heavily on different characters than the first season. The series concentrates on characterizations and the mental and emotional development of its characters, and it doesn’t play favorites with its plot progression. Characters presumed to easily win competitions lose. Characters suffer misfortune and unlucky breaks. Characters that devote their entire lives to a single effort suffer heartbreaking agony. While the first season was surprisingly good, the second season elevates exponentially. The show may be superficially dismissed as mere fan service, but viewers that watch the series will find it far more emotive, dramatic, and unpredictable than expected. Every moment of the show serves a purpose. The series’ art design and animation quality are gorgeous and moreover very thoughtfully deliberate. Furthermore, observant viewers are frequently rewarded with evolving sight gags and visual cues that enhance the story development.

Shows set in girls’ schools are far from uncommon. What makes Kageki Shoujo particularly commendable is it consistent production excellence. The show is lovely looking and nicely animated. Moreover, its character writing is very strong. Instead of relying on common tropes and archetypes, all of the teen girl characters in the show are dynamic, intelligent, unique individuals. They resolve their challenges and differences rationally without resorting to fighting or magic. The girls also learn from their experiences and mistakes, accepting and implementing advice and guidance from their peers and instructors. So the characters subtly change and mature as the series unfolds. The singular weakness of the series is its unresolved ending. Since the manga is ongoing, the anime lacks a definitive climax.

Megaton-kyuu Musashi is largely a hybridization of robot anime tropes and a stylistic update of the early 90’s Eldran series anime. The show also borrows ideas and inspirations from earlier anime including Getter Robo, Giant Robo, Megazone 23, Evangelion, and Pacific Rim, but uses these tropes to tell its own story rather than just ape what’s come before. Moreover, what seems at first glance like a harmless shounen robot anime quickly surprises with a vast amount of mature themes. Megaton-kyuu Musashi contains an unexpected frequency of emotional scenes. And the show also frequently surprises by being darker and more mature than expected from a seeming kids’ anime. The show doesn’t shy from death, even killing major characters, or from acknowledging that sex is a normal human activity. Moreover, the frequent action scenes, especially the series’ early ones, are energetic and creative. Megaton-kyuu Musashi is not deconstructive or highly philosophical, yet in many other respects it does feel exciting and surprising in the same way Evangelion did in 1995. The show delivers exactly the degree of excitement and surprise that transforms viewers into anime fans.

I also want to give special mention to the second half of Jujutsu Kaisen that aired in early 2021. The series’ first half was quite good, earning a runner-up recommendation on my best of 2020 ranking. The show’s back half is even stronger than its good initial story arc.