What I watched in Winter 2020
Continuing shows: My Hero Academia, Isekai Quartet
Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! [Crunchyroll] - This one is my Anime of the Season! A trio of high school kids get together and start a club to create anime (but they dub it a film club, or "eizouken" to get around school restrictions as an anime club already exists). It's right up there with Shirobako as far as meta anime, or anime about making anime, goes. While Shirobako focused more on the reality of the modern anime studio, Eizouken is more about the joy of the creative process. The one exception to that is my personal favorite club member, Kanamori, who focuses more on the money and promotion end of their efforts, doing a great job of showing how important those things are as well. Done by the same studio as Devilman Crybaby and Night is Short, Walk on Girl, the animation is phenomenal and lively as well. I learned a fair bit while being entertained. My only qualm about it is I felt the show lost some steam near the end as it kind of rehashes what they already did but with a bigger project.
Somali and the Forest Spirit [Crunchyroll] - Another fantastic show. What if The Mandalorian was an anime and fantasy instead of sci-fi? Well you get this. The world building is really well done, the backgrounds are gorgeous, and Somali can't help but make you smile even if she's a bit of brat at times. It does a good job of getting to the heart of what it means to be a parent.
BOFURI: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense [Funimation] - I was surprised by how much I ended up loving this anime. Yeah it's your typical RPG world anime (though not actually isekai), but the whole thing is so charming. Most of the fun comes from watching the main character, Maple, stumble her way into unlocking all sorts of overpowered powered abilities just by virtue of not playing the game like most people would. The animation is seriously good, particularly during the boss battles, and all the characters have great designs and personalities. Nothing deep but watching week to week never disappointed!
Science Fell in Love, So I Tried to Prove It [Crunchyroll] - Funniest show of the season for me. Two data scientists fall in love with each other, but aren't sure or don't want to admit it so they resolve to trying to prove it scientifically in various ways like measuring heart rate, quantifying mood, etc. Some shades of Big Bang Theory in this one, but they actually take time to explain scientific concepts in amusing ways so you'll learn a bit, too! As a former science major I could relate to it a lot. The story also ends on a pretty touching note considering the genre. Credits song is catchy as hell and got stuck in my head a lot after watching.
Asteroid in Love [Crunchyroll] - Another typical slice of life show, focused on an Earth Sciences (Astronomy and Geology) club. I actually learned a fair bit of science from this. Very relaxing to watch and relationships between all the characters are wonderful. Reminds me a lot of Yuru Camp, which got a series of 3 minute shorts this season called Heya Camp, so brief it's not really worth mentioning beyond this, lol.
Toilet-bound Hanako-kun [Funimation] - Not as gross as it sounds. The title is a reference to one of the "Seven School Wonders" of the high school it takes place in. I'm not sure how prevalent these rumors/haunted stories really are in actual Japanese high schools, but they come up often enough in anime to be considered a cultural phenomenon I guess. This anime turns these apparitions into actual protagonists in an interesting manner, and the main character gets drawn into their conflict when she attempts to summon one of them for better luck in her love life. I love the art style of this one as it's so bold while keeping it cute. The way the story unfolds leads to more questions than answers though and most of the fights seem to resolve the same way, that's my only complaint about it.
22/7 [Funimation] - An idol anime. Not much else to say. I picked it up mostly because one the character designers for this also worked on K-On! and Tamako Market for Kyoto Animation so I found them very appealing. That said, one thing I really appreciated in this show was the background stories of each of the idols. Some of them really tugged on the heartstrings and gave it more of a mature take on the genre (that is if you ignore the weird aspect of a mysterious wall giving them orders instead of an actual producer). Oh yeah the music was pretty good, too.
Seton Academy: Join the Pack! [Crunchyroll] - If you enjoyed Zootopia for the humor (specifically stuff like the sloth scene in the DMV), this anime might be for you. It's a high school comedy that got a lot of laughs out of me for portraying the quirks of various animal species in anthropomorphic form.
Nekopara [Funimation] - A show about catgirls. I like catgirls. What can I say? Surprisingly tame show given it's based on a pervy game, but still has its points of fan service. Pretty funny at times as well!