Hello folks, and welcome back to… what the fuck, does that actually say 2020 at the top of the post? As in, the beginning of an entire new decade? As in, I’ve been writing about anime for…

You know what, we’re just not gonna think about that. Instead, we’re simply going to appreciate the upcoming attractions of the newest anime season, a season which holds no greater temporal significance whatsoever, and which will solely be a source of animated joy, not existential career-focused dread. As usual, my picks here won’t include every single new anime production – just the ones I think already possess some obvious potential, be it due to strong source material, excellent key staff members, or whatever else catches my attention. I’ll also focus my descriptions on highlighting those factors, rather than offering a reheated synopsis; you can find synopses for everything over on anichart, and synopses rarely have much correlation with quality in the first place. If that dismissal of Plot As A Meaningful Concept raises your hackles, feel free to exit the building – if not, I hope you find something worth checking out in my rundown. Without further ado, let’s start the Winter 2020 Season Preview!

Eizouken ni wa Te wo Dasu na!

Masaaki Yuasa is, by any reasonable metric, already one of the greatest anime directors of all time. From The Tatami Galaxy to Ping Pong the Animation to his rapidly broadening feature film catalog, Yuasa is a director like no other, and brings both a wide-reaching aesthetic sensibility and unflinching dramatic maturity to all of his works. Every new Yuasa project is a cause for celebration, and Eizouken looks to be no different, with its early PVs already demonstrating a looseness of aesthetic that, like Ping Pong, is clearly designed with great reverence for the unique artistry of its source material. Yuasa eats terrific source material and shits anime gold, and I’m beyond excited for his latest project.

Here’s the PV.

Dorohedoro

Dorohedoro is easily one of the heavyweight properties coming into this winter season, and stands as yet another defiantly un-adoptable manga property that has nonetheless made its way to animation. Q Hayashida’s gleefully splatter-filled, intricate, and subtly expressive art style seems like it’d be almost impossible to capture in animation, but the trailers released so far seem to indicate this adaptation is doing its absolute best to capture the aesthetic spirit of the original. Additionally, director Yuuichiro Hayashi seems like the perfect fit for this material, having already demonstrated his keen stylistic vision through the excellent Garo: Divine Flame and Kakegurui. Whether these strong base variables will be able to overcome the aesthetic compromises inherent in adapting a manga like this is still hard to say – but if you can stomach the trailer’s big CG lizard, I imagine Dorohedoro will be offering an excellent ride.

Here’s that PV.

Drifting Dragons

Based on a widely liked manga and executed with Polygon’s usual polish, Drifting Dragons looks to be a fine adventure vehicle this winter season, with its high-flying premise likely to make fine use of director Tadahiro Yoshihira and his team’s experience working on the thrilling interstellar dogfighting of Knights of Sidonia. Ultimately, the big question with this production is likely to be a viewer-specific one: do you think Polygon’s current level of CG production is convincing enough to keep watching? If so, Drifting Dragons will likely be a fine time.

Here’s the show’s current PV.

Haikyuu!!

I actually still haven’t watched Haikyuu! myself, but the show has enjoyed a stellar reputation as a high quality sports vehicle with compelling characters and excellent animation from its first season. This past year, much of the key Haikyuu!! team worked on the phenomenal Run with the Wind, which turned out to be one of the best shows of the year, and amply demonstrated the dramatic strength of this team’s fluid animation, expressive character designs, and general sports drama acumen. Though there’s been some turnover in the staff over time, the fourth season of Haikyuu!!’s key roles all look like they’re being taken up by longtime series regulars, and so I’m feeling more tempted than ever to pick up a show that has at this point solidified its reputation as one of the best modern sports anime.

Here’s the new season PV!

Magia Record: Mahou Shoujo Madoka☆Magica Gaiden

Given Madoka Magica is one of my favorite anime of all time, I couldn’t exactly avoid mentioning the first Madoka spin-off property to receive a full anime adaptation. That said, I have virtually no hopes for Magia Record, for a variety of reasons. First off, there’s no indication so far that Gen Urobuchi will be involved, and without his storytelling talent and understanding of the original Madoka’s themes, it’s extremely likely any new projects will just play out like any other dark magical girl property. On top of that, Magia Record is based on a mobile game, which is up there with “based on a light novel” as far as red flags go – and on top of that, the Shaft of today is nowhere near the Shaft of ten years ago, as they’ve been hemorrhaging talent consistently for half a decade. With all those factors stacked against Magia Record, I’m guessing it would take a wish as powerful as Madoka’s to keep this production on the rails – but Madoka is Madoka, and so I’m still at least checking it out.

Here’s the PV.

ID:Invaded

Ei Aoki’s career has had a wide variety of ups and downs over the past decade, but there’s only so much you can blame him for, say, the narrative incoherence of something like Aldnoah.Zero. He’s clearly a director with substantial skill, and given the open canvas of an anime-original project like Invaded, there’s still a lot of potential there. Invaded’s early trailers demonstrate all the wide-open compositions and profoundly chuunibyou sense of cool that define most of his productions, meaning my hopes aren’t exactly high, but I’m still interested in seeing how this one plays out.

Here‘s the show PV.

pet

Pet was also featured in my last season preview article, and though shows disappearing for full months only to resurface generally implies awful, potentially production-ruining behind-the-scenes drama, the show’s director Takahiro Omori still possesses a remarkably impressive resume, and its released production materials remain as intriguing as ever. Recent PVs seem to be leaning into the surrealism promised by the source material’s premise, leaving me with tentative hope for this potentially mind-bending production.

Here’s the latest PV.

The Case Files of Jeweler Richard

This one’s a bit of a long shot, and one I’m recommending largely on the basis of my fondness for its director, as well as how clearly its preview demonstrates part of what I like about his work. Tarou Iwasaki doesn’t have the lengthiest directorial resume, but having directed both One Week Friends and Sweetness & Lightning, he seems to have an excellent feel for the kinds of gentle, sympathetic character dramas I tend to love. Jeweler Richard looks like it’ll be falling at least partway in that same wheelhouse, and given the soft colors and generally convincing atmosphere of its preview, I’m interested to see how it shakes out.

Here’s the PV.

Natsunagu!

Finally, I have almost nothing to go off regarding Natsunagu!, save for its unique and refreshingly grounded premise (following a college student who’s hoping to reconnect with a friend she lost contact with during the 2016 earthquakes), and beautiful promotional art. With a largely untested director and no previews to speak of, this production is certainly a long shot – but given its premise, this is precisely the kind of show I tend to most hope to be good.

That covers it for me, though of course, I’ll also be continuing to keep up with My Hero Academia and Chihayafuru through the winter. Altogether, it’s looking like a fairly promising season, with both some sure favorites and also a fair scattering of potential highlights. I hope you’ve found a new show to look forward to among my choices, and please let me know everything else I’m missing in the comments!