Wednesday, December 30, 2020

Top Anime in Winter 2021

 Wonder Egg Priority 

An interesting original anime which of course limits how much we can talk about since there is not an original work we can see before the series to create expectations of how it will work or what the story is about. However, the premise of this story and the feel it gives interest me. 

In the first trailer seems there was a mystery voice from within an egg that encourages one the main character to believe in herself and break the egg. The feel from the trailer is that this will be a slice of life series with mystery and drama elements. I wonder how the egg analogy will be used since it can clearly reflect the process of maturity. 

The studio behind this series is Clovers Works, the director is not exactly very experienced in directing as he only has previously directed only a collection of shorts but at least they were slice of life shorts that have a similar feel to this series. The script wrtier and original creator of the story is Shinji Nojima, who has authored a few manga before which were good. The  rest of the staff seems respectable but to me seems to be low on experience which is a problem I feel most anime series have nowadays. It is still a series that whilst we do no know much about it seems very intriguing. 


Suppose A Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town - Satou Toshio & Watanuki Nao

Like its titles suggest this is a light novel adaptation. Kid from the Boonies is a comedy series focused on particular misunderstanding as its setting. The main character Llyod feels that he is very weak so heads of towards the starter in order to get stronger and achieve his dream of becoming a soldier. The people of his village oppose his plan to leave because of his weakness but the leader of the village, Aika, coaxes them into accepting it. However, what he fails to realise is that only believes himself to be weak because he is surrounded by many absurdly powerful people within his village that so happens to be right next to the last and strongest dungeon. Aika knows this and still wants to use this opportunity to be able to flirt with Llyod since she loves how cute and adorable he is. 

After arriving in the starter town, he continues to believe he is weak leading to many misunderstanding such as when he cut downs a wooden target during his test to become a soldier so fast that people are unable to see it. Hence, they believe it was faulty and that he is unable to do it. Llyods, after many years of being treated as weak. has ingrained into him that idea that he is indeed very weak, so he therefore fails to accept how strong he really is. It is from this misunderstanding and the consequences it brings and his interactions with many quirky characters that the comedy of the series and its climatic moments originates. The PV linked below somewhat highlights how this comedy works.

The studio behind this show is also Cloverworks, a competent studio that has many works under their wing. However, most importantly in the key staff position there is Hitomi Mieno handling the composition who has a lot of experience with works that differ significantly like Amanchu! and Arakawa Under the Bridge. The director on the other hand is Migmi, this will be his/her first time as a head director of a series. Previously Migmi has only been an unit director or episode director of a couple of different series like My Love Story! and Saga on Tanya the Evil and more. The rest of the staff seems perfectly fine but for this series I believe like something like Konosuba the direction and composition is the most important aspect since it is after all a comedy work for the most part, so how it flows will be important.  In that regard the experience of Hitomi Mieno maybe can offset the inexperience of Migmi but it is up in the air but I still think this is a series to watch out for. 

Heaven's Design Team - Suzuki Tsuta & Hebizou and Tarako

A comedy series adapted from a manga series, this work has an interesting setting. In it God has decided to outsource the creation of creatures to angels and other beings instead of doing it himself. In a way it a reference to how prevalent outsourcing is in the economy in our daily. Therefore, the design team is tasked with creating creatures that god is tasked with approving. In the first chapter for example, they talk about design a deer with a long neck with a purpose to eat taller leaves and the likes. The idea itself seems ridiculous, however engineering team that creates the creatures stumble onto problems of how it would survive after all its heart would have to be much bigger and stronger to be able circulate it to the brain. A solution is eventually found and the creature is approved in the form of the giraffe. 

The series is focused on this aspect and it is episodic so in every chapter they deal with a specific animal or animals for the most part. The comedy originates as a previously highlighted from how absurd some ideas might be and how every angel and being bounce their ideas from how it tastes, sexual habits and its environment and etc into a final idea that you might often realise what it is in real life but it is still interesting to see how at least absurd some of the ideas behind these animals are looking at it more closely. 

Asahi production will be in charge of animation and they are quite an old studio but one that has not had many works under its name. However, like for most anime it is the staff that matters and in this case because it is a comedy series the director and series composer are important to make it feel natural. In regards to this we have Michiko Yokote composing the series and she is very experienced in doing comedy series as she has worked in series like Joshiraku, Handa-kun and Genshinken alongside many others. The director here is also experience having directed quite a few works like Scrapped Princess and Sakura Quest and some others works. The rest of the staff and cast are also decent and as a result I am sure this series will turn out well in the technical side and a competent staff and good original content usually results in a series to watch out for and this is the case for this series. 



Maiko-san Chi no Makanai-san by Aiko Koyama

A series that will illustrate a particular part of Japanese culture that perhaps is misunderstood in the western world and more widely. In Maiko-san, we have the main character Kiyo who is living in a lodge with many other aspiring geisha which are called maiko and that is where the title comes from. For Kiyo, however, the dream is over but her love for it and her friends made her stay and work instead as a caretaker for the lodge. The story follows her as she lives with these apprentices and shows us how the life of not only these maiko attempts to become geisha but also of actual geisha. It is an incredibly enjoyable experience for someone interested in learning other cultures. 

It is perhaps because of that that it is not surprising to see that this series is produced by NHK, Japan public network. I say that because it is a work that talks about Japanese culture and in a sense Maiko is made for that but it embeds it into a sweet story of friendship as well which is where the slice of life aspect appears. It is not a dramatic series even though Maiko could not achieve her dream because she is happy to be in the part of the life of geisha and seeing her friends succeed. It is a wonderful warm work that will make you cozy and happy whilst telling you a lot about something incredibly interesting which is the culture of geisha. 

PV





Horimiya by Hero and Hagiware Daisuke

Horimiya is a romance series but it does not have any blowout of draw and this maybe is the breaker for some people it is not a harem series. It features a lonesome boy that is rather quiet at school and does not standout very much but outside school he is more showy with piercings, earings and even tattoos on show. On the otherside is the girl that grows interested in him, a girl from school that recognises him and gets to know him better. Romance eventually develops between the two. This is a nice and quite sweet romance story. 

Once again Clover Works is behind this work. The director is Masashi Ishihama who has directed two prior works Persona 5 and Shinsekai Yori. Both series with supernatural elements and a edge to them in contrast to something like Horimiya which is a down to earth romance. Handling the series composition is Takao Yoshioka, who has composed Elfen Lied and Fushigi no Mononokean. If you ask me why I focus on these two roles so much is because they are central to the series overall structure. Both are experienced and the rest of the staff in regards to art direction and sound direction seems to vary whilst some have more experience others have not but still the whole package should come out well. 

No comments:

Post a Comment

Top Anime in Winter 2021

 Wonder Egg Priority  An interesting original anime which of course limits how much we can talk about since there is not an original work we...