The best anime of 2021 (so far)

 

The Best Anime of 2021       (So Far)

The advent of the year is fraught with delays and realistic calendar updates on all aspects of entertainment (and live-action movies and TV shows, in particular), the Winter 2021 anime season came out loud in the gates, and spring quickly caught the baton to make up for lost time. 

We were already excited about the continuation of last year’s series, like Crunchyroll Awards favorite Jujutsu Kaisen and the tail end of Attack for the Titan’s final season, but the new additions to the currently broadcast series are welcome, an unexpected surprise.

 Fortunately, viewing these articles is more accessible than ever, with free tiers on Crunchyroll and Funimation, the Hulu simulcasting deal, and Netflix producing its own (and licensing some recent hits). From the weirdest to the funniest, these are our favorite anime of the year to date.

  

10. Vlad Love

Release date: February 14

Director: Mamoru Oshii

Available on: Crunchyroll

After decades of scientific and philosophical philosophy, Vlad Love represents something of a palette cleaner for veteran director Mamoru Oshii. 

After thinking about everything from our physical relationship to technology to man's quest for destruction, the show plays like low stakes and often extremely stupid goes back to its roots, remembering his years of work at Urusei Yatsura in the 80s.

 The show is quirky and is off the wall in a way that Oshii's work has never been since, with hyperactive scenes full of unusual meta-gags and nonsequiturs (see the area interrupted by about half a minute with Wikipedia descriptions of bomb jet). 

That wall-to-wall and wall-to-wall won't work for everyone, but it's weird descent is always funny, and Vlad Love makes a comeback to the comic comedy comedy series Oshii has cut his teeth. 

That idea is deliberately made - those with a keen eye will see visual cues of his previous works and series.

 It is masterful in its self-defense and, with the extraordinary and humble use of the integrated separation screen between the soft, well-painted backgrounds, is honored by artistic director Kazuhiro Obata and background artist Yasutada Katou. Although the sudden release of the series threatens to bury it, its high potency helps to stand out during the already winter.

  

9. Horimiya

Release date: January 9

Director: Masashi Ishihama

Available on: Hulu, Funimation

A young and energetic young man, Izumi Miyamura does not hold the best care of his high school classmates, nor does he try. 

This all turns out to be a chance to meet his classmate Kyoko Hori outside of school, where both find that their appearance to each other would not be so wrong.

 Despite the lies that the anime has been based on for years, Horimi does not waste time building romantic conversations between the two, focusing on the emotional consequences of their relationship rather than simply building it up step by step. 

It is a double-edged sword, as its loose leave (one-time director) can feel confused. But she is saved by her circular storytelling style, viewing Miyamura and Hori growing relationship as a group of different times rather than doing the will. 

As a result, it seems to be a more natural way, but there is no way to touch it less romantically. It’s a shame that the last few episodes get lost in some way after running the love arc of Hori and Miyamura, and they lean so far away from quirks that start to annoy rather than be beautiful.

 However, Horimi is more than worth beholding because of its visual and artistic style, fully emphasizing the moments of peaceful intimacy, loneliness and confidence.

  

8. My Hero Academia, Season 5

Release date: March 27

Director: Kenji Nagasaki

Animation production: Bones

Available on: Crunchyroll, Funimation, Hulu

The continuation of the entertainment of Izuku Midoriya, a boy who was born powerless in a world where everyone has it, has been faithfully entertained by a combination of memorable characters with a world-class character by paying attention to every detail. 

The fourth season of the show is split in between a surprisingly high battle with villain Overhaul and its beloved yakuza hunters, as well as the whimsy and relaxation of the school festival. 

The new season also begins with school stuff like a battle between classes - 1A, full of our favorite characters and characters (except Mineta, not him), and 1B, who are determined to prove that they are not just "another class." k horikoshi. Although banned on school premises, it is fun to see the clash of different student strengths, speculation, and humor.

 (This season brings a character with the power of imagining the sounds of onomatopoeia of comic books, their head appearing as a bubble of thought that we can always read.) In its heart the sense of honesty is lacking in many modern heroic things. 

My Hero Academia has been in operation for some time, but it still has a lot of power to use, even in its units where the highest numbers are the last level.

  

7. Jujutsu Kaisen

Release date: October 3, 2020

Director: Sung Hoon Park

Available on: Crunchyroll, HBO Max

If you watch any shonen anime, Jujutsu Kaisen often feels very familiar. Yuuji Itadori whose exiled young character lives in the house of the most feared demon (and his immature silver hair adviser, Soldu Gojo) remembers Naruto; a small veil between humanity and demons and an invisible war between them recalls Yu Yu Hakusho. 

Its goofy supporting characters, spectacular battles, and a strong sense of humor are part and parallel to its name as a war anime.

 When Jujutsu Kaisen's magic lies in his ability to accept genre tracks, then cleverly confuse them, he lets the audience think that they are in the show's pre-distortion. 

It’s also a rare corner where women are portrayed as tough and tough as men, something that has come to the fore in this season’s best episode examining the psychological performance of characters in well-designed battles. 

Jujutsu Kaisen does not replace the wheel, and there is often a lack of understanding of its title (translated as "Witch's Fight"). It’s still totally focused on the big battles and supernatural horrors, but it’s the modern canny of the experimental formula and reality, which continues to satisfy week after week.

   

6. 86

Release date: April 11

Director: Toshimasa Ishii

Animation production: A1 Pictures

Available on: Crunchyroll

Occurring more than 100 years later during the war between the two groups of so-called independent missions, 86 hit hard in their disturbing involvement with fascism. 

Based on a simple novel series of the same name, first in the wealthy republic of San Magnolia, it shows its capital in the view of Lena, a young military commander in charge of commanding an army of anti-Legion drones. 

But spider-like "drones" are not independent; tested by the oppressed so-called "86s," a truth known to the military but hidden from the people, deprived of all human rights and forced to fight and die in the name of Alba.

a mono-ethnic ruling class all with silver hair and blue eyes, truth first introduced in the first terrifying sequence. It is here that it first becomes clear how 86 is wise in the way it emphasizes the banning of evil, when a dictatorship is dressed as a law and adopted as a way of the world. 

Despite her good intentions, Lena's vision continues to gain momentum, a fact that is often highlighted by a show that plays the same moments at the same time from its different, but equally close-knit views. 

So far, 86 is interesting as it does not conform to its manifestation of oppression and government-sponsored rights.

  

5. Pui Pui MolCar

Release date: January 5

Director: Tomoki Misato

Animation production: Shin-Ei Animation, Japan Green Hearts

Available on: Netflix

There’s not much you can say about Pui Pui Molcar, but that’s its beauty. The magnificent children's anime, which looks like a real bite, develops on an irrational and straightforward basis: What if there were cars that were once again guinea pigs? Animated in stop-motion.

The show shows the world where people drive these kind cars, the Guinea pig hybrid known as the Molcars (marmot portmanteau and car), each episode showcasing their various hijinks and solutions of problems that followed. 

There’s the ingenuity of the game and its hairy opponents (one of them is called potatoes) that make it look brighter (and the inclusion of real people, narrower so they can fit in between smaller venues) - and that’s before artists start throwing visual cues into popular movies, i.e. Akira bike slide. 

It stifles the absurdity of cartoons playing with unimaginable love as the beloved MolCars are forced into a gun to take part in a bank robbery. Each new episode is simple, fun and constructive, as we use a simple concept as mindless, each wonderful story told within a pleasant atmosphere and saving for 2-3 minutes. Truly a blessing.

    

4. SSSS.Dynazenon

Release date: April 2 

Director: Akira Amemiya

Animation production: Trigger

Available on: Funimation

SSSS.Gridman, Akira Amemiya’s 2018 update of the Gridman franchise, finds pleasure in repetition, relying on a satisfying, rhythmic formula: a new transformation following charming character work, an (awesome) theme song blaring over each episode’s climactic fight. 

Its new follow-up, SSSS.Dynazenon, builds upon that stylization in a mystifying and exciting manner while maintaining SSSS.Gridman’s intimate stakes and emotional power.

 In this show, five teenagers unite to form the eponymous giant robot Dynazenon, battling monsters summoned by another group of adolescents called the "Kaiju Eugenicists.

" Dynazenon takes place in the same universe as Gridman, but the nature of that connection so far is tantalizingly vague, teased through shots that almost exactly match its parent series.

 It’s not just fan service, but part of the text, a reflection of the themes that Gridman tackled in between its kaiju brawls. With this and its tales of gods and mortals sprung from social isolation and anxiety, jarring editing and cuts to live-action. 

Dynazenon is as gorgeously animated as its predecessor, frequently stunning in the quiet and loud moments alike, while often calling back to the work of Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno (which tracks, considering Trigger was formed by ex-Gainax staffers). 

The designs, wholly and lavishly Trigger-esque, shine throughout, the care of its character drawings contrasting with the blocky, toy-like transforming robot (which is, appropriately, summoned with action figures). 

The endgame of how the shows connect will be clear in time—Gridman broke its patterns in spectacular fashion, Dyna Zenon does too—and the mystery behind it all is just as exciting as the battles. 

     

3. Laid Back Camp, Season 2

Release date: January 7

Director: Yoshiaki Kyōgoku

Animation production: C-Studio

Available on: Crunchyroll

Laid Back Camp is probably the purest form of comfort show: low-lying and beautiful and humble poles, a warm winter coat in which it was broadcast. 

Organized in and around Yamanashi Prefecture, the series set - focusing on the self-sacrificing and silent presentation of Rin Shima, and the famous Nadeshiko Kagamihara as they visit various camps across the country - have never really been released. 

The series is actually a Japanese outdoor tour with some side camping tips, all available with a view that captures the beauty of each landscape with beautiful and detailed background art that cuts through the photoreal.

 Attention to detail from those romantic images to animal art to camping and camping techniques, whether it’s in the setup and use of tools or in luxury food cooking. 

Each little adventure goes on a hobby, prioritizing pressure and looking at girls ’exploration with a gentle sense of humor and a strong sense of belonging, content to enjoy the details of the process and the setting of the situation. 

In addition, Laid Back Camp also walks away with its unmistakable and natural expression of girls' friendships that have been swept away by their shared hobbies, relationships and acceptance of each other's quirks spoken of by minor tone changes, in person or through their group messages. 

(As a side note, program engagement and messaging are interesting, shown as a recommendation in its external checks rather than arguments.) That patience makes Laid Back Camp a decent break from the hassle of casual viewing (or just a year in general).

    

2. Wonder Egg Priority

Release date: January 13

Director: Shin Wakabayashi

Available on: Funimation

The term “magical girl” is never mentioned in Wonder Egg Priority, but the great and colorful symbols of the subgenre — the power-transforming, animal-like animals — are presented in contrast to the quiet and fragile looks of each other’s inner struggle character.

 Following 14-year-old Ai Ooto as she struggles to protect the souls of the dead girls emblazoned with the words "amazing eggs," the high quality of the show's photos proves to be instantaneous, full of inconsistent and stunning characters, flying high and the iconic act of comparing Kunihiko Ikuhara (Revolutionary Girl Utena).

 and Naoko Yamada (Silent Voice) equally. In spite of all that visible light, the obvious display of a difficult story will prove to be an insurmountable obstacle for many - though most of them, director Shin Wakabayashi (Owarimonogatari) and author Shinji Nojima (Suki!Ie naki ko) are attacking extremely uncomfortable topics. That said, the show threatens to be a victim of its desire both on and off screen. 

Mismanaged production leads to many delays and the end is backed up by a few months, its employees apparently pushing too far away from the operating limits (a sadly common sign of the industry). 

On the screen, Nojima's writing on the back of the show is so busy, she loses her grip on the empathy and thinking that makes the series work from the beginning. 

Still, from the incredible animation to its off-kilter electronic score, Wonder Egg Priority strikes a perfect balance of entertaining action with a sad story, and remains one of the best of the year.

  

1. Sk8 the Infinity

Release date: January 10

Director: Hiroko Utsumi

Available on: Funimation

A real sports anime directed by former Kyoto Animation manager Hiroko Utsumi (Banana Fish), on its face, Sk8 the Infinity is equal parts big and absurd, and full of emotion and gentleness.

kind jokes you can expect from someone with a sense of perspective and direction from work on K-On ! and Nichijou. It’s full of bright, distinctive color and great energy, and it’s just fun from the jump as it shows a group of black snowmakers participating in a secret.

unstoppable race barred from descending skateboarding at an abandoned mine, known as S. But it finds an amazing emotional foundation in Reki Kyan high school, introducing new transfer student Langa Hasegawa to skateboarding.

 As a leading sports anime, Sk8 the Infinity builds a lovely relationship between its competitors and partners, with tensions between Reki and Langa as the first one begins to feel insecure as his close friend quickly picks up new skills. 

Once upon a time, the lead character was not given a chance before, and the show gets a compelling character with the insecurities of hard-earned talent cultivated with a lot of practice. 

Robot skiboards, skaters dressed as bosses and ninjas, some spread the word well, the insecurities of seeing someone you love passing you by knowingly — it’s just a great show to feel you have it all.