Anime of Winter 2021, Ranked

Winter 2021 should be in the running for best anime season ever.  It was so stacked with quality anime.  Sequels to several reputable anime titles simultaneously dropped this season.  On top of that, there were also a good deal of notable new titles to choose from.  I really had my hands full watching anime this season.  In total, I ended up watching 18 shows this season – the most since Fall 2019 (although, I did drop two, so I only finished with 16).  And those aren’t even all the anime I wanted to watch.  I never got around to watching Beastars season 2 (I hope to catch up to this soon) and SK∞, which is supposedly one of the absolute best new anime of Winter 2021.

Same as always, I will be enumerating here all 18 anime I watched, arranged from the worst to the best for me.

The Promised Neverland 2^nd Season

The second season of The Promised Neverland pulled off one of the most shocking twists in anime history: it sucked.

I haven’t read the manga, but I just knew that there was something off with it around episode 3 or 4.  Then, I learned from the Internet that its story had proceeded to dramatically divert from the manga, cutting off many of the things that made the manga special.  This made me lose any motivation to watch beyond episode 5.

Apparently, according to what I heard, it only got worse from there.  The version of the story that the anime opted for is not only radically condensed, but is also plagued by stupid writing – a far cry from the intelligent script of season 1, which was a bona fide masterpiece.

And I think that’s why the second season seems worse than it really is.  It’s because it betrayed one of the greatest single seasons of anime of all time.

The Promised Neverland season 2 will surely go down as one of the most atrocious anime adaptation botches ever.

Redo of Healer

And this is how you can tell my intense displeasure with The Promised Neverland season 2: I ranked it below the godawful Redo of Healer.

To be honest, I did at one point genuinely become intrigued of this anime.  Look at this show’s poster above.  It looks so innocent.  Yet this revenge fantasy/power fantasy anime is actually packed with extreme NSFW content.  The weirdness and absurdity of it all compelled me to check it out.

The morbid curiosity eventually led me to read the manga.  But after reading the manga, since I already knew how the rest of the story would go, there was no real reason for me to continue watching the anime, so I dropped it.

* * *

I had one of my best anime seasons with the remaining 16 anime series in this list.

So I’m a Spider, So What?

It’s carried over to Spring 2021, and I’m still watching.  It’s a decent isekai.

Cells at Work! 2^nd Season

It was actually great.  But it only had 8 episodes.  So, I don’t think it deserves to be ranked any higher.

Dr. Stone: Stone Wars

Frankly, I think I enjoyed this arc more when I read it in the manga for the first time.  Reliving the experience through anime didn’t do anything much for me.  Dr. Stone season 2 was still pretty good, though.

Heaven’s Design Team

Click here for my full review.

Horimiya

Click here for my full review.

Log Horizon: Destruction of the Round Table

Really glad to see the greatest MMORPG-based isekai back.  I just wish season 3 kept “Database” as OP (to be fair, the new one isn’t half-bad), and that it also had 25 episodes like the previous two seasons.

Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki

Click here for my full review.

Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town

Click here for my full review.

5-toubun no Hanayome ∬ (The Quintessential Quintuplets 2)

Best stylized season 2 title ever?  Best stylized season 2 title ever.  Best harem anime ever?  Best harem anime ever.

Cells at Work! Code Black

Click here for my full review.

Wonder Egg Priority

Like Horimiya, Wonder Egg Priority was not one of the new anime I picked up at the start of the season, but since it was generating so much buzz about being one of the best of Winter 2021, I was compelled to check it out.  I’m glad I did.  It’s gorgeous, unconventional, and delightful.

I still haven’t reviewed it, since the story isn’t complete yet.  There’s a special scheduled on June, but I don’t know if that will wrap things up.  Or it could turn out being just a side story, and it will be announced afterward that a new season will continue the main story.  Either way, I’ve decided to watch that special first before I write my review.

Mushoko Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation

Among the initial six new anime series I picked up at the start of Winter 2021, Mushoko Tensei was last.  In the end, it turned out being the best of the lot.  Yes, it has problematic elements.  But, in general, it’s simply an extremely well-crafted fantasy anime.

Only 11 episodes ran during Winter 2021.  Being a split-cour, the second half of this debut season is set for Summer 2021.  My full review will come after that.

Jujutsu Kaisen

Click here for my full review.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime 2^nd Season

Season 2 was originally meant to be a double cour, and would have gone on during Spring 2021.  However, its second cour was eventually pushed to Summer 2021, making it a split-cour instead.  No matter, as long as the second cour end up being as great as the first cour.

Attack on Titan: The Final Season

Although Winter 2021 was filled with many noteworthy anime, the conversation was nonetheless dominated by the final season of Attack on Titan – and rightfully so.   AoT is not just any popular anime now; it has become a pop culture icon.  And taking into consideration everything from season 1 until this point, it’s been a legit masterpiece.  Hopefully, the second half, which is set to air in 2022, will nail the landing.  Honestly, there’s some cause for worry, as the ending of the manga is somewhat of a mixed bag.  However, I’m still optimistic that the anime will still be able to make something utterly special out of that source material.

Re:Zero – Starting Life in Another World 2^nd Season Part 2

Okay.  Attack on Titan: The Final Season will probably go down as Anime of the Year.  However, I genuinely think that the second cour of Re:Zero’s season 2 was just as absorbing, stimulating, and emotionally resonating.  Technically, the two shows are tied for first place here, but I decided to put Re:Zero last – the place of honor – so that I can get across how much I really loved it.