When it comes to anime today, our cup truly runneth over, and we’ve got more anime than any of us could possibly watch and enjoy each anime cour, the French term that’s come to describe the way anime is split into quarterly seasons consisting of 12-13 episodes. In the spring 2021 anime season there are something like 50 new or continuing shows, not counting the “eternal” shows like One Piece, Detective Conan and Crayon Shin-chan. Here’s a post about eight anime you’re not watching for one reason or another, which you might want to reconsider checking out!
Eight Anime You’re Not Watching This Season!
Most things in life seem to follow the Pareto Principle, named after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who observed that 80% of the rents in Italy flowed to 20% of the landowners. Also known as the Law of the Vital Few or just the 80/20 rule, it’s pretty clear that 20% of the anime is creating 80% of the excitement among fans, and probably getting up 80% of the Blu-ray sales. So it’s natural that for every truly outstanding show that’s being avidly discussed on social media like Higehiro or To Your Eternity or Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song, there’ll be shows that fail to really make a splash or go viral…though sometimes a romantic comedy is executed so poorly, it ends generating enough negative buzz by fans that some tune in to see what all the fuss is about. So in this post, I’ll highlight some potentially great series you might have missed!
Of course, I don’t mean that nobody is watching these shows and if you are, great! I’m just trying to highlight some anime series that might have slipped below most fans’ radar in this post.
Dragon House-Hunting
This is a light-hearted late-night anime based on a dragon who is looking for a house. He hires a real estate agent (who also happens to be a Demon Lord) and goes on many amusing adventures as he finds a home to live in. It’s quite enjoyable to watch.
One show I fear too many fans might not be watching is #MashironoOto #ThoseSnowWhiteNotes, about a boy who leaves Aomori for Tokyo after his grandfather dies and brings his amazing shamisen-playing abilities with him.
You have to experience it first-hand, so here’s a clip. pic.twitter.com/3UgqRSZeBy
— Peter Payne (@JListPeter) May 28, 2021
Another Great Anime: Those Snow White Notes
One show I’m enjoying, but which might not be accessible to everyone, is Mashiro no Oto, about a boy whose grandfather taught him to play shamisen. When his grandfather dies, he goes to Tokyo and changes many lives by playing his grandfather’s songs. If you want to learn a lot about this traditional Japanese instrument and hear some really good shamisen playing, Then Mashiro no Oto: Those Snow White Notes is your show!
Odd Taxi
In a world populated by anthropomorphic animals, an eccentric walrus Odokawa drives a taxi and has a simple life…until he gets caught up in the mystery surrounding a missing high school girl.
Seven Knights Revolution
Based on a South Korean free-to-play RPG created by Netbarble for iOS and Android, you should watch this anime if you’re a fan of the game and its world. As usual, I had difficulty connecting with the characters and story as I don’t know the game.
Yakunara Mug Cup Mo
Sometimes anime is made to promote a specific industry or region of Japan. This show follows four girls living in Gifu Prefecture, a place famous for glazed earthenware called Mino-yaki. The girls learn the joys of making this famous traditional pottery…but as long as they’re at it, they’ll make some glazed mug cups for coffee, too.
Cestvs: The Roman Fighter
I love the way anime is able to completely surprise us with original stories about the West, like the extremely detailed Viking anime Vinland Saga. This show follows a young fighter in Rome who must keep on fighting if he wants to win his freedom.
Subarashiki Kono Sekai The Animation
An animation of a 2007 Nintendo DS game by the same name. While it seems to have potential, I was turned off by the 100% CGI production and odd cartoonishness of the character designs.
One “anime” some might not be watching #ThunderboltFantasy #東離劍遊紀, a popular Japanese-Taiwanese puppetry drama written by Madoka and Saya no Uta creator Urobuchi Gen and produced by Nitroplus and Pili International Multimedia. It’s really cool! pic.twitter.com/42dAnlX4yJ
— Peter Payne (@JListPeter) May 28, 2021
Is This Even Anime? Thunderbolt Fantasy
It’s not remotely an anime, but since it’s created by the famous Urobuchi Gen, who created everything from Madoka Magica to Fate:Zero and the legendary Lovecraftian visual novel Saya no Uta, I hope some fans will check it out, as the emotion and action the puppeteers are able to create for us are incredible.
Godzilla: Singularity Point
I’m ashamed to say I had a negative reaction to Netflix’s Godzilla SP at first, mainly because of the goofy design of the robots the heroes use to fight Rodan in the first episodes, and the seeming lack of the titular monster. (The Big G shows up later.) I think I had pre-judgeed the show to be “another sub-bar Netflix-funded anime” like Japan Sinks. Also, the 2017 Godzilla anime (also made by the legendary Urobuchi Gen) had been too much CGI for me to take, with an overly-cerebral story. I’m happy to report that Godzilla SP is a fresh and innovative take on the classic kaiju genre and very worthy of any fans’ time. I’ll be writing about it in a future post.
Thanks for watching this post about eight anime you’re not watching. We hope you’ll give them a try, and tell us if you found any new shows to follow!
J-List’s sister company J18 Publishing just keeps going and going, releasing another amazing fully translated + uncensored hentai doujinshi for us, this time Seasonal Booty by artist Jun. If you like your waifus thicc, this is the book for you! Happily, our shipment came in at our San Diego office so this book, like all the other recent backorders, is in stock and ready for you to buy!
