Doctorkev’s 2021 Anime Postmortem: The Very Best From A Packed Year
Screw negativity! Previously, I highlighted the dark side of 2021’s anime glut. This time, it’s all positive, all of the time, honest! Join me to revist the very best of 2021’s anime shows. There’s a lot of them.
Honourable mentions:
Some seasons I watched over 20 different shows, so this year in particular it was almost impossible to construct a top 10. Nor a top 20. I had to draw the line at a top 30, but even then there’s shows I want to mention that I enjoyed. The only reason they’re not rated higher is that I liked other things more.
These are all fantastic TV shows: Jujutsu Kaisen, Sonny boy, To Your Eternity? Reincarnated as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom X, Higurashi When They Cry: Gou & Sotsu, Star Wars Visions, Zombieland Saga Season 2, Yuki Yuna: Great Mankai Chapter, Cells at Work: Code Black, Heaven’s Design Team, So I’m a Spider, So What?, Dr Stone Season 2, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 6: Stone Ocean.
Demon Slayer: Mugen Train was a fun movie (also available chopped up into itty bitty little bits as the first few episodes of season 2), but not enough to warrant a place on my list. Sorry if one of these is your favourite, at least they garnered a mention!
Top 30 TV anime:
I find it impossible to compare TV shows with movies, so I’ll consider them separately. I also don’t care if a show started in 2020 and continued into 2021, or if a show started in 2021 and will continue into 2022. If I watched it as it was broadcast, it counts as something I watched in 2021!
As I’ve done in previous years, I’ve quoted my previous reviews, with a link to each one. I’ve already written extensively about every show on this list, no need to unnecesarily duplicate work! Here follows what my failed plan to construct a top 10 mutated into…
“There’s nothing else quite like Beastars in the anime (or any other) world. It’s so goddamn weird but fun. I have absolutely no idea what it’s trying to say, and I’m not entirely sure that the show has any idea either, but it almost doesn’t matter. It’s an unholy mashup of Zootopia, Glee, Riverdale, Twin Peaks, The Godfather and Batman. Several of those things have no business being jammed together into a blender, but somehow Beastars makes it work, even if it makes its audience emit strange, uncomfortable noises every few scenes.”
29: Banished From the Hero’s Party
“Red’s sister Ruti, as the Hero, must devote her entire life to fighting the Demon Lord. Her life is a living hell, with an existence subsumed entirely by her blessing’s powerful influence, and her story is truly unsettling. Buried beneath her terrifyingly flat demeanor is a lonely little girl, internally screaming to be reunited with the brother she loves. I could never have predicted how intelligent and interesting Banished would turn out to be, nor that it would become one of this season’s highlights.”
28: The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent
“I enjoy the gentle plot progression as the (unusual for anime) adult protagonist Sei learns about the world she’d been summoned to, and gradually develops and refines her powers. There’s still a lot left to learn about this world and Sei’s (and other saint Aira’s) place in it, so perhaps one day we’ll get a sequel. It’s a lot like Ascendance of a Bookworm, but with an adult protagonist that isn’t obnoxiously self-obsessed.”
“I cannot emphasise enough how relaxing this show is to watch, nor how much it tempts me to go randomly camping in the mountains somewhere. I love that this show finds time to validate both introversion and extraversion, without pathologising either personality type, and demonstrates how apparent opposites can complement and enhance one another.”
“Drawing from a rich seam of online Japanese creepypasta, to Western eyes like mine, this seemed fresh and interesting. It is kind of cute and humorous at times, and that can admittedly impair the dread-filled dark atmosphere that I think the show probably wants to evoke. I’d really like to see more of this”
“Moriarty the Patriot was fun, disposable pseudo-historical nonsense that took its cues not only from Conan Doyle’s original Sherlock stories, but also bizarrely from Fleming’s James Bond novels. A very unexpected mixture indeed. Watch for the Victorian-era pretty boys, stay for the class-based violence erupting into bloody revolution.”
“Even more so than Gridman, this is a deep, nuanced examination of the emotional states of several broken people, and how they begin to progress with their lives. The whole underlying plot is almost completely irrelevant, subsumed beneath themes of personal growth, moving on from trauma, and learning to accept yourself. That it so successfully explores these themes while still finding time for insane, bravura fight scenes and surprisingly emotional transformation sequences is nothing short of astounding. Dynazenon went from one of the shows I watched last each week to one of the first.”
“I’ll always maintain that Megalobox didn’t need a sequel, but the one we got was pretty damn special. It’s an understated, at times melancholy show that’s ultimately uplifting and well worth your time if you enjoyed that first season. This isn’t really a boxing anime. It’s an anime about a man who boxes — an important distinction.”
“I’m not sure anything could have prepared me for the emotional pain at the end of episode 12, the finale of this time-travel/teenage delinquent story’s first cour. I had to downgrade my expectations (in the second cour) though — this is not one of those “clever” time travel shows, and very likely never will be. Stick brain in neutral and enjoy the carnage.”
21: Vivy — Fluorite Eye’s Song
“Never less than entertaining, every episode looks great, and some of the action sequences feature god-tier movie-quality animation and direction. I also appreciated the (presumably deliberately?) on-the-nose references to Yoko Taro’s videogame masterpiece NieR: Automata, though Vivy approaches nowhere close to that game’s level of intellectual exploration nor nihilistic tragedy.”
Top 20 TV Anime
“So this was almost my top show of the season… well, at least the first half of it was. Horimiya scores as highly as it does for me because of those almost perfect first 6 or 7 episodes.”
“It took a while, but I am now very much engaged emotionally in this dark, dystopian war story. The underlying concepts behind 86’s war are timely and disturbing, focusing on inhuman, autonomous machines and primal fears of death, what may lie beyond, and of losing control of one’s humanity.”
18: Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki-kun
“Rather than a romance, Tomozaki-kun is more a story of character development, or character self-help anyway. More complex than the average high school anime, it explores low self-esteem, impostor syndrome and the masks we make to hide our true selves from others. Some reviewers compare Tomozaki-kun to My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU but I find it far more accessible and significantly less inscrutable.”
“Overall, Komi (the show) is very respectful towards the likely neurodivergent Komi (character). Much of the humour is mined from the other ridiculous characters’ reactions to her completely innocent, shy actions. She is rarely the butt of jokes, and certain later developments are really heartwarming as she begins to exit her constraining, overly-introverted shell. As the parent of an autistic child, I really appreciate that no-one tries to change who she is — she is clearly accepted by her classmates, even if they don’t understand her — any changes her character undergoes are rooted in her own desires to develop, and make new friends.”
16: The Aquatope on White Sand
“An achingly beautiful, melancholic evocation of painful adolescent dreams and longing, frustrated by the inevitability of change. Whether this is a cynically produced animated holiday brochure for Okinawa or not, it successfuly makes me pine for the warm white sands, clear seas and bright sun of summer.”
15: Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun Season 2
“I can’t believe I love this kids’ school comedy so much, but it really is one of the most delightful anime I’ve ever watched. Have I mentioned before how much I love red-haired towering amazon demon woman Ameri Azazel? I have? Let me say it again — I’d watch a show that was only about her alone.”
14: Don’t Toy With Me Miss Nagatoro
“As a textbook example of not judging a book by its cover, I heartily recommend you completely ignore the multitudinous online memes and negative reviews of the first couple of episodes — this becomes one of the most wholesome and heartwarming romantic comedy anime I have ever watched. I loved this show.”
13: The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated!
“Yeah, it’s essentially another comedy that’s reliant on one basic joke — previously powerful, proud Jahy gets continually humiliated — but it uses this to evoke some real emotions and address the trials of young people trapped in shitty houses, working shitty jobs, eating shitty food. If you’ve ever been one of those people, and I know I certainly have, then you’ll find a lot to empathise with, even if you’re unable to spontaneously metamorphose into an amazonian, busty demoness during work hours. Watch this and allow Jahy to become the demonic second-in-command of your heart.”
12: Attack on Titan: The “Final” Season (Part 1)
“An extremely pleasant surprise, Attack on Titan was on fire this season. After a slow buildup to establish the new post time-skip status quo, the story explodes into spectacular violence and tension. MAPPA has expertly succeeded original studio Wit’s exceptional production. Attack on Titan’s presumably epic conclusion is in excellent hands and I cannot wait to finally watch it.”
What a great anime. I thoroughly enjoyed this grounded, emotional show about a teenage boy growing into his passion for art. So empathetic it’s painful to watch at times, Blue Period absolutely nails the psychological traps that ensnare creative people — impostor syndrome, loss of confidence, crippling anxiety with severe somatic symptoms, self-doubt, indecision, frustrated ambition and pathological self-deprecation.
Top 10 TV Anime
10: The Duke of Death and His Maid
“An extremely wholesome, heartwarming romantic comedy with a deliciously dark seam of melancholic, black humour infused through the middle. The unnamed Duke of the title has been cursed by a witch to be unable to touch any living organism without causing it to die (think Ned from the criminally cancelled Pushing Daisies). Their (the Duke and Alice’s) mutual love, which can never be consummated, results in several heartbreakingly beautiful scenes, most markedly in the ballroom where they carefully pivot around each other, practically almost touching as they waltz…”
“ODDTAXI stuck the landing spectacularly. What a brilliant anime, a showcase of tight, clever plotting and economical storytelling. I loved everything from the simple yet incredibly expressive character designs, to the eclectic music, to the deep and varied subplots. That it managed to tie every disparate element together so skillfully at the end was nothing short of breathtaking.”
“I don’t find Mieruko-chan scary at all, but I can certainly appreciate how Miko is terrified most of the time, and barely keeps it together enough to get on with her life while ectoplasm-dripping tentacle beasts fondle her friends, googly-eyed abominations stalk her at bus stops, and gossiping apparitions attempt to engage her in restaurants. Mieruko-chan works best when it unexpectedly undermines the viewer’s assumptions, and it does this to great effect on several occasions throughout the show. Miko’s supporting cast is a delight — I particularly like perpertually hungry hana, whose sugary, pastry-fuelled divine aura burns away malevolent spirits (though she is hilariously unaware of this), and mushroom-obsessed Yulia.”
“What an exhausting, yet rewarding show. Re: Zero season 1 already held pride of place within my top 10 anime of all time, and season 2 has only consolidated and enhanced my respect for this deeply layered and intricately constructed story. Re: Zero’s character arcs are fascinating and thematically complex, woven expertly into the metanarrative with breathtaking skill. Please please please announce the third season already.”
6: Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid S
I love this show so much. Dragon Maid doesn’t just mine its character’s faults for humour (though it does this a lot), it produces a surprising amount of pathos too. It’s a special kind of comedy that explores such deep character work, while effortlessly mixing light humour and wacky antics. This was probably my favourite show of the whole season, and I desperately hope that the inimitable Kyoto Animation Co. produce more.”
“With a setting that’s Upstairs Downstairs by way of Rule of Rose/Resident Evil 1, mixed in a blender with The Promised Neverland, Cloverwork’s latest show was like nothing else. Definitely one of my top shows of the season, Shadows House was creepy, cute, gothic and intriguing. With strong, empathetic characters and a fascinating, unsettling premise I expect this to easily make it into my top 10 shows of 2021.”
“Many of the episodes are acutely-observed character studies, examining what makes each of the central cast-members tick, and Kageki Shojo is not afraid to mine some really dark seams of emotional trauma. No-one is reduced to tropes or ciphers. We feel their anxiety before auditons and tests, we cheer at their triumphs and empathise with their pain. Overall it’s an optimistic show, despite the emotional suffering. It’s warm, and human.”
3: Wonder Egg Priority (despite awful ending)
“Everything from the settings to the enemy designs to the use of sound complement each other — this is a truly cohesive and engaging production. It covers deep and dark themes such as teenage suicide, broken families, self-harm, gender identity, sexism (both overt and internalised), grief and guilt. That it manages to do all these with sensitivity (if not necessarily subtlety) is a cause for celebration”
2: Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation
“Drawn organically and depicted in earthy ochres, Mushoku Tensei’s world looks almost unlike any other currently airing anime. It has a classic, analogue vibe that hearkens back to the glory days of hand-drawn, hand-painted cel animation. The score is haunting and evocative; the world-building complex and interesting yet unobtrusive.”
“Every piece of information the viewer learns via the characters about the world becomes important at some point later on. This logical and thematic consistency elevates Mushoku Tensei far above anything else in its genre, except perhaps for Re: Zero (which also, interestingly, has a divisive protagonist). So much have I enjoyed the show that I have sought out the light novels, and I can confirm that this is an incredible adaptation. I cannot wait until the inevitable second season.”
“No doubt about it, this is the best anime of the year. It came out of nowhere, with it’s jaunty opening song, fairy-tale stylings and kiddie-ish character designs to mow down all opposition to its crown. Not a single character is as simple as they first appear, and the entire thing seems immaculately constructed like the finest, most precise clockwork.”
“As expected of the premium quality Wit Studio, the calibre of animation is at times astonishing, despite the superficially simplistic character designs. Action scenes zing and pop with electrifying energy, while others bubble over with mystery and intrigue.”
“Although the first cour’s opening song is great, the second, upcoming cour’s is spectacularly well-suited. You know your show is special when even the OP track can make your viewers cry.”
Overall Best Anime of 2021: It’s a Movie!
Evangelion 3.0 + 1.0: Thrice Upon a Time
“The fourth Rebuild of Evangelion movie is a triumph. Anno, that mad bastard, finally did it. He made a satisfying (if not entirely coherent) conclusion not just to the Rebuild tetralogy, but to the entire Evangelion franchise.”
“Rebuild 4 retroactively makes 3.33 a much better film. What Rebuild 4 achieves with this extended runtime is nothing short of remarkable.”
“We rush headlong back into more familiar Evangelion territory — conflict, screaming, bonkers mecha fights, fanservice (there are a lot of gratuitous butt-shots in this…) and impenetrable technobabble filled with Proper Nouns and Important Sounding Nonsense. Evangelion mechas use battleships as projectile weapons, everything explodes, pretty colours erupt everywhere…”
“With this final Rebuild, Anno has done just that. He’s taken his seminal masterpiece and not only built upon it, he has completed it. This is the proper ending that End of Evangelion never was. This is the work of a mature artist, a mentally healthy human being who has endured suffering, felt pain, suffered anguish and has not just spewed his misery onto the screen in a primal, unfocused rage, but has worked through his problems, grown up, and shared that most precious of experiences — catharsis with the rest of us.”
Wow. That was a hell of a lot of anime. I hope for my own sanity that 2022 is quieter! I can’t complain though, not with the absolutely amazing quality of so many shows this year. I hope you’ve found some good recommendations! See you again later in the Winter 2022 season!
