The 10 Anime of Fall 2020 You Should Be Watching

Welcome to AniTAY’s Fall 2020 anime recommendation list! Every season, AniTAY writers from around the globe gather in our villainous internet den of destruction to hammer out a list of the most remarkable anime of the season. This doesn’t necessarily mean that every series we like makes it on; after all, it’s possible to like something but not recommend it, and we all have different opinions about which shows are the best. The spring and summer seasons this year were a bit dry, so it was a relief to find that this season has mostly returned to pre-pandemic levels of new series. The number of interesting options certainly generated some fun debate while we worked on making our selections for this list.

As many of you know, AniTAY was hosted on the Kinja blogging platform up until a few weeks ago. This anime season is thus our first on Medium. Maybe you are just discovering our blog, or perhaps you are a longtime fan who has read these posts religiously since 2014. Regardless, please let us know what you think of our selections in the comments, and if you like this post, check out our other content and follow us on Twitter!

Finally, some notes before we get started:

• 1) As always, we have omitted continuing shows and sequels. Only new stuff here. Check out our fall sequel guide for information about sequels.
• 2) Similarly, only shows available for legal streaming are considered. Netflix has complicated what the word “available” means, but we still consider limited-availability shows such as Netflix originals for this list.
• 3) We included a “where to watch” section, but keep in mind that our listings are based on availability in the United States.

Adachi and Shimamura

Written By: TheMamaLuigi

Genre: Romance (Yuri), Slice of Life

Where to Watch: Funimation

Spoiler-Free Synopsis: Adachi is a lonely introvert who skips class one day to hang out on the second floor of her school’s gymnasium. It’s there she meets Shimamura, a beautiful, friendly, and mystifying girl also prone to skipping class. Thus begins a fast and intimate friendship, but Adachi starts having strange feelings. Is Adachi and Shimamura’s friendship a prelude to a song of love? Let’s find out!

Why You Should Be Watching: With two title characters reckoning with their relationship with each other amidst a world in which they are fundamentally uninterested, Adachi and Shimamura pulls from the same malaise-driven teenage romantic themes as 2018’s Bloom Into You. However, where Bloom Into You leaped mouth-first into the romance between its leads, Adachi and Shimamura is a much more measured, languid affair — to its benefit, might I add.

Adachi and Shimamura concerns itself first and foremost with the subtly transformative nature of friendship. Yes, the power of friendship is an overused trope in anime, but here is a show that takes a decidedly intimate perspective on how those we surround ourselves with become the foundations upon which we develop. It’s a show about the paradox of friendship — the suddenness with which bonds form and the glacial pace at which they strengthen. What’s remarkable about Adachi and Shimamura is how well it captures this paradox. Our title character’s interactions are marked by both the banter one expects from two companions and the distance with which they keep each other. There’s a sense of hesitation in their movements; warmth, for sure, but an icy core yet to be melted. A long-sleeve shirt accompanies every short skirt of Shimamura’s, and a coat almost always covers Adachi. Most critically, the show displays the capability to shroud their true feelings from us. Sure, there are several internal monologues in which emotions are espoused and realizations discovered, but there remains so much unsaid, unthought. Trust the process, the show reminds us.

The romantic underpinnings, spearheaded by Adachi’s reckoning with her complicated feelings towards Shimamura, complicate those notions of friendship. What are the consequences of growing close to someone? Adachi and Shimamura asks us this without offering any easy answers. It emphasizes that much work remains before our title characters can fall in love and live happily ever after. And that’s an exciting prospect. Slice of life stories are at their best when they interrogate the simple complexities of our everyday, the micro-level actions profound in their mundanity.

It’s not perfect (the astronaut girl still perplexes me), but nor is it pretending to be. Radically human and endlessly endearing, Adachi and Shimamura is teenage ennui at its finest — it’s one of the best anime this season in its remarkably empathetic and intimate portrayal of the intersections between friendship and romance.

Recommended by: Arcane, hybridmink, NomadicDec, Reikaze, TGRIP, TheMamaLuigi, Viking

Akudama Drive

Written by: Doctorkev

Genre: Dystopian, Sci-Fi, Action, Cyberpunk, Heist

Where to Watch: Funimation NOW

Spoiler-free Synopsis: In the post-apocalyptic Japanese Kansai district, the very worst criminals — Akudama — are sentenced to live-streamed public execution. A group of six Akudama escape the authorities and, with one normal citizen in tow, embark on a high-speed, high-stakes heist across their dangerous, neon-lit future city with a pair of dangerous “executioners” in close pursuit.

Why You Should Be Watching: Anyone with even a passing familiarity with the Danganronpa franchise will recognise the character designs and concepts in this breathless, nonstop action spectacle from those games’ Kazutaka Kodaka (writer) and Rui Komatsuzaki (designer). Although this isn’t strictly a “death game” story like Danganronpa, it does share its love of excess and absurd drama. With a cast of colourful characters, each with their own improbably hyper-developed talent, it’s certainly never boring.

What it isn’t is even remotely subtle. Each main character is named only for their skill — ie “Doctor” — a criminal surgeon with the ability to reattach severed limbs, or “Brawler” — a dreadlocked man-mountain unbeatable in a fist-fight. Their personality traits are dialed up to 11 in a Spinal Tap-baiting rock orgy of loud music, fast cuts, and spectacular action.

Akudama Drive wears its Hollywood action movie influences proudly on its sleeve, with on-the-nose episode titles like “Speed”, “Reservoir Dogs” and “Mission Impossible” hinting at that intallment’s contents.

Audience point-of-view character “Ordinary Person” is mistakenly identified as an Akudama, given the title “Swindler”, and the show follows her initially bewildered stumbling through insane set piece after set piece. Soon she demonstrates the cool-headedness and empathy essential to the completion of the group’s task. It remains to be seen whether the show will pull a Danganronpa-style insane plot twist in regards to her identity.

Although the rest of the characters act very much according to their respective stereotypes, the show is so stylish, so well constructed, directed, and animated that they fit right in with the hyper-stylised setting. I doubt that Akudama Drive will have anything profound to say by the time it reaches its presumably bombastic, explosive ending, but this isn’t the kind of show where that matters. The anime equivalent of a funfair ride, if it can leave you dizzy, disoriented, grinning and begging for more at the end, it will have done its job.

Recommended by: Arcane, Doctorkev, hybridmink, Kinksy, Requiem, Tenshigami, TheMamaLuigi

The Day I Became a God

Written by: Reikaze

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Where to Watch: Funimation

Spoiler-free Synopsis: While spending his final summer of high school preparing for university entrance exams, Youta Narukami encounters a young girl named Hina (but prefers the name Odin) who claims she is a “god of omniscience” and that the world will end in 30 days. After this chance encounter, Hina tags along with Youta and a lively, comedic summer before the world ends ensues.

Why You Should Be Watching: The Day I Became a God is the result of yet another collaboration between Key and PA Works, and the result is a gorgeously animated, over-the-top comedy grounded by an appealing and endearing cast. The characters are well-defined with interesting and engaging personalities, the chemistry and banter between them are great, and the outlandish scenarios that Hina/Odin gets the cast into results in often-hysterical comedy. A great example of this is the Majong episode — Youta gets roped into a mahjong tournament without knowing any of the rules, leaving him at the mercy of Hina/Odin’s advice, causing him to basically break all the rules in a professional match. I found it hysterical because the scenario got so absurd and silly that I couldn’t help but smile, and many other scenarios in this anime are similar in silliness and humor.

While The Day I Became a God has mostly prioritized its comedy so far, the mystery that the show alludes to is intriguing, and I’d argue the best parts of the show are when the drama kicks in (as you’d expect from Key). Not everyone will love The Day I Became a God’s humor, but if it works for you, the show is a fun and entertaining time thanks to it’s fun cast and over-the-top scenarios.

Recommended by: Arcane, DilKokoro, hybridmink, Reikaze, Requiem, TGRIP, TheMamaLuigi

Dragon Quest: Adventure of Dai

Written by: Requiem

Where to Watch: Crunchyroll, Hulu

Genre: Action, Adventure, Nostalgia, Slimes

Spoiler Free Synopsis: After the defeat of Dark Lord Hadler by the Hero Avan, many monsters, freed from the Dark Lord’s controlling influence, went to live peace on Dermline Island. One day a small boy named Dai washes up on the island and is raised by the elder Lump Shaman named Brass; he grows up friends with the island’s monsters and dreams of someday being a Hero. However his idyllic life is interrupted and events place him in the path of a bratty princess, a cowardly mage, an old Hero looking for apprentices, and the resurrected Dark Lord! Dai leaves his island to fight the new Dark Army and to finally be the Hero he always wished to be.

Why You Should Be Watching: The first line of the OP for Dragon Quest; Adventure of Dai asks “Truly loving myself, is it alright to still believe in that?” The show asks viewers a similar question; is it alright to still believe in old-fashioned, straightforward fantasy storytelling? The answer, we think, is yes.

Adventure of Dai is a remake of a very popular manga and anime from the early 90’s, obviously based on the seminal Dragon Quest franchise, and it is just oozing with old school charm and style. It’s a sugar rush of nostalgia, a throwback to a simpler time, bringing back memories of playing old JRPGs of yore. Is the writing basic and full of tropes? Sure, but this is also one of the places all those tropes were born. Watching this show is like slipping on a favorite old sweatshirt — comfortable and familiar in the best ways.

Those iconic Akira Toriyama character designs really shine with a crisp, clean, and modern design sensibility and great-looking effects for spells and attacks. The attention to detail shines, as does Toei’s decision to not alter things that may seem silly to viewers new to the franchise, such as having spells called things like “Frizz” or “Kaclang” said without a wink or in irony. Sound design and music are also fairly traditional and hold up extremely well, matching the subject matter perfectly.

Like replaying an old favorite game, Adventure of Dai is a shot directly to the nostalgia center of the brain, and a damn fun way to spend some time, even for newer viewers with little to no history with the DQ franchise. You don’t have to know these characters ahead of time for the show to fill you with that warm familiarity. So strap in with Dai and his Hero’s party, cause it’s gonna be a hell of a ride. Oh, and there’s slimes, too. What more could you want??

Recommended By: Arcane, Koda, NomadicDec, Requiem, Tenshigami

Jujutsu Kaisen

Written by: TGRIP

Genre: Horror-Action Shonen

Where to Watch: Crunchyroll

Spoiler-free Synopsis: Despite his ungodly athletic abilities, high school student Yuji Itadori spends his free time not on a sports team but with the Occult Research club, hanging out with his friends as they look into supernatural phenomena. Sadly, Itadori’s grandfather ends up dying during his routine visit after meeting with the club, on his deathbed imparting the desire for Itadori to not die alone. Shortly afterwards, a cursed spirit attacks Itadori’s fellow club members, forcing him to consume a cursed object in order to save them. Doing so transforms him into a vessel for a very powerful and nefarious spirit, forcing him to enroll into a new school designed to fight back against these forces of darkness. So begins Itadori’s education on becoming a fighting sorcerer.

Why You Should Be Watching: Jujutsu Kaisen is very much a love letter to (and subversion of) the shonen genre. 2020 has been a bad year in many ways, and one of them has been the lacking quality of new shonen series. Sure, MHA and Demon Slayer are going strong with new movies, but nearly all of the shounen Webtoon adaptations have been disappointing. Thankfully, with just one season left in the year, Jujutsu Kaisen comes along to remind everyone “ah, that’s why I liked this kind of stuff so much.” Fantastic animation and action (redeeming the studio and director behind God of High School, amazingly), a great setting that begets some great, genuinely unsettling monster designs that give this show a rare horror influence, and best of all, an endearing cast of characters who aren’t just entertaining, but actively subvert what we’ve come to expect from shows of this type.

A main protagonist who never brags about his physical prowess while genuinely wanting to help and care for others; a teacher who’s basically an ex-shonen protagonist, cool under pressure because he’s a legit badass (and knows it, but rarely says it); and classmates who feel like real people with genuine personalities — overall, the Jujutsu Kaisen cast ranges from fun to believably annoying to fangirling professionals and professional fangirls. They aren’t just just familiarly entertaining to watch; they’re refreshing in their actions and feel like real people. And this is all before we get to the narrative’s expansive world, which exemplifies the thought and care put into the show. There’s so much going on, and we’ve only scratched the surface. If you’re a fan of Naruto, Mob Psycho 100, Bleach, or even Noragami, you owe it to yourself to check out the first great shonen series of the 2020s.

Recommended by: Arcane, Dark Aether, Doctorkev, hybridmink, Kinksy, Koda, NomadicDec, Protonstorm, Requiem, Tenshigami, TGRIP, TheMamaLuigi

Love Live: Nijigasaki High School Idol Club

Written by: Arcane

Genre: Idol, Music, Slice of Life, Comedy

Where to Watch: Funimation

Spoiler-free Synopsis: After second-years Yu and Ayumu come across a live performance by school idol Setsuna Yuki at a park near their high school, the two are motivated to join the School Idol Club and see what all the fuss is about…only to find that the club has already been shut down, and the members have scattered to the winds. Now, they must rise to the challenge of bringing them back together to create a legendary new generation of performers!

Why You Should Be Watching: Love Live! is, admittedly, a hard sell. There’s a lot you have to accept — that something as normally mundane as a high school performing club could become a nationwide legend, that these kids are capable on their own of putting together elaborate production numbers with excellently-produced tunes, choreography, and costumes, and, with Nijigasaki, that the phenomenon is so wide-spread that basically every school in Japan has their own club.

Yet, I’ve been saying for years now, particularly after Sunshine! finished, that Love Live! is a lot better than it needs to be. This franchise is a cash-printing machine, and they could easily completely phone in these tie-in anime series since they practically just exist as advertisements for CD’s and the mobile games, and yet they are consistently and increasingly well-produced and well-written. Nijigasaki is a massive shake-up from the established Love Live norm, and this makes it a perfect jumping-on point for newcomers — there are some in-jokes, but you won’t even notice they’re there if you aren’t familiar with them. The cast thus far are all well-rounded characters with each episode focusing on a single character. All of the stories have been distinct, understandable, and deeply relatable.

I especially want to highlight the incredible handling of Rina (the pink-haired girl with the drawing tablet), who is pretty clearly meant to be somewhere on the autism spectrum. Rather than expect her to conform to the rest of the team, her friends consistently rally around her and allow her to utilize her own strengths to the fullest. Her character song is a definite highlight in a show full to bursting with excellent insert songs (starting right off with the first episode using my personal favorite new track from the mobile game), and it was her episode that really pushed me into placing this up there with the rest of the series at the very top of the idol genre.

If you even remotely like slice-of-life stories and this franchise has not hooked you yet — maybe the ravenous fanbase scared you off, maybe it looked a bit too cutesy, or maybe you think you’re too late to the party — this is an excellent time to hop on the bandwagon, fall down the rabbit hole, end up binging the previous seasons and soaking through your blanket with tears both sad and happy, and become idol trash. Trust me, it’s a fun way to be.

Recommended by: Arcane, hybridmink, TheMamaLuigi

Moriarty the Patriot

Written by: Aoi Yamamoto

Genre: Mystery/Action/Drama

Where to Watch: Funimation

Spoiler-Free Synopsis: Before he became well known as one of literature’s greatest villains of all time , William Moriarty was just an orphan who, along with his younger brother, survived by their wits in Victorian-era London.

Why You Should Be Watching: Because an anime about a man plotting to destroy the rich has never been as relevant as it is right now!

Albert Moriarty is a noble who’s sick and tired of watching the people of his class harm and torture innocent lives. One day, while visiting a local school, he becomes intrigued watching a young boy enchanting an audience of children; on the surface it looks innocent enough, but it eventually morphs into something darker. Albert brings this child and his younger brother into his family; before we know it, everything has burned down, Albert’s family is dead and the two youngsters have taken on the names of William and Louis Moriarty.

It’s darker than previous Sherlock Holmes adaptations, like last year’s Kabukicho Sherlock, which gave the Holmes myth a more modern feel. Moriarty tends to stick more to the traditional Holmes mythos, and half the fun of the show comes from watching rich people get their comeuppance for their crimes against common folk. The tension between Moriarty and Holmes is already making the show a fun ride (I can already see the BL doujins this series will spawn). This is THE adult anime to watch this fall, so grab your top hats and cane swords — it’s time to eat the rich!

Recommended by: Aoi Yamamoto, Arcane, Dark Aether, Doctorkev, hybridmink

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle

Written by: Koda

Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Slice of Life

Where to Watch: Funimation

Spoiler-free Synopsis: One day the nefarious Demon King kidnapped Princess Syalis from the kingdom of Goodereste and took her to his fortified Demon Castle. Under normal circumstances, hosting a human prisoner would be a mere trivial matter for the denizens of this macabre structure. Unfortunately for them, the princess whose name sounds like a brand name medication is anything but “normal”. While a brave and dedicated band of heroes venture forth to rescue her from her demonic confines, Syalis engages in a quest of her own; to achieve the perfect sleep fit for a princess, no matter the cost.

Why You Should Be Watching: On the surface, Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle is a relatively simple and straightforward series. Each episode sees Syalis escape from her cell to embark on some new mission to try something new to aid in getting the treasured sleep she desires — and that’s about it. The show’s brilliance comes from the various permutations it creates with this premise. At its heart, of course, is Syalis. At first she seems harmless enough, but her voracious hunger for the land of dreams leads to her, intentionally or otherwise, going on a warpath against the castle’s demons.

One day she might purposefully use a giant pair of scissors to harvest the bodies of ghostly sheets for comfortable bedding, the next accidentally stumble upon a legendary shield of powerful wind magic to create a literal air mattress. The sky’s the limit when it comes to what Syalis can do once she sets her one track mind on something. I wouldn’t necessarily call her evil, but many of her actions lead to her nonchalantly, and sometimes cruelly, attacking the colorful cast of creatures in the castle. This, in turn, leads to Syalis becoming a source of great terror for the demons, despite her appearance being that of one of the most saccharinely adorable characters ever crafted.

That right there is ultimately the main crux of the comedy in Sleepy Princess; the ironic contrast between Syalis’ design and the incredible horrors her actions cause. Normally I wouldn’t say one of the positive aspects of a show is that it constantly reset the status quo each episode, but I feel that actually helps Sleepy Princess. Because everything just “resets”, as in most of the demons she attacks don’t actually die and she usually loses most of what she gains each episode, it makes Syalis’ perpetual cycle of escaping and harvesting materials feel like a rogue-lite video game like Hades. What really endears the show to me is that Syalis’ desire is one that is easy to relate to. After all, who doesn’t like a good sleep?

Recommended By: Arcane, Doctorkev, hybridmink, Kinksy, Koda, Tenshigami, TheMamaLuigi

Talentless Nana

Written by: Dark Aether

Genre: Shonen, Sci-Fi, Psychological, Thriller, Supernatural, Mystery

Where to Watch: Funimation

Spoiler-free Synopsis: At a select academy on an uncharted island, the next generation of superpowered children work diligently in their studies and training. Tasked with fighting back against the Enemies of Humanity, these “Talented” hone their unique gifts in preparation for the upcoming conflict. In the current school year, new student Nana Hiiragi enrolls at the academy with the same goal in mind. Introducing herself and her Talentless ability (mind reading), she quickly befriends her fellow classmates as they trade stories and show off their Talents. But when a series of bizarre incidents begin to occur on the island, the class is put on high alert, unable to see the coming danger hidden within the campus grounds.

Why You Should Be Watching: Prior to coming across a single advertisement for Talentless Nana, my fellow AniTAY colleagues gave exactly one piece of advice: “Watch the first episode. Don’t even bother looking up info — just watch it.” Despite my skepticism, I dove right in with absolutely no context. Perhaps it’s having to deal with G/O Media shutting Kinja down and being sleep deprived from archiving everything I’ve ever written in the last four years, or maybe I’ve just gone soft on account of not being as active, but I have concede that it was sound advice. In fact, skip my section and watch the first episode right now — after you’ve finished this article of course!

Still here? While it’s impossible to get a “feel” for an anime solely based on the first episode, Talentless Nana is one of the rare exceptions that will either click with you or have you completely speechless as to what just transpired. The show starts off as a very garden variety superhero shonen reminiscent of My Hero Academia — only to completely throw out the playbook and then bury it into the nearest pit. Our story centers on the titular Nana as she plays a deadly game of cat and mouse against the invisible predators who lurk on the campus grounds.Despite being the most underpowered student at the school, Nana’s precise intuition, highly developed analytical skills, and advanced social engineering put her on a level that would rival most brainy shonen leads. Every episode introduces a new threat or obstacle that pushes her to test the limits of her talents as she learns the twisted history of the academy and what its inhabitants do when the world stops watching. Kyōya Onodera is another transfer student who is socially distant, but surprisingly sharp and observant. As he begins to deduce the truth and the story builds around its central conflict while escalating its mind games, it keeps him — and the audience — continuously guessing right up until the very end of each episode.

With its deceptive introduction, tense battle of wits, and deadly consequences, Talentless Nana forgoes genre formalities by simply smiling while eagerly plotting its next move. It isn’t a complete reinvention of shonen — it’s an extension of the stories that can only be told with a thorough foundation, a willingness to experiment, and an understanding of what makes the genre special.

Recommended by: Arcane, Dark Aether, DilKokoro, Doctorkev, Gugsy, Kinksy, NomadicDec, Protonstorm, Tenshigami, TheMamaLuigi

TONIKAWA: Over the Moon For You

Written by: DilKokoro

Genre: Romance, Comedy

Where to Watch: Crunchyroll (Crunchyroll Original)

Spoiler-free Synopsis: Nasa Yuzaki is nearly killed by a speeding truck when he falls head over heels trying to approach a cute girl he sees across the street. This mysterious girl saves his life, and Nasa soon confesses his love for her. She accepts his confession with the caveat that the next time they meet, they must get married. Several years later, Nasa is greeted at his doorstep by the girl, and the story of Nasa and Tsukasa Yuzaki begins.

Why You Should Be Watching: For years, rom coms have delivered on being comedy anime with cute couples. However, we rarely see the romance side of things develop much more than a game of “will they or won’t they?!” TONIKAWA, however, does not dance around the table with hiding feelings, and we get an incredible love story as a result.

TONIKAWA explores what it means to love and has its characters express their love in a way that is unmatched. The show does not waste your time with awkward moments where the couple almost shares their feelings or awkward sexual tension brought on by misconceptions. Instead, the audience gets to be a fly on the wall as Nasa and Tsubasa explore what it means to live together and work through the various challenges that marriage brings. It is in these challenges that we see Nasa and Tsukasa strengthen their love.

A rational hesitation a viewer might have going in is that the concept of a duo who are essentially strangers getting married and falling perfectly in love is too much to get past. Against the odds, the chemistry between Nasa and Tsubasa is immediately apparent and only grows as the show continues, affirming that the catalyst for their union does not detract from the experience.

The Yuzakis are overwhelmingly enjoyable and their personalities are rich with cute characteristics that compliment both the show’s romance and comedy. Make no mistake, TONIKAWA is a riot. The fact that the main characters are as likable as they are goes a long way in making the jokes hit harder. Indeed, misunderstandings about the various facets of cohabiting and the ensuing flustered feelings of two clueless individuals is hysterical, and it is just fun to watch them stumble their way to answering these questions together.

Overall, the experience of a new marriage is remarkably rewarding and well worth watching. Seeing these two grow and learn about themselves and each other is effective in being both funny and heartwarming. This is the kind of anime that can ease sour moods and give a healthy serving of relaxed, happy vibes. In a brand-new decade of anime, TONIKAWA sets the bar for what elite romantic comedies should look like.

Recommended By: Arcane, DilKokoro, Doctorkev, Gugsy, Kinksy, Koda, NomadicDec, Reikaze, Requiem, Requiem a 2nd time, Stinolez, TheMamaLuigi

Honorable Mention

(Note: Our honorable mention section is reserved for shows that had both significant support and significant pushback during our debates. In order to represent both sides, we include both “for” and “against” opinions for our honorable mentions.)

Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina

Written by: Stínolez (for), NomadicDec (against)

Genres: Adventure, Fantasy, Slice of Life

Where to Watch: Funimation

Spoiler-free Synopsis: Budding witch Elaina, inspired by her favourite book, travels from country to country to see what the vast world has to offer. She searches for new experiences and is confronted by all sorts of people and situations; how she deals with these situations, however, is up to her!

Why You SHOULD Be Watching: Wandering Witch is an anthology series of separate stories with Elaina as a common denominator. After the first episode, which explores her character and motivation, she takes us on a magical journey to different countries every episode. Together, we explore her naivete in the second episode, lack of decisiveness in the third, and warm reunion in the fifth and sixth, all the while reuniting with some recurring characters. Despite the seemingly negative connotations one could associate to most of her characteristics and traits, they also bring a breath of fresh air to the show. How many times have we seen a protagonist half-ass the solution just to end up worsening the situation in the long run? It’s refreshing to see a character acting like a normal person with recognizable flaws who doesn’t stick their nose into problems they don’t need to solve. This approach leaves Elaina’s stories somewhat open-ended and allows for viewer interpretation and further encourages “what if” discussion. Pair everything with stunning visuals, and you are in for a treat.

Why You SHOULD NOT Be Watching: Wandering Witch is a stunningly animated and illustrated series. However, much like one of Elaina’s beloved cautionary tales about seeming innocence masking darker shades of humanity, the series’ beauty belies a soullessness and vapidity that its visual glamour cannot ameliorate. The show’s entire construction is dramatically uninteresting, taking Elaina’s role as a passive observer of human strife to extremes, wherein she not only intentionally disengages from involving herself in situations, but the series then neglects to show how any of the turmoil emotionally affects her. While it is reasonable that a young witch should perhaps stay out of conflicts that she cannot possibly hope to solve, the series never addresses the impact of her experiences on her character. The resultant tone steadily curdles her self-confidence into utter, feckless self-absorption. That dissociation is potentially interesting, but it requires defter writing than what Wandering Witch provides. Moreover, it betrays the nominal intent of her journey as stated in the first episode: to grow through travelling. If there is anything realistic about Wandering Witch, it is that people like Elaina exist in our world. Those who gaze upon the world and garner nothing. If they remain untouched and uncoloured by unacknowledged experiences, what captivating stories do they have to share?

As it happens, none. The only connecting thread between stories, Elaina’s non-existent character growth further dulls the repetitive, plodding story beats that emerge. The shock of a character having a far more toxic, belligerent, or destructive personality than at first glance is rote several episodes in. The supporting cast is rarely memorable; the characters’ psychological suffering is exploited for cheap, ever-diminishing thrills, with no care for their interiority, other than to punish them further for feeling pain. They are mere props showing the ills of humanity that Elaina will never reflect upon. Additionally, the pacing of the episodes are too quick to dispense with scenarios, so the characters cannot breathe, and the plot structures eschew the possibility of interrogating themes. Ultimately, this means the series has the barest insight into the marginal questions it poses about humankind. What thoughts it does possess are delivered in the form of heavily expositional summations at the end, and sometimes the beginning and even the middle, of episodes. There is little storytelling artistry on display here. Perhaps Elaina’s written journal about her journey is more interesting to read — it surely is boring to watch. I merely sit here wondering why I am watching this witch.

Editor’s Note: Thank you for reading this article all the way to the end. Maybe you cheated and scrolled past a couple of entries, but I am choosing to give you the benefit of the doubt. For now. As many of you know, AniTAY has recently moved platforms to Medium. We are at a major crossroads as a blogging community right now, and we can use all the support we can get. If you have time, please feel free to leave a comment on this post. If you’re feeling really generous, you can show us your support for following us on Twitter and liking/sharing our tweets. We couldn’t do this without you!

This article was a collaboration by many members of the AniTAY community. Some wrote part of the final article, and several others took part in voting and discussion over the past couple of months.

Contributors in Alphabetical Order:

• Aoi Yamato
• Arcane
• Dark Aether
• DilKokoro
• Doctorkev
• Gugsy
• Hip Hip Jorge
• hybridmink
• JaeCreative
• Kinksy
• Koda
• mobilesuitrg
• NomadicDec
• Protonstorm
• Reikaze
• Requiem
• Stinolez
• Tenshigami
• TGRIP
• TheMamaLuigi
• Viking

First time reading our seasonal recommendation list? Check out the article that started it all here:

The Twelve Anime of Spring 2014 Worth Watching

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