Welcome to Anime News Network's Winter 2020 Preview Guide! Here's how it goes: our team of critics write up their impressions instantly, to be posted here as they go along. Each critic will cover as many shows as they can handle, giving you alternate takes on most every show.
The guide is ongoing, organized by series and updated multiple times a day. Throughout the next week or two, we'll be updating as often as possible with new perspectives on new episodes from our team of critics. New reviews will be posted as soon as they're written, with each critic's name being added to the roster beneath the show's title. Check back a couple of times every day during the guide, and you're likely to see new shows pop up with multiple takes to enjoy!
Please remember that this is a preview guide. It is designed to give you a taste of the first episode of a show with a preliminary opinion and a few thoughts on whether or not the show has potential. These are not intended to be blanket judgments of these series as a whole. All reviews use the same ratings scale: 1-5, with 1 being the lowest. Shows that are available streaming online will be indicated as such.
Click on the survey at the top of each show's page to vote for your personal score and see how other people scored the show!
The fascinating story - and social implications - of English-speaking, Los Angeles-born 22/7 idol Sally Amaki is explored by our own Kim Morrissy.― The Japanese idol scene exploded in the last decade, thanks to the success of popular groups like AKB48 and Nogizaka46. In the last few years, the trend has accelerated even further thanks to Virtual YouTubers. With motion capture technology and the inte...
Downfall isn't an easy book. It's not something you pick up to read for pleasure - but if you're looking for a different take on industry manga, this is worth picking up.― There's always something about Inio Asano's manga that feels like it might be personal. Whether that's true or not, it certainly speaks to one reason why his works are so popular and well-regarded – many readers like to feel like ...
Nick and Andy check out the bizarro-Ghibli film spawned from a pair of video games and find that it'd be a whole lot better with more spiders and less...everything else.― Nick and Andy check out the bizarro-Ghibli film spawned from a pair of video games and find that it'd be a whole lot better with more spiders and less...everything else. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the particip...
The cover of the second volume of immediately lets you know that things are not going to be as happy and sweet in this isekai fantasy as they were in volume one.― The cover of the second volume of Tsukasa Yamazaki's I Became the Secretary of a Hero immediately lets you know that things are not going to be as happy and sweet in this isekai fantasy as they were in volume one. Where the first book's co...
"Jujutsu Kaisen is a good enough book, but not one with a lot of staying power in your memory. It's fun while you're reading, but ultimately a bit forgettable in this debut volume."― On the surface, there really isn't all that much about Jujutsu Kaisen that stands out as unique. Like many of its brethren Shounen Jump series, the story features a naïve but well-meaning protagonist with more muscles a...
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