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!
Steve and Micchy try to make sense of Gen Urobuchi's latest series about the commodification of war.― The aliens might not be interested in politics but that won't stop Earthlings from finding new uses for their recently obtained technology. The first half of acclaimed writer Gen Urobuchi's 3DCG YouTube series is available on YouTube now and it wouldn't be a Booch affair without death and commisera...
Heidi plows through this week's Sonic news before delving in to the absolute worst Dragon Ball games of all time!― Howdy! It's a new week, and we're gonna talk about games, dangit! Well, uh… honestly, there isn't too much news. I mean, yeah, there are a few noteworthy news bits, but I don't have much in the way of commentary to add to them. So, we're going to do a little something fun after the news...
"Which Hana isn't anything particularly special, but it does offer its own distinct twists on the body-swap romance story we've seen before."― Mizue Odawara is one of a handful of shoujo authors never before published in English who is getting a double digital release. Which Hana and A Devotion that Changes Worlds have both been licensed and translated by Futabasha, much in the same way that Chieko ...
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...
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