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!
Despite being in a saturated genre and saddled with the dual difficulties of being based on a game and featuring a ton of seemingly tropetastic characters, IDOLiSH7 Second Beat! is the kind of totally engrossing show that it's easy to get hooked on.― Every genre and subgenre has its day in the sun, but idol shows' may have never truly gone behind a cloud, whether the idols are male, female, or a mix...
Film screens subbed, dubbed in N. America in early 2021― Aniplex of America began streaming an English dub trailer for the Demon Slayer – Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train anime on Friday. Funimation and Aniplex of America will screen the film with both subtitles and an English dub in theaters in North America in early 2021. After 12 consecutive weeks at #1 in the box office in Japan, the fi...
Studio David Production takes over the animation job for this series, and the result is maybe the best-looking TV series yet in the franchise.― This Fall 2020 series is the fifth TV series and ninth animated title overall in the expansive Strike Witches franchise, as well as being the third installment in the core storyline. It is not going to be the last animated title in the franchise, as the spin...
Click to find out who will be covering (or in some cases suffering through) this season's anime line-up!― This season was full of highly-anticipated sequels and stellar premieres (check the Preview Guide for evidence), ANN opened voting for readers to decide the fate our intrepid review team. You did not disappoint! Look below for who will be covering (or in some cases suffering through) this season...
Callum May dives into the latest Persona title: a Warriors- style title that is "unlike any other crossover Omega Force has developed in the past."― During the early development of Hyrule Warriors, the team at Omega Force wanted to have the game involve dungeons, puzzles, and all of the things intrinsic to a Zelda game. However, then general manager Shigeru Miyamoto shot down the idea, telling the t...
I Reincarnated as Evil Alice is dark and bit grim. But it does successfully merge a host of popular tropes into one engaging novel.― Lewis Carroll's Alice duology, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, have inspired plenty of anime and manga over the years, and a few otome games besides. With the popularity of the isekai subgenre of characters being reincarnated into otome ...
Preview Guide closes out with a return to the stone age with DR. STONE: STONE WARS! The Preview Guide is full of of this season's latest shows. Don't miss: Log Horizon, Redo of Healer, EX-ARM, Kemono Jihen, Mushoku Tensei, Sk8 the Infinity, Horimiya, World Trigger Season 2, Back Arrow, Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki, So I'm a Spider, So What?, The Quintessential Quintuplets ∬, and more!― Welcome to...
Updates on KOFXV, Cham Cham is finally, finally back in the main Samurai Shodown roster, and Cyberpunk devs wants you to know they're really sorry.― Hi folks. Today's one of those days where I can't really form a coherent introduction to the column. But that's okay, because there's plenty of interesting news to look at! THE KING OF FIGHTERS IS BACK, BABY You may recall that last week there were a Ki...
Essentially, the story looks like it is boiling down to a protagonist who is forced to take on some evil airs due to the nature of his abilities and the idol he hopes to support despite that.― As I read more light novels, I feel that I am developing a good sense for which ones are promising candidates for potential anime adaptations. Based on that, I rate this one as “likely.” Its simple, relatively...
Written by Perfect Blue's Sadayuki Murai, Boogiepop Phantom is a supernatural take on obsession, memories, death, and how we're all connected.― A practically impenetrable horror anthology, Boogiepop Phantom premiered nearly two decades before Boogiepop and Others despite being a sequel. The series brings together director Takashi Watanabe, probably known best for Slayers of all things, writer Saday...
Are you ready for the premiere of Dr. Stone: Stone Wars today? Nicholas Dupree has all the major developments from season one to get you caught up!― This winter there's an insane number of sequels coming out. From long-awaited follow ups for Log Horizon and World Trigger to highly anticipated second seasons for That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime and The Promised Neverland. Hidden among all tho...
RightStuf - Anime, Manga and More