Five Anime That Carried 2020

By Ester.

2020 was an unexpected year in general, and for anime it wasn't so great. Many anime that we were all waiting for kept getting postponed, so consequently during lockdown, there was not a large option of choice.

However, thankfully towards the end of the year, we got surprised with a few new anime (and reoccurring), and there was quite a few that I enjoyed watching. So here is a small list of anime that I personally believed carried 2020.

Please note the emphasis on 'I' - this is my own personal opinion.

Talentless Nana

Rating (6/10)

Talentless Nana is a psychological anime based in a dystopia where earth has been invaded by villains known as ‘Enemies of Humanity’. To deal with this threat, specials schools on a deserted island were formed, where people with supernatural powers are sent to prepare them against this threat. These superpowers are known as talents, and the people with these extraordinary abilities are known as the talented. Among these special students there is an intruder who is sent by the talentless government, to kill the talented.

I enjoyed watching this anime, it is slightly different from the psychological anime I tend to watch but it was still enjoyable. However, as much as I enjoyed it, there are a couple flaws that I noticed. I believe the anime revolves around the main character a bit too much, not giving enough spotlight to the side characters. This made it a bit monotonous and repetitive. Psychological anime is meant to be unpredictable and have a few plot twists and as a psychological anime, I believe it lacked that ‘wow’ factor.

Great Pretender

Rating (8.5/10)

The great pretender, is about Makoto Edamura a charismatic, intelligent con man in Japan known as ‘Japan’s greatest swindler’. His partner Kudo and himself, try to trick a French gentleman named thief Laurent Thierry. However, they end up getting tricked instead. They end up following him from Tokyo to Los Angeles. There Laurent Thierry, entangle Edamura and his partner in his plot to swindle a powerful mafia boss out of millions in a fake drug deal.

This anime reminds me of old crime related western-tv series. I really enjoyed the slow-paced plot, it gave the spotlight to all the characters in the anime, and additionally, it allowed me to see everyone’s character development. The plot twist and the constant suspense has me glued to my seat and I could not stop watching it! It has great animation with vivid and bright colours, which isn’t really common in anime. It doesn't get enough recognition because it’s a Netflix anime (and you know Netflix anime have a bad connotation). I believe everyone should watch this, it's definitely worth the watch.

Jujutsu Kaisen

(Rating 7.5/10)

Jujutsu Kaisen is a shonen anime set in world where monsters, known as curses, feed off on negative emotions from people. Yuji Itadori is a typical high schooler who spends his day in the occult club and at the hospital where he visits his grandfather. One night Yuji finds himself, protecting his friends from a curse. That same night he swallows the finger belonging to the ‘king of curses’ known as Sukuna. Despite being possessed he is able to remain in control of his body. Guided by the most powerful of sorcerers, Yuji is admitted to Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu Technical Highschool, to become a sorcerer and to master his new powers.

Right now, JJK is extremely popular and I understand why. Top tier animation with aesthetically pleasing fight scenes, and we cannot forget the amazing opening and ending. It also has unpredictable twist to it which is one thing that I really love about anime. It may be the typical shonen anime but it is really interesting and 100% worth the hype.

However, there’s one thing that I don’t like about the anime. I believe that the plot is fast paced, new characters are being introduced too frequently, not giving enough room for character development. Nevertheless, it is a good watch.

Tower of God

(Rating 7/10)

Tower of God is a South Korean manhwa, adapted into an anime series. It is based in a world where there is a tower that summons the chosen people with the promise of granting their deepest desires. A boy named twenty-fifth Baam, who has lived in a cave his whole life, meets a girl named Rachel. The two become close friends, and he learns more things about the outside world. There then becomes a time for Rachel to climb the tower and he follows her, beginning his journey in the tower with unexpected twist and miracles.

This spring anime was exactly what we needed. The idea of having a webtoon adapted excited a lot of manhwa fans including myself. A new and different plot, with beautiful animation and unique art style.

Furthermore, I believe that the way the first part ended, it felt incomplete to me. Imagine if Naruto finished at the Chunin exams that would be extremely annoying and that is what ToG felt like. Nevertheless, I still recommend adding Tower of God to your watch-list and giving it a go.

Deca-Dence

(Rating 9/10)

In the fortress city of Deca-dence a tanker girl named Natsume, dreams of becoming a gear warrior after her father’s death during a Gadoll attack. She is assigned to a maintenance team led by Kabaguri, who isn’t what he seems to appear. He has secret role in eliminating ‘bugs’ people who threaten Solid Quake’s operations. When Kabaguri, finds out that Natsume is listed as dead in the company database, he decides to keep her under observation and offer to train her fight.

I saved the best to last because honestly, I loved watching this. I believe this anime is under-appreciated. If you are an Attack on Titan fan, I highly recommend giving Deca-dence a watch. The plot may be simple and short, but it has good takes on philosophical topics.

It started in one way and completely ended at a different way, this had me screaming and running laps in my room while I was watching this. Extremely exciting and mind-blowing. One thing that I didn’t like about this anime is the ending. I believe that ending felt rushed, 12 episodes for a first season isn’t really the best, however season 2 has been confirmed which is great!

So although 2020 wasn’t the best year for anime, I believe this post summarized a few that really stood out last year.

Additionally other anime that carried 2020, including sequels such as: One piece, Black Clover, Made in the Abyss (Season 2), Food Wars: The fifth plate, Kaguya-sama: Love is War (Season 2) and Haikyuu: To the Top.

Regardless of my opinions I believe these are good shows to watch. If you have watched these anime what are your opinions? Let us know on our Instagram or Twitter @thejoseis.

Please remember to like this post and subscribe to our blog.

Disclaimer: This blog is created for entertainment purposes only. Images used are not our own, all credits go to the rightful owners.