Winter Season 2021 Anime Worth Watching
While most anime has begun airing by this point, we here at Arse Monster hasn't watched them all yet as of writing this. The post will be updated as more we've had time to watch and assess them. If a show isn't listed, even after it's aired, then either we just haven't watch it yet, or it simply means your favorite show is shit and has no place here.
Ratings and links to AniList are provided for each show. With the exception of Redo of Healer, all should be streaming at CR. Redo of Healer can be found on Nyaa under its romanized name.
The Good Stuff
First we'll kick things off with the actually good shows. If it's in this section, then it's a solid watch.
Kaifuku Jutsushi no Yarinaoshi
Starting off the list in style, we'll begin with a masterpiece of the decade. Though this one should already be an obvious pick on everyone's To watch-list, just in case you haven't heard of this fantastic piece of art, Redo of Healer is 100% worth a watch. Just look at the beautiful Princess Flare in the screenshot getting some quality action.
Mini-review: It's complete trash, and so am I. Would have loved to see the scene with Flare getting blasted with a red hot iron in glorious animated form, but you can't get everything in life. Rating: 10/10
PSA: Make sure to NOT watch the censored version, get the glorious uncensored AT-X release instead.
Mushoku Tensei
Surely there's no need to state just how amazing Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation is going to be, but in case you've been living under a rock, here's another reason to watch it:
The visuals are amazing, that alone makes it worth it. Just go watch it already. Rating: 9/10
Go-toubun no Hanayome ∬
The Quintessential Quintuplets' second season will have you awaiting the next episode just like it did the first one.
Not quite up to par with the first season, but five episodes in and it's not terrible. Rating: 6.5/10
Tatoeba Last Dungeon Mae no Mura no Shounen ga Joban no Machi de Kurasu Youna Monogatari
The new Light Novel adapted anime Suppose a Kid From the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town? shows promise with its spectacular style and animation right from the get-go.
Six episodes in, the show has done a decent job adapting the light novels, and remains a solid funny anime. 100% recommend watching this show. Easily remains a solid show so far. Rating: 8.5/10
Kumo Desu ga, Nani Ka?
No. 1 show amongst those with arachnophobia, So I'm a Spider, So What? is bound to have your isekai cravings fulfilled this season. Follow along the cute little spider on her quest for tasty food! Oh, and there's cute elves and little sisters, too.
The show is riddled with terribad CG; but if you can stomach some bad CG for an otherwise good show, then definitely give this one a watch. Rating: 7.5/10
Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken S2
Everyone's favorite squishy slime is back again for another season in That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime. Cute and sexy oni and OP slime is an amazing combo.
Not half bad in terms of how they've adapted the light novels, but the animation leaves something to be desired. Some important lore is skimmed past or skipped entirely, but otherwise it's doing the series a solid so far. Rating: 8/10
Non Non Biyori Nonstop
If you liked the first two, then Non Non Biyori's third season, Non Non Biyori Nonstop, should be an obvious watch. Rating: ?/10
Log Horizon: Entaku Houkai
The series that's so great you'll want to commit tax fraud after watching is finally is back with a third season. This one being the third installment in the Log Horizon series, giving Log Horizon: Destruction of the Round Table a watch should be a given if you liked the previous seasons. Rating: ?/10
Honorable Mentions
Now on to the shows that seems less interesting, but might still be something to consider for those that are starved for yet more animated goodness.
Horimiya
For being romance, it hasn't started off nearly as bad as many others do in its genre. While the typical stuff is usually riddled with teen angst and idiotic garbage like that, Horimiya actually seems passable so far.
As of the fourth episode, the show still manages to not be infuriating with its teen-drama. Though this might well change, but for now it's a solid show. Rating: 6/10
Maiko-san Chi no Makanai-san
The story seems to follow Kiyo, a girl who came from Aomori Prefecture, along with her friend Sumire, who traveled to Kyoto to become a "maiko". That said, the glorious Shokugeki no Soma-esq food porn on display is probably the highlight so far.
So far – at only one episode aired of this monthly show – I can't give this a must-watch status, but Kiyo in Kyoto: From the Maiko House has definitely got me interested right from the get go. The animation might feel a bit odd at times, but the style and color temperature gives it a warm and cozy feeling, and the dishes that Kiyo makes looks amazing. Rating: 7/10
Wonder Egg Priority
Firstly, honestly, this show should probably be demoted to Trash of the Season, but it was overall interesting enough to not end up down there. Anyway, this one, too, was a complete leap of faith, but surprised with it's interesting* plot and style. If you want a stand its questionable themes and weird story, give WONDER EGG PRIORITY a try.
This show was in many aspects a mixed bag. While it does have nice visuals and an interesting premise, it's overall a questionable watch. With a heavily "progressive" influence with gender identity talk, gay/lesbian themes and so on, only watch it if you can stand teen-trouble heavy themes and a significant amount of gender talk. Rating: 4/10
Trash of the Season
Here's where the garbage dump of the season will get featured. Shows might be relegated to this section retroactively if they turn out to be, in fact, trash.
Kemono Jihen
Picked this up on a whim, and it seemed like it could go either way. It definitely had the potential to be good, but ultimately ended up being the typical garbage. Still, give Kemono Jihen a try if you're into supernatural shounen stuff and desperately want more – even if it might not be any good.
After watching a few episodes of this one, I could simply no longer recommend watching this one. I've left it on the list, but introduced a new section, Trash of the Season, and moved it to where it rightfully belongs: in the trash. It started off decent, but three episodes in and it's clear that it's not worth watching – typical for shounen shows. Rating: 5/10
Ore dake Haireru Kakushi Dungeon
The story of The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter seems is absolute trite, and the subs are meme-level terribad, but at least the girls are cute. And there's a brocon little sister, so that's another plus.
The show was unquestionably completely garbage in terms of story, and its subtitles were meme-level terrible, at least on release – though, I'd like to see the person who seriously watches a show like this while caring about dialogue getting badly translated. However, it did have a certain amount of fanservice throughout, so that's one thing to keep in mind. Rating: 4/10
Yakusoku no Neverland
If you enjoyed the first season of The Promised Neverland, then you will want to give this one a hard skip.
Five episodes in and there was already got a recap episode...and once the sixth episode aired it was clear that the anime has had problems during its production. Lack of action, any noteworthy animation, and paired with the fact that the story's somewhat weak this one can't be recommended as a must-watch. Time will tell if it gets tossed into Trash of the Season, but for now it's going to be put in the Honorable Mentions.
Nope, this second season has turned out to be a complete waste of time. The ending is insultingly bad, to the point where the question of obscenity law is relevant to getting this garbage banned. Rating: 2/10
