Top 10 Most Anticipated Anime of Fall 2021
Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Part 2
Premiere Date: October 2nd (Funimation)
After making its debut earlier this year, Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation is finally coming back to finish out its first anime season. This series is a bit off an odd duck because there is admittedly a huge hurdle to overcome right off the bat when you're introduced to an Isekai protagonist that's much less clean cut than the more fantasy-laden protagonists that would come in the years following this original light novel series' release. But when considering that Studio Bind was created specifically for this adaptation, then the success of the first half makes a lot of sense.
When the series returns for Part 2, it will likely offer the same kind of high quality visual fidelity, character design, and world building that began with the first slate of episodes. The next arc of the series is continuing the exploration of the Demon Continent, and there's some pretty big things ahead before the debut season is over. Now's the time to tune in.
prevnextYashahime: Princess Half-Demon - The Second Act
Release Date: October 2nd (Crunchyroll, Funimation)
Rumiko Takahashi's incredibly popular Inuyasha series surprisingly made a comeback for a brand new sequel series that followed Inuyasha and Sesshomaru's respective children. Not only did the sequel series' first season give fans a brief reunion with the original cast, but introduced a whole new fairy tale like adventure for a brand new trio of characters. The first season of the series ended things on a cliffhanger in the middle of this new adventure.
There are still many mysteries about the whereabouts of the original cast in the years since their kids were born, and that's part of the excitement of the second season's return. There are promises of full-on reunions between parents and children, and much more involvement from the original cast as well. Here's hoping it sticks the landing!
prevnextDigimon Ghost Game
Release Date: October 3rd (TBD)
The Digimon franchise recently wrapped its special 20th Anniversary reboot celebrating the original Digimon Adventure series, and it's already heading into the future with a new entry. But rather than retread older stories once more, the franchise is once again launching a completely new iteration with a new set of DigiDestined. Shaking things up this time around is a far spookier premise that has injected a little more horror, and that's usually something that the anime plays with but never quite fully dives into until the final episodes.
Digimon Ghost Game takes the Digital World concept and blends it with the idea of real world ghosts to create something that looks like an intriguing and fresh take on the series. If it completely commits to these new elements, or provide some other kind of fresh experience, we could be looking at a winner here.
prevnextMieruko-Chan
Release Date: October 3rd (Funimation)
Horror is usually a difficult genre to nail down in animation, but there have been some attempts in the past that have managed to make it work. Mieruko-Chan does have an edge in this department, however, as Tomoki Izuku's original manga series mines some major comedy out of the juxtaposition between its ghoulish ghost designs against the high school comedy of the titular Mieruko pretending to ignore all of the ghosts she sees and lives life with a straight face. The anime itself could take this even further too.
Mieruko-Chan definitely has a great chance at sticking the landing as it's being produced by Passione, a studio that knows a thing or two about blending seemingly opposite genres together successfully with previous projects such as High School DxD Hero and the new Higurashi: When They Cry series Gou and Sotsu. This one could end up being the surprise hit of the Fall if it all works out.
prevnextPlatinum End
Release Date: October 7th (Crunchyroll)
Death Note and Bakuman's creative duo of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata recently ended their newest manga effort, Platinum End, earlier this year and now a whole new wave of fans will see what they have been up to with the debut of its adaptation. Like their previous popular stories, this newest series involves a high school student who is suddenly thrusted into potential godhood. This twist here this time is that there are 12 others who suddenly find themselves in the same situation and are now competing to become the new God before the current one retires in 999 days.
If you're interested in checking this one out, Crunchyroll describes Platinum End as such, "'I will give you the hope to live.' Kakehashi Mirai lost his parents in an accident and lived in misery with the relatives who took him in. Having lost hope in everything, he jumped off the roof of a building on the day of his middle school graduation. But then he met an angel..."
prevnextDemon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Season 2
Premiere Date: October 10th (Crunchyroll, Funimation, Hulu)
You don't need me to tell to check out Demon Slayer's second season this Fall as you're likely already hyped for the anime's big return. Considering the massive response to the debut season's final few episodes (and somehow even bigger response for the Mugen Train film in theaters), there are likely very few anime fans with this one on their radar. What's going to be different than expected, however, is the anime will be first kicking off with a new take on the Mugen Train arc specially made for the TV anime.
On December 5th, the anime will be fully diving into the real new material for the series with the Entertainment District arc. So it's like Demon Slayer is going to have two different premieres for its second season, so fans will be able to jump in when they feel like! It's unlikely that any of us will be missing out on that new premiere, however.
prevnextKomi Can't Communicate
Release Date: October 21st (Netflix)
Tomohito Oda's original manga series has built quite the cult following for itself ever since it got an official licensed English release a couple of years ago, and soon the series will be finding a whole new audience with the debut of its anime adaptation. It's also going to get a lot of attention for another major reason as well. Not only is it probably going to be the biggest romantic/slice of life comedy releasing this Fall (and potentially the year overall), but it's part of a huge experiment with Netflix.
Releasing just a couple of weeks after the initial debut in Japan, Komi Can't Communicate will be streaming on a weekly basis with Netflix. This is far removed from the traditional model Netflix has set of waiting for an entire series (or a cour) to air in Japan before releasing worldwide with additional language dubbing. It's unclear as to how Netflix will be handling this weekly launch, but it might be even more crucial to keep up with this one if there's any chance of breaking out of the "jail" in the future.
prevnextSuper Crooks
Release Date: November 25th (Netflix)
Notable comic creator Mark Millar made waves when it was announced that he had signed a deal for adaptations of his various projects with Netflix, and one of the most surprising results of this new agreement is the anime adaptation of Millar and Leinel Yu's Icon Comics series, Super Crooks. With animation produced by Studio Bones (the studio behind anime such as My Hero Academia, Mob Psycho 100, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Space Dandy and more), Carole & Tuesday's Motonobu Hori serving as director, Cowboy Bebop's Dai Sato overseeing the scripts, and Blood: Blockade Battlefront's Takafumi Mitani designing the characters, this series could end up as one of the biggest releases out of the year.
Given the surprising source, that all makes Super Crooks more interesting than expected too. Netflix describes the series as such, "In this anime adaptation, small-time crook Johnny Bolt recruits the ultimate crew for one last heist -- for real! From comic book legend Mark Millar, this super-powered heist story about eight super-villains is jam-packed with action and told in 13x 30-minute episodes lushly produced by Bones."
prevnextBlade Runner: Black Lotus
Release Date: TBA (Adult Swim, Crunchyroll)
Crunchyroll and Adult Swim announced a special partnership in which they have produced a few unique anime series that will debut with both networks simultaneously. Fans have seen the fruits of this partnership already with releases such as Fena: Pirate Princess this Summer (which will also be continuing to air through the Fall), but one of the most intriguing is coming our way very soon. Blade Runner: Black Lotus is a CG anime that's set within the world of the Blade Runner franchise, and teases a new take on it that could only be possible through anime. Now it's just a matter of seeing if it sticks the landing.
Adult Swim and Crunchyroll describe the series as such, "Los Angeles 2032. A young woman wakes up with no memories, and possessing deadly skills. The only clues to her mystery are a locked data device and a tattoo of a black lotus. Putting together the pieces, she must hunt down the people responsible for her brutal and bloody past to find the truth of her lost identity."
prevnextJoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean
Release Window: December 2021 (Netflix)
This one gets a special shout out because it's one of the highest profile releases we're getting before the end of the year, but it's technically releasing outside of the traditional Fall 2021 anime schedule. You just have to include it though. The sixth iteration of Hirohiko Araki's massively popular manga series is finally getting an official anime adaptation, and not only was it a surprise to see that the series is dropping later this year, but the even bigger surprise confirmed that it will be an exclusive release on Netflix.
Streaming around the world starting this December, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean has teased a vague "monthly" release schedule for the new season. Capping off the Dio saga and following a new JoJo, Jolyne Cujoh (the daughter of Jotaro Kujo), this new season promises to be the wildest one yet with a team full of prisoners, wild new Stand abilities, and more! It's going to bring the year to an explosive end.
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