Now that we are in the new year, that means it is the new year for new television shows, including anime. Despite the restrictions that were faced early on during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, anime studios over in Japan were able to release new content for this winter season including returning series as well as brand new series. 

The first returning series that has seemed to have gotten most of the hype is “Attack on Titan: the final season.” The first episode of the series first premiered on April 7 of 2013 and as of December 6 of 2020, they started airing episodes for their fourth and final season. “Attack on Titan” centers around the character, Eren Yeager who vows to kill all Titans after the man-eating Titans that terrorize civilization broke through the wall of their city and ate his mother. Unfortunately, I have not caught up to season four yet, but I highly recommend this to anyone who likes shows that are action-packed and gory. 

Another returning series that people have been excited for is “The Promised Neverland” season two. The first season of “The Promised Neverland” first aired from January to March in 2019 and was later released on Netflix. The first episode of season two was released on January 7 this year and new episodes are released every Thursday. “The Promised Neverland” follows the story of the three protagonists, Norman, Emma, and Ray along with other orphans who live together happily until the three learn that this orphanage is a farm where they are raised to be eaten by demons. This is one of the few anime series that I am caught up with and I would recommend this to anyone who is into dark fantasy and science fiction shows that are full of suspense. 

This next show, “Jujutsu Kaisen”, while newer than the earlier two, has grown in popularity which is not very surprising considering this is coming from the studio MAPPA who has produced other popular shows such as” Yuri on Ice,” “Banana Fish,” and the final season of “Attack on Titan.” The first episode of “Jujutsu Kaisen” was released on October 2 of last year and this show follows the protagonist, Yuji Itadori who joins the occult club at his high school and is soon informed of a cursed talisman that he has recently contacted that attracts curses to the school. To protect his friends and sorcerer, Megumi Fushiguro, Yuji decides to swallow the talisman which then causes him to become the host of the powerful curse Sakuna. I have yet to watch this show but if you are into supernatural shows then you might enjoy “Jujutsu Kaisen.” 

In terms of new series that have premiered this season, this first one garnered a lot of attention and is called “SK8 the Infinity”. “SK8 the Infinity” first premiered on January 9 of this year and is from the same studio that has animated many other popular series such as “My Hero Academia”, “Noragami”, “Bungo Stray dogs”, and “Soul Eater”. “SK8 the Infinity” is a sports anime about skating which follows the protagonists Reki and Langa, a transfer student from Canada, as Reki teaches Langa more about skating. So far, I think this show is pretty cute and visually appealing and I would recommend this to anyone who likes skateboarding or anyone who likes shows about sports. 

Last but certainly not least is the show, “Wonder Egg Priority”. “Wonder Egg Priority” first premiered on January 12 of this year and is animated by the same studio that animated “The Promised Neverland” and “Persona 5”. “Wonder Egg Priority” follows the story of an introverted girl, Ai Ohto, who picks up a mysterious egg from an abandoned arcade and once she gets home, she finds that her dreams and reality collide and is even more confused when a girl appears from the egg. Ai learns that she must collect eggs and at night in her dreams break them and defeat different enemies to ultimately save her friend. From the amazing character design and animation to the intriguing story, this has to be my favorite new anime for this year’s winter season and I highly recommend watching it.  

If you want to look at more series that have come out this season or want to know more about when new episodes air, I recommend the website livechart.me because it will give you countdowns to when new episodes air and has a list of anime for each season this year. 

Sarah Larson is a Dakota Student Art and Community Writer. She can be reached at [email protected]