Best Anime of January 2019
Mob Psycho 100 II
Mob Psycho 100 was one of the standout anime of 2016, one that seemed to hit all the right notes with phenomenal animation, crazy over the top action, and fun character interactions.
The anime focuses on Shigeo Kageyama, a perfectly average middle schooler nicknamed Mob, who just so happens to be an Esper. As he grows older, Mob realizes that his powers are strengthening and growing out of control, and he tries to live his life under an emotional shackle to keep them in check.
Mob Psycho 100 comes from the creator of One-Punch Man, and the anime is helmed by Studio Bones, the same studio behind the wildly popular My Hero Academia. If that doesn’t sound like a mixture for success, I don’t know what does. It’s one of the most critically and fan-acclaimed anime in years, and the second season looks set to be one of the best anime of January 2019.
If you haven’t watched Mob Psycho 100 yet, now’s your time to catch up on the first season. Season 2 premieres on Jan. 7, and there’s even a sneak peek premiere event hitting select US theaters on Jan. 5.
Best Anime of January 2019
Kakegurui Season 2
Kakegurui is yet another surprise smash hit anime that debuted in Summer 2018. The show takes place in Hyakkaou Private Academy, which houses the children of wealthy businessmen and powerful politicians in Japan. The school’s hierarchy is decided by an incredibly intricate gambling system organized by the student council.
When a transfer student named Yumeko Jabami comes to the school she flips the entire system on its head, as she gambles purely for fun and the thrill, instead of aiming for social status and wealth.
Kakegurui has a fascinating art style that really focuses in on character animation, right down to dynamic facial expressions. It’s an experience that’s unlike anything else in anime, even for its shortcomings. The newest season will feature a more involved role for the Student Council President, as well as a whole host of new gamblers for Yumeko to go up against.
With a unique aesthetic and tone, fascinating animation, and some hilarious interactions, Kakegurui is a cult anime that should be on your radar if it isn’t already. Kakegurui Season 2 debuts on Jan. 9.
Best Anime of January 2019
The Promised Neverland
The Promised Neverland is an up-and-coming manga series getting its very first anime adaption, and it shows just as much potential. The bright chibi art style of the series belies a dark core at its heart. The show focuses on a group of orphans who live at the Grace Field House.
With a “Mama” to care for them, they live an idyllic carefree life, outside of the rigorous tests they have to do each day and the fact that they can’t leave the orphanage.
However, one day two of the top-scoring orphans, Emma and Norman, decide to break the number one rule and leave the orphanage. There they discover a horrifying reality, that all the orphans are being raised as livestock, food for a race of demon-like creatures.
Even just from the first trailer, The Promised Neverland seems like it’s going to strike an interesting tone, just as dark as suspenseful as the manga. The animation quality also looks pretty outstanding, with Cloverworks being the studio behind the show, who also brought us Persona 5: The Animation.
Although we’ll have to wait and see how the anime actually pans out, The Promised Neverland has all the makings to be 2019’s first cult hit. It’ll premiere on Jan. 11.
Best Anime of January 2019
Revisions
Revisions is one of those rare anime that isn’t an adaption from a manga or a light novel, and instead is an original property. The show is a mecha anime that tells the story of Daisuke Doujima, who was kidnapped as a young child. He and his friends are caught in a strange series of events known as “Shibuya Drift” transporting them 300 years into the future at Shibuya.
There they meet a mysterious girl and becomes “Revisions,” people who might an unknown enemy with giant mechanical monsters, in order to reclaim the presents.
Revisions is directed by Goro Taniguchi, someone who’s certainly no stranger to mecha anime. Taniguchi also served as the director on Code Geass, one of the most critically acclaimed mecha anime of all time. He’s also directed a host of other anime like S-Cry-Ed, Gun x Sword, and ID-0. The series will also be written, in part, by Makoto Fukami who served as one of the main writers for Psycho Pass.
The anime’s first trailer shows an interesting art style that almost seems to combine 2D and 3D. Revisions is worth at least giving a shot, purely because of the talent behind the show. It premieres on January 10.
Best Anime of January 2019
The Rising of the Shield Hero
Isekai anime have seen a return in 2018 with brilliant new series like That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime, and quality continuations of Overlord and Sword Art Online.
Another Isekai will entry the fray in early 2019 with The Rising of the Shield Hero, an anime adaption of a popular series of light novels. The series focuses on Iwatani Naofumi, a young man who’s summoned to a parallel world to become one of the world’s legendary heroes, along with three others.
It just so happens that Naofumi is the Shield Hero, the only one entirely based on defense, with little to no offensive power. He ends up with only one party member due to his lack of charisma and social skills, and is promptly betrayed. Naofumi then sets out on a quest to take revenge, and somehow increase his nonexistent offensive skills.
The Rising of the Shield Hero at least has an interesting enough premise to separate it from the list of other Isekai anime out there. Some quality animation, reminiscent of Sword Art Online, only helps strengthen the new anime’s case.
Hopefully, Shield Hero will end up being yet another standout Isekai anime, and not just fade into the background. The full season will debut on January 11.
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