Anime, Dramas, Movies and more I’m looking forward to in 2021

After the shitshow that was 2020, I’m hoping that 2021 will be less terrible. I’m not delusional thinking that COVID is suddenly gone, climate change has stopped, or that a lot of issues concerning the global population just mystically disappeared when the clock hit midnight. However, I do believe in the idea of giving yourself things to look forward to. This post being one such space to do that.

As the title says, these are a few projects that I’m anticipating for this year. I’m looking forward to either seeing in theaters or on the small screen in one way or another. Organizationally, these are arranged loosely in order of release. The titles to be released within the month at the top, and latter titles towards the bottom. I’ll be linking MAL or MDL synoposises in the titles themselves, and like my “What will I be watching?” post, just giving my impressions on the projects.

Natsume Yuujinchou: Ishi Okoshi to Ayashiki Raihousha (movie)

This one I actually found out via a comment section that we were getting another Natsume movie. Well, a two in one deal. It might, based on description be a special more so then a movie, but that’s besides the point. 2020 sucked for a lot of reasons, and one of those was there wasn’t any new animated Natsume. So seeing that 2021 is already improving itself from the jump, January 16th is want I’ve seen so far, with a two part movie to rectify this is incredibly welcomed. The ideas for both films sound just fine to me. With a bit more experience as to how the series translates into long-form content, so long as it gets a theatrical release near me (which at time of writing looks like a no…), or on an online subscription service I have access to, we’re golden.

3B no Koibito (Drama)

One name: Kamiya Kenta. If that is not enough context, please continue to read. I wrote sometime last year about The Rampage from EXILE TRIBE and the actors within that performance group. The most curious of them was Kamiya Kenta, who was a child actor, but had never taken a role since joining The Rampage. Well, 2021 is full of surprises as he enters not into movies, but his first drama. As a lead role on top of that, he’s playing Yuu on of the main love interests in this harem. I’m beyond excited for him, and I can’t wait to see how it all pans out!

The End of the Tiny World (movie)

I mean, if Iwata Takanori wasn’t enough for me, I’ve seen the commercial every single time I’ve gone to theaters since August. This film is serious about getting it’s promotions out there. The story, which is a mixture of friendship and found family, with a long-haul con coming together sounds like it’s going to be pretty damn epic. Might be a little hard to follow verbally, but it appears to be pretty action packed as well. So while my hype is a simmer, due to excessive promos; it’ll be a long time coming so I’m excited to see what happens.

Tokyo Babylon 2021 (anime)

This is both my most highly anticipated and most likely to go wrong, pop culture anything for 2021. Quote me on that. I did nothing less then absolutely lose my mind, when I found out about this release. It was a glorious moment. It was also nearly immediately shrouded in doubt for a multitude of reasons, especially after watching the trailer. I have my concerns that in modernization, all that I loved about the original will be erased, specifically the character dynamics. I trust GoHands with the animation, and the trailers looked visually appealing. We’ll see what happens now that they have to redo everything.

This series might already be cursed from the start. On December 4th, it was reported that GoHands staff ‘referenced costume designs without permission’ and apologized. Read that for what it really is; they stole copyrighted material and tried to pass it off as original. That’s also why there’s no preview image for this because, surprise, all the ones available prior to me releasing this blog post had the stolen designs in them! It’s no surprise that the studio later announced that they would be delaying the release. [Japanese Official Statement here] Sigh. To top it all off, CLAMP has no had a hand in any aspect of this interpretation of one of their most beloved works. I have no doubt they will continue to do and say nothing _{since it isn’t CCS related.}

To GoHands; either get your shit together, and get CLAMP on board with this, even just a notice of their blessing will do, or drop this project and save some face.

Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop (movie)

This is one of two movies that was suppose to be shown in theater’s last year, but got postponed until this year. I was really taken in with the art style, it feels really similar in Lu Over The Wall or Ride Your Wave. The premise seems to be very much boy meets girl over the summer, and things change, but it’s sweet in it’s own way with it’s own cute twists on the subject. My anticipation is bubbling over just like the title!!

Fruits Basket: The Final (anime)

Do I need to explain this one? Maybe. I chose not to cover the 2nd season here on my blog so people might have thought I forgot about this series. I am on the hype train with the rest of the community. I am both elated since we are finally getting the conclusion we always wanted. But in the same breath, I don’t want it to end!! Between those two conflicting feelings, we’re in for a treat so long as TMS Entertainment still is in charge of animation and direction. Fingers crossed, and I have to keep my tissue stocked for this one!!

Hokusai (movie)

This is the second film that was originally suppose to air last year. It was the 260th anniversary of Hokusai, the artist being depicted in this film. I am a huge fan of Hokusai, and was elated at the idea of celebrating such an awesome anniversary. The museum dedicated to him in Tokyo was doing a huge special exhibition each month of various themed works, and such but… that was halted. As was this film, which I am grateful it was only suspended, and not completely scrapped. So as soon as I get a concrete date, I will make a trip out to see it!

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So there you have it. Seven titles from my core blog topics that you can look forward to reading about in the up-coming months as they’re made available. You’ve clearly seen my thoughts, and feelings so I want to hear about yours! Let me know if we have any titles in our shared looking forward to list. Or, let me know a title you can’t wait to see but didn’t make my list! I wouldn’t want to miss out on something because I didn’t know! And with that, I’ll see you next post!