One of the hidden casualties of the global pandemic this summer was the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo this year. It was a lost opportunity for many sports outside the mainstream to seize the spotlight, but leave it to anime to fill that void. The end of the summer anime season signals the beginning of the blitz of anime announcements hyping up the crop of new show coming this fall and among the most intriguing of the bunch is a sports show about gymnastics.
Stepping into the spotlight this fall is Taiso Samurai, a slick looking anime about a down-and-out gymnast looking for redemption, which releases in Japan on Oct 10. It headlines a loaded field of new shows that includes the Crunchyroll-backed fantasy show Jujutsu Kaisen, an anime from the creative forces of Danganronpa called Akudama Drive and a remake of a romance murder mystery called Higurashi When They Cry.
The two big streaming services that simulcast anime between Japan and internationally, Funimation and Crunchyroll, have yet to announce their lineups for the fall, but as news about individual shows trickles in it's clear right now that the fall season is loaded. It's a perfect storm with so many spring shows delayed by Covid coming back in October. Returning titles like Golden Kamuy, Haikyuu!!, and Is It Wrong to Pick Up Girls In a Dungeon? are confirmed to be coming. Sprinkled among those titles are brand new shows like the Bleach spinoff Burn The Witch and a return to the world Inuyasha in Yashahime: Princess Half-demon. Add Taiso Samurai, Jujutsu Kaisen, Akudama Drive and Higurashi to a growing list of new anime to debut.
Its still unclear exactly which ones will get a coveted spot in the lineup of simulcast shows for the fall, but all will definitely make their debut in Japan and eventually come to North America, it's just a matter of when. Jujutsu Kaisen is the only one with a guaranteed date for simulcast coming out October 2 on Crunchyroll and Netflix. Taiso Samurai, Akudama Drive and Higaurashi (October 1 in Japan) will all make their debut sometime in October.
Taiso Samurai has a chance to be the biggest breakout of the bunch, its appeal related to the many reasons the Olympic games are popular -- inspirational stories of athletes overcoming adversity. The anime follows Shotaro Aragaki, a gymnast in the wrong side of 25, struggling to compete like he used to. On the verge of quitting, his devotion to his daughter Rei keeps him going. Jujutsu Kaisen would be the second title to look for as one of the few popular manga titles from publisher Shounen Jump lacking an anime series to cash in on its large following. This action anime is about high school student Itadori Yuji as he battles demons and evil creatures after swallowing a cursed finger that brings all kind of misfortune upon him. Akudama Drive boasts the visual stylings and story from the character artist and head writer behind the hit video game murder mystery series Danganronpa. It tells the story of a world where declining political power and policing leads to the rise of a special kind of criminals known as Akudama. Higaurashi When They Cry is most appropriate title for a month that includes Halloween. This remake of a 2007 anime of the same name follows Keiichi Maebara and friends as they struggle to solve a string of murders that plagues the fictional village of Hinamizawa.
The fall season looms closer with each passing week and as the details start trickling in about what what shows will be coming October may bring the best collection of anime 2020 has to offer. What’s left is to get an official announcement of the simulcast lineups for this season.
Jujutsu Kaisen releases on Crunchyroll on October 2.
Source: Crunchyroll, Polygon