Anime Writers' Choice: Fall 2020 Anime Wrap-Up Review! Introducing "D4DJ First Mix," "Acdama Drive," and 5 more! Anime Column

While new anime for winter 2021 are starting one after another, we should not forget about the trends of fall 2020 anime. In this issue, we will review the titles whose final episodes will be released between December 2008 and January 2009. Bushiroad's latest project "D4DJ First Mix," studio Piero's original title "Akudama Drive," sports climbing anime "Iwakakeru! - Sport Climbing Girls -", "Strike Witches ROAD to BERLIN", the latest in the popular series, and "Sorezore wa Necklaces" directed by Noboru Iguchi.

D4DJ First Mix

Rinku Aimoto, a high school girl returning from Africa, forms a DJ unit, Happy Around! DJ animation that gradually becomes popular at her new school, Yoha Academy. It is a 3DCG work produced by Sanzigen, and features the same stunning live performance developed for the "BanG Dream! series, this work also maintains the impressive live performances that have been cultivated in other works such as the "BanG Dream! The ambitious direction of the production includes an unusually large number of eating scenes, deliberately showing the tops of the characters' heads, and stopping the screen for as long as 10 seconds to keep the viewer interested. In particular, the scene in which Rinku eats spaghetti with a burning desire to eat it became the talk of the town because of its furious energy.
The DJ Maho Akashi, who began his career with Rinku's encouragement, is also not to be overlooked. The ED, a single cut of Maho DJing by himself, is simple but powerful.
Before he met Rinku, he may have spent some days practicing in secret like this. The mesh and piercings, elements often avoided by otaku, gradually become endearing. The story comes to an end with the New Year. Also keep an eye out for Naoto Takenaka, who is set to appear as the legendary DJ.

Akudama Drive

A crime action series about an ordinary woman who gets caught up in the trouble surrounding a vicious criminal, Akudama, and ends up taking on a mysterious request as a member of Akudama. The anarchy of this work is outstanding. The police organization that opposes Akudama is off its game, with the basement of the police station somehow being an execution site, and a special unit called the Execution Division suddenly coming to kill people. There is no distinction between the government and the judiciary.
The city of Kansai, where the story takes place, has been caricatured to the extreme, and the scene of Doutonborg, dazzled by a vast number of advertising neon lights, has the appearance of cyberpunk science fiction. The reason why Japan has turned out the way it has is explained each time in an educational program-like video in which a rabbit and a shark play with each other, but the atmosphere is also swarthy, almost like a propaganda video. The casting of Kurumi Mamiya as the rabbit and Cho as the shark is oddly reminiscent of the "Peek-a-boo! The casting of the duo from the toddler TV show "I Wanna Call You!

Iwakake! - Sport Climbing Girls

This is a coming-of-age story about a puzzle-game prodigy, Konomi Kasahara, who encounters sport climbing when she enters high school and aims to win first place in the nation with her club mates. The story is billed as "the world's first sport climbing anime," and it is a fun way to learn about the basic rules, techniques, and differences in shoes.
The film dispels the previewer's concern that a sport that only involves climbing walls would be monotonous, by showing the competitors from all angles, up, down, left, and right. It makes me think that this is a sport suited for animation, where the camera can be placed without regard to physical walls. Worshipping climbers depicted from angles not usually seen, we are reminded that the sport is both a competition and an entertainment. The final cut of each episode is a "last cut original picture" created by a different animator for each episode. This is a unique attempt to incorporate the end cards into the main story, and allows viewers to experience a different worldview from that of the main story.

Strike Witches ROAD to BERLIN

The latest in the "Strike Witches" series. Although the zodiac has turned since the first season of the TV anime in 2008, the charming characters and passionate storyline remain unchanged.
The appeal of this long-term series is the voice cast. The cast has served as the main characters in many other works, and it would be impossible to gather such a group for a new title. In January, the anime adaptation of the spin-off comic "World Witches Hatsushimashimasu! is currently airing. The cast's ability to make the show feel comfortable even though the production companies are different is probably a big part of the reason.

That's the only bottleneck.

This is a short anime set in Hot Hot Mart, a privately owned local convenience store. Hot Hot Mart sells handmade side dishes, which is rare nowadays, but the manager and part-timers are full of people who don't look the other person in the face and are indifferent to others. In the midst of all this, Muto, a store clerk who silently continues to make side dishes, looks quite funny .......
The first half of the story follows the mystery of Muto, whose face is never shown, and is finished with a horror taste. The sounds of rice balls being made and simmering in a dark room add to the eeriness, but the story takes a sharp turn in the middle section. The ED theme is by Dakkugokumon Doyokkai. The three-piece band, whose animator support song "Sakugasaku" also drew attention, wrote an original song with the same name as the anime title. It is interesting to see the film and somehow guess why they asked Dakkugokumon Doyukai to write the theme song.

(Text by Katsunori Takahashi)

(C) bushiroad All Rights Reserved.
(C) Piero, TooKyoGames/Akudama Drive Production Committee
(C) Ishizaka Ryudai, Saikomi / Hanamiya Girls Climbing Club Cheering Group
(c) 2020 Fumikane Shimada, KADOKAWA / 501st Joint Combat Wing
(c) "Only that is the bottleneck" Production Committee