Top 10 Psychological Anime of 2020
1. Kaguya-sama: Love is War?
After a slow but eventful summer vacation, Shuchiin Academy's second term is now starting in full force. As August transitions into September, Miyuki Shirogane's birthday looms ever closer, leaving Kaguya Shinomiya in a serious predicament as to how to celebrate it. Furthermore, the tenure of the school's 67th student council is coming to an end. Due to the council members being in different classes, the only time Kaguya and Miyuki have to be together will soon disappear, putting all of their cunning plans at risk.
A long and difficult election that will decide the fate of the new student council awaits, as multiple challengers fight for the coveted title of president.
2. Fruits Basket Season 2
A year has passed since Tohru Honda began living in the Souma residence, and she has since created stronger relationships with its inhabitants Shigure, Kyou, and Yuki. She has also grown closer to the rest of the Souma family and has become familiar with their ancestral secret, having helped them with many of their personal issues. The closer Tohru gets, however, the more she begins to realize that their secret holds a darker truth than she first presumed.
Summer is approaching and Tohru is invited to spend her days with the Soumas, mainly Kyou and Yuki. Tohru wishes for an easy-going vacation, but her close relationships with the two boys and the rest of the Soumas may prove to cause trouble. As they grow more intimate, their carefree time together is hindered by older hardships and feelings from the past that begin to resurface. The Eternal Banquet also dawns on the members of the zodiac, and they must tend to their duties alongside the unnerving head of the family, Akito Souma.
With the banquet approaching and a plethora of feelings to be solved, will Tohru's life with the Soumas remain peaceful, or will she find herself in a situation from which she cannot escape?
3. Fate/stay night [Heaven’s Feel] III. spring song
The third film in a trilogy adaptation of the 3rd route of the popular visual novel: Fate/stay night.
To save the girl, to enact the justice he's chosen...The young man will no longer turn a blind eye to
the truth. Mages (Masters) and Heroic Spirits (Servants) work together in the battles of the Holy
Grail War, a fight for an omnipotent wish-granting container called the Holy Grail. However, this
war has become horribly twisted.
A young woman named Sakura Matou, with the sins she has committed, drowns in the murky
darkness. A young man named Shirou Emiya, who vowed to protect Sakura, works together with
Rin Tohsaka and throws himself into the raging battle to put a stop to the Holy Grail War. Illyasviel
von Einzbern, as one of the few who knows the truth behind the conflict, confronts her own fate,
while Zouken Matou uses Sakura to try to fulfill his own desires.
Will the young man’s wish reach her even as he challenges fate itself, battling against the rising
tide? The Holy Grail War is coming to an end... The final battle is about to begin.
(Source: Aniplex of America)
4. Made in Abyss: Dawn of the Deep Soul
Dawn of the Deep Soul continues the epic adventure of plucky Riko and Reg who are joined by their new friend Nanachi. Together they descend into the Abyss’ treacherous fifth layer, the Sea of Corpses, and encounter the mysterious Bondrewd, a legendary White Whistle whose shadow looms over Nanachi’s troubled past. Bondrewd is ingratiatingly hospitable, but the brave adventurers know things are not always as they seem in the enigmatic Abyss...
(Source: Sentai Filmworks)
5. Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Season 2
Even after dying countless times, Subaru finally ended the threat of the White Whale and defeated the Witch Cult's Sin Archbishop representing sloth, Petelgeuse Romaneeconti. But only shortly after overcoming a tragic ending and reuniting with his beloved Emilia, Subaru learns that Rem has been erased from this world, having fallen victim to the White Whale's Fog of Elimination in the midst of Subaru's death loop. With the White Whale now gone, Subaru and Emilia are forced to confront a reality they never dreamed would happen.
(Source: Crunchyroll)
6. MILGRAM
Interactive collaborative multimedia music project between DECO*27 and Takuya Yamanaka.
The list of released videos included in this entry are as follows:
1) Es - Undercover (エス - アンダーカバー), May 15, 2020.
2) Haruka - Weakness (ハルカ - 弱肉共食), Jun 12, 2020.
3) Yuno - Umbilical (ユノ - アンビリカル), Jul 17, 2020.
4) Fuuta - Bring It On (フータ - 事変上等), Sep 18, 2020.
5) Muu - After Pain (ムウ - アフターペイン), Oct 16, 2020.
6) Shidou - Throw Down (シドウ - スローダウン), Dec 11, 2020.
7) Mahiru - This Is How To Be In Love With You (マヒル - 愛なんですよ), Jan 15, 2021.
8) Kazui - half (カズイ - half), Mar 19, 2021.
9) Amane - Magic (アマネ - おまじない), Apr 16, 2021.
10) Mikoto - MeMe (ミコト - MeMe), Aug 13, 2021.
11) Kotoko - HARROW (コトコ - HARROW), Nov 26, 2021.
7. Moriarty the Patriot
In the late 19th century, the British Empire nobility reigns while its working class suffers at their hands. Sympathetic to their plight, William James Moriarty wants to topple it all. Frustrated by the systemic inequity, Moriarty strategizes to fix the entire nation. Not even consulting detective Sherlock Holmes can stand in his way. It's time for crime to revolutionize the world!
(Source: Funimation)
Note: The first episode received an early screening on September 21st, 2020. The regular TV broadcast started on October 11th, 2020.
8. ID: INVADED
Welcome to Kura, an organization that investigates crime using the Mizuhanome system which senses the drive to kill. Sakaido is a brilliant detective and pilot of the Mizuhanome. To solve a case, he enters the world of the killer's unconscious mind: the id well. In the shadows of brutal and puzzling cases lurks John Walker, the Serial Killer Creator. Where will Sakaido's pursuit lead?
(Source: Funimation)
9. PSYCHO-PASS 3: First Inspector
Tokyo, 2120. In a society overseen by the Sibyl System, Inspectors Arata Shindo and Kei Mikhail Ignatov of CID Unit One clash over truth and justice. Koichi Azusawa, the mastermind behind a string of crimes, sets his sights on the CID itself and launches an assault on the Public Safety Bureau Building. Unit One is in peril like never before—a case that will try Arata and Kei’s loyalties.
Notes:
- The three episodes were given a limited run in theaters as one film, and received a simultaneous release on Amazon Prime.
(Source: Amazon)
10. PUPARIA
Independent Short by Shingo Tamagawa.