Anime I've Watched in 2020: A Thread.

Carole and Tuesday Part 2. A disappointing and shallow excursion into post-2016 populist politics. The world is saved with a Band Aid-style song about mothers, or free speech, or something. YAWN. Not without merit, but ultimately bland and toothless.

The Empire of Corpses. A steampunk zombie adventure that left me cold, till it became a hot mess towards the end. Pretty to look at. Philosophical. Problematic. Tedious. On the plus side: like Mary Shelley's novel and its best adaptations, this Frankenstein story is hella gay

The Garden of Words. Stunningly animated short film about the friendship struck up between a schoolboy and a mysterious older woman during Japan's rainy season. Poignant and subtle. Care should be taken not to misinterpret the platonic friendship between its protagonists.

Kino's Journey. Kino, a possibly agender or n-b traveller, visits different countries to learn about their history and customs, witnessing strange, often tragic events that they then reflect upon with their talking motorcycle Hermes. Strangely profound and quietly haunting.

Eden of the East. 11 years on, this is still a timely, relevant and charming series, big on ideas (NEETs, terrorism, johnnys, the need/desire for radical social change) and ambition. Great characters, thrills, romance. Worth revisiting. Shame there's a running gay panic joke : (

Eden of the East: The King of Eden. The first feature film follow-up to the 2009 series returns to America for a heartwarming reunion, just as the "game" to save Japan begins anew and swiftly escalates. A fun, breathless romp that sets the stage for the narrative's conclusion.

Eden of the East: Paradise Lost. The series' true finale is much stronger than I remembered it. Feels like it was ahead of the curve re: "boomers v millennials". Though realistic in its expectations, it remains refreshingly optimistic. Shame about that one racist gay panic joke!

Lupin III Part 5. A highly meta love letter to Lupin. Though based in Paris, Part 5 eschews the local colour of Part 4 in favour of a timely global tech thriller pitching Lupin against Facebook. Features a gay supporting character who gets to be a cool, smug, sexy French bastard.

Castlevania: Season One. An English-scripted anime that's actually really good, thanks to writer Warren Ellis. It's more like a film that's been chopped into four parts. Max Headroom excels as the series' Frollo and Richard Armitage as the ruggedly dashing Trevor Belmont.

My Hero Academia: Season Two Part One. A Naruto-style sports contest enables some much needed character exposition for the series' supporting cast, the highlight being the development of Todoroki and his battle with Deku. But on balance, Naruto was better at this kind of thing.

When Marnie Was There. Boy is my face red after reading a budding lesbian romance into this heartwarming Ghibli joint, before the big twist at the end up-ended that interpretation It is a lovely, haunting film, but by the end I'd built up a very different picture in my mind.

Yuri!!! On Ice. I've only seen it twice. The first time overwhelmed me. What I initially mistook for a queerbait sports anime soon blossomed into a devastatingly beautiful gay love story that, four years on, remains without peer. Can you hear my gay little heart sing?

Naruto: Series One. Revisiting an old fave, 11 years on. I love its leisurely pace, juvenile humour, drawn-out ninja battles and surprising emotional range (see the tenderness with which it treats "villains" Zabuza and Haku). A great alternative to Harry Potter, cos ninjas.

PROMARE. Two burning souls - Hot Half-Naked Himbo and Cool Goth Biker - take on an ICE analogue, a populist demagogue, and the end of the freakin' world, in order to bring hope to the people, in a riotous, high-octane blaze of hot pinks, blues and BLOCK! CAPITALS!

The Woman Called Fujiko Mine. The owls are as sinister as they seem in this gorgeously animated Lupin III spin-off, a gothicky psychosexual thriller about the nature of storytelling and "male gaze". Trust a woman to provide a fresh take on a franchise normally dominated by men.