EvilBob: That’s right, folks, it’s that time again! With the Winter 2020 anime season right around the corner, it’s high time we revealed our first watch list of the new year!

Voyager: New decade, even! It’s exciting! And you know what a new watchlist means!

EvilBob: Well, aside from last season…

Voyager: A new Anime TKO! And this time…!

EvilBob: It’s SERIOUS.

Voyager: Yeah! Grr.

EvilBob: …

Voyager: What?

EvilBob: …Grr? Really? Really?

Voyager: Ahaha! I know! I sound super tough and serious, right?

EvilBob: …So this time we’re doing things a little different… again.

Voyager: Welcome to Anime TKO-!

EvilBob: Battle Royale Edition! Let’s get ready to rumble!

---

RULES

Voyager: So! We should definitely start by laying out the rules for everyone, first! You know. Since this season’s gonna be kind of a new thing for us.

EvilBob: Right. So we’re not doing the category knockouts like we’ve done in the past. We’ll probably come back to that format in another season. But for this one, no brackets, no head-to-head clashes.

Voyager: It’s every anime for itself!

EvilBob: Even we’re not competing, this time. Not really, anyway.

Voyager: Yeah! That way he doesn’t have to lose again!

EvilBob: …now that’s just hurtful.

Voyager: Ahahaha!

EvilBob: Anyway, this time we’re doing things based on a joint system. One where I give a score out of 100, based on the entertainment value of the episode-

Voyager: And I give a score out of 100 on the nitty-gritty technical stuff that makes the episode go ’round! Then we slam ’em together, figure out the average, and viola! You have the episode’s overall score for the week!

EvilBob: But what makes this a Battle Royale?

Voyager: Easy! The one with the lowest score gets kicked off the island! Sayonara! *waves*

EvilBob: Barring the first few weeks, anyway.

Voyager: Right! Those first few weeks are gonna be our exhibition run! At the end of it, a bunch of shows are gonna get canned, all at once! Then, one show gets thrown out every week!

EvilBob: There can be only one. One that stands over all the others and claims the title of Winter 2020 Anime TKO CHAMPION!

Voyager: Ooooh! You sounded real dramatic-like when you said that! Now, then! Here are the rules for the shows. It’s real simple. No sequels or continuing shows… that’s it. See? Easy-peasy!

---

LIST

EvilBob: All right. Now it’s on to the actual list.

Voyager: Twelve Shows Enter, One Show Leaves!

EvilBob: All right, Thunderdome. Let’s see what we’ve got.

Isekai Quartet 2nd Season

EvilBob: Okay, hear us out on this-

Voyager: Oooh! Breaking one of our own rules, right away. What a cheater, Bob.

EvilBob: You’re cheating too, you little-!

Voyager: Ahahaha!

EvilBob: Ergh… anyway, we have an explanation. The reason for the no sequels or continuing series rule isn’t really about the fairness of established series having an inherent advantage. Because that’s not always true.

Voyager: Unless you’re DanMachi.

EvilBob: As I said. Not always true… or fair. The rule’s really just because then we’d have to sit there and cover all the previous stuff. Which would take a lot of time.

Voyager: But Isekai Quartet is a short series! The episodes are only around 12 minutes long! We can knock that out in, like, 2 hours!

EvilBob: Right. Now, we know we didn’t actually cover the first season officially, so here is our totally legit review on the original run… it was funny.

Voyager: Yeah, yeah! Super hilarious!

EvilBob: That said, we don’t really see it getting really far. It’s just a series of comedy shorts… Frankly, if it gets past that first big culling… we’re gonna have us a problem.

Voyager: Ahaha! Totally! That’d mean the rest of the season’s looking pretty bleak!

EvilBob: Don’t let that chipper demeanor fool you. He’s terrified on the inside.

Voyager: It’s true! I’m a big mass of existential dread! On to the next show!

Kyokou Suiri (In/Spectre)

Voyager: I dunno. The concept sounded neat. And I saw a lot of buzz around the manga, back when Bulletoon was a news show, so it could be fun!

EvilBob: If they do it right, yeah. But if they do it wrong-

Voyager: It could be really dumb, yeah!

EvilBob: …Glad you’re staying realistic, bud.

Somali to Mori no Kamisama

EvilBob: Not gonna lie. This one’s my choice. It looked cute.

Voyager: Father-Daughter shows are adorable! …when they’re not weirdly oedipal.

EvilBob: *ahem* We’ll, uh… we’ll just refrain from talking about that one, all right?

Voyager: Okay!

Rikei ga Koi ni Ochita no de Shoumei shitemita

Voyager: This has a lot of potential! To be an absolute disaster!

EvilBob: Hey, hey now! It could also be a lot of fun. It’s a show about awkward nerds in love, trying to figure it out with science! Come on, the comedy writes itself.

Voyager: Sure, sure! As long as it’s not just the same joke of “Smart people are dumb about love” over and over again, it’ll be a blast!

EvilBob: …Why do I have a feeling your scores are going to repeatedly drag mine to subterranean levels?

Voyager: *smile*

Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun

Voyager: It looks cute! Also Yokai! What’s not to like!?

EvilBob: To be fair, we don’t know much else about it, so… anything can happen, really.

Voyager: Hey, now! Knowing’s only half the battle!

EvilBob: …you do know the other half is violence, right?

-beat-

Voyager: Ooooh…

Infinite Dendrogram

EvilBob: Oh, good. Another videogame one.

Voyager: Hey, hey! They’re not all gonna be like that one you hate so much.

EvilBob: Wha-? You hate it too!

Voyager: I’m indifferent!

EvilBob: …traitor. You’ve gone soft on me!

Voyager: Oooh! Maybe it could end up being like another Log Horizon! That’d be great! Conversely… I want more Log Horizon. And I has a sad, now ;-;

Majutsushi Orphen Hagure Tabi

EvilBob: My choice… and I have no idea what to expect. Hopefully, it’s like one of those cheesy old kung-fu movies or something. Buuut it’s apparently a drama, so… I dunno.

Voyager: I have no opinion! This one’s here to fill a space!

EvilBob: Dude. We talked about that honesty thing you keep doing.

Voyager: Oh, whoops!

EvilBob: Whoopsie!

Itai no wa Iya nano de Bougyoryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu

Voyager: I read the manga! It’s cute! Also highly unlikely to make it very far! But cute!

EvilBob: I… heard some good things about it. That, um… that’s all.

Voyager: But it’s another videogame one! So I’m all-in!

Koisuru Asteroid

Voyager: Hey! It’s another that here to fi-

EvilBob: Oi.

Voyager: Oh, right. Ah… it looks cute!

EvilBob: Well… it is an obligatory “Cute Girls Do Cute Things” anime. Which isn’t necessarily bad. Some of those are surprisingly good, even. So this one could surprise us.

Murenase Seton Gakuen

EvilBob: It… could be funny.

Voyager: Yep.

EvilBob: And it has a pretty cute art style.

Voyager: Yep yep.

EvilBob: …you gonna say anything else?

Voyager: Do you want me to be honest again?

EvilBob: …Nope. Moving on.

Runway de Waratte

Voyager: For reasons I’m not gonna get into, I know a little bit about this industry!

EvilBob: …what?

Voyager: Well, in America. I’unno if it’s the same in Japan. But whatever! I added it ’cause it’s a Shounen and I’m starting to get into Shounen that are about stuff other than action! (Seriously! Go read ACT-AGE in Shounen Jump!)

EvilBob: So… how exactly are they going to make modeling a shounen-y thing?

Voyager: Hm… well, it’s gotta appeal to boys, yeah? So pro’lly a combination of fan-service and reeeally over-dramatizing all the modeling stuff. Hopefully with exaggerated animation and extreme camera angles! Also a soundtrack that gets ya pumped up.

EvilBob: …I just pictured that. Good god, you somehow made modeling sound epic.

Voyager: Right?!

ID: Invaded

EvilBob: Inception – The Anime. That’s what it looks like to me.

Voyager: Pretty cool idea! Sci-Fi Mystery stuff is neat until it isn’t!

EvilBob: Oi.

Voyager: Whoops! Some honesty slipped out, yeah?

---

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL

Voyager: Obviously, we’re not just going to be bringing you our scores, every week. To keep things fun, we’re going to also include some of the staples we’ve all come to expect from Anime Burst!

EvilBob: Yeah. We’re each going to be including our personal favorite screengrabs, lines, moments, and MVPs of the week.

Voyager: Ah. Not for every show, though. Just wanna make that clear. Just the ones that really go beyond!

EvilBob: …

Voyager: …

EvilBob: …What?

Voyager: Ya gonna say it?

EvilBob: No.

Voyager: Aw. But you totally wanna say it, right?

EvilBob: No!

Voyager: C’mooon. You’re dyin’ to say it.

EvilBob: I’m not going to say it!

Voyager: Okay! *ahem* Pl-

EvilBob: PLUS ULTRA!

Voyager: Yay, he said it!

---

THE WRAP-UP

Voyager: And that’s all she wrote!

EvilBob: She? She who?

Voyager: Oh, he wants to go back to playing the dumb one.

EvilBob: Hey! I was not playi- I mean…

Voyager: Ahahaha!

EvilBob: That’s not what I meant!

Voyager: So! What shows are you all looking forward to, this season? What show on our list do you think has the strongest chance at winning it all?!

EvilBob: *grumble*

Voyager: Eh? Speak up, Bob. You sound all grumpy, again!

EvilBob: Thanks for reading…

Voyager: Oh yeah, that! And definitely drop us a like and comment whatever you think down below!

EvilBob: Thanks for letting us waste your time, people.

Voyager: Keep up the Awesome!

EvilBob: And keep it Classy.

Voyager: Take care!