We’re in the endgame, now, boys and girls. And at the end of this day, two shows… well… *snap*

Voyager: All right, folks! This is it! This one’s for all the marbles!

EvilBob: Marbles? But… but I wanted candy. Can it be for candy instead?

Voyager: …Booob. Remember your blood sugar.

EvilBob: I’m not diabetic, tho…

Voyager: Yet. Anyway, here we go, everyone! This is the final round! The scores are back and it’s time to see where our top three placed!

EvilBob: As if we didn’t already know…

Voyager: This is the Winter 2020 Anime TKO!

EvilBob: BATTLE ROYALE EDITION!!!!!

1 – Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun (90◎)

Voyager – 85
EvilBob – 95
Episode Average – 90

Voyager: Huh. So it did exactly what I expected.

EvilBob: Awww! That’s it?! But… but…

Voyager: Heeeh~? That doesn’t sound like the attitude of someone who gave it a 95?

EvilBob: I wanted an epic finish! A 3-part arc to wrap up the season!

Voyager: *blink* Hmmm… Bob?

EvilBob: Yeah?

Voyager: You’re kinda dim, huh?

EvilBob: …I refuse to answer that.

Voyager: Well, the last story arc ended pretty conclusively! So it only makes sense that the final episode be a standalone, yeah? And when you only have one episode left, not much else to do but one of those “And this is how the characters have grown, so far” episodes!

EvilBob: B-but… but… my epic conclusion.

Voyager: Ahahaha! Bob’s unexpectedly whiny!

EvilBob: I am NOT whining!

Voyager: He whines, stamping his feet. Ahaha!

2 – Runway de Waratte (85◎)

Voyager – 85
EvilBob – 95
Episode Average – 90

Voyager: This was good!

EvilBob: Aw… but I wanted Ikuto to beat that guy?

Voyager: Eh? …aren’t you the one who watches a ton of Shounen? You should’ve known it wasn’t gonna be that open and shut.

EvilBob: S-shut up! I can dream! And so can Ikuto! Believe it!

Voyager: Did he just-?

EvilBob: Well, at least Kokoro won’t have to be a model anymore.

Voyager: Oh, yeah! I gotta say. That didn’t quite end how I expected it, though. I figured Toh would win and Kokoro would come in second, but her manager wouldn’t make her keep modeling anyway.

EvilBob: And Ikuto would come in third?

Voyager: …*glances away* Yeah. Let’s go with that.

EvilBob: You knew he’d lose?!

Voyager: I’m happy about this conclusion, though! Ikuto wasn’t just handed the win. He worked hard and managed to do pretty well! I think this can be a strong, character-building moment for him! And if the show goes forward, he’ll only improve from there!

EvilBob: I mean… I guess…

Voyager: I do think the show could be stronger in its presentation, though. Some of the shots have looked fantastic, of course. But the vast majority of the show looks… cheap. Far from the worst thing I’ve ever seen…

EvilBob: *coughMaerchenMaedchencough*

Voyager: Eheheh… cute. He thinks that’s the worst I’ve seen. Overall, though, it was a really solid episode! Probably the most satisfying of the lot!

3 – Itai no wa Iya nano de Bougyoryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu. (83◎)

Voyager – 82
EvilBob – 100
Episode Average – 91

EvilBob: Said it before, I’ll say it again. The Final Boss is a player. A tiny, adorable player.

Voyager: Yep.

EvilBob: …What, you can’t tell me you didn’t enjoy all that!

Voyager: Ahaha! I did! Just… not at much. You easily swayed thing, you.

EvilBob: Oi. Just how many ways are you gonna come up with to call me stupid?

Voyager: How much time ya got?

EvilBob: …that’s just cold, man.

Voyager: Well, Bofuri is super fun! And that’s… about it. Nice to look at, too. Buuut not a lot in the way of story. Oh! I know! You know that scene where the devs are wondering what she’s doing at that very moment?

EvilBob: Y-yeah…

Voyager: That! The show’s like that! It’s just a constant spectacle of watching what Maple’s gonna do next! Super fun, but not all that compelling beyond that.

EvilBob: Why do you exist to spoil my fun?

Voyager: I tried existing for other things, but this seems to be my calling!

EvilBob: You weren’t supposed to find an answer to that!

Prized Moment

Voyager: Kokoro’s journey as a character has been really great. She’s basically the best character in the show, for me.

EvilBob: Didn’t… you start out saying you didn’t trust-

Voyager: SHE’S THE BEST CHARACTER IN THE SHOW, FOR ME. And seeing her erase all those bad things she’d written about herself was a really sweet way to represent that.

Choice Screen Grab

EvilBob: …Seriously. How could this be anything else?

Top Line

Voyager: Nene! You’ve grown so much, you adorable, daikon-legged girl!

EvilBob: Wait, did you-?

MVP: Nene… and Ikuto… and Maple

Voyager: Ahahaha!

EvilBob: We couldn’t choose, okay?

Voyager: Nene’s grown so much! And while she still has a long way to go, seeing her relationship with Hanako as it develops is just really sweet! Even if it leads her to making some decisions that… aren’t the best, she really cares about him!

EvilBob: Ikuto… darn that Shounen Blood of yours. The poor kid lost. Hard. But he made those crucial baby steps and, dang it, he just refuses to give up. I gotta love that bowl-haired kid.

Voyager: And Maple… well… she’s Maple. That was the definition of a hard-carry, no? She was on fire for most of the episode!

EvilBob: I mean… look at all the multi-kills. Heck, she even got the Play of the Game! MULTIPLE TIMES.

Voyager: Ahaha! That’s our shield maiden! Winning games and winning hearts!

Voyager: And there you have it! Our final placements!

EvilBob: How very surpri- *pluck* OW!

Voyager: No real movement, but the battle for second place was really close! Runway and Bofuri were just two points away from one another!

EvilBob: Meanwhile, Hanako-kun.

Voyager: Yeah! It ran away with it! Actually, if we check its average scores over the whole season, it stayed at the top, every single week!

EvilBob: That’s… yeesh.

Voyager: And what a season Bofuri had!

EvilBob: Right? From 8th to… 3rd… huh. Okay, we did not do that on purpose, we swear.

Voyager: “Started from the bottom, now we’re here” indeed! Ahaha!

EvilBob: Kind of a shame about Runway, though. It actually could’ve won, I bet. If it tightened up a few things.

Voyager: For sure! Some of the dialogue felt a bit too… direct for something that was aiming to be a lot more realistic in its approach. And the presentation wasn’t really consistent enough to ever keep up with Hanako-kun’s. But the characters… the ones we were meant to root for, anyway, were great! And the story was really compelling in all the right ways!

EvilBob: So… about those scores.

Voyager: Hmmm… If I had my way, Hanako-kun would definitely still have won. It was basically my favorite show, all season. Even if I think Runways’ storytelling chops were a bit better. Oh! But what was your favorite, Bob?

EvilBob: You… you really have to ask my that? Bofuri, of course.

Voyager: Ehehehe… so easily amused.

EvilBob: Oi. You asked my favorite. So zip it.

Voyager: Heeeeeh~?

EvilBob: Uh… p-please?

Voyager: You enjoyed it that much, I guess! Ahaha!

EvilBob: I will never get used to that personality shift…

Voyager: Well, I guess we can call this little experiment a success!

EvilBob: Uh… yeah.

Voyager: And with that, we’re done! What was your favorite show of the Winter Season?

EvilBob: Keep in mind, this was a marathon, not a sprint. We’re not saying none of the shows got better. We just removed things from the running if they didn’t compete well enough in that moment. We know lots of shows have improved, over time.

Voyager: And if you’d like to whine to someone about it, anyway, please forward all calls to 1-800-DONTGIVEACRAP!

EvilBob: That’s it for us, I guess.

Voyager: Yup! Thanks for reading, as always!

EvilBob: And for letting us waste your time.

Voyager: Keep up the Awesome!

EvilBob: And Keep it Classy.

Voyager: Take Care!