All Things Considered; 2021 Was a Great Year For Pop Culture

Happy New Year Everyone!

Welcome to 2022, it's a new year that's already looking to be an outstanding year all-round. 

Firstly, Thank you all for all the love and support you've given this site last year, I'll do my best in recommending and ranking all the Pop culture gems this year as well.

But while we bask in the joy of making it into a new year, let's not forget all the amazing things 2021 gave us in the realm of Pop culture.

In the lineup of Movies, Tvshows and Anime of the year 2021 came some truly fantastic and unforgettable hits. Let's take a step back to appreciate all the gems we were blessed with last year, that made the year fantastic in the realm of Pop culture.

Considering Movies, although the first part of the year was kind of slow, mostly releasing spillover hits from last year such as One Night In Miami and The Father, as well as few new gems such as Nobody and Wrath of Man

The 2nd half of the year was practically filled with Blockbusters.

The Fear Street Trilogy which saved the horror genre this year, Comic Book Smash-hit movies such as The Suicide Squad, Shang-Chi and Spider-Man: No Way Home along side many other unforgettable movies such as Dune, The Harder They Fall, The Green Knight, Coda, The Power Of The Dog, Belfast, The French Dispatch, Encanto, Don't Look Up, Last Night In Soho and many many others.

My Pick For Movie Of The Year goes to Ridley Scott's The Last Duel. This movie despite being a box office failure is one that I consider the most impactful movie this year.

An alluring cinematic production based on a true story which explores the concept of Truth by showing contrasting character perspectives and testaments of a single deplorable event.

It was a phenomenal experience, the cast gave outstanding performances, particularly Jodie Comer who practically gave the best among all female actresses this past year.

Now looking into TVShows of the past year, particularly Sequels, 2021 packed a lot of relevant sequels that left us entertained and hyped throughout the year. Most memorable and fantastic sequels last year being; The Witcher Season 2, Castlevania Final Season, Ted Lasso Season 2, Succession Season 3, The Handmaid's Tale Season 4, YOU Season 3, Dave Season 2, Dickinson Seasons 2 and 3, Insecure Final Season; which aired along side a bunch of other fantastic returning shows to make the year amazing.

Picking a single show to stand as my Tvshow Sequel of The Year, I think The Morning Show Season 2 packed the heaviest punch last year among all the great sequels.

If you haven't seen this show, I honestly advice that you do. The Morning Show is a show that highlights the intricacies of show business and all the conflicts associated with broadcast entertainment and how it affects the characters lives. 

This Past season was particularly heavy with it's themes and character moments, taking an even deeper look into the characters' traumas while faced with their responsibilities to the company. It was a truly groundbreaking sequel for a drama show.

Considering New Shows, 2021 left us with nonstop excitement throughout the year.

Marvel Studios and Disney+ spearheaded the hype through its MCU original fan-favorites; Wandavision, The Falcon And The Winter Soldier, Hawkeye and Loki. Amazon Prime owned a portion of that noise earlier in the year with the popular animated Superhero show Invincible. HBO did what they do best and claimed Emmy awards early in the year with it's fantastic New shows; Hacks and Mare of East Town.

With the 2nd half of the year came a Storm of New Shows, primarily lead by Netflix. New Netflix hits such as Squid Game, Hellbound, Inside Job, Maid, The Silent Sea, Sweet Tooth and Shadow and Bone certainly had their impact on the fandom, and it's clear Netflix made 2021 it's year.

The one new show that outdid all others in the year 2021 and my New Tvshow of The Year goes to Netflix and Riot Games' Arcane.

A show that literally marked a new standard for video game adaptations. An original story adapted from a video game widely considered a joke into an absolute TV Masterpiece that made the biggest TV impact in 2021.

The show was excellent in all angles, It's groundbreaking production quality; particularly in it's animation and music pushed what was already a phenomenal story to unimaginable heights in execution. 

The perfectly executed Storyboarding, World Building, Characterization and overall Direction all stand as solid reasons to consider this one of the greatest adaptations and animated tvshows of all time.

Getting into Anime, particularly the Sequels, 2021 was one hell of a year right at the start.

2021 marked the Dawn of the Final Season of Attack On Titan, the Pop culture phenomenon that left waves of hype every week. Other fantastic sequels that dominated the year include the masterclass Rezero Season 2: 2nd Cour, the electrifying JoJo's Bizzare Adventures: Stone Ocean, alongside other fantastic sequels including World Trigger Seasons 2 & 3, That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime Season 2, Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid S, Megalo Box: Nomad, Quintessential Quintuplets Season 2, Beastars Season 2, Daily Life of an Immortal King Season 2, Moriarty: The Patriot 2nd Cour and a lot others.

My Anime Sequel Of The Year goes to Fruits Basket: The Final.

A completely phenomenal final season to an anime I see as the greatest romance anime ever, a sequel which developed and resolved the web of characters with complicated feelings towards each other it's spun in it's previous seasons. 

It was insurmountably captivating in it's many fantastic emotional and romantic moments, hitting even heavier with it's themes as it pulled a satisfying close to an unforgettable story of love and chaos.

It's no surprise Fruits Basket The Final managed to maintain it's spot as the 5th highest rated anime of all time on MAL, and I see it as a well-deserved feat given its perfect closure.

Speaking of Perfect Endings, Gintama: The Final takes the spot of the Anime Movie Of The Year with it's close Runner-ups being Evangelion 3.0+1.1: Thrice Upon A Time and Violet Evergarden: Love which all stand as completely phenomenal movies in their own right and fantastic endings to already unforgettable franchises.

The digital releases of Demon Slayer: Mugen Train and Fate/Staynight - Heaven's Feel III: Spring Song both from Ufotable also created unforgettable anime cinematic experiences and the other 2021 movies with pending digital releases such as My Hero Academia: World Heroes Mission, Sword Art Online: Progressive and Jujutsu Kaisen: Zero are pretty much all bound to make huge impacts when they get digitally released this year.

Finally, Let's look into the New Anime Of 2021.

Come on!. We all felt it right?.

I think there should be no controversy as to the fact that 2021 was undoubtedly The Best Year in Anime Ever.

From my Seasonal reviews it's pretty clear that what we got last year from Winter to Fall was 4 Seasons packed with absolutely unforgettable anime.

The most excellent of which include Vivy Flourite Eyes Song and Ranking of Kings, both legendary works from Wit studio.

Beautiful and stunningly faithful adaptations of popular manga also exist such as Tokyo Revengers, Horimiya, Komi Can't Communicate, Mieruko-Chan, Blue Period, Don't Toy With Me Miss Nagatoro, To Your Eternity and Higehiro.

Lots and lots of stunning new gems we got in this bountiful past year with amazing titles such as The Case Study of Vanitas, 86, Odd Taxi, Link Click, Remake Our Life, Sk8 The Infinity, Wonder Egg Priority, Takt Op- Destiny, Super Crooks and a bunch of others.

My New Anime Of The Year, I give to none other than Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation.

This show is pretty much as beautiful and cinematic as light novel adaptations can get.

It felt like it was literally created and given all the qualities to dominate the year, and so it did.

The popularized "Grand-daddy of Isekai" adapted by a studio created specifically for it; Studio Bind split into 2 cours which aired in the two most important seasons of the year; Winter and Fall.

This anime while being backed up by stellar production values, showed nothing short of perfection in it's storytelling, character developments, worldbuilding and pacing.

The impactful events were strategically placed and the themes were well represented. It's a character study that takes an in-depth look into a failed human given a second chance. 

Whilst taking you on his journey it constantly reminds you how imperfect Rudeus is, highlighting his efforts towards making the most of his new life.

It's a story that signifies that it's never too late to change; it's never too late to turn your life around; It's never too late for a coming of age story, and that's the prominent reason why Mushoku Tensei Jobless Reincarnation is my Anime of The Year.

2021 was truly a Great Year in Pop Culture, and I feel honoured to have been part of such an amazing year with you all by my side.

With everything coming this year, 2022 is already looking to be an even bigger year in Pop Culture, and I'll be here to guide you all through it, hoping to have even more of your support than last year.

Have a Fantastic Year Everyone!.