Kara Dennison
December 28, 2021 
What will you be doing on New Year’s Eve? Partying with friends? Partying at home? Going to bed at a reasonable time and letting 2022 ring itself in? Or will you be getting in one last anime to finish out the year? Fans online have been documenting which titles they’re finishing 2021 with, but we’re looking to revisit some classics.
Our recommendation? Grab an old favorite — something with the kind of energy you want for next year — and ring out 2021 that way. If you need some suggestions, try one of these.
Futuristic Awesomeness: Bubblegum Crisis
We kind of live in the future at this point. A lot of our favorite sci-fi shows are coming true, and sometimes that’s even a good thing! If your eye is to the future, then consider the classic OVA Bubblegum Crisis as your last anime of the year.
A mix of Blade Runner and Streets of Fire, this fine vintage takes you out on the road with the Knight Sabers: four armored ladies fighting threats in a cyberpunk world. It takes place in 2032 — just a decade from our incoming year. So it’s also a good way to study up for the neat power gear we’re all totally going to have in ten years.
Winter Romance: Sailor Moon S the Movie
Your last anime of the year doesn’t have to be looking forward. You can also look back — like way back — at some classic shoujo romance. If you’re feeling a little lonely this holiday season, the Sailor Moon S movie knows where you’re at. That’s the one where Luna gets a crush on a human scientist and gets to be a pretty girl for a day.
Awkward offscreen discussions with Artemis aside, this is a sweet one for the holidays. It blends Japanese legend with magical girl action and cute romance. Plus, it’s a stand-alone film you can enjoy all over again in a night.
Travel Hopefully: A Place Further Than the Universe
As much as we’d like to plan, we don’t actually know what a new year will bring. Sometimes the best thing to do is jump in and trust the journey. And if that’s your feeling for 2022, your last anime of the year absolutely must be A Place Further Than the Universe.
The single-season hit follows four teenage girls to Antarctica. Each is making the trip for their own reasons; but what they get out of the journey isn’t necessarily what they went in expecting. Not every second of their experience is fun — some of it is downright heartbreaking — but in a way, they all get what they were looking for. It’s a sweet story of friendship, and a reminder that sometimes the best experiences are the ones we can’t plan for.
What will your last anime of the year be?
