[Switchblade]

Time yet again for my annual tradition of 80% copy/pasting a look back on the previous year and the shows, characters, and moments that stood out to us. It was, broadly speaking, not a great year for pretty much anything, but that doesn't mean that we couldn't have fun watching Japanese stunt actors in costumes choreographically whaling on each other (when production wasn't shut down due to Covid-19).

As always, for releases of this year I'm counting any series that aired any episodes during 2020, including:

Ryusoulger
Kiramager
Kamen Rider Zero-One
Kamen Rider Saber
Ultraman Z
Garo Versus Road
I assume something Power Rangers, probably.

And again, for movies I'm counting anything that came out this year as well as anything that came out last year but wasn't available as a dvd/fansub until this year. If you want to include stuff that hasn't been available for viewing outside of Japan yet but you're pretty sure is going to be really, really awesome, go ahead.

Favorite New Show of 2020

Favorite New-to-You Show of 2020

Favorite Rewatch of 2020

Favorite Movie of 2020

Favorite Male Lead Character

Favorite Female Lead Character

Favorite Male Supporting Character

Favorite Female Supporting Character

Favorite Villain

Favorite Returning Past Character

Favorite Actor

Favorite Actress

Favorite Writer

Favorite Director

Favorite Suit Design

Favorite Weapon/Vehicle/Mecha

Favorite Fight Scene

Favorite Dramatic Scene

Favorite Comedic Scene

Biggest "WTF did I just watch?" Moment

Favorite Song

Favorite Piece of Merchandise

Biggest Surprise of 2020

And, because some things in 2020 were an incredibly drawn-out and repetitive arc about two companies challenging each other to increasingly silly competitions to determine the fate of a hostile takeover bid where one side was blatantly cheating but the other side never called them out on it and instead focused on hugging berserk robots while screaming their name in the hopes that maybe, maybe it would get them to calm down this time even though it failed every single time in the past... you know, as a general example:

Biggest Disappointment of 2020:

The Onari Memorial Award for Single Worst Thing in 2020 Tokusatsu: