The Best Anime Series of 2024
Another year, another 12 months of anime studios teetering on the brink of ruin while the production committees that finance these projects reap immense profits. Once again, many airing series experienced mid-season delays as animators were flooded with unreasonable workloads. The medium may be more popular than ever worldwide, but much of this windfall still isn’t reaching the hands of the people who actually make these shows.
Still though, despite stifling conditions, there was still an impressive lineup of series that delivered well-realized fantasy worlds, affecting romances, emotionally unstable bands, and a poison-obsessed gremlin better at solving mysteries than Holmes himself. As for some positive trends, there was a refreshing number of female protagonists represented among this year’s best shows—even in the kinds of action-oriented series that usually give them the short end of the stick—as well as many excellent adaptations of manga written by women. This isn’t to imply there weren’t heaps of fan service across the medium writ large, but this year definitely delivered a range of characters from different backgrounds (aka, every protagonist wasn’t another teenage boy).
Overall, like many creative fields these days, the anime industry may be a mess, and animation continues to be a back-breaking process that requires absurd amounts of effort for meager wages, but that didn’t stop creators from once again proving why human-created art is irreplaceable in the face of generative AI produced nonsense. Some of these shows were so visually impressive that it was easy to forget just how ridiculously hard it is to bring them to life. Without further ado, let’s run down the best anime of the year.
Honorable Mentions: A Sign of Affection, Yuru Camp, Negative Positive Angler, Blue Box, My Hero Academia Season 7
15. Train to the End of the World
From its first episode, Train to the End of the World brimmed with creativity and chaos, resulting in the type of weirdo anime original we see too little of these days. After the botched rollout of the “7G cellular network” warps reality into an unrecognizable wonderland, Shizuru and her buddies set out from their hometown to find their estranged friend Yuko, who was headed to the big city of Ikebukuro, Tokyo before the disaster. As the group co-opts an abandoned train, they run into episodic hijinks along the way. Much of the series’ originality lies in these encounters, and it’s an exercise in futility to guess what’s in store any given week: malicious mushrooms, zombies allergic to Lady Chatterley’s Lover, and cartoons that come to life are just a few of the strange sights they witness.
And beyond these wacky adventures, the whip-sharp dialogue and characterization from veteran screenwriter Michiko Yokote (Shirobako, Princess Tutu, Mononoke, etc.) make the lightning-fast interactions between this group of teen girls feel both honest and hilarious. The bizarre happenings may draw you in, but it’s the overarching relationship drama between Shizuru and her distant bestie that pulls everything together. Thanks to this focus, Train to the End of the World is able to maintain its bedlam without going off the rails.
14. Dragon Ball Daima
Few series are as big a deal as Dragon Ball: Goku is deservedly a household name everywhere from Japan to Latin America. And unsurprisingly, as a long-running, sprawling thing, this tale has taken many forms over the years, from Dragon Ball Z’s endless parade of space fascists trying to blow up Earth to Dragon Ball Super and its escalating interdimensional conflicts. In many ways, Dragon Ball Daima feels like a return to the beginning, when our hero and his problems were much smaller scale. Taking place after Dragon Ball Z’s Buu Saga, in this iteration, a new bad guy steals the Dragon Balls and uses them to revert Goku and pals into children. From here, our spiky-haired Saiyan must travel to the Demon Realm and undo this wish.
Toei Animation entirely follows through on this OG Dragon Ball referencing setup by recapturing the adventurous, Journey To The West-inspired spirit of the original series. Once again, getting from point A to point B is far from trivial, and our protagonist is saddled with obstacles and restrictions that make it so power-scaling obsessed bros can’t get mad when Goku breaks a sweat while fighting low-tier goons. It also certainly helps that these martial arts showdowns are animated with a vim and vigor sometimes absent from Super, as each punch and kick sends cronies flying. Considering this was one of the final projects that series creator Toriyama worked on before his untimely passing, it’s wonderful that Daima is such a fitting send-off to one of the most influential artists of our time.
13. Undead Unluck
Undead Unluck has quickly proven to be one of the more quietly bonkers action anime in recent memory. Similar to Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure before it, this series is about duels between opponents with outlandish abilities, resulting in puzzle-box battles that are as much about brains as brawn. But perhaps even zanier than these powers is how its worldbuilding slowly reveals the extremes of this setting, nonchalantly dropping exposition bombs that carry all sorts of fascinating implications. We follow Andy and Fuko, a pair who come into the crosshairs of an enigmatic organization that hunts down “Negators,” people who can nullify the rules of reality.
David Productions and director Yuki Yase capture these negation abilities through idiosyncratic editing and layouts that convey the strangeness of these metaphysical powers while also heightening the juicy melodrama surrounding its characters. Although this one was visually impressive from the jump, perhaps the biggest point of improvement is that it has done a much better job building out the relationship between Andy and Fuko throughout its run, pairing down the disconcerting sexual harassment “gags” between them in the process. With that unfortunate bit largely tossed aside, the show has continued to build on its avant-garde animation and intriguing premise to make for a well-produced and exciting action romp.
12. Ranma ½
I said it before, and I’ll say it again: I am genuinely shocked that this reboot of Ranma ½ is so much fun. Much of that enjoyment can be chalked up to MAPPA’s excellent translation of Rumiko Takahashi’s iconic art style, as well as how they successfully bring both lithe martial arts and physical comedy to life. But what I didn’t expect was for the series’ sense of humor to hold up so well, especially considering how much of Takahashi’s work feels very of its time. Just like in the original series, the central premise here is that Ranma and Akane are two martial artists set up in an arranged marriage by their parents—oh, and there’s the whole thing where Ranma recently fell into a magic Chinese hotspring that makes it so whenever they are doused in cold water, they physically transform into a girl. Hijinks ensue.
While I won’t pretend most of the gender stuff here is exceptionally thoughtful, there is occasionally more going on than “Ranma looks like a woman now; isn’t that funny!” For instance, Akane struggles with comparing herself to her more traditionally feminine sister, while Ranma seems to become increasingly comfortable with switching back and forth between presenting as a boy and a girl. And all throughout, whenever a recurring bit is on the verge of getting old, unexpected bursts of absurdity keep things hilarious, like schoolwide melees for Akane’s hand or fated rivals without a sense of direction. Add in the fact this latest adaptation trims down some of the repetition from its source material while seemingly maintaining its most important arcs, and you have the ingredients for a revitalized classic.
11. Nier: Automata Ver1.1a Part 2
Nier: Automata is one of those games that means a great deal to a lot of people (myself included), so A-1’s adaptation of this oddball sci-fi story had a high bar to clear. Thankfully, it did just that, and between its meaningful additions and ability to translate the unmitigated emotional damage of its source material, Ver1.1a is a worthy adaptation of an all-timer. For those out of the loop, we follow 2B and 9S, two androids forced to fight in a forever war on humanity’s behalf against alien-made machines—somehow, this description doesn’t even scratch the surface of how bonkers things get. But despite its out-there qualities, the series grounds these circumstances with a cast of lovable characters who are increasingly pulled into the tragedy of this senseless conflict as this narrative blasts apart dogmatic ideology and rampant militarism with purpose.
However, beyond Ver1.1a only working as a retelling of this tale for people with no interest in picking up a controller, it also meaningfully expands on certain character arcs to fix some of the original’s storytelling problems, like how A2’s backstory didn’t feel fully explored. To this effect, it certainly helped that the game’s director and writer, Yoko Taro, helped co-write this series, allowing him to create a second draft of this narrative. While I still think the game is the best way to experience this story due to how exceptionally it utilizes its medium, Ver1.1a is a great way to embark on this crushing sci-fi odyssey.
10. Oshi No Ko Season 2
Oshi no Ko was one of last year’s breakout hits (in large part because of its attention-grabbing premiere), and the latest season of this showbiz drama built on what came before with another batch of beautifully presented episodes. We continue to follow Aqua and Ruby, the kids of a famous idol working their way up in the entertainment industry, as Aqua lands a role in a star-studded play. While this latest run is almost entirely focused on a single theatrical production instead of a broader range of topics like last season, it justifies this focus by delving into the nuances of this production and the people who bring it to life. Along the way, it remains rightfully critical of the entertainment industry; of its unfairness, how unglamorous it can be, and most of all, how it enables exploitation and abuse. But while it’s rightly scathing, it avoids being outright cynical by delighting in the intricacies and fun of making art.
Our central cast of aspiring entertainers are an absolute treat, and studio Doga Koba goes all out in externalizing their joy during performances through colorful, creative cuts of animation. Much like its nuanced take on showbiz, these characters are equally complicated, each motivated by big dreams and held back by past mishaps as they struggle toward the kind of performers they want to be. Tying into this, the latest season’s greatest improvement over what came before is that it’s dramatically better at conveying Aqua’s angst, moving him from a prototypical revenge-fueled protagonist into someone whose trauma is much more specific and well-illustrated. Thanks to its excellent cast, expressive animation, and rigorous dive into the entertainment industry, Oshi no Ko’s second season maintains center stage with ease.
9. The Dangers in My Heart
The Dangers in My Heart got off to a somewhat rocky start due to its main character’s edgelordian inner monologues, but quickly blossomed into an unexpectedly heartwarming tale. It follows two junior high students, Kyoutarou Ichikawa, a seemingly gloomy kid who scares others away with Hot Topic-fashion sense and an apparent love of gory true crime, and Anna Yamada, a tall model who’s the most popular girl in class. Although this setup initially reeks of wish-fulfillment due to its “dreary boy” and “bubbly girl” pairing, it transcends this thanks to how specific both characters come across. We find that Ichikawa’s awkward chuunibyou tendencies are a shield meant to deflect disappointment, while Yamada is a messy, non-idealized dork. Through cute vignettes, it conveys the burgeoning relationship between these two with fluffy delight, and, mercifully, its leading pair are capable of actually communicating with one another instead of letting misunderstandings linger for the sake of dramatic convenience. Small incidental moments slowly accumulate until you’re ready to ugly cry along with its cast, who have already come a long way in being increasingly honest with themselves and others. Through its second season, The Dangers in My Heart remains as engaging and adorkable as ever.
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