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The year in anime got off to a running start.
Three of 2024s very best shows ran simultaneously with a bevy of lavishly animated and deeply considered high-fantasy series.
That was only the beginning of some lovely bits of synchronicity.
Next came several historical dramas playing with the real past and fictional alike.
10.The Elusive Samurai(Crunchyroll)
10.
But its so delightful in motion that those qualities are easy to forgive.
9.Dead Dead Demons Dededede Destruction(Crunchyroll)
9.
This series (dededede)deserves more attention.
8.Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines!
(Crunchyroll)
8.
The show is empathetic and funny as it bears witness to this emotional anguish.
Its main character, Kazuhiko Nukumizu, serves as a reluctant counselor to the rejected lovers.
Euphonium, season three (Crunchyroll)
7.
Euphoniumhasnt been released in weekly episodic form since 2016.
Its direction is well-considered paying close attention to expressions both broad and minute, physical and facial gestures alike.
Even with that new authority, the goal of winning gold in a competition comes with an emotional cost.
6.Brave Bang Bravern(Crunchyroll)
6.
5.The Apothecary Diaries(Crunchyroll)
5.
Its through the complications of those relationships that a new, overarching mystery is built.
Its anchored by some excellent character work; MaoMaos process and intuition is satisfying to see in motion.
For a show about medicine and poison, it sure does go down easy.
4.Frieren: Beyond Journeys End(Crunchyroll)
4.
Under the eye of series director, Keiichiro Saito (Bocchi the Rock!
Theres a healthy split between quiet introspection and kinetic, smartly choreographed action spectacle.
3.Dan Da Dan(Netflix,Crunchyroll)
3.
It turns out they both are, as one gets abducted by a yokai and the other by aliens.
If this all sounds juvenile, thats because it is, and willfully so.
All this from a show about incomprehensible forces preventing a teenage boy from getting his balls back.
2.Yatagarasu: The Raven Does Not Choose Its Master(Crunchyroll)
2.
The monarch is always thekinu,a golden raven.
Everyone else jostles for whatever power they can grab.
1.Delicious in Dungeon(Netflix)
- not to mention a sense of genuine wonder in the exploration of each layer of the dungeon.
OtherAnimeHighlightsfromtheYear
Throughout 2024, Vulture maintained a Best Anime of the Year (So Far) list.
Cute, colorful, and as witty as ever.
Mayonaka Punch(Crunchyroll)
A new and expectedly anarchic original series from the studio P.A.
These little conundrums are charming glimpses into the behaviors of the students.
After being reincarnated as her children, Ai is murdered by a stalker.
The new season dives into a rather unique space theater.
NieR Automata Ver1.1a, season two (Crunchyroll)
Video-game adaptations are often a tenuous prospect.
Both sides go through painful transformation, grasping at imitations of human behaviors.
Thats right, the USA finally gets involved with a hero named (what else?)
Star and Stripe wielding the power to impose rules over anything she observes.
(Hulu)
Based on the manga by Negi Haruba,Go!
The battles staged are effectively Saturday-morning childrens programming as propaganda.
The show follows Nina Iseri, a 17-year-old high-school dropout from the country on her way to Tokyo.
The effects of the 7G explosion are entertainingly unpredictable.
In Agano, all the adults have turned into animals.
Ill leave some of the weirdest changes as a surprise.
(Seriously, these are some of the most beautiful people ever drawn.)
But for those who do appreciate such unabashedly sentimentalanime,A Sign of Affectionwill go down smooth.
.Worth Mentioning
.
As for what happened, maybe time will tellwhat went wrong with production.
Read Eric Vilas-Boass list, The 22 Scariest Horror Anime of All Time.
