Top 10 Anime of 2024

10. Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian

This was one of the bigger anime during the summer season, I believe, because it was a cute romance anime with an interesting premise. Alya has feelings for the protagonist, but she also doesn’t really want to say anything. So she says them in Russian, all of that makes sense from the title, unknown to her, her happens to speak Russian. He had learned it as a kid because he had a childhood friend for a few years who spoke Russian as well, but he can’t remember who it was. Turns out it’s Alya’s older sister, but this is the pretty standard, but cute, high school romance anime.

9. Tower of God

Now, I will caveat this and say, I haven’t caught up on the second season yet. But the first season was really enjoyable. I read the webtoon/manhwa for Tower of God and enjoyed that as well. And I think the story is very well translated to the screen. I’ve heard that the second season maybe doesn’t have as good animation, but the first season is really good. And the premise of this anime, this getting out of the dark and climbing the tower to find the person you care about, it’s well done. The characters have complexity and the whole story is just enjoyable.

8. Oshi No Ko

Now we go to an anime that feels very anime like, but also different. It’s different in that there are elements of this show that’s a mystery. And of course, it’s odd that because the two main characters are reincarnated as the twins of the Idol that they love. I like how the anime and manga don’t really hide from the more questionable sides of the Idol industry and the entertainment industry as it tells the story. And the mystery element is interesting as well and offers some good challenges for the main character.

7. Horimiya

Horimiya is one of my favorite manga that I’ve read. I really enjoy the dynamic between the couple and just how wholesome the whole thing is. And they do a good job of translating at into the anime. They do some odd stuff with the anime in that they condense it and skip arcs and storylines in this teen romance again. But I appreciate that the main characters fall for each other quickly and there isn’t a ton of back and forth of will they won’t they nor is it a harem where all the girls like the main character. It’s just that good wholesome romance.

6. Sign of Affection

And speaking of a good wholesome romance anime, Sign of Affection is amazing for that. The story is of a deaf girl and her falling in love with a guy, and the guy falling in love with her. But it’s just this heartfelt story for them, and it feels like a real relationship. Yes, there is some jealousy and an attempted love triangle in it, but for the most part it’s just this great story about a wholesome relationship. And the male lead, they do a good job of creating a character who puts in so much effort, like learning sign language, that it’s just even more wholesome.

5. Solo Leveling

Now we move into action with Solo Leveling. I am pretty sure that this was my most anticipated anime of 2024 and it really didn’t disappoint. I like Solo Leveling a lot, but there are a few that make it higher that I watched. The animation for this show is great and it stays true enough to the story. It really gives you some iconic moments from the manhwa and it does a good job with them. I enjoy the premise as well of that weaker character becoming strong, but not becoming an edge lord in the process.

4. Kaguya-Sama: Love is War

The final romance on the list is an anime that’s been out for a little bit, but I love this one. It’s so fast with the characters spitting back and forth insults and romance at the same speed. All because the two most popular and powerful kids in the school are in love with each other. But if either of them breaks and admits it to the other, it’s a sign of weakness and the other will have power, that’s their worry anyways. It’s really fun and funny and Ian Sinclair as the narrator is amazing in this, he goes so hard on being over the top and comedic.

3. Shangri-La Frontier

The top three are all ones that I assumed that I’d like because I like the manga lot for all of them. Shangri-La Frontier is no exception, clearly, and I appreciate this one as a video game anime. I love how the video game is highly developed in this anime as well. It makes it feel more immersive, and you get little bits of the real world and real world elements affecting the game, but it’s much more focused on the game itself.

The main character is fun as well, I appreciate as well that he just wants to have fun. It could be a serious gamer, but not. He is a trash gamer, plays bad games, and now he’s just trying out an amazing game. And his two gaming friends are entertaining as well as they give each other a hard time. Even the NPC companions that he has are great.

2. Dandadan

Dandadan is so close to being my top anime of the year, it was really a coin flip between two for me. But I enjoy how absurd this one is, and then how it had an amazing heartfelt moment in it as well. The premise is just goofy. Ken believes in aliens. Momo believes in spirits. They don’t believe in the thing the other believes in. They both challenge the other to go to spots where aliens and spirits are seen. And, well, they both turn out to be right. And it gets crazier from there. The animation is amazing, and like I said, it has some beautiful moments as well. This is romance, comedy, adventure, supernatural all in one.

1. Kaiju No. 8

Finally, my top is Kaiju No. 8. I love this one because Kafka is a dummy but a great character. He’s washed up just fine with working in kaiju disposal. He takes one last crack at the defense force and, well, with a little bit of help from being infected by a kaiju, he’s able to make it. It’s all about his challenge and striving to be a hero and be able to be at his friends side. Of course, his friend is the most powerful kaiju hunter out there.

The cast of characters is a blast as well in this anime. Kafka, like I said, is a dummy, but he has this heart of gold. Mina is stand off-ish but it’s a tough shell. Reno I love as a character because he wants to be tough and cool. He thinks that he can do it all but develops such a soft spot for Kafka and helping him along and worrying about him, as one of the people who knows he’s infected, it’s amazing. And Kikoru is the prodigy that everyone is chasing down. But also is a character with more depth. It’s just such a fun show with everyone, plus great kaiju fighting action and gross kaiju clean-up.

Final Thoughts

I made it through 10, and I should be able to skip honorable mentions. But I want to talk about a few more that I really enjoyed as well. Both Mushoku Tensei and Tsukimichi Moonlit Fantasy are fun isekai to checkout. And I found some enjoyable comedy romances with things like The Quintessential Quintuplets, The 100 Girlfriends Who Really Really Really Really Really Love You and My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU. Those three are all just good fun with The 100 Girlfriends Who Really Really Really Really Really Love You having such an absurd premise.

What is your favorite anime that you watched in 2024? Based off of my tastes, at least from this list, are there any that I should really checkout?

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Anime Round-up

Shangri-la Frontier Season 2

The second season is currently coming out and I’ve been enjoying it a lot again. I really enjoy the manga so I expected to enjoy this as well. We’ve gotten beyond the first big battle and now are into progressing more of the plot of the game. I still really enjoy that aspect of the story. It seems like the author has put a good amount of thought into that and the anime is staying true to what has been in the manga. If you didn’t like season one, though, of Shangri-la Frontier, this season isn’t going to change your mind.

Dandadan

My favorite that I’ve watched, and I think I wrote about the manga already. But I love the premise of this one. Momo doesn’t believe in aliens. Ken doesn’t believe in ghosts. They both believe in the thing that the other doesn’t and they challenge each other to find out if they are real. The premise is silly, and the whole story is goofy with a lot of Japanese lore thrown into it. It’s a fun coming of age story and experience with some heartfelt moments, a lot of comedy, and of course aliens and spirits and ghosts.

Oshi No Ko

The hit two years ago now, Oshi No Ko is an interesting mystery story of the death of an Idol the Idol’s sons attempt to try and track down the person who put the crazy fan up to it. The story is interestingly done and I appreciate how it sheds like on the seedy and hard and corrupt elements of the Idol business but also just of show business in general.

Of course it has weird anime elements like the son actually being the doctor who was supposed to deliver the babies but was killed before that happened reincarnated as one of the idols twins and a kid who the doctor had treated and who had passed away being the other.

Eminence in Shadow

This is another manga that I’ve enjoyed pretty well. The story is an isekai which I tend to enjoy. The main character intentionally trying to control everything from the background, to be a vigilante hero but more than that, to be a puppet master of everything behind the scenes. When he ends up in another world, he wants to continue to build upon that, since there is magic here. And he creates a shadow organization around a story that he makes up. But turns out that the story is way more real than he’d think, and in fact, he struggles with actually believing that it’s real, which is an interesting element to what’s being told.

RE:Zero

RE:Zero is an anime that I’m going to take a pause on, at least for a little while. It’s, honestly, just not that great. The premise is an interesting one and an isekai, but the main character is just frustrating. And the story progresses in okay ways, but generally they don’t use the interesting element or unique element that well. That is that the main character, when he dies, he restarts from a changing save point until h e gets things right. And I like that element of the story and just what that could do to a character. But generally it’s made him more whiny than anything and the story suffers because of that.

Arifureta

Another one that I started to read but then gave up on if Arifureta. I think that the anime is better, though it is also an anime that I find makes good background noise. A character with a seemingly pointless ability is abandoned by his classmates, but turns out that his ability is great. And with the harem that he creates around him, he becomes more powerful than anyone really. He is also not that great a character, though less of an edge lord than it might sound. I wish that this anime was less trope heavy, but because it is so trope heavy, it just makes a good background watching one.

My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU

Now for something different in the anime realm. My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU is a lot of fun and very light hearted. A main character who is just kind of a boring background character with no ambitions in life is sent to get from a club that helps people and he joins the club. He and the other person in the club are very different. But the story is just fun and silly and it’s kind of that odd couple group that is created in the club. And the characters ways of handling the requests for help almost always end up working, but not in a way that is great.

My Instant Death Ability is So Overpowered

Final anime is one that is an isekai as well. though, the possibility to return to Earth seems to remain open. It’s a story of a character is again extremely over powered. His ability is instant death. He is somewhat hesitant to use it though. But I feel like in every episode he does. He just wants to get back home. And the world has these evil gods in it too. And the rest of his classmates are there, most with powers. The story is oddly complex for something that is generally a lighter hearted show.

Final Thoughts

Out of all of these I do like Dandadan the best, though Shangri-la Frontier is still a lot of fun for me as well. Some of them we’ll see if I continue. But ones like My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU, Oshi No Ko, and My Instant Death Ability is So Overpowered I’m likely to keep watching. I find them to be a lot of fun still.

What anime should I check out next? The nice thing is a new season starts soon. And with that Solo Leveling is coming back. So I am excited to watch more of that one. But what’s a good comedy anime I should checkout?

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