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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Manga Round-up

Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything with Low-Level Spells

Let’s get through all the ones with a title that is way too long first. This is the most recent one that I’ve read and thus far I’ve just read volume one. I am on the fence if i am going to read more of it. Mainly because I enjoyed the first one, but it’s more of an edgelord storyline and I’m not into that as much.

The main character is brought into another world by a deity to be a hero. Turns out that while everyone else who he’s recruited with is a high level adventurer, he’s not. So like whenever the deity brings in someone who isn’t that good, she basically banishes them to a place where they’ll perish. But he uses his skills to get through and out of that part of the world. Definitely a bit edgier, but it isn’t like he’s gone full on bad guy yet. So I think I want to checkout more.

Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship!

Now another Isekai, this one is set in space though. So I’ve had my eye on Reborn as a Space Mercenary for a while because of that. I like Isekai, but most of them are in more of a fantasy setting. Even one of my favorites, Life is Tough for a Mob, where he’s trapped in a dating sim has fantasy and sci-fi elements to it.

This one definitely leans into the main character whose skills are above most other people. And in all fairness it’s just his piloting skill and his starship. When it comes to the world itself he’s needing to learn a lot. It definitely has a harem manga feel to it, where he’ll collect girls and we’ll see how that goes because it’s a tired trope, but thus far, the story is interesting enough that I picked up more to read soon.

Hazure Skill: The Guild Member with a Worthless Skill is Actually a Legendary Assassin

Another one with a long name and one that I already have more that I’ve read of it. Hazure Skill again is about that main character who is really good at something. But instead of leaning into it, after he “assassinates” the demon lord, he just wants to lead a normal life. The king offers him everything, but nope, he just wants to lead a normal boring life.

As the story unfolds, turns out that interesting things follow him. But also that he has no idea what a normal life is. Whenever something is said to be normal, he goes all in on that. On the downside, like Reborn as a Space Mercenary, it does have that harem element to it. Less so than Reborn a Space Mercenary, but definitely has some of those vibes to it.

Sign of Affection

Now for something completely different we have Sign of Affection. The romance story of a girl who is deaf and the boy who reaches out to her and into her world. It’s a very cute romance and one that I need to keep reading more of. Thus far I’ve only gotten through the first one and I really liked it. My wife is much further into it, and it might be done, I forget.

But I enjoy it for the lighter and fluffier side of manga. It really provides an enjoyable story and enjoyable characters. Plus the anime is just coming out, so I plan on checking that out soon as well.

[Oshi No Ko]

[Oshi No Ko] looks like another cutesy manga and anime title. And I think for the idol element of it, that’s what drew people in and made it a pretty talked about anime in 2023. I didn’t check it out then, but once I looked into the story more I checked it out.

[Oshi No Ko] is much more of a mystery, there are some weird elements to it that make it definitely manga, but there is a mystery element as well. Who kills the main pop star, that’s what her son wants to know. Now, her son is a reincarnated doctor who was supposed to deliver her twins but murdered. So now he’s on the case of who killed him and who killed his mom and of course he has all his memories as well.

Dandadan

Finally we’re going to wrap up with one that I started reading a while ago but has really hooked me. Dandadan is a goofy action and horror manga where the main characters are dealing with all sort of supernatural things and aliens. But let’s talk about the plot.

The basics are that two classmates, who don’t know each other besides being classmates, get into an argument. One believes that the supernatural is real and the other scoffs at it. The other believes that aliens are real and the the first one scoffs at that notion. Of course, that night they both find out that the other one is right. And the manga really takes off from there. Dandadan is getting an anime adaptation as well this year.

Final Thoughts

If I were to pick my favorites thus far out of the group, I think that I like Dandadan the best. [Oshi No Ko], Sign of Affection, and Hazure Skill all have me reading more and enjoying them. And the other two are surprisingly similar. I already bought more of Reborn a Space Mercenary, so I might skip out on the other. But both are fun, so I’m not sure about getting more of it, at least until I read through some other manga.

I’ve been reading some other books as well. And Marvel comics, so this, though I’m sure I’m missing something, is through about October that I read. Like I said, I’m sure that I’m missing something. And there are some that I’ve likely missed as well just because it’s been a while.

Have you been reading any good manga lately? What’s the favorite thing you’ve been checking out?

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