2024 was an eventful year, with several new anime premiering (Dan Da Dan, Ninja Kamui), the return of older long running anime in new versions (Code Geass: Roze of the Recapture, Gundam Seed Freedom), and new “remastered” versions of older anime (Ranma 1/2, Rurouni Kenshin). The “distribution wars” continued, with Netflix and Crunchyroll still fighting for dominance, while Toonami still fighting to be a part of the mix. This year also marked the passing of legendary creator Akira Toriyama; who had 2 anime of his creation premiere this year (Sand Land and Dragon Ball Daima).
With all of this going on, what was the Best Anime of 2024? Here’s our News & Review Staff’s Picks (among both anime series and films):
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
2024 was such a stacked, stacked year with so many great titles, but this one turned out to be a somewhat unexpected surprise. Many fans have declared Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End to be a masterpiece and the greatest anime to come out since Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. This is yet another title that proves that cartoons can be just as much “true art” as live action film and television. If you’re been to an anime convention in 2024, you have seen several cosplayers dressed as a character from this show. It features Studio Madhouse’s most beautiful animation to date, surpassing even the jaw dropping action scenes of One Punch Man.
This series is a dialogue heavy fantasy/drama anime that tells the story of a centuries old elf and her friendships with human companions. The titular elf attempts to understand humanity, having centuries of life experience and wisdom, yet is childlike and naive about many aspects of human social customs. The character has been seen as fantasy metaphor for the struggles of the neurodivergent community, who has embraced her as a character. She is known for her warmth and affection to her friends, including the iconic head pats that many fans wish they could receive from the title character. Even though the series is dialogue heavy, the action scenes are some of the most beautifully animated out there when they do occur. This series has been the most moving series, I’ve seen in a very long time and maybe it’s recency bias, but I think if season two continues the momentum, the series place in the “Greatest of All Time” list is definitely warranted.
Dan Da Dan
This series was a little more low brow than Frieren, complete with off color toilet humor, but this was a truly unique series in Shonen Jump, combining realistic teen drama, romantic comedy, science fiction, supernatural intrigue, and the Shonen Jump action you would expect. Science Saru brings one of the most visually stunning series of 2024. The series concerns the growing romantic tension between alien obsessed teenage geek Ken Takakura, aka Okarun, and ghost obsessed Momo Ayase, as they have to fight off both aliens and ghosts. Momo has psychic powers and Okarun gets possessed by a ghost and gains her powers. The romantic chemistry between the two is what makes this show so special. Okarun could be read as an otaku surrogate for fans to relate to, but he is an actual character rather than a “self insert” that can and does make mistakes. Momo is more than the prize girl fans wish they could have, as she too is her own character with her own agency. Unlike many battle shonen, Momo actually partakes in fights and has won fights just as often as the male protagonist. The fights are thrilling, the drama is thrilling, as fans anticipate the possible first kiss between the two, and the comedy can be gut bustlingly funny, albeit inappropriate (just don’t watch this show in front of your mom).
Ranma 1/2:
Rumiko Takahashi’s work has been receiving a revival as of late. Her most famous works finally have received full manga translations from Viz after their 1990s American releases were left incomplete. Americans finally got to see how Urusei Yatsura ended, just in time for the new anime remake. On the heels of the new Urusei Yatsura anime, a new Ranma 1/2 anime has emerged. Fans of the 1990s martial arts comedy know that this is not the first anime adaptation of this series. A long anime that began in 1989 adapted much of the manga, but failed to make it to the end. The new iteration features colorful modern animation by MAPPA, which should make it look less dated to fans of modern Shonen anime. The character designs and plot remain basically the same, with the main difference being the pacing.
The new anime speeds through the series at a speed around twice that of the original anime. The new anime also has a new English dub cast, which may turn off some fans of the original. Netflix has refused to bring back the Ocean cast. The new dub features some strange casting, like the soft spoken Stephanie Sheh as Nabiki rather than Kasumi. These sisters’ names are also pronounced differently. One other change is the series has been significantly toned down. The new version features “Barbie doll nudity” when characters are topless. The communist symbols like the red star on the Jusenkyo tour guide’s uniform have also been removed. The tour guide’s thick Chinese accent in the original dub has also been removed. This series will probably appeal most to hardcore fans who want a filler free, faster paced adaptation, as well as new audiences looking to check out the series for the first time. I don’t think I would rank it above the original, which has more iconic voice acting and theme music, but it is a good introduction to the series for new fans.
Dragon Ball Daima:
Daima has been in the works since before the tragic death of Akira Toriyama, the legendary creator of Dragon Ball. This series is basically Dragon Ball GT on steroids. This series follows in GT’s footsteps by de-aging not just Goku, but also his friends and family. He is quickly sent on a journey to the Demon World to gather the Dragon Balls and undo the bad guys’ wish that made everyone kids. Don’t think too much about the plot, or you will realize this could have been solved in a few minutes with a simple call on the Namekians to wish them back to adulthood using the Namekian Dragon Balls. The new story is basically an excuse to get Goku back to his original Dragon Ball status quo, complete with Power Pole. Up to now, he has only fought hordes of aliens who serve as minor road blocks, but the next episodes promise to feature fights with the guardians of the Demon World Dragon Balls.
While fans have been waiting for new Dragon Ball content since Super ended years ago, they should be advised not to expect any new Super style power ups. A lot of the focus here is just on exploration of a new world with new friends, and Goku is not as strong in kid form. Fans of the original and especially GT may enjoy this, but fans of Z and Super only should go in with realistic expectations. This series’ silly tone, often focusing on bathroom humor, may not match their memories of intense battles with characters like Frieza and Cell, but on the other hand, it’s new Dragon Ball, and the last series worked on by Akira Toriyama, and that’s worth celebrating.
Kaiju No. 8
Kaiju franchises like Godzilla are absolutely iconic pieces of Japanese pop culture, but kaiju have primarily been the focus of tokusatsu rather than anime. This is the first kaiju themed battle shonen series that I know of, and it turned out just as awesome as expected. The series does shake up the formula a bit by having a thirty something protagonist rather than the usual teen lead. The series does seem a little similar to Chainsaw Man, as it is about a character who transforms into something awesome, but it is different enough to stand out. Production I. G. provides awesome kaiju action to punch up the series. The main cast are all well fleshed out have cool shonen gimmicks. If you like battle shonen and kaiju, you’ve got to check out this series.
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom
The long awaited newest film of the Gundam franchise doesn’t disappoint. From start to finish, Freedom is very engaging. Even fully focused in the theater, I was often overwhelmed at the speed of the plot. Newcomers to Gundam Seed would be lost, but the mix of action, romance, political intrigue, and humor might persuade some to check out Seed and Seed Destiny. The story of Lacus and Kira’s time at a new peacekeeping organization was far from what I expected. Future glimpses from the epilogue to Destiny were thrown out the window, allowing the film to surprise us with one twist after another. The mobile suit action was high quality CGI.
While I expected to see more from Athrun and Cagalli, Kira and Lacus got a lot of needed focus. It was needed to get inside their heads, and let them finally come to fully recognize their feelings for each other. The character who has changed most by this film is Shinn Asuka. No longer the brooding brat who wants to kill Kira, Shinn now cheerfully serves under his former nemesis. There are also many new characters to make our heroes’ lives difficult. The most important is the villain Orphee, the leader of the Kingdom of Foundation who wants to destroy Kira and take Lacus. The one downside I would say is that the English dub is not by the original Ocean voice actors, except for Trevor Devall as Mu La Flaga. Most names are pronounced differently from the original dub, most notably Lacus. In theaters, it was hard to focus on some of the lines due to being distracted by all the new voices.
But that’s our picks. What are yours?!?
