It was another packed season of anime, but nothing could stop Science SARU‘s DAN DA DAN from rocketing to the top of critics and fans’ lists. Still, the series was in good company even if it dominated conversation. Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? V and Natsume’s Book of Friends Season 7 were favorites, too.
Below is the list of the editorial team’s favorite anime series from this season.
Note: the commentary below may include spoilers.
Lucas DeRuyter
© BIRD STUDIO/SHUEISHA, TOEI ANIMATION
Best: Dragon Ball Daima
I didn’t realize how much I missed the world-building, sense of adventure, and hijinks of the original Dragon Ball anime until Dragon Ball Daima premiered. While, like a lot of Toonami kids, Dragonball Z was one of my big anime gateway drugs, the original always resonated more with me. While later series would try to emulate what made the original story so special, new Dragon Ball stories haven’t been able to recapture that magic until now.
By giving Goku and company a new, even more magical world to explore, Dragon Ball Daima makes me giddy week after week. The novel setting of the Demon Realm is exactly the kind of shake-up that the series needed, and reducing the main cast to children, a la Dragon Ball GT, also adds some much-needed tension to the franchise again, as everyone’s power levels are functionally reset. This goofier setting and lower stakes let Dragon Ball be fun again and introduce new ideas. For instance, the miasma of the Demon Realm makes the air heavier and flying is more energy-consuming, which is why Goku and Co. can’t just fly everywhere and avoid all interruptions. The introduction of MacGuffins like “Revival Bugs” and “Fusion Bugs” are present to fill the role of the more iconic Senzu Beans and previous fusion methods, but I’m confident both will add quirky twists to the ideas.
Dragon Ball Daima has so much more of a sense of place than anything in Dragon Ball Super and even large stretches of Dragonball Z. This is a new world where the main cast is out of their element, and that manifests in some new situations, like Goku trying to be stealthy and Vegeta not being immediately feared and respected by those around him. Daima makes me feel like a kid again, watching pirated episodes of the original Dragon Ball in my parent’s basement on a hand-me-down computer, engrossed in that anime’s masterful balance of action and exploration.
Best of all, Daima makes me feel like I’m being rewarded for having that familiarity with past iterations of the series! Daima‘s writers’ room feels like it’s jam-packed with super fans, and each episode contains little tidbits of lore updates and recontextualizations. I love that Daima retcons Z ‘s storyline and turns the wizard Bibbidi into a poser who didn’t have the magic chops to create Majin Buu. Getting more background on the god-like Kai race, and also learning the Supreme Kai’s real name, are fun treats for anyone who’s spent significant time on any of the various Dragon Ball wikis. And, of course, I did a double take when Daima retconned the infamous Mr. Popo’s design to reveal that he always had horns under his turban. It doesn’t fix the racial insensitivity that’s caused controversy since the character’s inception, but I find it darkly hilarious that the Daima team settled on slapping a pair of horns on the guy as an attempt to “fix” him.
Between the release of Sand Land, Dragon Quest 3: HD-2D, and Dragon Ball Daima, the late great Akira Toriyama‘s work has arguably never been better or more celebrated, and I’m here for all of them!
Runner-Up: BEASTARS Final Season Part 1
I don’t know if the new (half) season of BEASTARS is good, but my god, do I respect it! The best compliment I can give the series as a whole is that it completely ruined other teen dramas like Riverdale for me, as BEASTARS manages to be both the most ostentatious things I’ve ever watched, while also being entirely genuine. I originally checked out the first season of BEASTARS because it seemed like it was going to be a more melodramatic take on Zootopia, but I’m pleased to say that the show continues to grow into one of the most considered explorations of the emotionality tied to prejudice, marginalization, and privilege that I’ve ever experienced.
Even within the first few episodes of this season, we see characters grapple with pretty heavy stuff. In these episodes, the grey wolf Legoshi realizes that his stature and appearance, which have ostracized him for most of his life, also earn him more immediate respect than adults who are far more competent than him. A subsequent episode features him and his Komodo dragon grandfather (really) getting into a disagreement over where they should sit in a restaurant as carnivores who might make other patrons uncomfortable. BEASTARS doesn’t propose any solutions to these social failings but it’s awfully cathartic and thought-provoking to see these characters explore how these issues affect their lives and identity.
Also, this anime remains incredibly horny, and I respect how much it commits to bringing author Paru Itagaki‘s proclivities to life. Sure, it remains a little questionable how often this show conflicts the urge to do physical violence with the urge to have sex, but then every part of the production pulls out all the stops to make a lizardman’s scales sexy, and I can’t help but admire how well all involved walk this thematic tightrope. BEASTARS is so big, genuine, and distinct in everything it does that it easily became one of my favorite watch-throughs this season.
Richard Eisenbeis
© Yukinobu Tatsu/SHUEISHA, DANDADAN Production Committee
Best: DAN DA DAN
This was a stupidly easy pick for best of the season—and it wasn’t even close. DAN DA DAN is an anime that succeeds on every possible level. Visually, it is a masterpiece—a tour de force for Science SARU, showing just how far they can push the medium of animation. The colors are wildly vibrant, the dynamic camera work, and the animation is both smooth and imaginative. It’s eye candy in the purest sense—yet, somehow, its beauty is much more than skin deep.
At its core, DAN DA DAN is the story of two teens connecting through their differences—and maybe even falling in love. Momo is a popular high school girl who has rejected her true beliefs in the supernatural in order to fit in. Meanwhile, Okarun is a boy who wears his nerd obsessions on his sleeve—even though this results in social isolation. While she does not believe in UFOs, cryptids, and psychic phenomena as he does, Momo sees in Okarun a bravery and passion that she can’t help but respect. At the same time, he envies the fact that she has figured out how to not be alone.
Together, they can awkwardly balance each other out to show who they truly are to each other without reservation. She is able to admit her repressed feelings to him, and he can come out of his shell now that he has someone to talk to—and that’s even before she gets psychic powers and he gets possessed by a ghost that threatens to go on a rampage and kill anyone it can.
What comes out of all this is something crazy, silly, and with a ton of underlying heart. Even the ghosts and aliens they face are more than meets the eye—with their own quirky personalities and tragic backstories. It’s a show that’s fantastic from top to bottom and one that will no doubt be talked about for years to come.
Runner-Up: Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Season 3
The first season of Re:Zero was the story of Subaru accepting that he wasn’t some cliché isekai protagonist—not some hero destined to just appear, fix every problem, and get the girl. He had to reset his way of thinking—about not only himself but also his place in the fantasy world—to zero. Only after doing that could he become the person he needed to be—not only for himself but for those he loved.
On the other hand, this season is the culmination of his journey since then—the story of him having to accept that, despite not consciously attempting to, he has become the hero he once deluded himself into thinking he was. He is a man who was humbled and now comes to see that his efforts have paid off. He has earned the respect and love of both friends and rivals—and is now the right man in the right place to do what needs to be done.
On the flip side, this season is also the payoff to last season, where Emilia both broke and reforged herself into a strong, independent character who is no longer content to sit on the sidelines while those she cares about put themselves in danger for her sake. Though she finds herself in captivity for much of the season, how she reacts to her situation and takes control of it shows all the reasons that she would make a great king. Add to that the myriad of other complex characters and their troubles, and you have a perfect example of why Re:Zero remains at the pinnacle of isekai anime.
Kevin Cormack
© 大森藤ノ・SBクリエイティブ/ダンまち5製作委員会
Best: Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? V
While I’ve been a loyal watcher of plucky Bell and his be-boob-stringed goddess Hestia for years, I’d never have described myself as a fan. DanMachi was a mildly entertaining fantasy show I happened to watch, and it was never the first show I went to when sitting down to catch up on anime. That all began to change towards the end of the ridiculously intense fourth season, and this fifth season has been incredible. I’m anime-only when it comes to DanMachi and unspoiled by staying far away from fan wikis or forum posts. This turned out to be a good plan, as season five hinges on the mother of all plot twists, signposted since the first episode in April 2015.
DanMachi has always required a not-insignificant suspension of disbelief from its viewers – sometimes, it seems like the actions of the entire cast revolve entirely around their feelings towards protagonist Bell Cranel, whether negative or positive. Almost every female character openly lusts after this poor, lost lad whose most common facial expression is “deer caught in the headlights.” This seemingly funny Harem Protagonist EX skill of Bell’s shows it has a dark side this season when the goddess Freya finally shows her hand in her horrible, hateful manipulation of the entire city to gaslight Bell into becoming hers.
Bell’s attempt to remain sane while his every support structure is ripped away makes for painful yet compelling viewing. Despite Freya’s unforgivable actions, we understand why she does what she does, her twisted understanding of love, and the eons-long loneliness that drives her to evil. This season’s unusual fifteen-episode length means it’s likely to run partway into the Winter 2025 season. If it can keep up the intensity of drama, it’s sustained so far, DanMachi Season 5 may catapult the entire show into the upper echelons of my top anime of all time.
Runner-Up: DAN DA DAN
Dandadan is a practically perfect adaptation of an already superb manga, elevated by Science SARU‘s incredible production standards and supplemented by one of the best English dubs I have ever heard. A wild mix of unhinged supernatural nonsense, intense action, awkward but adorable romance, quirky characters, absurd situations, and surprisingly evocative emotion. It’s one of 2024’s best anime. If five seasons of DanMachi sounds like too big a time investment, I’d forgive you for watching Dandadan instead.
James Beckett
© Yukinobu Tatsu/SHUEISHA, DANDADAN Production Committee
Best: DAN DA DAN
Between the weekly streaming reviews and the ANN After Show, I have already spent many thousands of words this season raving about how obscenely spectacular Science SARU‘s adaptation of DAN DA DAN has been, to the point where you’d think I’d be almost sick of having to find new and creative ways to extoll the series’ multitudinous virtues. Unfortunately for all of my friends, loved ones, readers, and even the random passers-by who are unwise enough to try to strike up small talk with me in line at the grocery store, I am most definitely not sick of talking about DAN DA DAN. I mean, if you somehow don’t know what I’m going on about, just watch, like, any sixty-second clip of the show at random, and you’ll understand the position I’m in.
Here’s the thing: By the time I finished watching that first batch of episodes that dropped when the show premiered, DAN DA DAN was already one of the best anime I’d seen all year. For me to lose faith in it, the show would have had to undergo a truly legendary, borderline-apocalyptic descent into F-Tier levels of dog-crap quality, which…well, I’ll actually get back to an example of where that actually happened in a little while, but fortunately, DAN DA DAN is just straight-up addicted to kicking unholy amounts of ass every single week, so my devotion has never seen cause to waver.
In fact, Episodes 7 and 8 of DAN DA DAN aren’t just the best episodes of the series, nor are they merely the best episodes of anime produced in 2024. That forty-six or so minutes of DAN DA DAN ranks up there with the best art to be produced of any kind in recent memory. They take DAN DA DAN‘s already excellent blend of absurd humor, visceral horror, and surprising pathos and then use the magic of Science SARU to crank those dials all the way up past eleven. Any show that produced such masterful work would basically win my “Best of the Fall” award by default.
Runner-Up: Blue Box
Even with some of my minor issues with its character writing and pacing, Blue Box still represents my platonic ideal for a traditional YA romance story. Taiki Inomata is an admirable and likable leading man whose pathologically positive attitude and naïve approach to love could have been disastrously aggravating if the boy weren’t such an adorable dork. Chinatsu Kano is the basketball wunderkind who has stolen Taiki’s heart. While the story doesn’t quite do her character justice as it does for Taiki, she’s still complex and compelling enough to make for an excellent romantic counterpart to our protagonist. Every character in the show is well-written and believably performed, as a matter of fact, which goes a long way toward making its adolescent drama work.
More importantly, though, is that Blue Box captures that effervescent veneer of nostalgia that is so critical to stories in this genre. The further I get from my own childhood, the easier it is for me to become cynical and bored with shows that try way too hard to force-feed me a dump truck’s worth of nostalgia. Blue Box, though, is so delicate and empathetic in how it portrays the vivid highs and dispiriting lows of teenage life, and the art from TMS Entertainment and Telecom Animation Film captures it all in stark, vivid detail. I might prefer love stories with a little bit more spice to them – see my pick for Best of the Season for more proof of that – but Blue Box still deserves its kudos for knowing exactly what kind of teenage love story it wants to tell, and then executing on that vision beautifully.
Jairus Taylor
© Yukinobu Tatsu/SHUEISHA, DANDADAN Production Committee
Best: DAN DA DAN
If there’s one thing I’ve learned to get used to over the years, it’s being let down by anime adaptations of my favorite manga. Sometimes, they’re too rushed, sometimes the staff doesn’t quite get the material, and, of course, there are situations where they come out looking terrible for one reason or another. All that’s to say, there are plenty of ways the DAN DA DAN anime could have gone wrong. Luckily, though, we didn’t just end up with a good adaptation; we got a great one. It’s clear that Science SARU has poured a lot of love into this, as it’s bursting at the seams with great animation, and while they never actively stray from the original manga, I’m glad they were willing to put together an adaptation that isn’t afraid to well…adapt the material. Whether it’s extending action sequences to pace them better in an animated format or giving multiple episodes their own color schemes, all of it helps give the series a strong sense of visual identity and culminates in an adaptation that’s more than worth the price of admission, even if you’ve read the manga before.
Of course, that wouldn’t mean anything if the story itself wasn’t any good, but DAN DA DAN has as much substance as it does style. The opposites-attract teen love story between Momo and Okarun makes for a solid anchor to balance out the insanity of the yokai and alien encounters, and no matter how weird the series gets, their chemistry never fails to shine through. It helps that the show also isn’t afraid to brush against some heavy subject matter occasionally, and its execution of the Acro-Silky storyline and how she dealt with the loss of her child resulted in not only the show’s best episodes but one of the best episodes of television to come out this year. I had pretty high hopes for the DAN DA DAN anime, and what we got has more than exceeded them. This isn’t just the strongest show of the season; it’s one of the best anime of the year, and I couldn’t be happier about how it turned out.
Runner-Up: BEASTARS Final Season Part 1
With how stacked the fall season was, I had a harder time picking my runner-up than my favorite. This could have just as easily gone to Orb: Movements of the Earth for being a great political thriller, the Ranma ½ remake for turning out more charming than expected, or even Dragon Ball Daima for making me genuinely excited about the franchise again. In the end, though, this spot got taken by a last-minute entry because the first half of BEASTARS‘ final season came out the gate running. I’d heard mixed things about the back half of the manga and wasn’t sure what to expect, but so far, it’s done a great job of taking the weird mix of social allegories, crime drama, and uncomfortably attractive animal people that made the first two seasons so great and cranked it up to eleven. We’ve gone from a murder mystery to uncovering a drug ring. In the process, we see more of the fractures within BEASTARS‘ society as we see a deeper exploration of interspecies couples besides Legoshi and Haru, and just how messy and cruel the world can be towards those couples or their offspring.
It’s the heaviest the series has gotten so far. All of that material is aided well by the production from Studio Orange, as the 3DCG animation is just as impressive as what we got in the first two seasons. Its new opening and ending songs make for some of the best anime bops we’ve gotten this year. Also, I have to shout out the English dub for continuing to deliver as it sounds as impressive as ever, while new additions to the cast, such as Matthew Watterson as Yahya and Jason Marnocha as Gosha, do a great job of portraying two tired old men with a lot of history between them. The biggest standout, though, is Darren Criss as the new villain, Melon, who oozes a weird mix of charisma and chaos, making him a delight anytime the character is on screen. I had a heck of a time with this new season, and the only disappointment I feel is knowing I’ll have to wait a few months for Netflix to give us the rest.
MrAJCosplay
Best: DAN DA DAN
I was fortunate enough to catch up with the DAN DA DAN manga about a month before the anime adaptation came out, and it has quickly become one of my favorite ongoing series. DAN DA DAN excels at capturing an appeal lost in shonen manga lately. Nowadays, many shonen manga are either trying hard to tap into some dark, edgy factor, or we’re met with layers upon layers of social commentary. I love those stories, but it’s been a while since I watched a shonen series that really embraced the dumb adolescent nature of what these shows can be like. The best way I can describe DAN DA DAN is that it’s a bunch of dumb teenagers being thrown into supernatural situations and dealing with it using the sophisticated maturity of a brick through a window.
The anime is not a one-to-one adaptation, but the animated medium leads to moments that, while different, truly embody the spirit of the original material. The voice acting heightens the tightly written dialogue between the characters, making them seem immature and petty, but also likable and relatable. None of our main characters asked for any of the situations they are thrown into, and they’re going to complain every step of the way, but they still get the job done because what else are they going to do? Even when things get cool and edgy with the sudden power-ups and psychic powers, the series never loses its sense of charm or silliness.
When it does, the emotions hit you like a psychic slap to the face. Many things in the manga couldn’t be adequately translated into anime form because the original manga takes advantage of framing and panel layouts to leave a dramatic impact. But the lovely people at Science SARU used what worked best for the medium. We have fluid, animated fight scenes, creative directing that gets us directly into the characters’ minds, and even subtle moments of character acting that make all these exaggerated personalities feel real. I love this show, and it has been one of the main things I look forward to each passing week.
Runner-Up: Blue Box
Blue Box almost comes off like a typical sports series. We have a boy who’s very dedicated to badminton and wants to make it to nationals to prove himself, but a lot of that motivation comes from a very emotional place. His love interest inspired this motivation, and we have a story showing adolescence’s gentler side. It’s still a story about teenagers navigating weird and uncomfortable situations, but there’s more of a character throughline here than in DAN DA DAN. This is a story about finding your motivation and being inspired by others. But it’s also about recognizing how you need to be the one to put the work in to accomplish your goals.
I rarely come across a series that perfectly blends that sense of dedication you would find in a sports series with the more relatable and genuine interactions of a slice-of-life romance. I’ve been a big fan of the manga, and seeing this gorgeously lit and well-presented anime production capture the complicated feelings of the characters was a joy to behold. I didn’t even mind the love triangle angle because the show does its best to make all the characters relatable. Whether a character is being perceived internally or externally, it’s easy for many people to relate to what everyone is going through on screen because we were all teenagers who struggled with staying committed to emotions that we were worried would be fleeting at the time. It could be love for another or a passion for a sport. Any show that pushes me to work harder on things I feel passionate about gets a full recommendation in my book.
Christopher Farris
Best: DAN DA DAN
Sometimes, deciding the best anime of the season is a delicate balancing act between my sensibilities and more impactful tastes across the medium. And then sometimes DAN DA DAN aired during the season, making the decision really, really easy. That DAN DA DAN whips ass is hardly a hot take, and I’m certainly not going to be the only one selecting it here, but that’s kinda the point. That’s just what happens when strong source material receives a superlative adaptation from some of the best artists in the business.
I thrive on transformative adaptations, including ones of expected Shonen Jump genre standbys. Not that manga like Chainsaw Man or DAN DA DAN should be dismissed as “typical,” but they’re still series that would be easy to run with rote, panel-to-panel anime versions and probably turn out fine. But the artists at Science SARU don’t settle for a fine. The DAN DA DAN anime feels like a love letter to the very act of animated adaptation. “Color” is regularly cited as one of the key additions when moving from one medium to the other, and DAN DA DAN has color! Every episode has its own color, in all-encompassing splashes that characterize each entry. And movement? Forget about it. Characters like Okarun’s Turbo-Granny-charged form move with distinctive weight and momentum to convey their particular paranormal fighting styles. But also, this is Science SARU, so they aren’t afraid to go off-model and scrunglo-ify people for the sake of a gag.
All that leads to translating the terrific characters of DAN DA DAN iconically into anime form. Yes, I am as invested in the adorable teen romance between Okarun and Momo as anybody else. Momo herself is one of the best gyaru we’ve gotten in a recent anime wave that’s had plenty of good gyaru. But of course, my heart’s really been stolen in the season’s back half by the terrifically terribly clueless Aira. She sucks so much, and I love her. I’m not sure what Science SARU‘s planned pipeline is on continuing to make more seasons starring these stupid kids Scooby-ing it up in screwy, sexy ways. But I hope they’re afforded all they can get because they really made DAN DA DAN their own with this.
Runner-Up: Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc.
It’s always cool when a winning concept works just as well in execution. Magilumiere has a triple-play home run of a setup, so it’s a relief it can step up to the plate and hit the ball hard enough to bring them all in. Maybe not straight out of the park, but its kickass idea of grown-up magical girls doing clocked-in henshins and exterminating monsters nine-to-five is still enough to carry it the rest of the way. What especially rules about Magilumiere is how it keeps up with its clever world-building. Magical programming languages produced by hobbyists imitating their favorite anime, a whole technology expo dedicated to real-world Magical Girl stuff, it’s all here. This is an eminently original anime series I can earnestly recommend just off its elevator pitch, and I’ve had a great time following it this season.
Lauren Orsini
Best: Negative Positive Angler
Amidst all the great stuff that aired this fall, this is always the title I’m most excited to talk about when people ask me about the best of the best. “It’s a fishing anime about a guy with depression! Can’t get enough of it.” The combination of deliberate throwback elements with modern pacing makes for an emotionally apt portrait of human connection and self-discovery. A strong ensemble cast rounds out the narrative, resulting in a show I didn’t even plan on watching, let alone becoming my favorite this fall.
The story stars Tsunehiro, who is facing both terminal illness and crippling debt. When he falls from a bridge, a group of fishing enthusiasts rescues him from the water and essentially adopts him. Along with his found family, Tsunehiro finds a job at a fishing-focused convenience store, a new home rooming with Takaaki and friends from all walks of life—all united by fishing. This show is nothing like the whimsical tsuritama, the only other fishing anime I’ve seen. I’d compare it more to the workplace comedy Denki-Gai, which expertly juggles the intertwined narratives of six different coworkers. Negative Positive Angler‘s character designs are especially strong. I love Hana and her bouncy hair, and Ice, a Thai cosplay model who has an incongruously unsexualized silhouette. Even the CGI fish models are a welcome inclusion, portraying the catch of the day in full accuracy. Still, my favorite supporting cast members are Tsunehiro’s shady debt collectors turned pals: a delinquent boss lady and her tough guy henchmen; if you’ve seen Nadia – The Secret of Blue Water, you’ll instantly recognize the throwback trio they resemble. It’s impressive that this show conveyed such powerful emotional bonds between characters with nary a romance to speak of; their friendships are just that strong.
Part sports anime, part character study, Negative Positive Angler is a startlingly emphatic anime that answers questions like “What’s the difference between bait fishing and lure fishing?” in the same narrative breath that it answers “What makes life worth living?” The emotional range is such that it can go from the tricky relationship drama of a divorced dad attempting to connect with the son he doesn’t have full custody of to an all-day hot pot party with Tsunehiro, his coworkers, and his debt collectors to comedic effect. It can get heavy, but the balancing act of slice-of-life with ensemble cast humor means it is more of a relaxing, feel-good watch than a downer. I wasn’t even planning to watch this show, but I’m glad I gave it a chance.
Runner-Up: Natsume’s Book of Friends Season 7
I’m not ashamed to say that Natsume’s Book of Friends has gotten me through some hard times over the years. When real life feels too tough to face, I habitually turn on an episode until I feel fortified enough to get back to it. Natsume’s double-edged blade of spiritual intuition means that every quiet moment he spends interacting with his found family is a success story, and even its darkest beats are bound to be short-lived. Now, my comfort anime has a whole new season after seven long years, and I couldn’t be happier. The anime has maintained its “yokai of the week” structure, which makes it perfect for bite-sized viewing sessions. At the same time, it has reintroduced many of its most beloved recurring characters.
Here’s the secret sauce of Natsume’s Book of Friends: whether it’s dealing with human characters, yokai characters, or a mix of both, it always gives the viewer a reason to identify with the subject. Who wouldn’t commiserate with a lonely spirit inhabiting a doll who just wants a friend? Or a dragon who’s down in the dumps after losing a prized possession? The fantasy elements give the show a fairytale-like atmosphere, but each character’s yearning for connection is as relatable as it gets. Season 7 has built on this record by strengthening characters that longtime viewers are already familiar with. While every episode’s story arc has been encapsulated in one (or rarely two) half-hour(s), characters like Natsume’s friends Taki, Kitamoto, and Nishimura reappear to receive new lore that builds on what we already know about them. Don’t even get me started on Natsume’s exorcist friends Natori and Matoba, who have now been revealed to share a long history (and perhaps more; I went full fujoshi in some of my reviews this season). Everything about this show is understated, from its muted color palette to its gentle soundtrack, but Natsume’s Book of Friends proves that the little things can add up to tell a story with considerable impact. Not every show has to shout to pack a punch; this one delivers chill vibes and emotional resonance with nothing but a whisper.
Kennedy
Best: Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 3 – The Conflict
Believe it or not, I don’t have as much nostalgia for Bleach as you might expect. Well, let me be more specific: I have plenty of nostalgia for it, and like so many other teenage anime fans from back in its heyday, I spent many a late night watching it on Adult Swim. But it was always my least favorite of The Big Three. I liked Bleach, but I never really loved Bleach. Also, I’m usually not too big on shonen anime. That isn’t to say I don’t like any of them, but more often than not, they’re just not for me. And I say all of this so you can understand the gravity of my feeling this way: Thousand-Year Blood War is excellent and one of the all-time greatest triumphs of its entire genre. With the best story Bleach has had in a long time, a critical mass of high-octane fights, and animation that looks downright cinematic, it’s Bleach at its absolute best.
It’s tough to talk specifics about what solidifies this part of Thousand-Year Blood War as especially great without completely and utterly spoiling it. And I know many people are waiting for this arc to fully wrap up before watching it. So, humor me as I do my best to talk about the main things I love about this part of Thousand-Year Blood War without also wholly ruining it for those who aren’t caught up:
Well, my favorite part was definitely when [redacted] came back and [redacted]. But of course, it’s [redacted]’s [redacted] that’s really at the center of this season, huh? His fights with [redacted] and [redacted] say as much. Speaking of which, [redacted] vs [redacted]. What a show-stopping fight. I think it and [redacted] vs [redacted] were my favorites, but honorable mention to [redacted] vs [redacted], which really had me at the edge of my seat. But of course, I can’t not mention the visual spectacle that was [redacted] vs [redacted] either. What a treat this season of Thousand-Year Blood War has been.
Runner-Up: Ron Kamonohashi’s Forbidden Deductions Season 2
What I love most about Ron Kamonohashi’s Forbidden Deductions is how incredibly canned the whole thing is. Yes, I know the mysteries aren’t terribly complicated—in fact, they’re often pretty formulaic. It’s also unrelentingly cheesy and often feels like it’s trying way too hard. And yet, I wouldn’t have it any other way. There’s something so innately charming about its unapologetic corniness, and it gives it an incredible magnetism that, like the first season, always had me excited to watch the next episode. This is to say nothing of how much I love the Sherlock-and-Watson-but-make-them-really-anime dynamic between main characters Ron Kamonohashi (fun fact: it was by watching this very season that I learned that “kamonohashi” means “platypus.” The more you know!) and Totomaru Isshiki, which really the whole series together.
Although season 2 tells us more about the House of M and we see Ron trying to do more to control his culprit-killing-disorder—and yes, that is what it’s called in the show—it still maintains the same structure as the first season. Which is to say, it’s Ron and Co. stumbling with varying levels of plausibility into a series of mysteries that only take two–three episodes to solve each. It’s also about as lighthearted as a murder mystery series can get, and that’s worth something in my book. There’s no news of a potential third season at the time of writing, but this second season made me sure that I wouldn’t mind getting even more of this anime, so here’s hoping.
Rebecca Silverman
Best: Wonderful Precure!
One of the things I love about Pretty Cure as a franchise is the way each season is different. Yes, this season shares some thematic elements with Healin’ Good Precure, but at its heart, it’s about animals and our relationship with them as humans – and what that relationship should be. In its final cour, Wonderful Precure! fully introduces its villain with the understanding that he’s anything but. Gaou is the wolf god of what is now Animal Town, a forgotten deity for an extinct species. His anger towards humans is entirely based on what he sees as their betrayal of his pack. The humans came in, killed off the wolves, and now continue to thrive. The Gaogaon monsters that he and his minions Torame and Zakuro unleash are physical manifestations of the rage of the animal kingdom at the human world. It’s understandable in a way that other Precure villains aren’t: a solid desire to right a non-nebulous, specific wrong. It’s through this, and the Cures themselves (as well as Satoru and his rabbit Daifuku, who were robbed of a TV series transformation) that the show is able to explore the relationship between people and animals, and it has far exceeded what I thought it might be.
At first, when the show started, it simply felt like a cute gimmick that Iroha and Yuki were able to become human and transform, a way for Wonderful Precure! to do something different on the heels of a series that introduced its first boy Cure. But the human forms serve a more grounded purpose by episodes forty-four and forty-five. I’m hardly a fan of Sad Animal Episodes and am still not over being made to read Where the Red Fern Grows in elementary school, but these two bittersweet weeks handle to topic better than most other similar material I’ve encountered. Episode forty-four, which sees Iroha encountering her first brush with the death of a pet she knows, gives her a better understanding of Gaou’s motivations. The following episode has her still coping with the grief while she deals with the revelation that if Torame is a wolf, he’s not in Animal Town for the long term. Gaou’s pain is made clear to her in a way it might not otherwise have become.
It’s a hard lesson, but one that fits the story. Just like Go! Princess Precure explored what it meant to be a princess in all of its aspects, Wonderful Precure! covers all of the bases of animal-human relationships. That Yuki is a pitch-perfect cat, whether in feline or human form, is just the icing on the cake because even the interpersonal relationships, such as Iroha and Satoru’s budding romance and Mayu growing increasingly comfortable with herself and others, help with the series’ message of nonviolence and coexistence. The Cures learn from the mistakes of the past and work towards a better future in a way that’s tangible to viewers. I don’t often like shows that make me cry for two weeks in a row, but the beauty of this series’ thematic work more than makes up for the resultant sinus headache.
Runner-Up: Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? V
Despite my ire that Familia Chronicle: Episode Freya wasn’t animated as the prologue to this season, I’ve really been enjoying the arc. Although Bell’s steadfast heart is the centerpiece of the action, Freya is the lifeblood, as her relationships with Syr, Hörn, and others are explored. The ancient pantheons often made their gods more human than humans, and DanMachi‘s Freya is a prime example of this. She’s fueled by her desperate search for her oðr, her husband in Norse mythology, and a phrase meaning “one true love” in the story’s world, which grounds her more than many other gods. Most of them seem to be out for their own mysterious purposes (Hermes) or for fun (Loki), but Freya’s goal is much less nebulous. The way the story makes her yo-yo between being sympathetic and an unadorned villain grants her the well-rounded character that other antagonists, like Ishtar, Apollo, or the Evils, lacked. I don’t like her or what she did to Bell and Orario, but against my will, I understand her. That’s not enough to beat Wonderful Precure!, but it’s still made for a show I don’t want to miss.
Caitlin Moore
Best: DAN DA DAN
Dan da dan da dan da dan da dan…
Every time I hear the whisper that starts “Otonoke” by Creepy Nuts, my heart rate quickens. Not just because of the thrumming beat to the rhythm of the human pulse but because I know I’m in for an incredible episode of anime. Ever since its explosive first episode, DAN DA DAN has proven itself one of the year’s best anime over and over.
What’s more, I say this as someone who is generally skeptical about action battle shonen! And maybe it’s too early to say for sure whether DAN DA DAN will continue to avoid the patterns that have put me off the genre over and over. I adore the entire cast, but Momo has a special place in my heart, not the least bit because my husband turned to me after we saw the theatrical screening of the first three episodes and asked, “Does Momo make you feel seen?” She’s a fabulous protagonist, sharing the spotlight equally with her male counterpart Okarun without ever being overshadowed, a heady mix of tough and vulnerable that is a consistent delight.
Though frankly, everything aboutDAN DA DAN shines so brightly that it’s hard to pick any one thing to talk about. Direction and animation? Stunning. Gorgeous. An incredible understanding of what the manga paneling was trying to express and translating it into a distinct medium with color and sound. Writing and humor? Hilarious, walking that fine line between bawdy and crude. Acting? How could it not be great with Natsuki Hanae as one of the leads? My strongest criticism is that some of the action set pieces were a little hard to follow. We might have an all-timer here, folks.
Runner up: Ranma ½
While DAN DA DAN was an easy choice for the best of the season, picking the runner-up has been much harder. The complicated relationship between the protagonists of Yakuza Fiancé made it a strong contender, while I loved Acro Trip and Magilumiere for their takes on the magical girl franchise. I loved Nina’s scrappiness in Nina the Starry Bride and the entire ensemble of Negative Positive Angler. Every series I watched this season brought something new to the table… except for one, that is, but we’ll get there in a minute.
But the heart wants what it wants, and at the end of a tough year, it’s hard to beat the joy of nostalgia that Ranma ½ brings me. I was a skeptic at first; after all, we’ve had a perfectly good Ranma ½ anime for decades! One that brought in countless fans! One that I just rewatched this year! What could a remake possibly bring to the table? As it turns out, it brings a lot: a more faithful recreation of Rumiko Takahashi‘s seminal series with modern animation techniques allows her skill at action comedy to shine anew. All the characters and capital-S Situations that made me fall in love with anime as a medium are here – or, I assume, will be here soon enough because I’ll be shocked if it doesn’t get another season.
Steve Jones
Best: Negative Positive Angler
There’s no doubt in my mind that Negative Positive Angler is the catch of the season. It’s a down-to-earth and anime-original character drama with a diverse cast full of unique voices who bounce off each other well. I don’t ask for much more than that. However, the fundamentals are there, too, with strong direction, instantly recognizable character designs, understated writing, and a passion for fishing, all driving the moment-to-moment quirks of its narrative. Moreover, it’s just plain fun to watch. Outside of a dash of black humor at the start and a heaping serving of drama towards the end, you’d be forgiven for forgetting that the show is about a guy with a grave cancer diagnosis. In fact, I’d say that’s the point.
Fishing forces you to slow down. You can’t catch fish without patience; even with patience, you may not catch anything. That fundamental truth rejiggers Hiro’s whole perspective, and his newfound school of angler friends helps him rebuild his life and purpose from the ground up (or, more accurately, from the water up). Fishing means something different to everyone who works or patronizes their eccentric convenience store, but fishing also unites them. Fishing is life, and life is fishing.
In less ponderous terms, NegaPosi Angler was my comfort anime throughout a pretty rough autumn. It’s not treacly, and in fact, it can get downright acerbic at points. But that’s how I like it. The show confronts the negatives and the positives of Hiro’s predicament, and it posits a gentle world despite everything.
Runner-up: Orb: On the Movements of the Earth
It sure is easy to do this feature when my two favorite anime of the season happen to be the tonesI cover for weekly streaming reviews. Do I know how to pick them, or what? However, while I think NegaPosi Angler‘s appeal is universal, Orb feels like a story that keeps me, specifically, in its sights. To explain, here’s a little of Steve’s history. When I graduated college, I did so with a double major in hard science and English literature. At the time, I idolized Carl Sagan (and still do), and I aspired towards a similar role in earnest and enthusiastic science communication for the masses. While that ultimately didn’t pan out, I still think about that field a lot, and Orb
Orb‘s potency comes from the unfortunate timelessness of its story. The Inquisition’s suppression of scientific fact and discovery is dressed in the brutality of its era, but the fundamentals of that suppression worm insidiously through the present day. Additionally, the series casts a wide philosophical net on top of that main point, and it hasn’t stopped developing those big themes and questions. It’s an ideal anime. That said, the dramatic structure isn’t quite as tight as it could be, and I wish the adaptation would crank the gamma setting up a notch or two on its night scenes. Overall, though, Orb has kept me on the edge of my seat, and I don’t believe you have to be an astronomy nerd to appreciate that.
Jeremy Tauber
Best: Acro Trip
At this point, it’s kind of an unoriginal hack bit to say that Acro Trip served as the safe vanilla version of Gushing Over Magical Girls, but sometimes the obvious answer is the correct one. They both follow a similar bare-bones plot line: a girl with dark purple hair obsessed with magical girls gets lured over to the dark side where she can become both a villain to the magical girls while still being their biggest fan. The big difference, however, is how the series’ main characters have their cake and eat it too. Whereas Gushing uses its dark comedy and themes of otaku possession to push the envelope as far as it can, Acro Trip wants nothing more than to be a fun, lighthearted sitcom. Whether or not you think that makes Acro Trip superior is up for debate, but the stark contrast between the two is what made Acro Trip so fun to watch for me.
I enjoyed how Acro Trip‘s main characters serve as the antithesis of Gushing. Whereas Utena becomes OP and Venalita is Gushing‘s version of Kyubey, Acro Trip‘s Chrome is an incompetent wimp of a bad guy that Chizuko can barely keep up with. The latter pair are not villains in the traditional sense but lovable losers with charming incompetence. And because Chrome is so bad at being evil, there is a fragility to his character that evokes comedy as well as pity and, to an extent, sympathy that we’re not supposed to have towards someone trying to be the villain. Chrome and Chizuko’s personalities make way for an interesting odd couple dynamic that doesn’t seem too odd here–it’s a supervillain pairing where the two are neither super nor great at being villains, engaged in a comedy of errors that’s all about making many, many errors. What’s not to like?
Runner Up: Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc.
They had me at hello. Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc. had my name written all over it. Magical girl workplace anime? Um gee, I don’t know how about HELL YES?! It’s a portmanteau that’s very cut and dry, but just works! The walloping fight sequences are nicely balanced with office hijinks and drama, all topped with a sleek-looking sci-fi environment that gives the show a unique vibe it. Adding depth to its characters are the traces of New Game!‘s Aoba and Yagami found within the DNA of Magilumiere‘s Kana and Hitomi, and one can even see a faint critique of capitalistic competition embedded within a subplot involving the company’s big business rivals. Granted, It’s not that deep or intelligent, although I still give the show points for including it subtly.
A lot of action takes place in the show, yet Magilumiere does what it can to weave whatever slice-of-life hijinks it can. I love little moments like the karaoke scene in the middle of the series, as well as the appearance of the long-sleeved engineer Hana right towards the end. The tender and slower moments of the show are often the best, allowing things to come to a slow simmer before another action sequence comes in to cause things to erupt again. If there is one tiny complaint I have with the show, it’s that I wanted a little bit more of these slower sequences. Maybe this is just me being a moe junkie here, but I actually preferred the breeziness of the tech expo episode’s first half more than I liked its (admittedly still) fun and thrilling second half, even with the magic-loving coder Kazuo getting crucial character development. Still, I’m pleased with what I got, and with just one episode left to go, it’ll be interesting to see the note this charming science-fantasy series ends on.