Forum - View topicThe Best Anime of Winter 2024
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Gem-Bug
 Posts: 1208 |
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I honestly fell off of everything I was watching this season. Something about watching adaptations of manga I've already read just to see scenes I like animated has felt empty of late.
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tintor2
 Posts: 1824 |
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Honestly, I liked the first cour of Frieren far more than the second one. The first cour also had an action arc, the Mazoku, but it was shorter felt more interesting to watch the kids in a threatening battle rather than in the exams where the cast spend three episodes discussing how to destroy the Frieren clone. Still, it was appealing by the finale as the last exam didn't focus on action at all and more like psychology analysis Seiren wanted to make.
Bravern and Solo Leveling were fun to watch it's hard to say exactly what I think about them since they have yet to finish. |
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NeverConvex
 Subscriber Posts: 2304 |
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Wow, a bit surprised Frieren only took a single # 1, although I suppose this latest arc was less mold-breaking artistically than the first one. And Delicious in Dungeon was great, admittedly; Apothecary Diaries, too. Guess I need to check out Brave Bang Bravern..
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killjoy_the
 Posts: 2459 |
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My favorite this season was definitely Sengoku Youko. The production being great elevated fight scenes that aren't really all that great all in all, and Mizukami's character writing is always on point, so I'm even more looking forward to the second arc, given the fight scenes there are an actual draw and the characters get even better. Frieren's second half was significantly worse than the first, but it was still the second best this season - though Tomozaki hasn't finished yet and it could take that spot for me
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FilthyCasual
Posts: 2193 |
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Shangri-La Frontier takes the crown for being fantastically animated, incredibly relatable, and just plain fun. Tomozaki is the runner-up for being a well-executed story of emotional growth.
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bassgs435
 Posts: 273 |
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There are 2 shows this season I love over anything else
MahoAko and Bravern. They're both passion projects full of the kind of stuff I love and every episode is super fun to watch. Will miss both of them when I watch their last episodes later this week. Praying MahoAko gets S2, though, That and that the mangaka recovers and can continue his story Last edited by bassgs435 on Mon Mar 25, 2024 1:51 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Saeryen
 Posts: 895 |
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Best of the Best
A Sign of Affection: A beautiful romance with lovely leads! Yuki is one of my favorite characters now, and I love how this is animated. It’s so sweet and heartfelt, and I like the character growth between our lead couple. Great and believable side characters too, even the ones who aren’t as likable. Second Place The Demon Prince of Momochi House: An excellent adaptation of one of my favorite manga. This made me feel all the emotions from the manga. The character and scenery designs are gorgeous, and it had the right moments of heartwarming, sad and creepy in the right places. This season had a pretty perfect ending, too, and I hope we get the rest of the manga animated. Soaring Sky! Pretty Cure: Pretty Cure series are usually in my top spots, and this one was so good! Great characters (I LOVE Cure Wing especially) and a wonderful arc for the main villain. Wonderful Pretty Cure!: Excellent so far! I can’t wait to see more of Yuki and Mayu, and I love the relationship between Iroha and Komugi. Enjoyable Doctor Elise: The Royal Lady with the Lamp: I enjoyed the manhwa and this is a great adaptation with all the feels. Disappointing Fluffy Paradise: I won’t call it the worst of the season because IMO that’s too harsh for it. I enjoyed the first few episodes but then the whole idea of “the only way to peace is survival of the fittest” got too weird for me, especially when it involved the clearly sapient Kobolds. I ended up dropping this one. Still fun while it lasted. Want to Check Out The Apothecary Diaries, 7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy! |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18192 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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In the Fall season I felt Frieren narrowly edged out The Apothecary Diaries for Best of Season; this time I'm reversing that order. I agree with others that the second half of Frieren was a little weaker despite some strong content, superb action sequences, and continuing emotional resonance, while TAD had a succession of really strong episodes as various plot points climaxed and still has easily my favorite character in recent years (thanks in no small part to Aoi Yuki's wonderful performance). In either order, it was an incredible one-two punch that I will dearly miss, and both titles are highly likely to be in my Top 5 for the year.
My runner-ups are two of the other commonly-mentioned titles: Delicious in Dungeon and Brave Bang Bravern. The former has been a great adaptation of the source manga throughout, providing an entertaining variation on the standard dungeon crawl, while the latter is the season's clever little dark horse, coming on especially strong in the second half. It's easy to underestimate it. However, I felt both were a clear step below my top two. |
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Fluwm
 Posts: 889 |
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In terms of source material, I definitely like Apothecary Diaries way more than Frieren... but in terms of the anime adaptations, Frieren wins handily, so it gets my vote for the top-spot. And despite being kind of disappointed with Apothecary Diaries (mostly owing to it feeling more like an adaptation of the manga than the LN), it's still firmly ensconced in the #2 spot.
Beyond that, I wasn't too impressed with anything I watched this season. 7th Time Loop was surprisingly solid, I thought; Sasaki and Peeps started out really interesting but quickly fizzled with that overly-long, extremely dull isekai subplot. Nothing else really grabbed my interest -- though I haven't started Sengoku Youko yet. I love Mizukami's other work to death, but never really got into this one, so the anime hasn't exactly been a priority. |
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YourNameIsMitsuha
Posts: 61 |
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Sengoku Youko! Loved this from episode one when fox spirit walked up some bandits and made a successful logical argument for world peace delivered in a confident smug yell! The show has been a nonstop fast paced wild ride since with plenty of genuinely touching moments since (take note Chainsaw Man, THIS is how you make a character death hit like a truck). Definitely the most exciting show of the season.
I didn't see D in D, but I'd give the second spot to The Witch and the Beast. Great style, great characters, and the first time someone made smoking look cool since the 2000's. And Solo Leveling? Most hype coming into season for me, but it turned out to be just good. Looks good but not incredible, story is unoriginal, there's barely any concept of the difference in power levels of hunters, so we just see him get stronger and facing only things that he can handle and nothing more. Solidly entertaining, but nothing great here. |
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KitKat1721
 Posts: 953 |
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Didn’t keep up with too much this season, so definitely not a comprehensive favorites list here haha - I only kept up with three continuing shows (Frieren, Apothecary Diaries, and One Piece, the first two being my default picks of the season), and stopped keeping up with Delicious in Dungeon about halfway through unfortunately. I feel like sometimes with comedies or more laid back SoL stories, fantasy or otherwise, while I enjoy the episode as I’m watching it… I’m not usually itching to keep up with it week to week and thus always fall behind. I also never managed to start Sign of Affection, though I’d like to. It’s just not super pressing since I’ve read it.
The lighter season though let me go back and finish more backlog shows this season like Kimi ni Todoke & Heavenly Delusion, so that’s always nice! |
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Angel M Cazares
 Posts: 5424 Location: Iscandar |
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Not counting continuing shows from last Fall, A Sign of Affection will probably end up as the best anime series I watched from Winter 2024.
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Piglet the Grate
 Posts: 562 Location: North America |
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I had to sail the seven seas for my default favorite Pon no Michi (The Way of Pon) as it was not picked up for official USA streaming.
Default since it was the only CGDCT/SOL of the season (Yuru CampΔ S3 cannot get here soon enough). |
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Nyapan
 Posts: 34 |
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This was a great season for me thanks to Bravern being one of the best experiences I've had watching seasonal anime and Dungeon Meshi turning out better than I expected!
Another series I liked was Cherry Magic. I wish the production was better because it's a sweet romance with adults who communicate and we don't get enough BL in general but it's still enjoyable and worth watching. A Sign of Affection was another romance series I watched. On paper it should have been right up my alley but Itsuomi does nothing for me as the main male lead. He's just too perfect I think and I wish he blushed more like Yuki. It's still a good romance though with tangible progression for the main couple, it just wasn't for me. The one big dud I watched is Bucchigiri. I liked the other Utsumi shows, I enjoy delinquents and I love Yu-Gi-Oh chara designs so I should have loved this! But Arajin is insufferable, the comedy doesn't land and the pacing is weird. It's not horrible, it's just mediocre. Apothecary Diaries continued to be solid and I also liked Undead Unluck thanks to the dynamic between Fuko and Andy and the interesting worldbuilding despite the recaps and flashbacks. Frieren is a good show too but I don't enjoy it as much as everyone else and Stark was barely in the second half! |
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darkchibi07
 Posts: 5469 |
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Interestingly, Animation Digital Network seemed to picked it up and uploaded the English subs versions on their Youtube channel so you don't have to feel guilty! 
For me, it was an ok Winter season. Frieren continues to be solid despite the shift to that mage exam arc. I was very unsure about Delicious in Dungeon at first due to its weird tone shifts and priorities in the first episode, but it seriously warmed as the episodes progressed. Gushing Over Magical Girls actually shocked on how committed they are on the ecchi side (or go beyond than even manga) as well as give legitimate character motivations and relationship growth that felt well-earned. Now I wished that had better production values. |
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