Doctorkev’s Thoughts on the Winter 2024 Anime Season — Sequels and Ongoing Shows
And here I was thinking that Winter 2024 looked to be a quieter season. Mind you, following the unbelievably stacked Autum 2023 season was always going to be a challenge. I thought I might be able to take my foot off the gas pedal for a season, but nope. For one, Winter 2024 is absolutely stacked with ongoing shows and returning sequels. A bunch of these are shows I’ve never seen, and haven’t had the time to catch up on, so apologies that they won’t be covered in detail here.
Synduality Noir returns to Disney+/Hulu for its second season, and it looks like a fun mecha show that I’d really like to try out at some point. Famed director Mamoru Oshii returns with the second season of his novel adaptation The Fire Hunter, but apparently the first season was terrible. I didn’t enjoy Oshii’s last show (2021’s Vlad Love) very much, so I’ll give this one a miss. Kingdom keeps going with its fifth season, but I don’t think I’ve met a single person who has watched any of the preceding four.
I hear good things about Tsukimichi — Moonlight Fantasy, so perhaps I’ll make time to catch up with its first season at some point. Blue Exorcist also returns, and it’s a franchise I feel I should know something about, but I don’t, and can’t ever see myself making time to do so. High Card, a fantasy card gambling series returns for its second season but really doesn’t sound like my thing. Finally, several shows from last season continue their runs — Shangri-La Frontier, Ragna Crimson, The Seven Deadly Sins, Firefighter Daigo, Captain Tsubasa and Dog Signal. None of them look appealing, so I’ll give them all a miss. Let’s move onto the shows I’m actually watching:
Sequels/ongoing:
Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki S2 — Crunchyroll — Wednesday — 7 of 13 eps
Tomozaki can sometimes be a difficult show to watch — although it’s mostly teenagers talking to one another, it’s a detailed group and individual character study focusing on the ways that interpesonal interactions and bonds affect group dynamics and wellbeing. I know that doesn’t sound like the most exciting show, but it can be fascinating at times, though often uncomfortable. The first five episodes of the season focus on a fairly unpleasant, intense bullying scenario that will likely trigger flashbacks to high school in a significant number of the viewing population.
Protagonist Tomozaki continues his efforts to “level up” his real life abilities, in much the same way as he approaches video games — all under the tutelage of master manipulator extraordinaire Aoi Hinami. With each new episode, Tomozaki further learns he doesn’t always align with Hinami’s worldview, and is justifiably horrified at the levels of cold-hearted planning, deception and manipulation she uses to resolve the bullying situation. Hinami is a girl who hides herself behind a plethora of masks, but this season, whether she likes it or not, those masks are beginning to slip. I personally find Hinami a deeply unpleasant person, and stand by my previous assessment of her as this anime’s Darth Sidious analogue.
The other characters are great, though — especially earnest and plain-spoken Tama, blue-haired goddess Mimimi, and shy writer Fuka. Unfortunately I can’t remember the names of any of the male characters, they all kind of blend into one for me (perhaps that’s more of a criticism of the way I engage with anime than anything to do with the show…) Anyway, the most recent episode with Tomozaki desperately trying to capture weird instagram photos is particularly hilarious, and the horribly strained ramen scene with Mimimi almost made me crawl out of my skin. In a good way(?)
Urusei Yatsura S3— HIDIVE — Thursday — 6 of 23 eps
I know it’s retro and definitely won’t suit everyone, but I have a huge section of my heart eternally devoted to alien invader girl Lum and her weird collection of friends. This is a beautiful-looking, colourful, madcap manga adaptation that does things differently to the 1980s original, and that’s just fine. I love them both. Ataru remains an irredeemable jerk, but every now and then we see a chink in his boorish, lecherous armour to see that perhaps he really does love and care for his rainbow-haired demonic fiancee. There’s not much else to say about this other than they’re apparently about to start adapting material that the original show never got around to, so I’m hyped for that.
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End —Crunchyroll — Friday — 23 of 28 eps
This stunning, note-perfect adaptation from studio Madhouse is absolutely the highlight of my week. Frieren’s manga was already one of my favourites, but somehow this anime manages to elevate the material even further. From the music, to the aesthetics, to the character animation, everything screams high quality. The tone varies from quiet and contemplative, to melancholic nostalgia, to exciting pyrotechnic-filled action, to goofy comedy.
Despite being a thousand years old, titular mage Frieren really is like a child sometimes — she’s hopelessly naive about relationships (tragically so in the case of the smitten Himmel who died before Frieren even had an inkling of his feelings for her), but she’s mainly motivated by finding shiny things (like magic items and grimoires) and gets into ridiculous scrapes like continually getting eaten by mimic treasure chests because of the tiny chance they may contain a rare item. Frieren is, essentially, an inveterate gacha addict.
I didn’t really like the First Class Mage Exam arc in the manga because it felt too generic battle shonen for my liking, but I had an inkling it would translate very well to anime — and it did. The anime does an excellent job of introducing all of these new and interesting mage characters, most of whom are slightly broken or askew in some way. I hope some of them stick around once this arc finishes. The show has already caught up to where I left off in the manga. I expect that the adaptation will finish around chapter 60 or so, when it looks like the third part of the mage exam comes to an end. That would leave enough chapters for a second season of equal length. Please Madhouse, continue to make this veteran anime fan deliriously happy, and continue to make more Frieren?
Undead Unluck — Disney+/Hulu — Wednesday (UK), Friday (US) — 10 of 24 eps
Frustratingly, everywhere outside of Japan and the US is currently 9 weeks behind on Undead Unluck. I have no idea why Disney decided to keep this huge licence back from their international subscribers, but I’m sure it hasn’t done their ratings any favours. It beggars belief really, when their other two shows this season — Ishura and Synduality Noir continue to simulcast on a weekly basis internationally. It’s not that they don’t have the episodes available — they do — that’s what makes their scheduling practices so utterly baffling.
Anyway, this continues to be a lot of fun. Main duo Fuuko and “Andy” (not his real name) are an absolute hoot with a very funny dynamic. The supporting cast are extremely strange, and the frequent action sequences are deranged, flashy, and as in-your-face as they come. I can’t quite get a handle on the mechanics of the world, which are kept deliberately mysterious so that the plot can be drip-fed over time. I am completely ok with this, manga author Yoshifumi Tozuka appears to have a well-constructed, if unhinged, backplot, and the gradual reveals seem well-planned and logical. I just wish I wasn’t over two months behind the episode premieres, it means keeping away from spoilers is more of a chore than it should be, and I don’t wish to resort to piracy — though that would be my only option if I wanted to remain up to date on current online discourse.
Mashle S2 — Crunchyroll — Saturday — 5 of 12 eps
I was almost ready to write off Mashle, but here comes a second season that I have enjoyed immeasurably more than the first. Although it’s very clearly a blatant Harry Potter ripoff (they’ve just introduced the concept of Master (might as well call them Elder) Wands, for goodness sake) with more than a few shades of One Punch Man forcibly jammed in there, its earnest (if totally dumb) main character and heart-warming friendship dynamics keep this from being merely derivative.
Although there’s a strong flavour of generic battle shonen to proceedings, especially as we’re now in the midst of an extended tournament arc, it’s this kind of story structure that really tests the bonds between characters, and so far Mashle has done this exceptionally well. Main character Mash Burnedead’s secret is now out — he’s the only person at his Magic School who can’t perform magic, and he’s now at risk of execution by his bigoted society as a result. Although Mash is generally a strong, mostly silent type, the show doesn’t hide away from the fact that the public jeering he suffers bothers him. “I want to go home,” he says at the start of the tournament when the entire audience essentially bullies him.
Thankfully Mash has some great friends who love him for who he is, and even put themselves in danger to protect and support him. Mash is open with his reciprocal love and appreciation for them, and it’s frankly heartwarming. I am very much on board for Mashle now, despite the sometimes repetitive and basic humour.
The Dangers in My Heart S2 — HIDIVE — Saturday — watched 6 of 13 eps
Very swiftly, this adorable show is becoming My Top Romantic Comedy Of All Time. It’s one of the most sharply observed, delightful, emotionally intelligent anime I’ve ever watched, and I adore both main characters as well as their kooky families. Anna Yamada is a whirling ball of energy and positivity, yet she has a vulnerable heart, and although she lacks confidence in matters of love, she really tries her best to communicate her feelings to the shy, emotionally repressed boy she adores. Likewise Kyotaro Ichikawa, despite his crippling low self esteem, is beginning to gain in confidence partly due to Anna’s positive influence on him, but also because he’s learning to listen to his own inner desires and to act upon them. The way the show balances each of these characters individual developments, plus the gradual growth of their relationship, is nothing less than perfection.
Kyotaro is an easy lead character for quiet, shy, nerdy boys to self-insert or identify with. His dark, negative thoughts are surely almost universal to nervous young men. His every little triumph, every time he overcomes his worst self-criticisms, is a cause for celebration. I’ve never wished so hard for a main couple to finally and openly declare their obvious love for one another. Surely it can’t be long now, the groundwork has been so painstakingly laid. Every episode leaves my heart filled almost ready to burst by the end. This show is that good, that’s it’s guaranteed its spot in my top ten for this year already.
The Apothecary Diaries — Crunchyroll — Saturday — 18 of 24 eps
Former Rear Palace courtesan attendant Maomao is now resident at her employer Jinshi’s lavish home near the Imperial Palace. Although this grants her higher social status, and the ability to more easily return home to visit her aged apothecary adoptive father, she finds herself becoming ever more embroiled in palace intrigue, some of which seems to involve the question of her own biological parentage.
It’s quite clear to the viewer that Maomao already has suspicions as to her true parents, and her backstory is even more tragic and troublesome than initially suspected. The man who is most likely her father appears to be an amoral bastard — though if this show has taught us anything, it’s never to take events at face value. There’s also the heavily hinted truth of Jinshi’s real identity — he’s surely no mere palace eunuch — in fact, is he even really a eunuch at all?
Jinshi remains besotted with Maomao, whereas Maomao appears to have no interest in him whatsoever — in fact I’m unsure if Maomao has ever expressed any attraction or sexual desire towards anyone in the story so far. I wonder if the story will pursue any kind of romantic attachments between them… I think it will be difficult, considering how much Maomao recoils from his attentions. That only seems to encourage him, however. It’s an intriguing show, and as it’s based on a lengthy series of light novels, I don’t expect we’ll get many concrete answers to the underlying mysteries this season. I do hope they make more though, it’s an incredibly high quality drama, expertly executed with verve and humour.
Banished From the Hero’s Party S2 — Crunchyroll — Sunday — 6 of 12 eps
Finally, we come to the welcome return of this (mostly) chill fantasy drama. I liked the original series quite a bit, though felt the charm dropped off towards the end of the season, as although the drama heightened, it paradoxically became a bit dull. This second season has mostly kept to the more gently humorous slice-of-life shenanigans that made the first half of its predecessor so comfy to watch.
Former member of the Hero’s adventuring team Gideon now goes by the name of Red, and lives in frontier town Zoltan with the love of his life, and fiancee, Princess Rit. His sister Ruti, the Hero, has managed to resist the pull of her Blessing, and has moved to Zoltan along with her friend Tisse to grow a herb garden in order to provide Red’s apothecary with materials. Ruti previously spent her life with her emotions suppressed by her Blessing, so is now doing her best to live as normal a life as possible, despite her incredible superhuman strength.
Unfortunately there is a new “Hero” endorsed by the church who has not only drunk the Demis religion Kool-Aid, but probably also inserted it rectally and injected it intravenously. He’s a religious sociopath willing to sacrifice any and all other people (including his fellow team members) in the pursuit of his god’s glory. As he heads towards Zoltan, it’s surely inevitable that he’ll come into conflict with former hero Ruti and her friends. Once again, the worldbuilding is absolutely fascinating, with its focus on compelled character traits and subsequent actions, controlled by people’s divinely-inflicted “Blessings”. The god Demis is the true bad guy here, and I can only hope that at some point Ruti and Red shove something flaming hot and pointy up his divine nether regions.
That’s all for this season’s sequels and ongoing shows, I’ll be back very soon to discuss the great many interesting new shows this season has to offer.
