Doctorkev’s Winter 2024 Anime Postmortem — Best of the Season
I’ve finally managed to drag myself away from my other writing obligations to spend a little time reflecting on the anime season that’s just ended. I didn’t expect it to end up as strong as it did, and as usual I watched more weekly anime shows than is strictly healthy. Anyway, covered in this first article are my top ten Winter 2024 anime, the second article scheduled for later in the week will cover the rest.
Delicious in Dungeon — Netflix — episodes 1-13 of 24
A delightful gastronomically-focused dungeon-crawling fantasy that I watched alongside my eldest D&D-obsessed son, I really enjoyed the first half of Delicious in Dungeon. As it’s adapted by the peerless Studio Trigger, of course it looks great. While not as hyperactively deranged as Trigger’s Hiroyuki Imaishi’s directorial works, director Yoshihiro Miyajima does an excellent job. The dungeon is a grand, bewildering, expansive, claustrophic, dangerous place depicted in gorgeous colour and beautifully detailed painted backgrounds. Each of the central characters are flawed and interesting, sometimes making stupid mistakes that are consistent with their personalities and drives.
It’s not so much the cooking aspect of the show that attracts me — as much as the exotic dishes made by chopping and searing fictional monsters look enticing — it’s more the worldbuilding and character development that I find interesting. Perpetually-stressed elf mage Marcille is probably my favourite, I love her expressions of abject horror when weirdo monster-enjoyer Laios encourages her to devour the next suspect morsel. Hunger always wins out, of course, and Marcille usually enjoys whatever she’s fed as long as she can try not to think of its origin.
With episode thirteen, we’ve begun the next major story arc, and it’s already off to a great, intriguing start. According to manga-readers, this is where the story becomes really compelling. I can’t wait to watch more episodes as Delicious in Dungeon continues into the Spring 2024 season. At least Netflix decided to stream this one weekly — I don’t think it would work quite so well as a binge.
The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash — Crunchyroll — 12 episodes
What a lovely surprise! Unfairly overshadowed by other more prominent fantasy shows this season, Weakest Tamer proved itself to be an emotionally affecting journey with vibes similar to Kino’s Journey. I was almost put off by the dumb-sounding overly descriptive Light Novel-originating title, but was glad I wasn’t. A word of warning though — episode three is absolutely harrowing, so if you prefer your fantasy untempered by depictions of child physical and emotional abuse (thankfully non-gratuitous or exploitative in this case), then this might not be your thing. Overall, it’s an incredibly wholesome and optimistic series, though. Ivy the titular “tamer” is delightful, as is her cute and squishy slime familiar Sora. I’ve written a more in depth review for Anime News Network, so please go ahead and read that!
Urusei Yatsura Season 3 — HIDIVE — 12 episodes
I continue to be mostly delighted with David Production’s take on a more modern version of Rumiko Takahashi’s classic sci-fi comedy. This season we finally got around to one of my absolute favourite parts of the original animation — the 1987 OVA Inaba the Dreammaker. The 1980 TV series ended before adapting many of the manga’s later chapters, so some characters never got to make an appearance, except in the later OVAs. This modern version has shaken things up quite significantly in terms of adaptation, reordering many chapters, sometimes changing context and a few details to make this work. Overall, I’m very happy with this. Many episodes focus on the more emotional and serious story bits (interspersed between the usual scenes of slapstick chaos), and magical bunny-guy Inaba’s storyline is peak Urusei Yatsura.
Takahashi was doing unhinged multiverse stories long before their unfortunate proliferation in modern media. Ataru and Lum’s battle to protect their futures, hidden behind magical doors accessed with magical doorknobs, is a visual delight. Once again we find Ataru isn’t a total douchebag, as although he’s very open about desiring a harem of every other female character in the series, he doesn’t want a future without Lum in it… Urusei Yatsura’s certainly an acquired taste, but I adore it. Come for the silly humour, stay for the surprisingly affecting pathos. Season 4 continues for eleven further loopy episodes in Spring 2024.
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End — Crunchyroll — 28 episodes
What a phenomenal show, easily spellcasting its way into my top ten anime of all time. Madhouse absolutely hit it out of the park with Frieren — twenty-eight impeccably-presented, stunningly-animated episodes, adapting one of the very best modern manga series. I can’t honestly see how this could have been made any better. Although we’ve not heard confirmation of a second season, Frieren has been so spectacularly popular that surely it’s only a matter of time. I hope the production of any second season can retain director Keiichiro Saito and his crack team of talented animators, because this is not the show to fob off onto another studio to produce a disappointingly average follow-up. (Looking at you, One Punch Man, tragically abandoned by Madhouse.)
While the story of the second cour, covering the extended Mage Exam arc wasn’t quite as strong as the first, it still introduced a number of fascinating and fun characters. While poor Stark sat out most of the runtime while he trained his skills somewhere in the background, the focus of this arc was on Frieren and Fern as they attempt to pass an extremely difficult exam to become First Class Mages. Their fellow exam-takers were an eclectic collection of oddballs, from seasoned and wise mage Denken to the exasperated Richer, plus terrifying psychopath Ubel and the comedy duo of Kanne and Lawine. Hopefully they’ll all return in future stories.
Frieren strikes an often melancholy, contemplative tone, juxtaposed with some incredibly fluid action animation. The title character herself is at once alien and deeply human. She struggles to understand emotions, though by interacting with Fern and Stark begins to appreciate that which she has lost by living her impossibly long life. Why should she care about these short-lived humans whose existence is like a mayfly’s in comparison to her practical immortality? Episode by episode, Frieren comes to terms with what she’s lost, while appreciating what she’s gained. While still frequently getting her head and upper torso jammed into those pesky treasure chest mimics. Poor Fern, simultaneously both Frieren’s daughter and mother figure.
Undead Unluck — Disney+/Hulu — 1-11 of 24 episodes
I’d like to know what the hell Disney is up to with Undead Unluck. First they delayed the international stream until mid-December, long after episodes first began streaming on Hulu in the US in early October. Then, eleven episodes in to their delayed weekly schedule, without any warning or explanation, they stopped. No further episodes. Are Disney deliberately screwing with this show? After their shameful treatment of Summer Time Rendering, is this another example of Disney’s neglectful anime mismanagement? This show should have been a massive international success. Instead, more than half of the episodes are stuck in Disney Jail with no sign of parole, and many fans have either given up or resorted to piracy. Honestly, this isn’t good enough. Hulu already finished streaming all 24 episodes. I’ve seen rumours on Reddit that international Disney streaming will resume on April 3rd, but I can’t see any official confirmation of this… Really poor, Disney, really poor.
The Dangers in My Heart S2 — HIDIVE — 13 episodes
I could gush on for pages and pages about why The Dangers in My Heart is now my all-time top anime romcom, but I wrote about that in this article for Anime News Network. What a great show, with such wonderfully rounded and sympathetic characters. I cannot stress how much it’s worth persevering past those first one or two awkward episodes to get to what is such a sweet, funny character drama. Yes, Kyotaro Ichikawa is a typical edgy teen, yes he’s annoying, and has no self confidence. But he grows up! Although his love interest Anna Yamada is the main catalyst for this, they don’t develop an unhealthy co-dependent relationship. Kyotaro himself recognises that, following his maturation, he doesn’t actually need Anna to live a healthy life, but he really really wants her to be part of his. I love that Anna has her own desires, drives and foibles, she’s not some perfect unattainable goddess, and she has good reasons for liking Kyotaro. I also love her intimidatingly silent but good-natured geeky gamer dad. I hope he and Kyotaro become good friends too. Surely they must make a third season of this? Please? The manga’s still ongoing…
The Apothecary Diaries — Crunchyroll — 24 episodes
A slow burning pseudo-historical medical/mystery show with multi-layered characters set in the palace of a fictionalised version of medieval China, I really enjoyed this, and I’m glad a second season was recently announced as it feels the story has barely begun. Considering the original light novels currently run to fifteen volumes in length, and these episodes covered only the first two, there’s surely multiple seasons’ worth of stories to be adapted, should the show remain popular.
I particularly like the way the plot is structured, rewarding close viewer attention. Lots of little throwaway details from previous episodes return later, and this is none more marked than in regards to protagonist Maomao’s true parentage and family history. Creepy strategist Lakan turns out to be a far more sympathetic (and tragic) character than he first appeared. I’ll be very interested to see how Maomao’s new status (now that her true identity is known) will affect her living and working situation in seasons to come.
Banished From the Hero’s Party S2 — Crunchyroll — 12 episodes
Another show whose source full light novel title is unwieldy and off-putting, nonetheless this was an excellent season of a fascinating fantasy anime. Although it’s supposed to be another one of those “slow life” stories, there’s a lot more action and plot intrigue than one would expect given the genre. Perhaps this is because the anime misses out entire volumes of the light novel to streamline the plot, but I don’t think this was a mistake. I think I enjoyed the second season even more than the first.
My main interest in the show is the “Blessings” system, where each person is “blessed” by the god Demis to have a particular role in society. The only way to “level up” this Blessing is to kill other sentient creatures, and each Blessing causes certain urges in its holder, in order for them to fulfil their role. This leads to many issues regarding free will. New antagonist Van has been assigned the “Hero” Blessing after protagonist Red’s sister Ruti managed to reject it last season, and Van’s interpretation of his urges is far different to Ruti’s…
This is another show I’ve reviewed in depth for Anime News Network, so I’ll post the link on Medium once it’s published.
Sengoku Youko — Crunchyroll — 12 of 37
I’ve described this show to friends as “InuYasha, but done right.” Based on the manga by Satoshi Mizukami, this is a far superior adaptation than the cursed animated version of his previous manga Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer. Perhaps because it’s adapted by White Fox, an actual half-decent animation studio, Sengoku Youko can almost make up for the disappointment that was Biscuit Hammer. I’m not bitter, honest. At least Planet With got a decent (if rushed) anime a few years back. Now I’m crossing my fingers that Mizukami’s incredible Spirit Circle manga gets a worthy anime adaptation soon.
Even without considering Mizukami’s other works, Sengoku Youko is a good time. At turns pleasantly humorous, at others gut-wrenchingly harrowing, it’s a fantasy that doesn’t shy away from how god-awfully shitty it would have been to live as a peasant during Japan’s Warring States period. It’s perhaps not quite as gritty or realistic as Disney’s recent (excellent) Shogun live action series, but Shogun doesn’t have pink-haired girls or mountain spirit ladies with branches growing out of their heads.
I still get the feeling that this first cour has barely set the groundwork for what will presumably be a much grander story to follow. Our compelling central trio of random wanderers (fox katawara Tama, her “brother” Jinka, and wannabe samurai warrior/ex-farmer Shinsuke) frequently clash with humans who have transformed themselves into monsters. The “real” monsters (katawara) who populate the Japanese countryside tend to be more sympathetic than most of the human characters. Thankfully the entire manga is getting a generous 37-episode full adaptation, so I’ll keep watching this one with interest.
Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki S2 — Crunchyroll — 13 of 13
Finally, cynical gamer boy Fumiya Tomozaki returns once more to follow relationship advice from the deeply sinister Aoi Hinami, or, as I like to think of her, Darth Sidious When He Was A Teenage Girl. Superficially similar to teen drama My Romantic Comedy SNAFU/Oregairu, Tomozaki is all about teen psychology and social dynamics. It’s mostly pretty interesting, and I absolutely adore the blue-haired female character Mimimi. She’s absolutely the kind of person I would have gravitated towards as a teenager.
This season covers two main story arcs — the first addresses bullying and is honestly a difficult watch. Anyone with a sense of justice will really empathise with Hanabi Natsubayashi’s plight. She’s targeted by bully Erika Konno for standing up for one of her classmates, and everyone seems powerless to help her. Hinami’s solution to the bullying problem is horrible, underhanded, sneaky and cold. Although she does things for the “right” reasons, Tomozaki is rightly disturbed by her methods. The second arc is more romance-focused, and Tomozaki chooses his girl…
I wrote a lengthier review of this show, now published at Anime News Network. You can read it via the link below:
I’d hoped to cover the four-episode Great Pretender sequel Razbliuto (streaming on Crunchyroll, oddly, while the original show remains a Netflix exclusive), however I ran out of time to watch it. I’ll write about it sometime later. Similarly, Disney+ dumped out the first 6-episode arc of the sadly-missed Akira Toriyama’s Sand Land recently, while the second arc streams weekly. I’d like to watch that with my youngest son, so I’ll likely write about that in my Spring 2024 halfway-through-the-season article in a few weeks’ time.
While we’re on the subject of next season, I wrote about my most anticipated anime of Spring 2024 at the link below:
See you very soon for the second half of my Winter 2024 Postmortem!
