The 8 Best Anime From Winter 2024
Our seasonal collaborative article is back — with a new name! Turns out that life is busy and our fine heroes at AniTAY needed some more time to figure out what shows from this Winter 2024 season were worth recommending. We’ve got fantastic foods, chilly romances, and infallible isekai — anime is alive and well!
Our awesome AniTAY community spent many weeks debating and considering which shows this season were worth your time and consideration. There’s a chance your favourite did not make our list; that’s okay! Enjoy your anime, and enjoy our recommendations.
As is tradition, here are some things to remember:
- As always, we have omitted continuing shows and sequels. This list is only for new anime this season. Check out our Winter 2024 sequel guide for that information:
2) Only shows available for legal streaming are considered. Netflix has complicated what this means, but limited-availability shows like Netflix originals are fair game for our list.
3) Each entry contains a “where to watch” section, but keep in mind that we base our listings on United States availability.
Time to settle in and check out our picks for the best of the Winter 2024 season!
7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy!
Written by: Reikaze
Genre(s): Fantasy, Romance, Otome Isekai
Where to Watch: Crunchyroll
Spoiler-free Synopsis: Normally, having your engagement publicly broken by the prince of your nation would leave you lost and heartbroken… but for Riche, it’s a scene she’s already seen six times. Living her life as a merchant, a doctor, a maid, a knight, and more, Riche is now on her seventh time loop, each time with her life cut short as a result of war caused by the Galkhein Kingdom. This time, Riche aims to live a peaceful and lazy life and finally end this loop, but somehow ends up doing anything but! Arnold Hein, the man who killed her in the previous life and the kingdom’s crown prince proposes to her, and thus Riche lives her seventh loop as an empress-to-be.
Why You Should Be Watching: Oftentimes in otome isekai, the fact that the main character is a reincarnation is an afterthought with almost no impact on the character themselves. In 7th Time Loop, Riche’s previous experiences and eagerness to look for new ones is her defining character trait. I love Riche: she’s my favorite otome isekai heroine and is the main reason why this show is enjoyable! It’s so fun to watch someone as capable as her, and when paired with Riche’s charming personality, she consistently puts a smile on my face.
A lot of that smile comes from the Riche’s endless shenanigans . She constantly works her way into scenarios related to her previous life experiences, using her experiences to solve problems in her life. This makes for a lot of engaging storylines and variety. There are a lot of fun reactions as a result, too, often from Riche herself but usually because she’s constantly defying expectations.
7th Time Loop does a fantastic job interweaving its plot and the romance within it, as Arnold is at the very core of Riche’s looping and previous demise. This leads to a compelling dynamic between the two as expectations, mystery, and intrigue color their interactions. The best part of their dynamic, though, is Riche’s inability to understand that Arnold would actually be interested in her and thus getting consistently embarrassed with every romantic encounter. It’s an adorable icing on top of an already compelling show, a combo that makes 7th Time Loop one of the best this season.
Recommended by: Gugsy, Marquan, Nomad, Reikaze
Delicious In Dungeon
Written by: Requiem
Genre(s): Fantasy, Adventure, Comedy, Food Porn
Where to Watch: Netflix
Spoiler-free Synopsis: In a fantasy-styled world where adventurers delve into dungeons and labyrinths in search of treasures, knight Laios makes his living as one of these adventurers, going on runs with his party which includes his spellcasting sister, Falin. But when they go up against a powerful red dragon, Falin sacrifices herself to send Laios and their party mates to safety — getting eaten in the process. All is not lost, because in this world those who die in dungeons can be resurrected as long as there’s a body. With time ticking before Falin is digested, her party — Laios, halfling thief Chilchuck, and elf mage Marcille — must get back down to where the dragon is…but how, when they have no supplies or money? Laios has an idea: what if they just eat monsters? A serendipitous meeting with dwarf and monster gourmet chef Senshi makes this an option! So now our team descends the dungeon, racing to find their friend…and stop to munch some monsters along the way.
Why You Should Be Watching: There have been several shows in the last few years based around eating in fantasy worlds, but Delicious in Dungeon (aka Dungeon Meshi) is among the first and very likely the best. The manga has a very vocal and large fanbase which always places a lot of hype and pressure on a long-awaited adaptation. Thankfully for fans — and frankly all of us who enjoy a good show — Trigger has more than risen to the challenge; because this series is outstanding.
It’s Trigger, so as you might imagine its visuals are remarkable, bright and colorful with a fantastic eye for motion and action. Placid scenes of the group just talking and highly kinetic fight sequences are handled with equal care and attention, and one could describe the show as visually sumptuous. Visuals are of course not all the show has going for it, the music is great: the VAs are putting in very high-quality work, fitting their characters perfectly. It’s a top tier package all round.
The truest strength of Delicious in Dungeon, of course, lies in its characters. All four of our core cast are well-written and fleshed out, with their traits shining through: Laios is strong and capable but gentle, possessed of deep curiosity about things in the dungeon (and how they taste), Marcille is an adorable mix of confidence in her magic abilities, naivety, and a hesitancy to eat monsters that is often plumbed for comedy; Senshi is an absolute hoot with his practical yet obsessive take on cooking and self-sufficiency in the dungeon; and Chilchuck…well Chilchuck is just the real MVP, often amusingly grouchy. They’re a supremely likable lot and draw you into their gastronomic adventures with aplomb.
All told, Delicious in Dungeon is one of the best anime in recent memory, a high-caliber production at every level and the kind of show you’ll likely find yourself coming back to for years. So pull up a chair, grab a steaming bowl of weird looking soup, and dig in.
Recommended by: Marquan, Reikaze, Requiem, TheMamaLuigi, Alistair Hyde
The Foolish Angel Dances with the Devil
Written by: DJNiipah
Genre(s): Comedy, Romance
Where to Watch: Crunchyroll
Spoiler-free Synopsis: When Akutsu Masatora transfers to a new high school, he seeks to make new friends like any ordinary high schooler would be expected to. Akutsu has a secret, however, that raises the stakes motivating his search for friends. In his search, he discovers the charming Lily Amane, and the two hit things off quickly. All is not how it seems, however, as Lily has her own secret, which leads the duo into a relentless gridlock of attempting to win the affection of the other. It’s a game of heaven versus hell!
Why You Should Be Watching: Foolish Angel has no business being as fun as it is. A regrettably slow and unsuspecting pilot episode forecasts a rather bland romcom. From the second episode onwards, however, we see a very different anime that pulls no punches. The barebones premise manages to provide episodes with unexpectedly entertaining humor and surprisingly endearing characters.
One of the best parts of this anime is how hard it goes out of its way to make fun of romance tropes. Even after iit becomes expected, it is fun to watch how the anime aggressively shifts classic romantic moments and turns them into unhinged comedy bits. A dream about a date at a park turns into a samurai tragedy with absolute whiplash. Throughout all of this, the characters provide meme-worthy reactions and expressions. The main duo are adorably helpless, just fumbling through attempts to one-up one another; but that same helplessness makes them such a cute couple and the laughter becomes charming romance often within the same scenarios.
Another element to the comedy that works so well comes from how colorful the banter between characters becomes. Boxing prizefighter cats trade blows as the angel and demon trade jabs. Over-the-top action sequences accompany hilariously unfitting dialogue and music choices. It is all intentionally uncanny albeit creative. While it won’t win any awards at the end of the year, this an anime well worth giving a look if not solely because of the meme potential and silliness.
Recommended by: DJNiipah, Marquan, Requiem
Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable!
Written: Requiem
Genre(s): Comedy, Romance, Snow
Where to Watch: Crunchyroll
Spoiler-Free Synopsis: Tsubasa Shiki has just moved from Tokyo to Hokkaido for high school hoping to start a new life. However, he immediately realizes he underestimated the shocking intensity of the cold; thankfully, he’s helped out by a stunning blonde (wearing a short skirt despite it being very cold) named Fuyuki. The gyaru’s bright, effervescent personality and aggressive friendliness enrapture Tsubasa, and soon he meets other beautiful girls who make his life much more exciting than before. It may be cold, but it’s getting hot! See what we did there?
Why You Should Be Watching: Some shows, you see the title and it’s not immediately clear what the show is about — One Piece of what, exactly? — but not here: Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable is exactly what it says on the tin, a story about Hokkaido and how great its girls are. It’s a fairly simple setup: boy meets girl, and then another girl, and then yet another girl, hilarity ensues. It’s straightforward, but it works because Tsubasa, Fuyuki, Akino, and Rena are all incredibly likable characters. Tsubasa is a bit of an everyman, your standard harem protagonist with a good heart and kind soul; Fuyuki is a ball of sunshine who just likes being friends with people and has zero mean girl in her at all; Akino starts withdrawn but comes out of her shell with the help of the rest of the cast and plays the straight man well against the more energetic characters; and Rena is your mysterious beauty honor student with an odd obsession with traditional Japanese clothes. It’s a great mix of personalities that, oddly, is devoid of conflict; everyone on the show is generally pretty great to each other.The show is more about how much more fun life is with friends.
The best character, though, may be Hokkaido itself, as the show does a great job of making the famously snowy and frigid northern island look like the best place to live. The area’s traditions, culture, and especially food are often highlighted and embraced, serving as almost a tourist ad for the region. Come to Hokkaido, we’ve got cool snacks and girls who wear skirts in winter!
The animation isn’t what you call top tier, but it works, with very expressive faces and a bright palette, and the VAs are putting in great performances, especially for Fuyuki and her equally shiny and happy Mom, who often steals scenes.
All in all, Hokkaido Gals is just a fun time with some great characters in a place that, despite it once hosting AniTAY’s own Protonstorm, seems like a pretty cool place. What more could you need?
Recommended by: Marquan, Reikaze, Requiem, TheMamaLuigi
Metallic Rouge
Written by: Alistair Hyde
Genres: Action, Science Fiction, Mecha
Where to Watch: Crunchyroll
Spoiler-Free Synopsis: Due to traveling through space using futuristic technology, humanity ended up in a war with aliens referred to as “Usurpers”. This incident forced humanity to colonize Mars and Venus in the inner solar system. To make these planets suitable for humans, they created androids called “Neans” using technology from another alien race known as “Visitors”. To avoid malfunctions, Neans have a code programmed into them to keep them submissive to what any human tells them to do. Metal Rouge is an agent on a mission to kill nine dissident Neans able to bypass the code and are a threat.
Why You Should Be Watching: I like Metallic Rouge because it proves that 2D style animation still reigns supreme in a time when studios rely on too much 3D CGI. . This is especially commendable, particularly during the fight sequences. The characters’ designs are splendid and take me back to Bubble Gum Crisis Tokyo 2040 or Cowboy Bebop which is a good sign because they pay tribute to the classics.
The OST hits hard and close to the heart with carefully selected songs to make certain scenes memorable. The show uses a variety of genres to complement the vibes each scene requires.. In particular, the OST tickled my nostalgic bone for the synth-wave sound of the 80’s. Also, I want to applaud the English dub for using an English singer to Viola while she sings. It shows the effort put into presenting a work to a foreign audience that does not necessarily want to read subtitles.
As an original anime, it delivers a great story about how each individual is a cog in the machine sprinkled with themes of anthropocentrism and the endurance of humankind.. It has a powerful message about how a human scale of values does not work for androids, fundamentally inhuman beings.
The plot has twists that let it develop dynamically due to the variety of perspectives the cast presents while pursuing their individual goals. This shows how the show’s character development influences its plot, producing changes that explain why Rouge decides to carry out her mission.
I recommend this anime to anyone who enjoys science fiction with an optimistic message of hope for a better future based on empathy and compassion. Finally, I want to thank my girlfriend for reminding me while writing this piece that I am not an android and humans need to sleep.
Recommended by: Alistair Hyde, Reikaze, Requiem
Sengoku Youko
Written by: Gugsy
Genre(s): Fantasy Action Adventure
Where to Watch: Crunchyroll
Spoiler-free Synopsis: In an alternate version of Sengoku-Period Japan, there exists both humans and monsters. Tama is a monster girl who loves and protects humans, while her partner Jinka hates humans but grudgingly helps them for Tama. Along their journey, the two meet a weak human swordsman, Shinsuke, who, despite having a magical sword, is both weak and cowardly, hoping to change both. These three join up and discover someone or something is experimenting, turning normal humans into monsters against their will and vow to do something about it.
Why You Should Be Watching: Do you remember the days when every anime being released was longer than 13 episodes? Back when 26 episodes or more was the norm and not a rarity? Well, Sengoku Youko is an old-school 37-episode show that harkens back to those anime of the past in many ways. It’s taking its time setting up the world, the characters, and their motivations without feeling the pressure of crunching everything into a shorter amount of time. We meet many monsters and humans with their own backstories and motivations. These meetings often have profound effects on our main trio, leading to interesting developments as they discover more about what’s really going on around them. Crucially for any battle anime, battles are smoothly animated, as well. Original mangaka Satoshi Mizukami’s works (notably Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer and Planet With) have a tendency to march at their own pace, and Sengoku Youko is similar in that regard, as its plot progression and character development are not as traditional as similar shows. Thankfully, a much more competent anime studio is up to the task with the aforementioned smooth animation not dragging it down like some previous adaptations. Many anime these days do not have the time and must constantly explain everything at breakneck speed in order to fit everything into 13 episodes. But if you’re in pursuit of an anime that takes its time to really flex its worldbuilding and characters on a journey with many nuanced emotional moments that harkens back to those earlier times, Sengoku Youko is easily worth your time.
Recommended by: Gugsy, Requiem
A Sign of Affection
Written by: DJNiipah
Genre(s): Romance, Shoujo
Where to Watch: Crunchyroll
Spoiler-free Synopsis: Yuki Itose has lived her life isolated from most of the outside world, often wondering how others experience things. The hard-of-hearing university student has a limited social circle, preferring to keep to herself. On a chance trip to a bar with her friend Rin, Yuki meets the enigmatic Itsuomi Nagi. Itsuomi, an upperclassman at Yuki’s university, travels the world and is gregarious in a way that Yuki has never seen. When Itsuomi takes interest in learning about Yuki and her world, Yuki finds herself falling for the extrovert.
Why You Should Be Watching: When I started watching A Sign of Affection, I kept waiting for something incredibly off-putting to happen. From the jump, there was a concern regarding the shoujo genre accompanying the main character here. “Oh no,” I thought, “are they going to position an individual who experiences hearing loss as some helpless object that desperately needs a big tall handsome yaoi man to do everything for her?” The answer is more complicated than I expected. On the surface, there is an argument for this concept being uncomfortable and somewhat true given how the main couple’s relationship is portrayed to the current point in the anime (roughly episode eight in the English dub) — Itsumoi certainly touches, kisses, and directs Yuki in a way that can come off as a bit concerning to those who are not accustomed to the shoujo genre like myself.
Where this show differs in a rather brilliant way, however, is in how it explores the complexity of its main character. Yuki is not simply a lovestruck dove waiting for a handsome man to sweep her away. She is incredibly introspective, even before we are introduced to Itsuomi. Indeed, Yuki explores how she sees the world, questioning how others feel about concepts like love, belonging, and even goals for the future. Furthermore, the show subverts expectations and explores how Yuki has her own agency by pointing out maladaptive relationship dynamics between characters like her and her childhood friend, Oshi, who becomes aggressively protective of Yuki whenever she interacts with others. It is noteworthy that Yuki herself expresses her annoyance with this behavior and it serves as a bold moment that showcases impressive character writing.
All things considered, this is still a shoujo at its core, but it carries itself with a higher level of maturity than the average adventure into the genre. I’m reminded of the fantastic writing of Horimiya and exploration of relationships that feel earned and meticulous. We don’t spend an indefinite amount of time playing the “will they or won’t they” charade, nor do we see dramatic overreactions to basic miscommunications. In fact, there are quite mature attempts at clarifying misunderstandings that are refreshing and much needed for the genre.
Recommended by: DJNiipah, Marquan, Nomad,Reikaze, Requiem
The Wrong Way To Use Healing Magic
Written by: Marquan
Genre(s): Isekai, Fantasy, Action, Comedy
Where to Watch: Crunchyroll
Spoiler-free Synopsis: Usato is unwittingly pulled along with his schoolmates as they are summoned to another world to serve as their heroes. In a stroke of “luck”, he is recognized as someone with the power of a healer. Taken under the wing of the kingdom’s most powerful healer, Usato begins his training as a member of the Rescue Squad.
Why You Should Be Watching: The Wrong Way To Use Healing Magic is in a unique place in the isekai space. Oversaturated with overpowered protagonists who don’t really suffer any setbacks, Healing Magic finds Usato in a usually non-combative role, training to be on the front lines, fighting, and healing his comrades all at once. We get to join him on his journey to grow strong enough to stand alongside Rose, his mentor/trainer/captain, who just happens to be one of the strongest people in this kingdom. We see Usato struggle, we see him get saved, and ultimately we see him grow.
The heroes that were summoned to this world aren’t infallible gods of wisdom. They actually act like school kids that were transported to a magical land. They have to learn to wield weapons, utilize magic, and deal with risking their lives to save others. Gone are the always confident, unrealistically fearless protagonists. In their place are people who seem fully realized, offering depth and satisfying development throughout the course of this anime.
Recommended by: Alistair Hyde, Gugsy, Marquan, Nomad, Requiem
Our seasonal recommendations articles are the results of weeks of collaboration and discussion by many members of the AniTAY community. Some wrote part of the article, and many took part in the voting and discussion to bring this list to life.
Contributors in Alphabetical Order:
- Alistair Hyde
- Dark Aether
- DJNiipah
- Doctorkev
- Gugsy
- hybridmink
- Marquan
- Nomad
- Reikaze
- Requiem
- Tenshigami
First time experiencing our seasonal recommendation list? Check out last season’s here!
You’re reading AniTAY, a reader-run blog whose writers love everything anime related. To join in on the fun, check out our website, visit our official subreddit, follow us on Twitter, or give us a like on our Facebook page.
