Summer 2024 Review
Hello! I finished* 12 anime from this* season and put them in a ranked list below.
1. Monogatari Series: Off & Monster Season (Nadeko Draw)
Ahhhh Monogatari is still good. That’s all that needs to be said. (I’m stopping about halfway through for now, because the good fansubs are behind, and I want to watch what looks like a Shinobu story all in one go. I’d have to wait another week for the last episode anyway, and we’re already into next season.)
2. Dead Dead Demons Dededede Destruction (ONA)
The characters are amazing, the production is amazing, and the plot is almost amazing (I have an issue with the physics; please feel free to chat me up about it). Everything is just a little bit silly (the influence of Doraemon), but also a little bit grim (the influence of Punpun). The powers that be are so incredibly dumb and selfish; it’s depressing because some world leaders in real life are no different. The themes are good, and the ending is good, but now that it’s over, I can’t help but feel that some things were dropped along the way. It’s still a tour de force and highly recommended.
3. Sengoku Youko: Senma Konton-hen (First half)
This second part to Sengoku Youko might be better than the first. There are bits I like better in Reformation Siblings, but Thousandfold Chaos has more potential at this point, and it successfully uses Reformation Siblings to up the stakes, both literal and emotional. I am stoked to see where it goes. Mizukami is a god (lol). Recommended (of course).
4. Make Heroine ga Oosugiru!
How can a show be so absurd yet so real? Too Many Losing Heroines is funny, touching, and full of lively animation. It hits all sorts of romcom tropes and upends many of them in the process. It’s a tad raunchy, and not entirely full of real substance, but an overall very enjoyable watch. Recommended for people who have seen enough anime romcoms.
5. Mayonaka Punch
Vampires sure are versatile, aren’t they? They can be scary or cool, as is natural. But with all their intricate lore, vampires can be pretty wacky too. (See: garlic, bats, permission to enter dwellings.) There have been some recent vampire comedies (Vlad Love, The Vampire Dies in No Time), but Mayonaka Punch is my favorite vampire show in a hot minute. Each character is suitably silly in their own way, and the vampire silliness doesn’t take up too much nor too little screen time. Just like its OP, it’s high-energy, but there are some emotional beats too, to match the laid-back, sentimental ED.
YouTubers sure are everywhere nowadays. This season, P.A. Works alone put out two shows about them. Mayonaka Punch captures a wide variety of fads and types of online videos and livestreams in an entertaining and sometimes (read: rarely) educational fashion. I was surprised at some of the topics they included because I figured they were too niche. The final livestream was particularly well done. The characters act just like YouTubers too, with how awful some of them are (lmao).
In conclusion: Mayonaka Punch made me feel like a vampire YouTuber. Recommended.
6. Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi
The Elusive Samurai is such a children’s show that the excessive blood and violence is sort of striking. The artistry in the OP, ED, and first few episodes is top-notch. The style and quality overall is well above average. I can’t really complain, but it’s all together no masterpiece, and I sort of resent some aspects of the story. I have to recommend it for the animation alone.
7. Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken 3rd Season
Dungeon! Politics! Girlbosses! Martial Arts Tournament! Logistics! This season has it all. Slime can be a little basic in ways, but I like its many robust characterizations, detailed worldbuilding, and optimism. The first cour drags but the second is fun. Next season should be even more hype.
8. Katsute Mahou Shoujo to Aku wa Tekitai shiteita.
CUTE. The creators clearly wanted to pay respects to the late author (RIP). Extra sad that the final episode isn’t as good, but it does give a nice send-off for an unfinished story. Dunno if I can recommend The Magical Girl and the Evil Lieutenant Used to Be Archenemies, but it’s real pretty . . . .
9. Shoushimin Series
The visual attention to detail is so good that the sometimes-lacking writing lets me down. There are a few incredible episodes (How to Make Delicious Hot Cocoa, Berliner Mystery, But I Get to Keep the Charlotte), but the others tend to be overly complex for no real payoff. The characters and small details are what kept me watching. The theme is . . . a bit pretentious. I will watch the second season, and if it gives us a payoff to the romantic tension, this is a masterpiece. If not, I will be very upset.
10. Isekai Shikkaku
It’s peak. If only the animation were better. So it’s really not that great. Voices are good, but otherwise I prefer the manga. I recommend the manga.
11. Isekai Suicide Squad
Wow the writing is godawful. There are some really cool cuts of animation, but the surrounding glue is sometimes funny, and that’s about it. It was worth watching the final episode, but I was real close to dropping it in the episodes running up to it.
12. Gimai Seikatsu
Studio Deen does a lot here with very little. Maybe that’s the source novel doing the heavy lifting. Days with My Stepsister is slow by design, but sometimes it really is too slow. The sound design at least is incredible.
I didn’t think I was having issues with the writing until episode 11 hit me like a clown with a rubber mallet. They literally have an ethics professor give a pep talk to Saki. Somehow a random acquaintance knows that Yuuta is running from his feelings. “You face things objectively because you grew up without a woman to depend on” says the orphan whose extended family mocked her parents’ deaths. Shut up you have known this guy for less than two days. The emotional beats could have been good if they hadn’t spent half of the final two episodes speedrunning emotional development. Who did this? Trash show.
*some anime are not finished yet, and some started in a previous season; also this review is late
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