Last year I posted a summary of the 2023 anime season, so this year I’m doing the same for 2024, hoping to make it a yearly tradition for my end-of-year blog.
Although, actually, last year's goal was to post quarterly reports this year. Clearly, writing this at the end of the year means a huge DEBUFF for the shows from January to April. Besides that, I really enjoyed the October 2023 show "Overtake!" I wanted to write a special discussion about it, but that was also put on hold. However, to excuse myself, the period until my graduation in April or May this year was the most painful time of my life so far, and after graduation, there were many changes and a lot to keep me busy.
I don't know if I can manage to write more discussions in 2025, but anyway, I'm still alive, and I plan to live with youthful enthusiasm. At least I need to push myself to write this year-end summary.
That said, I started writing this on December 25th, because after participating in the MoonBit compiler competition in October, I accumulated a bunch of shows I hadn’t watched and a lot I wanted to catch up on, but I can only do this for now. Special mentions will be included in next January's report.
Ending my rambling, the following is basically sorted in the order I finished watching, with multi-season works possibly merged into the first entry. Comments will be lengthy if I have something to say, or short if I don’t, and the content includes ratings that are completely subjective and for fun, with no reference value or comparability. This year, I’ve added a "Must Watch of the Year" ladder list.
Anime#
January#
The External World is Too Strong, the Guys from Another World Are No Match.: 5 / 10. As long as you stitch enough elements together, it can become a form of art.
Sasaki and Bunbō's Little Bibi: 4 / 10. If it hasn’t become art, it means there aren’t enough stitches. Also, the first episode tricked people in with a JK (JC), but then there were hardly any of her scenes throughout the season, refund please.
The Way of the Encounter: 5 / 10. A daily anime with a meaningless Mahjong theme.
It's Time for Princess to "Interrogate": 6 / 10. It’s somewhat interesting for the first couple of episodes, but it gets repetitive with not much new content, and the production is decent enough to watch.
Welcome to the Classroom of the Elite Season 3: 5 / 10. Stuck.
Dreaming of Becoming a Magical Girl: 7 / 10. Amazing.
Something Dangerous in My Heart Season 2: 8 / 10.
Weak Hero Classmate Season 2: 7 / 10. I quite liked the second half featuring the white-haired character.
Courage Explodes Bang Bravern: 7 / 10. Not on the same wavelength, but it feels okay.
Cardfight!! Vanguard DivineZ: 6 / 10.
Great Deceiver razbliuto: 6 / 10. Feels inferior to the previous ones.
True Tears: 8 / 10. Watched it after finishing "Oka Factory".
Two half-season shows left from October 2023: The Reincarnation of the Strongest Exorcist in Another World, The Apothecary Diaries, good.
Next are some unfinished TODOs:
Touching Fingertips, Reluctant to Part: Might check it out when I have time.
Metal Lipstick: Watched half, tasteless, but a pity to drop.
Movies:
Welcome to Komada Distillery: 6 / 10.
Alice and Therese's Illusion Factory: 8 / 10.
Domestic Productions:
Fate Boxing Ring: 7 / 10. A spiritual sequel to Angel Beats, a domestic version of Jun Maeda, in various positive and negative senses.
A Day in the Life of a Train Conductor: A pretty cute short film.
April#
Konosuba: An Explosion on This Wonderful World!: 7 / 10. Megumin is adorable.
Konosuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World! Season 2: 7 / 10. I dropped the second season halfway back then, but I caught up with all of it now.
Movie: Konosuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World! Legend of Crimson: 7 / 10.
Konosuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World! Season 3: 7 / 10.
Grisaia no Kajitsu / Grisaia no Meikyuu / Grisaia no Rakuen: 8 / 10. Watched it for the card game, overall worth catching up on. The first part, Grisaia no Kajitsu, is a more traditional visual novel adaptation, and the storylines of the female leads are quite good, especially the one involving Suou Tenjin, imagining a "survival of the fittest" scenario. The latter two parts are autobiographical tales of the male lead's tumultuous life. It seems there will be a sequel set in the same universe next year.
Delicious in Dungeon: 8 / 10. This work constructs a complete DND-style dungeon world and ecology; while it looks great, it makes me feel physically uncomfortable. I am Marusiru.webp.
Fastest Star Dance: 4 / 10. Are you sure this isn’t F1? There’s nothing to watch, everything is very humorous. The funniest impression is that the female lead's ultimate move is to drift in a venue like F1?
Black Butler: School Arc: 6 / 10. Watched it for nostalgia; I used to follow Black Butler with my girlfriend. I completely forgot what the previous story was about; this episode is just average.
God Desires Games.: 5 / 10.
Reincarnated as the 7th Prince, I Can Go Anywhere with Magic Learning: 6 / 10. A decently produced isekai.
The Jellyfish at Night Can't Swim: 5 / 10. Starring Miku Ito, the first episode gave me a very experienced feeling, but unfortunately, the story was unsatisfactory.
Behind the Scenes of Voice Acting Broadcasts: 6 / 10. Starring Miku Ito, the earlier episodes were too focused on yuri and humor, until the last chapter, EP 12, which was the content I wanted to see the most: real voice actors performing.
Where Does the Doomsday Train Go?: 7 / 10. Although it’s quite abstract and electric, it’s full of imagination. For me, its issues are similar to "Delicious in Dungeon," making me feel a bit physically uncomfortable.
Sound! Euphonium Season 3: ? / 10. Regardless of how reasonable the plot, character development, and performance design are, it can be good or bad. But emotionally, I can't accept the story given in episode 12 of "Kyoukai no Kanata." Because, in my eyes, "Kyoukai no Kanata" isn't necessarily that kind of work, and I don't think it has to be adapted this way.
GIRLS BAND CRY: 8 / 10. A bit regrettable; the first 8 episodes were quite exciting, but I won’t copy and paste my tweets from when I was hyped. However, the later episodes didn’t meet my expectations. Also, I tried to get a ticket for the 1000th show but failed, so I’ll take a break for a while (x.
Mushoku Tensei II: Jobless Reincarnation - Part 2: 7 / 10. Still good, I might check out the original work directly.
Amnesia Capture: 9 / 10. Amazing.
Next are a bunch of unfinished TODOs:
Laid-Back Camp Season 3: 6 / 10. I followed the first 8 episodes, but didn’t have time to watch the rest. I only remember going to see the suspension bridge every day; the pacing is also problematic, and it feels hard to continue. I’ll binge-watch it when I have time.
Love Song of Light: I just found out it stopped airing for half a year and then released two episodes, but let’s read the manga instead.
The Idolmaster: Shiny Colors: Watched three or four episodes, and like last year's Million Live, non-core fans have no idea what’s going on. Even the performance strategy of this work is more aggressive compared to Million Live. Let’s just watch our school horse.
Spice and Wolf: Merchant Encounter with the Wise Wolf: I haven’t watched the old version either, but I’ll catch up when I have the chance.
Domestic movies released:
Spy x Family: Code White: 7 / 10. Good, feels like watching Conan.
Howl's Moving Castle: 9 / 10. First time watching, I’ll check it out again when I have the chance.
What Kind of Life Do You Want to Live?: 8 / 10. First time watching, I’ll check it out again when I have the chance. Both of these Miyazaki films were watched during a very low point in my life, so I’ll definitely rewatch them when I have time.
Doraemon: Nobita's Earth Symphony: 7 / 10.
DEAD DEAD DEMON'S DEDEDEDE DESTRUCTION Part 1: 8 / 10. Premiered at the Shanghai International Film Festival, presenting a precarious daily life under the apocalypse; my favorite part was the latter half with Doraemon + Death Note.
DEAD DEAD DEMON'S DEDEDEDE DESTRUCTION Part 2: 6 / 10. The second part was completely incomprehensible, resembling a typical world system. The main storyline gave me the impression that both the logic and emotional flow were disjointed, and the story's form was quite typical, making it hard to understand. Moreover, some settings and developments could have been explored further, while others felt completely unnecessary, which I found quite regrettable.
Your Color: 7 / 10. Watched the screening at the Shanghai International Film Festival, but unfortunately, there’s been no news of it being released by the end of the year. I can’t remember the content clearly, just that the award speech at the festival said, “Wrote a story where there was none.”
Domestic Productions:
Starting from Game to Become a Billionaire: 5 / 10. Just casually watching a web novel adaptation.
July#
The Neighboring Girl Ellie Who Occasionally Whispers in Russian: 6 / 10. What a girl, not very familiar, let’s just watch our sister Suou Yuki.
Both Leaf and Flower: 6 / 10. This was the one I was most looking forward to in July due to its production team, but unfortunately, its performance fell far below expectations, lacking brilliance in either yuri relationships or the story itself. As I write this, Mujica has only a few days left, but I’ll believe in it for now. However, the OP looks quite colorful.
Midnight Heavy Punch: 8 / 10. The most surprising one in July; I didn’t have high expectations for PA Works and the self-media theme. In EP12, it was obvious that the ghost was ribu, but the scale of it really surprised me, and the story itself was complete and tight. This is a microcosm of the overall impression of Midnight Heavy Punch; the story is neat, the emotions are sincere, and undoubtedly, it delivers a high-scoring answer for self-media-related themes. In contrast, the stories of "The Jellyfish at Night" and "The Flower in July" are fragmented, with nonsensical story progression. Especially with the jellyfish, do their stories and themes really have anything to do with each other? Here in Midnight Heavy Punch, you can genuinely feel the author's understanding of self-media content. Although Masaki often complains that their videos aren’t great, those videos actually have the potential to become hits, capturing elements like exaggeration, contrast, embarrassment, and sincere emotions in those episodic stories. It’s not just a depiction of so-called controversies; these joyful elements truly reflect the most authentic portrayal of self-media.
Small Town Series: 6 / 10.
The Disappearing Sweet Songstress of Aigu Island: 7 / 10. The biggest dark horse; summarizing this film in three consecutive words would be suspense, thriller, and passion. In one word, it’s abstract.
Too Many Defeated Female Leads!: 9 / 10. Amazing.
The Tale of the Wand and Sword: 7 / 10. An absurdly produced isekai; if I had to choose one from all the isekai I watched this year, it would still be this one. Although the overall story direction is quite formulaic, you can still feel the author’s serious depiction of the world view and the inferiority complex of each character from the lower world.
【My Favorite Child】 Season 2: 7 / 10.
Life with My Stepsister: 7 / 10. I won’t praise its director and performance too much; it’s already on next year’s light novel TODO list.
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 3: 5 / 10. Just stuck.
Speedy Otaku: 7 / 10. I planned to buy a road bike, so I watched this anime, and it was pretty good.
Next are a bunch of unfinished and TODOs:
Love Can't Be Cleared with Gemini: TODO, currently still on the first episode, should check it out.
Senpai is a Boy: TODO, currently halfway through, seems to have some interesting stories about friends, should find time to finish it.
2.5D Temptation: TODO, currently still on the first episode, should check it out.
As a VTuber, I Became a Legend Because I Forgot to Turn Off the Stream: 5 / 10. Watched 2 episodes, might check it out, might not. The original light novel and the corresponding Sakura PV have been around for several years, and this meme can only be deemed as a bad rehash from a current perspective. Besides, the hardest part to bear is that the suit and the real person are actually the same outfit; if the skin and the person are the same, I suggest just turning on the camera to be a female streamer, making the virtual aspect quite ridiculous.
Atori - My Beloved Time -: Promoted the game before the anime aired, so I’m actually not interested in watching the anime.
Nanoko's Watchful Eye: Watched 2 episodes, should drop it; it feels off, and the best part of this show is its OP.
Movies:
Your Name.: 10 / 10. Re-release, I don’t remember much, should be the third viewing on the big screen. In fact, aside from the development direction of this film, it’s not much different from watching a new film. However, after 8 years of growth, I noticed more details upon rewatching. Surprisingly, this film has a very neat story, with many early Shinkai Makoto style Easter eggs.
The Foolish Young Man Who Doesn't Want to Be a Beautiful Girl in Elementary School: 6 / 10. Watched it because someone dragged me along; I hadn’t seen the previous movie, felt average, might catch up later.
Detective Conan: The Five-Pointed Star of Million Dollars: 6 / 10. Popcorn.
The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbye: 6 / 10. Before its domestic release, I specifically read the novel, and the story itself and the stage it takes place in are overly classic, to the extent that I could visualize very detailed and complete storyboards. Overall, it feels like the original work is quite ordinary, and the movie probably can’t adapt anything special. However, the movie made significant changes to the original, completely transforming it into a love story between the male and female leads. This modification is positive, making it clearer and more complete than the original, with a tight pace, and some designs are quite clever. But it also brought up issues, such as the lack of the sister/family line, making the final entry and exit of the tunnel seem quite ridiculous. Another issue is that whether in the original or the movie, the title includes "summer," yet there’s no sense of summer at all. This quarter, both "Too Many Defeated Female Leads!" and "Atori" are works with a strong summer atmosphere. But especially in the movie, I thought it was still during the rainy season.
October#
Devil King 2099: 6 / 10. Miku Ito has so many leading roles this year, but surprisingly, this one is relatively successful among them. By the way, how did you know I’m going to Miku Ito’s fan meeting in Shanghai next month? The performances of several voice actors in this film contributed almost all the positive impressions, with the male lead’s very charming self-introduction, the lively Chinese hacker girl, and Miku’s makina who could be my mom. But unfortunately, the film started with a non-traditional isekai 爽文 vibe, paired with Miku’s voice, which was very appealing; but then, after the opening, it transitioned into makina’s arc, entering the magic school segment, and immediately fell into typical tropes, with makina becoming a vase who only says one or two lines per episode. Well, actually, I just wanted to hear a few lines from Miku.
Fastest Car Soul Season 2: 5 / 10. The only redeeming part of this film is the racing scenes, specifically the visuals of the cars racing and the sound coordination, which feels quite good. However, everything else is fragmented. In such sports anime, the races are set up to narrate character stories, showcase character personalities, and create a stage for interactions between different characters. In MFG, it deliberately tries to create a sense of real-time live racing, switching between different characters like a camera, coldly narrating what happens on the track, leading to two major issues: a collapse of narrative pacing and a lack of character development. Additionally, the emotional scenes are incomprehensible, and I’m not particularly familiar with the original "Initial D."
Blue Box: 7 / 10. The most anticipated youth romance sports theme in October; the badminton scenes at the beginning were really cool, with some deliciously twisted elements. However, the half-season plot is still progressing, looking forward to the explosive moments.webp.
The Joy and Sorrow of Fishing: 8 / 10. The most stunning original animation of this quarter; I initially only watched the first 3 episodes and didn’t continue, but after catching up, I was completely surprised by how solid and excellent this work is. I would crown it as the true "What Kind of Life Do You Want to Live?" Overall, this work, like "Midnight Heavy Punch," delivers an exceptionally neat and solid exemplary work within a fixed original anime framework: the first 3 episodes introduce the story, episodes 4 to 9 feature character-centric episodic stories, and episodes 10 to 12 explode the final conflict, bringing the story to a climax before wrapping up. The first 3 episodes provide some appealing points, such as fishing and the male lead’s debt, while "Midnight Heavy Punch" features a video blogger. The character-centric episodic stories in the middle promote character growth and showcase the directors’ skills, with "The Joy and Sorrow of Fishing" contributing excellent episodic stories like the narration in episode 7 and the father-son relationship in episode 8. In the final episodes, it unveils previously planted foreshadowing, igniting the climax of the story, resolving issues, and concluding. In contrast, similarly structured original works like "The Day I Became a God" raised the stakes too high in the beginning and couldn’t maintain it later. This leads to the standout point of this work: fishing is an indispensable element, linking the entire story together, reflecting the personalities of all characters, and ultimately resolving the conflict between the two male leads with an exhilarating fishing scene for Ranker sea bass.
God's Choice Season 2: 5 / 10. Identified as a dumpling wrapped in this meta vinegar, even the meta vinegar is tasteless and a pity to discard. The cost of this is the sluggish pacing of the early episodes of the second season, the completely collapsed narrative in the later part, and what seems to be an attempt at artistic electric wave endings. To add a bit more commentary on this meta setting, the most humorous part is that Kami (God), who is the screenwriter, is actually a human form and fights alongside everyone in the same dimension.
Spirit Chronicles 2: 4 / 10. The best part of this season was reminiscing about the first season and the encounter with the little teacher.
Next are a bunch of TODOs.
Puni Lul is a Cute Slime: Haven’t watched it yet.
Top Evil Road: TODO, still on the second episode. Starring Miku Ito, currently feels quite boring.
Frozen Cards: Underground Mahjong Duel Record: 5 / 10. A few years ago, I watched the complete live-action drama explanation at Fire Dragon Fruit, and the animation feels a bit hard to bear; it seems I’ve been influenced by the live-action drama.
Earth. - About the Movement of the Earth -: 7 / 10. Currently still at the beginning of the second generation story, haven’t caught up with the latest episode. To be honest, without spoilers, I was quite shocked when I finished the third episode.
Love Live! Superstar!! Season 3: TODO, still on the first episode.
One Million Dollar Game: TODO, still on the first episode.
Re - Starting Life in Another World Season 3: Attack Arc: TODO, the first episode is quite long, I only watched half.
The Forbidden Reasoning of Duck Bridge: TODO, still on the first episode, should check it out since I watched the first season in 2023.
Movies:
The Sea in the Box: 7 / 10. A few years ago, there was a preview for the New Year’s festival; to be honest, the final product didn’t meet the expectations set a few years ago. Watching it now feels more like a large-scale live-action role-playing video, a popcorn work that’s worth a watch.
Looking Back: 8 / 10. Not quite understanding, so I won’t comment much.
Detective Conan: The Crossroads of the Labyrinth: 7 / 10. Recently re-released in theaters, I went to watch it again; the separations and reunions of several couples are the biggest highlights.
Games / Offline Activities#
Only promoted ATRI.
In June, I went to the Shanghai International Film Festival screening and watched the first and second parts of "DEAD DEAD DEMON'S DEDEDEDE DESTRUCTION" and "Your Color."
In September, I went to MyGO Shanghai.
Must Watch of the Year#
- Too Many Defeated Female Leads!: 9 / 10.
- The Joy and Sorrow of Fishing: 8 / 10.
- Midnight Heavy Punch: 8 / 10.
- Amnesia Capture: 9 / 10.
- The Disappearing Sweet Songstress of Aigu Island: 7 / 10.
- GIRLS BAND CRY: 8 / 10.
- 【My Favorite Child】 Season 2: 7 / 10.
- Something Dangerous in My Heart Season 2: 7 / 10.
- DEAD DEAD DEMON'S DEDEDEDE DESTRUCTION Part 1: 8 / 10.
- Life with My Stepsister: 7 / 10.
- Blue Box: 7 / 10.
- Where Does the Doomsday Train Go?: 7 / 10.
- The Tale of the Wand and Sword: 7 / 10.
- The Neighboring Girl Ellie Who Occasionally Whispers in Russian: 6 / 10.
- Looking Back: 8 / 10.
- Delicious in Dungeon: 8 / 10.
- Mushoku Tensei II: Jobless Reincarnation - Part 2: 7 / 10.
- The Jellyfish at Night Can't Swim: 5 / 10.
- Earth. - About the Movement of the Earth -: 7 / 10.
- Dreaming of Becoming a Magical Girl: 7 / 10.
If you don’t know what you’re about to see, then you definitely shouldn’t watch:
- Sound! Euphonium Season 3: ? / 10.
- God's Choice Season 2: 5 / 10.