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Lenlo:<\/b><\/span> Hello all! It\u2019s been a while huh? Can\u2019t say this is unexpected, as life has a way of delaying things when you no longer hold yourself to a hard schedule. Still, this is way earlier than last year’s Anime of the Year, right? Small blessings. As far as 2024 is concerned, this was a pretty contentious year for us, with a lot of haggling for who thought what deserved to go where, at least outside of our #1 which had a pretty easy victory. That being said, click through to read about our favorite, and least favorite, series of the year as well as plenty of others – including some honorable mentions – and know that the site isn\u2019t dead yet, just taking a bit of a break.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Wooper:<\/b><\/span> It feels a bit like punching down to choose such an obviously troubled production as the worst anime of the year, so let\u2019s kick off this post not by focusing on Uzumaki\u2019s most ramshackle visual moments, but on the narrative problems that plagued it from the very start. Even in the impressive-looking first episode, the show couldn\u2019t boast a single character worth following, nor an effective arc to follow. It jumped into spiral-themed fixation within the first two minutes, and proceeded to circle that drain for twenty more, presenting itself as a slow descent into madness but really just positioning disturbing images and concepts one after another without considering how to most effectively connect them. Ostensible protagonist Shuichi functioned as little more than a spiral-detecting alarm bell, and his girlfriend Kirie, while granted more humanity, was simply an observer of supernatural horrors. She would go on to fight back against the curse in future episodes, but by then the series\u2019 wheels had fallen off, and her courage was wasted on the rest of the charisma vacuums with whom she was forced to share the screen. Uzumaki\u2019s animation may have suffered a legendary falloff, but perhaps the real tragedy here was that its source material was never properly tweaked for TV to begin with.<\/p>\n Runner-up:<\/b><\/span> METALLIC ROUGE, for taking one of the most interesting sci-fi premises of the year and turning it into an absolute mess of unrelated and played out sci-fi concepts.<\/p>\n Mario:<\/b><\/span> I love the original Spice & Wolf. It may suffer from production issues, but the love quarrel between Holo and Lawrence makes it one of my favorite shows of its year. This 2024 version though, despite its updated production, does very little to improve on the original. Comprising three arcs already present in the 2008 series (why?), there\u2019s just something missing in the tone of this new adaptation. Dramatic moments fail to make an impact, and the execution is more clumsy from one scene to another. Meanwhile, the visual presentation lacks the charm and warmth of the original, despite its new coat of paint. The backgrounds, while detailed, can feel sterile, and the animation occasionally dips in a way that undermines the emotional weight of the key scenes. This 2024 version can still serve as a good introduction for new fans of this universe, but for those of us who waited years for a continuation, the series feels like a shadow of its former self.<\/p>\n Runner-up:<\/b><\/span> KAIJU NO. 8, for squandering its excellent premiere by devolving into power level-fueled Attack on Titan mimicry.<\/p>\n Lenlo:<\/b><\/span> It takes a lot of work to create a character as negatively impactful towards a series as Yorishige Suwa. Billed as a dramatized historical epic about a young child retaking his lands and fighting back against a tyrannical warlord, Elusive Samurai was set up for success with its likeable, layered lead and his compelling quest for revenge, and Yorishige was positioned as his knowledgeable mentor. At every turn however, he did his level best to ruin that. From acting like a childish idiot and refusing to actually do much of anything, to being constantly used for concerning and awkwardly sexual jokes about children, Yorishige tore us away from every dramatic scene, every compelling plot, and every moment of peace between conflicts. In every way imaginable, he brought Elusive Samurai down, and it\u2019s for that reason that he is our Worst Character of 2024.<\/p>\n Runner-up:<\/b><\/span> YUKIO OKUMURA (Blue Exorcist), for throwing away his brother\u2019s kindness and care, being a stuck up pretty-boy, and is generally just the bane of this show\u2019s existence.<\/p>\n Amun:<\/b><\/span> If hearing me babble on about how much I liked Dandadan – crass humour issues aside – isn\u2019t for you, then you might want to skip most of this post. I think I have at least 3 blurbs about this show in our 2024 Anime of the Year. Let\u2019s start at the beginning, when we first met our silly teenagers and why this episode won out. A premiere is a chance to really hook an audience – get them to buy into the core premise of the show. Momo, a pretty girl with a very particular taste in guys (which isn\u2019t going well for her), meets a supernatural nerd. They both have rather competitive personalities concerning aliens and the occult, so they dare each other to try and prove the other one wrong by going to hotspots. Then it goes sideways. Seems a simple enough premise – so why the high praise? Basically, it\u2019s the relationship of the two – there are plenty of shows that do nerd + pretty girl, but I haven\u2019t seen as many where the two leads have such great chemistry. The snappy conversations, the extremely believable petty conflicts, and the fast paced humor really nails how these two are actually great as a pair, social differences notwithstanding. Finally, what secures the win for me is tying the episode all together with Okarun\u2019s real name – fantastically tying up the episode to provide a complete first story while still previewing the great journey to come. And, as we discuss later in the post, this season turned out to be a visually stunning outing with great character relationships, proving that the first episode delivered on its promise.<\/p>\n Runner-up:<\/b><\/span> A SIGN OF AFFECTION, for creating an engrossing interior world for its main character through muted sound design and attractive lighting.<\/p>\n Wooper:<\/b><\/span> The four of us were split on Dandadan this year; two writers were fans and two were decidedly not. Despite falling into the latter camp, though, I greatly admired its seventh offering, which spent half of its runtime documenting the tragic former life of a malevolent spirit named Acrobatic Silky. This was a real departure for the show, as it shed its typical irreverence and, with almost no dialogue, told the story of a single mother struggling to make ends meet. Through stark depictions of self-managed prostitution and a violent encounter with a loan shark, \u201cTo a Kinder World\u201d constructed the sort of cruel reality that might truly give birth to a fearsome youkai. That the relationship between the nameless mother and her cheerful daughter was so sweet only made her death more bitter, but the episode still found beauty in its conclusion, with a spellbinding ballet sequence atop a moonlit lake in the mind of the dying woman, and a plea from one of Silky\u2019s present day victims that she and her daughter be reborn under a more benevolent star. If I return to Dandadan for its second season, it will be only with the hope that another work of art like this one will be waiting for me.<\/p>\n Runner-up:<\/b><\/span> ORB: ON THE MOVEMENTS OF THE EARTH #3, for turning a romanticized historical drama on its head and into something unexpected and special.<\/p>\nWorst of the Worst<\/span><\/h1>\n
Worst Show: Uzumaki<\/h2>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\nBiggest Disappointment:
\nSpice and Wolf (2024)<\/h2>\n<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/p>\nWorst Character: Yorishige Suwa
\n(The Elusive Samurai)<\/h2>\n<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/p>\nGeneral Categories<\/span><\/h1>\n
Best First Episode: Dandadan<\/h2>\n
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\n<\/a><\/p>\nBest Single Episode: Dandadan #7<\/h2>\n
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\n<\/a><\/p>\nBest OP: \u201cOtonoke\u201d (Dandadan)<\/h2>\n