Winter 2024 Wrap-Up

With the last handful of titles for the Winter 2024 season having now aired, let’s take a summative look at what worked well and what didn’t this season.

Because of the high volume of titles I managed to follow this season, covering every one of them here would make this post cumbersomely long. Hence I I will only cover those titles where either my opinion has change markedly since the Mid-Season Round-Ups or I have additional commentary to offer.

The following titles from Mid-Season Round-Up part 1 will not be covered here, so refer to the original post for opinions: Fluffy Paradise, Hokkaido Girls are Super-Adorable!, Tales of Wedding Rings (beyond a 2nd season being announced), The Undead Unwanted Adventurer, Tsukimichi – Moonlit Fantasy.

The following titles from Mid-Season Round-Up part 2 will not be covered here, so refer to the original post for opinions: 7th Time Loop, Chained Soldier, The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic, Solo Leveling. The Witch and the Beast still has at least one more episode to go as I write this (its schedule was thrown off by an unplanned off week), so I may write that up separately.

Gushing Over Magical Girls will also not be covered here because a separate write-up on that is definitely pending.

Banished From The Hero’s Party s2

Season Rating: B

I’ve seen some complaints that this season is a step down from the first because it focuses too much on new Hero Van, who is a far less interesting character, but I can’t agree. Red’s interactions with Van create a good dynamic in the last third of the season, one that may not be as endearing as Red’s interactions with Rit (or, to a much lesser extent, Ruti) but allow him to show off his nurturing side much more clearly. Other characters get their chances to shine, too, especially Theodora with her potential romance, and the last episode caps this season exactly the way it should. The business about the mysterious elvish runes and chimeras unfortunately hasn’t gone anywhere yet, but that seems more a teaser for possible future content. If we get no more animation here then this is at least a pretty good stopping point.

Brave Bang Bravern

Series Rating: A-

This was always going to be an entertaining series, but I did not expect it to wind up being compelling, too. Kudos to director Masami Obari for understanding perfectly the passion which drives this kind of cheese and exploiting it to the max, resulting in an utterly glorious finale and many other strong moments along the way. I especially liked some of the savage twists in the later stages of the series and how they ultimately handled Lulu, all without straying in the slightest from no-so-vaguely homoerotic aspects of the series. This was a blast to watch from beginning to end, with my only complaint being that the secondary cast largely gets ignored for the last quarter or so of the series. This is easily one of the top two new series of the season.

Delicious in Dungeon

First Cour Rating: B++

Not everyone was a fan of the more foodie-oriented early episodes, but the series gets stronger as it focuses more on dungeon ecology (something woefully under-explored in other fantasy anime) and the urgency to act on bringing back Falin finally increases. That culminates in the series’ two strongest episodes: the battle against the dragon in episode 11 and the resurrection of Falin in episode 12. If I were rating the series on those two episodes alone, the first half would get an A instead, as they forge into some aspects of dungeon crawls that are barely touched upon and feature a decision doubtless to have deep consequences. If Metallic Rouge is on a downward trajectory, this is on an upward one, to the point that this series is the other of my top two among newly-debuting titles this season.

Doctor Elise: The Royal Lady With The Lamp

Final Rating: B-

I still really want to rate this higher, as this is a series that I got engaged enough with that it actually became a viewing priority. The latter part of the series also builds a bit more on a notion present from the beginning: that Empress Elise may not have have been fully culpable for the offenses which got her burned at the stake in the first go-around, despite what Elise believed about that herself. In particular, it stresses more the factions within the empire, who are determined enough even to attempt to kill Elise at one point, which vaguely suggests that her gullibility in her first life may have been manipulated. These suggestions don’t entirely let Elise off the hook, as there are also suggestions that she was too self-centered and ignorant to have picked up on what was going on. Definitely feels like that line could be explored more if a second series is ever made, and the series doesn’t get to “the lamp” part of the title by its end. The last episode in particular also feels rushed, with some important details glossed over. (An attempted assassination of an unofficial royal fiancée warrants far more hubbub than it got, for instance.) Mediocre technical merits also limit the series greatly. Despite the series’ flaws and oversimplifications, though, Elise is still a heroine worth rooting for, and she certainly earns the attention of the crow prince this time. I will definitely watch more if a second season is made.

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End

Series Rating: A

If I was rating the series on the second half only, I might give it an A- instead, as the First-Class Mage exam felt a little stretched out and too prone to some shonen action conventions. Stark’s minimal involvement was also a bit of a letdown. However, the series still fully delivered on its featured action sequences, sentiment, running jokes, and themes, and the exam introduced several interesting and/or likable characters, too. I’ve seen spoilers which indicate that several of them will pop up again in future story arcs, and I welcome that. Overall, this is still one of the best of all anime fantasy series, the #2 title for the season (narrowly edged out by The Apothecary Diaries), and an early strong contender for being one of the year’s top titles.

Ishura

Rating: B

Ishura is a series which seems to be taking the long path from the beginning, and that may have contributed to why it did not make a positive early impression. This first season, which looks like it adapts only the first source novel, spends several episodes introducing potentially major players – individuals who have abilities well beyond those of normal humans – before thrusting all of them into a pitched battle between an empire and a breakaway city-state. Several don’t survive, but the ones that do will move onto the next stage: a competition to see who will be crowned the True Hero, all apparently orchestrated by the suggestion of a young empress. In other words, the whole season is just one big introduction and set-up, one where the pretenders are weeded out from the legitimate contenders. The series plays better with that understanding. The darker, grittier aesthetic may throw off viewers more used to brighter and bolder colors in anime, but that actually suits the tone of the work well. I’m hesitant to give this one a higher grade until I see more about where it goes, but it has long-term potential.

Metallic Rouge

Rating So Far: B- (and descending)

I’ve seen many series which start out with several episodes of a mostly-episodic format before clicking into higher gear as the bigger plot eventually emerges, and almost invariably, those series get better when they do so. Metallic Rouge is the exception. The series’ strongest points were actually when Rouge and Naomi were just dorking around on one assignment or another, as the two have an excellent chemistry with each other. The common sentiment is that the series lost its way as a plot too convoluted for its run time took hold, and I can’t disagree with that verdict. The series also misses the mark on fully carrying through on whatever themes it’s trying to accomplish; this “artificial people are people too” story has been done several other times (both in anime and out) and done way better than this. Technical merits have also become more erratic in the late episodes, which distinctly gets in the way of the series’ Cool Factor. At least the English dub remains very solid; this is the first major role for Monica Flatley (the voice of Rouge), and she gets her character’s attitude down flawlessly. Episode 12, which aired on 3/28, does not seem to be the final episode, so I guess an episode 13 is coming?

Shangri-La Frontier

Rating So Far: B

It somewhat pains me to drop this series’s grade after delivering so many great action sequences, but the more meandering path the series has taken since the epic Wethermon battle has been a bit of a letdown. Cool fights only go so far when there’s nothing much compelling which backs why they’re happening. It’s still a solidly entertaining series, but it has definitely fallen out of priority viewing status for me over the past few weeks.

Synduality: Noir s2

Season Rating: B-

Through to its end, I could never quite escape the impression that this series was merely retreading over terrain that’s been well-traveled before. Indeed, its late episode are, in many senses, highly reminiscent of the late 2000s Gonzo series Solty Rei, though this series never achieves quite the emotional appeal of that one. Still, seeing Noir and Mystere side-by-side and the former finally start to come into her own in the series’ final stages was quite satisfying, much more so that the comparatively weak bigger plot ultimately was. Many of the Magus also grew on me over the course of the series as characters on their own. Overall, though, the series was hampered by taking so long to turn Noir into a compelling character and relying on an utterly uninteresting main antagonist, hence the reason why I’m lowering the overall grade. Still decent entertainment, but not especially memorable.

The Foolish Angel Dances with The Devil

Series Rating: B-

While hardly the epitome of of great teen romance, the later episodes sold the budding relationship between mortal enemies well enough as the two navigated a number of crises, including the revelations that neither may exactly be normal for their type. The more concerning aspect is that the artistic quality became considerably more erratic in the late episodes, especially the last one. Still, that’s not a crippling problem. The series isn’t a gem, but it’s better (and more entertaining) than what its ratings on some other sites might indicate.

Villainess Level 99

Series Rating: B

The quirky fun factor of this one never lets up, and kudos to Patrick for persevering with such a difficult romantic case like Yumellia. What makes this one noteworthy within the “playing the villainess in an otome game” genre is the way it handles the game’s overarching story. Late episodes show that the game’s plot is a tangible force which can compel certain characters to act certain ways in order to advance the plot, even if that means them acting contrary to the way they have changed and developed thanks to Yumellia, and that has some intriguing possibilities and implications. The revelation of how the Demon Lord fits into the prejudice against dark hair, and how he became the Demon Lord in the first place, is also interesting. Overlook the shoddy CG on the dragon and the limited animation in places and this was one of the season’s solid mid-tier performers.

That will be all for now. I am expecting to post a review for Gushing Over Magical Girls on 3/31 and start the Spring ’24 Preview Guide on 4/1. (One series is having a streaming debut on the 30th, a week ahead of its TV debut, but it hasn’t been claimed yet and it’s not clear if it will be available that day. If it is then the Preview Guide will also start on the 31st.)