The Best and Worst of the Summer 2024 Anime Lineup [Part 2]
Rhianne Ward
Note: this post has been transferred over from my old Wordpress blog. I could go through the trouble of reformatting everything with supporting images and italicisation and whatever else, but I don't really have time to do all that unfortunately, and I'd prefer to spend my time writing new things than labouring over the old. So, if anything looks a little weird or messy, that's why. I hope you enjoy it regardless!
Hey! This is a continuation of a previous post, which you can view here! You don’t necessarily have to read it to understand this post or whatever, but if you’re looking for my thoughts on a specific series and it isn’t on this list, it’ll probably be there.
In the meantime, here’s a quick summary of the plan here. I have decided to watch the first episode of as many anime airing in the Summer 2024 season as possible, and give my thoughts on them. The quality varies wildly, as you might expect, and there have been as many diamonds in the rough as there are crippling disappointments. But which is which? Find out here!
Tower Of God: Season 2
I really liked the first season of Tower of God when I watched it last week. I’ve been aware of its existence for ages but held off on giving it a try because I kept hearing about how it falls off near the end and isn’t worth the time investment. Well, it turns out that straight up isn’t true because it’s awesome all the way through, but I think it might have been the cliffhanger ending that left a lot of folks upset.
However, with this new season, any worry about things being left unsaid should be silenced, at least a little. The story picks up after what seems like a few years following the events of the previous season, with a brand new protagonist in Ja Wangnan, a man stagnating at the 20th floor of the Tower, unable to move past the challenge he is required to beat. It’s unclear what, if anything, has changed between last season and this one, though it is evident that time has passed and we are in uncharted territory.
I’ll just say this right away: I do not like the artstyle change. I learned recently that apparently the first season’s attempt at emulating the pencil-drawn Webtoon style from which the original manhwa originates wasn’t received universally well, which is crazy to me because I think it’s really distinct and absolutely gorgeous. There isn’t many anime that look like Tower of God does, and that’s entirely to its benefit. The new season adopts a much more generic look, and it suffers for it. I think it loses that original’s sense of otherworldliness to an extent. But I suppose it isn’t surprising that they went this direction considering the studio and staff change between seasons.
That being said, animation does look a bit stiffer now, and the general vibe is just less…vibey. I hope I turn out to be incorrect in this assessment and the show continues being peak, because I am very fond of this universe and want to see my boy Bam succeed in all his dreams. At the very least, I know the plot is going to slap (unless we get Promised Neverland 2‘d, at which point I will kill myself swiftly).
Verdict: more Tower of God = yay! Less cool Tower of God artstyle = boo! Overall = see how it goes.
Wistoria: Wands & Swords
I feel like all the marketing for this show is depicting the protagonist Will like he’s this badass sword wielding bitch, as if it isn’t immediately apparent the moment he opens his mouth that he’s a complete dork. Straight up, if I’d known that was going to be the tone for his character going in, I would’ve been a lot more keen, and were it not for this project I’m doing, I wouldn’t have thought about watching this for a single second.
In practice, Wistoria is an unbelievably gorgeous, extremely fun show with some very interesting magic concepts right out the gate. The sun in this universe only exists because mages created an all-encompassing light in the sky that is constantly maintained, because otherwise the world would be perpetually shrouded in darkness. If that doesn’t sound cool to you, I have nothing more to say.
It also helps that this is the best animated show I’ve watched this past week. It reminded me of Jujutsu Kaisen in the way different animation cuts are soaked in the unique style of whichever individual animator worked on it. It makes for a unique look brimming with motion and life. It’s obvious that a lot of love went into this one on the presentation side.
The only gripe I’ve got is that the narrative isn’t wowing me right now. It seems like a pretty standard shonen tale of overcoming adversity by being the strongest guy to ever do it of all time. The only difference is I am a big fan of Will. He’s demonstrated so far that he’s a complete goober who is incidentally insanely good at swordfighting. I hope they go somewhere more interesting than the premise suggests.
Verdict: absolutely stunning and a thrill to watch, but it might end up being a little surface-level on the story side.
My Deer Friend Nokotan
To be completely honest, there’s not an awful lot I can say about this anime that isn’t just self-evident from watching it for less than a minute, and I mean that in the best possible way.
This is a story of a delinquent turned student council president, and a deer girl who causes her mask to slip by being so cataclysmically chaotic that the logic of the world turns upside down. It’s one of those high school gag anime a la Nichijou, though not quite as batshit as that one. The humour is absurdist and bizarre in the most beautiful ways, but again, I’m not going to be able to describe why it’s funny; it just kind of is.
I truly have nothing more to say. You need to see it to believe it. It is wonderful. That’s all!
Verdict: it’s funny! Watch it if you like laughing!
Mayonaka Punch
My fucking god, these vampires gay! Good for them, good for them.
Well, sort of. The “romance” at the heart of this story is that of the protagonist and the vampire who is desperate to drink her blood. Like most vampire fiction, the blood drinking thing reads explicitly as a form of lust or yearning, and I’m a sucker for that kind of framing so of course I ended up enjoying this one. Not to mention the premise is pretty funny; a cancelled YouTuber tries to restart her online career, and enlists the help of a vampire who she thinks will help her create videos nobody’s ever seen before. It’s an anime for our content-brained generation, and you have to possess at least a little interest in how YouTube works to get engaged here, but I do, so I am.
It remains to be seen whether or not the show ends up portraying the online space accurately, but it seems to have a good understanding thus far so I’m feeling optimistic about it. And by the grace of the gods, this vampire lesbian WILL secure the (blood) bag.
Verdict: fun concept matched with above average production quality, all brought together by gay bullshit. It’s a good time!
Days With My Stepsister
You know, while watching this and hearing the genuinely beautiful soundtrack, I visualised a situation where a friend asks me what this masterful piano piece comes from, and I am forced to answer that it is from a stepsibling romance anime.
I might be truly cooked as a human being for this, but I straight up genuinely enjoyed the first episode of this anime. This is one that I immediately blanked when I was deciding what to watch for this project, for obvious reasons. Anime being known for its degeneracy isn’t exactly a coincidence; it’s a medium known for the sheer amount of niches it fills. If you can think of a subject, more likely than not there is an anime about it, for better or for worse. As such, the romance genre is itself rife with stories across an enormous spectrum, ranging from cutesy to sincere, all the way to straight up garbage. And then you get the taboo stuff, such as Days With My Stepsister.
On the surface, the vibes are bad from the jump. The plot summary reads like an anime that appeals to the venn diagram of people who love slow burn dramas, and porn addicts (like I said, a niche for everyone). And yet, this show is not only popular, but so is the source material, and there has to be a reason for that beyond the blanket assumption of average anime fans as degenerate weirdos. Or this is another Alya situation and I was about to get duped yet again. I went into this expecting to find it, at best, kinda icky, and at worst, utter dogshit. And yet…
It actually pisses me off how much I enjoyed this. I want to be able to look you, dear reader, dead in the eyes and explain that no I did not like the stepsibling romance anime. AND YET, beyond the admittedly navel gazey dialogue lies a show brimming with life and kindness. There’s a legitimate beauty to the way this opening episode depicts the main pair finding ways to circumvent the inherent awkwardness of living together for reasons outside their control, by enacting small kindnesses for one another, like Saki explaining that she’d prefer Yuta speak less formally to her, or Yuta drawing a new bath for Saki when he’s done with his. There’s also these sweet little wordless scenes of the two of them getting used to living with each other, like when Yuta goes to put his shoes away only to find his usual spot in the rack occupied, or Saki trying to figure out the light switches and their respective lights. I think presentationally, this show is deceptively simple, yet the framing is bursting with texture if you pay attention to the little things.
And oh my god the music! This comparison makes me wanna kill myself for even thinking it, but the closest comparison I can make regarding the soundtrack is to that of Masakatsu Takagi’s Wolf Children. Believe me, I am as devastated to admit this as you are to hear it.
There’s just such an unusual level of care put into this series I was so ready to dismiss as trash. I mean, ultimately there’s still a good chance that this ends up being a dumpster fire anyway. After all, no amount of pretty music or tasteful cinematography can mask a stench that rotten. But until we dig far enough to find that mouldy fruit at the bottom of the bin bag, I’m just gonna enjoy what’s here. It’s no masterpiece by any means – the main characters are kinda boring, and the episode dragged in places – but it far exceeded my expectations. Maybe it’ll be worth it, in the end.
Verdict: if you look past the fact that we all know where this road leads, this anime is really quite special. Might be best just to take my word for it though.
No Longer Allowed in Another World
Ooh, another disappointment! My favourite!
It’s a shame, because this premise is potentially so funny. A suicidal author has his perfect death foiled by an isekai situation, which transports him into another world and expects him to become a hero that saves it. Of course, he’s deeply uninterested in the idea, given that he really just wants to be dead, but the world and its magical properties resists his attempts at escaping it.
In concept, a very funny interpretation of the isekai formula. In practice, earth-shatteringly boring. To be honest, I wish it was a bit worse so I could make the “this anime made me suicidal too!” joke but it’s not quite that bad.
This show’s main crime is that it’s just quite lazy. Its observations on the isekai formula are incredibly surface level and lack any substance beyond “omg he was hit by a truck guys!!” On top of that, it indulges in the subgenre’s worst ecchi habits, with its hypersexualised female designs, grope humour, and every woman fawning over the protagonist despite him being the world’s foremost vibe killer. It’s entirely possible that these things are in there as an ongoing bit about how vapid and dumb these tropes are, but considering the show makes no attempt to subvert those tropes in any meaningful way, it kinda just ends up doing the trope and that’s it.
This is dumb guy anime, but not even the good kind that goes hard. It’s an example of a potentially good idea, matched with an author lacking the imagination or inquisitive spirit to do anything cool with it.
Verdict: lazy, uninteresting, and ugly. This one isn’t worth even an episode of time investment.
Bye Bye, Earth
This episode was…alright! What peaked my immediate interest was the involvement of composer Kevin Penkin, who kills it in pretty much every production he’s a part of. True to form, his music elevates what is ultimately a pretty unremarkable first impression.
Bye Bye, Earth is the story of Belle, a lone human who, as a child, appears in a world populated entirely by anthropomorphic animal people. Of course, she’s shunned as an outcast by most, but is taken in by a cat guy who trains her as a warrior. Being presumably from another realm, she is afforded heightened physical abilities that make her well fitted to this new lifestyle. The opening sequence displays as much, showing her running on water (please don’t be a Jesus allegory) and wielding an enormous sword (probably not a Jesus allegory).
I think the main issue with Bye Bye, Earth is that it looks quite cheap. The actual monster design and general aesthetic is quite unique, but in motion it appears stilted, lacking the energy it wishes to convey. I think in most cases that wouldn’t be so noticeable, but in a season so packed with gorgeously animated anime brimming with life, I can see this one struggling to stand out in the long run.
Verdict: interesting concept and a beautiful soundtrack unfortunately can’t distract from this show failing to meet the quality bar set by its contemporaries. Time will tell if it has more to offer.
The Magical Girl and the Evil Lieutenant Used to Be Archenemies
This one’s kinda fun, because the episodes are only 12 minutes long, half the length of your typical TV anime. I’ve never really watched a series like this, and I’ve gotta say, it’s kinda refreshing!
Of course, that feeling wouldn’t resonate much if the show itself sucked, but luckily it doesn’t! It’s the tale of two adversaries, a magical girl named Byakuya, and Miller, the second-in-command of the evil organisation looking to dominate the world. The pair finding themselves at odds for obvious reasons, but with one small caveat: they have fallen in love with each other.
What follows is a very cute, very funny depiction of a man going insane at the prospect of falling for his archenemy, to the point where he is incapable of not buying her delicious desserts and sharing it with her over a nice cup of tea. It’s a treat to see this very serious man flustered like a teenager, making me realise a very specific character type that it turns out I’m extremely fond of.
If I had any critiques to make, which is hard to do given that I’m working off 12 minutes of programming, I’d say that I think the joke would have landed even better if Miller looked more explicitly evil. Like straight up make him an out and out cartoon villain, but change nothing else, and watch as peak unfolds. I’d also like it if we get to see more from Byakuya’s perspective, but it’s entirely possible that will happen in future episodes, so I’d not gonna hold that against this show right now.
Verdict: really cute and really pretty! I hope this flop continues flopping infinitely, because it gives me life.
Narenare -Cheer For You!-
I feel like every season there’s a handful of low-stakes anime starring high school girls doing some kind of hobby or whatever. It’s not normally a subgenre I go for, given that in a lot of ways it is deliberately inoffensive art, not designed to subvert anyone’s expectations, but rather simply meet them.
Narenare is decidedly one of those. It’s about a high school cheerleading troupe who are shaken after one of their members is injured during a routine at Nationals, causing her to become wheelchair-bound. Or it’s possible that she just has a debilitating illness that caused her to tumble during the routine. To be honest, it’s not made extremely clear based on the information given during this first episode; that or I may be stupid, which is probably more likely.
That’s my main issue with Narenare at the moment: it’s not entirely clear where everyone is at emotionally. The protagonist Kanata doesn’t do cheerleading anymore, but her reasons for it aren’t made particularly apparent. This might be a result of the show drip-feeding information to maintain a mystery, which would be fine, but if something is bothering Nakata, it doesn’t seem to reflect in her general attitude and demeanour. I think this is a consequence of a potentially interesting story about light survivor’s guilt clashing with the carefree, unchallenging vibe you’d expect from a show like this. It’s possible I’m being presumptuous and the show is going to explore its more compelling topics in greater depth, but I’m also not certain it’ll be written well enough to actually pull off the balancing act it’s going for.
It’s not as if I dislike this show, though! I enjoy the characters and their designs, and much of the animation is really fun and expressive (dodgy-looking CG cheerleading sequences notwithstanding). I’m gonna give this one a couple more episodes to convince me.
Verdict: it’s an anime of two worlds, and trying with difficulty to straddle the line between both. We’ll see if it pulls it off.
Dahlia in Bloom: Crafting a Fresh Start with Magical Tools
Lord forgive me, I unironically enjoyed an episode of an isekai. Okay, I’m not actually that much of a hater. There are a (small) handful of isekai I have genuinely enjoyed, but I think the general appeal of trying life again after failing in the previous one lends itself to the kind of lame self-insert power fantasies that I really don’t enjoy.
Dahlia in Bloom has a different vibe to it, in that (as far as I can tell) the influence the protagonist’s past life has on them seems to be purely subconscious. She has a father who works as a magic device craftsman, and as a result feels inspired to come up with brand new ideas for contraptions as yet unexplored in this world. In the first episode , she invents a hairdryer, which is clearly just a memory that came to her interpreted into the rules of this new world, but I like how she isn’t just a fully conscious adult in the body of a child during this time. I find the constant internal monologue typical to this subgenre takes some of the magic away from being in a fantasy world by grounding us in the old one. This has its own uses, but in this case, I prefer the different approach.
That being said, and I might be wrong here, the premise for this show feels awfully familiar. Then I remembered the existence of The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady, a story about a girl who eschews her royal responsibilities in favour of pursuing the life of an inventor of things from her previous life she subconsciously remembers. That said, I wouldn’t call this a ripoff since the tone is definitely more laid-back. This isn’t even a criticism to be honest; I think it’s cool that this hyper specific style of doing an isekai that appeals to me specifically is getting more traction.
Verdict: very sweet, very pretty isekai that strips itself back to its essentials, and is all the better for it. I’m excited to see more!
Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines!
I enjoyed this one! From what I can tell, it’s some variation of a harem anime, set in a world where romance anime rules apply; main character has a love interest and a childhood best friend who has feelings for him that are not reciprocated, and is forced to let him go. This anime asks the bold question: what happens after the guy gets the girl and the credits roll, specifically for the best friend who was left heartbroken by that conclusion.
Well, apparently, she ends up as a reluctant third wheel, forced to endure the company of the couple she helped create. She’s naturally kinda miserable about the whole thing, but through a series of poor lifestyle choices ends up indebted to the quiet kid in the class, and makes a deal to bring him lunch every day until that debt is sufficiently paid.
You know, I started writing the synopsis here from the perspective of the main heroine Anna, but I’m realising that framing might be somewhat deceptive given that she is not the perspective character of this anime. Rather, that honour goes to the aforementioned quiet kid, Kazuhiko, whose place in this story is comparatively quite boring. He’s a self-proclaimed background character, bearing witness to the romance plots occurring around him but never involved in them whatsoever. This is a funny enough concept, but ultimately I find his role to be much less interesting, so I’m unsure why he’s been chosen as the narrative centrepiece.
Well, aside from the obvious – he’s a self-insert for the presumed straight male viewer to attach himself to – but I’d like to think there’s more to this than a straightforward harem plot with a fun initial concept. Considering how gorgeous this show is on an animation and visual level, I’m choosing hope with this one, so I’m gonna stick it out and see how it goes.
Verdict: I really like the concept, as there’s potential for exploring some cool ideas around heartbreak and personal growth, but we’ll see if this show capitalises on what it has.
Atri: My Dear Moments
Despite being fond of visual novels, I actually haven’t played/read an awful lot of them. I’ve dabbled in the hits – Danganronpa, Zero Escape, Doki Doki Literature Club, and a little bit of Ace Attorney – but I’ve not experienced as much of the subgenre as I’d have liked.
Atri is one such visual novel I’ve never touched, though in fairness I didn’t even know it existed until I watched this first episode. It’s a post-disaster world where sea levels rose dramatically out of nowhere one day, causing enormous damage to the world and leaving many scavenging for scraps. Protagonist Natsuki is one such scavenger, who delves into old buildings and steu tyres lost to the water for valuables and so on, in order to have enough money to – pardon the pun – stay afloat. On top of that, he’s an amputee victim, missing a leg following an accident, the cause of which is presumably is probably this ocean disaster but to be fair that hasn’t been elaborated on quite yet. During his latest delve, he finds a life-like robot named Atri who once belonged to his deceased grandmother, and, in need of a new prosthetic leg since his current one is old and barely holding his weight, he is forced to decide whether or not to sell her or keep her around and help fulfil the mission his grandmother asked of her.
It’s actually pretty compelling stuff! The main character’s situation is both relatable and grants insight into this new world he’s forced to live in, and how unforgiving it can be for those with disabilities. It’s understandable that he may feel like he can’t afford to pass up a golden opportunity, even if he knows it’s morally wrong. It’s a sign of good characterisation early on, and gives me hope for the rest of the series.
On top of that, the many mysteries laid out right from the jump are enthralling. Who is Atri, and what is her final mission? Why did the sea levels rise so suddenly? What research was Natsuki’s grandmother involved in, and what does Atri have to do with it? These are all questions that I’m sure will have their answers the deeper into the narrative we go, so it remains to be seen if those answers will be satisfying. Given how much of a following this game has though, I have faith.
Verdict: I really like this! I haven’t seen a good mystery anime in a while, so I’m excited to see how this one fares.
I Parry Everything
This long-ass project whose scope kinda got away from me started with a couple of absolute duds, then we flowed between serviceable slop to certified bangers and occasionally good old fashioned ass, so it feels right that we end it all with an anime that is drum roll…
Pretty good!
I Parry Everything is born from the school of ‘I Can’t Believe It’s Not Isekai!’, a melding of fantasy setting and an interpretation of RPG systems as a power scaling tool. In this instance, it’s the concept of acquiring skills through training, although in this world skills are only accessible if the individual has an innate potential for them. This is unfortunate for our protagonist Noor, whose only skill is the ability to parry attacks. As a result, he’s unable to enlist as an adventurer of the city’s guild, but being the anime protagonist he gosh darn is, he simply works at training this sole ability at his disposal. Eventually, he becomes insanely overpowered.
I’m generally not fond of these kinds of stories that do a genetic superiority thing, because I feel like it can sometimes lend play into some really gross perceptions of humanity, like race or gender essentialism. That being said, I think here it works as an allegory of sorts for the ways in which society is constructed to deter those with less opportunities. In this case, Noor is only proficient in one skill, and he is absurdly strong in it, but because the adventurer’s guild has an arbitrary ‘two or more skills’ requirement, he can’t get his foot in the door. The show is clearly making a point here, and it’s an interesting one I think.
The unfairness feels especially palpable given how likeable Noor is as a person. He’s such a good guy, propelled by his desire to help others agree his parents pass away and he’s left alone on the outskirts of the city. He wants to be around people and be useful to them, and he’s able to do so and use his abilities for good as well. He clearly takes so much joy in being a help to those around him, and that’s a level of unambiguous kindness you don’t often see in anime protagonists these days. I don’t think his single-mindedness makes him boring either, because the context of his difficult childhood clearly molds him into the caring person he is later in life. It’s simple yet deeply effective character writing.
To be honest, there isn’t much I can point to as being inherently unlikeable regarding I Parry Everything, other than all of its aspects are just about good. It doesn’t particularly excel in any one place, and that’s okay! What’s here is nice and I’d like to stick around to see where it ends up going.
Verdict: surprisingly effective portrayal of the usual power fantasy not-isekai isekai anime. I’m excited to see more. Love you, Noor!
And that’s the end! There are obviously shows I ended up skipping because I just knew I wasn’t going to find anything interesting to say about them, which I suppose defeats the purpose of a project like this but whatever man I watched literally 25 anime for this, let me rest!!!
To round out this whole two-parter, I’ve put together a handy-dandy tier list for easy referral if you’re looking for something to watch this season. Here it is!
I might potentially write a follow-up post in a couple months talking about which anime I stuck with and why, but until that time, I hope you’ve enjoyed this collective 10,000 word dive into the anime of Summer 2024. Here’s to a season of fun and emotional enrichment!