10 Best Anime From Winter 2024

The Winter 2024 Anime Season was one of the biggest seasons of anime yet. Between the return of old favorites and the debut of standout new shows, there were a lot of quality shows for people to pick from, most of which are still going strong at the time of writing.

There have been plenty of great anime to watch this season, and some, of course, have been far better than others. While most anime of the winter 2024 season have had something to offer, whether it's due to their stellar writing, incredible animation, or a combination of both and other factors, the anime airing during the Winter 2024 season have stood out to the point that nearly everyone would have at least heard about them.

10 Monsters Still Works As An Excellent One Piece Side Story

Anime ONA by E&H Production; based on the manga by Eiichiro Oda

The Winter 2024 Anime Season featured the premiere of E&H Production's first-ever anime, Monsters: 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation. The ONA adapted Monsters, a oneshot from Eiichiro Oda of One Piece fame, and the story is even something of a prequel story to One Piece, as it tells a story about the legendary samurai Shimotsuki Ryuma, a character from the Thriller Bark arc whose history was expanded on in the Wano arc, from before he became a national hero to the people of Wano.

Monsters: 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation was the first official production by E&H Production, the anime studio founded by Jujutsu Kaisen season 1 director Sunghoo Park, and it's an excellent debut for the studio. With the anime adapting a oneshot, there isn't much in terms of story, but Monsters: 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation still features incredible art, animation, and direction perfectly befitting the nature of a short side story. Add in Eiichiro Oda's usual stellar writing, and the ONA is a great watch even for people who aren't aware of its connection to One Piece.

Watch On Netflix

9 'Tis Time For Torture, Princess' Premise Surprisingly Never Gets Old

Anime series by Studio Pine Jam; based on the manga by Robinson Haruhara

Studio Pine Jam's 'Tis Time for Torture, Princess is centered around the war between the humans of the Imperial Army and the demons of the Hellhorde. During the war, the Princess of the Human World and one of the leaders of the Imperial Army is captured by the Hellhorde, and tasked with torturing her for information. Rather than physical torture, however, the Princess is simply offered food and other luxuries in exchange for information. Despite her best efforts, she's always happy to oblige to both satisfy herself and make her new friends happy.

'Tis Time for Torture, Princess is the kind of story that would seem like it would get repetitive fast, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Not only does the show always excel at mixing up its basic premise, but 'Tis Time for Torture, Princess' writing and direction always excellently sell the comedic and heartfelt moments of the show, resulting in an absurdist comedy that always knows how best to reach its audience. The series has been one of the more underrated shows of Winter 2024, but it's still one of the best.

Watch On Crunchyroll

8 Brave Bang Bravern! Is a Masterclass In Genre Blending

Anime series by CygamesPictures; directed by Masami Obari

CygamesPictures’ Brave Bang Bravern! takes place in a near-futuristic setting where the world's militaries have begun incorporating giant mechs called Titanostriders into their military strategies. During a military exercise, alien invaders appear with technology vastly surpassing the Titanostriders, but luckily, and very surprisingly, a boisterous, sentient robot named Bravern appears to have Isami Ao pilot him against the aliens, complete with his own in-universe theme song.

Brave Bang Bravern! combines the real robot and super robot genres of mecha anime, and the results are spectacular. The dichotomy of Brave Bang Bravern!’s differing mecha genres makes for great comedy and satire of the overarching mecha genre, and with the stellar fight scenes and great writing that balances comedy with seriousness, every episode has been great to watch. Brave Bang Bravern! began airing relatively late in the season, with Crunchyroll not picking it up for streaming until two episodes had already aired, but hopefully, that won't keep such an inventive show from getting lost in the shuffle.

Watch On Crunchyroll

Anime series by Studio Bones; directed by Motonobu Hori

Studio Bones' Metallic Rouge takes place in the future on Mars where humanity lives alongside oppressed androids called Neans. When a group of Neans called the Immortal Nine start staging an uprising against humanity, two government agents named Rouge Redstar and Naomi Orthmann, with Rouge also being a Nean, are sent to Mars to put a stop to them, all while Rouge is forced to continually question her autonomy and the morality of her actions.

Metallic Rouge was created to celebrate Studio Bones' 25th anniversary, and it's been a very fitting celebration. In addition to its incredible animation, soundtrack, and overall direction, Metallic Rouge's style of only giving viewers the bare minimum of information and letting them figure things out themselves shows a lot of confidence in its writing, and that allows for the character and plot-focused writing to be incredibly strong, albeit somewhat confusing at times. It's one of the best original anime Studio Bones has put out in years, and it will be great to see how it all comes to a close.

Watch On Crunchyroll

6 Ninja Kamui Is Pure Action At Its Finest

Anime series by E&H Production; directed by Sunghoo Park

E&H Production’s Ninja Kamui stars Higan, a former ninja who left his clan after they began sharing their secrets with foreigners and went into hiding with his family as Joe Logan. When Higan's family is killed by ninjas, Higan is forced to come out of retirement to take down his ninja clan and avenge their deaths.

While Monsters: 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation was E&H Production's first project, Ninja Kamui is their first full-fledged series, and the difference in quality shows. Owing to its clear John Wick inspiration, Ninja Kamui is filled to the brim with intense and gorgeously animated action in every episode, and the animation ends up easily being Sunghoo Park’s best work since Jujutsu Kaisen 0. Ninja Kamui shows that E&H Production has a lot of promise as a studio, and anyone looking for something that's just straightforward action won't be disappointed.

Related

"What If John Wick Was A Ninja?": New Adult Swim Anime Answers The Question

Adult Swim's latest anime series, Ninja Kamui, has been a hit with audiences; and its John Wick influences have made it a must-see for action fans.

Watch On Max

Ninja Kamui

Release Date

February 11, 2024

Seasons

1

Network

Adult Swim

Directors

Sunghoo Park

5 Mashle: Magic And Muscles Took A Major Leap In Quality With Season 2

Anime series by A-1 Pictures; based on the manga by Hajime Komoto

The Winter 2024 season saw the long-awaited premiere of A-1 Pictures' Mashle: Magic and Muscles. With Mash now exposed as a Lackmagic, the Divine Visionaries have given him an ultimatum: become Easton Academy's Divine Visionary candidate, or face immediate execution. The tough competition hardly makes it an easy task for Mash, however, and with Innocent Zero making moves involving Mash, specifically, there’s no telling how things will proceed.

Mashle was always a good show, but season 2 has taken things to a whole other level. In addition to featuring stronger narrative and character writing, Mashle: Magic and Muscles season 2 has much more consistent and all-around better animation than season 1 did, and as a result, the visual quality of the anime can finally live up to the quality of the writing. Mashle: Magic and Muscles has already been stated to be a complete adaptation of the manga, and if season 2 is anything to go on, each season is only going to be better than the last.

Watch On Crunchyroll

4 Delicious In Dungeon Has a Hilarious Take On Dungeon Crawling Fantasy

Anime series by Studio Trigger; based on the manga by Ryoko Kui

Studio Trigger's Delicious in Dungeon, as the name implies, is centered around adventurers traversing a dungeon in the hopes of riches. The party of the main character, Laios, suffers a major loss when Laios' sister, Falin, is eaten by a dragon, and with there only being a small window to revive Falin, they're forced to return to the dungeon with insufficient supplies. Laios' solution is for them to eat the monsters they encounter in the dungeon, and while Laios frames it as a survival tactic, it soon becomes clear he was always looking for an excuse to do it.

Of all the fantasy anime airing in the Winter 2024 Season, Delicious in Dungeon easily has one of the strongest offerings. Not only does it have the same creative and overall great animation that’s typical of Studio Trigger, but Delicious in Dungeon's writing is a hilarious satire of Dungeons & Dragons style fantasy that's perfectly balanced with great character writing and a surprisingly thorough look into both monster biology and the importance of proper nutrition. It’s a breath of fresh air among the overabundance of isekai fantasy, and it's bound to go down as one of Studio Trigger's best projects yet.

Related

Delicious in Dungeon Premier Review: An Instant Contender For Anime of the Year

Delicious in Dungeon is the latest anime to be produced by Studio Trigger, and it's already looking to be one of the best anime of the season.

Watch On Netflix

Delicious in Dungeon

Cast

Sayaka Senbongi , Kentarou Kumagai , Hiroshi Naka , Asuna Tomari

Release Date

January 1, 2024

Franchise(s)

Delicious in Dungeon

Writers

Ryoko Kui , Kimiko Ueno

Directors

Yoshihiro Miyajima

3 Solo Leveling Is One Of Anime's Greatest Power Fantasies

Anime series by A-1 Pictures; based on the web novel by Chugong

In the world of A-1 Pictures’'Solo Leveling, people can awaken to supernatural abilities and work as "Hunters" who earn a living fighting monsters in dungeons. Jinwoo Sung is regarded as the world's weakest Hunter for being an E-Rank, but when a near-death experience leaves him with a new power system straight out of a video game, Jinwoo will use it to become stronger than anyone and earn enough money to support his family, regardless of how he might change in the process.

Solo Leveling was the most hotly anticipated anime of the Winter 2024 Season, and it more than lives up to the hype. Solo Leveling has some of the best animation, fight choreography, and overall direction of any anime to come out in the past few years, and that results in a visual spectacle that more than makes up for any shortcomings in its writing. Solo Leveling very quickly establishes itself as an unabashed power fantasy, but with its incredible production values, there’s hardly a reason to criticize it for that.

Related

Solo Leveling Review: An Exciting Debut For 2024's Hottest Anime

Solo Leveling is one of the most hyped anime of 2024, and going off of the first two episodes, that level of excitement is more than warranted.

Watch On Crunchyroll

Solo Leveling

Cast

Aleks Le , Justin Briner , Rebecca Wang , Dani Chambers , Michelle Rojas , Kent Williams

Release Date

January 7, 2024

Seasons

1

Writers

Noboru Kimura

Directors

Shunsuke Nakashige

Creator(s)

Chugong

2 Gushing Over Magical Girls Is Far Better Than It Should Be

Anime series by Asahi Production; based on the manga by Akihiro Ononaka

In Asahi Production's Gushing over Magical Girls, ordinary middle schooler Utena Hiiragi is a major fan of her town's magical girl team, Tres Magia, and she jumps at the chance to become a magical girl just like them. Unfortunately, the mascot Utena met with was actually recruiting her for Enormita, the villainous magical girls who oppose Tres Magia, and whenever Utena fights as Magia Baiser, she can't stop herself from indulging in her repressed sadistic urges and torturing Tres Magia, resulting in varying degrees of raunchy humor.

Gushing over Magical Girls just barely dances around its explicit content, and it's somehow one of the best anime of the Winter 2024 Season. It's one thing for a mainstream anime to go as far as it does with its fanservice, but Gushing over Magical Girls has a surprisingly thoughtful exploration into its subject matter, two fields rarely ever addressed in media, and doing so through same-sex relationships adds an extra level of thoughtfulness to its writing. Add in the stellar animation across the board, and Gushing over Magical Girls is an incredible anime, despite its inappropriate nature.

Watch On HIDIVE

1 A Sign Of Affection Is One Of the Best Romance Anime In Years

Anime series by Ajia-do Animation Works; based on the manga by suu Morishita

Ajia-do Animation Works' A Sign of Affection stars Yuki Itose, a college-aged girl who, despite her congenital hearing loss, has managed to live a normal life, if not an uneventful one. When Yuki has a meet-cute with the multilingual Itsuomi Nagi, she almost immediately falls in love with him, and the story from there shows their progressing relationship and how happy Yuki is to have her world open up more from meeting Itsuomi.

A Sign of Affection is one of the few straightforward romance anime of the Winter 2024 Season, and it's easily the best to watch. The angle of a deaf protagonist with very little drama makes for great writing that allows for the strong character writing to always shine, and with how much A Sign of Affection's stellar direction always succeeds at emphasizing Yuki's mood, every episode is a visual spectacle that perfectly compliments its heartwarming writing. There are few anime with writing as strong as A Sign of Affection, and that's made it the best anime of Winter 2024.

Watch On Crunchyroll