The Best Anime Of The Spring 2024 Season (And Where You Can Stream It)
(Welcome to I Didn't Know What Seasonal Anime to Watch, So I Asked /Film for Help and They Gave Me a List, a regular column dedicated to helping our readers choose what anime shows to watch each season.)
We are halfway through the year, which means halfway through the approximately trillion anime airing in 2024. After the year started with some stellar premieres as well as returning champions, the spring anime season arrived with some stunning adaptations. There were anticipated high-profile shows that met expectations, as well as hidden gems that stood out from the crowd with creativity, great scripts, and distinct animation. Whether you're a fan of kaiju, court dramas, or you're just looking for a show to relax with over a cocktail as you ponder the craft of bartending, there's something for you on this list.
Before the summer fully kicks in, let's look back at the best the spring 2024 anime season had to offer.
First, a special shout-out to two ongoing shows that left a mark (there simply were too many good new shows to do a repeat of last season). "One Piece" continues to do wonderful things with Egghead Island, providing some of the best animation the series has seen in its 30 years. Meanwhile, "Delicious in Dungeon" season 1 ended its run as one of the best fantasy anime of all time, complete with a phenomenal tonal shift reminiscent of the original "Predator" that saw the silly fantasy cooking show evolve into a high fantasy epic and a grand quest to fight an evil mage (with enough world-building and lore to satisfy fans of Tolkien's Legendarium).
Kaiju no. 8
What if you took the basic premise and story structure of "Attack on Titan" — humanity under siege by monsters, a guy who can turn into a monster fighting monsters while also joining an elite group of warriors — but replaced the Titans with kaiju and the annoying edgelord of a protagonist with a painfully relatable 32-year-old man who is just too old for this s*** and struggles to keep up with his group co-workers? You'd get the gem that is "Kaiju no. 8." The highly anticipated adaptation of Naoya Matsumoto's manga of the same name by studio Production I.G delivers a thrilling world constantly under threat from kaiju with a cool variety of designs.
Although, on the surface, it seems to follow every well-trod shonen action anime trope, what makes "Kaiju no. 8" special is its protagonist, Kafka Hibino. He is not an angsty high-schooler eager to prove himself to the world, but rather a guy who has all but given up on life trying one last time to achieve his dreams and prove to himself that he isn't a loser. His determinism, but also acceptance of his reality as an older guy who doesn't necessarily have the physique you'd associate with an elite warrior, makes him unique, funny, and painfully relatable.
"Kaiju no. 8" is streaming on Crunchyroll.
Wind Breaker
Anime about delinquent high school students are a tale as old as time, but "Wind Breaker" quickly justifies itself with a hilariously weird twist on the formula. CloverWorks's anime adaptation of Satoru Nii's manga of the same name follows Haruka, an edgy, loner badass teen who was cursed with heterochromia and two-toned hair, which has made him an outcast. All he wants is to reach the top of his new high school hierarchy by joining their main gang. Except, though the school gang is very much into fighting other gangs, they aren't hated by the townsfolk for being delinquents; rather, they are treated as heroes.
From there, the main appeal of "Wind Breaker" is the hilarity that ensues from Haruka's shock and disappointment over seeing his classmates fight with glee when beating up other gangs (but only in self defense!) yet also do acts of kindness around town like clean up graffiti and helping old ladies cross the street. CloverWorks gives the show a pristine adaptation approach, with dynamic action animation that makes the fighting as exciting for audiences as it is for Haruka, all while exploring the idea of this hardened would-be delinquent learning to actually care about others.
"Wind Breaker" is streaming on Crunchyroll.
Go! Go! Loser Ranger!
For four seasons, "The Boys" has turned the superhero genre on its head and delivered a gritty, subversive superhero story that interrogates the genre itself. Now, the sentai genre gets its own anime version of "The Boys" with "Go! Go! Loser Ranger!" (an adaptation of Negi Haruba's manga). The premise is simple: What if there was a sentai team of color-coded superheroes similar to the Power Rangers except, instead of being heroic, they were evil and bloodthirsty? And what if the weekly battles between the Dragon Keepers and the invading alien monsters from a fortress floating in the sky aren't the hard-won showdowns that enthusiastic audiences think they are, but rather a televised live show that enslaves the alien monsters, forcing them to fight and die in what's disguised as Saturday morning entertainment for kids?
It's a brilliant premise effectively executed, with the anime embracing the iconography and tropes of sentai shows while reframing them to be part of an existential horror experience for Fighter D. He is our protagonist, a faceless foot soldier who gets tired of the endless charade and assumes a human form to infiltrate the Dragon Keepers and destroy them from within. Much like "The Boys," the initial "the heroes are evil" premise is a gateway to exploring more complex and interesting subjects like propaganda, corporate greed, and the military industrial complex. The Keepers aren't just celebrities, they each handle their own little militia under the promise that they are there to defend humanity from the aliens, but essentially serve as a paramilitary organization. The show is entertaining, bizarre, and funny, whether you know "Power Rangers" or not.
"Go! Go! Loser Ranger!" is streaming on Hulu.
Bartender: Glass of God
Shows like "Bartender: Glass of God" are what you show people who ask "Why did this have to be animated?" when seeing non-action or genre fare. Sure, this is basically just a show about a ridiculously good bartender who soothes the lives of their customers with extremely good cocktails. There are no flashy action sequences or anything that screams "This could only be done in animation." And yet, animation is about choices, and the medium allows for more stylistic and creative choices than live-action, allowing it to focus on different things for emphasis. Here, it's all about the exquisite portrayal of the art of bartending and the way studio Liber captures the subtle movements of protagonist Ryū Sasakura as he concocts the right cocktail. The stylized, larger-than-life attention to some details over others give this show a unique visual style that sells the power of the bartender.
It also helps that this is an episodic show wherein each episode deals with a new story, making this something of an anime "Cheers" meets "Chef."
"Bartender: Glass of God" is streaming on Crunchyroll.
Yatagarasu: The Raven Does Not Choose Its Master
This is by far the biggest surprise of the season. "Yatagarasu: The Raven Does Not Choose Its Master" starts like a classic folk tale — a boy and his sick brother are rescued by a man who transforms into a giant gold raven, then the boy forgets it happens. Set in Yamauchi, a country split into four political houses but unified through a mountain palace in the middle of them, the show is about the narrative twists and turns of palace life as the raven-transforming leaders of each house fight for power. This is a show full of murder, mystery, and the kind of backstabbing political drama that made early "Game of Thrones" take over the world (which is also the best part of "House of the Dragon").
"Yatagarasu" is all about deception and the masks people wear to hide their real motives — which is appropriate since we're following shape-shifters that turn into three-legged ravens. What makes this more than just a court drama is the mix of period drama tropes and imagery with fantasy elements that make this show both out of this world yet also very recognizable.
"Yatagarasu: The Raven Does Not Choose Its Master" is streaming on Crunchyroll.