Animation came out in a big way in 2024

Suffice it to say, 2024 has been a banner year for animation, and next year is looking to do the impossible by raising the bar to new heights. As every year, there are peaks, valleys, and healthy scenic views in between. With that in mind, here’s a progress report on the highlights, lowlights, and trends of animated shows and movies in 2024.

Highlights

Undoubtedly the (loved) animation projects that ignited the year Hidden, Dan Da Danand Look back. Last season HiddenRiot Games and Fortiche’s Emmy Award League of Legends series highlighted Netflix’s exclusive animated output, proving once again that video game adaptations are far from the next creative venture. Despite the frenzy around Hiddenthe budget of greatly exaggeratedthe fruits of its animators’ labor spits in the face of any big executive who touts artificial intelligence as the future of animation.

Likewise, Elm Saru’s meteoric rise Dan Da Dan It was so hard to deny that Netflix, Crunchyroll, and Hulu were co-streaming anime throughout the fall season, a rarity that had only happened a few times before with anime like this. The Man in Chains and Zom 100: Bucketlist of the Dead. Despite the orange shooter show promotion reservationsproved to be a big-brained move given the shared streaming of the anime Dan Da Dan Adapting creator Yukinobu Tatsu’s ongoing manga to an unprecedented level of artistry, the series has consistently been the de facto anime to watch this fall.

Art anime from Studio Durian, no matter how creative you are The Man in Chains a shot by creator Tatsuki Fujimoto, Look back, it was a much-needed reminder of why art and the pursuit of it can be as painful as it is inspiring. What’s more, the film was so highly sought after that it left, given the fear that it would never make it to North American theaters. with excessget extended releaseand flow Prime Video in rapid succession. If that’s not a testament to the power of animation in 2024, we don’t know what is.

Continuous bangers

Like the final leg of a relay race, ongoing anime holds a stronghold for anime fans around the world. Among them are serials as the main ones One Piece, Bleach: The Thousand Year Warand the newest series the late Akira Toriyamalong-running shonen anime series, Dragon Ball Always.

While the aforementioned shonen shows have their place in the anime community, the new age likes anime Oshi no Ko and Freeze: After Journey’s End became a staple in the zeitgeist as an exciting new direction for the genre. Their exploration of the dark side of the entertainment industry and how life goes on after a sprawling adventure will continue until 2024; we’ll be looking to them to raise the bar in the coming years.

It performs similarly to Disney and Pixar films in the West Moana 2 and 2 from the inside proved that even series that may seem rote at first glance can still surprise the viewer. DreamWorks also came to play with a big surprise: an emotional rollercoaster, Wild Robot.

Dim lights

Despite the hype, 2024 also had its fair share of bad smells. Chief among them was Adult Swim’s adaptation of Junji Ito’s masterpiece. Uzumakiand an ultra-competitive second season Blue Lock anime. Although 2024 has its fair share of forgotten projects, projects of their own firecracker raised the agitation to borrow a quote from Bill Shakespeare for these titles above.

While it’s easy for fans to blame shows for poor quality, the actual reason behind the shortcomings of highly anticipated shows is unrealistic schedules imposed on animators by superiors. These conditions force animators complete a show under great pressureleading to disappointing results for fans and crisis for workers. Hopefully next year will see more animators are getting the respect they deserve and less ceilingless monopolies of space.

It would be wrong not to mention it massive anime leaks this fall as another bright illumination of the year. Thankfully, the online community banded together to help stop the long-awaited shows from being leaked, trying to prevent it from spoiling the fun of their colleagues and animators who poured all their talents into their official releases.

A big year for fantasy

In a refreshing change of pace, animation is back on form and out this year Star fantasy anime It wasn’t the isekai and reborn series that have oversaturated the space in the past decade. Madhouse’s studio played a leading role in the fantasy anime renaissance Freeze it and Trigger Delicious in the dungeon. Like a returning fantasy series Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation, Re: Zeroand Konosuba ended the year by reminding fans of the high quality that the best of the genre still has to offer.

Lots of remakes

Hollywood isn’t the only industry discovering innovation in remaking something once old for a new generation of fans. Globally, animation has been riding this wave for a long time. However, no remake group has come close enough to mangaka Rumiko Takahashi’s level of acclaim. Urusei Yatsura and Ranma 1/2 there is In addition to perpetuating the long-held belief that female mangaka are gravy, these particular remakes showcased the versatility of animation studios. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure‘s David Production and Jujutsu Kaisen‘s Mappa, unless they’re tasked with adapting a shonen that takes itself too seriously. They are funny and cute and I want more remakes of Takahashi’s works now.

The end is near

The elephant in the room of 2024 was a reality, like many of anime’s marquee shonen series. My Hero Academia, Demon Slayerand Jujutsu Kaisenpreparing for the final curtain call. while JJK will be more time per hour before reaching the last page of his manga closed in September, My Hero Academia and Demon SlayerThe ends of , look closer. In typical Utotable style, Demon Slayer‘s finale will be a film trilogy My Hero Academia‘s final season will premiere next year. The end of these shows comes not only with their undeniable impact on the anime community as a new wave of excitement, but also with the excitement that the new shows will define the next generation of anime.

Testing the waters

As mentioned above, this year has seen a wave of new animation projects boldly enriching the medium with unique tales that innovate beyond the clichés and trends of past generations. So as not to double the length of an already lengthy report card, here’s a short list of more shows we feel bring something new and worthwhile to 2024:

• Go Go Loser Ranger
• Kaiju #8
• The Uncaught Samurai
• Shangri-la Frontier
• The Sphere: On the Motions of the Earth
• Yakuza Fiancé
• Blue box
• Solo leveling
• Pharmaceutical Diaries
• My Happy Marriage
• Yatagarasu: The Crow Does Not Choose a Master
• Gentri Chow vs. Underworld
• Invincible Warrior Girl
• Rise of Ultraman
• Mars Express
• Robot dreams
• Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft

If you’ve been through any of these, be sure to give them a holiday break and nod your head in approval of our artistic taste and thrilling artistry displayed by the media above.

All that to say, 2024 was an exciting year for animation, and 2025 will raise the stakes even further with exciting new TV shows, sequels, and movies. If we’ve been remiss in not mentioning an animated show or movie that you think deserves recognition, we encourage you to sign up and get your animation connoisseurs up to good work before 2025 brings even more animation. .

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