Another year, another closely contested Top 10. While I don’t think this list is as strong as last year’s, there was definitely some great anime in 2024 and there were some tough choices to make. Outside of our top three anime, the rest of list was so close it could have gone in any order.
If you’re new to our process, each member of the GLORIO crew submits their own top anime list, and we use a weighted scoring system to determine the final overall list. For this year, it’s worth noting we are only considering TV length, episodic series and not anime movies. For example, you will not see Look Back on this list even though I would take that over anything on this list. If you want to hear us talk more about Look Back, check out the podcast version of our Top 10. Or hey, maybe put that on and follow along as you’re reading this.
10. Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
Manga Adaptation by Madhouse
Director: Keiichiro Saito
Series Composition: Tomohiro Suzuki
Jel: There have been many shows that tackle what I call “the sadness of immortality”, but Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End finds its own unique way of handling it. The small scale, simple adventures Frieren encounters in her post-journey journey highlight the value of the little things in life and how precious our time is. Sure, there is a layer of melancholy in there, but it is not played for tragedy or trauma. Death is another natural part of life that Frieren comes to understand and it’s quite lovely. It’s unfortunate that the series moves away from these things in the second half as this could have been much higher on our list. Nevertheless, it’s still a very good anime worth watching.
9. The Apothecary Diaries
Light novel adaptation by Toho Animation Studio, OLM
Director: Norihiro Naganuma
Series Composition: Norihiro Naganuma
Artemis: The Apothecary Diaries is perhaps a strange series on paper. Half historical fiction with strong slice-of-life and romance/drama elements, half mostly-episodic mystery series with larger socio-political ramifications going on behind the scenes tying everything together, the show mixes quiet, serious moments with playful comedy. That may sound chaotic, but Apothecary Diaries somehow makes it all work without being either confusing to follow or tonally discordant. It certainly doesn’t hurt that its main cast is written well enough to be charming, smart, funny, and generally even relatable in one way or another. The audience is encouraged to care, and by the end of it, the series absolutely succeeds at it.
Based on the first episode alone, which has (what appears at first glance to be) some slightly questionable moments, it might be tempting to think Apothecary Diaries dips too much into a few tiresome anime storytelling tropes. However, the payoff on some of these earlier scenes makes it clear that the series is a lot more thought-out than some might give it credit for. That applies to both its overarching plot and its core characters, which grow on you more or more until you suddenly realize it’s easily one of the best shows to come out of 2024, regardless of genre or demographic. Season 2 will no doubt be one of the biggest highlights of the coming season – if you haven’t caught up, now’s definitely the time to do so.
8. Natsume’s Book of Friends Season 7
Manga adaptation by Shuka
Director: Takahiro Omori
Series Composition: Sadayuki Murai
Artemis: I admit I didn’t expect this to make the top 10 at all, given I’m pretty sure I’m the only one who voted for it. I gushed over Natsume Yuujinchou copiously in my Glorio year-end wrap-up, but it bears repeating that this is a show everyone should probably be watching in 2024 (and very likely beyond). People often think of cute-girls-doing-cute-things shows when they picture iyashikei titles (e.g. Non Non Biyori, Yuru Camp, Aria, Amanchu), but Natsume Yuujinchou is a lot closer to Mushishi in overall style and atmosphere. It’s fairly quiet, its themes are a bit more complex, and its supernatural cast lends itself to an often darker tone.
Season 7 provides the same kind of consistency that fans have become used to, but while that may sound daunting to new fans, rest assured it’s a relatively easy series to jump into — a primarily slice-of-life style show that’s heavily episodic and whose story is about as timeless as it gets. Moreover, despite its sometimes heavy subject matter, this is at heart still a feel-good title that’ll make you smile and offer a respite from the rest of the world. If only for 20-odd minutes a week, Natsume Yuujinchou continued to whisk me away to a nostalgic place where chosen family and genuine friendships, however understated, won out over anything else the world might toss at me, just as it does for its main cast.
7. Dandadan
Manga adaptation by Science Saru
Director: Fuuga Yamashiro
Series Composition: Hiroshi Seko
Euri: I think there are a few reasons why Dandadan has proven so widely popular, but I think the biggest one is that there just isn’t anything out there like it. Sure, this is a shounen show with plenty of shounen tropes, but it’s wildly unpredictable, capable of swinging from childish humour to profoundly sad in the midst of eclectic fight scenes and goofball dialogue. The cast of characters are incredibly strong; everyone has their own motivations and troubles, and we’ll continue to see the found-family aspect grow in the inevitable second season (where we’ll also get to meet the best character, don’t fight me). Science Saru were a perfect choice for Dandadan; the manga is no slouch with its bizarre compositions and style, but they are able to add a little extra while stringing the panels together.
Plus, if you’ve ever had yourself an alien or yokai phase, or heck, a tokusatsu phase, there’s an extra layer to enjoy here. The opening and even the first aliens that show up appear to be cribbed from Ultraman, and there’s elements from kaiju movies and tokusatsu in the manga that’ll be coming. It ends up being oddly nostalgic, which is very strange for what looks on paper to be just another shounen show with a cast of school kids, but for Dandadan, it’s just one of many oddities.
6. Brave Bang Bravern
Orginal by Cygames Pictures
Director: Masami Obari
Series Composition: Keigo Koyanagi
Iro: Only legendary longtime mecha animator/director Masami Obari could be trusted with matching a gritty real robot setting with the dayglo bombast of super robots and not only making it work, but making it hilarious. Bravern knows when to be goofy and when to be deadpan, playing all the old genre tropes with a knowing wink. The only thing holding it back is its single season runtime, a mere fourth of what its predecessors were granted. Yet, even fettered by the standards of modern anime, Bravern stomped through our weary mecha cynicism without a care. We really don’t get ’em like this anymore.
5. Thunderbolt Fantasy Season 4
Original by Studio Pili
Series Composition: Gen Urobuchi
Gee: Thunderbolt Fantasy is singular in its spectacle and joy. I don’t think a single piece of art brought me higher highs than the dizzying exhibition of its high octane puppet-based action. It employs every trick its medium can offer to constant delight, even finding new ways to utilize puppets that left me aghast. Even as my trepidation grew over this season’s ability to adequately conclude the wuxia high epic, watching its character bounce off each other figuratively and literally was always fun to watch. Thunderbolt Fantasy reminds you there is so much value to be found in the medium a work is created in. No one medium is the end all be all of entertainment and I think it speaks to the show’s craftsmanship and quality that it can stand here with more traditionally animated mediums. In the end, there’s a lot of questions to be asked about how Thunderbolt Fantasy’s tale will wrap up with its final theatric release, but I don’t think anyone whose come along on this journey can say they didn’t have a great time.
4. Mecha-Ude: Mechanical Arms
Original by Studio TriF
Director: Sae Okamoto
Series Composition: Yasuhiro Nakanishi
Zigg: Sometimes a show is just really good fun, you know? I’ll be the first to admit that Mecha-Ude isn’t revolutionizing any paradigms or pushing the medium forward, but what it is is an utterly delightful throwback to bash-em-crash-em Saturday morning cartoons, and an absolute blast because of it. It’s a show that’s smart enough to know how silly it is, and confident enough to affectionately parody itself even as it whips out plotlines about killer robots from another dimension. The hyperkinetic fight scenes frequently stretch TriF’s budget and capabilities, but that’s alright because they’re assembled with such flair and verve you’ll forgive the occasional dropped frame as characters go flying through the air at the slightest touch. Above all, this is a show which is deeply, almost irrationally likable. You can feel the love and care that its production crew put into it, and that makes you want it to succeed all the more. And against all the odds, it succeeds over and over again.
3. Dead Dead Demon’s DeDeDeDe Destruction
Manga adaptation by Studio +h
Director: Tomoyuki Kurokawa
Series Composition: Reiko Yoshida
Aqua: Dead Dead Demon’s DeDeDeDe Destruction — or, for the sake of our sanity, DDDD — can be a tough sell. Though ostensibly a coming-of-age dramedy with a science fiction twist, it’s also a harrowing reminder of humanity’s cruelty, positing the thesis that we aren’t just powerless to properly fight back against the callousness of our leaders, most of us can’t even be arsed to do so because we’ve got our own troubles to deal with. No piece of fiction in recent history has better encapsulated the existential terror of living in the modern world, with perpetual media cycles shoving one inconceivable evil after another down our throats until we’ve been ground down into mere facsimiles of ourselves, pawns in a chess game played by the lucky few, acting out a shadowplay of courtesies and conventions until the theatre has burned to the ground.
Depressing relatability is not what DDDD is about, though. Sure, it has its finger so tightly on the pulse it nearly cuts off its own blood flow, but this adaptation of a manga by Inio Asano uses its satire for pitch-black comedy as often as it does for drama, and most importantly it all, it provides an alternative to the apathy that seems the inevitable conclusion of so much doom and gloom. Amidst the desolation of cold, uncaring modernity, love is the reason why we carry on. Whether it’s the bond parents have with their children, blossoming romance or an undying friendship that transcends space and time, the interpersonal relationships we share and cherish, DDDD posits, are absolute — the reason why anything matters in a world where nothing seems to. It’s a thesis as old as time, but it’s also one we need to be reminded of more and more as the world around us gets grimmer by the day. With its razor-sharp wit and pop-cultural awareness, DDDD is the perfect vessel for this life lesson in 2024, a shining beacon of light in an ocean of darkness that single-handedly justifies renewing your Crunchyroll subscription amidst all the capitalist cynicism, corporate incompetence and trashy isekai.
And speaking of Crunchyroll being woefully out of touch…
2. Girls Band Cry
Anime-original by Toei Animation
Director: Kazuo Sakai
Series Composition: Jukki Hanada
Peter: As the resident “idol anime for children” enjoyer, I am no stranger to relying on fansubs in the Year Of Luigi + 11 (2024) since those shows tend to be unavailable on Western streaming services, usually because it’s promoting an arcade game or gacha game that’s only available in Japanese. However, Girls Band Cry was heavily promoted around Japan based on the anime alone. There was no major platform for recurring revenue bar typical merch and some live concerts. There wasn’t even a gacha game! Despite this, reportedly due to Toei not expecting Western markets to actually be interested, fansubs became the only way to see it in English in the West until long after the series finished airing.
Right now, it’s available on Crunchyroll, so for those who didn’t want to pirate the show when it was airing, now’s your chance to see one of the best anime of the year legit. Come back when you’re done.
Watched it? No? Well let me sell it to you some more. Girls Band Cry is a fantastic show with a striking art style that doesn’t outstay its welcome, banging music, characters who feel like real people with genuine emotional development while also being goofballs when it matters. It has a scene that got people arguing about translations because they didn’t want a character to be canonically gay despite being Obviously Gay™️. It has a character wearing an outfit that sums up to an extended Undertale reference. I can’t express enough how much this show has going for it without just outright spoiling everything.
One final thing I’ll say is that, on a very surface level comparison, it is possible to put it in the same category as Bocchi the Rock, or even K-On to a lesser extent, in that it’s a group of weirdos meeting and getting into performing music together. However, Girls Band Cry took the format, flipped the bird at it, and used music to truly share their feelings in a way that feels much more diegetic than the other two ever did. This show truly packs a punch, and that’s why it belongs on this list and why I’m not salty none of my other nominations made it.
1. Dungeon Meshi (Delicious in Dungeon)
Manga Adaptation by Trigger
Director: Yoshihiro Miyajima
Series Composition: Kimiko Ueno
Iro: In a world where every third anime is content to pretend that video game terms are an adequate stand-in for character writing, Dungeon Meshi is an oasis. While it’s undeniably inspired by games both virtual and tabletop, Ryoko Kui uses familiar archetypes as a canvas rather than the paint, deftly weaving together first-class comedy with satisfying character drama. Toss in multi-GLORIO winning studio Trigger’s own comedic and visual sensibilities, and it’s no surprise Dungeon Meshi sits at the top of 2024’s pack.
