It’s the end of another year – you know what that means.
That’s right, my anime lovers. It’s time for me to talk about the best anime of the year. The 2024 TV premiere schedule has been filled to the brim with new releases, and truthfully, the 2025 TV premieres aren't that far behind, with some significant shows returning. But, among all of those fun television series, anime is one of my favorite genres.
And, there were plenty of great anime that came out in 2024 – and some others that you should most certainly skip. Here are four great anime that I would recommend and two others that you should just skip altogether.
Watch: Solo Leveling
Who else is just shaking their legs in anticipation of Solo Leveling Season 2 in January 2025? Because I certainly am.
Solo Leveling is based on the web novel of the same name and follows the story of a monster hunter who is picked by a mysterious program called the System to level up his strength by taking down monster after monster. In doing so, he tries to find the source of the monsters and what led him to discover these powers.
I know that there are so many people out there who say that the main character, Sung Jinwoo, is overpowered, but you know what? I don’t care because I love this type of story. I love a story of an underdog training his absolute butt off to try and get as strong as possible, because he had a second chance at life, and he’s not going to let it go to waste. How can you not enjoy something like that?
The series is also a great one to get into if you’ve already watched some great dark anime or you’re a fan of video game adaptations, because there are a lot of good callbacks to playing video games in it. There’s really something for everyone, and I would recommend checking it out to anyone who wants some good voice acting to get into.
Watch: Dandadan
This anime…is wacky as heck. But it’s a fun time.
Dandadan, which you can stream on Netflix, follows the story of two high school students who make a bet with each other to determine if ghosts or aliens are real—only for one of them to be abducted by aliens and the other to be possessed by a ghost. Eventually, they come back together to use their newfound powers to fight against enemies, both spiritual and extraterrestrial.
This series is a must-watch for body horror fans and fans of The X-Files for many reasons. It is just so weird and crazy, but in a good way, where you scratch your head at what you just witnessed on your TV screen, but you’re still snickering and enjoying the show regardless.
Truthfully, I don’t think an anime has thrown me off course this much since I watched the intense first season of Chainsaw Man in 2022, and it takes a lot for me to get confused so quickly. I promise, though, it was worth it, and you’ll be entertained for hours. A second season has already been confirmed.
Watch: Delicious In Dungeon
If you love playing Dungeons & Dragons as well as being a foodie like myself, then you’ll probably end up loving Delicious in Dungeon. The anime is adapted from the manga of the same name and follows the story of a group of adventurers who must survive a fantasy world after failing to defeat a dragon. In order to do so, they eat the monsters that they kill along the way.
I love this series so much. I’ll be honest and say that most of my favorite anime tend to travel more towards darker ones, such as Attack on Titan or Jutjutsu Kaisen, where my heart will literally be ripped out of my chest by the end of each episode.
But this show is just so…homey. Granted, they are still fighting monsters along the way, and there’s action aplenty, but I think it’s a mix of the gorgeous animation and how they somehow make this food from monsters so appetizing. I have walked away from this series hungry more often than not.
Watch: Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
For those who love the best fantasy TV shows out there, this one’s for you. Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is based on the manga of the same name and follows the story of an elven mage named Frieren (the titular character) who sets out on an adventure to find a place where souls rest to reunite with one of her former comrades.
I don’t want to spoil much about this series because I really think it’s worth the time to discover it. The animation is beautiful, and the world-building is expertly crafted, but what makes this series so much better is that it offers deep, emotional themes that literally anyone can relate to.
Whether it's love, life, friendship, or death – there is something here that will hit you hard and fast and have you re-examining the way you think about the world around you. And, obviously, who doesn’t love a little bit of magic?
Skip: Uzumaki
I almost don’t even need to explain why you should skip this, but because I must, here you go.
Uzumaki came out on Max and is a horror anime based on the manga of the same name. The series follows the lives of the people of Kurouzu-cho, a town that is haunted by a curse, and how the two main characters we follow slowly become victims of it as well.
This series had so much promise. As someone who loves the best horror movies, something like this normally sounds right up my alley. But this anime is so hard to watch. They tried to go with a different kind of art style so it matches up with the style of the manga, but it just looks bad, and it makes the quality drop significantly.
It’s a shame, because Uzumaki is one of the best horror manga out there. It needs the proper adaptation that it deserves.
Skip: Ninja Kamui
Another example of something that could have been fantastic but ended up falling flat is Ninja Kamui, which tells the story of a former ninja assassin who wishes to live a normal life now. When his past catches up with him and causes his family to get killed, he decides to follow the path of revenge and take on a new identity.
Unlike the other entries on this list, Ninja Kamui is an original anime series, so it’s not based on manga – and you can tell as the series goes on. It starts excellently, but as the episodes roll, the story slowly begins to fall apart, and it really gets overtaken by action sequences rather than thrilling storytelling.
There are so many great anime out there that you could check out if you haven’t, but these are just some of my favorites from 2024 – and now, maybe you’ll find a new series to check out, too.
