Suffice it to say that 2024 has been a banner yr for animation, with subsequent yr seeking to do the not possible by elevating the bar to blisteringly new heights. As with all yr, there are peaks, valleys, and a wholesome provide of scenic views available in between. With that way of thinking, right here’s a progress report on the highlights, lowlights, and tendencies from animated reveals and films in 2024.
Highlights
Inarguably, animated initiatives that seemingly set the yr ablaze (affectionate) have been the herculean efforts of Arcane, Dan Da Dan, and Look Back. The ultimate season of Arcane, Riot Video games and Fortiche’s Emmy-winning League of Legends collection, underscored Netflix’s unique animated output and proved as soon as once more that online game diversifications are removed from a dead-on-arrival artistic enterprise. Regardless of the frenzy round Arcane‘s budget being vastly overstated, the fruits of its animators’ labor spit within the face of any bigwig govt touting AI as the way forward for animation.
Likewise, the meteoric rise of Science Saru’s Dan Da Dan was so laborious to disclaim that Netflix, Crunchyroll, and Hulu collectively simulcast the anime all through the autumn season—a uncommon phenomenon that’s solely occurred a handful of occasions earlier than with anime like Chainsaw Man and Zom 100: Bucketlist of the Dead. Regardless of the orange streamer’s reservations about promoting the show, the shared broadcast of the anime proved to be a big-brained transfer, contemplating Dan Da Dan was constantly the de facto anime to look at this fall, adapting creator Yukinobu Tatsu’s ongoing manga with unprecedented ranges of artistry.
Whether or not you’re artistic or not, Studio Durian’s characteristic anime movie of Chainsaw Man creator Tatsuki Fujimoto’s one-shot, Look Back, was a much-needed reminder of why artwork and the pursuit of it are as painful as they’re inspiring. Furthermore, the movie was so extremely wanted, given fears it could by no means come to North American cinema, that it went on to overperform, get an extended release, and stream on Prime Video in quick succession. If that’s not a testomony to the facility of animation in 2024, we don’t know what’s.
Constant bangers
Like the ultimate leg in a relay race, ongoing anime has been holding down the fort for anime followers worldwide. Key amongst them are collection like One Piece, Bleach: Thousand-Year War, and the latest collection within the late Akira Toriyama‘s long-running shonen anime collection, Dragon Ball Daima.
Whereas the aforementioned shonen reveals have tenure within the anime neighborhood, new-age anime like Oshi no Ko and Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End have turn into a staple within the zeitgeist as an thrilling new path for the style. Their explorations of the leisure business’s darkish facet and the way life presses on after a sprawling journey have been exceptional to see proceed into 2024; we’ll be searching for them to maintain elevating the bar within the coming years.
Likewise, the output within the West with Disney and Pixar movies like Moana 2 and Inside Out 2 has confirmed that even sequels that may appear rote upon first blush can nonetheless astound audiences. DreamWorks additionally got here to play in a giant manner with a shock: the emotional rollercoaster, The Wild Robot.
Lowlights
Regardless of the hype, 2024 additionally had its justifiable share of stinkers. Key amongst them have been Grownup Swim’s adaptation of Junji Ito’s magnum opus, Uzumaki, and the second season of the ultra-competitive Blue Lock anime. Whereas 2024 had its justifiable share of forgettable initiatives, their very own petard hoisted the hype for these titles above, to borrow a phrase from Invoice Shakespeare.
Whereas it’s straightforward for followers responsible reveals for being poor in high quality, it’s important to acknowledge that the precise purpose behind the shortcomings of extremely anticipated reveals is the unrealistic timetables imposed on animators by higher-ups. These circumstances pressure animators to complete a show under immense pressure, resulting in disappointing outcomes for followers and crunch for workers. Hopefully, subsequent yr will see more animators receiving the respect they deserve and fewer ceiling-less monopolies of the space.
It will even be remiss to not point out the massive anime leaks this fall as one other obvious lowlight of the yr. Fortunately, the web neighborhood banded collectively to assist stop the unfold of hotly anticipated reveals, making an attempt to stop ruining the enjoyable for his or her fellow followers and animators who poured all their expertise into their official launch.
An enormous yr for fantasy
In a refreshing change of tempo, this yr noticed animation return to kind, placing out stellar fantasy anime that wasn’t the spinoff isekai and reborn collection which have oversaturated the house for the previous decade. Main the cost within the renaissance of fantasy anime have been studio Madhouse’s Frieren and Set off’s Delicious in Dungeon. Returning fantasy collection like Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation, Re:Zero, and Konosuba concluded the yr by reminding followers of the prime quality that the very best of the style nonetheless has to supply.
Remakes galore
Hollywood isn’t the one business that found the novelty in making one thing that was as soon as previous new once more to a brand new era of followers. Globally, animation has been driving that wave for fairly a while. Nevertheless, no group of remakes has come fairly near the extent of acclaim that mangaka Rumiko Takahashi’s Urusei Yatsura and Ranma 1/2 have. Except for persevering with the long-held perception that feminine mangaka has the sauce, these specific remakes have demonstrated the flexibility of animation studios like JoJo’s Weird Journey‘s David Manufacturing and Jujutsu Kaisen‘s Mappa at any time when they’re not tasked with adapting shonen that takes itself too critically. They’re humorous and cute, and I need extra remakes of Takahashi’s works now.
The top is nigh
The elephant within the room of 2024 was the fact that a lot of anime’s marquee shonen collection, equivalent to My Hero Academia, Demon Slayer, and Jujutsu Kaisen, are winding all the way down to their remaining curtain name. Whereas JJK can have more time on the clock earlier than it reaches the ultimate web page of its manga that concluded in September, My Hero Academia and Demon Slayer‘s ends are nearer in view. In typical Utotable vogue, Demon Slayer‘s finale will probably be a movie trilogy, whereas My Hero Academia‘s remaining season is ready to premiere someday subsequent yr. These reveals coming to an finish is notable not just for its simple affect on the anime neighborhood as the brand new wave of shonen—their finish additionally comes with the thrill of what new reveals will outline the subsequent era of anime.
Testing the waters
As talked about above, this yr noticed a brand new wave of animated initiatives that boldly enriched the medium with distinctive tales that innovated past cliches and tendencies from previous generations. To not double this already prolonged report card’s size, right here’s a brief record of extra reveals we felt introduced one thing new and worthwhile to 2024:
- Go Go Loser Ranger
- Kaiju No. 8
- The Elusive Samurai
- Shangri-la Frontier
- Orb: On the Actions of Earth
- Yakuza Fiance
- Blue Field
- Solo Leveling
- Apothecary Diaries
- My Glad Marriage
- Yatagarasu: A Crow Does Not Select Its Grasp
- Jentry Chau vs. The Underworld
- Invincible Combat Woman
- Ultraman Rising
- Mars Categorical
- Robotic Goals
- Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft
Should you handed any of those up, you’ll want to give them a watch over the vacation break and nod in approval of our inventive style and the thrilling artistry on show from the media above.
All this to say, 2024 was an thrilling yr for animation, and 2025 seems to be to boost the stakes even greater with thrilling new TV reveals, continuations, and movies. If we have been remiss in not mentioning an animated present or film that you just suppose deserves to be acknowledged, we encourage you to enroll—because it have been—and put your fellow animation connoisseurs on to some good shit earlier than we feast on much more animation in 2025.
Need extra io9 information? Take a look at when to count on the newest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s subsequent for the DC Universe on film and TV, and all the things it’s good to find out about the way forward for Doctor Who.
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