[Music] 2024 has come and seemingly gone as soon as it began it was certainly a busy year for Global events and I wouldn't blame you for just wanting to shut off the world and put on some anime and thankfully this year anime came to [Music] play anime just keeps continuing to soar in popularity for the better and for the worse I still am getting you to how much of a global phenomenon it's become school friends who never had any interest in animation will hit me up telling me they saw Dandan people who had never heard of a crunchy role will casually talk about discovering this random Japanese show on Netflix my parents watched anime this year the idea of being a pure anime fan feels like it's slowly getting phased out as anime just becomes another part of Pop Culture but for those of us who still wear that mantle what else was happening this year for about 2 weeks our community became obsessed with deers with the release of a song you'd last about 10 seconds in before realizing ladies and gentlemen I I I think my brain just committed suicide after years of waiting it looked like we were finally getting the first great jiito adaptation Uzumaki came out and smashed the curse by giving us an anime that did Justice to his horrifying art it was disturbing it was unnerving this is it the Run that's going to change everything we're going to do it and there comes episode 2 Freer Ren became a cultural phenomenon popularizing the phrase that's what him or the hero would have done inspiring people so much that someone quoted him after stopping a real knife attack in a rare case of a freerun fan doing something outside of posting ell's armpits Demon Slayer laid the groundwork for its final AR by having his big bad M on take five business days to walk to his destination fans seem to be split on whether this scene was Pure badassery or just over the top silly I'm just saying if they really wanted their villain to have unmatched Aura they should have just fully committed to the Bollywood way of introducing their characters it felt like a truck full of massive manga came to the end of their serialization which included two Mega hits in my hero Academia and Jon I didn't read them but I can say from experience that historically speaking when a long-running massive Shonen Jump manga ends it's almost always met with unanimous praise and support and this was no different I think my brain just committed suicide iseki became an official word in the Oxford English Dictionary giving legitimacy to all the isekai trash men out there following the news the search was officially started to Define exactly who trk kun's British cousin would be here he is now wank up and last but certainly not least we lost a legend this year in Akira Toriyama I tried writing a longer segment for this but nothing I wrote felt like it did Justice to this man's Legacy so I'm going to keep it short he may not have been the manga that influenced me the most but he is the manga that influenced the most people around the world he inspired a generation of people and his his work will continue to inspire for many generations to come and for that what more can you say but thank you this was a weird year to try and distill down when picking my best anime to avoid any confusions these videos aren't just meant to be a definitive short list of my favorites but it's my favorites that I want to passionately share and talk about with you guys and normally that's the vast majority but it turns out that a lot of my favorite shows this year I don't have more than like two sentences to say mainly because many of them have very recently been on previous year's list and they just continued doing what they were doing so well so for the first time it felt right just to do some quick honorable mentions for the shows that helped Define my year even if I don't have much new to say but before we get to that I want to have a quick word about today's sponsor honkai star rail a free toplay sci-fi RPG from hooe with some of the most iconic characters they've ever made such as Restless vagrant you idiots we'll just steal off the miners and right now is an exciting time for the game because a massive update is about to drop because somehow it's already been a year since pentacon and a whole new world is coming and forus is finally dropping as the new stop for the Trailblazers with new quests areas mechanics and I am pumped because as someone who loved the pentacon AR this looks like it's going to be living up to that insane quality we've even been told that this time it's going to have a heartwarming story a heartwarming story I see no reason to doubt you hoe of course there's going to be new five star characters dropping too starting with the hurter wait hter The Sassy lost Sunder of star rail how the hell is she a festar damn yes the ice queen is here to take her crown complete with her five star upgrade but that's not all because she's going to be joined by aglia a new five-star lightning Greek Beauty but I don't know why you're really here you don't care about me you just want free stuff don't you don't you well right now there is a free Five Star selection event that will last until version 3. 2 but wait there's more by just logging in for 7 days you can also get a free 10 pole what not enough all right a little greedy aren't we well here you go use the code on screen right now for 50 free Stella Jades there are you happy works every time so what are you waiting for click that link in the description to download honkai Star rail today thank you very much to Ho us for sponsoring me today and with that said here are some of the honorable mentions I actually really enjoyed the season of Oceano maybe even more than the first season this year we shifted gears to Spotlight the Japanese theater resulting in some of the best episodes we've seen in the entire series with some insane Direction at times that truly made you feel like you were living an authentic theater experience [Applause] [ __ ] turn off turn off turn off the flash you [ __ ] [ __ ] I'm kind of starting to think that this show is at its best when Aqua isn't the main focus and when it can highlight other people's emotional Journey Through the world of entertainment there was some fantastic character writing here and now that the manga has come to an end I'm sure we all have a lot to look forward to in future Seasons I think my brain just Mich show kensei diabolically dropped one of its best ever episodes on Father's Day then preceded it in the most mushoku tensei style possible leaving me with some mixed feelings not so much with the developments but more in the manner in which it was executed for a series that historically has had no problem spending as much time as it needs exploring the complexities of human emotions this one felt a bit out of sync I still enjoyed it but for the first time it left a bit of aftertaste in my mouth and I'm not talking about whatever roxxy's been drinking it was a delight to see the wacky Chemistry Between the Conor casts has not gotten boring at all Demon Slayer was a 10 out of 10 for one episode before that it was the weakest season so far shown by the fact that IGN gave it a 3 out of 10 and didn't set the internet on fire even I think that's a little low because surely this moment alone should bring it up a bit then there were the two Juggernaut of last year Apothecary Diaries and Freer Ren continuing their amazing run from 2023 to 2024 I introduced my mom to Apothecary Diaries this year thinking it'll occupy her for a good week and I thought I liked watching anime until I walked in one day later and she looks at me in the eyes and goes it's done that was too short it was at this point I realized no matter how powerful I think I am I can never hope to match the power level of Asian moms watching their soap operas and while I preferred the first half of freen that aired last year it still continued to be a stellar show tournament Arc and all I know everyone's thirsting over this greenhair girl but I got to say the old man won my heart a mage of principle and respect reminding us that you may be out of Mana but you ain't out of hand showing the young how to truly pound people up no Diddy make no mistake if this was a simple one- sentence list both of these shows would have easily ended up in my top five and on the other end of the spectrum there were other returning shows like my hero Academia yo this [ __ ] boring my hero became the punching bag of jokes while other titles rose up and grabbed the spotlight and as time went on it felt like those jokes turned into complaints and then eventually those complaints turned into indifference and while it felt like many people had given up in it I quietly continued watching in hopes that one day it would remind me of why I love the series in the first place and this year I remembered what it felt like to go plus [ __ ] Ultra [Music] it feels like in the Modern Age of action Shonen a lot of us have forgotten the Beating Heart of what my hero Academia truly excelled at its amazing attention to detail in its character writing and development this is what has shined in these latest seasons and on that playing field only a few of its competitors can compete however if you come into this as another battle shown in anime you can definitely feel it being left behind when compared to the plethora of modern action spectacles it's contempories have been showing us take this fight we have Fireman versus ice boy and friends it's a one versus many brawl fireman blasts them with a super hot fire immediately rendering the team useless and punches ice boy but ice boy has a technique that neutralizes his fire cuz you know he's actually half fire half ice and then punches fireman but then fireman brings out fire that's even hotter than his previous fire so ice boy brings out his ultimate technique and even called a super duper ice punch it was at this point I realized I'm not watching an active brawl I'm watching a turn-based battle on autop play I know this sounds like complaints but this is all to say that if you are able to get past all that when you can focus on its strengths when you see all these character story lines Collide it is able to go places few other shown and action shows are able to and this season was a Non-Stop barrage of that endeavor facing the mistakes of his parenting Todoroki coming to terms with his family trauma bakugo turned into a sympathetic boy orko proves she's more than just a good girl heiko proving she's more than just a crazy girl deu stop listening to My Chemical Romance all might Haws dabby EA they may be hype seeing gentle again gentle [ __ ] what this almost didn't feel like an action show this felt like an epic soap proper where coincidentally people solve their conflicts by punching each other it may not be doing what shown and action does Best But it is doing what my hero Academia does best now approaching the Finish Line to its Legacy it felt like my hero has stood up for one last harah as it looked to me dead in the eye and said don't worry kid sometimes you come across a show that gives absolutely zero [ __ ] and condenses its entire being into achieving one objective having fun that is brave bang braver this is what happens when you take the over-the-top ridiculous hype of G legan add a bit of tokas satu and crash land it into the manly bravado world of Top Gun then make it about as straight as it too it is a Non-Stop glorious celebration of the best parts you can find in the Mecha genre then throws logic out the window and amps everything up to 11 cheesy speeches Fusion scenes old school theme songs that will grow your beard 5 in it takes all of them then proudly throws them in your face oh what was that yes cuz you know what subtext is for cowards it doesn't care if you get it or not because it's here to do its own thing if you ask why does a Mecca have a function where it plays its theme song and projects its own background screen why is the US military trying to waterboard a giant robots why does the protagonist have karaoke subtitles so he can nail the speech during heroic moments it'll look at you dead in the eye and say [ __ ] you because this is braver b r a v GW b g w b BW g g g wbb w what is that spell it's a treat when you watch a show where you can tell every single person working on it was having a blast and you get infected with that same Joy this is the [ __ ] post of Mecca the YouTube poop of super robots forget a no [ __ ] show show this is an all [ __ ] show and is damn proud of it it's a show that fully commits to hitting every single emotional beat it needs to then takes one step back and laughs at itself come on come on come on wake up if you're still unsure about the appeal of Mecca if you're unsure of what makes super robots great give this one a watch this isn't just a love letter to the Mecha genre this will make you fall in love with Mecca you know figuratively speaking here no no just hear me out no no no no no no no no no like many other people watching anime can be my escape from reality a place where you can enter a whole new world with stories that have absolutely no relation to the life you're living right now so what could be further from reality than a Sci-Fi show about Alien Invaders and the end of the world itself it's The dreariest Apocalypse of all time where the world is going through an unprecedented Global event misinformation conspiracy theories and finger pointing have spread like wildfire on social media friendships are lost and where people stand with the issue of these aliens protests begin public trust is at an all-time low the only thing that everyone can agree on is that nobody can agree on what to do next politicians prioritize the economy over anything else more and more it feels like there isn't a single competent person left in a position of power and in between all that the series asks what does it feel like to be a teenager trying your best to grasp a sense of normaly after living through major historical event after major historical event this was the realest anime of 2024 dead dead demons destructions takes a different approach to the first Contact story this isn't about an invasion this isn't about communication this is about people feeling Absol complely lost trying to cope with a world that seems to be crumbling around them it's a cynical biting look at life that sometimes felt a little bit too uncomfortably reminiscent to reality showing us that even during an apocalypse life has to and will go on but there is hope cuz even during a chaotic time with aliens spaceships and sci-fi laser weapons only then can the true heroes of society emerge ah he's finally here biblically accurate Twitter blue check mark [Music] user when the last season of rezero came out I look like this when the first season of rezero came out I look like this when rezero is being written I looked like this it's insane to think that this show first blasting onto the scene taking over the anime Community was over 8 years ago rezero fans have been surviving eating at scraps but this year we got the start of an all you can eat buffet with its return they brought everyone everyone back for this one Amelia kru felt Anastasia Priscilla Subaru's newly acquired sassy Pokémon Reinhardt Julius them let me solo her even REM fans were eating this [Music] season if you were one of the people that thought season 2 was a little slow and plot progression season 3 went don't worry I hear you and started off by dropping a new con self this was a no [ __ ] non-stop barrage of chaos when you thought the situation couldn't get any worse it does just when Subaru learned to Value his own life and make an oath not to rely on The Return by death mechanic this pushed that commitment to the absolute limits one thing goes wrong then two before he can even put out one fire 10 more pop up there reaches several parts where you think this is the point of no return only for the series to hold and keep holding then it holds for another whole episode until you want to scream please Subaru there is no dishonor in typing ff15 this show has never been shy of introducing wacky eccentric villains and yet even this season had me going good Lord rezero as I jiz and breathe forget introducing one Villain at a time let's introduce them all from the entire spectrum of crazy and deranged to others so despicable I genuinely hope every time he peas it goes off in two streams and they both miss the toilet they were introducing so many surprised villains I was expecting one of the episodes to end like I was completely wrong wasn't I I had the dates wrong all this time didd he come on out this was the action- Pack season many of us asked for and the real difference is just seeing how much Subaru is stepping up to the plate it's been an absolute pleasure to see how much this is not the same Subaru we all recognized from the beginning and now the dominoes are set up for him to knock them down in the most emphatic way possible in this AR conclusion in 2025 and you bet your ass I'm going to be [Music] there in the world of vanamee there is no place more brutal more Cutthroat more bloody than the romance genre girls juk it out in the battlefield of the protagonist's heart tears are shed hearts are broken blood protein is spilled but as we all know there can only be one two 100 Zer winners while the losers are there just left to rot but this year too many losing heroins saw all that and went uh you know just because of girl lost doesn't mean she wasn't best girl in the show a and anime girls with short blue hair deserve to be the main heroin for once and cute Tom boys and awkwardly shy chicks deserve their time in the spotlight too and I want a little sister who's way too over protective and CS me your knee jum because I love my little sisters too many losing heroins was the answer to all of that it looked at romance anime and said I'm tired of this single elimination [ __ ] where the hell is my losers bracket and losers is all we see 1 2 three girls all rejected by the man they love coming together to form enough copium to rival the average man united fan we've seen romance anime where a girl loses accepts her defeat and that's the end of it but this asked what kind of reaction do we get after that point Mario Yahoo this was the greatest hits Montage of the saddest and funniest coping mechanisms people can find themselves when they're just in their lowest points it's messy it's emotional it's sometimes just hilariously pathetic and in between all the is the victim of their non-consensual trauma dump when I first saw this setup I thought I had the show all figured out oh here we go again a laid-back reserved guy paired with some loud energetic gy anime girl wow that's a Trope I've never seen before but as you watch it doesn't play out how you think the trigger never gets pulled the patented anime blush scene never happens and all we're left with is a guy forming a real friendship by just letting these girls feel like they don't have to deal with all of this alone too many losing heroins was a different kind of romcom in a highly competitive year full of them there's a genuine sense of community with the cast as you're able to laugh with them at their highest points and really feel for them at their lowest it's a show that knows when to laugh at itself and went to take itself 100% seriously selling you on all these emotions anger emptiness denial that kneer conclusion that you just lack any self-worth all in its 12 episode run losing heroins was a different kind of romcom in a highly competitive year full of them and I say this is someone who is just not as interested in high school romance shows anymore as a 34-year-old married man there is just far less for me to to relate to nowadays even if the show is decent any school romance is going to have a hard time getting on my list it can't just be good it can't just be great it's got to be bloody [Music] fantastic modern romance anime has an epidemic I don't know when it started but it felt like I woke up one day and 90% of them collectively agreed to do exactly the same thing let's just make a guilt-free comfy show with minimal conflict drama and progression showing daily interactions of from shy guy and a girl except the girl has the thing you know what I mean the thing maybe she communicates in Russian maybe she's just legally [ __ ] blind maybe the thing is that she has undiagnosed schizophrenia where the hell did this all come from some call this an offshoot of the teasing genre some call it Comfort romances and some call it bait for lonely dudes to get no [ __ ] and stack no paper with how much this is all blending together I'm starting to call this [ __ ] the isai of the romance genre and now I'm doubly convinced I'm never going to be able to look at one of the shows the same ever again because the dangers in my heart completely blows all of them out the water no hooks no gimmicks this was just the purest depiction I've ever seen in anime of two people falling in love now A wise man once said I think love is just like cringe and you know what I stand by that we can do some cringe ass [ __ ] when we think we're in love it's that winky face you sense that person once that keeps you up at night wondering why you thought it was a good idea it's that corny [ __ ] we clowned on in love songs but secretly you wanted to feel just once it's that dumbass joke you nervously blurted out in front of them that had everyone looking at you funny and made you want to crawl in a corner and just disappear but it didn't [ __ ] matter when you realized that they were the only one that laughed that is the dangers in my heart this isn't about the chase it's not about the will they won't they it's about two people slowly discovering a form of comfort that only the other person can provide not just someone that fills that Hall of companionship but the one person who can break down that [ __ ] barrier you put around yourself and except you for that person you're scared to show the outside world here are two people just genuinely becoming the best versions of themselves when they're with each other and God isn't that what it's all about this didn't feel like some crush this didn't feel like some contrived anime love story this is romance in its purest [ __ ] form and a reminder of what falling in love should feel like in the race of modern great romance anime you've heard of kagi sama Love is War well get ready for yakun love is [Music] cringe girls band cry has girls in a band that anime is not new to the girl rock band concept it all started in 2009 with girls band chai 2 years ago saw the uprising of the highly beloved girls band Shai even tangentially in shows like Angel Beats that gave us girls band die we know what dynamic to expect cute girls doing cute things chasing their dreams trying hard while having a jolly good time making new friends and a look how adorable they are when they interact with each other and then there's girls band [Music] cry these aren't your pristine perfect Idol girls they argue talk [ __ ] to each other throw tantrum our main girl Nina has a public Outburst gets told to be quiet and calmly responds by throwing a [ __ ] lamp at him Nina is your average New Yorker but it's this brutal honesty with each other that makes this show feel so real their friendship seems so genuine the drama is not some cutesy nothing Burger every person is carrying some trauma a character flaw they live with these girls act like girls they can come off as childish they can make naive decisions on their journey and they get this do not get rewarded for it this is no fairy tale no idealistic story about chasing your dreams this is a downto earth look at the harsh reality of staying true to yourself no matter what the world is telling you but even so they refuse to betray their character these girls embody the true Spirit of rock both its ups and its downs and it's through watching their struggles do you get some of the finest drama you can find all year but e isn't this CG all right get the [ __ ] over here no had enough of your [ __ ] I get that anime fans have a pavlovian response anytime they see CG but this is some of the best I've seen outside of Studio orange there's not a single moment where something interesting isn't happening in frame every movement adds so much character micro Expressions that perfectly emphasize emotions and concert scenes that bring the [ __ ] hype to the Fantastic music speaking of which ooh the piano that piano [Music] girls band cry takes it Back to Basics great writing great characters great banter and devious piano keys that bring joy upon my [Music] ears in this day and age we've seen it all Thrillers gangster stories Pirates ninjas Knights it's so rare to see a concept that hasn't been done before a story yet to be told and orb on the movements of the Earth was all of that and so much more in a time when Faith was a dominating school of thought when studying science was the Asian parent equivalent of finding out your kid wants to go to Art School what if you had to prove to everyone that the Earth isn't the center of everything but we're actually a rock flying thousands of miles per hour through the vastness of space held down by this invisible force you can't touch see or smell oh you think you can do that I bet you still secretly give Pluto the planet pass when no's around you lying prick orb isn't just the story of heliocentrism it's a captivating tale showing how one simple idea can change the course of so many lives an idea that just won't die no matter how many times you try to extinguish it it passes from person to person generation to generation this story is a testament to the lengths people will go in the pursuit of Truth in the face of adversity in the face of unimaginable pain nothing conage Humanity's desire to look at the universe and go I understand it now if DrStone made scientists look cool this this is a full-on celebration of the scientific method cuz when the universe looks down at us and says I will never reveal my secrets to you Humanity looks up and replies [ __ ] you we're going to try anyway this is both the brutal reality and true beauty that comes in that pursuit of knowledge how many people laid the groundwork of research and died just before a massive breakthrough are the real heroes of science the ones who come up with the correct ideas or the ones who suffer the Heartbreak of realizing they've dedicated their life work researching down the wrong path and yet still accept it knowing that the next person will now know what not to do it's the legacy of all these unsung heroes of science that or wants you to think about this isn't about a life but the lives of the people that give us the understanding of the world we have today it never stops reminding us that through every great individual every achievement every giant leap Humanity takes stands on the back of the work of the people that came before them no matter what kind of oldfashioned archaic thinking that existed back then that could hold the progress of humanity wait hold on a second this guy might be on to [Music] something it really felt like anime rediscovered its love for Pure Fantasy shows this year with freen leading the charge with a tale that spoke straight to our souls we laughed we cried and the community replied damn that's deep while all this was going on another show was cooking with a different approach it had elves it had dragons it had dungeons but looked at all these monsters and went Feast mode activated hashtag hungry feed me more. com dungeon meshy satiated all our appetites by giving us a different kind of fantasy show and when I saw this I thought wow finally an anime where people just want to eat monsters and not want to [ __ ] them it presents itself as a low stakes comfy cooking show then hits you with an attention to detail in this world building that most fantasy anime could only dream of from the ology to the concepts it takes these well-known creatures and reimagines them in a way to give them a sense of credibility that makes you forget that you're watching a fictional story and not some nature documentary it'll introduce you to these treasure bugs insects shaped like coins and jewelry that Target unsuspecting prey and you're like ah okay that's kind of like real life bugs that can perfectly camouflage themselves in nature two episodes later we see our first mimic and if you're familiar with fantasy mimics are some of the most well-known monsters responsible for many of your in-game deaths I'm sure but here dungeon Mei gives them that believability by imagining them as some giant hermit crabs that gravitate towards chests as their home Mak sense but then seemingly on a totally unrelated note a treasure buug is found near it then one of the characters casually mentions oh yeah that's because the treasure bugs lay their eggs under mimic so the laa feed on them and they mature in there and then it clicks oh that's why these treasure bugs conveniently find their way into chests perfectly placed for some unsuspecting adventurers to find and this was the exact point my mind fully comprehended the exact scope of this World building these aren't just random monsters scattered around this is an ecosystem where every single thing is interconnected there is no part that exists solely in a bubble every piece of this world has been carefully crafted and interwoven with a level of care that's rare to see anywhere and you're telling me this level of craftsmanship is being used in a make belief comfy cooking show this is the moment when you fall into his trap oh oh God [ __ ] damn it when dungeon meshy shows its true hand you realize the food was simply a vehicle to prep you for what the dungeon really is this is a brutal environment we are nowhere near close to understanding or taming this is not your comfy fantasy world this is a ma and Abyss style of crafti and Nightmare a world that runs in its own set of rules Beyond human comprehension that we have only just taken a single step into yet even through this turn the series never loses its heart The Lovable leads always remain true to themselves Marcel is still playing Elden ring ceni is playing Cooking Mama chill Chuck's playing Slater Spire he's atum he just brought stray everyone else is trapped in darkest dungeons meanwhile lios is in the corner going feed me more.
com dungeon meshy invites you to have a taser of this living breathing world and you forget for a moment that none of it's actually real it'll lull you into its cozy Vibe and smack you around the head when you get too comfortable and by the end of it sits you down to enjoy another delectable meal while you reflect on the journey in [Music] summary got soup [Music] maybe you've been watching anime for one year maybe you've been watching it for 5 years maybe even 10 but I'm sure you remember that feeling of watching those first 10 shows that excitement of discovering this whole new medium where everything felt fresh it was a place that operated on its own set of rules not bound by the ideas you were used to there was a weirdness to it you couldn't find anywhere else and every new episode you watched something unpredictable laid just around the corner I've been watching anime for 20 years and daan took me back to those times Shonen Jump is a place where its formula for Success has been repeated over Generations so when a new title gets adapted we normally know what the rules are and Dandan starts by taking that rule book and setting it on fire at first you think okay it's another battle Shonen then you realize hold on it's actually a romcom no sci-fi wait it's a supernatural maybe actually it's Even a horror you go through this entire notion before even even occurs to you that 90% of the show revolves around some dude getting his balls back this is what happens when you throw everything against the wall and say [ __ ] it we ball you could be the strongest observation hocky user and still be unable to predict what happens next when you expect it to go forwards it goes sideways when you say jump it asks it exudes this childish freedom of expression you forget how to do as an adult and the most incredible thing is that somehow someway it is able to take all this chaos and keep everything cohesive this is a show that can make you laugh make you cry make you hype leave you an absolute awe in some of its Most Beautiful Moments all while staying true to its own special brand of weirdness in the sanitized safe risk-free world of modern entertainment watching this reminded me of the childish excitement I should feel when watching a new anime and the only thing holding this from the top spot is that we've barely taken a step off the starting line [Music] you know if I'm being super honest I don't even like drawing manga it's a pain in the butt then why do you draw [Music] [Applause] [Music] fuino if you would for a second indulge me on this anecdote I think about a lot it's 3:00 a. m.
