#1 – Boku no Kokoro no Yabai Yatsu (The Dangers in My Heart) Season 2

And so we end another year, with a true masterpiece claiming the top spot for 2024. Please head over to the LiA YouTube Channel to check out the #1 series “write-up”.

#2 – Karasu wa Aruji o Erabanai (YATAGARASU: The Raven Does Not Choose Its Master)

As ever, this is the spot on the list that packs the real uncertainty. Once we’re down to two series, anyone who follows the site at all will have a very good idea which two shows are going to fill them. It would take a stunningly good anime year for there to be much uncertainty about that – and 2024 was not such a year.

That brings us to Karasu wa Aruji o Erabanai. One way I look at the #2 series (and the year as a whole) is, would it have taken the top spot some years? And here the answer is unequivocally yes. It wouldn’t feel like I had to reach to call Yatagarasu a #1 series, and there have been times I would have. It’s another superb adaptation from Pierrot, who always seem to secure places on these lists and often near the top. They don’t overwhelm with flash and sakuga – they just do the job right. They’re more reliable at capturing the essence of a great source material than any other studio, and that’s no exaggeration.

I often compared this series to Seirei no Moribito, and if you know me you know that’s high praise indeed. This is great Japanese high fantasy based on a novel series, full of wit and intelligence and fascinating characters with fascinating relationships to each other. And like Moribito the Karasi wa Erabanai novels are getting a fan translation, which will in all likelihood be the only way for non-Japanese speakers to access the rest of the series (though it will require some patience). I can tell you the novels are great and quite different from the anime in tone – as is the manga for that matter (which is also being unofficially translated).

Like Moribito, Yatagarasu is penned by a female novelist, Abe Chisato. And like Uehashi Nahoko she’s created a compelling story set in a richly detailed setting. The anime chose to adapt the first and second novels by setting their timelines more or less concurrently, which was an interesting move which I think worked very well. You get a sense here that the various arcs of this series are quite distinct, but somehow in Pierrot’s hands they flow seamlessly even when the narrative skips back and forth between them. We also have a terrific cast here led by by Tamura Mutsumi as Yukiya and Miyu Irino as Wakamiya. He doesn’t do a lot of voice work these days but it’s easy to think he saw something special in this role, and this series.

Series like Karasu wa Aruji o Erabanai are incredibly rare in anime these days. Ones this good were never common of course, but this was a style that anime used to venture into more frequently. Fantasy which stirs the imagination even as it engages the intellect is a true treasure indeed, and anime – in the right hands – seems uniquely suited to delivering it. I can only imagine there are other Japanese fantasy novels which would make wonderful anime if someone would champion their cause, but I don’t expect we’re going to see them very often, as risk-averse as the medium has become. All the more reason to appreciate this superb series for the gem it is.

#3 – Sengoku Youko: Senma Konton-hen

Seems like every year there’s a series in the top five that just ended, and which I just wrote expansively on in the series review. As such it would be overkill to do so again – it’s all there in Thursday’s post. But ruicarlov did raise an interesting point in the comments. Nau is a water God. Mizukami is a water God (and he depicts himself as such, more or less). So is Nau a self-insert character? I could totally see Mizukami’s personality being right in that vein.

Sengoku Youko getting a faithful and well-crafted adaptation was certainly not on my radar for 2024. Especially after the crushing disappointment of the Hoshi no Samidare debacle. White Fox are the heroes here. Not only were they instrumental in making this happen (not usually the case with studios in production committees) but they insisted in the face of strong resistance that it had to be three cours to do the manga justice. Anime has been so cruel to Mizukami and his fans (first by omission, the commission). Another disaster would almost have been too much to bear.

As we continue to hold out hope that Spirit Circle might follow in Sengoku Youko’s footsteps and dream on what that adaptation could be, we should never lose sight of just how miraculous it is that Sengoku Youko exists as anime. Patience was finally rewarded, and the industry finally did the right thing. I’m not counting on it happening often, but it sure is nice when it does.

#4 – Dungeon Meshi (Delicious in Dungeon)

Honestly, the first question with the announcement of the Dungeon Meshi anime had to be Newman’s inimitable “what took you so long?” As massively popular and critically acclaimed – and cinematic – as Kui Ryoko’s manga is, it’s very weird that it took so long to get adapted. In the end it was clearly timed to coincide with the manga ending, which isn’t a bad thing by any stretch, though with it going four cours this could all have started at least a year earlier.

As with Nige Jouzu, this is a great adaptation. My skepticism of Trigger has waned considerably as Imaishi Hiroyuki’s influence over their artistic vision has loosened. Dungeon Meshi is a terrific and spectacularly inventive manga and didn’t need to be reinvented to suit a studio aesthetic. Trigger respected that, and is giving the series a thoroughly faithful and stylish treatment. The anime expresses itself plenty, but within the context of the very particular vibe Kui has created.

As someone who did his fair share of tabletop gaming and loves to cook (and eat), this series always had a receptive ear in mine. There’s a bit of Golden Kamuy here in that there’s nothing in the world quite like a Dungeon Meshi episode. It’s absurd, funny, dark, totally tasteless. Most of all it has a terrific cast that can provide endless entertainment simply being derpy and annoying the hell out of each other.

I won’t spoil the second half of the series but I think it’s pretty obvious that the recurring plot has been almost all setup so far. As all those cards start to be played things are inevitably going to change a lot. I’m fine with where the manga goes from here but there may be a bit of disconnect for new viewers expecting more of the same. I’d advise simply to have faith in Kui and this anime staff, as they’ve already proved pretty conclusively that they really know what they’re doing.

#5 – Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi (The Elusive Samurai)

There are a couple of places on this list where my order has been set for months, and I never really considered changing it. But this 3-6 area has shifted around a few times. Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi is this year’s Tengoku Daimakyou, in a way. The manga is excellent, don’t get me wrong – that’s why it’s on the list. But there are better manga that finished lower, strictly based on the quality of the adaptation. This is the Top 10 anime list after all, so that’s what I have to go with.

I can’t rank The Elusive Samurai’s adaptation quite on a par with Heavenly Delusion’s, largely because it wasn’t completely consistent in terms of production values. But Heavenly Delusion was such a unicorn that it’s no real criticism to make that point. Fact is, at its best this show was off the charts – incredibly stylish and overflowing with artistic ambition. Matsui Yuusei is a mangaka whose art I happen to love (unlike Samu). But it’s not necessarily an easy style to translate to the screen. I find Matsui to be as much a classical artist as a mangaka – he doesn’t draw with the sort of depth of frame and dynamism anime naturally overlaps with.

All I can say is that CloverWorks did a fantastic job bringing us the beauty of Matsui’s art and character designs while tweaking the visual style to make it work in this format. What they didn’t change much is Matsui’s weird (and often anachronistic) sense of humor. Some readers find that breaks the illusion and takes them out of the moment, but for me it’s just part of his identity as a writer. Part of the charter for adapting is to know what you can and should transform and what’s too essential to the nature of the material.

Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi certainly hasn’t been as popular as Matsui’s prior series, Ansatsu Kyoushitsu, but that was a commercial meteor (its first volume sold a million copies). TES is the more ambitious work in my opinion, and certainly it’s been treated better by anime. I was worried when we didn’t get an immediate sequel announcement when the first season ended but that’s since been rectified and now – boosted by the anime – the manga seems to be in a pretty good place commercially. When an adaptation both excels as a stand-alone entity and meaningfully grows the popularity of the source material, you can only call that an unabashed success.

#6 – Boku no Hero Academia Season 7

I mentioned historical footnotes when The Apothecary Diaries broke the 12-year drought of light-novel adaptations cracking this list. Here’a another one – Boku no Hero Academia preserves its perfect record. Seven seasons, seven appearances – it’s never missed. And in the end it wasn’t remotely close to missing this year. I toyed with sliding it up or down a notch, but once I started grinding on the details there was no doubt BnHA was going to be in yet again.

No other franchise can match that record – not that there are many I’ve covered seven seasons of (Natsume Yuujinchou has missed out on the Top 10 a couple of times). Where does S7 rank in the HeroAca anime canon? Somewhere right around the middle I’d say. And that’s right where 2024 ranks as an anime year. Even when it’s not at its absolute best this is still a great series. It was another villain-heavy season, and those tend to be among Horikoshi Kouhei’s most interesting characters.

Now of course we get ready for the final season, and one last (sort of) chance for the series to complete the sweep. It’s going to be a controversial one because no one loves complaining more than HeroAca fans, and because the ending (and later epilogue chapter) left fans pretty divided. It’s also worth noting that at long last, the excellent spinoff manga Vigilantes – long finished – is getting an anime in 2025. Not to mention buzz that Horikoshi is planning on starting his next series this coming year too. Franchises as big as this one don’t truly end – they’re too much a part of the public consciousness.

#7 – Kyuujitsu no Warumono-san (Mr. Villain’s Day Off)

My series review post opened with a pretty complete summation of my feelings – I love, love, love Kyuujitsu no Warumono-san. This show was a sleeper pick for me going into the winter season but I tell you what, it blew my expectations out of the water. I figured it would be a prime candidate for that niche, and it certainly lived up to that. But it went on to be one of the best examples of it in several years. Mr. Villain’s Day Off certainly didn’t come out of nowhere (again, it was a sleeper pick) but it made a much bigger impression than I ever would have guessed.

As I noted several times in my coverage, The General reminds me of myself to an eerie degree. He has so many of the same neuroses, the same obsessions, the same mannerisms even. I’m not a pandaphile and have no interesting in invading the Earth, but apart from that we’re pretty much the same guy. Does that color my opinion of the series? Of course, and there’s not a thing wrong with that. Criticism is subjective, and every work of fiction hits every consumer of it differently.

In addition to being very funny and often quite moving, Kyuujitsu no Warumono-san was genuinely deep, and I don’t say that about a lot of series. The veneer of a premise sits upon a foundation of philosophical observation and deceptively deep character dynamics. Life is indeed what happens on the way, and it behooves us to slow down and appreciate it. It’s the small things that make life worthwhile, and collectively they aren’t small at all. The General starts out mostly as an observer, but winds up taking quite an active part in helping those he meets along that way.

Among those are Evergreen Boy and Sakura Girl, the two child faeries who had one of the best romances of the year. That was a great mini-arc but there were several on that level. The Rangers got plenty of development, and there were no bad guys on either side. I also enjoyed the anime’s comprehensive survey of Earth holidays, as The General seeks to understand them and get into the spirit of them. There’s so much going on here, so much smart writing. This is a show you can relax and absorb yourself in but it’s also one that leaves you thinking about what you’ve seen, and how it makes you feel. One of the true hidden gems of recent years in anime.

#8 – Kuroshitsuji: Kishuku Gakkou-hen (Black Butler: Public School Arc)

Kuroshitsuji hasn’t been going quite at long as Natsume Yuujinchou, but it’s getting close to its 20th anniversary with little sign of slowing down. It’s nowhere as consistent, that’s for sure. This is a series with a truly vast tonal range for starters, and entire seasons of the anime tend to be wildly disparate both in vibe and (subjective) quality.

So where does Kishuku Gakkou-hen fit on that spectrum? Pretty damn high I would say. An entire season with almost no Grell is golden, for starters. Toboso Yana (who started serializing Black Butler at just 21) has a tendency to indulge that campy and silly side of the series a bit too much for my tastes, with Grell as the most egregious example. But Public School Arc was on balance pretty much in the butter zone for Kuroshitsuji tonally. I don’t put in quite on the level of Book of Circus, but it’s not far off.

As I noted before the season even started, the British public (what most of the world refers to as “private”) school – much less a Victorian one – could hardly be a better fit for Black Butler. It made sense from a plot standpoint, and an environment so intrinsically absurd could hardly suit Ciel and Sebastian – and Toboso – better. It’s fertile ground, and she sows it brilliantly. It also can’t be noted too many times just how astonishingly good Sakamoto Maaya (for whom astonishingly good is pretty much a default setting) is in this role.

#9 – Natsume Yuujinchou Shichi (Natsume’s Book of Friends Season 7)

Natsume Yuujinchou is one of the two series that’s made the most appearances on LiA’s year-end lists. It hasn’t broken the top ten every time but when it’s missed, it’s come close. As I noted yesterday the natural tier in this year’s list was about 12-13 shows, so I wasn’t totally sure Shichi was going to make the cut. But the 11th episode (one of the best of the entire series) probably sealed the deal even not having seen the season finale yet.

There isn’t that much I can say about this series that I haven’t already said. It does mean a great deal to me as an anime fan, and it’s able to immediately immerse me the way few long-running anime can. The show’s seven seasons have been remarkably consistent – to be honest the bigger factor has been the level of the  competition. The biggest variable is usually how many episodes fall under the category of youkai-driven and bittersweet, and how many focus on the human cast (especially the exorcists). There’s personal preference involved there but hey – I’m a person. And this season probably leaned modestly towards the former mode, which is the Natsume I like best.

Midorikawa Yuki has been at this for 21 years and 31 volumes, with no indication that she plans to  start wrapping the story any time soon. That’s perfectly fine of course – in no way do I feel it’s getting stale, though inevitably it sometimes feels a tiny bit repetitive. There’s also no indication that manga sales are slipping much, and there are plenty of unadapted chapters (the anime kind of skips all over, with the occasional original ep – usually excellent). So I suspect that the anime will return every few years and whenever Midorikawa does decide to end the manga, adapt it to completion. Given this series’ ability to exacerbate my allergies like few can, that’s quite a prospect to consider.

#10 – Kusuriya no Hitorigoto (The Apothecary Diaries)

There are a couple of interesting historical footnotes in the list this year, and this series is the first one. In fact, it’s the first proper light novel adaptation since 2012’s Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita to make the Top 10. I’ve had several crack the #11-20 lists but nothing in the top 10 for 12 long years (I thought I remembered Boogiepop wa Warawanai making it in 2019, but it was #13). So congrats to Kusuriya no Hitorigoto – it was well-deserved. There is a manga version of it of course – there always is when LNs are highly successful – but the LN is the source material on which the adaptation is based.

In fact it was a pretty good year for LN anime, though for me that’s a low bar of limbo proportions. As for The Apothecary Diaries, while it wasn’t flawless I did find it very charming – much like Koukyuu no Karasu, another LN adaptation with which is has some similarities (and which was one of those #11-20 qualifiers). Maomao is a fantastic protagonist, and – as usual – Yuuki Aoi was truly great in the role. Maomao is smart, funny, and twisted – a girl with a fascinating background and a unique outlook on the world. As a centerpiece for a mystery series she’s an absolute cracker.

Some of those mysteries didn’t do much for me, but that’s pretty much par for the course with mystery of the week anime. I also didn’t love Jinshi as a male lead, though after a rough start (and one truly horrific scene) he grew on me a little. I did love Lakan, the acerbic and sly strategist who wound up having a crucial role both in the plot and Maomao’s life, and whose arc delivered the finest moments of the first season. Obviously Kusuriya was and is huge hit – along with Sousou no Frieren (which it lags only very slightly behind as a commercial powerhouse) probably the two biggest breakouts of 2024. A new season starts in a couple of weeks and I’m very much looking forward to it.

 

Samu’s #1 Manga of 2024: Akane-banashi by Yuki Suenaga and Takamasa Moue (2022-Present) “Anyone who checked out our episode of Akane-banashi knows this a darling of mine; I loved it from the get-go but 2024 gave us the best material for the series so far with Akane’s journey heating up, an unexpected flashback to post-WWII, and some intense status quo shifts that has me even more excited for what next year has to bring. Week-on-week it’s an absolute joy and Weekly Shonen Jump’s best title right now.” (Enzo’s take: I think seeing Hunter x Hunter below Akane-banashi on your screens says it all about how I feel about this choice. I like this one, it’s a good series – but needless to say I don’t rank it nearly as high as Samu does. It would be about #5 in my ranking of current WSJ titles).

Samu’s #2 Manga of 2024: Hunter x Hunter by Yoshihiro Togashi (1998-Present, Hiatus) “We got another 10 chapter batch this year, exploring a multitude of side characters, throwing a couple more plot lines into this already dense mix that is the Succession Contest arc, and you can feel just how much Togashi is enjoying himself go full-Togashi. Love that for him. It’s my personal favourite arc of the series in many ways and hopefully we’ll get more frequent releases in 2025 to see if it matches the highs of the series before it.” (Enzo’s take: I’ve surely written more on Hunter X Hunter than any franchise (HeroAca is probably second), so I doubt I need to add much here. I don’t rank this arc quite at highly as Samu does – it engages me intellectually but not much emotionally, I think that Gon and Killua are much missed, and as such I find it one of the weaker long arcs in the series. But it’s all relative – the only measure by which “Succession Contest” comes up short is that of Togashi’s own work. I suspect this hiatus will be shorter than most have been, and there’s reason to hope that Togashi may have turned a corner in managing his health situation. Let’s hope so for his own sake, and if we get more HxH out of the deal, so much the better.”

Samu’s #3 Manga of 2024: Fool Night by Kasumi Yasuda (2020-Present) “My greatest discovery of the year: a dystopian sci-fi filled with inventive and unique ideas, balancing politics, eco-terrorism, and complicated ethics of this sun-less world where people are paid by the government to turn to trees to provide oxygen to a limit population. As cinematic as it is thought provoking. 2024’s chapters in particular saw the full scope of the series revealed and promises to only get more complicated from here.” (Enzo’s take: I know nothing about this one at all to be honest. It looks interesting and it’s one my list to try and check out in 2025 time (HA!) permitting.)

Samu’s #4 Manga of 2024:  Double by Ayako Noda (2019-Present) “The fifth volume was officially translated in 2024 and builds off of the big shift in Takara and Yuujin’s relationship; under stress in new ways they’re taking on a double version of the Hiryuuden play which is being mined for delicious dramatic potential. Another series I love with a messy but deeply fascinating dynamic at the core of it.” (Enzo’s Take: I read this one for the podcast, and I quite liked it. It will especially resonate if you have some history in the drama world. Not a top 10 series for me but an interesting read.)

Samu’s #5 Manga of 2024: Sakamoto Days by Yuuto Suzuki (2020-Present) “The coolest manga currently being publishing continues to be just that. The sun rises each morning, water is wet, and Sakamoto Days continues to deliver some of the coolest action sequence and double spreads in manga. It’s been upheaval within the story and hasn’t hit the brakes once. Now let’s see if the manga’s hype can translate in anime form.” (Enzo’s take: That’s 4 out of 5 Jump-ers, I see. I’d be lying if I said I “get” Sakamoto Days, but maybe I just didn’t get far enough into the series to see why it’s so popular. I’m hoping the anime will rectify that.)

Samu’s #6 Manga of 2024: Hirayasumi by Keigo Shinzo (2021-Present) “Another year of the best slice of manga currently being published. We got a summer checklist worth completing, unlikely romances blossoming, love rivals becoming admirers, and plenty more one-off chapters to put a smile on your face. By this point I’m invested in every character’s journey so it doesn’t matter who we jump to – with how all their lives weave together so beautifully every chapter is a treat.” (Enzo’s take: No mystery how I feel about Hirayasumi. I’ve done two videos about it (one solo, one on the podcast). If anything I’d probably rank it even higher. This is seinen at its very best, and I hope this is the year we get an anime announcement – though I fear it will be a drama instead.)

Samu’s #7 Manga of 2024: One Piece by Eiichiro Oda (1997-Present) “We saw the Egghead arc conclude and the Elpbaph arc finally begin this year; the former had some serious highs as well as an overlong speech from Vegapunk that seemed to continue throughout the entire year; the latter began its arc in a strange roundabout way and despite a big emotional moment for Robin (a personal fav of mine) to cap off the year hasn’t hit like I wanted to. Fingers crossed Elbaph picks up for 2025.” (Enzo’s take: I’ve heard of this one. Seriously, 28 years? No question One Piece is a commercial phenomenon unlike anything else in the history of manga. I don’t understand why if I’m honest, but that and ¥400 will buy you a tall drip at Starbucks.)

Samu’s #8 Manga of 2024: Kagurabachi by Takeru Hokazono (2023-Present) – “Weekly Shonen Jump have officially found their Next Big Thing and it just so happens that its boost in sales and table of contents rankings in the magazine align with its improvements in-series, with both the recent arcs delivering pure battle shonen goodness. It’s fact paced, the villains get a good showing, and it seems to have found its stride this past year.” (Enzo’s take: Not a fan, but nobody cares because it’s already big and going to be huge. Got an anime announcement blazingly fast.)

Samu’s #9 Manga of 2024: Green Green Greens by Kento Terasaka (2023 – 2024) – “The best cancelled manga of the year is a Weekly Shounen Jump golf drama; it was no powerhouse in terms of popularity in the magazine but it delivered every week on realistic character interactions and managed to make the most of its shortened chapter count. Justice for GGG!” (Enzo’s take: We talked about Green Green Greens at length in the WSJ Retrospective podcast. I too am a big fan – it broke my heart to see it cancelled, especially as I think it had a chance to grow into a modest commercial success. But WSJ is notorious for the quick hook, and GGG was probably better suited to something like Shounen Sunday.)

Samu’s #10 Manga of 2024: “REAL by Takehiko Inoue (1999-Present) – Takehiko Inoue has managed to deliver a consistent quarterly chapter of REAL throughout 2024, and they’ve been a reminder of just how good this series is. Takahashi has always been the star and his father got some equally great material this year too.” (Enzo’s take: I still consider Vagabond Inoue’s masterpiece by a wide margin, but he’s a superb artist and storyteller with everything he does. After the success of the Slam Dunk movie – which he directed – I’m not going to be surprised if  REAL gets either an anime or live-action announcement in 2025.)

 

And so we begin the Top Ten proper – thanks to everyone who made a guess in the contest! We have a special bonus this year – Samu is going to be sharing his Top 10 manga of the year. Anything serializing during 2024 is eligible – the restrictions for the anime list don’t apply.

As for the anime list, as usual there were tiers that didn’t neatly line up – though not as much so as in some years. I had 12-13 series that I seriously considered, and after that there was a bit of a dropoff (20 was a relatively neat cut for a change, though).

As LiA regulars know I like to start these lists off with an “Honorable Mention”, so without further ado…

Honorable Mention – T.P. Bon

Netflix had an interesting and generally very good year in anime. More and more, I think, they’re a key player in keeping the medium from wholly descending into formula and mediocrity (a process asserting itself strongly as I look ahead to 2025, unfortunately). One way they’re valuable is that they fund the production of stuff that would otherwise never get a Yen from a traditional production committee – stuff like Pluto and Chikyuugai Shounen Shoujo to single out two of the finest examples. That role used to fall to NoitaminA (on a more limited basis of course) but they’re not really swimming in those waters these days.

That brings us to T.P. Bon, Fujiko Fujio’s “other” manga (Doraemon being among the biggest properties in Japanese media history). It got an anime in 1989 and it hardly seemed to be a candidate for another, but for whatever reason Netflix felt differently. And I’m very glad they did. Not only that, it was produced by Bones and directed by Andou Masahiro. Despite that it was roundly ignored by Western anime fans, bearing as it does the double-whammy of being a Netflix series and superficially a “children’s” show.

As usual, their loss. I don’t dispute that kids could enjoy T.P. Bon, or even that they were Fujiko’s main target audience. In fact I’d go so far as to say kids absolutely should watch it. But like any good all-ages entertainment, it has plenty for grown-ups. The writing is sharp and subtle, the humor has an edge to it, and the stories can get almost shockingly dark. Plus, of course given the pedigree the production itself is top-notch.

Most of all I’m glad T.P. Bon exists because it’s genuinely subversive – and that’s a quality Japanese society desperately needs more of. The overarching message is “think for yourself” – don’t just accept what you’re told (even by teachers and parents) at face value. It broaches subjects that make the Japanese uncomfortable, like institutional racism and censorship. Its take on history is genuinely interesting, and I suspect both kids and adults could learn a lot from it. It’s a good show, and it has a genuinely important perspective it’s not afraid to share. If that doesn’t deserve to be mentioned honorably I don’t know what does.

 

These years just keep passing by faster and faster, unfortunately. It’s time for another year-end Top Ten list. These are always an interesting exercise for me for a lot of reasons. What stands out for me this time is that my recollection of how good or poor an anime year 2024 was didn’t align with the reality once I started grinding the details (I’ll let you guess in which direction). Also, there was no drama for the top few spots, which is rare – they were clear in mind before I started prepping the list and nothing about the process changed that in the slightest.

A reminder – once more I’ll be revealing the #1 series via an “Anime of the Year” video on the LiA YouTube channel (a video which I will of course link here).

A Refresher on Eligibility:

I’m going by the same eligibility standard I used for the 2012-2023 lists – that is, shows that finished airing during the year or split-cours that finished in 2024 are eligible. Split-cour series which finish in 2024 (like Dandadan) are not eligible for this list, but series that ended this year and weren’t officially confirmed as split cour when they did are eligible.  Shows that aired for the entire year (there weren’t any in consideration for me this year) are also eligible.

This means that in effect, the only shows not eligible for this list are the multi-cour series that began airing from Spring 2024 onwards and are still airing into Winter 2025, or true split cours that will finish in 2025.

As you know I always like to do a little contest, so here we go… The winner will be anyone that guesses my Top 10, in order. If no one does that, I’ll go with the closest guess. Guesses made by 2200 JST 12/22/24 will be eligible. Here’s the prize: same as last year, I’ll do a “Top 5” list or haiku on any anime theme or topic you choose. Dealer’s choice – you make the call.  Please post your guesses in the comments below!