And so we (almost) wrap up another year in anime on LiA. It was a fairly solid year on the whole. Not as good as 2023, which was probably the best in four or five years, but at least average I’d say. Especially given the strength of the #11-20 list, which was on the whole a rather strong one. That’s not as important as the strength of the first ten (which was about average) but it’s certainly important.

It’s never easy to guess what the coming year in anime will be like at the beginning of January. But you do get some sense, based on the overall pool of shows that have been announced (and increasingly, leaked). And based on that my vibe is that 2025 is going to be a weak year. With some exceptions (there are always exceptions) it’s a pretty uninspiring pool of series at this point. Winter is often a middling season anyway, but we have a decent picture of spring by now, and it’s not a pretty one to my eyes. But it’s barely January – there’s plenty of time for anime to prove me wrong. As for 2024, the Reader Poll is below – please vote and share your views on the year in anime.

Here’s the breakdown on the 2024 Top 10 list:

By Season:

– Fall 2023: 1

– Winter 2024: 3

– Spring 2024: 3

– Summer 2024: 2

– Fall 2024: 1

A pretty even distribution, which is exactly what it felt like. But 4 of the year’s top 10 airing in winter is an indication that it was an unusually strong season by winter standards.

By Studio:

– Bones: 1

– White Fox: 1

– SynergySP: .5

– Trigger: 1

– CloverWorks: 2

– OLM: .5

– TOHO : 5

– Shuka: 1

– Pierrot: 1

– Shin-ei: 1.5

The only carryover from 2023 are Shin-Ei (who are increasingly a notable studio for quality adaptations), Bones, and Pierrot. But then, Pierrot just about never seems to miss a year – they have an incredible track record. Bones reputation speaks for itself – they’re deservedly regarded as one of the best in the industry. That’s not how Pierrot is perceived but if you focus on overall quality rather than sakuga, they should be. As for CloverWorks, they’re the only studio with two solo efforts to their credit and on the whole, they had a very impressive year.

By Source Material:

– Manga: 8

– Novel 1

– Light Novel: 1

After a clean sweep in 2010, manga cedes a little ground this time. Obviously at 80% of the list manga is still the dominant source material for quality anime, but it’s nice to see a LN adaptation crack the Top 10 for the first time in 12 years. Novel adaptations are always a good bet for quality when they happen, but they don’t happen often enough to be a major player. And this is now two years in a row without an original series in the top 10, which is kind of disappointing.

As always, my sincerest thanks to everyone for sticking with me this year.  I’m grateful to everyone who reads and comments (“like, comment, subscribe” on the YouTube channel helps out, too), and especially those of you that help out financially on Patreon, Ko-fi or PayPal.  The LiA Oscars will be coming up in a couple of weeks as usual, and again, the reader poll is below – please take a moment to share your picks for the best anime of 2024.

Finally, the Top 10 contest! It seems to have been a tougher year than normal to peg this, which aligns with what I see as a pretty deep list of series that isn’t too top-heavy. Red, Red Hat, Stephen and Darrel all notched 8/10 from my Top 10 – congrats! As always the tiebreaker is the total displacement of the shows correctly picked, so the overall nod goes to Darrel, who came closest to the final placements with his guesses. Congrats Darrel, your prize is a haiku or top 5 list of your choice – let me know in the comments.

Thank you again, and here’s hoping 2025 is a better year than 2024.  Stay frosty.

有難うございます!

Enzo