As noted in part one, back in 2023, I listed my top (Western) animated series and top anime for the year. Those listed here are primarily those which are new, and aired in 2024, such as The Magical Girl and the Evil Lieutenant Used to Be Archenemies, Whisper Me a Love Song, Cherry Magic!, The Many Sides of Voice Actor Radio, Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night, and Girls Band Cry. Others either began or aired in previous years, Shy (aired 2023-2024), The Dangers in My Heart (aired 2023-2024), Soaring Sky! Pretty Cure (aired 2023-2024), The Apothecary Diaries (began in 2023), The Duke of Death and His Mad (aired 2021-2024), Super Cub like (aired in 2021), Ouran High School Host Club (aired in 2006), Sailor Moon (aired in 1992-1997), Tropical Rouge! PreCure (aired 2021-2022). There will be spoilers for each series featured.
As a warning, this post will discuss trauma, suicide, blood, death, nudity, and other mature topics. When I mention Disney+, I mean when it is bundled with Hulu during subscription payments. This is the second post of two. This post will cover list series 1-15.
15. The Magical Girl and the Evil Lieutenant Used to Be Archenemies– Streaming on Crunchyroll
This series begins by centering on evil lieutenant Mira (voiced by Yūki Ono). He falls in love with a magical girl, Byakuya Mimori (voiced by Mai Nakahara). She reciprocates this and he helps her break away from her somewhat abusive cat familiar, voiced by Shin-ichiro Miki. The episodes are only twelve minutes long, almost the same length as Steven Universe episodes.
While this relationship causes issues for Mira, it makes Byakuya happy, making her life fuller. What throws a wrench in the works is Hibana Kagari (voiced by Mariya Ise), who becomes a magical girl thanks to a bird familiar (voiced by Hikaru Midorikawa). She curses at enemies and does a bad job at expressing herself, with some thoughtful lines. Not only is it funny, but she upends the “pure” nature of magical girls. The latter ‘pureness’ was why her bird familiar recruited her. She rebukes him, declaring that magical girls need to preserve love no matter what. Later, the two familiars fight one another, while Byakuya is afraid of Hibana, seeing her as a “friend.”
This anime is a romantic fantasy and genre parody (specifically of the magical girl genre) directed by Akiyo Ohashi. It’s based on Cocoa Fujiwara’s three-volume manga of the same name. Japanese studio Bones Inc. produced the series. Bones also produced Metallic Rouge in 2024. It’s known for series like Carole & Tuesday, Space Dandy, Gosick, and Super Crooks. Otherwise, the inverting of magical girls by this series reminded me of The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated!. Some other characters, like the demon Bellatrix (voiced by Ayako Kawasumi) stand out in this series, among other supporting characters, like Formalhaut and Betelguese, with her terrible romantic misunderstandings.
14. Shy– Streaming on Crunchyroll
This action superhero series, based on Bukimi Miki’s manga, is set in a world where every country has a superhero, with a specific focus on the aptly-named superhero, Shy, who’s extremely socially awkward. Living her usual life as Teru Momijiyama (voiced by Shino Shimoji), she works with other heroes, like her close drunken Russian friend Spirit, to fight Amarariruku, a villainous group led by Stigma, which wants to take over people’s hearts, and create a world only populated by children. In the process, she meets Iko Koishikawa (voiced by Nao Tōyama). They have a close friendship with one another, which has romantic undertones.
The second season picks up where the first left off. Each hero tries to address a situation on Earth. A reporter, out of luck, named Tojiko Asuka, interviews Shy, who ends up telling her that she is a hero to people by reporting on fun parts of life each day, giving her motivation to write the article. Of course, Shy is so embarrassed when the article comes out that she declares that she will buy every issue of the magazine to spare her any possible “shame.” In the next episode, Teru and Iko go on a date together, Teru helps a ghost/daydream in the school library, and they come across a girl named Ai who’s running from a ninja.
It turns out that Ai is a village princess. The ninja, Tokimaru, is only there to protect her. She ran away from her village so she could experience the world and not be sheltered. Her sword can even read emotions, something which embarrasses Teru to no end, when her feelings for Iko are revealed. It turns out that Teru is the hero that Ai is looking for, although she isn’t aware that Teru is Shy, and ends up staying with her. Later, Ai, Teru, and Iko play games together and have a sleep over. This season later follows Ai looking for her other self among the Amarariruku, and fighting the aforementioned villains, who want to spread more fear across the world in order to complete their goals.
13. Super Cub– Streaming on Crunchyroll
In 2024, I decided to watch this series rather than Madlax, and am glad I did so. I watched this series on a Blu-ray, which I bought online, originally released by Funimation. The Blu-ray version comes with two discs, including special features such as promo videos, commercials, textless songs, and location scouting videos. Unlike many Crunchyroll releases, the English dub has subtitles! There’s no doubt that moped rider Rin Shima in Laid-Back Camp would be friends with the protagonists if there ever was a crossover.
The series begins with Koguma, a girl with nothing who lives alone, but still attends high school. Somehow she’s inspired to buy a motorcycle, a SuperCub to be exact (hence the series’ name), rather than riding her bike to school. She gets a used one from a local auto store, gets her license, and gains newfound freedom. While some may think this series is advertorial for Honda, that is a gross simplification. In the second episode, Koguma becomes friends with Reiko, another motorcycle user. She’s more direct and forthright, and charting her own course to get beyond “huge, invisible walls” holding her back. The series second half introduces Shii, who seems meek (but prim and delicate) at first, but later becomes more confident.
Animation, music, English dubbed voices, and story meld together into an enjoyable experience. It has many beautiful moments with evocative scenes, and shows how small changes positively impact Koguma’s outlook on life itself. One reviewer who complained about possible sloppy production and “lazy writing,” like the lack of explanation about how Koguma is living an apartment with little money, is wrongheaded. The overall plot is praiseworthy and it arguably “gets” motorcycle riders. In any case, and whether you believe there’s yuri subtext (between Reiko and Koguma) or not, this series is a worthwhile watch. The illustrator of this series (Hiro) also worked on Akebi’s Sailor Uniform, and series director, Toshiro Fujii, is known for animation work on Little Witch Academia, Is the Order a Rabbit?, and Scott Pilgrim Takes Off.
12. Ouran High School Host Club– Streaming on Crunchyroll and Disney+
This well-known drama, reverse harem, and romantic comedy centers on Haruhi Fujioka, a female scholarship student at Ouran Academy who’s blackmailed into joining a popular host club. She joins six other male students who entertain female “clients,” so she can work over her $60,000 debt. Although this series originally aired in 2006, it remains relevant. It even inspired the crew working on My Adventures with Superman. More than that, and whether this series gets rebooted, it’s culturally important and influential.
Whether this series is seen as an early example of fujoshi comedy, featuring male characters catering toward fangirls obsessed with shipping, critiquing of otaku culture, or parodying yaoi manga, it’s about friendship or family first and foremost. This anime remains clever through engagement with tropes from classic shoujo, while playing up specific stereotypes (and dismantling other ones) and creating a more human portrayal in the process. Something similar was done in Yuri is My Job!, which centers on a yuri-themed cafe, and The 100 Girlfriends.
Ouran High School Host Club differs from shoujo like Dear Brother, Antique Bakery, Cardcaptor Sakura, Kase-san, Library War, and Little Witch Academia. Even so, it has outdated language and terminology, like transphobic terms, to give an example. At the same time, the series is at its best when it focuses on the backstories of Tamaki Suoh, his friend Kyoya Ootori, and many others (Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin, Mitsukuni “Honey” Haninozuka, and Takashi “Mori” Morinozuka). The anime ends very dramatically, with Tamaki agreeing to end the host club in exchange for seeing his mother again, and marry a snobby French girl, Éclair Tonnerre. Haruhi convinces him that everyone in the club needs him, the club is saved, and Éclair decides to leave him. Who Tamaki ends up with, after this, is left up in the air as the series ends.
11. Sailor Moon– Streaming on Disney+
This anime is a classic, especially in the magical girl genre. It served as the predecessor to the Pretty Cure franchise, revitalized the magical girl genre, and influenced Western animations such as LoliRock, Star vs. the Forces of Evil, Steven Universe, and Totally Spies!. The Sailor Guardians/Scouts are ideally feminized, but also strong, independent, charismatic, and credible, which is empowering. Sailor Moon mixes sci-fi, coming of age, and magical girl themes, with characters often traveling forward (or backward) in time to alter events. The animation style, background art, and music are iconic, but do not feel out of place. Whether I watch the Sailor Moon Crystal reboot or not, this series will stick with me.
Each Sailor Moon season balances tragedy and comedy, with different villains defeated and battled. Some may be annoyed with Usagi Tsukino, but she remains a shining character, and a bisexual icon (with a canon relationship with Mamoru Chiba and crushes on various female characters). LGBTQ+ representation in this series is strong, with genderfluid and gay characters. Some countries play this down with censorship. Previously, in the 1990s, a dubbed version faultily portrayed Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, who first appear in the third season (Sailor Moon S), as “sisters” rather than lovers. In the uncensored versions available on streaming services, this ambiguity is removed. Uranus and Neptune clash with the Sailor Scouts. They have different ideas on how to defeat the Guardian of Silence/Hotaru Tomoe, in Sailor Moon S, but remain strongly and romantically tied together.
Sailor Moon remains iconic to this day. This is partially because the series revels in its femininity. One reviewer on Anime Feminist, Sydney Mae, noted that the five core characters, Makoto Kino/Sailor Jupiter, Rei Hino/Sailor Mars, Usagi, Ami Mizuno/Sailor Mercury, and Minako Aino/Sailor Venus, often enjoy what is described as girly, like “swoon[ing] over boy bands, enjoy[ing] going shopping, and hav[ing]…slumber parties where they talk about crushes and getting married.” Mae states that adaptations, like Sailor Moon Crystal, betray this vision, while in the original they wear cute clothes showcasing their personalities, like Haruka as a butch lesbian, and Michiru as femme, and avoid cliches in the process.
10. Tropical Rouge! PreCure– Streaming on Crunchyroll
Although this anime originally aired from February 2021 to January 2022, it remained a favorite series I watched in 2024. This is one of my favorite Pretty Cure/PreCure series. Each character is lively. The episodes deliver a powerful message to audience. Each protagonist has a different “charm point” and can magically transform with makeup. This could turn off some people, or make them concerned, even though using makeup is key to magical transformations in Sailor Moon, Smile Pretty Cure, and Wedding Peach.
I would have liked more criticism of the “beauty myth,” as now-Islamophobic and reactionary conspiracist Naomi Wolf, called it in her 1990 book, and the cosmetics industry. But, that isn’t where this series is centered. Instead, makeup is not enforced by show rules or characters. It’s rare in daily lives of the characters, which include a mermaid named Laura, who meets Manatsu Natsuumi. Both become good friends. All four protagonists (Laura, Manatsu, Minori, and Asuka) are Tropical Club members, with makeup, seen as a form of empowerment. They face villains attempting to capture people’s motivation, until truth behind the villainess’s “evil” role is revealed, and they remain role-models for the audience.
9. The Dangers in My Heart– Streaming on HIDIVE
This slice-of-life romcom anime, also known as Boku no Kokoro no Yabai Yatsu, focuses on a growing friendship between loner student Kyotaro Ichikawa and beloved beautiful student Anna Yamada. The first season started rough: Ichikawa fantasized about murdering the popular kids, including Yamada, leading to a cautious wait-and-see review from Anime Feminist. It is similar to Teasing Master Takagi-san, which developed into a sweet romcom of its own. By the second season, the friendship between Yamada and Ichikawa had become more romantic.
Although romcoms are not always my cup of tea, this one is well-executed, even though it falls into the typical male/female romance tropes. In fact, in the beginning of the second season, Yamada and Ichikawa get closer. Friends of both realize the romantic attraction between them. They often hang out in the library together, which was one of the motivations for me to begin this series. I even wrote an entire post on the series on my Pop Culture Library Review blog. Otherwise, I liked the slice-of-life vibes of this series, in comparison to other series which aired at the beginning of 2024, and the other characters like Chihiro Kobayashi, Moeko Sekine, and Serina Yoshida. Some characters have weird perversions, but that is balanced out, in some ways, by the positive nature of Yamada and Ichikawa. This series ended its second season in late March 2024.
8. Soaring Sky: Pretty Cure!– Streaming on Crunchyroll
This series, also known as Soaring Sky: PreCure, was replaced by a new iteration of the Pretty Cure/PreCure franchise: Wonderful PreCure!. In my entry for this series in 2023, I noted that Sora Harewataru, Mashiro Nijigaoka, Tsubasa Yuunagi, Ageha Hijiri, and Elle fight together as PreCures against the villains from the Undergu Empire. Each character is relatable and their magical girl transformations are amazing. The Empress (voiced by Takako Honda) leads the villains, vowing to get revenge for Cure Noble reportedly “killing” her father 300 years ago. She’s assisted by generals, monsters, and cold-hearted Skearhead (voiced by Mitsuru Miyamoto). It is later implied that she became cold-hearted over time.
The last half of this series, which aired from January to February of 2024, has a feminist message, showing that male characters are the ones who believe that strength is “everything.” In contrast, the PreCures assert that this belief is faulty. For them, there’s a different way to be strong: have connections with your friends, and protect those you love. It is revealed that Skearhead is an embodiment of (hateful) Undergu energy. His true form is Darkhead and he manipulated the Empress’s memories! While this series ended far too quickly, wrapping up loose ends neatly (including only teasing at Cure Sky’s “corruption” in one episode), it favorably supports a reading indicating yuri subtext between Sora and Mashiro.
7. The Duke of Death and His Maid– Streaming on Crunchyroll
I learned about this series from reading a rightfully critical review of The Day I Became a God in Anime Feminist, saying that the show uses the premise of a supernatural curse to show how those with disabilities are told they won’t be loved, but rejects it with with a mutually romantic and sweet story. The titular maid, Alice Lendrott, is non-disabled and cares for her disabled lover (Viktor), seeing him as an equal. She assists the Duke/Viktor (voiced by Natsuki Hanae) after he declares he wants to cure his curse.
In the process, the series gives disabled people a voice, and respect. I originally wasn’t aware that the third, and final season would begin on April 7th of 2024. Alice and the Duke play off each other nicely, especially when Alice flirts with the Duke. He refuses to let anyone suffer, so that his curse can be broken. For instance, a genie lifts his curse in one episode, but transfers it to another, which is unacceptable to him. The camaraderie between the female characters (Alice, Viola, Cuff) can be nice and makes for some funny scenes. Even the mother of the Duke, Walter, and Viola get more of a focus, revealing that she loves her children but doesn’t know how to talk to them.
Viola specifically fancies the Duke’s butler. There’s magic users like the witch Cuff, her later partner Zane, and the villain Sade. This contrasts to characters who detest Duke, like his brother Walter, or his mother Gerbera. The second season provides detail about head witch Daleth, who’s depressed, has insecurities, and resentment, since her older sister Sade maimed her. Walter, who feels second-best, accepts her. He calls her beautiful and encourages her to uncover her scarred face. She watches over Alice’s mother, Sharon, cursed to an eternal sleep, and shares memories of what happened when the Duke was cursed. Daleth warms up to Walter (who occasionally cross-dresses) and talks about her previous time in the family mansion. She helps the protagonists when they confront Sade, who can read minds. The third season reveals Sade’s reasons for her terrible actions. In the next-to-last episode, Sade frees the Duke from his curse, and in the series finale, the Duke and Alice marry.
6. Whisper Me a Love Song– Streaming on HIDIVE
Like others on this list, I’d been looking forward to this anime, produced by Cloud Hearts and Yokohama Animation Laboratory. I read a bit of the original manga, but did not finish it. The animation (despite the production issues), pulls you into the story, as does the music. Himari Kino (voiced by Hana Shimano) “loves” the singing by guitarist Yori Asanagi (voiced by Asami Seto), a senior at her school. She has friends like Miki Mizuguchi (voiced by Aoi Koga), whose sister Aki Mizuguchi (voiced by Mikako Komatsu) is a bassist in a light music band SSGirls, which consists of Yori (who has stage fright), drummer Mari Tsutsui (voiced by Konomi Kohara) and keyboardist Kaori Tachibana (voiced by Ai Kakuma). Yori falls in love with Himari. Her other band members are excited for her and attempt to bribe her to stay in the band.
In the fourth episode, Yori rejoins SSGirls as lead singer. Himari doesn’t want to force her “love” onto Yori. Wanting to cook sweets for Yori, Himari is drawn to the cooking club. There’s drama and examination of what love means, with Yori and Himari admitting their love for one another. Momoka, of the cooking club, supports Himari. The series hyper-focuses on them and not others. It can have compelling plot points, like Shiho’s challenge to SSGirls. While Girls Band Cry, Jellyfish Swim in the Night, and The Mary Sides of Voice Actor Radio, are better executed, animated, and produced, and cover more pertinent social issues, this series is remains strong.
Last year, I mentioned this series in my article about yuri anime, since this series has direct, and strong, yuri themes. Sadly, series production problems led the 11th and 12th episodes to be delayed and domain name of Cloud Hearts, a studio which worked on the series, expired, putting the series in jeopardy! The show’s official website is still up and they are selling products. In late December, the 11th and 12th episodes were released, ending the series on a positive note. If it is continued, hopefully a better studio is behind it.
5. The Apothecary Diaries– Streaming on Crunchyroll
This series stood out in 2024. It remains at the same spot where I had it in 2023. The Apothecary Diaries goes further with the story of Maomao (voiced by Aoi Yūki) in season one’s second cour, loosely based in Imperial China. Maomao is brought back from working as a courtesan-of-sorts in a brothel in the red-light district. She worked there after leaving the rear palace following Fengming’s execution. This cour begins with her in the Outer Palace, near influential eunuch Jinshi (voiced by Takeo Ōtsuka), changing from her role as a forensic pathologist, in the rear palace. I enjoyed how Maomao uses her skills to solve mysteries for the royal court and adapts to her new circumstances, with nearby military officers. She learns that status, nobility, and class isn’t everything, since someone’s life can “twist and turn” no matter their status.
No longer is she a taste-tester or lady-in-waiting for an Emperor’s concubine. She uses her apothecary skills and puts freckles on her face to make herself less attractive. The series criticizes royalty’s inner workings and there’s romantic tension between Jinshi and Maomao. She has no interest in him, but he often teases her, which annoys her to no end. More investigations and intrigue continue, partially due a conniving military strategist, Lakan (voiced by Takuya Kirimoto). He is Maomao’s birth father. It’s revealed that he gave her mother syphilis! The nineteenth episode takes a bloody turn, with Maomao barely saving Jinshi from being killed after an archivist provides her the information she needs.
I’m interested to see where the series goes in the second season, which premiered on January 10th. It may expand on growing romance between Jinshi and Maomao, the complex relationship between Lakan and Maomao, and her mother, Fengxian, and any other challenges they face. After watching this, I’m interested to read the various manga, novel, and light novel series written by Natsu Hyūga, a talented Japanese writer primarily known for this series. I’m happy to watch the physical version of the first season this year!
4. Cherry Magic!– Streaming on Crunchyroll
Cherry Magic!, also known by an absurdly long name (Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!), is a comedic boy’s love anime. It’s adapted from Yuu Toyota’s manga. Show staff include Yoshiko Okuda as director, Tomoko Konparu as writer, and Tomoki Hasegawa as music composer. Satelight, the animation studio which produced the series, is known for Macross Frontier, Macross Delta, Cannon Busters, and Somali and the Forest Spirit. I came to this series with an open mind, after watching a well-done boy’s love/yaoi anime (Sasaki and Miyano), and another series with some yaoi themes (Antique Bakery). At first, the story is a bit hackneyed, falls into commonly used genre tropes, has a strange/silly title, but it is relatively innocent, and can be cute. The second episode makes this even clearer.
This series differs from I’m in Love with the Villainess (ILTV), with Rae Taylor as smasher of Claire Francois’ boundaries. However, as time goes on, she respects Claire more as a person and recognizes more of her boundaries, as shown in later light novels and manga, although this isn’t shown enough in the anime adaptation. In Cherry Magic!, respecting boundaries is very important part of growing relationships between the protagonists.
This is clear from the growing romances between Kiyoshi Adachi (voiced by Chiaki Kobayashi) and Yuichi Kurosawa (voiced by Ryōta Suzuki) and between Adachi’s friend, Masato Tsuge (voiced by Makoto Furukawa), and a deliveryman, Minato Wataya (voiced by Gen Satō). Cherry Magic! is one of my favorite series I watched in 2024, even more than others on this list. Additionally, following the premiere of the final episode on March 27, a theatrical compilation film comprising all the anime’s episodes premiered.
3. The Many Sides of Voice Actor Radio– Streaming on Crunchyroll
Two high-school classmates, Yuhi Yugure and Yasumi Utatane, voiced by Moe Toyota and Miku Itō respectfully, co-host a weekly radio show together. To their listeners, they appear as friends with no issues, but are actually at each other’s throats off-air. Both go through rivalries in show business and friendship, with yuri themes throughout. Yasumi is a gyaru, hiding her show business personality, while Yuhi is a voice actor who’s really Watanabe Chika, and reportedly a “plain girl.” The first episode pulls you into the series, with Yuhi and Yasumi finding out they are classmates. Asaka Mrei (voiced by Misato Fukuen) is writer of the radio show that Yuhi and Yasumi host together. Yuhi geeks out over a robot/mecha anime she likes. Later Asaka pushes Yasumi to get to know Yuhi better off-air. Yuhi shares her insecurities over being an idol and her image, believing she has “no value” and Yusumi provides encouragement. They later have a sleepover in the third episode.
I’d been looking forward to this series for a while. It reminds me of the differences between real and manufactured personalities of those in Yuri is My Job! or concept of honne and tatamae. While some may have disliked the series, criticizing its writing, storyboards, and character designs, or saying it’s rushed as compared to the manga, I enjoyed this series immensely. The second episode goes further, while Yuhi and Yasumi continue their radio show together.
Yuhi wants to reduce the amount of lying. Yasumi gets a voice role and is unsure whether she got the role because of talent or something else. In the process, the brutality of the voice acting industry is revealed, with the show focusing on bad sides of the industry like overwork, challenges of voice acting, tough voice directors, and how voice actors compete. Overall, the yuri themes become more (but not fully) textual as it goes forward.
2. Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night– Streaming on HIDIVE
Mahiru Kōzuki (voiced by Miku Itō), at the center of Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night, is a high school girl who stopped drawing as “Yoru Mitsuki,” but is actually hiding from reality. She wants to be someone other than herself after she imagines a terrible work life ahead. Kiwi Watase (voiced by Miyu Tomita), a VTuber and “student council president” who wants to prove herself as “Nox Ryūgasaki,” is her friend. Later, Yoru becomes friends with Kano Yamanouchi (voiced by Rie Takahashi), a former idol who went by “Cleopatra,” and is known as Nonoka Tachibana, and loves Yoru’s work.
She reveals that she’s part of an anonymous artist group named “JELEE,” based on Yoru’s drawing, making her bashful, until she is impressed by Kano’s singing. Mahiru later learns that Kano retired from being an idol because she punched another band member in the face. Both begin to bond, with Yoru agreeing to draw art for the group. A mysterious composer named Mei “Kim Anouk” Takanashi (voiced by Miyuri Shimabukuro) watches while sitting at a piano. This offsets the unfortunate fan service in episode 1.
Later episodes introduce Mei. Kano and Yoru grow closer. All four form an anonymous artist group named “JELEE.” The opening and closing songs hook you, as does the music throughout, with the opening song telling you something about the show’s characters. Mahiru cares more about being the band artist than her future career prospects until she sees a comment saying the drawings are “subpar.” Kano comes to check on her and says she loves her art. They go on a date-not-date at an aquarium. The ninth episode adds angst, when Mahiru agrees to do artwork for Sundolls, a group managed by Kano’s mother. Kano lashes out, saying JELEE left her behind. Through it all, yuri-ish themes are integral, as fans have recognized and has been shown in official art. The series should have been longer, by a few more episodes, to more fully explore such themes, but what we got is adequate.
1. Girls Band Cry– Streaming on PrimeVideo and Crunchyroll
Girls Band Cry follows Nina Iseri (voiced by Rina) as she finds her way in Tokyo, fleeing her family problems and issues back at home, where she feels like no one cared for her. In the process, she meets Momoka Kawaragi (voiced by Yuri), a guitarist who lost her spark and wants to quit. However, Nina convinces her to stay and both play together. There’s yuri subtext here and this series gave me a lot of vibes similar to BanG Dream! It’s My GO!!!!. The opening sequence is amazing. Unfortunately, at first, no streaming service in Western countries picked this up, not even Crunchyroll, which some Anime News Network reviewers talked about.
Although the CGI could be off-putting, this series uses it so effectively that it isn’t an issue. The second episode brings things into higher gear. Nina tries to juggle her responsibilities to society, family, and being in a band. This series shines through its themes, animation, characters, and music. The seventh and eighth episodes go further, focusing on self-expression, dropping out of school (for Nina), bullying, and admitting one’s feelings (Nina admitting her feelings for Momoka). As such, yuri themes become central, becoming one of its main driving forces, as I noted in my July 2024 post. The series was added to PrimeVideo (for purchase) and other platforms, such as Hoopla, on August 13th, in North America.
Girls Band Cry gained more views after it began airing on Crunchyroll on November 6th. The fact this didn’t happen sooner is due to Toei Animation, which originally only contracted out the release of the series to Hoopla, Prime Video, and a few other platforms. This failure pails in comparison to how this animation studio has issued physical releases of PreCure in the U.S. and other Western countries: they haven’t. In fact, some parts of the Sailor Moon franchise, also by Toei, have not even been released. You can start 2025 by watching it!
Runners-Up
There’s a few series which are runners-up. First is Love Live! Superstar!! season 3. I wanted to put it on this list, but I already had enough series, so I excluded it solely for that reason. In the first season, Kanon Shibuya works with Keke Tang to start a school idol club, perform at a local festival and an island, battle with school president Ren Hazuki (who later joins the group, called Liella), and place second in the regional idol competition. Kinako Sakurakoji, Mei Yoneme, Shiki Wakana, and Natsumi Onitsuka all become club members in the second season. As a result, Liella vies for victory and faces a rival named Wien Margarete. Liella beats her in the Tokyo regional competition. Kanon is invited to study abroad at an elite music school in Vienna. The season ends with a cliffhanger.
The third season begins with a bang. Wien starts attending the same school as Kanon and claims Kanon’s study abroad program is over. In reality, she’s told to stay there for a year to learn about singing from her. Unsurprisingly, Wien proposes her own school idol club to challenge Liella. Kanon’s unsure what to do. She confides in Chisato. Her reasoning to work with Wien, so they can compete, then come back together makes some sense, even though this plot is funky. In later episodes, Kanon works with Wien and Natsumi’s younger sister, a calm and collected girl named Onitsuka Tomari. They form TomaKanoTe, upsetting existing series dynamics. All the while, Wien begins living with Kanon, her sister, and mother! There’s continued subtext between Mei and Shiki. By the eighth episode, all eleven have come back together as a unified group after a competition in front of the entire school.
Another runner-up not included is Arte. It focuses on a female painter (Arte) trying to make her way in Rennaissance-era Italy. I wish I’d watched it before I went to Italy! Otherwise, there’s Fluffy Paradise, which centers on three-year-old reincarnated protagonist, Nefertima “Néma” Osphe (voiced by Ai Kakuma). Before she is brought back to life, she’s given the special power to attract non-human beings by God, which comes in handy in the world of Asdyllon where humans and magical creatures live side-by-side. Some had concerns about fantasy racism. While that’s an issue, that isn’t the main reason I removed it from the list, nor the privilege of Nema. The series went stale with weak messages against child abuse (by teachers), and the idea that only the strongest survive. If you want to watch about fluffy animals, watch Too Cute Crisis instead.
I will not be mentioning Gushing Over Magical Girls, an ecchiesque series which aired from January to March of 2024, nor the third season of Sound! Euphonium, because I did not watch the latter. Otherwise, although I enjoyed it a lot, and see parallels to Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle, I couldn’t add ‘Tis Time for “Torture,” Princess due to a lack of space. There’s yuri subtext between Vanilla Peschutz and Princess, so that was an added bonus.
In 2024, I finished Reincarnated as a Sword, Your Lie in April, Hanamaru Receive, Welcome to Demon School Irma-Kun, and Murai in Love (I really enjoyed this), and watched episodes of Space Dandy, 22/7, Selection Project, Kaiba, Mysterious Disappearances, and Dirty Pair. All of these have their good, and bad, parts. I’d say that Narenare does much better when it comes to disabled characters, and mental health than Your Lie in April, which is strong due to its music and animation, but it’s story lacks in many respects. The same goes for Astro Note, which has a great retro-looking anime art style and a nice-feel to it mixed with a growing romance between the protagonists, and the third season of Laid-Back Camp, for which the characters, music, and setting were good, but has a weird animation style.
I look forward to this year’s anime series, including BanG Dream! Ave Mujica in January, bowling anime Turkey!, I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level season 2, A Smile in an Unbearable Workplace, and the women’s golf anime Sorairo Utility. Whether 2025 will be a “Yuridemption” as Yuri Empire claims, or not, it may be different from 2024. I look forward the second season of Magilumiere Co. Ltd., whenever it premieres, whether this year or another year.
