As pretty much every non-sequel of the Spring 2024 season has already started airing, fans are wondering what to watch. Which anime deserved their hype (or even more), and which ended up being disappointing? If you want to learn that, look no further.
Great: Kaiju No. 8
Okay, to be fair, this was expected. The source material for Kaiju No. 8 (Kaijuu 8-gou) is very popular, and the anime was expected to become a hit. Viral promotion with the anime streaming on X (formerly Twitter) and Western artists doing the songs certainly helped the popularity, but that’s not why it’s popular.
Kaiju No. 8 is just good. Seriously, it’s a very gritty and intense take on its genre, and the kaiju designs in the series are amazing — it might not be the most unique anime, but it’s doing its job well enough. Apparently, manga fans say it gets worse later on, but with it only being scheduled for 12 episodes, we won’t even get there.
Re:Monster was said to be one of the earliest examples of an isekai series where the protagonist is reincarnated as a non-human monster. However, it only got an adaptation in 2024, and the reception wasn’t very good.
The start is very uninteresting, and the production values are frankly poor. The anime is also a very generic power fantasy, and there are no actual reasons to watch it unless isekai is your favorite genre. Yes, even with it being a trendsetter.
One of the rare cases where the remake is as good as the original, Spice and Wolf (Ookami to Koushinryou) proves again that the story behind it is timeless. The banter between Holo and Lawrence is as great as it always was.
In fact, the new anime is better than the original in some aspects. It’s a more faithful adaptation of the light novels, and while it’s worse visually, it seems to be promising to adapt the series further.
MyAnimeList score: 8.24
Disappointing: Vampire Dormitory
Vampire Dormitory doesn’t do anything completely wrong, but it also doesn’t do much right. The anime feels like a very lazy take on shoujo romance with vampires.
With the female lead crossdressing as a man, it’s hard not to draw parallels with Ouran High School Host Club (Ouran Koukou Host Club) — which is almost 20 years old by now and is still a much better anime.
MyAnimeList score: 6.30
Great: Go! Go! Loser Ranger!
It’s frankly a crime this anime is so underrated. Go! Go! Loser Ranger! (Sentai Daishikkaku) might be the hidden gem of the season.
It will probably catch more attention a bit later, as many probably skipped it because of its premise — tokusatsu isn’t really a popular genre in the west. That said, the action is amazing, and the comedic scenes are done really well — don’t sleep on it.
MyAnimeList score: 7.50
Disappointing: The Banished Former Hero Lives as He Pleases
This is yet another example of a generic, by-the-numbers fantasy show that is not isekai (but certainly feels like one). The Banished Former Hero Lives as He Pleases (Dekisokonai to Yobareta Motoeiyuu wa Jikka kara Tsuihou sareta node Sukikatte ni Ikiru Koto ni Shita) doesn’t really do anything new.
“Kicked out of party” seems to have become a new subgenre, and this plays into pretty much all the tropes. Even fantasy fans will recommend you skip this one.
MyAnimeList score: 5.15
Great: A Condition Called Love
The recent resurrection of the shoujo romance genre has given way to new great series. A Condition Called Love (Hananoi-kun to Koi no Yamai) is one of those, focusing on a very unlikely romance.
Saki Hananoi asks Hotaru Hinase to become his girlfriend, and she actually agrees, despite having never been in love before. They have to navigate their newfound relationship from there, as neither has much experience when it comes to romance. And, of course, love slowly blooms from there.
MyAnimeList score: 7.12
Disappointing: Highspeed Etoile
You know an anime has to do pretty much everything wrong to achieve a MyAnimeList score under 5. Highspeed Etoile is certainly impressive, if for all the wrong reasons. It’s made in full 3D CGI, which is very poor. The direction is bizarre, models, assets and even animation cuts are reused, and the advertisements for unrelated companies are everywhere.
As if that wasn’t enough, it’s also impressively boring. The entirety of Episode 1 is a race, which the series managed to make boring with repeated animation cuts. And we hardly have any reason to care for the characters, especially considering we don’t even see the protagonist until the end of Episode 1. This might be a “so bad it’s good” series at this point.
MyAnimeList score: 4.97
Great: Jellyfish Can't Swim in the Night
Definitely the most exciting original project of the season, Jellyfish Can't Swim in the Night (Yoru no Kurage wa Oyogenai) is a mix of slice-of-life and drama. Focusing on a group of young women starting a band, it’s already been compared to many recent series, though it has its own unique flair — both narratively and visually.
In fact, the direction is the thing that is praised the most about it — the series is animated beautifully. And we know the production won’t fall apart midway, because all the episodes are already ready for airing.
MyAnimeList score: 8.05
Disappointing: Gods' Game We Play
Gods' Game We Play (Kami wa Game ni Ueteiru) is already being called a mix of No Game No Life and Liar Liar — and that’s a mostly correct description. The anime doesn’t feel like anything unique, and it’s hard to get invested.
Besides, the production values are terrible — in the first episodes, many characters were already off-model, and there was barely any animation. Everyone just wants Season 2 of NGNL instead.
MyAnimeList score: 6.14
Highlights of the season are here.
As pretty much every non-sequel of the Spring 2024 season has already started airing, fans are wondering what to watch. Which anime deserved their hype (or even more), and which ended up being disappointing? If you want to learn that, look no further.
Great: Kaiju No. 8
Okay, to be fair, this was expected. The source material for Kaiju No. 8 (Kaijuu 8-gou) is very popular, and the anime was expected to become a hit. Viral promotion with the anime streaming on X (formerly Twitter) and Western artists doing the songs certainly helped the popularity, but that’s not why it’s popular.
Kaiju No. 8 is just good. Seriously, it’s a very gritty and intense take on its genre, and the kaiju designs in the series are amazing — it might not be the most unique anime, but it’s doing its job well enough. Apparently, manga fans say it gets worse later on, but with it only being scheduled for 12 episodes, we won’t even get there.
Re:Monster was said to be one of the earliest examples of an isekai series where the protagonist is reincarnated as a non-human monster. However, it only got an adaptation in 2024, and the reception wasn’t very good.
The start is very uninteresting, and the production values are frankly poor. The anime is also a very generic power fantasy, and there are no actual reasons to watch it unless isekai is your favorite genre. Yes, even with it being a trendsetter.
One of the rare cases where the remake is as good as the original, Spice and Wolf (Ookami to Koushinryou) proves again that the story behind it is timeless. The banter between Holo and Lawrence is as great as it always was.
In fact, the new anime is better than the original in some aspects. It’s a more faithful adaptation of the light novels, and while it’s worse visually, it seems to be promising to adapt the series further.
MyAnimeList score: 8.24
Disappointing: Vampire Dormitory
Vampire Dormitory doesn’t do anything completely wrong, but it also doesn’t do much right. The anime feels like a very lazy take on shoujo romance with vampires.
With the female lead crossdressing as a man, it’s hard not to draw parallels with Ouran High School Host Club (Ouran Koukou Host Club) — which is almost 20 years old by now and is still a much better anime.
MyAnimeList score: 6.30
Great: Go! Go! Loser Ranger!
It’s frankly a crime this anime is so underrated. Go! Go! Loser Ranger! (Sentai Daishikkaku) might be the hidden gem of the season.
It will probably catch more attention a bit later, as many probably skipped it because of its premise — tokusatsu isn’t really a popular genre in the west. That said, the action is amazing, and the comedic scenes are done really well — don’t sleep on it.
MyAnimeList score: 7.50
Disappointing: The Banished Former Hero Lives as He Pleases
This is yet another example of a generic, by-the-numbers fantasy show that is not isekai (but certainly feels like one). The Banished Former Hero Lives as He Pleases (Dekisokonai to Yobareta Motoeiyuu wa Jikka kara Tsuihou sareta node Sukikatte ni Ikiru Koto ni Shita) doesn’t really do anything new.
“Kicked out of party” seems to have become a new subgenre, and this plays into pretty much all the tropes. Even fantasy fans will recommend you skip this one.
MyAnimeList score: 5.15
Great: A Condition Called Love
The recent resurrection of the shoujo romance genre has given way to new great series. A Condition Called Love (Hananoi-kun to Koi no Yamai) is one of those, focusing on a very unlikely romance.
Saki Hananoi asks Hotaru Hinase to become his girlfriend, and she actually agrees, despite having never been in love before. They have to navigate their newfound relationship from there, as neither has much experience when it comes to romance. And, of course, love slowly blooms from there.
MyAnimeList score: 7.12
Disappointing: Highspeed Etoile
You know an anime has to do pretty much everything wrong to achieve a MyAnimeList score under 5. Highspeed Etoile is certainly impressive, if for all the wrong reasons. It’s made in full 3D CGI, which is very poor. The direction is bizarre, models, assets and even animation cuts are reused, and the advertisements for unrelated companies are everywhere.
As if that wasn’t enough, it’s also impressively boring. The entirety of Episode 1 is a race, which the series managed to make boring with repeated animation cuts. And we hardly have any reason to care for the characters, especially considering we don’t even see the protagonist until the end of Episode 1. This might be a “so bad it’s good” series at this point.
MyAnimeList score: 4.97
Great: Jellyfish Can't Swim in the Night
Definitely the most exciting original project of the season, Jellyfish Can't Swim in the Night (Yoru no Kurage wa Oyogenai) is a mix of slice-of-life and drama. Focusing on a group of young women starting a band, it’s already been compared to many recent series, though it has its own unique flair — both narratively and visually.
In fact, the direction is the thing that is praised the most about it — the series is animated beautifully. And we know the production won’t fall apart midway, because all the episodes are already ready for airing.
MyAnimeList score: 8.05
Disappointing: Gods' Game We Play
Gods' Game We Play (Kami wa Game ni Ueteiru) is already being called a mix of No Game No Life and Liar Liar — and that’s a mostly correct description. The anime doesn’t feel like anything unique, and it’s hard to get invested.
Besides, the production values are terrible — in the first episodes, many characters were already off-model, and there was barely any animation. Everyone just wants Season 2 of NGNL instead.
