Spring 2024 Anime Season
Spring 2024 Anime
Note: I’ve decided to stop writing about new seasons of shows I’ve written about multiple times before.
Tadaima, Okaeri is this season’s soothing, feel-good show. It’s also this season’s “please have babies we are begging you!” show. It follows married couple Hiromu and Masaki and their daily lives raising their adorable children. Something to note is that while the couple here are both men, the series really isn’t about their relationship but rather about their roles as parents. The two of them face discrimination for being together, but not because they’re both men (same sex relationships seem to be common in this world). It’s because Hiromu is an alpha and Masaki is an omega. Alphas can get any type pregnant and omegas (regardless of sex) can become pregnant by anyone. Other than that, there doesn’t seem to be any difference between them and regular human beings. The show ends up being fairly realistic (especially if you sub in homophobia for the alpha/omega stuff). Overall it’s a mild, sweet series. The strength of the show lies in just how cute their young children are, the family drama surrounding the couple, and the endearing friendships they’ve built. The animation and art are fine for this type of show, with comforting pastel colors and gentle music. Recommended.
Oblivion Battery is a baseball sports anime about a battery duo who dominated middle school baseball. They were so talented that all the top schools offered them scholarships. But instead of continuing their path to becoming pros, the catcher Kaname gets amnesia after an injury. This causes him to forget everything he knows about baseball, and his cold, calculating personality reverts to the silly goofball he would have been without the discipline of baseball. He decides to go to a no name school with no baseball team, but his pitcher/best friend Kiyomine follows him, and with the help of some former rivals, they decide to start a new team. The main draw of this series is the unique premise. The amnesia angle is interesting, and the relationship between the two boys in the battery is fun. Kiyomine is the quiet, stoic type who balances out Kaname’s zany antics well. Kaname himself is saved from being too annoying by being voiced by Mamoru Miyano. The baseball seems reasonably realistic so far, and all the rules are conveniently explained to us via the characters explaining them to Kaname. The animation is nice but the character designs are almost aggressively unattractive. All the characters’ faces look too small for their heads. It’s a strange image, but I guess I’ve gotten used to it. I can’t resist a sports anime with a unique premise.
A Condition Called Love is a shoujo anime about a young girl named Hotaru and the boy who falls in love with her, Hananoi. While Hotaru is a fairly average girl, Hananoi is very good looking and popular with girls. The catch is that Hananoi comes on way too strong and has several well-meaning but toxic methods of showing his love. His feelings are very intense from the beginning, and the first episode might leave you scratching your head because he seems to fall madly in love with her out of nowhere. I will only say that this gets addressed later. But right away, it’s clear that Hananoi has several red flags. He’s possessive, gets jealous easily, is self destructive, and has no interest in maintaining any relationships besides the one he has with Hotaru. I appreciate that the series rightfully points out that this is concerning behavior and Hotaru refuses to have a relationship like that. She makes it clear that she will keep all her friendships and she earnestly tries to help Hananoi change. My main issue with the series is that it seems to be a bit wishy-washy with these themes, never taking them quite far enough to have a strong impact. And sometimes Hananoi will do something I think is pretty egregious and Hotaru just doesn’t seem to mind. While watching, I’m often reminded of the manga Love and Heart, which explores similar themes but goes much harder with them. Of course it has the luxury of a college aged cast instead of high school students, but I still feel like this show could have delved a little deeper. I do like the explanation for Hananoi’s behavior and outlook. It makes perfect sense and makes him a much more likable character to have that context. The art and animation are okay, but Hotaru tends to be drawn with exactly one facial expression and I wish she was more visually expressive. Hananoi has a very pleasing design, as do most of the supporting cast. Despite my mild complaints, the show is still very good and at least touches on topics that aren’t often explored in a realistic way in shoujo.
Wind Breakers is one of my favorite new shows this season. It follows Sakura, a high school boy who excels at and enjoys fighting, starting as a new student at a high school known for its fighting delinquents. He goes there with the intention of fighting his way to the top and taking over, setting up our expectations about what sort of series this will be. Instead, he discovers that the delinquents are more like a team/found family and they’re basically heroes to the small town the school is located in. They patrol the streets, protect the townsfolk, repair damages, etc. Sakura, somewhat surprisingly, finds this all very cool, and is happy to join up. The school is led by the very charming, very cool, and very strong Umemiya, whom many people have compared to Jujutsu Kaisen’s Gojo (they look somewhat similar and even share a voice actor). He’s definitely a highlight of the show. The character designs are varied and interesting, and the animation is nice. The fight scenes look pretty great. The soundtrack is excellent. Highly recommended.
Yatagarasu is a show I almost dropped after the first episode, but I’m really glad I kept watching because it hit its stride in episode two. This is a court intrigue series about a world where humans can transform into giant ravens. The youngest prince is next in line for the throne, surpassing his older brother due to being born with rare and powerful abilities. This splits the court between supporters of each brother, leading to assassination attempts, betrayals, and various other things. At the same time, a daughter from each of the four great houses is sent to participate in a competition to be chosen as the royal consort. This aspect of the story is the one I thought I would hate, as the idea of multiple women competing for one man just doesn’t appeal to me. But it soon becomes clear that romance has nothing to do with it. At least two of the women have zero interest in the prince himself, and thus far in the series the prince hasn’t even gone to see any of them even once. It’s all political maneuvering. There’s some violence here and there, but overall the story is more about politics than action. The prince himself is an interesting character, not falling easily into one of the usual tropes for a character in his position. The animation looks lovely and the character designs are fantastic. The music is also very good. Highly recommended if you like a good political drama with some supernatural elements.
Kaiju no. 8 is probably the show I was most looking forward to. I’ve been following the manga since it began and I’m a big fan. It’s set in a world where kaiju attack often and Japan has the highest number of them. The country has created a defense force to fight them, and protagonist Kafka has always wanted to join. The problem is that he’s thirty, and he’s failed the application process several times already. Having pretty much given up on his dreams, he instead works on a kaiju cleanup crew (responsible for cleaning up all the kaiju guts that splatter everywhere following their defeat). After meeting a young coworker who intends to join the defense force, and surviving a run in with a kaiju himself, he decides to try one more time. A complication arrives when a tiny kaiju forces its way down his throat and gives him the ability to transform into a powerful kaiju himself. The best part of this series is Kafka. We so rarely get protagonists his age in this sort of story, and it’s refreshing to see him continue to pursue his dreams and act as a sort of father/uncle figure for the younger members of the cast, even as they outclass him in every way. I also like that some of the most powerful people, ones that Kafka see as his “goal” are women. There’s Mina, a captain in the defense force who is absurdly strong and can take out massive kaiju solo (and also happens to be Kafka’s childhood friend). And then there’s Kikoru, a new young recruit who outperforms every single other applicant and is viewed as a genius prodigy. The battles are a blast to watch, with cool kaiju designs and fun fight choreography. The animation is solid. The music is excellent. If you have even a passing interest in kaiju, this is the show for you.
Other Shows I’m Watching:
My Hero Academia Black Butler Touken Ranbu Kimetsu no Yaiba
