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The Best Anime Of 2024
Somehow we've reached the end of 2024, and what a year it's been! For fans of anime it's been an eclectic and vibrant 12 months with an array of brilliant debuts and highly-anticipated returns. Once again, we've put together a team of IGN’s biggest anime lovers to determine which title we think is the best of 2024. After much discussion, many rewatches, and of course voting, we're here to reveal the winners and runners-up while also exploring just what made each series so special.
Interestingly, in a year where massive action series like Kaiju No. 8, Solo Leveling and Spy X Family Season 2 debuted to huge success, the shows that made our winner's circle were all decidedly cozy and charming. The top four are fan favorites and each offered a different kind of escape from the stresses of daily life. Whether viewers were looking for a slice of life or fantasy, 2024 offered up some legitimately fantastic debut series based on gorgeous manga like Delicious in Dungeon and The Apothecary Diaries. There was also a clear theme of campaign fantasy making a come back as one of the most beloved subgenres in anime right now, as both Delicious in Dungeon and Frieren: Beyond Journey's End offered up new twists on the classic D&D set-up and both charmed viewers – and our voting panel here at IGN.
(Note: For IGN's Best Anime award, anime must have completed airing their season or cour/parts in the U.S. by 2024 in order to be eligible. This means The Apothecary Diaries among others were up for consideration in 2024 as it was completed by voting time.)
Honorable Mentions
Before we get to our final four including our winner, let's talk about the incredible shows that didn't make it in but were up for contention. The completely wild alien invasion story Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction was a fave, as was the highly anticipated monster mash Kaiju No. 8. Of course many of our panel were thinking of Solo Leveling when it came to the best of 2024, and the sophomore season of Spy × Family was up for consideration too! There were also votes for newcomers like The Elusive Samurai and Too Many Losing Heroines. But ultimately they couldn't beat our top picks which we're going to get into now.
Runner-Up: The Apothecary Diaries
Based on the light novels by Natsu Hyūga and illustrated by Touko Shino, The Apothecary Diaries took the anime world by storm this year, garnering a massive fanbase and a ton of conversation. Following a young apothecary who is kidnapped and forced to work within the walls of an imperial palace, this series is filled with brilliant women and complex antagonists.
At its heart, The Apothecary Diaries is a mystery of the week as our young hero must solve strange and often deeply dangerous occurrences while surviving the intrigue and horrors of the palace. Set in a fictionalized version of Imperial China, the show is epic in scope and offers up an interesting slice of life take on historical fiction and court intrigue.
Our review of the series gushed, "The Apothecary Diaries’ faux-historical medical drama makes for incredibly compelling case-of-the-week anime viewing." Beautifully animated and written with lashings of wit and humor, it's no surprise this became one of 2024's biggest hits.
Runner-Up: Oshi no Ko Season 2
This absolutely wild series based on the light novel series written by Aka Akasaka and illustrated by Mengo Yokoyari made our best of list when it debuted last year, and Season 2 continues that streak. In case you don't know the premise, it's one of the weirdest mainstream anime set-ups in a while: A doctor struggling to come to terms with the death of a young patient dies and finds himself reincarnated alongside his patient as the twin children of a world famous idol named Ai.
After the death of their mother at the hands of a crazed fan, the pair dedicate themselves to solving the murder while also having to juggle their lives as idols themselves. The second season took a meta twist as one of the twins was cast in a stage adaptation of a popular manga, but of course the mystery of who killed their mother is still a central plot and, for many viewers, Season 2 managed to reach the starry heights of the first season.
With the third season officially greenlit, it'll be interesting to see if the series can keep up with its ever-growing fandom and wild conceit.
Runner-Up: Delicious in Dungeon
If you're a fan of D&D and food then you are probably already a massive fan of this gorgeous adaptation of Ryoko Kui's hit manga. Thanks to its prominent place on Netflix's schedule this year, this super cute and utterly mouthwatering anime gripped viewers across the globe, especially as it was a rare staggered release for the streamer, meaning there was time for word of mouth fueled excitement to roll the show to ever more successful heights.
The series follows an adventuring squad who are aiming to save their recently dragon-eaten colleague before she's digested by the creature. The group comes up with a wild idea as they prepare for their journey through the dungeon: In order to survive with no money and fewer supplies, they'll live off the monsters, creatures, and strange things they find. It's a cozy and appealing set-up that delivers one of the most satisfying anime of the year.
Produced by Trigger, the series is a visual feast as we follow the crew deeper into the dungeons as they collect more monstrous and magical ingredients for their dishes. Our review called Delicious in Dungeon "a monstrously appetizing anime," which is a perfect description for what makes the show so lovely. Inventive, unique, and gorgeously animated, it's no surprise that this one made a huge impact on our panel of anime experts, not to mention viewers around the world.
But with all that said, there was one show that beat the rest and took the top spot in our Best Anime of 2024 list...
Winner: Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
Adapting the manga series by Kanehito Yamada and illustrated by Tsukasa Abe, this beautiful, thoughtful, and deeply engaging series took our top spot and our hearts. Our review of the premiere episode described it as "a leisurely paced trip into a lush fantasy world," which certainly sums up one of the reasons the series sings. But this isn't some simple adventure fantasy. Instead, the series offers a deep, introspective look at life, friendship, and grief through the eyes of an elf mage after they beat the Demon Lord and brought peace to their kingdom.
Working on multiple levels, the show is dynamic and gorgeous to look at as it follows the recognizable trope of a found family on a quest, but adds an existential and unique twist as it delves into the nature of leaving loss and loved ones behind and how we deal with it, while also pondering what happens after your hero's journey is complete. It helps that it's also a delightfully animated show with characters you care about.
In Japan the series debuted with a record breaking 8.6 million viewers. The overwhelming response to the series has been one of wonder and excitement, especially with the knowledge that there is a second season in the works, and it was so popular that it doubled the sales of its manga and became a word of mouth smash as new and old anime fans alike discovered the sentimental show and quickly became deeply invested.
