The Best Anime of 2024

To the stories that move us, challenge us, and remind us why we fell in love with anime in the first place, here is a ranking of the ten best anime of the year

Anime in 2024 has been gloriously messy. Deliciously unpredictable and perpetually unbothered by the confines of genre, logic, or expectation; as always, there are masterpieces to celebrate and missteps to lament — for every swing-and-a-miss this year has thrown our way, there’s been a knockout that has left us reeling. 

This year, the medium has once again thrown us into a whirlwind of fantastical worlds, existential musings, and the occasional descent into head-scratching absurdity. It was a year where volleyball showdowns reached operatic heights, samurai redefined heroism, dungeon crawlers moonlit as master chefs, and jazz found its loudest, most emotional voice yet. Yet, alongside these highs, we endured the agony of climactic U21 matches rendered in presentation slides and the persistent heartbreak of iconic horror manga proving infuriatingly unadaptable. It was, in other words, anime at its most exhilaratingly, frustratingly alive.

Earlier this year, Miyazaki-san reminded us all why he’s the closest thing animation has to an actual wizard, with The Boy and the Heron clinching Ghibli its second Oscar and the Cannes Film Festival 2024 bestowing upon the studio an honourary Palme d’Or. The fact that it took half a year and a stack of awards to finally secure Indian distribution was a bittersweet victory for Indian otakus.

India continues its burgeoning tryst with anime. Crunchyroll’s localization efforts — Hindi, Tamil, Telugu dubs galore — transformed the niche into a nationwide phenomenon. Streaming platforms are fast evolving from pipelines for escapist fantasy to cultural touchstones, bringing stories of pirates, ninjas, spies and sorcerers to screens across the subcontinent. And in a historic move from our neighbours, Usman Riaz’s The Glassworker marked Pakistan’s first ever anime feature that doubled as the country’s official submission at the Oscars 2025.

Meanwhile, the Paris Olympics became an unlikely stage for weebs with athletes sneaking Dragon Ball poses and Yu-Gi-Oh! cards into the global spotlight. And in its 25th year, Eiichiro Oda’s unstoppable One Piece has hit milestones across mediums that most pop culture franchises wouldn’t dare to dream of, let alone achieve.

Yet, for all the highlights, anime’s messy brilliance remained intact. There were dazzling moments of artistry and storytelling that brought tears to our eyes, followed promptly by plot twists that had us questioning our life choices. That duality — its uncanny ability to be at once profound and preposterous — is what makes anime impossible to pin down and even harder to ignore. 

It’s clear we’re living in a golden age of anime ubiquity. As we look back at what 2024 has had to offer, what seems more than certain is that anime is constantly evolving and this has been but a taste of what’s in store for years to come. To the stories that move us, challenge us, and remind us why we fell in love with anime in the first place, here is a ranking of the best of the year, preceded by some honourable mentions that deserve a tip of the (straw) hat.