Doctorkev’s Autumn 2024 Anime Postmortem Part 2

No, she’s not playing baseball…

As the end of 2024 approaches, it’s time to round off my look at the year’s final season. I’ve been really busy over the festive period so I’ve not had time to check out the Beastar’s highly anticipated final season (or at least the first half of it that was released recently), nor have I got around to Girls Band Cry, a music show that limped onto Crunchyroll months after its initial Japanese broadcast due to terminally poor decisions made by its distributor. They’ll both have to wait until next season. You can read the first half of my look at the Autumn 2024 season here, so let’s get on with the rest.

Please watch Star Blazers. Its so damn good.

Space Battleship Yamato — Star Blazers 2205 and 3199 — 8 and 6 episodes respectively — Crunchyroll

It seems like we’ve been waiting forever, but the sequel to Star Blazers 2202 has finally arrived on legal English-language streaming, over three years since its initial Japanese theatrical release. That now means it’s possible to watch the subsequent Star Blazers 3199 without total confusion. The Space Battleship Yamato (Star Blazers) remake series gives absolutely no quarter to newbies choosing to start watching in the middle. Its huge cast, complex interstellar politics, and ongoing plot means that watching from the beginning of initital series 2199 and its follow-up 2202 is absolutely mandatory. It’s worthwhile though, as it’s one of the most glossy, entertaining, and compelling space operas ever made.

Modern Star Blazers has a weird release pattern — each series is arranged into 4-episode chunks, first released into Japanese movie theatres, and then streamed a short while later. Without a weekly streaming schedule, and massive delays to its English release, the show has struggled to attract and maintain an audience, which is tragic. Of 3199’s projected 26 episodes, only 6 are currently available, with 7–10 scheduled for April. Star Blazers fans are in it for the long haul, with an excruciating wait, as so far, 3199 has been superb. I’ve written reviews of both 2205 and 3199 for Anime News Network, I’ll post links to them on Medium whenever they appear.

Nowak is terrifying.

Orb — On the Movements of the Earth — 13 of 25 episodes — Netflix

Orb continues to be a compelling, and at times disturbing, historical drama, as the inquisition tightens its grip on our small band of heliocentrists, persecuted for their pursuit of objective scientific truth. The show has followed central duo Badeni and Oczi for far longer than first protagonist Rafal, whose fate capped off a jaw-dropping third episode twist. It’s left us with a persisting unease that no character is sacred, anyone could be dispatched next. After all, the development and eventual acceptance of heliocentrism took centuries in the real world, and I’m honestly unsure how accurate Orb’s history is.

Unpredictable inquisitor Nowak is one of the most terrifying creations brought to animated life, with his seemingly disinterested drawl hiding a keen mind and a fanatacism that keeps him pursuing so-called heretics doggedly until their final destruction. What’s even more chilling is that he’s not a total monster — he loves his daughter, wants to protect her from the less savoury aspects of his work. He views violence and the infliction of pain as necessary evils to preserve peace. He doesn’t take pleasure in hurting others, but views it as a task which must be completed, as much for his victims’ salvation as for his duty. It’s a remarkable show, that while difficult to watch at times, is darkly compelling. I absolutely recommend it.

I love that Ranma is so deliriously bonkers that even a shampoo and blow dry becomes a secret, deadly martial arts technique.

Ranma 1/2–12 episodes — Netflix

This modern remake of the 1980s/90s original has been an absolute delight. I was a big fan of Rumiko Takahashi’s hilarious genderbending martial arts comedy manga back when I was a kid, but unfortunately never got the opportunity to watch the anime version as it never came to the UK. Now this modern version is streaming worldwide on Netflix, and I’m having a great time with it. Ranma 1/2 is still as uproariously funny as it was thirty years ago, and my thirteen year-old son seems to enjoy it too (though he often has to cover his eyes at some of the more cringe-inducing developments, much to my amusement.)

This remake’s twelve episodes adapt at a brisk pace what the original apparently took eighteen episodes to do, and it doesn’t feel like anything’s been missed out. It looks great, the fight scenes are stylish and fun, while the English dub is excellent. Central duo Ranma and Akane’s relationship is as stormy as ever, their constant bickering and fighting masking the fact that they really do seem to care for one another. With the introduction of both hopelessly lost Ryoga and beautiful yet terrifying Chinese Amazon Shampoo, the central cast is now mostly complete. If it continues like the manga in its subsequent seasons, this remake anime will continue to add countless crazy cast members to make Ranma’s life hell, but for me, Ryoga and Shampoo are the the most important supporting characters. I hope we don’t have a long delay for the already-confirmed second season.

I definitely warmed to Sett over the past few episodes, I’m cheering him on now. Bring on the fratricide!

Nina the Starry Bride — 12 episodes — Crunchyroll

Although I really enjoyed this shojo manga adaptation, it did seem to rush through its source material very quickly, and I heard complaints that it missed out far too much backstory and supplementary information. I’ll likely check out the manga in that case, because the story of fake princess Nina is extremely compelling. Nina herself is a bright-blue-eyed, candy-floss-pink-haired street urchin who is made to take the place of her nation Fortna’s princess Alisha following a seemingly fatal accident. She’s subsequently sent to a neighbouring nation, the warmongering Galgada, to marry Prince Sett in the hope of preventing war between the two nations.

Nina finds herself torn between her duty to protect Fortna, and her love for Fortna’s Prince Az. As she gradually warms to Sett (and he to her), the foundations are laid for an epic love triangle, complicated by the murderous machinations of Sett’s rival siblings. Nina is portrayed as a naive yet intelligent girl who charms the hearts of almost everyone around her. She’s unafraid to stand her ground, and calls out injustice, despite the personal cost. I’d like to watch a second season, because the first ends on a cruel cliffhanger, but perhaps it’s likelier I’ll need to experience the full story on the printed page.

Kirishima and Yoshino in a rare moment of apparently unguarded tenderness.

Yakuza Fiance — 12 episodes — Crunchyroll

Perhaps the most absolutely trashy entry on this list, I loved watching the car-crash-in-slow-motion that is red-haired female protagonist Yoshino’s life. The grandaughter of a Yazuka leader, she’s obliged to marry Kirishima, the grandson of a rival Yakuza leader. Thankfully, he seems to adore her. Shame he’s a total sociopath. At least Yoshino’s pretty unhinged herself, and both main characters go to fairly extreme lengths to get what they want, or to maintain their standing in violent, complicated Yakuza society.

Yoshino is a magnetic main character because she’s almost as unpredictable and dangerous as her crazy fiance. I love her incredibly varied facial expressions, usually in response to whatever madness Kirishima embroils himself into next. Their relationship is complex as it’s hard to know exactly how they feel about one another. Kirishima seems to worship the ground she walks upon, and his actions mostly confirm this, but he’s always after something else, he absolutely can’t be trusted. Yoshino seems mostly disgusted with him, but then she has agreed to formally date him now, and is acting more like a girlfriend as time passes… I’m not really rooting for them to get together to be honest, as he’s a total scumbag, but I would be very much up for her leading him on then crushing him by stamping on his heart later, before grinding it into the dust. I hope we get more of this because the first season just sort of… ends… without much resolution.

Alicia really rocks that eyepatch look.

I’ll Become a Villainess Who Goes Down in History — 13 episodes — Crunchyroll

Yet another villainess isekai, but this one is very good! Alicia, the titular villainess, is a girl from our world who has been reincarnated into another world seemingly identical to her favourite Otome game. It’s honestly just as well her favourite game wasn’t something like The Call of Cthulhu, or The Binding of Isaac, because then her life would be so much more difficult. I’d watch the hell out of either of those, though.

Alicia wants to become a history-worthy villainess, but she can’t help but do good through her “evil” schemes. Her idea of “evil” seems to be to work and study very hard, fight hypocrisy and discrimination, stand up to the creepy mind-controlling “saint” Liz, and liberate unfairly imprisoned people. By any definition she’s pretty damned heroic, so of course she catches the eye of the dashing yet edgy prince (who is, unfortunately several years older than her… oh well.)

The ending leaves things wide open for a sequel, so I hope there’s enough story in the remaining unadapted original novels to allow this to happen soon. In the meantime, I’m sure there will be dozens more in this odd little villainess isekai subgenre to keep me amused.

The gang’s all here! What a great selection of fun characters.

Sengoku Youko — The Thousandfold Chaos Arc — 22 episodes — Crunchyroll

I won’t lie, some episodes in the final Sengoku Youko season drag a bit. Overall though, this is still a great series, with a beautiful ending that moistened my eyes more than a little. At least it has a strong cast of characters and some extremely cute female character designs! I’m currently writing a review of the show for Anime News Network, so I’ll drop a link to it here on Medium whenever it’s published.

Poor Bell’s not looking too well, and they’re leaving him in this state for more than three months, the bastards.

Danmachi Season 5 — 11 of 15 episodes — HIDIVE

Unbelievably, Danmachi is my top show of the season. If you’d told me this a year ago, I’d have suggested you were smoking something a little too potent. Nonetheless, this intense, focused season has been relentlessly compelling, as protagonist Bell is tortured and broken by the terrifying goddess Freya who is desperate to own him, body and soul. A lesser man would have capitulated to her obvious charms (have you seen that ending sequence??), but Bell’s made of stronger, more oblivious stuff. Also, he’s canonically only fourteen years old, and an immortal goddess is trying to seduce him.

Unfortunately, with studio JC Staff animating nine separate anime this season, something had to give, and Danmachi Season 5’s production fell off a cliff. While the episodes looked great, following two separate delays, the remaining episodes have been delayed until Spring, which is utterly tragic. Episode eleven left off on the most brutal cliffhanger that I’m not sure how I’ll survive. Perhaps I’ll just have to read the (many) novels instead, and in fact, I’ve already started…

Blue Miburo’s main cast pose for the camera. (Did they have cameras in 1863 Japan? It’s not impossible.)

Blue Miburo — 10 of 24 episodes — Crunchyroll

A samurai historical drama set in the mid-19th century, Blue Miburo follows the gradual development of swords-for-hire group the Mibu Roshigumi (shortened to Miburo), through the eyes of long-white-haired young idealist Nio. One day, the Miburo will become the famous Shinsengumi, protectors of the Shogun, but for now they’re a rowdy rabble of men on the edges of society.

This is based on a 14-volume manga (though a two-volume sequel began recently), and covers similar ground to Peacemaker Kurogane, though I haven’t seen that, so can’t really compare. It’s a fairly decent drama with humorous aspects, featuring famous people like Hijikata Toshizo and Okita Soji. It’s competently made, but doesn’t look amazing. The story is ok so far, but hasn’t grabbed me. I’m entertained enough for now, I suppose. I’m mainly watching it because I’m reviewing it for Anime News Network, and I’ll post a link to my full review here on Medium whenever it’s published.

Please give this goofy space opera/mecha/rock music show a chance, if you’re able to.

Macross 7 — 1–30 of 52 episodes — Disney+

Finally, as part of my ongoing marathon through the Macross franchise on Disney plus, this is the show I’ve been most looking forwards to, the utterly bonkers 1990s rock-music-based Macross 7. It’s the longest Macross show, with the closest ties to the original 1983 SDF Macross show (Robotech: The Macross Saga in the US.) I’m just over halfway in now, and I’m having a great time with it, it’s so deliriously silly, yet absolutely commits to it. Unfortunately, there’s no way to stream it in the US at the moment, likely due to hideously complicated rights issues that are entirely the fault of Harmony Gold. You can read my full review of Macross 7’s first half at Anime News Network via the link below:

[embed]Macross 7 Episodes 1-26 Anime Streaming Review This lighter, sillier tone feels like the entire series was made as a prolonged shitpost poking fun at the seriousness…www.animenewsnetwork.com

That’s everything for the Autumn 2024 season now! Next I’ll be taking a look at the year as a whole in my next annual postmortem article. I’ll try to post that as soon after the New Year as possible!

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[embed]Doctorkev’s Thoughts on the Autumn 2024 Anime Season Part 1 Somehow, it’s already halfway through November, which means we’re halfway through the Autumn 2024 anime season. And…medium.com

[embed]Doctorkev’s Thoughts on the Autumn 2024 Anime Season Part 2 Autumn 2024 brings with it a swathe of excellent new anime (and a few that aren’t quite so good). I’m mostly happy with…medium.com

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