The premier Japanese animation magazine Animate Times recently conducted a survey of its readership to determine which upcoming anime series are generating the most buzz in anticipation of the Winter 2024 broadcast season. The publication left voting open for several weeks, finally closing the poll shortly after Christmas 2023.
Even though the rankings could still shift around a bit, initial results provide insightful clues into what anime fans in Japan are especially excited about in the coming months.
It comes as no surprise that the #1 spot belongs to none other than Solo Leveling, an adaptation of the hugely popular Korean webtoon from A-1 Pictures, which will be globally distributed by Crunchyroll.
With stunning visuals revealed in a new trailer and preview cuts from Episode 1, anticipation continues building.
However, the remainder of the top 10 countdown features some pleasant surprises that showcase the diverse range of anime interests.
A couple of drama/romance series clearly struck a chord with voters, while the latest installment of an established fantasy franchise also makes an appearance.
And devoted readers of one classic sci-fi manga will surely be thrilled to see a brand new adaptation coming down the pipeline as well.
Even veteran anime fans may find some fresh titles here that caught them off guard but represent shows packed with potential.
So, while Solo Leveling snags the spotlight for now, keep an eye out for more news about these other anxiously awaited anime, which could also make a big splash next season.
The full experience of each is right around the corner in January 2024 for viewers ready to dive in on the ground floor.
Animate Times Highlights Japan’s Exciting Winter 2024 Lineup
A glance at the top anticipated anime unveils some familiar franchises that continue to captivate viewers, with eager fans ready to immerse themselves in new seasons and story arcs.
The psychological thriller Classroom of the Elite and magic battle series Mashle clearly struck a chord before, and their devoted followers can’t wait to see what happens next.
It’s been years since new Blue Exorcist episodes aired, so its high ranking proves the durability of its mystical narrative.
And with the sprawling political machinations of Kingdom still unfolding, fans are no doubt hungry to rejoin the complex interwoven plots.
Some emerging trends also dominate the rankings. Dungeon adventures are wildly popular right now, as evidenced by the inclusion of both Solo Leveling with its shadowy subterranean foes and the comedic epicurean quests of Delicious in Dungeon.
The meteoric rise of tough, cunning villainess protagonists continues, with Villainess Level 99 giving viewers exactly what they crave.
Indeed, this motif seems to be replacing “leveling up” stories, according to Korean webtoon publisher research.
Although anime has always loved a good antihero, the villainess archetype’s newfound prominence proves there is still room for fresh new takes that upend expectations.
Audiences just can’t get enough of these bold, cunning female leads—no matter what nefarious schemes they might be hatching from episode to episode!
So, while sequels rule the list, some genre-defining debuts have people ready to dive in on day one.
And taken collectively, it becomes obvious that unpredictable, convention-defying characters are set to steal the show this winter season.
1. Solo Leveling
In a fantastical world filled with supernatural danger, Sung Jinwoo is a hunter who battles hostile creatures that threaten humanity.
Though relatively weak compared to his peers, Jinwoo faces life-threatening conflicts on a regular basis.
After barely making it out alive from an especially treacherous dungeon that devastates his companions, Jinwoo finds himself the recipient of a mysterious new power.
He is designated the sole player of an arcane gaming system that enables him to rapidly increase in might and convert defeated foes into subservient spirit warriors.
Empowered yet uncertain, Jinwoo sets forth to uncover the origins of the enigmatic force that altered his destiny. His fresh authority allows him to take on more imposing adversaries, both bestial and humanoid.
Through successive ordeals, glimmers of a grander truth come into focus regarding the nature of the demonic dungeons, the exceptional capability he now wields, and his ordained place in the fabric of reality.
Jinwoo persists in pushing beyond his limits, driven by purpose and a dawning understanding of the exceptional role he has to play in safeguarding the future.
2. Mashle Season 2
The recently released trailer for the upcoming second season of Mashle: Magic and Muscles teases exhilarating new escapades at Easton Academy as protagonist Mash tries to keep his lack of magic abilities under wraps.
Intriguing new characters are introduced who appear to be prominent rivals called the Divine Visionaries.
Brief clips and snippets showcase Mash tapping into his extraordinary strength to confront menacing magical beings and skilled student sorcerers.
We also get a glimpse of the strict Margarette Macaron, who heads Mash’s Orca dorm and seems to be playing a pivotal role this season.
The trailer features a lively opening theme song, “Bling Bang Bang Born,” performed by popular rap duo Creepy Nuts, setting the tone for the new episodes.
Veteran animation studio A-1 Pictures returns to handle the visuals while director Tomoya Tanaka is back at the helm. Series composer Yosuke Kuroda will be masterminding the overarching narrative.
Renowned composer Masaru Yokoyama’s score promises to highlight the escalating action. Overall, the trailer indicates season 2 will up the ante with higher stakes and more eccentric characters and amplify Mash’s efforts to conceal his magicless nature.
3. Delicious in Dungeon
In a fantasy realm centered around perilous dungeon raids, adventuring guilds seek fortune and glory within the depths. Many harbor hopes of discovering the fabled Golden Kingdom said to lie within a certain elusive dungeon’s treasures.
The tale opens as one such 6-member party attempts to slay a dragon yet is forced to hastily retreat, tragically losing their mage companion Falin, a woman spellcaster that fell prey, becoming literally eaten alive by the beast to enable her comrades’ escape.
Left emotionally shattered, two members soon leave to join more promising groups, abandoning the remaining mourning trio of Laios, the Tallman swordmaster, Chilchuck, the halfling locksmith, and Marcille, the elf spellcaster to ponder avenging their fallen friend.
Feeling honor-bound to rescue Falin from her gruesome fate of digestion inside the dragon, this severely underpowered makeshift team starts planning creative ways to return better equipped before it’s too late, strategizing logistics from weapons-crafting to hiring new members despite scarce remaining supplies after losing their Dungeons & Dragons-esque equipment during the retreat.
Just when their mission seems impossible, Laios reveals secretly always having wanted to eat dungeon monsters, whipping out a mysterious cookbook on preparing meals from beasts to convince his repulsed yet starving companions.
With no alternatives left, they reluctantly agree and delve back into the dungeon’s depths.
The sprawling multi-level subterranean complex resembles a thriving marketplace filled with adventurers on its first floor.
Here, the group recruits Senshi, an experienced battle-hardened dwarf well-versed in surviving solely on foraged dungeon fare for 10 years through monster hunting and harvesting edibles.
Thus begins this eccentric band’s darkly comedic epic journey downwards, facing lethal environments, traps, and monstrosities in between preparing, consuming, and critiquing each exotic dish conjured, providing ongoing hilarious reactions highlighting both appetizing results and disgusting missteps.
4. The Dangers in My Heart Season 2
The ever-popular multimedia franchise “The Dangers in My Heart” traces its origins to mangaka Norio Sakurai’s ongoing serial comic first published in March 2018 within the weekly Japanese manga anthology Shonen Champion.
Sakurai continues to update the dark psychological story regularly through the digital platform Manga Cross.
The narrative follows the delusional Kyotaro Ichikawa, a loner high schooler convincing himself that he’s the complex antihero of some cerebral thriller.
Harboring contempt for his peers, he constantly hatches devious schemes to mess with them.
However, after years spent friendless, Kyotaro’s dreary existence gains new meaning upon befriending the ever-cheerful class idol Anna Yamada, whom he secretly pines for.
Ironically, despite her kind persona earning the admiration of all, Yamada privately harbors her own eccentric proclivities, only comfortable revealing to her new companion Kyotaro.
As their unusual bond deepens, the franchise’s twin pillars of black comedy and suspense intensify while exploring the duo’s layered psychologies and blurred realities.
Through multiple mediums spanning manga, novels, film, and more, “The Dangers in My Heart” continues striking a chord with its distinctive offbeat characterization.
5. Classroom of the Elite Season 3
The popular anime series Classroom of the Elite is adapted from Shōgo Kinugasa’s light novel series of the same name, illustrated by Shunsaku Tomose.
A third season was officially confirmed on March 6th, 2022, with animation studio Lerche returning to produce the new episodes as they had for the first two seasons.
Season 3 is helmed by director Yoshihito Nishōji, while previous chief directors Kishi and Hashimoto are back in oversight roles. Character designer Morita also returns to ensure continuity.
The new writing team features Yasushi Shigenobu joining returning writer Hayato Kazano to craft the scripts. On the music front, acclaimed composer Masaru Yokoyama is scoring the season, aided by Kana Hashiguchi.
Originally slated for 2023, the release date has been pushed back to January 3, 2024, after production delays. This new season will adapt the remaining volumes covering the first-year storyline arc yet to be animated.
After years of eager anticipation from fans, the third installment promises to finally resume the cunning exploits and cerebral clashes of the gifted students.
6. Villainess Level 99
Yumiella Dolkness finds herself reborn into a fantasy world as the hidden villainess in a popular otome roleplaying game titled “Light Magic and the Hero.”
Realizing she’s destined to face defeat, Yumiella decides surviving will require speedily gaining power through relentless grinding. Consequently, she dedicates her new childhood to rapidly increasing her abilities.
However, this plan severely backfires when her efforts exceed reasonable expectations.
While level 10 represented respectable student achievement, Yumiella maxes out at a staggering 99, placing her abilities far beyond normal parameters.
This anomaly garners unwarranted attention and throws the game’s intended plot drastically off-script.
Now overpowered yet overwhelmed, Yumiella must navigate uncharted territory, trying to conceal her true identity while dealing with the unpredictable repercussions of her shortsighted exploitation of the system.
Her careless overachieving inadvertently made her an unpredictable element in this world, forcing her to improvise new strategies in order to thrive.
7. Blue Exorcist Season 3
The narrative follows Rin Okumura, who, alongside his younger twin Yukio, was raised by the caring Exorcist Father Shiro Fujimoto.
However, Rin soon discovers his and Yukio’s biological father is none other than Satan himself.
Traumatically witnessing Shiro sacrificed protecting him, a distraught Rin unsheathes the legendary demon-slaying sword Kurikara, unlocking his latent demonic powers inherited from Satan.
Now, Rin exhibits fangs, a tail, and the ability to ignite potent blue flames from his body that raze anything he touches.
Determined to honor his fallen guardian and confront the evil that is his father, Rin strives to master his newfound talents by enrolling at True Cross Academy, an elite Exorcist training institute doubling as the Japanese branch of the True Cross Order, a global organization shielding humanity from demonic threats.
Shockingly, Rin finds his bookish brother Yukio is already an esteemed senior Exorcist instructor there.
Flanked by Yukio’s guidance and the steadfast allies he amasses amongst his eccentric classmates, Rin begins harnessing his accursed birthright, motivated by reclaiming the righteous legacy of the man who raised him as he walks the path of an Exorcist warrior.
8. Surgeon Elise
This unpredictable webtoon chronicles the redemptive journey of Elise De Clorance, initially depicted as a callous noblewoman whose cruelty eventually provoked her husband, the prince, into arranging her assassination.
However, Elise astonishingly awakens reincarnated in modern-day Korea, retaining memories of her vicious past misdeeds.
Determined to atone through altruism in this second chance at life, she diligently studies to become a skilled surgeon, healing and saving patients.
Just when it seems Elise has finally found purpose and happiness, she suffers an untimely demise once again.
To her shock, Elise wakes up and returns to her original body and era, armed now with advanced medical expertise completely foreign to this medieval civilization.
Full of reflecting on past regrets and longing for the relationships she formed in her modern reincarnation, Elise finds herself at a pivotal crossroads with her improbable knowledge.
Will she manage to heal both literal wounds and emotional scars to redeem herself? Or is Elise fated to walk a path leading to inescapable ruin?
The unpredictability lies in watching her consequential choices reshape her reality.
9. A Sign of Affection
Yuki leads a fairly mundane life as an ordinary college student invested in friendships, social media trends, and hunting for good deals.
However, a serendipitous run-in while commuting on the train results in meeting Itsuomi, a mutual acquaintance from her campus.
This fated crossing of paths with the intriguing trilingual linguistics student begins slowly opening up Yuki’s worldview.
An endearing bond blossoms, yet a significant barrier looms due to Itsuomi’s inability to speak sign language.
As their rapport develops new complex dimensions, so too does the pressing need to discover modes of communication transcending speech to convey their burgeoning feelings.
Yuki finds herself at a turning point where overcoming obstacles in expression could lead to an incredible new relationship.
But should they fail to translate emotions into a common understanding, the uniqueness of what they share may unravel.
Thus begins a journey where two strangers take the first steps toward forging an unforgettable connection if only they can learn how to speak each other’s language.
10. Kingdom Season 5
The story opens during China’s chaotic Warring States era, centering on two young orphans, Xin and his best friend Piao, who, despite their impoverished upbringings as mere servants, share an ambitious dream of someday becoming “Great Generals of the Heavens.” They perseveringly hone their combat skills in preparation through constant secret training.
However, a minister abruptly takes Piao to the royal palace for obscure reasons while Xin remains working in their dilapidated village.
Months later, a mortally wounded Piao returns briefly to impart a cryptic dying message for Xin to travel to another village before succumbing to his injuries.
Upon arriving there, Xin discovers a boy identical to Piao – the current child of King Ying Zheng of the Qin state.
Xin learns that Piao served as a political decoy before being critically wounded in a bloody coup. Though initially raging at Ying Zheng over Piao’s death, Xin decides to help the exiled king retract control of Qin.
Successfully reinstating Ying Zheng on the throne marked merely the beginning for Xin as he joined the Qin military, rising up the ranks from soldier to commander while helping Ying Zheng inch toward total unification of all China under Qin rule, compelled by fulfilling his and Piao’s childhood aspirations of becoming the greatest generals in history.
Honourable Mentions
Here are some more anime shows that will be worth mentioning –
Fluffy Paradise
This lighthearted Isekai chronicles the fortunes of an overworked Japanese woman granted a supernatural reprieve after literally dying from exhaustion.
Resurrected by a skeptical god assessing humanity’s worth in a whimsical realm, she strikes a wager, exchanging her soul for another chance at life, tasked with somehow convincing this divine being that mortals deserve existence.
Knowing her boundless affection toward all creatures, great and small, the eager reborn woman requests the ability to instantly befriend any animal through touch.
Though cautioned that such eccentric talents would face wary reception amongst the medieval populace, she joyfully embraces her new identity as Nefertina, the eccentric youngest daughter of a noble family dedicated to her personal quest of communing with the world’s delightful, diverse wildlife regardless of social taboos.
Blissfully unconcerned with the philosophical burdens of arguing on behalf of humanity’s merit to her patron deity just yet, Nefertina revels in deploying her charm offensive to win over squirrels, dragons, and everything in between through therapeutic interspecies snuggles sessions.
By non-judgmatically embracing man and beast alike, perhaps in time, she will come to discover that all souls share more common ground than differences to be celebrated.
Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki Season 2
The hit anime Jaku-Chara Tomozaki-kun delighted fans when the production company announced plans for a second season in January 2022.
Initial promotional videos sparked curiosity but left the format unclear. However, a follow-up trailer soon confirmed a full-length season two rather than a shorter OVA release.
This new installment promises to extend protagonist Fumiya Tomozaki’s unconventional character arc. A skilled gamer yet totally unpopular student, Tomozaki struggles to navigate the intricate and unwritten rules of high school social scenes.
His goal is to eventually topple the expert “player” at the top – the effortlessly charming queen bee Hinami Aoi, whose popularity has no equal.
Under her mentorship, the first season saw Tomozaki slowly building up his real-life charisma points, armed with Hinami’s clever tips and “hacks” for winning social gameplay.
But in order to truly revolutionize the social hierarchy with Hinami reigning at the peak, season two suggests he will need more than just tricks learned along the way.
