Winter 2024: Anime anticipations rise

As 2024 begins, it brings new seasons of fan-favorite series and anticipated anime adaptations. Animation studios this year are bearing plenty of such gifts, from new shows like “Solo Leveling” and “Delicious in Dungeon” to continuing shows like “Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End” and “Undead Unluck.” 

“Solo leveling”

“Solo Leveling” is about Sung Jin-woo as he builds his power in a world with hunters and monsters. The story follows him in modern Korea as he explores gates filled with monsters and uses a mysterious game-like system to level up in a way no other hunter ever could.

When asked about his most anticipated show, OH junior Jack Bateman said, “I’m most excited for Solo Leveling. I read a little bit of the webtoon, but once I heard that they were adapting it, I decided to wait for that instead.”

Based on a popular Korean web novel authored by Chugong, and later adapted into a webtoon by Jang Sung-rak, Solo Leveling is finally being adapted into an anime by A-1 Pictures. 

“Solo leveling” is currently available on Crunchyroll. It started airing on January 7, 2024, and the first season will consist of 24 episodes.

“Delicious in Dungeon”

This gourmet show, “Delicious in Dungeon,” follows Laios’s party as he traverses a labyrinth dungeon to save his sister Falin. This story takes place in a medieval high-fantasy-themed world, comparable to a world you might find in Dungeons & Dragons. As they move along, their party breaks a taboo to solve their problem with hunger: eating monsters. 

This show is based on a manga written and illustrated by Ryoko Kui. It’s been adapted into an anime by Studio Trigger, famously known for other shows like “Kill la Kill,” “Darling in the FranXX,” and “Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.”

The show is airing now and can be watched on Netflix. It began on Jan 4, and will continue until reaching 24 episodes.

“Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End”

Frieren is an elf coming home from her adventure in the hero’s party. The time that the party spent created strong memories for themselves as bonds were created together. But the time they spent is only a fraction of Frieren’s life, due to her elvish race living over a thousand years. 

She’s taken aback when she returns and witnesses the passing of 2 of her hero party companions. Follow along with Frieren as she realizes her regret for not understanding humans, connections, and friendships.

The base material for “Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End,” a manga series, has been written by Kanehito Yamada and illustrated by Tsukasa Abe. Its anime is being produced by Madhouse, who produced shows like “Death Note,” “Hunter x Hunter,” and “One Punch Man.”

While it started airing in September, it’s now continuing into its next part in the Winter 2024 season. Currently, it can be streamed on Crunchyroll. It will continue until its 28th episode.

“Undead Unluck”

As Fuuko Izumo stands at the edge of the building she accepts that she’ll never be able to experience love. With the curse of unluck, she causes mortal danger to everyone she touches. 

In comes Undead. Undead is an immortal seeking death, with impossibly fast regeneration. Seeing Fuuko’s curse, he hopes to utilize it to finish himself off.  There’s one problem: an organization to eliminate superhumans like them. Watch along as they fight to survive in these dangerous times.

“Undead Unluck”, written and illustrated by Yoshifumi Tozuka, is being produced by David Productions. This studio has animated other titles such as “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventures,” “Cells at Work,” and “Fire Force.”

Being a continuing series, it started back in October of 2023. It’s streaming now on Hulu, and you can watch as it continues through a 24-episode season.

Altogether, this season is full of plenty of well-animated and authored shows. Winter 2024 looks to please both seasoned anime fans and new and current anime.