We have officially hit the halfway point through the Winter 2024 anime season with most shows having aired at least 6 episodes and several already with their seventh behind them. I want to hear what your impressions are about the season so far. Any shows surprise you? Disappoint you? Exceed your expectations? Like every week, this is also a general discussion thread, so feel free to post general questions/discussions as well.
As always, remember to be mindful of spoilers. If you want to know more about how to handle spoilers in this community, check the guide here (also linked in the sidebar).
I’m up to episode 6 of Delicious in Dungeon and I did not expect to be enjoying it as much as I have been so far. I’ve gotten tired of anime set in a medieval RPG-esque setting because they fall back on a lot of overdone tropes and thus have little to no intrigue as far as worldbuilding goes. Delicious in Dungeon, on the other hand, takes those fantasy elements, especially the monsters, and dives deep into their inner workings. Every time Laios pulls out that encyclopedia I’m floored by the ingenuity in the ensuing monster descriptions. The art direction, animation, and music are also top-tier thanks to Trigger being Trigger.
Between this show and Frieren, fantasy is having a bit of a moment right now. Too often, this kind of fantasy setting is just executed poorly or lazily, serving as mere window dressing on another generic power fantasy. When executed well though, it can offer a complex and fulfilling world in which to tell a compelling story. I have been really happy to see how well received these series have been and hope it inspires more, actually good fantasy going forward. It seems kind of silly now, but leading up to Frieren coming out, I was nervous that it was going to be passed over by many because of how slow the story can be at times, especially because it was set to air in the same season as JJK.