The best anime sequels of 2024, ranked

Key points

• Frieren: Beyond Journey's End part 2 is a masterpiece, with amazing battles and graphics.
• Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War season 3 excels as high-quality Shonen.
• My Hero Academia Season 7 offers an exciting journey and top-notch quality.

Souls in 2024 has reached new heights, with similar series Frieren: Beyond the journey's end AND Whitens the thousand-year bloody war leading the race to become the highest rated of the season. Every anime season has its ups and downs and this one was definitely full of pleasant surprises. So, let's take a look at those sequels in the series that have raised the bar for the rest of the releases, taking into account the quality of the animation, post-production, audience and critical scores, but, above all, the dedication in enhancing the show and bringing an enjoyable experience for fans.

8 Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (Part 2)

A masterpiece full of emotion, action, drama and fantastic images

Part 2 of Frieren: Beyond the journey's end has proven to be by far the best of the best this year, with incredibly well-designed animation, huge fight scenes and an action-packed setting. The culmination of the first-rate wizard exam during episode 26, The height of magic is the most voted (9.4 according to IMDb) episode. It depicts an incredible battle between the candidates and a clone of Frieren, in what became one of the best battle scenes of the season.

The dedication that the producers have put into this season shows the full potential of this series as one of the best fantasy animations of all time. Analyzing this season specifically, we notice a notable increase in overall quality. Both its animations, visual effects, and character designs are second to none. The production team may be perfectionists, but they doff their hats in this second season.

7 Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War (Season 3)

Proving that Ichigo's story still holds the title of best Shonen

The third season of Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War has been going strong for quite a while, but during the latest episode, Don't Chase A Shadow (airing November 30, 2024) the quality of the series reached an all-time high. Appreciated by both audiences and critics, this season is proving to be the emblem of Shonen, with incredible battle scenes and high-quality narrative content. Shunsui unleashed the full power of his Bankai, almost breaking the screen with a stunning visual effect.

Tite Kubo's flagship series has always been a public favorite, but with Thousand-year blood war has reached new heights. As this release window contains other heavyweight Shonen titles such as My Academic Hero S7 AND Arifureta S3it's nice to see Bleach still occupying the highest ratings among that demographic.

6 My Hero Academia (Season 7)

Heartbreaking, action packed, best season yet

Season 7 of My academic world of heroes proved that this series is still going strong among all the competition, even though it didn't do as well as other seasons, the quality is still top notch. The battle against Tomura Shigaraki and All For One is depicted as brutal and costly for Deku and his allies, and as the story progresses, the action turns to tragedy as the heroes fall into the fray.

From episode 19 – I'm Here to episode 21 – Battle Without a Quirk, the series reaches its final climax, with new friendships forged on the battlefield, a heartbreaking tragedy is unleashed when Ochako finally reaches Toga, and this Ultimate is finally able to express his feelings one last time before dying. This season, both the quality of the animation and the narrative have increased considerably. Even though the inevitable finale is fast approaching, fans are quite satisfied with the show.

5 Re: Zero (season 3)

One of the best fantasy series so far

Re: Zero season 3 is far from over, with a hiatus starting with episode 8 (The One I'll Love Someday) and resuming on February 4, 2025. But before that happens, let's talk about the overall quality of the series so far. With incredible panoramic views of the destruction caused by the Witch Cult in the city, Subaru and the team desperately try to keep their hopes high and come up with a plan to confront the Archbishops of Sin and stop them in their tracks.

This episode conveys all the narrative power of the Isekai Fantasy series, with a main character who is maturing rapidly despite all odds, proving to be a truly great protagonist. The first part of the third season was a real treat for the eyes of the fans of this series and promises to get even better when it returns next year.

4 Oshi No Ko (Season 2)

Glitter and darkness, like saffron with rice

Oshi No Ko he never talked about idols and the glittering, luxurious entertainment industry, but about the darkness that hides beneath the stages. In season two, the series takes a darker turn, finally becoming the dramatic tragedy it was intended to be. For those who followed this story through the Manga and LN the impact wasn't that harsh, but for fans of the anime seeing it really up close and personal caused quite a stir.

The use of color contrasted with dark and creepy scenes, the soundtracks, scenery designs and background designs are appalling. The quality of the show has only improved since its initial release in April 2023. Oshi No Ko The second season has exceeded audience (and critical) expectations: if its quality continues to improve in the coming seasons, then this Idol Drama/Reincarnation story is destined to become one of the best expressions of the genre in the coming years.

3 Monogatari Series – Off Season and Monsters

Beautiful and touching, if a little irritating

Monogatari series has always been about visual impact and in Off season and monsters, Aniplex/Kôdansha have taken this to a whole new level. With beautiful scenery, great use of color and incredible designs. The story of the young Araragi sisters and how their relationship with the mystical world (sparked around Koyomi) changes is splendid.

The narrative focus of this season reveals many interesting details about Yotsugi Ononoki, one of the most mysterious characters who divides fans between love and hate. This was one of the best seasons for Monogatari, maybe even better than Kizumonogatari, but the world created by Nishio Ishin still has a lot to offer, so we'll see how the power ranking turns out when the producers continue to draw Ikusamonogatari to the delight of their fans.

2 DanMachi – Freya Saga (Season 5)

Visually refined, but heavy on the fanservice

There's been quite a bit of uproar surrounding DanMachi's fifth season, mostly regarding the ending theme (and the animations involved in its production), but more importantly regarding its overall quality. While there haven't been many dissenting voices regarding the adaptation of Freya's Saga, since a lot of concessions (cuts) had to be made to see it animated.

Although many believe that Bell Cranell is a terrible main character, the emotional drama depicted in the fifth season has generated an upheaval among its fans, causing a divide between those who rejoice that the story finally takes on a more mature tone, and those who see the change as an excuse for extreme fanservice. Regardless, the overall production quality is undeniable, and this sequel is ranked among the best of the best of 2024.

1 Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest (Season 3)

A leap in quality compared to the previous season, but pay attention to the CGI

Arifureta season 3 surprised fans, despite all odds (and excessive fan service), and presented an overall fairly tidy narrative flow, without too many cuts from the novels and manga. Needless to say, it's not the best of the best, but it remains in a comfortable middle position among all the sequels this season. It has improved considerably in both animation and visual effects since season 2, but it still relies heavily on CGI and that can be a problem (remember Failure frameit's a fiasco).

Previously, fans had expressed some distrust towards the show's production, and considering the stiff competition against other Shonen series, it's doing quite well. In this regard, the producers have set the release window (end of 2024) and, with the other shows already closed for the season, Arifureta he still has plenty of time to prove his worth.