Weeb Report: Winter 2024 Anime Preview

Ushering in the new year, Anime in Winter 2024 has entered with a bang! And with so many quality shows vying for attention, which among them are really worth your time? Let’s talk about it in this season’s Winter 2024 Anime Preview, where I’ll be telling you which anime I’ve checked out, and if I think they look promising based on my initial impressions of the first few episodes!

Classroom of the Elite Season 3

Classroom of the Elite promotional poster. | Source: Anime Trending

Summary: Although Koudo Ikusei Senior High School may look like an amazing school from the outside, under the surface it’s a ruthless struggle as students fight to get better treatment which is dependent on their class ranking from A-D. Classes can increase their rank by gaining points in the competitions and challenges the school runs. Enter, Kiyotaka Ayanokouji, an unassuming average student, put into the lowest of all the classes: Class D. There he meets the unsociable Suzune Horitka whose only goal is to reach Class A, and Ayanokouji ends up agreeing to help her. Watch as Class D attempts to rise through the ranks, encounter the geniuses behind other classes, and as the ordinary Ayanokouji reveals himself to be something much more. 

Classroom of the Elite is at its base a relatively formulaic show that shines in the moments when a dramatic situation is built up, and we can see at the end how Ayanokouji manipulated all the people and other factors around it to ensure his or Class D’s success. And with season three, it seems to be following much the same playbook, but with some interesting new characters thrown into the fray this time around that’ll be interesting to see Ayanokouji deal with. If you couldn’t already tell, Classroom of the Elite is a power fantasy masquerading under a veil of intellectualism, but if you’re looking for that kind of show, this is probably one of the best out there. Seeing Ayanokouji just be a gigachad and outsmart everyone around him is undoubtedly extremely entertaining. This anime is definitely my biggest guilty pleasure this season. 

A Sign of Affection

Scene from A Sign of Affection. | Source: ComingSoon.net

Summary: Yuki Itose is a deaf university student who has lived a relatively protected life so far. However, her world is turned upside down when she bumps into a silver-haired man, Itsuomi Nagi, on the bus one day who happens to be a mutual friend of her best friend Rin Fujishiro. Surprised by how unphased he is by her deafness and his many experiences abroad, Yuki falls madly in love with Itsuomi. A relationship begins to form between the two of them as they begin to share their unique lives, and their fondness for the other grows along with it. 

Shoujo romance is not a genre I tend to gravitate towards, probably because I’m not really in the target demographic, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised with this show so far. It’s cute and fluffy, with just the right amount of suspense to keep me coming back every week for more. The show’s strong suit is definitely in its main relationship between Yuki and Itsuomi, as their cute dynamic is always a pleasure to watch. The animation style is also beautiful, using unique pastel colorings at just the right times to extenuate the moment. The side characters, on the other hand, have felt a bit weak so far, though that may change soon, as with the introduction of Yuki’s childhood friend, Oushi Ashioki, the show seems to be gearing up for a classic love triangle. So if you’re looking for a light-hearted romance that’ll make you cry about your singleness (maybe I’m projecting a bit too much), then this show’s worth a look. 

The Dangers in My Heart Season 2

Dangers in My Heart promotional poster. | Source: Dexerto

Summary: The Dangers in My Heart relates the story of Kyotaro Ichikawa, a young high school boy at the bottom of the school social ladder. Thinking of himself as the main character in some deranged psychological thriller, he plans the murder of his classmate Anna Yamada, the popular girl in class. However, as he observes her in the library, they bump into each other more and more. His feelings slowly begin to change, and something romantic(?) begins to brew between the two of them. 

Before I talk about season two, if you’re interested in my thoughts on season one, you can check them out here. Continuing the story of Ichikawa and Yamada, the second season of The Dangers in My Heart has been one of the biggest highlights of this season for me. Each episode somehow continues to be better than the last, and it seems this season we’re finally getting the thing that all romance authors hate most: development. Seeing the two of them get closer and help each other overcome their insecurities has been absolutely beautiful and I can’t wait to see where the story takes them. So if you’re at all a fan of romance and are willing to sit through an episode or two of weirdness at the beginning, then I can’t recommend The Dangers in My Heart enough. 

7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy!

7th Time Loop promotional artwork. | Source: JustWatch

Summary: Rishe Irmgard Weitzner is in a weird predicament: She’s died six times already at the age of 20, but each time she is transported back five years to the moment when her engagement with the prince was called off. Each time, her death has been due to a bloody war initiated by the crown prince of another nation, Arnold Hein. She’s used each of her previous lives to explore various occupations as a doctor, merchant, maid, etc. In her sixth life, she decides to disguise herself as a man and become a knight, but in the war, she is killed directly at the hands of Arnold Hein in battle. After waking up for her seventh life, she’s determined to survive this time around. However, when she tries leaving the palace after the prince breaks off her engagement for the seventh time, she runs into Arnold Hein, who then gets on one knee and proposes to her! Will Rishe finally be able to survive her seventh life married to the man who caused her death in her previous lives?

This is definitely my “Max loves romance so he’s gonna watch this trashy romance anyway because it’s a romance” type of show this season. On the good side, the development between our two leads, Rishe and Arnold, has been pretty fun to watch so far, and Rishe’s usage of all the information she’s learned from her previous lives in her current one has been an interesting added twist as well. But on the whole, this is still a pretty generic show, as anyone who has read even an ounce of Otome Isekai (OI) knows exactly how this story is going to play out. Though, if you haven’t read any OI before, and the premise seems interesting to you, then I would definitely say to give it a watch. Some cool elements to the story are still unanswered like the backstory and motivations of Arnold Hein as well as the reason behind the time-loop in the first place, paired with a nice dynamic between our main couple which makes it promising enough for me to recommend. 

Conclusion

I should add at the end here that there are two shows I would say are better than any of the ones listed above, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End and Apothecary Diaries, from last season which are coming back for their second course this season. I’ve talked about both of these shows already in last season’s anime review which you check out here, so I’d recommend checking those two out if you have not already! 

Well, I hope you enjoyed my Winter 2024 Anime Preview, and have maybe even added one or two to your watch list! A few shows is airing this season like Solo Leveling and Mashle season two which I’ve heard good things about, but didn’t include because I haven’t watched them yet. I plan to come back when the Winter 2024 season comes to an end and take a look back at all the shows I watched and review them, so stay tuned for that as well!