Hey everyone, and welcome to Anime Rants. It’s finally the start of the Summer 2024 anime season! Since I managed to watch ten different seasonal anime in spring, I will keep up the habit and pick a lot of different shows for summer, too. I’ve selected nine series to try out in addition to the few that are continuing from spring. You can see my list below along with some notes I added.
I may or may not write consistent episode reviews for these series starting as soon as possible. It depends on my focus level this season. Either way, I’m excited!
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Twilight out of Focus
Begins: July 4th
This show is already being called a BL story (Boy’s Love/Shounen Ai/Yaoi), so I’m interested. From the trailer, it seems there are three gay couples. The drama surrounding this friend group sounds very sticky, so I’m not sure if I’ll like the show, but I’ll try it out.
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Senpai is an Otokonoko
Begins: July 5th
I’m extremely skeptical of this one, since it’s almost certainly going to be transphobic or homophobic at some points. But I could be wrong and/or it could have some genuinely interesting gender discussions. I’ll check it out just in case. In other notes, I’m confused as to why the English title isn’t just “Senpai is a Boy,” since that is literally what it means. There is no other special meaning of “Otoko no ko,” so it’s a weird choice to not just use the word “Boy.”
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Isekai Suicide Squad
Begins: July 6th
I’ve never been very interested in the DC universe. Superheroes in general are just not my thing. However, this anime is being widely discussed and anticipated, so I want to cover it for my blog. The animation also looks great, and it’s good to have a show or two with fighting/action in it. This way, I won’t be bored.
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Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin
Begins: July 6th
Originally, I planned to watch VTuber Legend; but when I saw the trailer for Sakuna, I knew it was much more my style. I like the animation, background art, and music from the trailer. Hopefully it will be a fun adventure story.
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My Deer Friend
Begins: July 7th
I like weird and surreal anime, so this series should be a lot of fun. I almost decided to skip this one, but a good friend of mine saw the trailer and strongly recommended that I try it out. The silliness looks enjoyable, and the quality should be pretty good since it’s Wit studio. In addition, I’m looking forward to the voice-acting. I’ve been a fan of Megumi Han for a while, and she will be playing the main deer girl, Nokotan.
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Tower of God Season 2
Begins: July 7th
The first season was highly enjoyable and engaging, so I’m looking forward to more Tower of God. The characters were colorful and lovable. The music was epic. The art-style was unusual but I loved it. This should be a good action/adventure to keep me entertained.
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Bye Bye Earth
Begins: July 12th
A show with anthropomorphic animal people? Sign me up. Shows like this have become more popular recently, I feel. In addition to loving animal people, I’m keenly interested in the fact that the main character is basically a normal human. She has no animal features and thus feels like a freak of nature in this world. What an intriguing idea!
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Delico’s Nursery
Begins: August 8th
I have no idea what to expect from this one, but I like the vibe of Victorian nurseries and the idea of a bunch of vampire children. The art style looks really unique as well – and the men seem very attractive in the trailer.
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Kimi ni Todoke (From Me to You): Season 3
Begins: Unknown date in August 2024
This school romance anime has become widely beloved by a wholesome fanbase. The main character is considered a good example of a realistic neurodivergent anime girl. I only watched the first season, and it was a long time ago. The second season moved too slowly. To be honest, I got bored. However, I will try out the third season and see if I can tolerate the slow development of the central romance.
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Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf
Continuing from Spring: Mondays
So far, although the visual quality isn’t great, I’m thoroughly enjoying this reboot of Spice and Wolf. It provides a great opportunity for new fans to get into the beloved franchise. Episode 14 will be released on July 1st, and there will be a total of 25 episodes.
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That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: Season 3
Continuing from Spring: Wednesdays
Although I loved the character arc for Hinata the Saint, this season has otherwise been boring. However, I suspect there will be more action in the last few episodes. It seems to be the pattern that nothing happens for several installments, but then there’s some big showdown in the next few installments. Anyway, episode 14 will be released on July 3rd. The season will have 24 episodes in total.
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Yatagarasu: The Raven Does Not Choose Its Master
Continuing from Spring: Saturdays
Yatagarasu has been so intriguing that I consider it one of the best series of the year. Maybe it’s not for everyone, but I enjoy the court drama, the character interactions, and the lore of the ravens. The series is scheduled to have 20 episodes. Episode 13 will be released on June 29th.
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Whisper Me a Love Song
Continuing from Spring: Saturdays
Note: Only 3 episodes remain
Possibly my favorite anime of Spring 2024, Whisper Me a Love Song is full of queer romance and spicy drama. Due to production issues, there was a delay in releasing the episodes. The last three episodes will wrap up the series, for a total of 12 installments. The 10th episode will be released on June 29th.
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Thanks for reading!
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Anime Rants 
To me there is a special meaning for otokonoko, as culturally this is a particular type of crossdressing/crossliving character in japan. I’m glad the translation keeps the word, as that gives me expectations about the character that the word “boy” would not. I vaguely recall one series where otokonoko was replaced with the word “crossdresser”, and I didn’t like that either, as connotations/expectations of crossdressers in the United States are much more limited than what happens in Japan.
I think of otokonoko having a certain feeling like the word senpai does. It doesn’t map to something straightforward to Western audiences.
But maybe this is just me.
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Sorry it took me a bit to respond. I appreciated your comment and now I guess I can understand why the translation is emphasizing “Otoko no ko” instead of just saying “boy.” Like you said, it may have connotations of someone cross-dressing … still not a very inclusive term, if this senpai is actually transgender. Speaking of which, do you think anime is getting more progressive with regards to LGBT+? I think it is, but slowly, and I’m afraid of the trend reversing again at any time.
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Hmm. I’m not sure if anime is getting more LGBT+ friendly/accepting. As you said, if it is, it’s happening very slowly. I remain concerned that anime and manga are more accepting of LGBT+ people than Japanese society is in general. Japanese society is much more conservative than anime & manga. (I have some gay friends in Japan who are still closeted, even though they live together.)
And, admittedly, I’m much less concerned about declining LGBT+ acceptance in anime than I am with the horrendous level of backsliding in the United States. (–_–)
Otokonoko in manga are not what we think of here as transgender. They present female but gender identify as male. But they tend to live / go to school / do everything presenting as female – and are accepted by their classmates. That’s a rare thing here in Western culture (unless you’re TS having to live in-role full time to prove that you are sufficiently TS to be allowed to take hormones and be eligible for GRS – at least that’s how it was in the 1990s – I don’t know what they do today).
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“And, admittedly, I’m much less concerned about declining LGBT+ acceptance in anime than I am with the horrendous level of backsliding in the United States.”
This is an excellent point, and certainly not something I neglect to consider. Since I only talk about anime on this blog, it may seem like that’s my singular focus, but I try to do what I can IRL to advocate for other LGBT+ people. Granted, most of my “activism” is limited to online at the current time due to social phobia and other mental issues… but I think the country’s current direction is going to push me more toward real action in the near future.
“Otokonoko in manga are not what we think of here as transgender..”
That’s really useful information. I’m glad you explained for me. I’ll have to do some more research too. And yeah, unfortunately, there are still dumb regulations in many countries about “being trans enough” to get on hormones. My friends on HRT complain about that in both the USA and Germany.
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