Kara Dennison
July 25, 2024 
Looking for something gorgeous to brighten the hot summer days? We’ve got a list for you! This summer has no shortage of beautiful anime, each just as gorgeous to look at as it is fun to watch. And with the season still in its early stages, you have plenty of time to catch up to each eye-catching moment.
Samurai flee, magical girls fall in love, and people become ordinary in these gorgeous-looking new shows. What other series this summer have caught your eye?
SHOSHIMIN: How to Become Ordinary
Sometimes, the most beautiful anime are also the most laid-back. That’s definitely the case with SHOSHIMIN: How to Become Ordinary. The series follows the brilliant student Kobato and his friend Osanai as the two enter high school with the same goal: have a normal life. But it seems that the harder they try to be ordinary, the more difficult it will become.
Kobato is brilliant at solving mysteries, and Osanai makes for an attentive and clever assistant. Of course, the mysteries tend to be small… one might even say “cozy.” Where did a classmate’s purse go? How did Kobato’s notoriously lazy friend make hot cocoa without having to do the dishes? The slow-paced mini-mysteries are accompanied by lovely animation that, despite being tethered in the real world, has an otherworldly feel.
The Magical Girl and the Evil Lieutenant Used to Be Archenemies
This beautiful anime is a short, sweet 12 minutes per episode. But it packs a lot of cuteness into each half-length installment. Based on the manga by the late Cocoa Fujiwara, The Magical Girl and the Evil Lieutenant Used to Be Archenemies is an enemies-to-lovers story for magical girl fans everywhere. High-ranking baddie Mira finds himself less inclined to carry out orders when he meets his foe, magical girl Byakuya Mimori, face to face.
Rather than fighting, the two go on dates. Mira brings Byakuya food to tide her over after her many part-time jobs, and she mends his evil uniform jacket. Love really can bloom on the battlefield, and the lovely character designs based on Fujiwara’s manga art make the series a joy to watch.
The Elusive Samurai
Arguably the most beautiful anime of the season is an ode to Tokiyuki Hojo, a very real historical figure who ran to fight another day. In The Elusive Samurai, the legendary figure is reimagined as a young boy who excels at running and hiding. When his entire family is massacred and his home razed (a thing that historically happened), he discovers that this survival instinct serves him well. And according to the mysterious Suwa Yorishige, it will help him regain what he has lost.
The anime adaptation of The Elusive Samurai is animated at CloverWorks, and it is stunning. Between gorgeous fight scenes, stylistic changes, and vibrant colors, it’s one of the prettiest anime this season. And it doesn’t hurt that the story itself is also very entertaining.
Check out more beautiful animation—preview these upcoming anime remakes!
