You’re spoiled for choice with new anime to watch this winter

The winter 2024 anime season is in full swing, with many series hitting their halfway mark over the next two weeks or so. As usual, there’s a glut of animated content: By my count, 46 new shows are airing this season, plus around a dozen left over from 2023. Deciding what to check out can be overwhelming, but sorting things out by genre can help.

Two dungeon-crawling fantasy series airing this season have risen to the top of many most-watched lists. And while they share a similar premise, they couldn’t be further apart in tone. “Solo Leveling” imagines a world in which so-called Hunters travel to dungeons through mystical gates to combat monsters and bring back the spoils. Our hero is the world’s weakest Hunter — until he takes on a perilous quest to get stronger. This well-animated series based on a South Korean webtoon features lots of blood, gore and dread. Standing in contrast is “Delicious in Dungeon,” which centers on a band of heroes out to slay monsters so they can make delicious meals out of them. Based on a popular manga, “Dungeon” is half fantasy, half cooking show, and the combination results in a lot of laughs.